Aftermath of Bloody Sunday
Riots, uprisings, protest, and strikes followed as news of the killings in Bloody Sunday spread far and wide within the Empire. As a result of the disaster, Minister Mirsky resigned from his position by the end of January. Alexander Trepov assumed the position of governor-general of St. Petersburg to quell the violence in the city. To ease tensions, he orchestrated an event between the Tsar and the workers. Trepov choose workers who had been cleared from any anti-Tsarist movements for a meeting in Tsarkoye Selo. Sergei Witte recollected the news he received about the event that transpired:
"The ‘delegates' expressed their loyal feelings to the Emperor, and His Majesty delivered before them a speech, written out beforehand, assuring them that he had their needs at heart and would do for them everything within his power."
After the exchange of words, Nicholas had dinner with them and the event ended. The whole event flopped. It went unnoticed, not even major news outlets published any article about the event. Unluckily for the so-called workers’ delegates, those who participated in the meeting got harassed, which prevented them from going back to work.
Following
Bloody Sunday, millions of workers across the Russian empire went on strike in
sympathy towards their fellow workers in St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg
alone, 400,000 went on strike. They demanded justice and reform of the autocratic
system of government. The strikes hurt the Russian economy. Revolutionaries
orchestrated violence and clashed with the police. On February 4 (Old Style),
1905, an assassin succeeded in bringing down Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich
Romanov. The Tsar feared the conditions leading up to a violent revolution with
him deposed. Nicholas then appointed Trepov to the position of Associate
Minister to assist the new Interior Minister Alexander Bulygin. The pair had
their disagreements with one being slightly open for reforms while the other
showed a strong reactionary stand. Witte described the two as "a dummy
minister and a veritable dictator."
As
petitions for reforms and justice flooded government offices, Nicholas remained
steadfast to maintain the established order. On February 5 (Old Style), 1905, a
manifesto by the Tsar went public where he maintained his autocratic power. The
manifesto shocked many ministers for the sudden and brash manifesto. Officials
knew that the manifesto would further worsen the already shaky and chaotic
situation. Many officials suspected the head of the Holy Synod Konstantin
Podiedonostsev, a well-known conservative and anti-liberal, edited and perhaps even
composed the published manifesto. Bulygin with the support of other ministers
edited the manifesto. On the edited version that became known as the Bulygin
Rescript, it promised a body of people’s representatives to convene as a
prelude for the establishment of a Duma. From that point, Bulygin worked for the
establishment of a Duma.
In Russia’s Peripheries
Elsewhere
in the peripheries of the Russian Empire, news of the January 9 killings caused
serious repercussions for the government, especially in areas that had been for
years filled with extreme tensions either inter-racial or national. It added to
the already tremendous challenges for St. Petersburg. With their resources
limited due to the war in the east and chaos at home, Russian authorities had
little power to maintain order in other domains.
In
the Caucasus, strikes and massacres broke out. In January strikes began in
major industrial cities in the region – Baku, Tiflis, Batumi. However, in
February of 1905, an Armenian police killed a Tatar or Azeri, worsened the
conditions. The news of the killing sparked revenge riots in Baku between
Azeris and Armenians. Years of ethnic tensions erupted, devouring several major
cities. On February 20 – 21, 1905 massacres had been reported in Yerevan,
followed by another in Nakhichevan in May. Administration fell apart with the
assassination of the governor of Transcaucasia in the same month. Massacres continued in June in Shusha and in
the countryside. In September, Azeris attacked Armenian owned oil wells in Baku
leaving 1,500 Armenians killed and 1,026 of 1,609 wells destroyed. In addition
to ruined oil wells, the ethnic killings between the Armenians and Azeris left
128 Armenian and 158 Azeri villages decimated.
In
the Baltics, violence and instability also mounted. Growing disturbances in
Finland by nationalist worsened. Native Baltics attacked landowning Germans.
Fight for autonomy also arose in 1905.
In
Finland, local riots and terrorist acts continued further. In 1904, Finns
revolted when Russians began conscripting Finnish men for war in the east and
when St. Petersburg disregarded their constitution. In June 17, 1904, a Finnish
nationalist assassinated the Governor-General Nikolay Bobrikov. Months after
the assassination, mobs incited by nationalist attacked government offices and
factories. It even intensified when news of Bloody Sunday reached Finland.
Strikes in major cities began. Some turned violent exacerbating the already
troubling situation.
In
Lithuania, workers launched strikes while political parties demanded civil
liberties. On January 11, 1905, Lithuanian workers in Vilna and Kovno went on
strike in support of those slayed in St. Petersburg. The Lithuanian Social
Democrats, the Polish Socialist Party, and the Social Democrats of Kingdom of
Poland and Lithuania provided the leadership and organizational structure for
these strikes. On the following month, the workers and political parties demand
expansion of civil rights, such as freedom of worship, assembly, among others.
They also wanted relaxation of Russification policies of the government.
Lastly, they also demanded autonomy for Lithuania. But some of the extremist in
Lithuania even extended their demands to complete independence. Strikes
continued but violence remained isolated. In May 1905, peasants numbering to
1,500 to 2,000 protested and demanded swift and complete agrarian reforms,
which included lands and free from tenant farming from Baltic Germans.
In
Estonia, workers and students protested against Russian authorities. In January
1905, in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, workers in major cities of Talinn,
Narva, and Parnu began. In addition to workers, students from the University of
Tartu demonstrated demanding social justice and liberal reforms. Strikes
remained endemic and in October 16, 1905, a demonstration went violent when
Russian troops fired onto a crowd taking the lives of 90 while wounding 200.
Latvia
on the other hand saw the worst of attacks on Baltic Germans. The Latvian
peasants attacked manors and estates of their abusive Baltic German overlords. In the end, 183 estates and 72 manors laid in
ruin in Livland while 229 estates and 42 manors ruined in Courland. Meanwhile,
workers also went on strike in protest of Russian government’s action against
the workers in January.
Poland’s
situation also spiraled out of control, resulting into a virtual state of martial
law for most parts of the country. A general strike across Poland began following
Bloody Sunday. Violent clashes between Russian forces and strikers reported in Lodz
and Warsaw. Many believed the Russian military acted heavy handedly against the
strikers, which fueled dissent further. The Government in reaction to the
general strike and violence started to declare a state of alert in Warsaw. The
authorities then expanded its inclusion between January and February in most
part of Poland. Under state of alert, it gave police and military the right to
arrest anyone suspected as hooligans and terrorist. Poland was virtually under
martial law. Interest groups and political parties exploited the situation to
address their demands. In March 1905, the National League or Liga Narodowa
demanded the re-instatement of Polish in education and administration. Students
joined the call for reform, such as the call for reintroduction of Polish
language, relaxation of Russification policies, and enactment of civil
liberties, by boycotting their classes, which lasted until 1908. In May 3, 1905
the Polish Peasants’ Union or the PZL demanded agrarian reforms and protection
against abuses of Russian landlords. Violence erupted on June 22 up to June 24
when the city of Lodz went ablaze. An insurrection supported by the Polish
Socialist led by Jozef Pilsudski began. The insurrection, however, was futile
and the Russians defeated the rebels.
As
the conditions in the margins of the Russian Empire ravaged, back in the
heartland, situations continued to unstable as new strikes, riots, and mutinies
began. And the Tsarist government considered their options.
Explore also:
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New York Times. "Russian Tells Story of Sunday's Massacre." New York Times (January 25 1905). URL: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9505E0D6173AE733A25756C2A9679C946497D6CF
"Troops Overawe St. Petersburg." New York Times (January 24, 1905). URL: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9C07EFDF1F3BE631A25757C2A9679C946497D6CF
"Iron Ruler for St. Petersburg." New York Times (January 25, 1905). URL: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9907E0D6173AE733A25756C2A9679C946497D6CF
"Revolution?" The Manchester Guardian (January 23, 1905). URL: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/1/4/1357302276132/Russia-1905-uprising-001.jpg
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Ascher, Abraham. "Revolution of 1905." Encyclopedia of Russian History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Feb. 2016. http://www.encyclopedia.com.
Trotsky, Leon. “1905.” Marxist Internet Archives.
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