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Violence in 1905
On Sunday, January 9,1905, a crowd of over 100,000 marched peacefully through the center of St. Petersburg. Eventually, they assembled in Palace Square in front of the tsar’s Winter Palace and called for him to appear so that they could present him with a petition. The police, who had just finished putting down a series of strikes by industrial workers, followed their standing orders to get rid of any problems by opening fire on the crowd, which included women, children, and church leaders. Even when the crowd scattered, police pursued them on horseback, continuing to fire on them and trampling many to death in the ensuing panic. Estimates of the total death toll range from a few hundred to several thousand.
News of the massacre spread quickly, and many saw it as a sign that the tsar no longer cared about his people. The incident earned Nicholas the title “Nicholas the Bloody,” despite not knowing about the violence until it was already over. An unorganized series of demonstrations, riots, strikes, and assorted episodes of violence erupted across Russia in the following months.
The Russian Constitution and Duma
Any chance for Nicholas II to regain his standing was soon lost as Russia was rocked by a long series of disasters, scandals, and political failures. During the first half of 1905, Russia suffered a humiliating military defeat against Japan in the Russo-Japanese War. Later in the year, the tsar reluctantly gave in to heavy political pressure and granted Russia its first constitution. Permission to form a parliament, called the Duma, was also soon granted.
The Duma became a constant thorn in Nicholas’s side, as increasingly radical political parties emerged into the open after years of existing underground. Nicholas dealt with the problem by repeatedly dissolving the Duma and forcing new elections. During the same period, a renewed outbreak of assassinations and terrorism prompted the tsar to empower his prime minister, Petr Stolypin, to eliminate the threat of terror once and for all. Stolypin established a system of quick military trials for suspected terrorists, promptly followed by public hangings, executing thousands over the next several years.
Rasputin and World War I
In the meantime, Nicholas’s own family became the subject of a different sort of crisis. His wife, Alexandra, had begun consulting with a mystic peasant named Grigory Rasputin in a desperate attempt to help her sick son, Alexis. The self-proclaimed monk Rasputin gained political influence over the tsar through his wife, all while engaging in scandalous sexual escapades throughout the Russian capital. Rumors quickly spread that Rasputin had magical powers and had the entire royal family under some sort of spell.
Amid this scandal, Nicholas drew Russia into World War I in the summer of 1914. The war was a disaster. It caused inflation and a food shortage, ultimately costing the lives of nearly 5 million Russian soldiers and civilians. Although Russian aristocrats had Rasputin killed in a last-ditch effort to preserve the tsar from ruin, the war was the final straw for the Russian people. Within three months, Russia would be without a monarch for the first time in its history.
A Country Ripe for Revolution
In hindsight, nearly a century of warning signs preceded the Russian Revolution, as the Russian aristocracy drifted further and further away from the people they ruled, progressively undermining their own legitimacy. At the same time, Russians had more exposure to the culture and happenings of Europe than ever before. Many were inspired by the various democratic and socialist movements taking place there, to which the monarchy responded with intolerance and heavy penalties upon any who openly criticized or resisted the government. A series of military failures, starting with the Crimean War in the mid-1800s, and continuing with the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 and finally World War I, proved to be the end of Russia’s monarchy.
By the early 20th century, Russia was ripe for a revolution. Never in Russian history had so many political organizations existed at the same time. Moreover, many of these organizations were operating outside of Russia itself, where they could plan freely, raise money, and better educate themselves on contemporary political philosophy.
Events Timeline
1905
Troops fire on Russian civilians during demonstration in St. Petersburg
Russia loses Russo-Japanese War Nicholas II concedes to creation of Russian constitution and Duma
1914
Russia enters World War I
Key People
Nicholas II
Son of Alexander III; was tsar in power during the 1917 revolutions
Petr Stolypin
Nicholas II’s prime minister; had many suspected terrorists tried and executed
Grigory Rasputin
Peasant and mystic who influenced Tsarina Alexandra; was killed by Nicholas II’s supporters in 1916
