The first revolution of 1905-1907 took place in connection with a number of factors that manifested themselves in various areas of Russian society of that time. The revolutionary situation did not take shape instantly, but gradually escalated due to unresolved problems accumulated from the middle of the 19th century. At the beginning of the twentieth century, capitalism moved to the highest stage of its development - imperialism, which was accompanied by an exacerbation of all contradictions in society both domestically and internationally.
The working day lasted fourteen hours!
The reasons for the revolution of 1905-1907 lie in the fact that in the country, in different segments of the population, a large number of people have appeared who are dissatisfied with their lives. It is worth noting the disenfranchised position in the first place of the working class, which became the driving force in 1917. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the number of representatives of the proletariat in Russia reached fourteen million people (of which ten-year staff workers). And these fourteen million industrialists were forced to work 14 hours a day (with a working day officially established since 1897 at 11 and a half hours).
Link without investigation and trial
The first Russian revolution (1905–1907) became possible also because at the same time the working class was significantly limited in rights to protect its own interests. In the Russian Empire, secret regulations existed at the level of the Ministry of the Interior, which allowed the representatives of the proletariat to be exiled without investigation and trial for participating in protests. For the same actions, you could go to jail for a period of 60 to 240 days.
They worked for pennies
Russian revolution of 1905-1907 It became possible due to the brutal exploitation of the working class by the owners of production facilities. For example, in the processing of minerals from each ruble, workers received less than a third (32 kopecks), and in the processing of metals and the food industry even less - 22 and 4 kopecks, respectively. In those days they spent even less on the “social network” - 0.6% of the expenses of entrepreneurs. In part, this may have been due to the fact that the country's industry was more than half owned by foreign investors. As the analysis of securities of that time (shares of railways, enterprises, banks) showed, many of them had distribution addresses in the USA and Europe, as well as inscriptions not only in Russian, but also in English, German and French. The revolution of 1905–1907, the goals of which, at first glance, do not reveal obvious foreign influence, is based on the fact that there were not enough industrialists and representatives of the ruling elite who would be interested in increasing the well-being of the Russian people.
The “popularity” of Russian investments was then partly due to the fact that during the monetary reforms of 1897, the ruble of the Russian Empire was tied to gold. A flow of foreign money went into the country, which had the “reverse side of the coin” with the withdrawal of cash in the form of interest also in gold. Thus, in the years 1887–1913, nearly 1800 million rubles in gold were invested in the Russian Empire from Western countries, and about 2300 million gold rubles were also withdrawn as income.
Bread was consumed almost three times less than overseas
The revolution in Russia (1905–1907) was based on the fact that the standard of living of the population was significantly lower than in European countries. For example, citizens of the Russian Empire at that time consumed bread at about 3.45 centners per year per capita, in the USA this figure was close to a ton, in Denmark about 900 centners, in France more than half a ton, in Germany 4.32 centners . Moreover, it was in our country that large grain harvests were collected, a significant part of which was exported, which created the prerequisites for the receipt of funds in the treasury, on the one hand, and the "malnutrition" of the people on the other.
Life in the countryside before the Russian Revolution began (1905–1907) was also difficult. At that time, peasants had to pay significant taxes and excise taxes, the area of peasant allotments tended to decrease, many worked on leased plots, giving half of the crop or most of the income received. The landlords, on the contrary, enlarged their possessions (up to 300 peasant households per square footage per landowner) and over-exploited the farmers dependent on them. Unlike the workers, the peasantry, which accounted for up to 70% of the population of the Russian Empire, took part to a lesser extent in the historical process called “Revolution 1905–1907”, the reasons for which the results of the farmers were not very encouraging. Moreover, on the eve of even the 1917 revolution , many farmers were monarchists and believed in the "good king-priest."
The king did not want change
The revolution in Russia (1905–1907) is largely connected with the policies pursued by Nikolai the Second, who decided to choose the path of his father, Alexander the Third, and further strengthen the autocracy, instead of trying to liberalize Russian society, as his grandfather, Alexander II, wanted to do. The latter, however, was killed on the day when he wanted to announce the first semblance of the Russian constitution. During his accession to the throne at the age of 26, Nicholas II pointed out that democratic changes are meaningless ideas, so the king is not going to take into account such opinions that were already formed in a certain part of the educated society of that time, which did not add to the autocrat's popularity.
Unsuccessful military campaign of Nicholas II
The Russo-Japanese War, which took place in 1904-1905, did not add it either. Japan unleashed it, but many in the Russian Empire also longed for some kind of military campaign to strengthen the authority of the authorities. The first Russian revolution (1905–1907) began during the war (revolutionary actions took place for the first time in January 1905, while the war ended in August of that year), which were, by and large, unsuccessful. Russia did not have fortresses fortified, army and navy supplies were poorly organized, soldiers and officers died senselessly, and the surrender of Port Arthur fortress, the events of Tsushima and Mukden influenced more than negatively the image of the autocrat and his entourage.
Periodization of the revolution
Historians know the following stages of the revolution of 1905-1907:
- The first is in January-March 1905.
- The second, lasting from April to August 1905.
- The third, lasting from the fall of 1905 to March 1906.
At the first stage, the main events developed after Bloody Sunday, when about one hundred and forty thousand proletarians came with religious symbols and a petition about the needs of the working class to the Winter Palace, where some of them were shot by Cossacks and government troops. In addition to economic requirements, the petition also included proposals to establish a national representation in the form of a Constituent Assembly, introduce freedom of speech, religion, equality of all before the law, reduce the length of the working day, separate the church from the state, state education, etc.
The bourgeoisie supported the idea of constituent assemblies
The working masses were led by priest Georgy Gapon, who headed the Assembly of Workers of St. Petersburg several years earlier, which was designed to weaken the influence of revolutionary ideas on the proletariat. He also made a petition. Nicholas II during the procession in the capital was not. At the first stage, about 810,000 people participated in the unrest, the workers were supported by students, zemstvos, and employees. The revolution of 1905–1907, the goals of which were different for different groups of the population, for the first time attracted the middle and big bourgeoisie, who supported the idea of a constituent assembly. The tsar, in response to indignation, wrote an order for the Minister of Internal Affairs, Bulygin A., demanding that he prepare a draft legislative body (Duma).
The development of the revolutionary process: the second stage
How did the revolution of 1905-1907 develop further? The second stage can be briefly described as follows: in April-August 1905, about 0.7 million people took part in the strikes, including a strike of textile workers from May 12 to July 26 (in Ivanovo-Voznesensk). In the same period, in every fifth county of the European part of the Russian Empire, peasant uprisings took place. Under the pressure of these events, in August 1905 the authorities issued documents regarding the election of the Duma, but with a very small number of voters. Elections to this body were boycotted by all layers of protest movements, so the Duma was never created.
What results did the revolution of 1905-1907 bring at this stage? The goals that the peasantry pursued during all the revolutionary events of the early twentieth century were partially achieved in August 1905, when the farmers were able to gain access to state lands. But only by purchasing them through the so-called Peasant Bank, which few could afford.
The third period brought civil liberties
The third stage, which was the revolution in Russia (1905-1907), was the longest. It began in September 1905 and ended in March 1906. The most significant event here was the All-Russian political strike, which was attended by about two million people across the country. The demands were all the same - an eight-hour working day, convocation of the Constituent Assembly, democratic freedoms. The government structures intended to suppress the speech by force of arms (General Trepov’s order “not to spare spare bullets and not to shoot blanks to disperse the crowd”), but on October 17 of that same year, Nicholas II issued a decree that gave significant civil liberties. It included freedom of association, assembly, speech, and personal integrity. After the adoption of this decree, trade unions and councils of workers' deputies began to emerge, unions of the Russian People and October 17 were founded, and agrarian Stolypin reforms began.
The main events of the revolution (1905–1907) include two convocations of the State Duma. These were attempts to transform the political system in Russia from autocratic to parliamentary monarchy. The First Duma worked from April 1906 to July of the same year and was abolished by the emperor, as it actively fought against the current government, was distinguished by the initiation of radical laws (the Socialist-Revolutionaries proposed the nationalization of natural wealth and the abolition of private ownership of land, etc.).
Duma invented nothing
The events of the revolution (1905–1907) in terms of the work of legislative bodies were not particularly successful. So, the Second State Duma, which worked from 190 to February in 1907, presented many proposals for resolving the agrarian question from different parties, considered the food issue, provisions on the abolition of military field courts and military conscription, and opposed “illegal actions” of the police, than great "angry" the current government. The Second Duma included about 500 deputies, among whom 38% had higher education, home education - 8 percent, secondary education - about 20%, lower - 32 percent. Illiteracy in the Duma was one percent, which is not surprising, since almost 170 deputies were immigrants from the illiterate peasantry. But there were also 6 plant directors in the Duma, lawyers - about thirty, and even one poet.
Why did the revolution end in 1907?
Together with the dissolution of the Second State Duma , the revolution of 1905–1907 ended. Briefly, the activity of this body can be described as insufficiently productive, since the Duma again fought more with other authorities. In total, she passed 20 legislative acts, of which only three received the force of law, including two projects on helping people affected by crop failures.
The results of the first Russian revolution
What did the revolution of 1905–1907 bring to the inhabitants of the Russian Empire? The goals of the majority of the protesting classes of society during this historical event were not achieved, therefore it is believed that the revolutionary process was defeated. Certain results in the form of the establishment of a legislative body representing a number of estates, the granting of certain civil liberties, of course, were. But the state system did not undergo any special changes, the land issue was not completely resolved, the working conditions of the working class remained difficult, so the prerequisites for the further development of revolutionary processes remained.
The results of the revolution included the formation of three main “camps” of political parties (governmental, liberal-bourgeois and democratic), which will still appear on the political arena of Russia in 1917.