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120,000 workers strike in St. Petersburg; government warns against any organised marches.
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Bloody Sunday. 150,000 striking workers and their families march through St. Petersburg to deliver a protest to the Tsar, but are shot and ridden down on multiple occasions by the army.
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Nicholas II issues the October Manifesto, a liberal scheme proposed by Witte. It grants civil liberties, the need for Duma consent before passing laws and a widening of the Duma electorate to include all Russians; mass celebrations follow; political parties form and rebels return, but acceptance of the Manifesto pushes the liberals and socialists apart. The St. Petersburg soviet prints its first issue of the newsheet Izvestia; left and right groups clash in streetfights.
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October 26-27: The Kronstadt mutiny.
%u2022 October 30-31: The Vladivostok Mutiny. -
Nicholas II and his son given honorary membership of the Union of the Russian People; they accept.
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Tsar announces the structure of the State Duma and State Council.
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Stolypin becomes Minister of Interior.
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The first Duma is deemed too radical by the Tsar and is closed
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The Second State Duma opens, dominated by the left who cease their boycott.
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The Second Duma is also deemed too radical and closed; Stolypin alters the Duma voting system in favour of the wealthy and landed in a move branded his coup d'etat.
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Stolypin becomes Prime Minister.
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The Third Duma Opens. Mainly Octobrist, Nationalist and Rightist, it generally did as it was told. The failure of the Duma causes people to turn away from liberal or democratic groups in favour of radicals
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1911: Stolypin is assassinated by a Socialist Revolutionary (who was also a Police agent); he was hated by the left and the right.
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Two hundred striking workers shot during the Lena Goldfield Massacre; reaction to this sparks another year of unrest. The fourth state Duma is elected from a far broader political spectrum than the third as the Octobrist and Nationalist parties divide and collapse; the Duma and government are soon in heavy disagreement.
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Germany Declares War on Russia
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Reacting to war failures and a hostile Duma, the Tsar takes over as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, prorogues the Duma and moves to military headquarters at Mogilev. Central government begins to seize up.
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Rasputin is killed by Prince Yusupov.
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140,000 strike in Petrograd to commemorate Bloody Sunday; strikes in other cities.
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Demonstrations in Petrograd for International Women's Day (mainly women and striking Putlov workers) are joined by evermore striking bread demonstrators until a crowd of 100,000 forms; revolutionary banners and slogans appear. The Bolsheviks are initially opposed to the strike.
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Upon hearing of events in Petrograd, the Tsar orders the use of military force to break the strike. Troops fire on protestors causing tens of casualties but begin to mutiny later in the day. The Duma is prorogued.
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Again ordered to fire at protestors, the Petrograd garrison mutinies, joins the protestors and begins arming them by seizing arsenals; the crowd attack police and release political prisoners. The Duma refuses to disband, instead forming a Provisional Committee (PC) to govern. The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' Deputies is created (PS).
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The Soviet expands to include soldier's soviets; the Provisional Government forms with Lvov as Prime Minister. In Pskov, and encouraged by his ministers and generals, the Tsar abdicates on behalf of himself and his son (which was technically illegal) in order to help both the war and peace.
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Lenin returns to Russia, where he soon dominates the Bolshevik party.
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The July Days, an armed insurrection/demonstration by soldiers and workers in Petrograd against both the PG and the PS for their failures; low ranking Bolsheviks assist and only chaos and indecision prevents a coup. The PG uses troops to break the protest and arrest high-ranking Bolsheviks; in reality, these only followed, not led, the revolt.
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The Kornilov affair. Believing Russia to be at the mercy of the Soviet, right wing hero Kornilov marches to Petrograd to restore 'strong' government and crush the socialists. He has the support of many but not, as he believes, Kerensky, who turns against the coup and denounces the General
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Bolshevik leaders debate launching a coup immediately, but delay until a Congress of Soviets has met and agreed. The Peter and Paul fortress garrison agrees to support the MRC(military revolutionary committee); in response, the PG (provisional govt.) declares the MRC a criminal organisation and tries to arrest its leaders.
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Bolsheviks finally take control of Moscow and the Kremlin.
