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Chapter 2

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48 views15 pages

Chapter 2

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amberhussain006
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‘THE ‘DRESS REHEARSAL) ‘Om a sunny Sunday morning the long columns of protestors marched across the ice towards the centre of St Petersburg, Church bells rang and their golden domes sparked in the sun. In the font ranks were the ‘women and children, deste in ther Sunday best, who had been placed these to deter the soldiers from shooting At the head ofthe largest col- ‘umn was the bearded figure of Father Gapon in a long white cassock catrying a crucifix. Gapon had made a name for himself asa preacher in the workers’ districts ofthe capital, Hetold his fllowersin simple terms, ‘with arguments drawn from the sible that the Tsar was obliged efore God to satisty their demands if tohim in supplication The petition head drawn up forthe marches to presento the Tsar began: SieWe, the woskers and inhabitants of St Peterburg, of varlous come to THEE, OSIRE estates, ou wives, our children, and ou to see justice and protection, Weare impoverished we are oppressed ‘overburdened with excesive tol contemptuous tated... We are sufcating in despotism and lawlesnes Behind Gapon was a portrait of the Tsar anda large white banner with the words: "Soldiers donot shoot atthe people!” Red fags, the banner of the revolutionaties,had been banned by th organizers ofthe march As the column ng ton of cavalry Si advance towards the] at them, Two warnin range a third volley and fell o the grou continued to fire se killed and hundreds down inthe rush, Be around him, was he no Teac” There were blood Square a huge body ¢ front of the Winter 1 ‘The guards tried to ¢ sabres. But when this Seeing the efes poin took of their caps a firing began. When a the dead and wot moment, the turning ‘changed from disbe recalled Bolshevik No, the reverend and tility and even hatre literally every face” Ta few seconds (ained the regime the moments after the st fourteen and said to remember and sweat spilled, did you seo? vestors marcied burch bells rang vt ranks were the hud been placed sf the largest cal vg white cassocke fasa preacher in in simple terms, 2s obliged before i supplication, othe Tsar began rp of various CHEB, O SIRE are oppressed, ted. Weare bite banner with the banner of of the march, ‘As the column neared the Narva Gates it was charged by a squad: ‘ton of cavalry. Some ofthe marchers ran away but most continued to advance towards the line of infantry, whos rifles were pointing directly st them. Two warning salvoes were fred into the ae, and then a close range third volley was aimed at the unarmed crowd, People screamed And fell tothe ground but the soldiers, now panicking themselves, continued to fire steadily into the mass of people. Forty people were [ulled and hundreds wounded as they tried to le. Gapon was knocked own in the rush But he got up and, staring in disbelief atthe carnage round him, was heard to say: "There is no God any longer. Thee i no Tse” ‘There were Bloody incidents in other parts of the ity. On Palace ‘Square a huge body of cavalry and several cannons had been posted in {ont ofthe Winter Palace to stop another group of 60,000 protestors. ‘The guards tried to clear the crowds using whips and the fats of their sabres. But when this proved unsuccessful they took up Sing positions ‘Seeing the ries pointed at them, the demonstrators fell to their knees, took off their caps and crossed themsclves. A bugle sounded and the firing began. When it was al over and the survivors looked around atthe dead and wounded bodies on the ground there was one vital ‘moment, the turning: point of the whole evolution, when their mood ‘changed from disbelief to anger. T observed the faces around me; recalled a Bolshevik in the rowed ‘and I detected neither fear nor panic 'No,the reverend and almost prayerful expressions were replaced by hos tility and even hatred. I saw these looks of hatred and vengeance on literally every face? Ina few seconds the popular myth ofa Good Tsar—wwhich had sus tained the regime through the centuies~—vwas suddenly destroyed. Only ‘moments after the shooting had ceased an old man turned to a boy of fourteen and sud to him, with his voice fll of anger:'Remember, som, remember and swear to repay the Tsar. You saw how much blood he spilled, dd you see? Then swear, son, swear!” There was awave of strikes and demonstrations aginst the massacres of “Bloody Sunday, asthe events of9 January 1905 became known. In that ‘month alone, more than 400,000 workers downed tols across the cou try. Ie was the largest ever labour protest fn Russian history. But the strikes were not really organizes thelr demands were formulated as they ‘went along; and the socialist parties were tll much too weak, too closely watched by the police, their main leaders in eile in Europe to play a leading role, The workers could not bring about revolution on thelr own. eral middle classes and nobility that turned the events of Bloody Sunday into a revolutionary crisis of author Te was the response of the li ity forthe tarst government Since 1903 liberal professionals and 2 otal reforms, inclding & demand fora national assembly, Together they had formed a Union of Liberation, whose petitions to the Tsar had influenced Gapon. ‘Bloody Sunday was not the frst blow tothe Tsar's authority. Russias military humiliation in a war against Japan had turned a broad section ‘of the public agnint him and added strength tothe Union's campsign tis hard to overestimate the shock caused in Russia as the news of, reported defeats y the Japanese came in—the first timea modern Euro- pean power had been beaten by an Asian people In January 1904, the ‘war had begun when the tarst let in Manchuria was ravaged by a Japanese surprise attack. ‘Ie fapanese had been angered by Russias stvo activists had been campaigning f aggressive economic expansion in the Fat East and by the implications ofthe Trans-Siberian Railway asi approached completion. Despite this initial setback the Russians were confident of an easy victory. Govern ‘ment posters portrayed the Japanese as puny little monkeys, slit-eyed and yellow-skinned, running in panic from the giant white fst of « robust Russian soldier. Swept along bythe patriotic mood, liberals con tended that Russia was defending European civilization against the ‘yellow danger, the new hordes of Mongols armed by modern technology yeaa whch tie ‘ays behind the Gregorian (Nem Se) calendar ne Wester Europe Dts relting selon enh yep ony tee The zemstvos spran Manchurian Fron. Head the war bee Political capital ron sian military to figh the sheer incompete themilitary doctrin of Russian lives by entrenched artillery As the war went fvernment, using ment for political had in the past reli criticism as they su So unpopular had Viacheslav von Plehy to pieces by a terror In Warsave,Pleve’s shocked by Pl with another hard ofthe opposition a Prince Mirsky, whe -Mirsky’s appoint: fn St Petersburg ane including a legisla the congress was it tory, People at the 189, Civie bodies « lutions. The Union ‘hose in France in | toasts were drunk Mirsky presente. stvo assembly’s res gramme of moderat own’ In that dssthe coun: ‘ory. But the sated a they k, too closely spe to play a onthe own nobility that sis ofauthor: alsand 2em- including 3 {da Union of orty, Russia's road section campaign the news of ary 1904, the ravaged bya by Russia's implications Despite this, ‘ory. Govern: ps, aiv-eyed ‘hite fst of 3 liberals con a against the technology “The zemstvos sprang back ino action and sent medical brigades to the Manchurian Front Had the war been won, the regime might have been able to: make pelitical capital from this patriotic upsurge. Bu it was hard forthe Rus: san military to fight a war 6,000 miles awa: The biggest problem was the sheer incompetence ofthe High Command, which stuck rigidly to the military doctrines ofthe nineteenth century and wasted thousands of Russian lives by ordering hopeless bayonet charges against well entrenched artillery position a mistake it would repeat in 1914-17. ‘As the war went from bad to worse, the liberals turned against the ‘government, using is bungled military campaign as a pateotl argu: rent for politi Jha in the past relied on the sat for protection, joined the chorus of criticism as they sulered trom the economic dislocations ofthe war. So unpopular had the government become that in July 1904, when \Viacheslav von Pleve, its reactionary Minister ofthe Interior, was Blown to pieces by a terrorist bomber, there was hardly 2 word of public regret. In Warsaw, Plehive's murder was celebrated by crowds inthe street. Shocked by Plehves murder, the Tsar had intended to replace him ‘with another hardliner, but bad news from the Front and the strength ‘ofthe opposition at home finally persuaded him to appoint a liberal, Prince Missky, who called himself ‘zemstvo man. Encouraged by Mirsky’s appointment, 103 zemstvo representatives met ata congress Petersburg and passed a ten pon resolution for politcal reform, Snchding a legislative parliament. Convene illegally in various palaces, the cangress ws, in effect, the frst national assembly in Russian his tory, People atthe time compared itt the French Estates-General of 1789, Civic bodies and associations held meeting to suppor its reso lutions. The Union of Liberation organized a series of banguets (like ‘those in France in 1847-8) attended by the zemstvos’ supporters where toasts were drunk to freedom and a constitution ‘Mirsky presented the Tsar with a carefully worded digest ofthe zem- stvo assembly resolution in the hope of winning him over toa pro- gramme of moderate reform. It asked only fr a consultative pasiament form, Bven the country’s main industrialists, who (eather than a legislative one) and for zematvo delegates to sit in the State Council an advisor lepisative body appointed by the Tsar. But ever this was to much for Nichola, who ruled out any tlk of political efoem as ‘harmflto the people whom God has entrusted to melOn 12 Decem- ber, the Tar issued an Imperial Manifesto promising to strengthen the rule oflaw, to ease restrictions onthe pres, and to expand the authority ‘of the zemstvos. But it said nothing on the controversial subject of a parliamentary body. Hearing of its contents, Mirsky fel into despair. “Berything has failed he sai to his colleagues ‘Let ws build jails there isa single, repetitive theme in the history of Russia during the last decades ofthe old regime, it is that ofthe need for reform and the flue of successive governments to achiev it inthe face ofthe Tsar’ ‘opposition, Mirsky’ initiative was probably the main chance the gov cexnment would have to avert a revolution. In a crisis of authority a regime's best hope of survival is to make concessions soon enough to satisty and split ff the oppositions moderate wing Bloody Sunday ended the Tsar's chance of keeping the political in tiative. It drove the liberals to the lef, creating & more radical, united opposition to the government. Educated society was outraged by the massacre. Sudents went on strike an turned ther campuses into cee tres of politcal agitation. By the end of February, the government had been forced to close down virtually all institutions of higher learning until the end of the academic year. Profesional unions organized them: ‘elves ata national level into a Union of Unions, later joined by a Wom en's Union for Equality and similar unions for semi-professional groups (ea. railway workers and employees), which gave the intelligentsia direct link to the masses “The protest movement quickly spread tothe non-Russian bordriands twas particuatlystrongin Poland, Finland, the Baltic provinces andthe ‘Caucasus, where social and political tensions were reinforced by a wide spread hatred of Russian rule. In the ten Polish provinces there were more strikes in the spring and summer of 195 than in the rest of the empire combined. In Wat with the police. N brated in Poland, 1 bring doven the gor The mood oft government's we: ized ren strikes try’ land, felled t they begun to laun and setting fire to spoke of the night. of horse-drawn ce property. Nearly 3 f Russa during ar reform and face ofthe Tsar's chance the gov Sof authority a 900 enough to he political ini ical, united ‘outraged by the puss into cen- government had higher learning organized them ined by a Wom: fessional groups gents direct tan bordetands rovinces and the orced by a wide there were more sst of the empire combined. In Warsaw and Lodz strikers put up barricades and cashed With the police. News of Rusis humiliating defeat by Fapan was cele bated in Poland, Finland and the Baltic lands in the belief that it would bring down the government and pave the way forthe own autonomy. ‘The mood of rebellion spread tothe countryside as wel. Seeing the government’ weakness, the peasants took their chance and orga nized ret strikes against the landowners. They trespassed on the gen try’ land, fled their trees and cut thee hay. From the ealy summer, ‘they began to launch full-scale attacks on their estates, seizing property and setting fre to the manors, forcing the landowners to fle, Witnesses, spoke of the night sky litup bythe blaze of burning manors an the lines of horse-drawn carts moving along the roads, loaded with plundered property. Nearly 3,000 manors were destrayed (5 percent ofthe total) ‘during the jacquerie of 1905-6. Most ofthe violence was concentrated in the central agricultural zone south of Moscow, where the largest estates were located and peasant poverty wis most acute. ‘The local gentry appealed for help against the peasant, and the gov ernment sent in the troops. Prom January to October 1905 the atmy was deployed no fewer than 2,700 times to accelerating the breakdown of army discipline which had begun with the despatch ofthe troops to Manchuria. It was the growing threat of ‘ mtinous revolution at home combined with the prospect of defeat abroad which forced the Tsar to sue for peace with Japan. It proved impossible—a it would again in 1917—to conduct foreign war in the ‘midst of a domestic socal revolution. The vast majority of the infantry ‘were peasant, and resented being used to suppres agrarian discontent Whole units refused to carry ot orders and mutiniesspreed through the ranks. Even the Cossack cavalry—known to be among the Tsar's ‘mot loyal soldiers—succumbed to the mood of rebellion. And then, on 1 June the unrest spread tothe Black Se Fleet, The mutiny began with apiece of maggoty meat. The ship's doctor on the battleship Potemkin declared it was ft to eat, When the sailors, complined to the captain he had thle spokesman, Vakulenchuk, sho. “The crew rebelled, killed seven offers and raised the red flag on the jown peasant uprising ship. The mutineers took the Potemkin to Odessa, where steking work crs had bosn ina state of virtual war withthe ity government fr the past two weeks Surrounded by a guard of honour, Vakulenchuk’'sbody ‘was placed atthe foot ofa set of marble steps (ater immortalized by Eisenstein lm) leading from the harbour to the city Huge crows gah ered on the harbour front, placing wreaths around the bier of the mae tyred revolutionary. Troops were sent in to disperse the crowd. Moving down the steps, they fired indiscriminately into the hemmed-in civil Jans below: 2,000 people were killed and 3,000 wounded before the i ing stopped. The mutiners sled to Constanza in Romani, where they give up the Potemkin for safe refuge In itself the mutiny had been & minor threat Bu it was a major embarrassment to the goverment for itshowed the word that the revolution had spread tothe hear ofits own military machine, ‘With the Russian Empiceon the verge of collapse, the regime responded to the crisis with its usual incompetence and obstinacy: Nicholas seemed. oblivious to the dangers of the situation: while the country sank into chaos he filled his diary with trivial notes on the weather and the com- pny at tea. His advisers told him that foreign agents had been respon: sible for the demonstration on bloody Sunday. 4 carefully selected delegation of ‘liable’ workers was simmoned to his palace and lined uplike children to hear lecture from the Tsar in which he blamed the workers fr allowing themselves to be deceived by foreign revolution aries’ but promised to “forgive them their sins’ because he believed in ‘heir ‘unshakeable devotion’. When advised by his new Minister ofthe Interior, A. G. Bulygin, that political concessions might be needed to ‘calm the country, Nicholas was astounded. He told the Minister: ‘One ‘would think that you are afraid a revolution will break out! "Your May ‘sty Bulygin replied, the revolution has already begun.* (On 18 February 1905, Nichols isued an Imperial Manifesto calling ‘onthe people to unite behind the throne and send in ideas for improve ments inthe government’ Bulygin was instructed to deaw up proposals. fora national assemb reform petitions were regiments, towns and during the French Rey ing language of deme foc Nicholas. Mosteal legislation, efetive the only sort of assem Bulygi Duma, prese sulative one (wha chive to ensure the do ‘The Bulygin Dum, cadlie it would have fexament to regain th moderate reformers f Petersburg’ adult res provincial cites the n chose to boycott the ment of mass evil die ing further concession During 1905 the work organized ond militar ties growing infence more clas-conscious police became more bi The general strike ciplined uprising by t walk-out by the Mo better pay and conditi (the printing works we which came under atte police and erected bat riking work tment for the chuk’s body rortalized by crowds gah + ofthe mar wd, Moving smed-in civik defore the fi a where they yhad been a ernment, for artofitsown, vneresponded thos seemed try sank into and the com: been fully selected ace and lined re blamed the sa revolution te believed in Sinister of the be needed to Jinister ‘One 28 "Your Maj aifesto calling for ‘improve ‘up proposals for a national assembly. For the next four months tens of thousands of refoem petitions were sent in tothe Tsar from village assembles, amy regimens, towns and factories Like the eaiers, the letters of grievance luring the French Revolution of 178, they gave expression tothe evov ing language of democracy. But their demands were much too radical for Nicholas, Mos called for a national parliament with sovereign rights, of legisation, effectively establishing a constitutional monarchy, whereas the only sort of assembly which the Tsar was prepared to concede (the Bulygin Duma, presented for his signature on 6 August was a purely consultative one (what Mirsky had propose) elected ona limited fran chise to ensure the domination of the aristocracy The Bulygin Duma (parliament) was to little too late: six months calier it would have been welcomed, and might have enabled the gov ernment to regain the political initiative. But now all but the most moderate reformers found it unsatisfactory, Less than 1 percent of St Petersburg’s adult residents would qualify for the vot, while in many provincial cities the number would be even tine. The socialist partes chose t boycott the elections and support the aleady growing move- ment of mass civil disobedience to pressure the government into mak ng further concessions. Dring 1905 the workers’ strikes and protests had become increasingly ‘onganized and militant. This was partly the result ofthe socialist par ties growing influence, but mainly ofthe workers themselves becoming ‘ore elas-conscious and violent a their confliets with employers and police became more biter and intense. “The general strike was a classic example ofa spontancous yet dis

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