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Bloody Sunday 1905
The year 1905 revealed all too clearly Tsar Nicholas II’s perceived indifference, brutality, and weakness. On Sunday, January 9, a crowd of over 100,000 marched peacefully through the center of St. Petersburg, eventually assembling in front of the Czar’s Winter Palace. Unaware that the tsar was not in town that day, they called for the tsar to appear so that they could present him with a petition. -
The Russian Constitution and Duma
The tsar reluctantly gave in to heavy political pressure and granted Russia its first constitution. Permission to form Russia’s first parliament, called the Duma, was also soon granted. The leaders of the first Duma that met in May 1906 were moderates who wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy similar to Britain. Hesitant to share his power, the czar dissolved the Duma after ten weeks. Other Dumas would meet later. Yet none would have real power to make sweeping reforms. -
The March Revolution
On February 23, 1917, a large gathering of working-class women convened in the center of Petrograd to mark International Women’s Day. The gathering took the form of a protest demonstration calling for “bread and peace.” While the demonstration began peacefully, the next morning it turned violent as the women were joined by hundreds of thousands of male workers who went on strike and flooded the streets, openly calling for an end to the war and even to the monarchy. -
The Bolshevik Revolution
Lenin and the Bolsheviks soon gained control of the Petrograd soviet, as well as the soviets in other major Russian cities. By the fall of 1917, people in the cities were rallying to the call, “All power to the Soviets.” Lenin’s slogan of “Peace, Land, and Bread,” was gaining widespread appeal. Lenin decided to take action.
In November 1917, without warning, Bolshevik Red Guards made up of armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd. -
Civil War Rages in Russia
Russia’s civil war proved far more deadly than the earlier revolutions, and even deadlier than its involvement in World War I. Around 15 million Russians died in the three-year struggle and in the famine that followed. The destruction and loss of life from fighting, hunger, and a worldwide flu epidemic left Russia in chaos.