1905 Revolution

• In 1905 in Tsarist Russia, there were events of Bloody Sunday and the 1905 Revolution
• Police socialism


  The state gets involved and allows a controlled way for workers to vent their frustrations and ask for control
• Assembly of Russian factory workers

  An organisation created under the idea of police socialism, led by a Russian Orthodox priest Father Georgi Gapon
• Following the defeat of Russian forces at Port Arthur in December 1904, tensions in St. Petersburg started to boil over
• Bloody Sunday


  1. Workers at the Putilov ironworks went on strike on 3 January 1905

  2. Father Gapon led a demonstration of 150,000 workers and their families to present a petition to the Tsar at the Winter Palace

  3. Troops opened fire on the unarmed civilians

  4. Official death toll claimed as 76, but many historians estimate closer to 1,000
• Bloody Sunday was seen as the final straw, as people realised the Tsar was not on their side
• Causes of the 1905 Revolution

  • Tsar's refusal to reduce autocratic powers
  • Tsar's inability to effectively rule Russia
  • Failures of Alexander II's emancipation reforms
  • Growing urban proletariat facing poor living conditions
  • Radical groups like Socialist Revolutionaries and Social Democrats pushing revolutionary ideas
  • Disastrous Russo-Japanese War
• The Russo-Japanese War was supposed to be an easy victory and unify the Russian people


  Instead it proved a disaster, damaging Russia's standing in the world
• Events of 1905 Revolution

  1. February 1905: 400,000 workers on strike in St. Petersburg

  2. April-May 1905: Workers' councils (soviets) formed and seized control of factories

  3. October 1905: General strike of 2.5 million workers, causing economic collapse

  4. Peasant unrest and uprisings across the countryside

  5. National minorities and ethnic groups demanding autonomy

  6. Mutinies in the navy and some army units
• The Tsar's ministers told him that without reform, his regime would be swept away in revolution
• This led to the October Manifesto, where the Tsar was forced to introduce some reforms
• The details of the October Manifesto and the fundamental laws it established will be covered in the next video