SUN MI (STEPHANIE) LEE, EUN JI (AMY) PARK, SOPHIE RUSTEIN The 1905 Revolution

Short-Term Causes Outbreak of Russo-Japanese War, February 1904  Attack on Port Arthur: Feb 1904 – Sep 1905  Russia was defeated by Japan, both on land and at sea  Shortages of food and fuel  Poor conditions for soldiers  “War is the vehicle of Revolution” – Trotsky Unpopularity of the Tsar  High food prices and other resources  High unemployment rate  Incompetent government

Long-Term Causes Various existing revolutionary  Socialist Revolutionaries, The Social Democrats (Marxists), Liberals Poor living standards of peasants and workers  Abject poverty; not enough land to farm on  High taxes  Famines, starvation, population density problem  No political power Rigid hierarchy – repressive government  Continuous rejection of repressive government Controlled life for the peasants  Blocked media  Could not participate in politics  Problems with land distribution Protests were simply repressed instead of making concessions Continuous famine – 1897, 1898 and 1901 especially Growth of a middle class  However, it was politically impotent

Bloody Sunday January 1905 – protests in Putilov Munitions Works in St. Petersburg (later spread to other factories around Russia) Father Gapon lead 150,000 protesters to the Winter Palace Men, women and children, petitions in hand Carried religious photos as well as photos of Nicholas Police officials and militia order the protest to a halt  When this didn’t work they panicked and shot at the protesters Estimated number of deaths vary from 100 – 1000  Thousands injured Massacre made people believe that the Tsar was a murderer – from ‘Little Nicolas’ to ‘Bloody Nicholas’

Father Gapon Birth: February 17th, 1870 Was not a revolutionary  The organizer of a police-sponsored union Led Bloody Sunday – 150,000 marchers Popular appeal afterwards Leading political and radical groups sought his support Symbol of freedom Less of a priest –more of a gambling popular leader Joined the Social Revolutionaries in 1905 Hanged by them for maintaining his police contacts (April 10th, 1906)

Potemkin Mutiny  Mutiny of the Imperial Navy against the tsarist regime on board of Potemkin, the battleship lasted from June 14 to 25 in 1905  Long-term Causes : o Successive defeats by the navy of Japan o Brutal treatment o Poor food  Short-term Causes : o The death of a delegate by the commander of the ship, sent to him in order to express discontent about poor quality of their food o A group of sailors dedicated to revolution killed seven of the Potemkin's eighteen officers in order to arouse a massed mutiny of the Black Sea Fleet Soviet poster portraying the 1905 revolution. The caption reads "Glory to the People's Heroes of the Potemkin!"

Potemkin Mutiny  Key Events : o More than 5000 demonstrators gathered at the spot of the funeral of the crew killed by the commander in support of the sailors o Demonstrators were one-sidedly fired by the loyal troops o The crews of Potemkin fired two shells at the headquarters of the imperial military authorities on the next day as well o The Imperial military sent reinforcements in order to suppress their actions but they refused to fire at the battleship as well o Ended as its crews safely settle down at Romania  Significance : o The first attempt to create a revolutionary army o One of the important causes of the revolutionary in 1905 o Having an influence on the revolutionizing process in the Russian army and fleet in 1917

Consequences October Manifesto Duma Soviets Peasants’ Manifesto Paved way for 1917 revolution

Revolution? Not a revolution Did not result in the overthrow of the Russian monarchy The soldiers remained loyal to the Tsar Cossack troops suppressed mutinies Foreign governments helped Russia’s government Lacked planning and leadership “A dress rehearsal for the real revolution of 1917” – Leon Trotsky

Bibliography Bibliography : "Potemkin Mutiny." Wikepedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug Nicholas II – The Last of the Tsars, by Philip Cummins Heinemann Advanced History – Tsarist Russia, “Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin” by Chris Corin and Terry Fiehn