Poor harvests, famine, a lack of freedom and repressive policies meant that Russia was a country that was teetering on the brink of revolution long before dissatisfied factory workers marched on the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. Some of the causes of the 1905 revolution were due to poor working and living conditions. For instance, up to 15 people would share one room to live in, because of this demonstrations such as the one outside the Winter Palace commonly known as Bloody Sunday took place. 100’s were killed due to horrific misunderstanding by the Russian army. In many ways this helped fuel Russian Revolt.
Not only was it the population of the Russian empire that turned against the Tsars, but the Army too. They were many revolts in the countryside; of which were suppressed by the army. This caused problems as the army was mainly structured of peasants. This meant mutinies were to come into play – 200 from October to December. In addition to this, troops within the far-East wanted deployment as they disagreed with the rules after the Manifesto.
The Tsar was desperate to get Russia back in control so in December the Tsar’s loyal army was used to demolish what was left of the working class strikers. This sent many of the revolutionaries in to exile. This restored order once again in the cities. What was a general
The crushing of Russian’s military added movement to the 1905 Revolution, as it made the people of Russia aware of the weakness of their military, making many people become un-patriotic. They were losing to a nation very few had heard of and it was humiliating. However, many of the defeats to the Russian military occurred after the Revolution had started, not causing its outbreak, but merely adding to the opposition to autocratic rule by the Tsar and prolonging the Revolution. The Russo-Japanese War also brought about economic problems for Russia, and this therefore meant there was a significant lack of money to solve any other problems present Russia, hence partly being responsible for
The Kulaks had profited form the reforms of Stolypin (1906-11), and so were seen as the ‘old enemy’, holding back the achievements of the revolution. Hidden grain and land were seized and many Kulak families were beaten and killed. This served as a warning to the rest of the peasantry of the likely consequences of resisting the Soviet State. During the collectivization millions of peasants starved as they were forced to work harder and harder. The state tried to implement fierce punishments for slackers and deportations, imprisonments and executions were common.
Although the Tsar wasn't in the palace at the time, the police feared trouble and sent the troops to disperse the demonstration. In doing so the troops shot and killed almost a thousand workers. This day became known as Bloody Sunday and was the event that signalled the start of the 1905 Revolution. During this revolution there were peasant uprisings, strikes, and demands for political reform. There were a number of reasons for the outbreak of the revolution, but how responsible for the outbreak, was the war?
Revolution occurred because of the rise of the opposition, which consisted of the army, protestors and civilians. Demonstrations and food riots suddenly broke out in the capital city of Petrograd. A general strike had spread throughout the city and some soldiers had joined demonstrators, this had caused the Tsar to command the military chief to fire on the crowd. Dozens of people had died and the rest were reminded of “Bloody Sunday.” As a result the demonstration had tuned into a revolution aiming to overthrow the government. The Tsar had lost all support and control because of his actions and this led to him abdicating the
When soldiers opened fire on demonstrators outside the Winter Palace on January 22, 1905, it was not in hopes of setting off a chain of events that would later be known as a revolution. Yet when hundreds of working class Russians were murdered that evening, Russia had changed. The protestors’ purpose was to beg the Tsar to exercise his authority on behalf of their miserable working conditions, though they were taken down by the onslaught of ammunition. It was enough to fuse off a chain of events that, if not for disorganization, a lack of coordination and military forces still loyal to the Tsar, might well have caused a revolution that changed Russia forever. One thing that changed very little in February of 1917 is the presence—or, more specifically, lack of presence—of actual revolutionary leaders.
How Accurate is it to Say that the Growth of Reformist Groups in the Years from 1881 was the Main Cause for the 1905 Revolution? Following Alexander II’s assassination in 1881, Russia was faced with their worst nightmare which was faced with their worst nightmare which was a truly repressive Tsar, Alexander III. His unpopularity was caused by his extremely backwards ideology that left the Russian population dissatisfied without their ‘Tsar Liberator.’ Alexander III found himself battling with millions of people who wanted their previous freedom restored and autocracy destroyed. I personally feel that the main cause for the 1905 revolution was Alexander III himself in the long term. Alexander was hopelessly out of touch with the emerging realities of a modern Russia.
One key piece of evidence in favour of this is the Pravda article “dizzy with success†which suggests that the purges spiralled out of Stalin’s control. The Purges thrust the whole of Russia into a state of fear of what would happen to them. It affected all sectors of society and even a seemingly insignificant act could result in arrest. For example one woman was arrested for saying that Tukhachevsky, a high ranking military officer, was handsome after he was arrested. One key reason other than Stalin’s personal paranoia for the Purges was to cleanse the party of careerists, yet dissidents and doubters were also at risk.