1. 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!

2. Marxism

3. 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

4. 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

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

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

7. 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

8. 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

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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. October Manifesto

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

15. 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…

16. 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

17. Lenin 1887

18. 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