The main stages of the first Russian revolution 1905 1907. Reasons, stages, course of the revolution

They are an imbalance between the ideological aspirations of the Russian thinking society and the current formats of its life. Russia has outgrown the form existing system. She strives for a new system, which is based on a legal society based on civil liberties.

S.Yu. Witte

The Russian bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1905-1907, which we will briefly discuss today, was one of the first stages indicating that the people no longer wanted to live in the old way. The 1905 revolution is very important because it preceded the 1917 revolution, it embodied problems in Russian society, as well as unresolved conflicts in the foreign policy structure of the world.

Causes of the revolution

The main reasons for the revolution of 1905-1907 are as follows:

• Lack of political freedoms for the majority of the population Russian Empire.
• Unresolved agricultural issue. Despite the abolition of serfdom in 1861, there were no significant changes for the peasants.
• Difficult working conditions in plants and factories.
• Russia's failures in Russian-Japanese war.
• National question. Russia was a multinational country, but many small nations had rights.

In fact, the revolution advocated limiting autocracy. There was no question of overthrowing the monarchy in Russia, so the events of 1905-1907 should be considered solely as preparation for the February and October revolutions of 1917. Important point, which is unlikely to be dissuaded in most history books, is to finance the revolution. In order for the people to rise to active action, those who will lead the people must appear. These people respectively need money and influence. As stated in famous film, any crime has a financial trail. And this trace really needs to be looked for, since priest Gapon is not suitable for the role of the person who created the revolution and raised it from scratch to active action.

I propose to look for the origins of the first Russian revolution and the second Russian revolution in Witte’s reforms. Currency reform 1897, after which the gold standard was introduced in the Russian Empire, actually condemned the country. Russian ruble became more controlled by the world financial institutions, and in order to finally fix the strings of the system, a revolution was needed. This same scenario was tested not only in Russia, but also, for example, in Germany.

Main goals

During the revolution, the following tasks were set:

• Limitation or elimination of autocracy.
• Creation of democratic foundations: political parties, freedom of speech, press, free choice of occupations, and so on.
• Reducing the working day to 8 hours.
• Providing land to peasants.
• Establishment of equality of peoples in Russia.

Understanding these tasks is very important, since they cover not just one layer of the population, but practically the entire population of the Russian Empire. The tasks covered all segments of the population, so it was possible to reach the broad masses who took part in the revolution.

The revolution of 1905-1907 was essentially bourgeois-democratic. Bourgeois, since the tasks of the revolution included the final destruction of serfdom, and democratic, since the broad masses of the population took part in it: workers, peasants, soldiers, intellectuals, and so on.

The course of the revolution and its stages

The revolution of 1905-1907 can be divided into three main stages: January-September 1905, October-December 1905, January 1906 - June 3, 1907. Let's take a more specific look at each of these stages, but before that I want to dwell on 3 main indicators that allowed start a revolution and accelerate its progress:

• Defeat of Russia during the Russo-Japanese War. Many historians say that Japanese intelligence actively financed the revolution in Russia. This was necessary to weaken the enemy from within. Of course, there are no traces to prove this theory, but interesting fact- as soon as the Russo-Japanese War ended, the first Russian revolution of 1905 began to decline.
• Crisis of 1900-1903. It was an economic crisis that hit the main sections of the population, especially the poor, very hard.
• Bloody Sunday January 9, 1905. It was after this day that the revolution began to gain momentum as blood was shed.

The first stage of the revolution: January-September 1905

On January 3, a strike began at the Putilov plant, which was supported by the majority large factories St. Petersburg. The reason is the layoffs of several workers. The strike was led by the organization “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers of the City of St. Petersburg,” headed by priest Gapon. During the strike, they began to write a petition to the Tsar, which they decided to take to the Winter Palace on January 9. The petition consisted of five main points:

1. The release of all those who suffered for strikes, for political and religious beliefs in the country.
2. Declarations of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and integrity of the person.
3. Compulsory free education for all citizens.
4. Responsibility of ministers and ministries to the people.
5. Equality of all before the law.

Please note that the petition itself is not a call to start a revolution. Therefore, the events of January 3-8 can be considered as preparation for the revolution of 1905-1907. But the question is who prepared and who organized the first Russian revolution, if the protesters wanted to change the country, but did not call for taking up arms? Therefore, it is very important to study the issues of January 9, 1905, which went down in history as Bloody Sunday, since it was a provocation that came from both the priest Gapon and the tsarist army.

Main events

Table 2. Dates and events of the first stage of the revolution: January-September 1905

date	Event
January 3 - 8	Workers' strikes in St. Petersburg. Preparing a petition to the king.
January 9	Bloody Sunday. Shooting of a 140,000-strong workers' demonstration moving towards the Winter Palace.
January February	Mass strikes of workers who opposed the events of January 9.
January 19	Nicholas 2 speaks to the workers. In his speech, the emperor notes that he forgives all protesters, that the protesters themselves are to blame for the execution, and that if such petitions and demonstrations are repeated, the executions will be repeated.
February March	The beginning of peasant revolts. Approximately 1/6 of the district in Russia was captured. The beginning of a boycott by workers. Workers, peasants and intellectuals take part in the demonstrations.
18th of Febuary	Acts on the convening of the State Duma, the so-called “Bulygin Duma,” are published.
1st of May	Weavers' revolt in Lodz. Demonstrations in Warsaw, Revel and Riga. The army used weapons to suppress.
May 12 - July 23	Workers' strike in Ivanovo-Voznesensk.
June 14-25	Mutiny on the battleship "Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky".
July	By order of the government, all factories raised wages for workers.
July 31 - August 1	Congress of the Peasant Union.
July August	The active stage of repression by the state, expressed in mass arrests of protesters.

Strikes during the revolution

Changes in the number of strikes in Russia from 1905 to 1916.

Second stage of the revolution: October-December 1905

All-Russian strike

On September 19, Moscow newspapers came out with demands for economic changes. Subsequently, these demands were supported by workers of Moscow enterprises, as well as railway workers. As a result, the largest strike of the revolution of 1905-1907 began. Today this strike is called an all-Russian strike. More than 2 million people from more than 50 cities took part in it. As a result, protesters began to spontaneously form Soviets of Workers' Deputies in cities. For example, on October 13, the Council of Workers' Deputies appeared in St. Petersburg.

To understand the significance of those events, it is necessary to note once again that 2 million people took part in them, and during the event, classes in all educational institutions were canceled, banks, pharmacies, and shops stopped working. It was during the October strike that the slogans “Down with autocracy” and “Long live democratic republic" The situation began to get out of control and the tsar was forced to sign the manifesto “On the improvement of public order” dated October 17, 1905. This manifesto contained 3 main provisions:

1. All people receive civil liberties and personal integrity. Freedom of speech, conscience, assembly and association is also proclaimed. Freedom of conscience means freedom of religion.
2. Even those segments of the population that before 1905 were deprived of civil and voting rights are involved in the work of the State Duma.
3. Not a single law of the Russian Empire could be adopted without the approval of the State Duma.

The first two points are very important for the population, but not critical for the country. But the last point is very important for the history of Russia. The recognition that the monarch cannot issue independent laws without the approval of the State Duma is the end of autocracy. In fact, after 1905, autocracy ended in Russia. An emperor who cannot pass all the laws he considers necessary cannot be considered an autocrat. Therefore, from 1905 to 1917 in Russia there was a form of government reminiscent of a constitutional monarchy.

December events in Moscow

It would seem that the manifesto of October 17, 1905 was supposed to extinguish the hearth of the revolution, but the fact is that political parties They regarded the signing of this document as a diplomatic move by the tsarist government, which thereby tried to suppress the revolution, but did not intend to implement the manifesto. As a result, preparations began for a new stage of the revolution. Moreover, this stage was supposed to result in an armed conflict, because the revolutionaries for the first time began to purchase weapons on a large scale. On December 7, 1905, the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies, which was formed only in November, addressed all citizens with a demand to stop work and go on strike. All Moscow workers heeded this demand, and they were supported by everyone and the workers of St. Petersburg. The government decided to suppress the rebellion with the help of the army, which resulted in an active armed conflict. It happened on December 10th.

The fighting in Moscow lasted 7 days. About 6,000 people were on the side of the revolutionaries. Workers began to form their own neighborhoods, blocking them with barricades. On December 15, the Semenovsky Guards Regiment arrived in Moscow, which immediately began shelling the workers’ positions with artillery. The main events took place on Presnya. But the forces were unequal, so on December 19, the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies decided that the uprising would end. There are no specific data on casualties; official sources only say that more than 1,000 people were killed and arrested in these events. This was the culmination of the revolution of 1905-1907, after which its intensity began to decline.

Key dates and events

Table 3. Dates and events of the second stage of the revolution: October-December 1905

date	Event	The authorities' reaction
October 7-15	General Russian political strike. The workers acted in an organized manner, stopping the work of almost all large factories, post offices, telegraphs, transport, educational institutions and so on.	In response to this, on October 12, Nicholas 2 signed an order to use weapons to suppress strikes, and on October 17, a manifesto “On the improvement of public order.”
October November	Political parties are being created. The peasant movement is growing stronger. In the European part of Russia, approximately 1/2 of all county lands have been captured. New “peasant republics” with their own power were formed there. At the same time, an uprising occurred in the fleet of Kronstadt and Sevastopol.	Manifesto of November 3 “On the reduction of redemption payments” by half in 1906, and on the complete abolition of redemption payments from January 1, 1907. The active stages of the uprising, primarily in the navy, were suppressed.
November December	Spontaneous uprisings in large cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, where Soviets of Workers' Deputies were formed.	The army arrested all the leaders of the Soviets of Workers' Deputies.
December 7-9	The beginning and preparation of a big strike in Moscow
December 10-19	Armed uprising in Moscow.	On December 11, a new electoral law of the Russian Empire is adopted. On December 17-19, a new execution of the rebels. The armed uprising was suppressed.
December	Armed uprisings in Nizhny Novgorod, in the Urals, Vladivostok, Kharkov, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnoyarsk, Georgia, the Caucasus.	Armed suppression of uprisings.

Third stage of the revolution: January 1906 - June 3, 1907

The third stage of the revolution is characterized by a significant decrease in the number of strikes. That is, as soon as the war with Japan ended, the number of uprisings immediately decreased. This amazing fact, which once again proves that the revolutionaries have Japanese funding.

One of the first major events of 1906 was February 2, when the act establishing the State Duma was signed. The Duma was created for 5 years, and the tsar retained the right to dissolve it and announce new elections. From March 26 to April 20, elections to the first State Duma of the Russian Empire were held. From April 27 to July 8, the activities of the first State Duma in Russia continued, but these meetings did not create any significant documents. On July 10, 1906, the so-called “Vyborg views” were signed as a sign of protest by deputies against the dispersal of the Duma. In February 1907, elections to the Second State Duma began, which began on February 20 and continued until June 2, 1907. The chairman of the Duma was Cadet Golovin, the main issue for discussion was the agrarian question.

Among important events The third stage can be distinguished as follows:

• On April 23, 1906, the main set of laws of the Russian Empire was published, with amendments due to the revolution.
• November 9, 1906 - a decree allowing peasants to receive plots for personal use after leaving the community.
• July 3, 1907 - a manifesto was signed to dissolve the Duma and the adoption of a new electoral law. This was the end of the revolution.

Results of the revolution

Table 4. Results of the revolution 1905-1907

	Before the revolution	After the revolution
Autocracy	Not limited by anyone or anything	Limited by the State Council and the State Duma
Main segments of the population	Deprived of political freedoms	Have political freedoms, including personal inviolability
Working conditions	High degree of worker exploitation	Increase in wages and reduction of working hours to 9-10 hours
Land question	The land belonged to the landowners, the peasant issue was not resolved	Granting peasants rights to land. Agrarian reform

The results of the revolution of 1905-1907 can be called intermediate. Globally, nothing has changed in the country. The only serious change concerned the fact that the tsar had to pass all laws through the State Duma. As for the rest: the peasant question was not resolved, the working day was reduced slightly, and wages were not increased. It turns out that 2.5 years of revolution were aimed at slightly limiting the power of the monarch, and at asserting the right to create trade unions and conduct strikes? The answer is paradoxical - this is exactly what was required of the first Russian revolution. It did not solve problems within the country, but prepared Russia for a future, more powerful revolution.

Trade unions, strikes and the State Duma played a big role in the 1917 revolution. Therefore, these two revolutions must be considered together. The second wouldn't exist without the first. After all, the revolution of 1905 did not solve any serious problems: the tsar remained in power, the ruling classes did not change, the bureaucracy did not disappear, corruption increased, the standard of living fell, and so on. At first glance, it seems illogical that under such conditions the revolution calmed down. After all, this is exactly what people were against. But if we understand that the revolutions in Russia were connected, then the results of the first revolution should ultimately become the reasons for the second revolution. And so it happened.

At the beginning of the 20th century. In Russia, objective and subjective prerequisites for revolution have developed, primarily due to the characteristics of Russia as a second-tier country. Four main factors became the most important prerequisites. Russia remained a country with an undeveloped democracy, lack of a constitution, and lack of guarantees of human rights, which resulted in the activity of parties opposing the government. After the reforms of the mid-19th century. The peasantry received less land than they used before the reform to ensure their existence, which caused social tension in the village. Growing since the second half of the 19th century. the contradictions between the rapid growth of capitalism and the remnants of serfdom created objective preconditions for discontent among both the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. In addition, Russia was a multinational country in which the situation of non-Russian peoples was extremely difficult. That is why the majority of revolutionaries came from non-Russian peoples (Jews, Ukrainians, Latvians). All this testified to the readiness of the whole social groups to the revolution.

The revolutionary uprising, caused by the above contradictions, was accelerated by such events as crop failures and famine in a number of provinces at the beginning of the 20th century, the economic crisis of 1900-1903, which led to the marginalization of large masses of workers, and the defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. By its nature, the revolution of 1905-1907 was bourgeois-democratic, as it was aimed at realizing the demands: the overthrow of the autocracy, the establishment of a democratic republic, the elimination of the class system and landownership. The means of struggle used are strikes and strikes, and the main driving force is the workers (proletariat).

Periodization of the revolution: 1st stage - initial - from January 9 to the autumn of 1905; 2nd stage - culminating - from autumn 1905 to December 1905; and the final stage - January 1906 - June 1907.

Progress of the revolution

The beginning of the revolution is considered to be January 9, 1905 (“Bloody Sunday”) in St. Petersburg, when government troops shot at a demonstration of workers, believed to have been organized by the priest of the St. Petersburg transit prison, Georgy Gapon. Indeed, in an effort to prevent the development of the revolutionary spirit of the masses and bringing their activities under control, the government took steps in this direction. Minister of Internal Affairs Plehve supported S. Zubatov’s experiments to bring the opposition movement under control. He developed and introduced “police socialism.” Its essence was the organization of workers' societies that were engaged in economic education. This, according to Zubatov, was supposed to take the workers away from the political struggle. A worthy successor to Zubatov’s ideas was Georgy Gapon, who created political workers’ organizations.

It was Gapon’s provocative activities that gave impetus to the beginning of the revolution. At the height of the St. Petersburg general strike (up to 3 thousand people participated), Gapon proposed organizing a peaceful procession to the Winter Palace to present a petition to the Tsar about the needs of the workers. Gapon notified the police in advance of the upcoming demonstration, this allowed the government to quickly prepare to suppress the unrest. During the executions of the demonstration, more than 1 thousand people were killed. Thus, January 9, 1905 marked the beginning of the revolution and was called “Bloody Sunday.”

On May 1, a strike of workers began in Ivanovo-Voznesensk. The workers created their own government body - the Council of Workers' Representatives. On May 12, 1905, a strike began in Ivano-Frankovsk, which lasted more than two months. At the same time, unrest broke out in villages that engulfed the Black Earth Center, the Middle Volga region, Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states. In the summer of 1905, the All-Russian Peasant Union was formed. At the Congress of the Union, demands were put forward for the transfer of land into the ownership of the entire people. Open armed uprisings broke out in the army and navy. A major event was the armed uprising prepared by the Mensheviks on the battleship Prince Potemkin Tauride. On June 14, 1905, the sailors, who captured the battleship during a spontaneous uprising, brought the ship to the roadstead of Odessa, where at that time a general strike was taking place. But the sailors did not dare to land and support the workers. "Potemkin" went to Romania and surrendered to the authorities.

The beginning of the second (culminating) stage of the revolution occurred in the autumn of 1905. The growth of the revolution, the activation of revolutionary forces and opposition forced the tsarist government to make some concessions. By a rescript of Nicholas II, the Minister of Internal Affairs A. Bulygin was instructed to develop a project for the creation of the State Duma. On August 6, 1905, a manifesto on the convening of the Duma appeared. The majority of participants in the revolutionary movement were not satisfied with either the nature of the “Bulygin Duma” as an exclusively legislative body, or the Regulations on elections to the Duma (elections were held in three curiae: landowners, townspeople, peasants; workers, intellectuals and the petty bourgeoisie did not have voting rights). Due to the boycott of the Bulygin Duma, its elections never took place.

In October - November 1905, unrest among soldiers occurred in Kharkov, Kiev, Warsaw, Kronstadt, and a number of other cities; on November 11, 1905, an uprising began in Sevastopol, during which sailors under the leadership of Lieutenant P. Schmidt disarmed the officers and created the Sevastopol Council of Deputies . The main base of the rebels was the cruiser "Ochakov", on which a red flag was raised. On November 15-16, 1905, the uprising was suppressed and its leaders were shot. Since mid-October, the government has been losing control of the situation. Rallies and demonstrations took place everywhere demanding a constitution. To overcome the crisis, the government tried to find a way out of the impasse and make even greater concessions.

On October 17, 1905, the Tsar signed a Manifesto, according to which the citizens of Russia were granted civil liberties: personal immunity, freedom of conscience, speech, press, assembly and unions. The State Duma was given legislative functions. The creation of a unified government - the Council of Ministers - was declared. The manifesto influenced the further development of the event, reduced the revolutionary impulse of the liberals and contributed to the creation of right-wing legal parties (the Cadets and the Octobrists).

The strike that began in October in Moscow spread throughout the country and grew into the All-Russian October political strike. In October 1905, over 2 million people went on strike. At this time, the Councils of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies arose, which from bodies of the strike struggle turned into parallel (alternative) bodies of power. Those who took part in them: the Mensheviks considered them as bodies of local self-government, and the Bolsheviks - as bodies of an armed uprising. Highest value had St. Petersburg and Moscow councils of workers' deputies. The Moscow Council issued a call to start a political strike. On December 7, 1905, a general political strike began, which grew in Moscow into the December armed uprising, which lasted until December 19, 1905. Workers built barricades on which they fought with government troops. After the suppression of the December armed uprising in Moscow, the revolutionary wave began to subside. In 1906-1907 strikes, walkouts, peasant unrest, and protests in the army and navy continued. But the government, with the help of severe repressions, gradually regained control over the country.

Thus, during the bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1905-1907, despite all the achievements, it was not possible to achieve the solution of the main tasks put forward at the beginning of the revolution, the overthrow of the autocracy, the destruction of the class system and the establishment of a democratic republic.

The emergence of the Russian parliament took place in Russia under specific conditions and had its own characteristics:

• the belated formation of the parliamentary system in comparison with that in Western Europe(in England in 1265, in France in 1302)
• The prerequisites for the formation of parliament in Russia were the development of the zemstvo movement and the emergence of the so-called liberal zemstvo
• the formation of the party system in Russia begins
• the development of revolutionary events and failures in foreign policy (defeat in the Russo-Japanese War) forced the autocracy to make decisions to renew the monarchy

The development of the bill on the establishment of the State Duma was entrusted to the Minister of Internal Affairs A. G. Bulygin. In July 1905, he presented a project for the creation of a supreme legislative advisory representative body (the so-called Bulygin Duma).

It was envisaged that the Duma would discuss laws, estimates of ministries and main departments, government revenues and expenses, and matters related to the construction railways. The procedure for elections to the Duma was established: by province and region and major cities. Elections in the outskirts were to be carried out on the basis of special rules. The government's political maneuver was designed to attract monarchist and conservative forces and, above all, the peasantry. The high electoral qualification deprived workers, a significant part of the urban population, landless peasants and farm laborers from participating in elections. However, the Bulygin Duma was boycotted by the overwhelming majority of the Russian population. The revolution spread in breadth and depth, involving new groups of workers in the struggle, penetrated into the army and navy, and by the autumn of 1905 it reached its climax.

The complex and contradictory nature of socio-economic and political development country led to the emergence of a revolutionary crisis.

Causes of the revolution

1. economic:

• the contradiction between the capitalist modernization that has begun in the country and the preservation of pre-capitalist forms of economy (landownership, commune, land shortage, agricultural overpopulation, handicraft industry);
• the global economic crisis of the early 20th century, which had a particularly hard impact on the Russian economy

2. social:

a complex of contradictions that have developed in society both as a result of the development of capitalism and as a result of its immaturity

3. political:

• crisis at the top, the struggle between reformist and reactionary lines in the government, failures in the Russo-Japanese War, activation of leftist forces in the country
• aggravation of the socio-political situation in the country due to defeat in the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905.

4. national:

• complete political lack of rights, lack of democratic freedoms and high degree exploitation of workers of all nations

The alignment of socio-political forces on the eve of the revolution was represented by three main directions:

conservative, government direction

The basis is a significant part of the nobility and high officials. There were several movements - from reactionary to moderate or liberal-conservative (from K. P. Pobedonostsev to P. D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky).

The program is the preservation of the autocratic monarchy in Russia, the creation of a representative body with legislative functions, the protection of economic and political interests nobility, expansion of the social support of the autocracy at the expense of the big bourgeoisie and peasantry. The authorities were ready to undertake reforms, but they waited, hesitated, and could not choose a specific model;

liberal direction

The basis is the nobility and bourgeoisie, as well as part of the intelligentsia (professors, lawyers). Liberal-conservative and moderate-liberal currents were distinguished. The main organizations were the “Union of Zemstvo Constitutionalists” by I. I. Petrunkevich and the “Union of Liberation” by P. B. Struve.

The program is to ensure democratic rights and freedoms, abolish the political monopoly of the nobility, dialogue with the authorities and implement reforms “from above”;

radical democratic direction

The basis was the radical intelligentsia, who sought to express the interests of the working class and peasantry. The main parties were the Socialist Revolutionary Party (AKP) and the RSDLP.

The program is the destruction of autocracy and landownership, the convening of the Constituent Assembly, the proclamation of the Democratic Republic, the solution of the agrarian, labor and national Polls in a radical democratic way. They defended the revolutionary Model of transformation “from below”.

Tasks of the revolution

• overthrow of the autocracy and establishment of a democratic republic
• elimination of class inequality
• introduction of freedom of speech, assembly, parties and associations
• abolition of landownership and distribution of land to peasants
• reduction of working hours to 8 hours
• recognition of the right of workers to strike and the creation of trade unions
• establishing the equality of the peoples of Russia

Wide sections of the population were interested in the implementation of these tasks. Participating in the revolution were: most of the middle and petty bourgeoisie, the intelligentsia, workers, peasants, soldiers, and sailors. Hollow It was nationwide in its goals and composition of participants and had a bourgeois-democratic character. The revolution lasted 2.5 years (from January 9, 1905 to June 3, 1907). In the development of the revolution, two lines can be distinguished, ascending and descending.

Rising line (January - December 1905) - the growth of the revolutionary wave, the radicalization of demands, the massive nature of revolutionary actions. The range of forces advocating the development of the revolution is extremely wide - from liberals to radicals.

Main events: Bloody Sunday, January 9 (Gapon, petition from a documentary book) - shooting of a workers’ demonstration in St. Petersburg; January-February - a wave of strike movement in the country, intensification of Socialist Revolutionary terror; May - formation of the first workers' council in Ivanovo-Voznesensk; spring-summer - activation of the peasant movement, “fire epidemic”, 1st congress of the All-Russian Peasant Union, beginning of actions in the army and navy (June - uprising on the battleship Potemkin); autumn is the peak of the revolution: the All-Russian October political strike, the adoption of the Tsar's Manifesto on October 17 (democratic rights and freedoms are proclaimed in Russia, elections to the State Duma are guaranteed), liberals move to open criticism of the authorities, who form their own political parties (cadets and Octobrists). After October 17, liberals move away from the revolution and enter into dialogue with the authorities. Radical left forces, not satisfied with the Manifesto, are trying to ensure the further development of the revolution. But the balance of power in the country is already in favor of the authorities. The December armed uprising in Moscow was defeated, led to bloodshed and was considered premature by many revolutionaries.

The downward line of the revolution (1906 - June 3, 1907) - the authorities take the initiative into their own hands. In the spring, “Basic State Laws” are adopted, consolidating the change in the political system (Russia is being transformed into a “Duma” monarchy), and elections to the 1st and 2nd State Dumas are held. But the dialogue between the authorities and society turned out to be unproductive. The Duma actually did not receive legislative powers.

On June 3, 1907, with the dissolution of the Second Duma and the publication of a new electoral law, the revolution ends.

The revolution forced Nicholas II to sign the Manifesto “On the Improvement of State Order” on October 17, which proclaimed:

• granting freedom of speech, conscience, assembly and association
• attracting large sections of the population to elections
• mandatory procedure for approval by the State Duma of all laws issued

Numerous political parties emerge and are legalized in the country, formulating in their programs demands and ways of political transformation of the existing system and participating in elections to the Duma. The Manifesto marked the beginning of the formation of parliamentarism in Russia. This was a new step towards transforming the feudal monarchy into a bourgeois one. According to the Manifesto, the State Duma was characterized by certain features of parliament. This is evidenced by the possibility of open discussion of government issues, the need to send various requests to the Council of Ministers, and to make attempts to declare no confidence in the government. The next step was to change the election law. According to the new law of December 1905, four electoral curiae were approved: from landowners, urban residents, peasants and workers. Women, soldiers, sailors, students, landless peasants, farm laborers and some “foreigners” were deprived of their rights to choose. The government, which continued to hope that the peasantry would be the support of the autocracy, provided it with 45% of all seats in the Duma. Members of the State Duma were elected for a term of 5 years. According to the Manifesto of October 17, the State Duma was established as a legislative body, although tsarism tried to evade this principle. The Duma's competence was to include issues requiring legislative solutions: state registration of income and expenses; state control report on the use of state registration; cases of alienation of property; cases concerning the construction of railways by the state; cases on the establishment of companies on shares. The State Duma had the right to query the government regarding illegal actions committed by ministers or chief executives. The Duma could not start a session on its own initiative, but was convened by decrees of the tsar.

On October 19, 1905, a decree was published on measures aimed at strengthening unity in the activities of ministries and main departments. In accordance with the decree, the Council of Ministers was reorganized, which was now entrusted with the leadership and unification of the actions of the main heads of departments on issues of management and legislation.

The meaning of revolution

• the revolution changed the political situation in Russia: constitutional documents appeared (Manifesto of October 17 and “Basic State Laws”, the first parliament - the State Duma - was formed, the composition and functions of the State Council changed, legal political parties and trade unions were formed, the democratic press developed)
• some limitation of autocracy (temporary) has been achieved, although the possibility of making legislative decisions and the fullness of executive power
• the socio-political situation of Russian citizens has changed: democratic freedoms have been introduced, censorship has been abolished, it is allowed to organize trade unions and political parties (temporarily)
• The bourgeoisie received a wide opportunity to participate in the political life of the country
• the material and legal situation of workers has improved: in a number of industries there has been an increase wage and the working hours have decreased
• peasants achieved the abolition of redemption payments
• During the revolution, the prerequisites were created for agrarian reform, which contributed to the further development of bourgeois relations in the countryside
• the revolution changed the moral and psychological situation in the country: tsarist illusions in the countryside began to wane, unrest gripped part of the army and navy, the masses felt themselves to be subjects of history, the revolutionary forces accumulated significant experience in struggle, including realizing the effective role of violence

Bottom line

The end of the revolution led to the establishment of temporary internal political stabilization in the country. This time the authorities managed to take control of the situation and suppress the revolutionary wave. At the same time, the agrarian question remained unresolved, and many feudal remnants and privileges remained. Just as the bourgeois revolution, the revolution of 1905, did not fulfill all its tasks, it remained unfinished.

Revolution is a qualitative leap in the development of society, accompanied by changes in political system society and socio-economic formations. Bourgeois-democratic in nature. Goal: fight against the remnants of serfdom and the monarchy. Driving forces: proletariat, peasantry, radical intelligentsia.

The nature of the revolution can be defined as:

Bourgeois, since the goal was to eliminate the remnants of feudalism in the political and socio-economic spheres and to establish a bourgeois social system;

Democratic, since the revolution was a movement of the broad masses of the people who, moreover, fought for the establishment of a democratic order;

Agrarian, in connection with the central issue, the primacy of which everyone was aware political forces countries. In 1905-1907 26 thousand peasant unrest occurred in the country, over 2 thousand landowners' estates were burned and looted (according to new data, about 6 thousand estates were attacked). While remaining scattered and unorganized, the peasants' protests at the same time clearly showed that the main danger to the regime was the unresolved agrarian question.

Causes of the revolution.

1. Inconsistency with the beginning of the modernization process in Russia of the autocratic principle of government, class inequality, and the lack of basic civil rights and the preservation of semi-serf remnants in the countryside (land shortage, peasant community, etc.) The main thing is the unresolved land issue!

2. Exacerbation of contradictions between workers and capitalists. The main demand of the workers is a reduction in working hours.

3. The lost war with Japan of 1904-1905, which further aggravated the difficult situation of the people.

The nature of the revolution was bourgeois-democratic. Its main driving forces were workers and peasants.

In the revolution of 1905-1907. It is customary to distinguish three stages:

Stage 1 - January 1905 - September 1905. The growth of the revolutionary movement.

Events:

01/09/1905 - spread out a peaceful demonstration of workers in St. Petersburg, the so-called “Bloody Sunday”. One of the organizers is priest Gapon. The workers did not go in protest, but with a complaint to the tsar against the capitalists. The political meaning of “Bloody Sunday” is that “faith in a good king was shot.”

Winter-spring 1905 - as a result of “Bloody Sunday”, mass strikes began, first in St. Petersburg, and then throughout the country. The strike (strike) became the main form of workers' struggle in this revolution. During the strike movement, the first Soviets of Workers' Deputies were formed - initially the strike leadership bodies, and later the people's power bodies. The first Council was created during the Ivanovo-Voznesensk strike in May-June 1905.

Summer 1905 - uprising on the battleship Potemkin. It was spontaneous and did not receive support from other ships and soldiers, so it ended in defeat, but the very fact of the first manifestation of discontent in the army is very important. At the same time, in June, an uprising broke out in Poland (Lodz), which was armed and had a pronounced national liberation character. Also depressed.

To soften the revolutionary spirit of the workers, the Tsar issues a Manifesto on the establishment of a legislative (i.e., without the right to pass laws) State Duma.

Stage 2 - October 1905 - December 1905. The period of the highest rise of the revolution.

Events:

October - All-Russian political strike with slogans of overthrowing the autocracy, parliamentary elections, etc. It began in Moscow, quickly spread to other parts of the country and was so widespread and threatening to the tsar that he made concessions. On October 17, 1905, the Tsar issued a Manifesto, in which he proclaimed democratic freedoms in the country (freedom of speech, parties, demonstrations, etc.), as well as the Duma, a legislative body elected by the people and having the right to pass laws. This was the first success (not victory!) of the revolution, but it is important to understand that the freedoms granted had a lot of restrictions: not everyone had the right to participate in elections, the tsar could dissolve the undesirable Duma, etc.

December - armed uprising of workers in Moscow. The organizers are Bolsheviks. It was very bloody, especially in the areas of Presnya, Khamovniki and Sokolniki. The workers had no chance of success and by the end of December the uprising was brutally suppressed.

The decline is determined by two reasons: the brutal suppression of the Moscow uprising and the hope of the people that their problems can now be solved by the Duma. It is important to understand that the recession mainly affected the labor movement. The peasants, who never received land, on the contrary, became more active.

April 1906 - elections to the First Duma. The Cadets (constitutional democrats) and the Socialist Revolutionaries (socialist revolutionaries) won the elections. Both parties advocated the transfer of landowners' land to the state and peasants. Such a Duma did not suit the tsar, and he dissolved it in July 1906.

Summer 1906 - uprisings of sailors in Sveaborg and Kronstadt under the slogan “Land and Freedom”. Depressed.

November 9, 1906 - Decree on the abolition of redemption payments for land. Somewhat alleviated the situation of the peasants, who now had ownership rights to their plots, however, very small and in most cases unable to feed peasant family. The text of the decree was developed by Prime Minister Stolypin and essentially became the beginning of his agrarian reform.

February 1907 - elections to the 2nd Duma, which, contrary to the tsar’s hopes, turned out to be even more “revolutionary” than the first. The majority of seats are again held by the Cadets and Socialist Revolutionaries, but the Social Democrats (Bolsheviks and Mensheviks) have also been added to them. On June 3, 1907, the Tsar not only dissolved this Duma, but adopted a new electoral law, which subsequently sharply reduced the number of deputies from workers and peasants. Essentially it was coup d'etat, which meant the end and defeat of the revolution.

Causes of defeat:

Lack of unity between the organized actions of workers and the spontaneous actions of peasants.

There was no one political leadership revolution.

The army has not yet gone over to the side of the people.

But, speaking about the defeat of the revolution, it is important to understand that it also had positive results: elements of representative democracy and freedom, although imperfect, appeared in Russia.

The result of the revolution

The revolution as a whole was a defeat, since the autocracy was not overthrown, but the revolutionary masses achieved significant results.

The revolution brought relief to the peasants who stopped making redemption payments and received the right to leave the community. Semi-feudal methods of exploitation of peasants were somewhat reduced. Class restrictions for peasants were reduced.

Agrarian reform began.

The liberal movement and the social strata on which it relied, after the Manifesto of October 17, harbored illusions about the possibility of achieving their goals through peaceful, including parliamentary, means and acted together with the workers and peasants only until the fall of 1905.

The national liberation movement took on insufficient scope.

The autocracy still retained a margin of safety.

In general, social and political contradictions did not intensify enough to lead to a nationwide uprising.

The shooting of a peaceful march on January 9, 1905 and the revolutionary events that followed led to the realization in the highest echelons of power of the need for reforms political system Russia.

The first reaction of the government was a rescript issued by the tsar addressed to the Minister of Internal Affairs A.G. Bulganin, which spoke about the intentions of preliminary development of changes to legislation and the involvement of people's representatives in this work.

On August 6, the “Establishment of the State Duma” and “Regulations on Elections in State Duma" However, in 1905 the Duma was not convened due to revolutionary events. On December 11, 1905, a decree was promulgated to expand the voting rights of citizens.

In February 1906, the State Council was elected. From an advisory body, it was transformed into the upper house of parliament and equalized with the Duma in legislative rights. Elections to the Duma took place in February-March 1906.

On April 27, 1906, the First State Duma of Russia began its work in the Tauride Palace in the presence of the emperor. A representative of the cadets, professor of civil law S.A., was elected chairman. Muromtsev. Of the 448 deputy seats in the Duma, 153 belonged to the Cadets, 105 to non-party delegates, 107 to Trudoviks. The Octobrists, with 13 deputies, became the most extreme right-wing party in the Duma, since the Black Hundreds did not receive a single vote.

The First State Duma lasted only one session - 72 days. Numerous projects were discussed in various Duma commissions: on the abolition death penalty, personal integrity, etc. The main issue was agrarian. The Cadets put forward a project for the forced alienation of part of the landowners' lands in favor of the peasantry (the "Project of 42"). The project of 104 Trudovik deputies demanded the alienation of all private lands and the introduction of equalized land use.

Some deputies demanded the abolition of private ownership of land and its transformation into public property. On June 4, the Duma decided to appeal to citizens with an explanation on the agrarian issue. However, the government has declared the inviolability of private lands.

On June 8, Nicholas II dissolved the Duma, accusing it of inciting unrest in the country.

Elections to the Second State Duma took place at the beginning of 1907 without the participation of workers and small landowners. It began work on February 20, 1907 under the chairmanship of cadet F.A. Golovin. Out of 518 deputies greatest number Trudoviks received 104 mandates, Cadets - 98, Socialists - 65, Socialist Revolutionaries - 37 seats.

From the first meeting, the question of long-term work and relationships with the government was raised. It was necessary to build tactics of work in such a way as not to be dispersed by the government like the First Duma; the Cadets, having entered into a single bloc with the Trudoviks and national groups, created a majority. They removed questions about amnesty, abolition of the death penalty, etc.

The agrarian question remained the main one; the main provisions of the Stolypin reform were discussed. The right and the Octobrists supported the reform. The Cadets advocated a softened version of it, minimizing the amount of land alienated from landowners. Left wing The Duma refused to approve her project. On March 24, 1907, the agrarian commission of the Duma noted the need for the alienation of landowners' lands in favor of the peasants.

Thus, the Second Duma turned out to be even further to the left than the First Duma. The government, dissatisfied with the progress of its work, began to look for reasons to disperse the Duma. On trumped-up charges, on the night of June 3, 1907, members of the Social Democratic Faction were arrested, and in the afternoon a decree was published on the dissolution of the Second Duma.

The government accused the Duma of ineffective work, delaying the consideration and adoption of laws, and the involvement of some of its deputies in preparing a coup.

ANSWER:
1") The first Russian revolution.
Let's break it down according to plan:
1) Date: January 9, 1905 - June 3, 1907 (Participants: workers, peasants, intelligentsia, parts of the army)
2) Reasons: Industrial decline, disorder money circulation, crop failure and the huge national debt that has grown since the Russian-Turkish war, entailed an increased need to reform activities and government bodies. The end of the period of significant importance of natural economy, the intensive form of progress of industrial methods already in the 19th century required radical innovations in administration and law. Following the abolition of serfdom and the transformation of farms into industrial enterprises, it was required new institute legislative power.

TO this can also be attributed to land hunger; numerous violations of workers' rights; dissatisfaction with the existing level of civil liberties; the activities of liberal and socialist parties; the autocracy of the emperor, the absence of a national representative body and constitution.
3) The main goal of the revolution: Improving working conditions; redistribution of land in favor of peasants; liberalization of the country; expansion of civil liberties.
4) The result of the revolution: The revolutionaries achieved civil rights from the emperor (Nicholas 2) with the help of the Manifesto of October 17, where freedoms and rights were granted to citizens. Also not unimportant were establishment of parliament; June Third coup, reactionary policy of the authorities; carrying out reforms; partial elimination of the problems of the land issue, preservation of the problems of labor and national issues.

2") Stalypin reforms:
1) Agrarian reform(beginning 1906)
Goals: B A decree was adopted that made it easier for all peasants to leave the community. Leaving the peasant community, its former member could demand that it assign the plot of land allotted to him as personal ownership. Moreover, this land was not given to the peasant according to the “strip” principle, as before, but was tied to one place. By 1916, 2.5 million peasants left the community. Just as good became the policy of resettling peasants. Through resettlement, Peter Arkadyevich hoped to reduce land hunger in the central provinces and populate the uninhabited lands of Siberia.
2) Education reform(Start May 3, 1908)
Goals: In itIt was planned to introduce compulsory free primary education for children from 8 to 12 years old. From 1908 to 1914, the budget for public education was tripled, and 50 thousand new schools were opened.
3) Industry reform(beginning 1906)
Goals: The main stage in resolving the working issue during the years of Stolypin’s premiership was the work of the Special Meeting in 1906 and 1907, which prepared ten bills that affected the main aspects labor for industrial enterprises. These were questions about rules for hiring workers, insurance for accidents and illnesses, working hours, etc. Unfortunately, the positions of industrialists and workers (as well as those who incited the latter to disobedience and rebellion) were too far from each other and the compromises found did not suit either one or the other (which was readily used by all kinds of revolutionaries).
4) Work question
Goals: The Stolypin government made an attempt to resolve, at least in part, the labor issue, and provided a special commission, consisting of government representatives and entrepreneurs, to consider the draft labor legislation. The government proposal was very moderate - limiting the working day to 10.5 hours (at that time - 11.5), the abolition of mandatory overtime, the right to create government-controlled trade union organizations, the introduction of worker insurance, the creation of health insurance funds for the joint account of workers and the owner.
5) Judicial reform
Goals: The transformations in the sphere of judicial power should also be briefly mentioned. Their essence boiled down to the fact that, in accordance with Stolypin’s plan, in the most general terms, the local court, distorted by the reactionary reforms of Emperor Alexander III, was supposed to return to its original appearance.
6) Zemstvo
Goals: Being a supporter of zemstvo administration, Stolypin extended zemstvo institutions to some provinces where they had not existed before. It was not always politically simple. For example, the implementation of zemstvo reform in the western provinces, historically dependent on the gentry, was approved by the Duma, which supported the improvement of the situation of the Belarusian and Russian population, which constituted the majority in these territories, but was met with sharp rebuff in the State Council, which supported the gentry.
7) National question
Goals: Stolypin perfectly understood the importance of this issue in such a multinational country as Russia. He proposed creating a special ministry of nationalities that would study the characteristics of each nation: history, traditions, culture, social life, religion, etc. - so that they flow into our great power with the greatest mutual benefit. Stolypin believed that all nations should have equal rights and responsibilities and be loyal to Russia.