Introduction
Bloody Sunday can be described as the most important factor for the 1905 revolution. In the late 1800s, Russia was the largest country in the world, with a population of around 128 million, most of whom were peasants living and working the land. Due to the system of autocracy, no Russian citizen had any rights of their own, and many sought for this to change. This and a myriad of other factors, such as: political problems, discontent among the peasantry, discontent among the working class, the Russo-Japanese war, and Bloody Sunday led to the 1905 revolution, in which the Russian people rose up against the Tsarist autocracy. This essay will argue that Bloody Sunday was the main cause for the 1905 revolution.
Political Problems- KU 1
Some of the political problems which Russia was facing at the time were due to the regime’s policy of Russification, which can be described as the promotion of Russian language, culture, and religion, which was imposed through forceful methods, such as the banning of the teaching of the Polish language in schools.
Political Problems- KU 2
The Russian government also used their Jewish population as scapegoats, and blamed the nation’s problems on them. This led to mass anti-semitism and pogroms of the Jewish people.
Political problems- Analysis
This contributed to the 1905 revolution due to the fact that the minorities within Russia detested the regime’s attempts at erasing their culture, and fought to end the policy; this is evident through the uprisings in Poland, Ukraine and Finland.
Political Problems- Analysis +
However, the Empire’s political problems were less of a cause for the 1905 revolution due to the hatred of the Jewish people, which caused division between the ordinary peoples of Russia, therefore making them less able to rise up against the empire.
Political Problems- Evaluation
In evaluation, political problems (or Russification) was the least important factor for the 1905 revolution and less important than Bloody Sunday as a cause for the 1905 revolution, due to the fact that, according to Jonathan Bromley, “Such policies, by playing on xenophobia, were popular with many ordinary Russians and Ukranian’s, as were the measures taken against the Poles” meaning that some were still in agreement with the Russian regime, whereas Bloody Sunday caused many devoted citizens to be horrified at the Tsar and his regime, and therefore they revolted.
Discontent among the peasantry- KU 1
80% of Russia’s population were impoverished, destitute peasants who lived and worked the land, relying on the farmed food to feed their communities and families, as well as provide a meagre living.
Discontent among the peasantry- KU 2
Due to an expansion of the population of the peasantry (more than double from 1863-1913), starvation was commonplace as the land available to farm had remained the same size.
Discontent among the peasantry- KU 3
Around the late 1800s- early 1900s, Russia’s peasant population were gaining increased contact with “wider Russia”, due to the necessity to travel for seasonal work. This allowed the peasantry to experience improved living conditions in the cities and discover politically radical ways of thinking, which were directly oppositional to the traditional peasant way of life.
Discontent among the peasantry- Analysis
This contributed to the 1905 revolution due to the fact that the exposure to radical thinking, and the increasing literacy of the peasantry, led them to the desire for change and revolution.
Discontent among the peasantry- Analysis +
However, this is a less important factor for the 1905 revolution due to the fact that the subsistence farming of the peasantry meant that, in order to prevent their families from starving, peasants needed to devote their time to working, rather than revolting.
Discontent among the peasantry- Evaluation
In evaluation, the discontent among the peasantry was less important as a cause for the 1905 revolution due the the fact that many peasants were illiterate and unable to organise a revolt without leadership, whereas Bloody Sunday provided both a cause to revolt which could not be ignored, and a figurehead in Father Gapon.
Discontent among the working class- KU 1
During the late 1800s - early 1900s, Russia’s cities were beginning to both urbanise and industrialise.
Discontent among the working class- KU 2
Peasants were moving to the cities for work in factories, and the population of these cities grew fourfold.
Discontent among the working class- KU 3
The working conditions within the factories were terrible, with no trade unions and extremely low wages, which if they contested, they would be fired and replaced by one of the many waiting to take their place. Due to this, severe and widespread protests and strikes were breaking out by 1905.
Discontent among the working class- Analysis
This was an important reason for the 1905 revolution due to the fact that the mass amounts of people in the cities calling for more rights was hard to be ignored by the regime.
Discontent among the working class- Analysis+
However, this was less of an important reason for the 1905 revolution due to the fact that the regime could quickly and effectively crack down on these protests, and the Okhrana (secret police) could arrest leaders quietly and quickly.
Discontent among the working class- Evaluation
In evaluation, working class discontent was less of an important reason than Bloody Sunday for the 1905 revolution due to the fact that, prior to the events of Bloody Sunday, the working class mostly protested the poor conditions peacefully, whereas the events of Bloody Sunday resulted in more violent protests. As Figes puts it, “The streets were momentarily in the hands of the mob and the first red flags appeared.” meaning that, in response to all the bloodshed, the Russian people took to the streets in outrage, whereas the protests before this had been mostly peaceful.
The Russo-Japanese War- KU 1
In 1904, Russia went to war with Japan over land in North East China and Korea. Russia wanted to use the land for ports and railways, as well as expand the empire into that area, whereas Japan was intending on creating their own Empire, and were planning on using the land for resources (specifically oil).
The Russo- Japanese War- KU 2
During the war, Russia faced a series of humiliating defeats to the country they were sure would be easy to fight, such as the battle of Tsushima in which each Russian battleship was sunk by the Japanese forces, causing the deaths of 4380 sailors. In the end, Russia lost the war entirely
The Russo-Japanese War- Analysis
This was an important reason for the 1905 revolution due to the fact that the victory of a race seen as inferior to the Russians caused the ethnic minorities within Russia to believe they could fight for independence.
The Russo-Japanese War- Analysis +
However, this was less of an important reason for the 1905 revolution due to the fact that the Tsarist regime (especially the Okhrana) censored the full extent of Russia’s humiliation from the wider Russian public.
The Russo-Japanese war- Evaluation
In evaluation, the Russo-Japanese war was less of an important reason for the 1905 revolution due to the fact that the Okhrana mostly silenced any news of the humiliating defeat from the Russian people, causing them to be less affected by it, whereas Bloody Sunday was a public atrocity within Russia which caused the people to lose all hope in the regime. As Pipes puts it, “Bloody Sunday caused a wave of revulsion to sweep across the country; among the masses it damaged irreparably the image of the ‘good’ tsar.” meaning that Bloody Sunday caused immediate loss of faith in the Tsarist regime, whereas the Russian People were less outraged by the loss of the war due to not knowing the full extent of their humiliation.
Bloody Sunday- KU 1
In an attempt to satisfy the protesting working class, a legal trade union, called the Assembly of Russian Factory and Mill Workers and was led by Father Gapon.
