AndrewMcMillan

Respond to Prompts:

Father Gapon, not Tsar Nicholas II was responsible for the civilian deaths on Bloody Sunday

Father Gapon inspired the march to the Winter Palace in 1905. He motivated the people to, in peaceful protest to deliver a petition for improved working conditions to Tsar Nicholas II. Due to rapid industrialisation in Russia, working conditions in St. Petersburg and Moscow were extremely poor. But, Gapon was not entirely responsible for the Bloody Sunday Massacre. Gapon seemed to be at fault by informing the Tsar of the protests. Due to being notified Tsar Nicholas II was not at the Winter Palace when the protest took place. Tsar Nicholas II knew of the unrest of Russia it is possible that he ordered the Cossacks fire on the peaceful protesters. Tsar Nicholas should not have allowed Sergei Witte to have so much power in the industrialisation of Russia. He should not have allowed the far too rapid industrialisation to take place. He shouldn’t have had let Russia get as bad as it did. Working conditions and freedoms should have been provided earlier than it was. Neither Father Gapon nor Tsar Nicholas II was completely responsible for the Bloody Sunday Massacres. Both of their actions led to the occurrence.

// Despite the losses, Bloody Sunday was a victory for the anti-tsarist movement //  Thompson, S.   // vcehistory info //    (Internet) at http://vcehistory.info/russia/russia13.htm July 20 2009 Even though many lives were lost or severely damaged, Bloody Sunday was a victory for the anti-tsarist movement. As a direct result of this the Russian people lost faith in their Tsar, renaming him Nicholas the Bloody. Due to the loss of faith amongst the Russian people, many workers striked; No intellectuals were not willing to learn under the “ignorant reign” of Tsar Nicholas II. The people wanted a constitutional monarchy, which went against history and their church but the people of Russia did not care. Tsar Nicholas II attempted to regain the support of his people. At the advice of Sergei Witte, he created the October Manifesto, a document that outlined changes in rights, including the right to speech, to voting, and established the Dumas (Parliaments)

The October Manifesto: Document Analysis

Question One: Explain what Nicholas means by ‘rioting and disturbances’ By rioting and disturbances Nicholas means Bloody Sunday, the strikes, amongst other problems, that occurred in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Question Two: List the reforms outlined in the document: (1) Reform one gives the people of Russia the freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and association and freedom of assembly (2) Reform two gives the people of Russia the right to vote. (3 Reform three states that any laws made must be passed by the government representatives, the Tsar no longer had Autocratic Rule

Question Three: In your own words, explain what measure no.1 means: Reform one states that the people of Russia have been given human rights. The freedom of speech, assembly and that of conscience and association were outlined in this reform.

Question Four: Identify the obligations of the Russian people outlined in the document: The obligations of the Russian people are to assist in terminating the unprecedented unrest now prevailing, to remember their duty to their country, work together to create a harmonious tranquillity society of Russia.

Question Five: On the face of it, does the manifesto sound fair? Explain The manifesto seems fair. It outlines that the Tsar is giving his people more power and surrendering some of his own. Question Six: Using the information given explain the impact of the manifesto on Russia at the time. The manifesto brought with it a mixed reaction. Many people saw it as the first step towards a constitutional monarchy for Russia. Others saw it as a token gesture, that would not lead to any changes.

· Showed that the pressure on the government had to be intensified || Same as Bolsheviks, as had not yet split || ·  Accepted the reform · Saw it as a realization of their political dreams || ·  Pursued further concessions · Believed that further reforms were needed · Their leader, Paul Milyukov, stated that nothing changed and the struggle would continue || The Dumas
 * Political Groups Response to the October Manifesto **
 * **Political Groups: ** || **Populist ** || **SR’s (Socialist-Revolutionary Party) ** || **Bolsheviks SD ** || **Mensheviks SD ** || **Octoberists ** || **Kadets ** ||
 * **Reaction: ** ||  || ·  Saw as ‘a fraud of the people, a trick of the Tsar to gain some sort of respite in which to lull the credulous and to win time to rally his forces and then to strike at the revolution’ || ·  Saw the manifesto as a sign of weakness from the government

First Duma: April- July 1906
· Opened 27th July, in an elaborate ceremony which highlighted the gap between rich and poor · Indirect voting favored the wealthier and politically conservative classes · The majority of the people elected to sit in the First Duma was anti-government · Peasants held the majority of deputy positions with 38% of the positions · Kadets were the largest political party with 37% of seats · Pursued rights for the people: <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- Freedom to strike <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- Freedom of public assembly <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- The abolition of capital punishment <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- Political amnesty <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- Abolition of the State Council of Imperial Russia <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- Significant reform to the civil service <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- Ministerial responsibility to be handed to the Duma <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- Universal and direct voting <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- Universal and free education <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- Seizure of large estates and redistribution to the peasants <span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">- More equitable distribution of the tax burden · Nicholas saw these as anti-government · First Duma was dissolved after 73 days · 200 deputies (largely Kadets) staged an appeal which aimed to encourage people to refrain from voting, paying taxes and the refuse to enlist · Violence broke out across the nation · Stolypin was appointed as Prime Minister

Second Duma: February- June 1907
· Tsar intimidated many anti-government voters to give up their right to vote, this was unsuccessful · Many antigovernment candidates were elected to the Second Duma · Were more radical than the first Duma · Socialist Revolutionaries and Social Democrats participated in the elections · 65 Social Democrats were elected · Was greatly divided ideologically · Deputies ranged from Socialist Revolutionaries to monarchists ·  A few peasants were part of the deputies · Near impossible for the Tsar and Prime Minister to work with the group · Duma openly criticized the administration of the military · Would not support Stolypin’s proposed land reforms · Wanted to nationalize land · Dissolved on 3rd June · Public responded in a calm manner to the closure of the Duma

Third Duma: November 1907- June 1912
· Changes to the electoral system were made by Stolypin while the Duma was not in session · Voting was suspended in districts where the population “had not yet reached sufficient levels of civil development” according to the Tsar · Further changes also occurred which greatly restricted the right to vote · The number of landed gentry as deputies was greatly increased, with the decrease of peasant, urban workers, small landowners and people from national minority backgrounds · The Tsar assured that 60 percent of the seats of the Duma were taken up by the above · Only one male in six were now entitled to vote · One percent of the population were now responsible for electing 300 of the 441 deputies · The wealthier landowners were to choose 60 per cent of the electors, the peasants 22 per cent, the merchants 15 per cent, and the working men 3 per cent · The Duma was now more conservative and compliant · Most of the men elected into the Duma were government supporters · Duma now dominated by right-wing parties, who were willing to work with the Prime Minister · Stolypin was now able to pursue his land reforms with little opposition from the Duma · Duma raised the political consciousness and awareness of the wider community · The Duma served as a message to the European superpowers; Britain and France (who Russia was now allied), that Russia was committed to a constitutional monarchy · The Third Duma lasted it’s whole five year term

Fourth Duma: November 1912- August 1914
· Most conservative of the four Dumas · Dominated by the Octobrists and the Monarchists · Kadets and the handful of socialists occupied about one quarter of the seats in the Duma · Moderate deputies voiced their concerns about massacres of miners by government forces and of 9000 strikes that were staged by over three-million workers, to the Tsar · As the Duma grew conservative, the dissatisfaction among the Russian masses found little chance of expression in the Duma · Many of the Russian people turned against Tsardom again <span style="font-family: Symbol, helvetica, sans-serif;">