October 16, 2015

The Other Russian Revolution


The Other Russian Revolution

September and October of this year have marked a number of anniversaries related to the 1905 Revolution. On this day, October 16, a railroad strike paralyzed Russia completely; the following day, October 17, faced with no choice, Tsar Nicholas II signed the October Manifesto, finally guaranteeing Russians constitutional rights: freedom of thought, speech, assembly, and others.

Ask someone what the Russian Revolution was, and they’ll probably tell you it was when the Soviets came to power in Russia. If they’re good with dates, they’ll tell you it was the October Revolution, so it happened in late October 1917 – but the anniversary is in November, because of the old calendar.

Push them a little more, ask they if they know any other events that might fit the bill, and they might recall that there was another revolution in 1917, known as the February Revolution (but actually occurred in early March), when the monarchy fell. Ask them again, and they’ll probably think you’re asking a trick question.

But you wouldn’t be! The first Russian revolution actually took place in 1905 – it just got overshadowed by the more life-changing events of 1917. Just like in the more famous revolutions, in 1905 unrest was triggered by a war that was not going well for Russia, the Russo-Japanese War to be specific. The greatest irony? The war had been started in part to avoid the exact outcome it created: in the infamous words of Russian Interior Minister Vyacheslav Plehve, “to stave off revolution we need a triumphant little war.” And as we know from the analogous 1914 promise “we’ll be home by Christmas,” wars that start with the intention of finishing soon have an unfortunate tendency to keep dragging on.

Workers on strike at the Putilovsky factory, just before the revolution heated up

Things came to a head back in January 1905, on Bloody Sunday, when the guards of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg shot into an unarmed crowd of protesters carrying a petition to the tsar. As many as 200 people were killed, hundreds more were injured, and the number of factories on strike skyrocketed. Revolutionary thinkers from Peter Struve to Vladimir Lenin wrote outraged articles about the ever-widening gap between the people and the monarchy, so callously demonstrated by the shootings.

Strikes and frenzied government activity continued all year. After asking a committee to look into creating a parliament back in January, in August Nicholas II signed a decree establishing the Duma, Russia’s first parliament. And yet strikes continued. In October a general strike rolled through Russia, and as industry and transportation ground to a halt, the tsar was forced to give the liberals what they wanted: freedoms.

And there was much rejoicing! ("October 17" by Ilya Repin)

The result, the October Manifesto, was a mini-constitution establishing civil rights and putting a check on the previously-absolute Russian monarchy – at least on paper. When, two years later, a mostly powerless Duma was disbanded entirely, Russians found out just how empty many of those promises were. Still unsatisfied, the Russian people geared up for 1917.

 

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
22 Russian Crosswords

22 Russian Crosswords

Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955