Bloody Sunday (1905): what it was and consequences

O Bloody Sunday occurred on January 9, 1905 (according to the Julian calendar) and was an event in which troops, in the service of Tsar Nicholas II, opened fire on a crowd protesting peacefully in the streets of Saint Petersburg. The crowd was of supporters of the tsar who wanted some improvement in the country, and it is estimated that hundreds of people were killed.

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Context of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century

• Tsarism

Nicholas II was the Russian tsar in the early 20th century.[1]

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was a great empire, one of the largest in the world, and was ruled by a monarchy known as tsarism. That monarchy was in the hands of dynastyRomanov since the beginning of the 17th century, and Russia was governed in a autocratic, with the monarchs accepting no less than absolute power in the country.

Even in the 20th century, the Romanovs found it very difficult to accept the transformations taking place on the planet and

resisted all modern initiatives that dealt with the diminution of the powers of monarchs. Thus, there was a lot of resistance in adhering to and obeying any initiative that dealt with the king's subordination to constitutional initiatives and bodies such as the Legislative.

The country had no legislative body, just as there was no political party or union legalized by the Russian government. As the historian Reginald E. Zelnik, the Russian tsars still had a huge distrust of civic associations that were not under strict government surveillance|1|.

• Economy

Furthermore, Russia had gone through, since the end of the 19th century, a industrialization which considerably developed the country's economy and created industrial hubs in cities such as St. Petersburg, then the country's capital. At the same time that industrial development was invested, protectionist economic policies aimed at ensuring a favorable trade balance.

The result was that the Russian government stipulated certain taxes aimed at discourage the import of important products, like machinery. This affected important areas of the country, such as agriculture, as it made it difficult for producers to acquire important items for Russian agricultural development. That harmed agriculture Russian and, at certain times, generated hunger, as it was in the cycle between 1891 and 1892, when hundreds of thousands of people starved to death in Russia.

• Politics

The authoritarianism of this monarchy and economic development not accompanied by an improvement in the lives of the people created a explosive scenario in Russia. This scenario allowed left-wing parties such as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RDSP), and the labor movement gain strength.

The growth of the labor movement and left-wing parties contributed to a approximation of a intelligentsia influenced by Marxist ideals of the popular classes, as workers and peasants. The growth of the Russian left was also marked by the emergence of radicalized groups that acted through terrorist actions.

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What was Bloody Sunday

Monument in honor of the victims of Bloody Sunday of 1905.[2]

With all this dissatisfaction with the regime of Nicholas II, it is natural that, at some point, demonstrations took place against the government. In December 1904, four factory workers were fired from a factory called Putilov. The dismissal happened because they demanded that an overseer be punished, as he punished his subordinates severely.

The situation led some local workers associations to meet to discuss ways to support the dismissed workers, and the consensus reached was to convene general strike in the city of St. Petersburg. The strike announcement was made on January 2, 1905, and soon blue-collar workers across the city began to join the strike.

An assembly of workers tried, unsuccessfully, to negotiate with factory owner Putilov to back down from the decision to fire the four workers. In this context, the Orthodox priest georgygap took a leading role. He led an assembly of workers that acted in defense of the improvement of working conditions.

The four fired workers were part of the assembly led by Gapon, and he decided to call a march for January 9th. So far, around 100,000 workers had joined the strike, and Gapon, as an Orthodox priest, thought of taking a petition to Tsar Nicholas II that he promote certain reforms.

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THE petition was not radical and called for improvements for workers, such as better wages and an eight-hour working day, as well as calling for more freedom of expression in Russia. It was not a revolutionary text and it had a loyalty tone towards Nicholas II and the tsarist monarchy.

Nicholas II was not in St. Petersburg on the day of the Gapon rally, nor had he authorized the receipt of the petition. The crowd led by the priest went peacefully through the streets of St. Petersburg and went to the doors of the winter palace, home of the tsar. People in the march carried images of the tsar and saints and sang patriotic songs.

During the march, as the crowd approached the Winter Palace, Russian troops opened fire on the population. The violence of Russian troops spread through the city streets and resulted in the death of at least 130 people, although there are estimates that speak of up to 5,000 deaths. Gapon, the creator of the march, managed to escape with his life and went into hiding. Most historians believe that the violence committed on January 9 was willful and premeditated.

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Bloody Sunday Consequences

The violence of the Nicholas II regime against the population shockedthe russian society. The reasonably positive view of the emperor was converted into resentment and anger, and the tsar came to be known as Nicholas, the bloody. The population's outrage at the violence on Bloody Sunday sparked protests across the country.

Dissatisfaction with Nicholas II after Bloody Sunday served as fuse for the 1905 revolution, a movement that started spontaneously in Russia and that gave great strength to the revolutionary groups inside the country. The 1905 Revolution allowed for some political opening to take place and opened the way for the Bolsheviks seize power some years later.

Bloody Sunday marked the beginning of the end of the Russian empire, the tsarist monarchy and the Romanov dynasty.

Russian-Japanese War

Meeting between Russian and Japanese authorities to debate the terms of the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905.[1]

The context of Russia in 1905 cannot fail to address the Russian-Japanese War. This conflict was the result of clash of interests between Russia and Japan in the Far East, especially in the occupation of Manchuria, in northeast China. In a context of imperialist race, Russia saw China as the perfect place to expand its economic interests.

It turns out that China was the scene of disputes for many powers, and the Russians' zone of interest was also of interest to Japan, a country that had undergone a major modernization in the second half of the 19th century and was seeking to position itself as an imperialist power in the Asia.

The clash of interests led to diplomatic debates between the two nations, and the Japan offered ways to resolve itself, through dialogue, the differences between the two nations. the tsar Nicholas II rejected any possibility according to Japan because he had been warned that a small war against that country could reinforce the nationalism of the Russian population and curb the dissatisfaction that existed with their government.

Japan was seen as an opponent unable to fight Russia and a quick victory was expected. The result was quite the opposite. Japan had a modernized and prepared army and soon racked up victories when the war broke out. Formally the war began with a surprise attack by Japan in February 9, 1904.

The war was disastrous for Russia, and there is talk that the country may have lost up to 120 thousand people with that conflict. In addition to the deaths, the war increased dissatisfaction with the government: the nobility continued to be unhappy with industrialization; the people were hungry and demanded wage increases and a reduction in the workload; The intelligentsia Russia, in turn, demanded greater political openness. The monarchy was under pressure from all sides and would soon come to an end.

Grades

|1| ZELNIK, Reginald E. Revolutionary Russia (1890-1914). In.: FREEZE, Gregory L. (org.). Russian history. Lisbon: Editions 70, 2017. P. 260.

Image credits

[1] Everett Collection and Shutterstock

[2] Hunter82 and Shutterstock

By Daniel Neves
History teacher