HIST 236 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Georgy Gapon, 1905 Russian Revolution, Alexander Bulygin
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Nicholas II
Nicholas II did not enjoy politics and preferred family life
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He cultivated an image of himself as a family man and devout
Orthodox Christian, who was beloved by the people
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He continued many of his father's policies (ex. Russification)
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National Unrest
Nicholas II stepped up Russification in the borderland regions
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Pogroms and violence against Jews continued
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Nationalists and non-Russian ethnic minorities were responsible
for many of the assassinations of imperial state officials in this
period
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The Russo-Japanese War
Nicholas I embroiled Russian in a conflict with Japan in 1904
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Japanese forced quickly overpowered the Russian troops
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Morale was low among civilians and soldiers
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Russia pulled out of the war in September 1905, having gained
nothing and having lost international prestige
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Bloody Sunday
Massive strikes disrupted life in the cities
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An Orthodox priest, Father Gapon led a peaceful procession of
workers to the Winter palace to deliver a petition to the Tsar
calling for economic and political demands such as an 8 hour
work day and equality before the law
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The Tsar authorized the gendarmes to fire on the protestors and
many were killed
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Nicholas gained the reputation of 'Nicholas the Bloody' after this
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Political Turbulence
In an effort to stem unrest, the government devised reforms
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The Bulygin Constitution would have created a consulative Duma
but this was seen as falling far short of a representative
government
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Universities were given back some of their autonomy and
student protests soon emerged
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Marxists organized soviets (councils) across the country
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The government continued to use force to put down strikes and
disturbances
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The October Manifesto
By October 1905, Sergei Witte was convinced that only major
reforms would stop the country from falling apart
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Under Witte's guidance, Nicholas II wrote the October
Manifesto, granting civil freedoms based on the principles of
inviolability of the person, freedom of conscience, speech,
assembly and association
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He did not consent to limits on his sovereign power
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Party Politics
Politics grew more openly critical of the government in the wake
of the October Manifesto
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The Constitutional Democratic party (Kadets) was formed
The liberal intellectual Pavel Milyukov was its leader
○
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Marxists began to wonder if the revolution was right around the
corner
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In Moscow, an uprising largely led by the Bolsheviks in December
1905 was harshly repressed
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Massive strikes continued to occur
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Piotr Stolypin
In April 1906, he was made minister of the interior and was
tasked with putting an end to the lingering social and political
disorder, which he did through the use of force and police
methods
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Stolypin was a staunch monarchist but he was not necessarily a
reactionary
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He recognized that the tsar needed to find a way to live with the
reality of the duma
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Election to the First Duma
In December 1905, the Tsar issued electoral laws for the duma
that were incredily convoluted and established an indirect voting
system composed of four colleges (landed gentry, propertied
townspeople, rural people, workers)
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Women, soldiers, students, etc. were excluded
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Some parties including the Socialist Revolutionaries and the
factions of the RSDLP boycotted the elections
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Fundamental Laws
The Fundamental Laws were Russia's first constitution
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The Tsar's supreme sovereign authority was confirmed as
granted by God, and as such, he retained a veto over all laws
made by the Duma
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This granted a bicameral Russian parliament, consisting of a
State Council that was half-appointed by the Tsar and a state
duma that was elected
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The Tsar's approval was required for the promulgation of laws
and he could issue laws when the Duma was not in session
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Duma Politics
The first duma lasted only 72 days before being dissolved by the
Tsar
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The second duma lasted for 103 days, it involved more
revolutionaries and pushed a more radical agenda
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Stolypin accused the radicals of staging an insurrection and used
this to dissolve the duma and re-write the electoral laws (June
coup 1907)
Change electoral laws so Marxists and working class are
given even less of a vote
○
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The third and fourth dumas lasted longer and were more
compliant
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Stolypin oversaw a reform program during this time, including
land reforms
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Lecture 12 - Nicholas II, The 1905 Revolution and Attempts at Representative Government
Friday, February 2, 2018
3:57 PM
Document Summary
Lecture 12 - nicholas ii, the 1905 revolution and attempts at representative government. Nicholas ii did not enjoy politics and preferred family life. He cultivated an image of himself as a family man and devout. Orthodox christian, who was beloved by the people. He continued many of his father"s policies (ex. Nicholas ii stepped up russification in the borderland regions. Nationalists and non-russian ethnic minorities were responsible for many of the assassinations of imperial state officials in this period. Nicholas i embroiled russian in a conflict with japan in 1904. Russia pulled out of the war in september 1905, having gained nothing and having lost international prestige. The tsar authorized the gendarmes to fire on the protestors and many were killed. Nicholas gained the reputation of "nicholas the bloody" after this. In an effort to stem unrest, the government devised reforms.
