From War to war

1. From War to war 1904-1914

2. Key Dates • 1904-5 Russo-Japanese War • 1905 Revolution October Manifesto • 1906 Fundamental Laws issued First Duma • 1906-11 Stolypin’s years as Chief Minister • 1907 Second Duma • 1907-12 Third Duma • 1912 Lena Goldfields episode • 1912-14 Fourth Duma • 1914 Germany declares War on Russia

3. Russo-Japanese War (background) • Protection of Russia’s borders was a constant preoccupation • Three motives led Russia to war with Japan: • To pursue an expansionist policy in the east • To obtain an ice-free port • To distract attention from Russia’s domestic troubles by rallying to patriotic struggle • Witte, whom wished to expand in the east knew that war with Japan was a likely consequence of such expansion

4. The Path to War • Russia viewed Japan as an inferior nation and expected an easy victory • Territorial disputes over Manchuria and Korea were long-standing • In 1904 the Russian government rejected Japan’s proposal for a peaceful settlement over claims to Korea • This provoked a military response from Japan • The Russian fleet in Port Arthur was attacked

5. Maps of the Russo-Japanese War

6. The Course of the Conflict • Port Arthur fell in January 1905 • In February the Japanese seized the key Manchurian town of Mukden • The Russian Baltic fleet took 8 months to reach Manchuria; it was immediately sunk by the Japanese at Tsushima in May 1905 • Peace Treaty signed in September 1905 led to severe territorial losses for Russia • War dead: Russian = 120,000 Japanese = 75,000

7. Russia’s defeat • Officers had an unimaginative strategy • Distance over which men and supplies had to be transported made it very difficult for Russia • The Trans-Siberian Railway, still incomplete in a number of sections, proved of little value • Russia’s defeat was a national humiliation and excited the social unrest that it had been specifically designed to dampen • It was a potent factor in the build up to the 1905 Revolution

8. The 1905 Revolution

9. Reasons for Revolution • People were denied freedom of religious and political expression • Famine was a constant worry for the peasants • Proletariat worked an average of 11 hours a day (10 on Saturday) • Heavy taxation • Incompetent governance and poor handling of the Russo-Japanese War • Opposition from all sectors of society and a growing intelligentsia

10. The course of events • 22 January 1905, Father Gapon led a peaceful demonstration to the Winter Palace • The march induced panic in the police forces who fired on the protestors • Up to 200 marchers may have been killed with hundreds more injured • Nicholas II was absent from St. Petersburg at the time but the events gravely damaged his reputation as the ‘Little Father’

11. Disorder Spreads • Disorder spread immediately and increased as the year progressed • Strikes occurred in major towns and cities • Terrorism (organised by the SR) spread to the countryside • Russian government was blamed for the defeat in Japan and Phleve was assassinated by SR • Public buildings and large estates were attacked; land and property seized by peasants • Minorities began to demand autonomy & Jews pressed for equal rights • Kadets set up the Union of Unions

12. The Potemkin Mutiny • June 1905 – sailors on the battleship Prince Potemkin elected a representative (Peter Vakulenchuk) to complain about food rations • Vakulenchuk was shot by the captain which led to a full-scale mutiny by the crew. • The ship was sailed to Odessa where an anti-government strike was taking place – the sailors were welcomed as heroes • Troops were ordered to disperse the crowds gathered at the harbour. The civilian death toll ran into thousands • Potemkin was eventually sailed to and abandoned in a Romanian port hoping to find sanctuary

13. Soviets • By the autumn of 1905 there was a general strike • In a number of cities workers formed themselves in to an elected Soviet, or council • These began as organisations which demanded better working conditions • Potential for political agitation soon recognised by revolutionaries • Trotsky became chairman of the St Petersburg soviet and organised several strikes in the capital

14. Government Recovery • Concession was unavoidable, but by giving ground the government intended to divide the opposition forces... • To appease the Liberals, Witte advised the Tsar to issue the October Manifesto in which he accepted a legislative duma and passed various civil rights • The peasants were pacified by the scrapping of the mortgage repayments • The workers were not appeased – suppression was used: after a 5 day siege the St Petersburg Soviet was stormed and the ringleaders arrested • By spring 1906 Russia was stable, and the Tsar dismissed Witte – a sign of things to come

15. Stolypin and Land Reform • The government ‘bought off’ the peasants by scrapping mortgage repayments on their land – know as de-revolutionising the peasants • Farmers were urged to replace the strip system with fenced fields like those in Western Europe • A Land Bank was set up to provide funds for peasants to buy up more land • Stolypin intended to create a group of prosperous, productive peasants whose new wealth would turn them into natural supporters of the tsarist regime • Large scale voluntary resettlement of peasants to populate the empire’s remoter areas and turn them into food-growing areas

16. Did he succeed? • Stolypin stated he needed 20 years to bring results in rural areas • His assassination in 1911 allowed him personally only 5 years and the coming of war in 1914 allowed Russia only eight • The deep conservatism of the peasants made them slow to respond – in 1914 the strip system was still widespread • Only about 10% of the land had been consolidated into farms in 1914

17. The Dumas 1906-14 Election results

18. The First and Second Dumas • Creation of a bi-cameral duma • Fundamental Laws coincided with its opening • Tsar stated he had the right to veto any law • After just 2 months the first duma was dissolved • Frustrated Kadets and Labourists reassembled at Vyborg (Finland) and urged the Russian people to refuse to pay tax and to disobey conscription orders • Scattered violence followed and martial law was imposed • The second duma opposed land reform and the way the imperial army was organised – thus was again dissolved prematurely by Nicholas II

19. The Third and Fourth Dumas • Second duma was rendered docile by the doctoring of the electoral system. • Peasants and proletariat lost the franchise • Third and fourth dumas heavily dominated by right wing parties and groups • Stolypin was able to get land reforms through • Dumas did manage to pass bills that set up schools for poor children and national insurance for industrial workers • Fourth duma astutely pointed out that there was dissatisfaction among the masses in 1913 but was unheeded by the tsar

20. Lena Goldfields Incident 1912 • Demands from miners for better pay and conditions resisted by employers • Employers appealed to the police to arrest strike leaders as criminals • The police moved in and troops fired on and killed a large number of miners • The Okhrana had acted as agents provocateurs in order to identify the organisers of the strike • Guchkov, leader of the Octobrists, said in 1913: “A peaceful, painless transition from the old condemned system to a new order” had failed • He warned that the tsar’s blindness was driving the Russian people closer to revolution.

21. Summary • War • Discontent • Revolution? • Concessions and October Manifesto • Duma – toothless? • Slipping back to old ways... • Outbreak of War