The 1905 Revolution

The revolution started at the 22nd January or it is commonly called the Bloody Sunday. On this day right outside the Winter Palace there had been 200,000 people gathered to give the Tsar a request. But as they gathered they had also met with the troops. Blood was spilled and guns were fired. With the massacre of thousands of people right outside of the Winter Palace and word of this protest became widespread throughout Russia. This had started the year long revolution.

In February 1905, the workers that were in strike had doubled from the Bloody Sunday and workers demanded better living conditions, a shorter and a lot more strict working hours and higher wages. Then after the past few months the Russians has been defeated many times by the Japanese which made them demand a change in how things were ruled. In June sailors in the Potemkin, which was a battleship has revolted against the authority and either left the army and became deserter or fought against their commanders.

Then the people from other groups demanded changes with the government. Examples of this is how the Middle class liberals demanded that there should remove the censorship and let the people have a voice. These people demanded a parliament that they can elect and take part in. The Jews wanted equality and Poland and Finland wanted independence. Then the peasants revolted and they seized the farmlands and burned down the landowner’s houses.

In September, the Tsar decided that he needed his troops to come back to the western Russia and help with the chaos that was stirring up by the workers and the people. Then Russia and the Japanese has signed a peace treaty and all of the men that were fighting are heading back to European Russia to put an end to the riots.

Then in the 26th October, there was a new group of people that had formed which were the St. Petersburg Soviet of Workers’ Deputies. They organised and led the strikes and demonstration that threatened the government. This led to the Tsar creating the October Manifesto so that the protestors and the workers would stop with all the riots in the city. This Manifesto states that there will be a parliament elected by the people, there would be freedom of speech and equal rights for the people. This reduced the number of strikes because the liberals has thought that they already won and obtained the system that they wanted.

But when December came about the troops that were fighting in the Russo-Japanese war came back. The Tsar has made his troops fight against the protestor and the workers who rose up against the Tsar. He took back control of the Russia and stopped the workers from rioting in the streets.