Revolution of 1905 Countless strikes took place, country-wide Intellectuals became more critical of the Tsar Increasing peasant unrest Demand for an elected assembly and liberty Terrorists kept the pot boiling!

Marxism

Basic tenets of Marxism: Man is by nature good Economic relations determine all human relations Exploitation is an inherent failure of capitalism Private property is evil Capitalism produces two classes of people Only revolution can rid society of capitalism and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat Classlessness and statelessness will follow only after the revolution and a transition period

Russian Revolutionaries Nihilists – believed in no established order Populists – mass revolution to overthrow tsar. Marxists – a variety of different groups with differing approaches Liberals – wanted a Western style democracy. Probably the most numerous

Mensheviks Literally means “minority” More moderate, less impatient, wanted to win over the masses Led by Julius Martov

Bolsheviks Literally means “majority” Believed that a violent revolution was necessary Led by Lenin

Russian Cossack Uncle Sam Manchuria China U.K. Korea Ask students to identify the figures in the cartoon. Identify land forms. Interpretation? Russia is crushing the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 as conspirators work in the background (UK, USA, China). Reality? Russia is defeated horribly and humiliated in the loss of this war. The Tsar’s power is diminished and his ability to rule questioned! Korea

for the first time an Asian power defeated a powerful European opponent.  It was the  first battle where steel hulled ships were sunk by gunfire alone.  It was the only decisive naval battle of  steel hulled ships in the industrial era. Following the battle, Nicholas II sued for peace. The battle ended the Russo Japanese War

Loss of Russo-Japanese War This proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back” was enough to foment all-out revolutionary action

Bloody Sunday Tsar’s troops fired on a group of protestors who were begging the Tsar for help In all, 130 were killed and hundreds wounded

Bloody Sunday – historical significance? It revealed how utterly incompetent the Tsarist regime was in dealing with a dissatisfied people Those who had previously supported the Tsar broke and joined revolutionary groups

Between October 20-30th, all of Russia was on strike Considered the most effective general strike in history During this time, the very first Soviet was established in St. Pete’s

October Manifesto

October Manifesto – Tsar’s promises: Provide some civil liberties Create a DUMA – legislative assembly controlled by the moderates

Between 1905 and 1917 Tsar reneged on most of his promises Tsar bought off the moderates in the Duma Tsar arrested radical opposition as terrorism grew Then the Great War broke out…

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin 1870-1924 Владимир Ильич Ленин His brother would be executed for an assassination attempt on Tsar Alexander III’s life His sister would also be arrested The influence of revolutionary writers such as Chernyshevsky would turn Lenin to Marxism

Lenin 1887

He would be arrested and exiled to Siberia in 1897 for plotting against Alexander III From there he would move to Europe, from Munich to London to Geneva He returned to Russia in 1905 but was sent into exile again after the Tsarist defeat of the revolution