Transcript The revolution of 1905 (before the big one).

The revolution of 1905 (before
the big one).
Making of the West—
pages 1014-1020
The objectives for this fascinating
slideshow are:
• Learn about the circumstances of the meetings of
early communist groups.
• What was the reason behind the split in the group?
• You will be able to identify the events that led to the
Revolution of 1905
• Identify how Stolypin began to reform Russia.
• Understand how the many groups in Russia led to
pre-Revolutionary agitation.
The Russian Social Democrats decided to hold
the second congress of their party in the
summer of 1903.
The first had been held in Russia 1898, when
all but one of their delegates had been arrested.
Now, at the time of deep economic crisis and
mass unemployment in Russia, amid a mounting
wave of strikes and tsarist pogroms, they needed
to meet and discuss the way forward.
However, the congress ended in an
historic split…
Around 50 delegates
from 26 organizations
met on July 30, 1903, in
Brussels. The congress
was held in a flour store,
in the hopes of avoiding
police attention, but after
one day the Belgian
authorities ordered
delegates out of the
country. It transferred to
London.
The congress did stay in any one
place for longer than one day. The
first meeting was near Tottenham
Court Road.
It also met in an anglers’ club,
where there were trophies on the
walls..
I am a
communist
fish.
All the places in which the congress took place are
still not known, but we know it continued to meet until
August 23. On August 24, Lenin took delegates to visit
Karl Marx’s grave at Highgate Cemetery, on the
outskirts of London.
The Marxist party split during
this time into two groups:
• The Bolsheviks mean majority
• The Mensheviks mean minority
• Lenin was the founder of the
Bolsheviks.
Lenin believed that the “elite”
revolutionaries should be the leaders.
Mensheviks were much more
cooperative, and believed in a softer
line…
Lenin was a mover and agitator. He
recommended class war.
The reign of Nicolas
II exposed the
weaknesses and
corruption of Tsarist
rule.
In 1905, the defeat of Russia by the
Japanese was a great embarrassment.
To make matters worse, a religious priest,
Father Gapon, led a peaceful protest, on
January 9, 1905.
The peaceful, respectful crowd of over 200,000
gathered before the Tsar’s palace.
They were gunned down by the scared
officials, and several hundred were killed.
A wave of political strikes broke out.
Revolutionaries came forward. In the
country peasants revolted.
Finally, the Tsar agreed to call an Estates
General. In Russia, this would be called a
DUMA.
The Duma was supposed to promised a
constitution and civil liberties.
Still, there were widespread protests, local
strikes and mutinies.
The famous movie, Potemkin, was about a mutiny on
the battleship Potemkin.
But once things settled down, many
revolutionaries were sent back to Europe,
executed or sent to Siberia.
The new Duma had limited power. It could
not control the budget, foreign policy or
government personal.
The Duma of 1906 was not successful, and
members fled to Viborg Finland after they
demanded universal male suffrage.
The Duma of 1907 included 83 socialists
There was a third Duma between 1907 and
1912, and a fourth between 1912 and 1916.
Slowly some Parliamentary power was
gained in the autocratic, Tsarist system.
The Russian Prime Minister, Stolypin,
tried to prevent revolution
• He wanted to build up the
propertied classes.
• He gave the peasants more
control over private property.
• He enabled peasants to free
themselves from the obligations
of the mir.
Even Lenin said that “I do not expect to
live to see the revolution.”
Stolypin also
oversaw the
execution of
revolutionaries.
However, Russia was full of secret groups
who broke off and combined to form other
secret groups, all bent on some sort of
revolutionary activity…
But Stolypin was shot
dead in front of the Tsar
at the theater. There is
some question about who
was behind the murder—
but there is not question
that Stolypin was active
in reforming Russia.
Russia on the eve of World War I
• Still industrializing
• Both left and right discouraged
• Each extreme side was losing
members.
• The revolutionaries lived year
after year in exile dreaming about
their time to come.
The revolution of 1905, Bloody Sunday,
and the humiliating defeat at Japan’s hands
was not forgotten…
World War I was a test that the Tsarist
government could NOT meet.
The objectives for this fascinating
slideshow are:
• Learn about the circumstances of the meetings of
early communist groups.
• What was the reason behind the split in the group?
• You will be able to identify the events that led to the
Revolution of 1905
• Identify how Stolypin began to reform Russia.
• Understand how the many groups in Russia led to
pre-Revolutionary agitation.