1905 Revolution

What war was happening in 1904-05?

Russo-Japanese War

What was the reason for the Russo-Japanese War?

Russia wanted to exploit the area in and around Manchuria-Japan didn’t want this

How did Russia treat Japan’s compromise and what did this lead to?

with disdain, leading to Japan launching a surprise attack at Russian ships on Port Arthur on 26th January 1904

Why was Japan better than Russia in the war?

they had a better trained army and navy, as well as a more efficient intelligence that Russia underestimated

What did Japan take over in January 1905?

Port Arthur

Why was there mass humiliation for Russia in May?

the Russian Baltic Fleet was defeated after sailing half way around the world (6 month journey) only to be destroyed in under an hour

Why was communication impossible for Russia during the war?

the war was being fought 6,000 miles away from St Petersburg

What was the Russian army reliant on that was problematic for them?

old coal powered vessels which were slow and made the ship very vulnerable to igniting

What did Witte negotiate in August 1905?

the Treaty of Portsmouth

What did the government look like to the public after the humiliating defeats of the war?

incompetent

In July, the assassination of the Minister of the Interior, Phleve, was met with what?

public indifference

What were the economic impacts of the war?

factories closed around St Petersburg, leading to lots of unemployment and growing discontent

What was established in 1903 by Peter Struve to try and progress Russia politically?

the Union of Liberation

What was held by the Union of Liberation after the war?

a series of ‘banquets’, which were really political meetings (not allowed by law) where the liberal intelligentsia discussed reforming the political system

What materials were there shortages of after the war?

raw materials, such as silk, cotton and chemicals

What happened on 7th January 1905?

4 workers were sacked at the Pulilov Iron Works, leading to a subsequent strike of over 100,000 workers

What happened on the 9th January 1905?

up to 150,000 men, women and children all marched towards the Winter Palace carrying pictures of the tsar

How were the crowd met when they approached the Winter Palace?

they were charged with cavalry-130 were killed and 300 were seriously wounded

By the end of January 1905, how many people were on strike?

over 400,000 people

What happened on the 4th February 1905?

the tsar’s own uncle, Grand Duke Sergei, was assassinated

What kind of disorder followed Bloody Sunday?

strikes, demonstrations, riots, vandalism and hooliganism

What was the Union of Unions?

a group that was formed by a number of professional organisations (lawyers and engineers) and trade organisations (clerks and bookeepers)

What was held in universities following Bloody Sunday?

political meetings

What were peasants doing in June and July 1905?

seizing land, grain and animals, cutting timber illegally, as well as refusing to pay rent and taxes

What kind of groups appeared for peasants in 1905?

peasant unions and societies

What group met in Moscow at the end of July 1905?

the All-Russian Peasant Union

What did peasants start to burn?

landlords’ houses

What group was used to put down peasant uprisings? Were they successful?

the army, and no, as the army was mainly composed of peasants, so mutinies continued to spread

What did national minorities use the disarray for?

to demand independence

Give an example of a struggle with the national minorities that became violent

in Caucasus, where officials were attacked

In Georgia, how many troops did the tsar dispatch to try and keep things under control?

10,000

What was happening in Poland?

it was essentially a civil war

How many soldiers did the tsarist regime keep in Poland?

300,000

How many Poles involved in demonstrations sparked by Bloody Sunday were shot?

93

What happened on 14th June 1905?

the crew of Potemkin mutinied over harsh conditions and rotten food

How many citizens did troops open fire on when the Potemkin ship arrived in Odessa?

2,000

What were the consquences of the Potemkin ordeal?

loyalty to the tsar from the military was disappearing

What were the consequences of the general strike of September 1905?

food and medical supplies ran short, unburied bodies piled up and there was an explosion of criminality

What was passed on 17th October 1905?

the October Manifesto

What did the October Manifesto concede?

civil liberties (freedom of speech and end of censorship) and an elected Duma

What was there a brief period of after the manifesto was passed?

celebration-political meetings were held in public and newspapers flourished

What two political groups formed which reflected two strands of liberalism?

Kadets and Octobrists

However, what broke out soon after the celebrations of the October Manifesto?

violence between the left and the right

Which group marched carrying portraits of the tsar? What did they do?

the Black Hundreds, they attacked anyone they believed to the left or anti-tsar

What happened to the Jews after the October Manifesto?

lots of attacks towards Jewish communities, burning of Jewish houses and businesses

How many Jews were murdered in the last 2 weeks of October 1905?

3,000

How did the tsar keep the army on his side during 1905?

their pay was increased and their terms of service reduced, as well as increased meat rations, tea and sugar

How did the government try to keep people in line?

through brutal, repressive measures-beating them into submission

Why was opposition against the tsar in 1905 not effective?

different groups (e.g. peasants and workers) had different aims and purposes, so they didn’t form a co-ordinated opposition to the tsar

Why were the socialists more isolated and easier to crush after the October Manifesto?

it split liberals and socialists (they wanted different things)

How did Witte help the financial trouble at the end of 1905?

he secured a huge loan from French bankers in April 1906 to stabilise the economy