Revolution of 1905 main issues. Main events of the first Russian revolution

Peasants, workers, sailors, soldiers, and intelligentsia took part in the Russian revolution.

The main causes of the revolution:

• The aggravation of contradictions in the center of the country and the failure in the Russo-Japanese War are the cause of the political crisis;
• The unsettledness of the agrarian question—redemption payments, lack of land among the peasants, and others;
• The unsettledness of the labor question is the inaccessibility of the social inviolability of workers at a very high level of exploitation;
• Failure in operations on the Russian-Japanese front;
• The unresolved national question is a limitation of the power of national minorities, to a large extent Jews and Poles.

The first Russian revolution of 1905-1907

It is known that it was provoked by the events that began in January 1905 in St. Petersburg. There are the following main stages of the revolution:

• The first stage - winter 1905 to autumn 1905

On January 9, 1905, they gave an order to shoot a peaceful demonstration, which was called "Bloody Sunday". For this reason, workers' strikes began in almost all regions of the state.

From May to June, the Council of Workers' Deputies was created, which acted as alternative authorities.

Mid-June - an uprising on the cruiser "Potemkin", which showed the government that high hopes cannot be placed on the armed forces.

In the autumn of 1905, an important event took place. The all-Russian October strike, initiated by the trade union of printers, was supported by other trade unions. The ruler publishes a manifesto "On the improvement of the state order." He grants the right to freedom of assembly, conscience, speech, press "Union of October 17". Also, the Constitutional Democratic Party, the Mensheviks and the Social Revolutionaries declare the end of the revolution.

• The second stage - December 1905 to June 1907

In early December, the Moscow armed uprising takes place, the Bolsheviks tried to start a general armed uprising, which failed.

From March to April 1906, elections to the First State Duma were held.

At the end of April to July 1906 - the beginning of the work of the First State Duma.

From February to June 1907 - the beginning of the work of the II State Duma. It was dissolved on June 3, 1907. During this period, there were still a few strikes, but they soon stopped, and control over the country of the government was restored.

• Also read -

The results of the revolution

1. The form of government in Russia was completely changed. At that time it was a constitutional monarchy.
2. Political parties have gained the ability to operate legally.
3. Redemption payments were abolished, the peasants were granted the right to free movement, as well as the choice of place of residence.
4. Improving the situation of workers (increasing wages, establishing sickness benefits in some enterprises, reducing the working day).

Revolution 1905-1907

The character of the first Russian revolution is bourgeois-democratic. In terms of the composition of the participants, it was nationwide.

Goals of the revolution:

The overthrow of the autocracy

Establishment of a democratic republic

Introduction of democratic freedoms

The liquidation of landownership and the allotment of land to the peasants

Reducing the working day to 8 hours

Recognition of the rights of workers to strike and the formation of trade unions

Stages of the Revolution 1905-1907

The contradiction between the needs of the socio-economic development of the country and the remnants of serfdom

The contradiction between modern industry and semi-serf agriculture

The contradiction between the economic possibilities of the bourgeoisie and its political role in society

Socio-political crisis in the country

Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)

reasons for the revolution: 1. The economic crisis. 2. Low authority of Nicholas2 and his entourage. 3. Labor issue (low wages, long working hours, prohibition of trade unions, etc.). 4. Peasant question (agrarian question - the best land for landlords, redemption payments). 5. Political issue (lawlessness, a ban on the creation of political parties or organizations, even those supporting the king). 6. National question (35% of Russians, bad attitude towards Jews). 7. Defeat in the Russian-Japanese war (self-confidence, inept command, war at sea). The war was due to the imperialist aspirations of Russia and Japan for spheres of influence. The first defeat of the Russian fleet. Events: 1. January 9 - October 1905 - the growth of the revolution: - "Bloody Sunday". The workers went to the Winter Palace, carried a petition, and the cavalry troops were already drawn up to the palace, the workers were shot. 1200 killed, 5000 wounded. - uprising on the battleship "Potemkin" (the uprising of the army is the worst indicator). If the army goes over to the side of the people, then the government will be overthrown. The officers were brutally killed, the sailors joined the people, the conclusion is that something needs to be changed. 2. October 1905 - summer 1906 - the peak of the revolution. All-Russian October political strike. December armed uprising in Moscow. October 17, 1905 - Nicholas 2 signed a manifesto - the creation of a parliament. 1906 - elections in the state. Duma, not universal (women did not vote), multi-stage, unfair. 3. autumn 1906 - June 3, 1907 - the subsidence of the revolution. The work of the first and second state. Duma. The significance of the revolution: 1) the main result of the revolution was the emergence of a legislative representative body of power - parliament; 2) the economic demands of the workers were satisfied; 3) redemption payments under the reform of 1861 were abolished; 4) freedom of the press, assembly; 5) the formation of a multi-party system in Russia (“Union of October 17”, Cadets, Progressives, Trudoviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, RSDLP); 6) the government began to develop an agrarian reform (Stolypin's reforms).

Stage I January-September 1905

The reaction of the supreme power; Promises and half measures:

August 6, 1905 Decree of Nicholas II on the establishment of the State Duma, a legislative body under the tsar ("Bulyginskaya Duma" after the name of the Minister of Internal Affairs)

January 9, 1905 – shooting of a peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg

May-June 1905 strike of workers in Ivanovo-Voznesensk and the emergence of the first Soviets of Workers' Commissioners - the creation of a workers' militia, fighting squads (summer - the emergence of the All-Russian Peasant Union - was under the influence of the Socialist-Revolutionaries)

June 1905 - uprising on the battleship "Potemkin"

May-June 1905 congresses of zemstvo representatives and the All-Russian Peasant Congress - demand for constitutional reforms

II stage of the revolution October-December 1905 (the highest rise of the revolution) - the center of events moves to Moscow

Formation of political parties: Cadets, Octobrists; black-hundred organizations

Revolutionary events:

The All-Russian political strike (September-October 1905) covered 2 mil. Pers. A purely working means of struggle - the strike - was taken up by other sections of the population

Formation of Soviets of Workers' Deputies in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities (November-December 1905)

December 1905 - an armed uprising in Moscow (at the initiative of the Bolsheviks, the Moscow Council announced the start of a new political strike)

Uprising in the fleet, about 90 performances (the largest in Sevastopol on the cruiser "Ochakov" under the leadership of Lieutenant Schmidt) - October - November 1905

Actions of the supreme power October 17, 1905 - the tsar's manifesto "On the improvement of the state order" under the leadership of S.Yu. Witte; publication of a new law on elections to the 1st State Duma (December 11, 1905); suppression of the uprising with the help of troops (December 15-18, 1905)

Stage III Decline of the Revolution January 1906 - June 1907

Revolutionary performances:

Mass peasant unrest - June 1906

The uprising of soldiers and sailors of the Baltic Fleet (Sveaborg, Kronstadt, Revel - July 1906)

Assassination attempt on P.A. Stolypin (08/12/1906)

Parliamentary struggle:

Elections to the 1st State Duma (03/26 and 04/20/1906) according to the law, the State Duma was convened for 5 years, had the right to discuss bills, the budget, and make inquiries to the ministers appointed by the king; outside the control of the Duma - military affairs and foreign policy; irregular meetings (the duration of the Duma sessions and breaks between them was determined by the king)

Start of work of the 1st State Duma (04/27/1906) chairman Muromtsev (cadet)

Duma address to the Emperor demanding the introduction of constitutional government (05/05/1906)

Vyborg uprising of 128 deputies in protest against the dissolution of the 1st State Duma (07/10/1906)

Activity 2 Duma (20.02.1907) chairman Golovin (cadet)

Dissolution of the 2nd State Duma and the introduction of a new electoral law (06/03/1907) - June 3rd monarchy - coup d'etat6 the tsar had no right to dissolve the Duma on his own, but did it

Actions of the Supreme Power:

Transformation of the State Council into the Supreme House of Parliament (26.02.1906)

Publication of the "Basic Laws of the Russian", defining the powers of the State Council and the State Duma (04/23/1906)

Publication of the Provisional Rules, which allowed the creation of trade unions (03/04/1906)

Creation of courts-martial (08/19/1906)

The beginning of Stolypin's agrarian reform. Issuance of a royal decree granting the peasant the right to withdraw from the community with his land allotment (11/09/1906)

The results of the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907.

The Beginning of Russia's Movement to a Constitutional Monarchy and a Legal State

Creation of the State Duma; Reform of the State Council - its transformation into the Supreme House of Parliament; approval of the "Basic Laws of the Russian Empire"

Declaration of freedom of speech. Permission to form trade unions. Partial political amnesty

Stolypin reforms (the essence is to solve the agrarian issue without affecting the lands of the landowners, decree 1905 - on the abolition of redemption payments, October 1906 - the poll tax and mutual responsibility were abolished, the power of zemstvo chiefs and county authorities was limited, the rights of peasants in zemstvo elections were increased, freedom of movement was expanded ; November 9, 1906 - the peasants were granted the right to freely exit from the community; individual plots of land could be reduced to cuts. Resettlement of peasants to the free lands of Siberia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan. A peasant bank was created - the sale to the peasants of part of the specific and state lands, bought up landowners' land for resale to the peasants, issued loans for the purchase of kr. lands. Bottom line: the reform lasted approx. 7 years old. 35% (3.4 million) expressed a desire to leave the community, 26% (2.5 million) left, moved to the Urals approx. 3.3 mil.) Cancellation of redemption payments for peasants

The events that took place in Russia in 1905-1907 are usually called the Russian bourgeois-democratic revolution. Relatively speaking, this revolution is the initial stage of preparation for a larger event in the history of the Russian people - the 1917 revolution. The events of these years opened the wounds that were ripening under the auspices of the absolute monarchy, outlined the paths for the development of events in history, and marked the socio-historical conflict that was brewing among the people.

The events of this era are preceded by several unresolved conflicts of the social structure of the empire. Let us understand what was the task of the first Russian revolution. The most important reasons can be which were the catalyst for unrest in society:

• Most of the country's population did not have political freedoms.
• The abolition of serfdom in 1861 essentially remained on paper. The peasant class did not feel any special privileges.
• The difficult work of workers in factories and factories.
• The war with the Japanese, which weakened the Russian Empire. The war will be discussed separately, since many historians believe that it was she who contributed to the reactionary unrest.
• The oppression of national minorities in a multinational country. Any multinational country sooner or later comes to the Civil War to defend their rights and freedoms.

At the initial stages, the revolution did not pursue the goals of armed confrontations. Its main goal is to limit the power of the king. Even the overthrow of the monarchy was out of the question. The people politically and mentally could not exist without a king. Historians unanimously call all the events of this period preparations for larger historical events - the February and October revolutions.

Any war, any unrest, must have a clear financial footprint at its core. It cannot be said that the priest Gapon took and raised the masses to the battle with the autocracy, without having huge money, which poured like oil into the fire to kindle modernization sentiments. And here it is appropriate to say that there was a Russo-Japanese war. It would seem, what is the connection between these events? However, this is where this financial catalyst should be sought. The enemy is interested in weakening the enemy from within. And what, if not a revolution, can quickly ignite enemy forces, and then just as quickly extinguish them. Do I need to add that with the end of this war, revolutionary unrest also subsided.

In Russian history, it is customary to divide the movements of this period into three stages:

• Beginning (01.1905 - 09.1905);
• Takeoff (10.1905 - 12.1905);
• The extinction of unrest (10.1906 - 06.1907).

Let us consider the events of these periods in more detail. This is important for understanding the course of the revolutionary movement.

Start

In January 1905, several people were fired at the Putilov factory in St. Petersburg. This angered the workers. On January 3, under the leadership of the previously mentioned priest Gapon, a strike begins. It is she who will be the prototype of the first revolution of the country. The strike lasted only a week. The outcome of the confrontation was a petition to the monarch, which included several main points:

In essence, these are absolutely normal requirements of an adequate democratic society. But there is no need to talk about this in a country with an autocratic monarchy. There is no call for the overthrow of the tsar, there is still no such slogan “Down with the tsar”, there are no instructions to take up arms. All requirements are maximally loyal. However, the tsarist authorities accepted this petition as an encroachment on their person and the foundations of autocratic power.

January 9, 1905 is called Bloody Sunday. On this day, people gather a crowd of 140,000 and begin to move towards the Winter Palace. By order of the king, the crowd was shot, and this was the first wrong step of the monarch, for which he would pay years later with his life and the life of the entire royal family. Bloody Sunday 1905 can briefly be called the detonator of all subsequent revolutionary movements in Russia.

On January 19, 1905, Nicholas II speaks to the rebels, where he says in plain text that he forgives those who went against the tsar. However, if the situation with discontent repeats, then the tsarist army, as on January 9, will use force and weapons to suppress the uprising.

Between February and March 1905, worker-peasant riots and strikes began in many counties. Until the end of September, various uprisings break out throughout the empire and beyond. So, on May 12, in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, at a textile factory under the control of the Bolshevik M. Frunze, a strike and strikes began. The workers demand a reduction in the working day from 14 hours to 8 hours, a decent level of wages (they pay no more than 14 rubles), and the abolition of fines. The strike lasted 72 days. As a result, on June 3, demonstration executions took place. Famine and flourishing diseases (especially tuberculosis) forced the workers to return to the machines.

It should be mentioned that all these strikes gave the first result - in July, by order of the authorities, all workers received an increase in wages. On August 31 - July 1, a congress of the peasant union was held.

Then the tsarist government commits a second offense: in late July - early August, mass repressions, arrests and exile to Siberia begin. On this, the first stage of the revolution of 1905 can be considered completed. A start was made, and then the revolution began to gain strength and power.

Takeoff

The events of this period are often called the all-Russian strike. Historians attribute this name to the fact that on September 19, in the central newspapers of Moscow, the editors published information about the need for a number of changes in the political and economic structure of the country. These articles received active support from the Moscow workers and railway workers. Major riots break out across the empire.

The strikes take place almost simultaneously countrywide. 55-60 large cities are involved. The first political parties, the Soviets of People's Workers' Deputies, began to form. Everywhere there are calls for the overthrow of the king. The royal power begins to gradually lose control over the ongoing riots. Nicholas II 10/17/1905 was forced to sign the manifesto "On the improvement of the state order." There are several important points in this document:

• Democratic freedoms proclaimed. All people have the inviolability of the person and receive civil rights given by law.
• All classes of society are admitted to the State Duma.
• All laws of the country can be adopted only through their approval in the State Duma.

From these provisions of the manifesto, it becomes clear that autocracy as a form of power no longer has an absolute. From that moment until 1917, the form of government in Russia can be called a constitutional monarchy.

According to the convictions of the tsarist government, the manifesto was supposed to give the revolutionaries what they demanded, and the revolution should eradicate itself, because for this the requirements of the will of the people were fulfilled. But the miracle didn't happen.

The fact is that the manifesto was perceived by the current political parties as an attempt by the tsar to suppress the uprisings. The leaders of the people do not believe in the power of the manifesto and in the guarantor of its execution. Instead of subsiding, the revolution begins to gain new strength.

The October 17 Manifesto is a very important document in the history of Russia. It is from him that the formation of parliamentarism begins in Russia, the first political parties are created. Anti-government camp from the general gray mass begins to split into three powerful currents, which in the foreseeable future will enter the battle of the Civil War, where brother will go with a gun against brother.

The liberal bourgeoisie stands out, which consists of the bourgeois intelligentsia and Zemstvo liberals. The Mensheviks stand out - the social democratic stratum, which claims that the revolution is useless.

In their opinion, the revolution must be stopped, since the country is not yet ready to accept socialism. And, finally, the Bolshevik Social Democrats, who advocate the socialization of society, the overthrow of tsarist power.

These are the main three currents of the antagonists of the tsarist regime. And if the first two camps are passive in relation to the tsar and even come to his defense, then the Bolshevik socialist camp stands for fundamental reforms, where there is no place for the monarchy, and even more so for autocracy.

On December 7, 1905, at the call of the Moscow Soviet of Workers' Deputies, a strike of workers in Moscow and St. Petersburg began. On December 10, the authorities try to suppress the uprising with weapons. The fights go on for a week. Barricades are being formed, workers are seizing entire city blocks. On December 15, the Semyonovsky regiment arrives in Moscow, which begins a massive shelling of the protesters. As a result, on December 19, the turmoil was crushed by the tsarist army.

In the same period, strikes take place in large cities. and regions throughout the country. As a result, many cities now have squares and streets with the name of the events of 1905-1907.

fading unrest

The number of unrest decreases and gradually disappears. On February 2, 1906, the tsar signs a decree on the formation of the State Duma. The Duma is created for a period of 5 years, but Nikolai retains the right to dissolve it ahead of schedule and form a new one, which, in fact, he did.

On April 23, 1906, following the results of revolutionary changes and the signed manifesto, a new set of laws was published. In November of the same year, the tsar issued a decree allocating land plots to the peasants.

What did the first Russian revolution lead to

Despite mass unrest, many executions, exiles, the country's way of life has not changed radically. For this reason, the events of 1905-1907 are called preparations or rehearsals for the 1917 revolution.

The autocracy, previously not restrained by anything, has now turned into a semblance of a constitutional monarchy - the State Council and the State Duma appear. The poorest segments of the population receive certain rights and freedoms guaranteed by law. Thanks to the strikes, the working day was reduced to 8-9 hours, and the salary level was slightly increased. And, finally, since 1861, the peasants received the land in their own hands. In fact, it was the first Russian revolution to reform the country's political system.

Despite the positive developments, there is a moment that the level of social security after these events decreased, corruption flourished, and the monarch continued to sit on the throne. It is a little illogical that, following the results of mass bloodshed and victims, the way of life remained the same. It seems that what they fought for, they ran into something. Be that as it may, this stage in the history of Russia was the start of the 1917 revolution. The collective consciousness has changed, the forces of the people have been felt. This revolution was simply necessary for history to develop 10 years later.

Lecture 47

Russia in 1907-1914 Stolypin agrarian reform

In the summer of 1906, the youngest governor of Russia, Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin, was appointed by Nicholas II as Minister of the Interior and then as Prime Minister.

Agrarian reform - was the main and favorite brainchild of Stolypin.

The goals of the reform.

1. Socio-political. To create in the countryside a firm support for the autocracy in the person of strong peasant farms (wealthy peasant proprietors).

2. Socio-economic. To destroy the community, giving the peasants the opportunity to freely leave it: to determine their own place of residence and the type of their activity.

3. Economic. To ensure the rise of agriculture, to accelerate the industrial development of the country.

4. Resettle the small-land peasants beyond the Urals, contributing to the more intensive development of the eastern regions of Russia.

Essence of reform.

Solve the agrarian question at the expense of the peasants themselves, leaving the landlords' lands intact, at the same time eliminating the basis for possible social conflicts.

The results of the Stolypin agrarian reform

Positive:

Up to 1/4 of the households separated from the community, the stratification of the village increased, the rural elite gave up to half of the market bread,

3 million households moved from European Russia,

4 million dess. communal lands were included in the market turnover,

Consumption of fertilizers increased from 8 to 20 million poods,

The per capita income of the rural population increased from 23 to 33 rubles. in year.

Negative:

From 70 to 90% of the peasants who left the community retained ties with the community,

Returned back to Central Russia 0.5 million migrants,

The peasant household accounted for 2-4 dess., at a rate of 7-8 dess. arable land,

The main agricultural tool is a plow (8 million pieces), 52% of farms did not have plows.

The yield of wheat is 55 pounds. from dec. in Germany - 157 pounds.

CONCLUSION.

Thanks to the successful course of the agrarian reform, by 1914 Russia had made great strides in economic and financial development, which allowed it to play a significant role in world politics. However, Russia's entry into the war and the subsequent defeat again threw the country back, increasing its gap from the leading European powers.

Lecture 48

The formation of political parties in Russia in the late XIX - early XX centuries

The workers and the growing strike movement with economic demands had a significant impact on the political life of the country. The peasant movement also grew. It was caused by the agrarian crisis, the political lack of rights of the peasantry and the famine of 1901. From 1900 to 1904 there were 670 peasant uprisings.

Opposition moods in the early twentieth century. embraced broad strata of the intelligentsia, the petty and middle bourgeoisie and students. The lack of freedom of public activity in Russia made it difficult to form legal political parties.

The consignment - this is the organization of the most active part of the class, which sets as its task the conduct of a political struggle for the interests of this class and most fully and consistently expresses and defends them. The main thing that interests a political party is state power.

At the beginning of the twentieth century. in Russia there were up to 50 parties, and in 1907 - more than 70. The largest and most influential among them were the following:

Illegal parties

Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) in 1901 - 1902 - completed the unification of revolutionary organizations into the party. Its number is several thousand (by 1907 - up to 40 thousand). Newspaper "Revolutionary Russia". Party leader, program author, newspaper editor, leading theorist - Viktor Chernov.

The goal of the party is to build a socialist society through revolution, but society is not a state, but a self-governing union of productive associations, whose members receive the same income.

Tactics - a combination of political terror in the "centers" and agrarian terror (violent actions against the property or against the person of "economic oppressors") in the countryside.

RSDLP (Russian Social Democratic Labor Party) formed in 1903. at the 2nd congress.

The main task is to build socialism through social revolution and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. At the III Congress, the party split into two parts: the Bolsheviks (leader V. Ulyanov (Lenin) and the Mensheviks - (Yu. Martov)). Martov opposed the Leninist idea of ​​the dictatorship of the proletariat, believing that the proletariat would not be able to play a leading role, since capitalism in Russia was in its initial stage of development. He believed that "the bourgeoisie will still take its rightful place - the leader of the bourgeois revolution." Martov shared Herzen's fears that "communism could become a Russian autocracy in reverse." At the party conference in Prague (1912), the final split took shape organizationally.

Legal parties

Union of the Russian people founded in 1905. The printed organ is the Russian Banner. (100 thousand people) Leaders - A. Dubrovin and V. Purishkevich.

Main Ideas Keywords: orthodoxy, autocracy, Russian nationality.

Main trends : acute nationalism, hatred of all "foreigners" and the intelligentsia. The bulk of the party members: petty shopkeepers, janitors, cab drivers, lumpen (people of the "bottom"). They created fighting squads - "Black Hundreds" for pogroms and murders of progressive public figures and revolutionaries. It was the first Russian version of fascism.

Constitutional Democratic Party of People's Freedom (Kadets). Created in 1905 (100 thousand people). Edition "Speech". Leader P. Milyukov. The Bourgeois Reform Party: An Evolutionary Path to Revolution.

Union of October 17 (Octobrists). 30 thousand people Edition "Word". Leaders: Guchkov and Rodzianko. Party of the big bourgeoisie. With the help of reforms, come to a constitutional monarchy coexisting with the Duma.

Conclusion: The creation of socialist and bourgeois parties is an indicator of a significant shift in the socio-political development of the country. The active part of the population realized the need to fight for the democratic rights of freedom.

Lecture 49

Russia at the turnXIX- XXcenturies (90sXIXcentury - 1905). Russo-Japanese War.

Causes and nature of the war

The Russo-Japanese War was one of the first wars of the era of imperialism. Its main reason is the clash of interests between Japanese and Russian imperialism. The ruling classes of Japan have been plundering China for many years. They wanted to capture Korea, Manchuria, to gain a foothold in Asia. Tsarism also pursued an aggressive policy in the Far East; the Russian bourgeoisie needed new markets.

Exacerbation of contradictions between Japan, Russia, England and the United States due to influence in China.

The construction of the Siberian railway by Russia (Chelyabinsk - Vladivostok) - 7 thousand km in 1891-1901, which caused discontent in Japan.

Russia's attempt to reduce the aggressive plans of Japan as a result of the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895. Russia demanded in an ultimatum (supported by Germany and France) that Japan give up the Liaodong Peninsula.

The conclusion of a defensive alliance between Russia and China against Japan, according to which:

a) the construction of the CER Chita - Vladivostok (through China) began

b) China leased the Liaodong Peninsula with Port Arthur to Russia for 25 years

The interest of European countries and the United States in the clash between Japan and Russia

II . Preparing Japan for War

The conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese treaty against Russia

Japan building a modern navy in England

Britain and the United States helped Japan with strategic raw materials, weapons, and loans. France took a neutral position and did not support its ally - Russia.

Carrying out trial mobilizations, maneuvers, creating arsenals, training landings. The entire winter of 1903, the Japanese fleet spent at sea, preparing for naval battles.

Ideological indoctrination of the Japanese population. Imposing the idea of ​​the need to capture the "northern territories due to the overpopulation of the Japanese islands."

Carrying out extensive intelligence and espionage activities in the future theater of operations.

III . Russia's unpreparedness for war

Diplomatic isolation of Russia

In terms of the total number of troops, Russia surpassed Japan (1 million people against 150 thousand army), but the reserves from Russia were not brought up, and at the beginning of the war she put up only 96 thousand people.

Difficulties in the transfer of troops and equipment for 10 thousand km (Near Lake Baikal, the Siberian railway was not completed. Cargo was transported by horse-drawn transport). Only 2 divisions could be transferred from central Russia to the Far East per month.

The navy was dispersed, there were half the number of cruisers, and three times less destroyers than Japan.

Technical backwardness in armaments, sluggishness of the bureaucratic apparatus, embezzlement and theft of officials, underestimation of the enemy's forces, unpopularity of the war among the masses.

I V . The beginning and course of hostilities

Using the superiority of forces and the surprise factor on the night of January 27, 1904, without declaring war, 10 Japanese destroyers suddenly attacked the Russian squadron on the outer road of Port Arthur and disabled 2 battleships and 1 cruiser. On the morning of January 27, 6 Japanese cruisers and 8 destroyers attacked the Varyag cruiser and the Koreets gunboat in the Korean port of Chemulpo. In an unequal 45-minute battle, Russian sailors showed miracles of courage: on both ships there were four times fewer guns than the Japanese, but the Japanese squadron was seriously damaged, and one cruiser was sunk. The damage prevented the Varyag from breaking through to Port Arthur, Command both ships were transferred to French and American ships, after which the “Korean” was blown up, and the “Varangian” was flooded so that they would not get to the enemy.

The commander of the Pacific Fleet, Vice-Admiral S.O. Makarov, began intensive preparations for active operations at sea. On March 31, he led his squadron to the outer roadstead in order to engage the enemy and lure him under fire from coastal batteries. However, at the very beginning of the battle, the flagship Petropavlovsk hit a mine and sank within 2 minutes. Most of the crew died: S.O. Makarov, his entire staff, as well as the artist V.V. Vereshchagin, who was on the ship. After that, the fleet went on the defensive, as the commander-in-chief, mediocre Admiral E.I. sea.

On land, hostilities were also unsuccessful. In February-April 1904, Japanese landing forces landed in Korea and on the Liaodong Peninsula. The commander of the land army, General A.N. Kuropatkin, did not organize a proper rebuff, as a result, the Japanese army cut off Port Arthur from the main forces in March 1904.

In August 1904, the first assault on Port Arthur took place. 5 days of fighting showed that the fortress could not be taken by storm, the Japanese army lost a third of its composition and was forced to move on to a long siege. At the same time, the stubborn resistance of the Russian soldiers thwarted the Japanese offensive near Liaoyang. However, Kuropatkin did not use this success and ordered a retreat, which made it easier for the enemy to launch a new attack on Port Arthur.

The second assault on Port Arthur in September 1904 was again repulsed. The defenders of the fortress, led by the talented general R.I. Kondratenko, fettered almost half of the Japanese forces. The counteroffensive of the Russian troops on the Shahe River at the end of September did not bring success. The third assault in October, the fourth - in November of Port Arthur did not bring victory to the Japanese, although the defenders of the fortress were 3 times smaller than the enemy forces. The constant bombardment destroyed most of the fortifications. On December 3, 1904, General Kondratenko died. Contrary to the decision of the Defense Council, on December 20, 1904, General Stessel surrendered Port Arthur. The fortress withstood 6 assaults for 157 days. 50 thousand Russian soldiers fettered about 200 thousand enemy troops.

In 1905, Russia suffered two more major defeats: land (in February near Mukden) and sea (in May near the Tsushima Islands). Further conduct of the war was senseless. The Russian army was losing its combat capability, hatred of mediocre generals grew among the soldiers and officers, and revolutionary ferment intensified. In Japan, the situation was also difficult. Lack of raw materials, finance. The United States offered Russia and Japan mediation for negotiations.

Under the peace treaty, Russia recognized Korea as a Japanese sphere of influence.

Russia transferred to Japan the right to lease part of the Liaodong Peninsula with Port Arthur and the southern part of Sakhalin Island

The ridge of the Kuril Islands passed to Japan

Russia made concessions to Japan in fisheries

V I . Results of the Russo-Japanese War

1. Russia spent 3 billion rubles on the war

   Killed, wounded, captured about 400 thousand people (Japan - 135 thousand killed, 554 thousand wounded and sick)

   The death of the Pacific Fleet

   A blow to Russia's international prestige

   The defeat in the war hastened the beginning of the revolution of 1905-1907.

CONCLUSION:

The adventure of the tsarist government in the Far East revealed the rottenness of the autocracy, its weakening. The autocracy came to a shameful defeat.

Lecture 50

Russia in the First World War: the main military operations,

domestic political development, economics

The causes of World War I were the transition of the leading European countries to imperialism, the formation of monopolies, the pursuit of monopoly high profits, which pushed the capitalist states to fight for the redivision of the world, for new sources of raw materials and new markets.

On June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, the Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed by a member of the national-patriotic organization "Young Bosnia" G. Princip. The monarchical circles of Austria-Hungary and Germany decided to use the assassination of the Archduke as a direct pretext for a world war.

This war was the result of inter-imperialist contradictions between two military-political blocs that formed in Europe in the late 19th - early 20th centuries:

1882 - Tripartite Alliance, which united Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

1907 - Entente uniting Russia, England and France.

Each of these countries had its own predatory goals, except for Serbia and Belgium, which defended the territories of their states.

It should be noted that wars are different - large and small, just and predatory, liberation and colonial, popular and anti-people, cold and hot, long and fleeting. There are also absurd ones. It was precisely such a bloody and brutal massacre that claimed millions of lives that began on August 1, 1914 with the declaration of war on small Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. All participants expected to carry out their military plans within 3-4 months. However, already from the first days of the war, the calculations of the leading military strategists on the lightning-fast nature of the war collapsed.

Revolution in 1905 - 1907: causes, stages, significance of the revolution

At the beginning of the twentieth century. sharply aggravated social and political contradictions in Russia, which led to the first revolution in its history of 1905-1907. Causes of the revolution: the indecision of the agrarian-peasant, labor and national issues, the autocratic system, complete political lack of rights and lack of democratic freedoms, the deterioration of the material situation of the working people due to the economic crisis of 1900-1903. and shameful defeat for tsarism in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905.

Tasks of the revolution- the overthrow of the autocracy and the establishment of a democratic system, the elimination of class inequality, the destruction of landlordism and the allocation of land to the peasants, the introduction of an 8-hour working day, the achievement of equality among the peoples of Russia.

Workers and peasants, soldiers and sailors, and the intelligentsia took part in the revolution. Therefore, in terms of goals and composition of participants, it was nationwide and had a bourgeois-democratic character.

There are several stages in the history of the revolution.

The revolution was triggered by Bloody Sunday. On January 9, 1905, workers were shot in St. Petersburg who were going to the tsar with a petition containing a request to improve their financial situation and political demands. 1,200 people were killed and about 5,000 wounded. In response, the workers took up arms.

The first stage (January 9 - the end of September 1905) - the beginning and development of the revolution along an ascending line. The main events of this stage were: the spring-summer performance of workers in Moscow, Odessa, Warsaw, Baku (about 800 thousand people); the creation in Ivanovo-Voznesensk of a new body of workers' power - the Council of Authorized Deputies; uprising of sailors on the battleship "Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky"; mass movement of peasants.

The second stage (October - December 1905) - the highest rise of the revolution. Main events: the general All-Russian October political strike (more than 2 million participants) and, as a result, the publication of the Manifesto on October 17 "On the improvement of the state order", in which the tsar promised to introduce some political freedoms and convene the State Duma; December strikes and uprisings in Moscow, Kharkov, Chita and other cities.

The government suppressed all armed uprisings. The bourgeois-liberal strata, frightened by the scope of the movement, abandoned the revolution and began to create their own political parties: the Constitutional Democratic Party (the Cadets), the Union of October 17 (the Octobrists).

The third stage (January 1906 - June 3, 1907) - the decline and retreat of the revolution. Main events: political strikes of workers; the new scope of the peasant movement; uprisings of sailors in Kronstadt and Sveaborg.

The center of gravity in the social movement has shifted to the polling stations and the State Duma.

The 1st State Duma, which tried to radically solve the agrarian question, was dissolved 72 days after the opening by the tsar, who accused it of "inciting unrest."

The II State Duma lasted 102 days. In June 1907 it was dissolved. The pretext for the dissolution was the accusation of the deputies of the Social Democratic faction of preparing a coup d'état.

Revolution of 1905 - 1907 was defeated for a number of reasons - the army did not completely go over to the side of the revolution; there was no unity in the party of the working class; there was no alliance between the working class and the peasantry; the revolutionary forces were insufficiently experienced, organized and conscious.

Despite the defeat, the revolution of 1905 - 1907. was of great importance. The supreme power was forced to change the political system of Russia. The creation of the State Duma testified to the beginning of the development of parliamentarism. The socio-political situation of Russian citizens has changed:
- democratic freedoms were introduced, trade unions and legal political parties were allowed;
- the material situation of workers has improved: wages have increased and a 10-hour working day has been introduced;
- the peasants achieved the abolition of redemption payments.