The first Russian revolution periodization. Main events of the first Russian revolution

Educational institution of secondary vocational education

Oryol Banking School (College) of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation

Department of Humanitarian and Socio-Economic Disciplines

Specialty 080110: Banking

COURSE WORK

in the discipline "History"

The first Russian revolution of 1905-1907

Group 102 student

Barykin Vadim Vyacheslavovich

Head of work:

Kharlamova Elena Nikolaevna

Orel 2014

Introduction

Causes of the First Russian Revolution

1 Economic reasons

2 Political reasons

3 Social reasons

Stages of the First Russian Revolution

1 The beginning of the revolution

2 Rise of revolution

2.3 Decline of the revolution

3. Results of the First Russian Revolution

1 Results of the revolution

2 The role of revolution

Conclusion

Bibliography

Applications

Introduction

The topic of the course work “The First Russian Revolution 1905-1907” is certainly relevant in the present time.

“Does history teach? Judging by the latest world events: Rose Revolution (Georgia, 2003); Orange Revolution (Ukraine, 2004); Revolution in Kyrgyzstan (2010); Revolution in Egypt (2011); Revolution in Tunisia (Jasmine Revolution, 2010-2011); Ukraine (EuroMaidan, 2014) no. But, of course, that studying the history of revolutions possible and necessaryavoid numerous casualties and bloodshed.

It should be noted that there were different points of view on the issue of the revolution of 1905-1907 at different times. For Tsarist Russia this was an experience, for historians of the USSR this is the first attempt to fight a government that does not think about the people, modern historians consider this stage the starting point of the Russian Empire, and many of their contemporaries consider the “First Russian Revolution” a mistake.

In a general sense, numerous discussions on the topic of “lessons of history” cannot be considered either true or false. The truth is that some people and groups of people succeed in "learning from history" and some do not.

After the defeat of the First Russian Revolution, the most important question became how capable or unable the different parties to the conflict were to abandon old ideas and reconsider their positions, i.e. who learned what lessons, who didn’t and why.

The purpose of the course work iscomprehensively explore the events of the “First Russian Revolution 1905-1907”

To achieve the goal, the following tasks must be solved:

Identify the economic causes of the revolution.

Identify the political causes of the revolution.

Identify the social causes of the revolution.

Study the beginning of the revolution.

Explore the rise of revolution.

Study the decline of the revolution.

Analyze the results of the revolution.

Identify the role of revolution.

Object of study- the internal political situation in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Subject of study- Actions of the “First Russian Revolution”.

Methodological basis.When compiling the course work, the general dialectical method, general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, systematization, classification, special scientific methods, analysis of historical sources, and historical chronology were used.

Theoretical basis of the studyThe following sources were used:

G.Z. In the article, Golovkov conveyed an analysis of a large amount of information and his point of view regarding the events of the First Russian Revolution. His point is that the revolution could have been stopped before it could have started.

S.A. Nefyodov in his article opens a new view of the revolution, which lies in the fact that the revolution was fueled not only by problems in the state, but also by foreign policy. Moreover, in Nefedov’s work, foreign policy plays an even more important role than domestic policy.

S.V. Tyutikin in his work reveals a proletarian point of view on the events that took place. Most of the material in this article is notes, reports and letters from workers. The article also contains many archival documents from that period that show how people lived and worked during the “First Russian Revolution”.

Practical significance of the work:coursework materials can be used to prepare for practical and independent work in the discipline “History”, as well as during the defense process.

Work structuredetermined by the logic of the study. The work consists of an introduction, three sections of the main part, a conclusion, a bibliography, and appendices.

The volume of work is 25 pages.

1. Causes of the revolution of 1905-1907.

.1 Economic reasons

By 1905, a difficult economic situation had developed in Russia. The global economic crisis of the early 20th century had a heavy impact on the Russian economy.

The huge public debt after the Russian-Turkish War did not make it possible to use resources for the internal needs of the state. The underdevelopment of the agricultural sector and the low purchasing power of the vast majority of the country's population hampered the development of the entire economy. There were no new institutions of legislative and executive power.

The local nobility slowly adapted to the new conditions. Most small and medium-sized owners quickly lost their land, remortgaging their holdings. The economy was conducted in the old fashioned way, the lands were simply rented out to peasants for work, which could not bring high profits.

The income received by landowners from the state when peasants left serfdom was “eaten up” and did not contribute to the development of landowner farms on a capitalist basis.

The peasants suffered from landlessness, taxes, and redemption payments. Taxes and other levies absorbed at least 70% of the income of peasant farms. Peasants who went to the city to earn money were forced to agree to any job. This slowed down the introduction of advanced technology, because the qualifications of such workers were very low.

The development of Russian industry had a number of distinctive features:

the first is the leading role of the state, which, through lending and government orders, stimulated the development of production, which led to the dependence of Russian entrepreneurs on officials;

the second is a large share of foreign capital, mainly Belgian and French, which dominated heavy industry, for example, in the coal mining industry 70% was foreign capital, and in metallurgy - 42%.

The degree of exploitation of workers in Russia was very high: capitalists took 68 kopecks from every ruble earned by a worker in the form of profit. in mineral processing, 78 in metal processing, 96 in the food industry. Expenses for the benefit of workers (hospitals, schools, insurance) amounted to 0.6% of the current expenses of entrepreneurs.

The contradiction between the capitalist modernization that began in the country and the preservation of pre-capitalist forms of economy led to an industrial decline in production. Landownership, land shortages, agrarian overpopulation, and handicraft industry led the Russian economy to an imbalance.

.2 Political reasons for the revolution

Beginning in 1904, dissatisfaction with the policies of Nicholas II grew in the country. Russia's defeat in the war with Japan in 1904-1905. increased anti-government sentiment. The bourgeoisie showed dissatisfaction with the tsarist government, which, having enormous wealth and economic leverage over politics, did not have the conditions for political activity or legal participation in governing the country.

In the Russian state, the monarch was at the pinnacle of power, and it depended on him how contradictions would be resolved. Nicholas II (Appendix 1) was rather indifferent to state affairs, he was engaged in them, but they did not interest him. In fact, the state, represented by the monarch and the bureaucracy, could not resolve the accumulated economic and political problems. In the conditions of the brewing revolution, the government sought to preserve the existing system without any political changes. The main political support of the autocracy continued to be the nobility, the army, the Cossacks, the police, the extensive bureaucratic apparatus, and the church. The government used the age-old illusions of the masses: religiosity, political illiteracy.

The government camp was heterogeneous. By 1905, the main pre-revolutionary parties had formed and were operating successfully: the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party of the RSDLP (the party leaders were V. Lenin, G. Plekhanov, Yu. Martov); the Socialist Revolutionary Party of the AKP - Social Revolutionaries (the party leaders were E.K. Breshko-Breshkovskaya, G.A. Gershuni, V.M. Chernov.); “Russian Assembly” is a national-monarchist organization (the patron and honorary member was the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs V.K. Plehve). If the “right” sought to block all attempts at reform, defended unlimited autocracy, and advocated the suppression of revolutionary uprisings, then “liberals” appeared in the government camp, who understood the need to expand and strengthen the socio-political base of the monarchy, an alliance of the nobility with the upper ranks of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie.

By the beginning of 1905, popular unrest was growing. The first performances of students and workers begin throughout Russia, in such large cities as St. Petersburg, Kazan, Tiflis and others. The peasant movement was also on the rise. In 1900-1904. 1205 peasant protests were noted. But all of them, with the help of government troops, were suppressed, subjecting the peasants to cruel punishments. After the start of the Russo-Japanese War, there was a wave of protests in the army and navy. The situation in the country became increasingly tense.

The unresolved national question required certain solutions. At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was one of the largest states in the world, consisting of more than 100 nations and nationalities. Nicholas II intensified the oppression and persecution of “foreigners and people of other faiths,” and enmity and hatred were sown between peoples. Against the background of these events, the formation of the national identity of Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, Finns, and Georgians began. National minorities began to demand political and cultural autonomy.

The preservation of autocracy, the lack of political freedoms in the country, police and bureaucratic arbitrariness, and complete political lack of rights became another crisis of the “tops.”

In addition to internal political problems, external ones also accumulated. Russia was dependent on its international partners. Having entered the Entente, in exchange for huge French loans, it had to participate in the coming world war. Russia's attempts to take part in the imperialist redistribution of the world and to strengthen its presence in the Far East ended in a shameful defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. , which served as a new wave of discontent with tsarism in the army. The war further aggravated the crisis and was a catalyst that accelerated the emergence of the revolution.

.3 Social causes of the revolution

With the industrialization of industry, new classes of capitalist society began to emerge in the social system of Russia, the political ambitions of the bourgeoisie and the social role of the working class were strengthening.

As a result, the following main classes of society had emerged in Russia by the beginning of the twentieth century. Nobles occupied key positions in central and local government and owned a large land fund (1.4% of the population). The clergy did not pay taxes, did not carry out military service, the church had significant property (land and real estate), the clergy ideologically served the autocracy and monitored the moral state of society (0.5%). The Cossacks were a military class that guarded the borders of the state and were the social support of the autocracy. In their free time, the Cossacks worked the land, they enjoyed special benefits, free medical care and training (2.5%). The bureaucracy was heterogeneous in its property status and role in public life. The salaries of the highest bureaucracy (ministers, senators) far exceeded the earnings of minor employees. The bourgeoisie gradually became the leading force in the country's economy, but its numbers were small and the bourgeoisie played an insignificant role in the political system of Russia. The bourgeoisie did not formulate unified political demands.

The main tax-paying and most powerless class were peasants (77%). They could not freely dispose of their plots and paid ransom payments and were subjected to corporal punishment.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, thanks to people from the poorest layers of different classes, a new class of society, the proletariat (workers), was formed; its number was 13 million people

Thus, Russian society was fragmented: the highly educated strata - the intelligentsia, part of the landowners (in the minority) - were unable to bridge the cultural gap with the so-called “people” (the majority).

On the eve of the revolution of 1905-1907, objective reasons arose that were in one way or another connected with the processes of renewal of the political, economic, and social areas of the country's life. Social conflicts, negative relations between government and society, officials and the population, landowners and peasants inevitably led to social protest. The economic crisis generated by modernization, aggravated by the lack of labor legislation, led to an aggravation of the labor issue. Social conflicts and economic problems were intertwined with interethnic and interfaith ones.

2. Stages of the revolution

.1 The beginning of the revolution

Chronological framework first Russian revolution: January 9, 1905 - June 3, 1907

Bloody Sunday became the starting point of the revolution.

January 1905 12 thousand workers of the Putilov plant stopped working in protest against the dismissal of four comrades. The strike spread to all enterprises in St. Petersburg. During the strikes, the workers decided to petition the tsar. The petition was drawn up by the Society of Factory Workers, headed by priest Gapon and received 150 thousand signatures.

Georgy Apollonovich Gapon (Appendix 2) graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. Back in 1903, his dual service began: on the one hand, to the revolutionary labor movement, on the other hand, to the security department and the police department. In 1904, with the support of the Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. Plehve Gapon creates the workers’ organization “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg.” Gapon's activities in organizing workers were patronized by St. Petersburg mayors. He became the undisputed leader of the workers of St. Petersburg. The situation in the country was intensified by anti-government sentiments in society. Gapon did not remain aloof from these events and proposed to the leadership of the “Assembly” at the end of 1904 to develop a petition to submit to the Tsar. A convenient moment to submit a petition came in December 1904, when the administration fired four working members of the “Assembly” from the country’s largest plant, the Putilov plant. Negotiations about their reinstatement did not bring results. And then, on January 3, at Gapon’s suggestion, a strike began at the plant. Gapon speaks at workers' rallies, urging them to petition the Tsar.

The petition included not only petitions for improving living conditions (8-hour working day, higher wages, etc.), but also political ones: demands for freedom of speech, press, workers’ unions, convening a Constituent Assembly to adopt the Constitution, etc.

January, a delegation of intellectuals tried to make a request to prevent bloodshed during the march of the civilian population. The Minister of Internal Affairs Svyatopolk-Mirsky refused to receive the intelligentsia. The delegation was arrested.

A move to the Tsar was set for the date of January 9, since a small part of the workers still retained faith in him. The workers, accompanied by their wives and children, carrying portraits of the Tsar and banners, moved towards the Winter Palace. But the workers were met by gun shots. The authorities organized a merciless and senseless execution of the demonstrators.

The peaceful procession at 12 noon was attacked at the Neva Gate by cavalry, and the infantry fired 5 volleys. Gapon then disappeared. At the Trinity Bridge, an hour later, fire was opened on the demonstrators from the St. Petersburg and Vyborg sides. At the Zimny ​​part of the Preobrazhensky regiment, they also fired several volleys at people in the Alexander Garden.

In total, during Bloody Sunday of 1905, up to a thousand people died and up to 2 thousand people were injured.

What happened on this day shattered the traditional idea of ​​the king as a protector and patron.

The events of January 9 made a stunning impression in Russia and abroad. In many cities, leaflets from Social Democratic and Socialist Revolutionary committees were distributed calling for a revolutionary struggle against the autocracy.

Outraged workers of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Riga, Kyiv and many other cities took to the streets. Strikes with economic and political demands began throughout the country. From January to March, 810 thousand industrial workers took part in them. In a number of cases, strikes and demonstrations were accompanied by clashes with police and regular troops.

The workers were supported by students and employees, small entrepreneurs. The intelligentsia protested in the press and at rallies. The movement was supported by zemstvos. For the first time, a small part of large entrepreneurs became involved in the political process.

On the initiative of S.T. Morozov, a meeting of major industrialists was held in Moscow, which addressed the government with a list of necessary changes.

Everyone demanded the introduction of popular representation.

The government, under pressure from the movement, was forced to compromise simultaneously with the suppression of popular uprisings. In February, Nicholas II signed a rescript ordering the Minister of Internal Affairs A.G. Bulygin to prepare a project for convening the legislative advisory Duma.

In February-March, protests by peasants took place in the Central regions, destroying landowners' estates. Uprisings took place in every sixth district of European Russia. The main demand of the peasant revolution was the division of the land of the landowners. Three large centers of the revolutionary movement of peasants emerged - the Chernozem region, the Western regions (Poland, the Baltic provinces) and Georgia. The All-Russian Peasant Union is created.

Spring-summer 1905 - strengthening of the labor movement, creation of Soviets of Workers' Deputies to lead strikes. The first Soviet arose in May 1905 during a strike in Ivanovo-Voznesensk .

In June, an uprising broke out on a ship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky (Appendix 3) or the well-known “battleship Potemkin”. The uprising was spontaneous and did not receive support from other ships and soldiers, and therefore ended in defeat. At the same time, in June, an uprising broke out in Poland (Lodz), which was armed and had a pronounced national liberation character. The uprising is also suppressed. But the very fact of the first manifestation of discontent in the army is very important. The army also joined the revolution as an opposition force.

To soften the revolutionary spirit of the workers, on August 6, 1905, Nicholas II issued a Manifesto on the establishment of a legislative advisory State Duma (that is, without the right to pass laws). This project caused general indignation, as it limited the voting rights of the population by high class and property qualifications.

.2 Rise of revolution

The second stage of the Russian revolution lasted from October to December 1905. In November - December 1905, the revolutionary movement reached its highest point. In the capital, the leader of revolutionary actions was the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP (Russian Social Democratic Labor Party), under which the Fighting Committee and, in September, the Military Organization, one of the largest and most effective in Russia during the first revolution, were created. In the fall of 1905, the center of the revolution moved to Moscow. The process of unification of Bolshevik and Menshevik organizations began in factories and factories. The strike of printing workers, which began on September 19, within a few days grew into a citywide political strike.

The September battle of Moscow workers was a prologue to new events that swept across all of Russia. Strikes and armed clashes escalate into the All-Russian October political strike. On October 7, Moscow railway workers went on strike, followed by workers of most of the country's railways. Factory workers, printers, and miners began to join the railroad workers. Small employees, students, and intellectuals - lawyers, engineers, doctors - joined the striking workers. Already on October 9, fierce battles were fought with the police by the insurgent regime. By October 11, the strike had become all-Russian, covering the center, the national outskirts, and Siberia. Having paralyzed most of the production in the country, all railways that were significant for the state were blocked; because of this, the authorities could not transfer armed forces to the capital to suppress the rebels. Over 2 million people took part in the strike.

During the strike, Councils of Workers' Deputies and trade unions were created. The main participant in the strike was the RSDLP party, which viewed the strike as the final assault on tsarism and tried with all its might to turn rallies and strikes into an armed uprising.

Under the influence of the October strike, the autocracy was forced to make new concessions. On October 17, Nicholas II issues a manifesto “On the Improvement of State Order” (5), the convening of the legislative State Duma is announced, and freedom of the press, assembly, speech, and conscience is granted. The Tsar promises the right to vote to those sections of the population that were previously deprived of it, primarily to the workers. The October 17 manifesto was not a constitution - it was a declaration of intent.

October, Sergei Yulievich Witte was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers, who proposed publishing the Manifesto. After the publication of the Manifesto on October 17, the strikes began to decline. The Moscow strike committee called on the workers to stop the strike. The same appeal was sent out by the Central Bureau of the All-Russian Railway Union, and a few days later - by the St. Petersburg Council of Workers' Deputies. The strike movement declined sharply throughout the country.

In the autumn of 1905, life in the village was changing - both under the influence of city events and in accordance with its own way of life. The October 17 manifesto stimulated the peasant movement. The peasants perceived it as a legal basis for active action. In the Samara district, a peasant explained the Manifesto this way: “Now you’re free, come on, guys, now go to the landowners and plunder their goods - now nothing will happen for this.” Among the peasants, the conviction became stronger that from now on the land and all the property of landowners legally belonged to the peasants.

In October-December 1905 The peasants switched to the most extreme forms of struggle - to arson and destruction of landowners' estates. In November-December the peasant movement reached its climax. During this time, 1,590 peasant uprisings were registered - approximately half of the total number for the entire 1905. They covered half of the districts of the European part of Russia, and were accompanied by the destruction of landowners' estates and the seizure of landowners' lands. Up to 2 thousand landowner estates were destroyed (and in total over 6 thousand landowner estates were destroyed in 1905-1907). Peasant revolts took on a particularly wide scale in the Simbirsk, Saratov, Kursk and Chernigov provinces. Punitive troops were sent to suppress peasant uprisings, and a state of emergency was introduced in a number of places.

On November 1905, under the influence of a broad peasant movement that unfolded with particular force in the fall of that year, a tsar’s manifesto was issued, announcing the reduction of redemption payments from peasants for allotment land by half and the complete cessation of their collection from January 1, 1907.

Meanwhile. There were about 100 performances in the army and navy. The largest of them was the uprising of sailors and soldiers of the Black Sea Fleet under the leadership of Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt November 11-16. The armed uprising in Sevastopol began on November 11, 1905 and lasted 5 days. Revolutionary sailors, soldiers and workers demanded the convening of a constituent assembly, the establishment of a democratic republic, freedom of speech, meetings, rallies, as well as the introduction of an 8-hour working day, and improved living conditions. Sailors of the naval division, workers of the Admiralty, and soldiers of the 49th Brest Infantry Regiment took part in the uprising. The rebels were joined by sailors from the cruiser Ochakov, the battleship Panteleimon (formerly Potemkin), sailors from several destroyers and other ships. The uprising was led by Lieutenant Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt.

The Bolsheviks sought to direct the action along the path of armed struggle. However, the Mensheviks, who dominated the Sevastopol Social Democratic Committee, opposed the armed uprising, which created discord in the ranks of the rebels. The rebels were unable to join other military units, and most of the ships adhered to defensive tactics.

The tsarist authorities took all measures to suppress the uprising: they brought punitive troops to Sevastopol, and put on alert the part of the fleet that did not join the uprising. On November 15, the fleet command presented the rebels with an ultimatum to surrender, to which they refused. Then artillery fire was opened on the ships and barracks where the revolutionaries were fortifying themselves. A battle broke out, but by evening the uprising was suppressed. About a thousand people were punished without trial.

Despite the fact that the Sevastopol uprising ended in defeat, it played a major role during the 1905 revolution.

In November 1905, the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies began its activities. At the third meeting of the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies, the issue of a general political strike and armed uprising was discussed. The council decided to bring this issue up for discussion among all Moscow workers. The council called on the workers to be ready at any moment for a general political strike and armed uprising.

December, from 12 noon, according to the resolution of the Moscow Council, a general political strike began in Moscow: almost all the workers of large factories and factories, railway employees (except Nikolaevskaya), workers and employees of municipal enterprises went on strike. In total, over 50 thousand factory workers went on strike that day, and together with railway workers - about 100 thousand people. The next day, over 150 thousand people were on strike. The Moscow armed uprising became the apogee of the revolution. During December 10-17, there were stubborn battles in the city, in which about 8 thousand workers took part. The uprising was crushed with the help of the Semenovsky Guards Regiment that arrived from the capital. More than 1 thousand people were killed during the fighting.

Armed uprisings also occur in other cities of Russia: in Rostov-on-Don, Kharkov, Yekaterinoslavl, Krasnoyarsk, Chita, Novorossiysk (unlike the Moscow uprising, they were suppressed relatively easily).

On December 1905, the 2nd Rostov Grenadier Regiment rebelled in Moscow and appealed to all the troops of the Moscow garrison to support its demands. It found a response in other regiments. A Council of Soldiers' Deputies was created from representatives of the Rostov, Ekaterinoslav and some other regiments of the Moscow garrison.

But the garrison command managed to suppress the soldier movement at its very beginning and isolate unreliable military units in the barracks. The December events ended with an armed uprising and barricade battles in Moscow (December 10-19). The uprisings showed that the need for freedom and the fight for it, awakened in soldiers and sailors, could not be stopped even by the most brutal reprisals. This consciousness became increasingly stronger in the army and navy, turning from a powerful support of tsarism into a hotbed of revolution. Now the army has irrevocably fallen away from the autocracy.

At the height of the uprising in Moscow, on December 11, 1905, a decree “On changing the regulations on elections to the State Duma” was published and preparations for elections were announced. This decree allowed the government to reduce the intensity of revolutionary passions. Liberals, frightened by the scale of the movement, recoiled from the revolution. They welcomed the publication of the Manifesto and the new electoral law. And they decided that they had managed to weaken the autocracy and, taking advantage of the promised freedoms, began to create their own political parties.

The uprisings were once again suppressed. As for the consequences of the uprisings, this is primarily experience. The experience of carrying out an uprising, used by revolutionary parties, primarily the Bolsheviks, in 1917. Perhaps the December uprising became an indicator of the proximity of global change.

.3 Decline of the revolution

The third stage of the revolution is characterized by the decline of the revolution (Appendix 7) and the strengthening of the positions of state power. At the height of the December armed uprising in Moscow, the government published a decree On changing the regulations on elections to the State Duma and announced preparations for elections. This act allowed the government to reduce the intensity of revolutionary passions . The center of gravity in the social movement is moving to the State Duma - the first representative legislative institution in Russia.

This is the most important political outcome of the events of 1905.

In 1906-1907 Stolypin (Appendix 4) formulated a government course that was liberal-conservative in nature. In general, his logic corresponded to the continuation of the course of the Great Reforms. Military courts, introduced for obvious serious crimes (primarily terrorist attacks), operated for eight months and handed down 1,102 death sentences (executed against 683 people). This harsh measure managed to stem the wave of revolutionary terror. The reform of the administrative and police apparatus was intended to create a system capable of preventing revolutionary processes in Russia.

In 1906-1907 Strikes, peasant uprisings, and unrest in the navy continued. However, in general, the revolutionary movement began to decline at this time. The tsarist government slowly but surely regained control over the country. The announcement of the creation and start of elections to the State Duma had a strong influence, the actions of the uprising were stopped by strikes of Moscow and St. Petersburg workers, and people believed that a change of power would come with the State Duma.

The Bolsheviks were the first to moderate the ardor of the workers from the “apposition”; they in no way wanted a complete end to the revolution, but it was better to wait for the State Duma elections and then think about further actions. Later, the Cadets decided to hold back the workers and peasants, arguing that having received seats in power it would be easier to influence it than through strikes and battles in the streets. This proves the decline of the revolution, since it was beneficial for the parties to wait out the elections to the Duma and act depending on the situation (for example, the Cadets, who won the elections to the First State Duma, moved away from the path of struggle and took up government methods of carrying out reforms).

The central event of 1906 began first with the elections to the State Duma (6), and then with the activities of this new body for Russia.

According to the rules on the entry into force of the Establishment of the State Duma on September 18, 1905, elections of deputies to the Duma were to be held throughout the country on the same day. However, the election procedure was so complex and cumbersome (in addition, many unexpected problems emerged in the first stages of their preparation) that it immediately became obvious that this would not be possible. Elections of deputies to the First State Duma were supposed to take place from March 23 to April 20, but as a result they lasted until June 1906, when the Duma had already begun its work. In total, approximately half of the voters took part in the elections. On February 20, 1906, a Manifesto was published containing the following laws:

About the State Duma, which became the legislative body. Duma deputies were elected for 5 years and were not accountable to voters. They could be removed from work by the Senate. The Duma could be dissolved ahead of schedule by the emperor. Ministers, commissions of deputies and the State Council had the right to enter the Duma with legislative initiatives.

About the State Council, which was endowed with legislative functions, turning into the upper house of the Russian parliament with the right to veto decisions of the Duma. Half of the council members were appointed by the tsar, the other half were elected by certain privileged institutions and public organizations (for example, the Synod, provincial zemstvo assemblies, noble and regional societies, large organizations of industrialists and traders, etc.). Thus, the composition of the Council was aristocratic.

The Duma had limited legislative initiative: it could not introduce bills within the “sovereign’s jurisdiction” (diplomatic, military, internal affairs of the Court), and did not control about half of the state budget.

The decisions of the Duma had to be approved by the State Council. The “3 locks” design was created. Legislative power was vested simultaneously in three bodies: the State Duma, the State Council and the Emperor. The law could only be adopted with the consent of all three bodies; objections from at least one of them excluded the possibility of adoption of the law.

The electoral qualifications became less strict, 25 million people received the right to vote. However, elections remained multi-stage, and voters' rights remained unequal.

All voters were divided into four curiae (landowners, city owners, workers and peasants). Each of them chose its own electors for constituencies. For the nobles and bourgeoisie (urban property owners) the elections were two-stage, for workers - three-stage, and for peasants - four-stage. Landowners elected 1 elector per 2,000 people, industrialists - per 4,000 people, peasants - per 30,000, workers - per 90,000. Persons under 25 years of age, military personnel, nomads (“wandering foreigners”) and women did not have voting rights.

Elections to the First State Duma took place in March - April 1906. These were the first elections in the entire history of Russia.

The elections to the First State Duma brought an unconditional victory to the Cadets - 279 deputies, the Trudoviks - 97 deputies, national groups ("autonomist union") - 70 deputies, Octobrists and rightists - 16 deputies and non-party members - 103 deputies. S.A. became the Chairman of the First State Duma. Muromtsev (cadet). Thus, the authorities suffered a crushing defeat in the elections. The extreme right parties and even the Octobrists together received only 10% of the votes. The Duma (April 27 - July 8, 1906) solemnly opened with a magnificent reception given by Nicholas II for the deputies in the Winter Palace.

Less than a week had passed before the Duma, on the initiative of the Cadets, adopted an address to the monarch, which put forward the basic demands of the liberals: it was about the introduction of general elections, the abolition of all restrictions on the legislative activity of the Duma, the personal responsibility of ministers, the abolition of restrictive laws, the State Council, on guaranteeing civil liberties (including the right to strike), abolishing the death penalty, developing agrarian reform, revising taxation, introducing universal and free education, meeting the demands of national minorities, and complete political amnesty.

The government, led by a prime minister unquestioningly obedient to the tsar, categorically rejected all these demands. Having received a refusal, the Duma adopted a vote of “complete no confidence” in the government by a majority of votes (only seven against!) and demanded its “immediate resignation.” Two weeks were enough for a final break to occur between the government and the Duma. The government, in turn, boycotted the Duma, submitting only laws of minor importance to its consideration.

The central issue discussed in the First Duma was agrarian. The Cadets developed a draft agrarian law, according to which peasants could, for “fair compensation,” receive ownership of the lands they rented. The government considered that this issue was not within the competence of the Duma and decided to dissolve the Duma if it escalated tension around the agrarian issue.

June, another, most radical, agrarian project appeared, which involved the immediate destruction of private ownership of land and its transition to the public domain (so-called socialization). On July 9, the First State Duma was dissolved under the pretext that the deputies “instead of working on state construction, deviated into an area that did not belong to them.”

The fact that it was the agrarian question that served as the reason for the dissolution of the Duma could not remain without consequences. The peasants understood that the tsar dissolved the Duma precisely because he was concerned about peasant interests. In this environment, republican ideas, previously uncharacteristic of peasants, began to gradually spread. After the dissolution of the First State Duma, left-wing terrorist parties became disillusioned with attempts to reach a peaceful agreement with the authorities and incited discontent among workers and peasants; the terrorists waged a real war with the authorities. Representatives of state and military authorities died in dozens and dozens. A number of spontaneous and isolated uprisings broke out in the summer and winter of 1906 (sailors and soldiers in Sveaborg, Kronstadt, Reval, workers in St. Petersburg, etc.).

Opposition deputies (cadets, Trudoviks, Mensheviks) drew up a manifesto. They called for acts of civil disobedience (refusal to pay taxes, military service, etc.) “until the convening of a new people’s representative office.” The appeal did not receive sufficient response in the country and had only one result: its drafters were subjected to legal prosecution and thereby lost the opportunity to run for the next Duma. The Cadet Party lost many of its deputies.

Peasant revolts were brutally suppressed with the help of special punitive detachments and mass repressions. 260 dailies and periodicals were suspended from June to October 1906.

It fell to Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin, the Minister of Internal Affairs in the previous cabinet, to subdue the opposition and pacify the latest revolutionary unrest. A fighter for the preservation of the monarchy through its modernization, a conservative in his views. He directed his activities towards solving three main tasks: suppressing unrest, monitoring the elections to the Second Duma, and the agrarian question.

In such a situation, elections to the Second State Duma took place (February 20 - June 2, 1907). It included 104 Trudoviks, 98 Cadets, 65 Social Democrats (2/3 of them Mensheviks), 37 Socialist Revolutionaries, 76 deputies from national minorities, there were only 32 Octobrists (including sympathizers), and 33 monarchists. As a result, candidates from government parties formed a very insignificant faction in the Duma, while the overwhelming majority was in opposition. Taught by previous experience, the Cadets put forward the slogan “save the Duma.” The commissions began to develop numerous bills.

After an initial period of calm from March to April 1907, controversy flared up over two issues: agrarian policy and the adoption of emergency measures against revolutionaries. The government demanded the condemnation of revolutionary terrorism, but the majority of deputies refused to do so. Meanwhile, terrorist and anti-terrorist actions resumed everywhere (several hundred people died in May alone). The government and the Duma clashed in an uncompromising struggle over the fate of Stolypin's laws. The Stolypin government tried to direct the work of the Duma in the right direction to discuss government bills and decrees. But due to the predominance of leftist parties in it, cooperation between the Duma and the government turned out to be impossible. In order not to link the dissolution of the Duma again with the agrarian question, the government accused many deputies of conspiring against the royal family. Stolypin demanded the expulsion of 55 socialist deputies from its ranks and deprivation of 16 of them parliamentary immunity. Nicholas II announced the dissolution of the Duma on June 3 and scheduled the convening of the next Duma for November 1, 1907.

The manifesto proclaiming the dissolution of the Duma also announced fundamental changes to the election law. The new law tightened the electoral qualifications for the main voters, reduced the representation of peasants and national minorities, and increased inequality in the representation of various social categories. Now the vote of one landowner was equal to the votes of 7 townspeople, 30 peasant voters or 60 workers. Victory was undoubtedly on the side of the authorities. The country, tired of two and a half years of unrest, did not react to the adoption of a new election law. The government received a more moderate Duma, which practically did not touch upon issues of the country's political structure.

political social Russian revolution

3. Results and consequences of the revolution of 1905-1907.

.1 Results of the revolution

The main results of the revolution were: a change in the form of government in Russia, it became a constitutional (limited) monarchy; weakening the landowners and improving the lives of the peasants; improving workers' living standards; the national outskirts received representation in the Duma; permission for the legal activities of political parties, trade unions, and the press.

One of the main results of the revolution of 1905-1907. Changes have appeared in the mentality of the people. Patriarchal Russia was replaced by revolutionary Russia. The people gained experience in the struggle for freedom and democracy.

Some workers received voting rights. The proletariat was given the opportunity to form trade unions, and workers no longer bore criminal liability for participating in strikes.

The working day in many cases was reduced to 9-10 hours, and in some even to 8 hours. During the revolution, workers achieved a 12-14% increase in wages. A system of collective agreements between workers and entrepreneurs was introduced, and the procedure for organizing work and rest was regulated.

The created State Duma, despite its limited rights, still provided some opportunity for legal democratic propaganda. Tsarism had to come to terms with the existence in the country of such elements of bourgeois democracy as a multi-party system. Russian society has achieved recognition of fundamental individual rights (however, not in full and without guarantees of their observance).

Changes also took place in the countryside: the government was forced to begin agrarian reform, redemption payments were abolished, landlord arbitrariness was reduced, and the rental and sale price of land was reduced; peasants were equal to other classes in the right to movement and residence, admission to universities and the civil service. Officials and police did not interfere in the work of peasant gatherings.

However, the main agrarian question was never resolved: the peasants did not receive land.

The revolution of 1905 affected not only Russia, but also stirred up the peoples of the East. Revolutionary events and clashes between the masses and the authorities took place in Asian countries.

Revolution 1905-1907 did not solve the main problems of political and socio-economic development, but pushed Russia into a period of development in all spheres of society.

.2 Role of the Revolution

The first Russian revolution, having raised the broadest masses of the people (8) to fight, became a school of political education for workers and peasants. The revolution showed all classes of Russian society in action and allowed the working people to identify their friends and enemies.

Russia got a chance to move from an autocratic form of government to a constitutional monarchy and liberalization of the political regime.

One of the most important results of the revolution was the opportunity to create legal parties based on the manifesto “On Improving Public Order.” The liberal parties Constitutional Democratic (leader P.N. Milyukov) and “Union of October 17” (leader A.I. Guchkov) are created; monarchical (Black Hundred) organizations are formed - “Union of the Russian People” (leader A.I. Dubrovin), Russian Monarchist Party, etc.

Also, one of the most important results of the revolution was the main direction of Stolypin’s activity, the introduction of agrarian reform. And on November 9, 1906, the tsar approved the decree proposed by Stolypin, which began agrarian reform. Its main content was the destruction of the peasant community and giving the peasants the right to decide their own future fate. To eliminate the land shortage of peasants, Stolypin proposed to begin a large-scale resettlement of everyone who needed land to the eastern regions of the country, where there were vast uninhabited spaces. To support the settlers, it was planned to provide them with loans through the Peasant Bank and provide assistance in land development. In addition to agrarian reform, Stolypin developed projects for social reform (it was supposed to somewhat soften the situation of the workers), restructuring the education system (it was supposed to provide universal primary education within 15-20 years), adjusting national policy (introducing zemstvo self-government in the western provinces), etc. However, Stolypin was not destined to fulfill his plans. In September 1911, he died in Kyiv at the hands of a terrorist. Many of his undertakings disappeared along with him.

During the revolution of 1905-1907, the foundations were laid for the creation, under the leadership of the proletariat, of a united revolutionary front of the oppressed peoples of Russia. The revolution weakened the liberal bourgeoisie as a political force, depriving it of a significant portion of its reserves and, above all, the peasantry. The revolution confirmed the correctness of the Bolshevik strategic plan developed by V.I. Lenin. It proved that the role of leader of the working class and all working people can only be fulfilled by a revolutionary Marxist party - a party of a new type.

The revolution of 1905-1907 had a huge impact on the development of the international revolutionary movement; the revolution raised the proletarian movement throughout the world to a new, higher level. Under its powerful influence, a powerful wave of strikes and strikes swept through all the countries of Western Europe.

At the beginning of the 20th century. A total of more than 150 political parties were created - all-Russian, regional and national. The basis for their legalization arose with the publication of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, which proclaimed the freedom to form unions and hold meetings. The growth of liberal parties was facilitated by election campaigns to the State Duma, and radical ones - by mass popular uprisings.

The process of formation of the Russian multi-party system had specific features.

Firstly, political parties arose in Russia much later than in the advanced countries of Western Europe and America, where the process of the genesis of party movements and organizations was associated with the struggle of the nascent bourgeoisie against the feudal-absolutist system, which began in the 17th century.

Secondly, the sequence of the emergence of parties was different. In Western Europe, conservative parties emerged first, then liberal ones, and only then socialist ones. The order of their emergence was determined by the evolution of European capitalism: conservative parties expressed the interests of large farmers and traders of the pre-industrial era, liberal parties expressed the interests of the industrial, financial and commercial bourgeoisie associated with the development of industry, proletarian parties appeared in conditions of aggravated contradictions in bourgeois society. In Russia, where large capitalist industry coexisted with the remnants of feudalism, parties with a socialist orientation were the first to emerge, then liberal parties and others appeared. finally, conservative.

Thirdly, the organizers and leaders of the parties were a specifically Russian social stratum - the intelligentsia, which consisted of representatives of different classes. Most parties sought to present themselves as supra-class, national, expressing the general needs of the country's development, which was reflected in their names. Thus, the Cadet Party called itself the “people's freedom party.” Meanwhile, a typical feature of the Russian multi-party system was confrontation, which manifested itself in the relationships of parties among themselves and with the authorities.

Conclusion

To summarize, the following pattern should be highlighted: the political crisis on the eve of the revolution turned out to be a phenomenon prepared by all previous events in the country, and therefore was predictable. If so, then the bloody tragic events could have been prevented, but no significant attempts were made to peacefully resolve the conflict.

More than a hundred years ago, social tension gripped the entire Russian society. More and more people realized that it was no longer possible to live “in the old way”, denying the need for change. As our studies have shown, one of the important features of the period of the revolution of 1905-1907. various layers of society became aware of their interests.

Based on the analysis, we were able to come to the conclusion that the revolution of 1905-1907. - the first people's revolution of the era of imperialism. By its nature and objectives, the revolution of 1905-1907 was bourgeois-democratic, and in terms of the means of struggle - proletarian.

Several main conclusions can be drawn from the main body of the work. The most important issue that the revolution was designed to solve was the agrarian question. Strikes, boycotts and rallies brought positive results, and on November 9, 1906, the tsar approved the decree proposed by Stolypin, which began agrarian reform.

The tsarist government was forced to make some changes to the political system. A definite result of the changes in the political system was the new edition of the Basic Laws of the Russian Empire approved by the emperor. The characterization of the emperor's power as "unlimited" power was removed from the Basic Laws. But the position of the supreme autocratic power of the emperor was preserved. The previous form of autocracy was becoming obsolete and the transition to representative institutions on an all-Russian scale became necessary under the influence of the development of capitalism as a result of the growth of the revolutionary movement, to combat which tsarism was forced to organize an alliance of the local nobility and the upper bourgeoisie. Thus, in 1906, the activities of a new body for Russia began - the State Duma.

The first Russian revolution, despite its defeat, was of great importance for the political maturation of the working class, the strengthening of the Bolshevik parties, and the formation of an alliance between the working class and peasants. The experience of the heroic struggle of the Russian proletariat was adopted by the working class of the whole world. Under the influence of the revolution of 1905-1907. The labor movement intensified in European countries and the United States. The revolution stirred up the peoples of the East. It caused a powerful upsurge of the national liberation movement in India, Indonesia, Egypt and other countries. Under its influence, revolutions developed in Iran, Turkey, and China.

However, the social tensions that caused the First Russian Revolution were not completely resolved. The solution to the issues of overthrowing the autocracy, eliminating landownership, destroying the class system, and establishing a democratic republic created the preconditions for the subsequent revolutionary uprising of 1917.

Having examined the main events of the “First Russian Revolution”, we can say that this historical event is contradictory and ambiguous. On the one hand, the revolution can be considered a success, since the government lost complete “unlimited” power and made serious concessions to the protesters. On the other hand, we can call it not successful, because not all the goals of the rebel workers and peasants were realized. They achieved only part of the demands they put forward. But, of course, this event left its mark on the history of Russia and became the first in a series of transformations of public consciousness and the construction of a socialist society, setting the tone for the next 70 years. Revolutions that affected not only the country, but the whole world. “The First Russian Revolution of 1905-197” undoubtedly had world-historical significance.

Bibliography

1. Golovkov, G.Z. Milestones of mutual violence of power and revolution [text]/ Russia and the modern world. - 2006. - No. 1. - P.114-127.

Nefedov, S.A. Origins of 1905: “Revolution from without”? [Text] / Questions of history. - 2008. - No. 1. - P.47-59.

Tyutikin, S.V. Domestic history [Text] // The first revolution in Russia: a look through a century. - 2004. - No. 6. - P.126-141.

V.N. Andrianov Revolution 1905-1907 in Russia: Documents and materials [electronic resource] / V.N. Andrianov 2001. P. 850.

Korovin V.V. On the barricades of Moscow [text] / Korovin V.V. 1999 P.336.

Stepanov S.A. The Black Hundred in Russia (1905-1914). [text] / Stepanov S.A.

year 2000. pp. 56-57

6. The first Russian revolution of 1905-1907. [electronic resource]

Essays on socio-political history [electronic resource]

Kozhnikov V.A. Mysterious pages of the history of the twentieth century. [text] / Kozhnikov V.A. 1995. P. 71.

Annex 1

Nicholas II. Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, 14th All-Russian Emperor. Photocopy

Appendix 2

Georgy Apollonovich Gapon - clergyman. Organizer of the party “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg.” He led the workers' demonstration on January 9, 1905 (Bloody Sunday). Photocopy

Appendix 3

Squadron battleship of the Russian Navy "Battleship Potemkin-Tavrichesky". In June 1905 there was a sailor riot

Appendix 4

Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin - reformer and statesman. In April 1906, he was appointed by the Tsar to the post of Minister of Internal Affairs; after the dissolution of the First State Duma, he was appointed to the post of Prime Minister of Russia.

Appendix 5

Appendix 6

Reception in honor of the opening of the 1st State Duma in 1906.

Appendix 7

Diagram activity of the First Russian Revolution

Appendix 8

Workers' demonstration of 1907

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First revolution 1905-1907 took place due to a number of factors that manifested themselves in various spheres of Russian society at that time. did not develop instantly, but was intensified gradually due to unresolved problems accumulating since the mid-19th century. At the beginning of the twentieth century, capitalism moved to the highest stage of its development - imperialism, which was accompanied by an exacerbation of all contradictions in society both within the country and at the international level.

The working day lasted fourteen hours!

Causes of the revolution of 1905-1907 lies in the fact that in the country, in different segments of the population, a large number of people have appeared who are dissatisfied with their lives. It is worth noting the disenfranchised position primarily of the working class, which became the driving force in 1917. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the number of representatives of the proletariat in Russia reached fourteen million people (of which about ten percent were career workers). And these fourteen million industrialists were forced to work 14 hours a day (with a working day of 11 and a half hours officially established since 1897).

Exile without investigation or trial

The first Russian revolution (1905-1907) also became possible because at the same time the working class was significantly limited in its rights to protect its own interests. In the Russian Empire, there were secret regulations at the level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which made it possible to exile representatives of the proletariat without investigation or trial for participating in protests. For the same actions you could go to prison for a period of 60 to 240 days.

They worked for pennies

Russian Revolution 1905-1907 became possible due to the brutal exploitation of the working class by industrial owners. For example, in mineral processing, workers received less than a third of each ruble of profit (32 kopecks), and in metal processing and the food industry, even less - 22 and 4 kopecks, respectively. In those days they spent even less on social services - 0.6% of entrepreneurs’ expenses. This may have been partly due to the fact that more than half of the country's industry was owned by foreign investors. As an analysis of securities of that time showed (shares of railways, enterprises, banks), many of them had distribution addresses in the USA and Europe, as well as inscriptions not only in Russian, but also in English, German and French. The revolution of 1905-1907, the goals of which, at first glance, do not reveal obvious foreign influence, is based on the fact that there were not enough industrialists and representatives of the ruling elite who would be interested in increasing the well-being of the Russian people.

The “popularity” of Russian investments was then partly due to the fact that during the monetary reforms of 1897, the ruble of the Russian Empire was pegged to gold. A flow of foreign money entered the country, the “other side of the coin” was the withdrawal of funds in the form of interest, also in gold. Thus, in 1887-1913, almost 1800 million rubles in gold were invested into the Russian Empire from Western countries, and about 2300 million gold rubles were withdrawn as income.

Bread was consumed almost three times less than overseas

The revolution in Russia (1905-1907) was based on the fact that the standard of living of the population was significantly lower than in European countries. For example, subjects of the Russian Empire at that time consumed about 3.45 centners of bread per year per capita, in the USA this figure was close to a ton, in Denmark - about 900 centners, in France - more than half a ton, in Germany - 4.32 centners . At the same time, it was in our country that large grain harvests were harvested, a significant part of which was exported, which created the preconditions for the flow of funds into the treasury, on the one hand, and “malnutrition” of the people, on the other.

Life in the countryside before the Russian Revolution (1905-1907) began was also difficult. At that time, peasants had to pay significant taxes and excise taxes, the area of ​​peasant plots tended to decrease, many worked on leased plots, giving away half of the harvest or most of the income received. Landowners, on the contrary, enlarged their holdings (one landowner's farmstead accounted for up to 300 peasant households in area) and excessively exploited the farmers dependent on them. Unlike the workers, the peasantry, whose share accounted for up to 70% of the population of the Russian Empire, took part to a lesser extent in the historical process called the “Revolution of 1905-1907”, the reasons for which the results were not very encouraging for the farmers. Moreover, even on the eve of the year, many farmers were monarchists and believed in the “good tsar-father.”

The king did not want change

The Russian Revolution (1905-1907) is largely due to the policies pursued by Nicholas II, who decided to follow the path of his father and further strengthen the autocracy, rather than try to liberalize Russian society, as his grandfather, Alexander II, wanted to do. The latter, however, was killed on the day when he wanted to announce the first semblance of the Russian constitution. During his accession to the throne at the age of 26, Nicholas II pointed out that democratic changes were meaningless ideas, so the tsar was not going to take into account such opinions that had already formed in a certain part of the educated society of that time, which did not add to the autocrat’s popularity.

Unsuccessful military campaign of Nicholas II

The Russo-Japanese War, which took place in 1904-1905, did not add it either. It was launched by Japan, but many in the Russian Empire also longed for some kind of military campaign to strengthen the authority of the authorities. The first Russian revolution (1905-1907) began during military operations (revolutionary actions took place for the first time in January 1905, while the war ended in August of the same year), which were, by and large, unsuccessful. Russia's fortresses were not fortified, the supply of the army and navy was poorly organized, soldiers and officers died senselessly, and the surrender of the Port Arthur fortress and the events of Tsushima and Mukden had a more than negative impact on the image of the autocrat and his entourage.

Periodization of the revolution

Historians know the following stages of the revolution of 1905-1907:

• The first - in January-March 1905.
• The second, lasted from April to August 1905.
• The third, lasting from the autumn of 1905 to March 1906.

At the first stage, the main events developed after “Bloody Sunday,” when about one hundred and forty thousand proletarians came with religious symbols and a petition about the needs of the working class to the Winter Palace, where some of them were shot by the Cossacks and government troops. In addition to economic demands, the petition also included proposals to establish popular representation in the form of a Constituent Assembly, introduce freedom of speech, religion, equality of all before the law, reducing the working hours, separation of church and state, public education, etc.

The bourgeoisie supported the idea of ​​constituent assemblies

The working masses were led by the priest Georgy Gapon, who headed the “Assembly of Workers of St. Petersburg”, established by the police several years earlier, which was designed to weaken the influence of revolutionary ideas on the proletariat. He also drafted the petition. Nicholas II was not in the capital during the procession. At the first stage, about 810,000 people took part in the popular unrest; the workers were supported by students, zemstvos, and employees. The revolution of 1905-1907, the goals of which were different for different groups of the population, for the first time attracted into its ranks the middle and large bourgeoisie, who supported the idea of ​​a constituent assembly. The Tsar, in response to the outrage, wrote an order for the Minister of Internal Affairs, A. Bulygin, demanding that he prepare a draft legislative body (the Duma).

Development of the revolutionary process: second stage

How did the revolution of 1905-1907 develop further? The second stage can be briefly characterized as follows: in April-August 1905, about 0.7 million people took part in strikes, including a strike of textile workers (in Ivanovo-Voznesensk) that lasted from May 12 to July 26. During the same period, peasant uprisings took place in every fifth district of the European part of the Russian Empire. Under pressure from these events, the authorities in August 1905 issued documents regarding the election of the Duma, but with a very small number of voters. The elections to this body were boycotted by all layers of the protest movements, so the Duma was never created.

What results did the revolution of 1905-1907 bring at this stage? The goals pursued by the peasantry throughout the revolutionary events of the early twentieth century were partially achieved in August 1905, when farmers were able to gain access to government lands. But only by purchasing them through the so-called Peasant Bank, which few could afford.

The third period brought civil liberties

The third stage, which the revolution in Russia went through (1905-1907), was the longest. It began in September 1905 and ended in March 1906. Here, the most significant event was the all-Russian political strike, in which about two million people took part throughout the country. The demands were still the same - an eight-hour working day, the convocation of democratic freedoms. Government structures intended to suppress the uprising by force (General Trepov’s order “not to spare cartridges and not to fire blanks to disperse the crowd”), but on October 17 of the same year, Nicholas II issued a decree that gave significant civil liberties. It included freedom of association, assembly, speech, and personal integrity. After the adoption of this decree, trade unions and councils of workers’ deputies began to emerge, the “Russian People” and “October 17” unions were founded, agrarian

The main events of the revolution (1905-1907) include two convocations of the State Duma. These were attempts to transform Russia from autocratic to parliamentary monarchy. The First Duma worked from April 1906 to July of the same year and was abolished by the emperor, as it actively fought against the current government and was distinguished by the initiation of radical laws (the Social Revolutionaries proposed the nationalization of natural resources and the abolition of private ownership of land, etc.).

The Duma didn't come up with anything

The events of the revolution (1905-1907) were not particularly successful in terms of the work of legislative bodies. Thus, the Second State Duma, which worked in 1907 from February to June, presented many proposals for resolving the agrarian issue from different parties, considered the food issue, provisions on the abolition of courts-martial and military conscription, and opposed the “illegal actions” of the police, which greatly “angried” the current government. The Second Duma consisted of about 500 deputies, among whom 38% had higher education, home education - 8 percent, secondary education - about 20%, lower education - 32 percent. One percent of the Duma was illiterate, which is not surprising, since almost 170 deputies came from the illiterate peasantry. But there were also factory directors in the Duma - 6 people, lawyers - about thirty, and even one poet.

Why did the revolution end in 1907?

The revolution of 1905-1907 ended with the dissolution. Briefly, the activities of this body can be characterized as insufficiently productive, since the Duma, again, fought more with other government bodies. In total, she adopted 20 legislative acts, of which only three received the force of law, including two projects to help people affected by crop failures.

Results of the first Russian revolution

What did the revolution of 1905-1907 bring to the inhabitants of the Russian Empire? The goals of the majority of the protesting classes of society during this historical event were not achieved, therefore the revolutionary process is considered to have failed. Of course, there were certain results in the form of the establishment of a legislative body representing a number of classes and the provision of some civil liberties. But the state structure did not undergo any significant changes, the land issue was not completely resolved, the working conditions of the working class remained difficult, so the prerequisites remained for the further development of revolutionary processes.

The results of the revolution included the formation of three main “camps” of political parties (government, liberal-bourgeois and democratic), which would still appear on the Russian political arena in 1917.

Lecture 47

Russia in 1907-1914 Stolypin agrarian reform

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

Agrarian reform was Stolypin's main and favorite brainchild.

Goals of the reform.

1. Socio-political. To create a strong support for the autocracy in the countryside in the form of strong peasant farms (prosperous peasant owners).

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

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

4. Resettle land-poor peasants beyond the Urals, promoting more intensive development of the eastern regions of Russia.

The essence of the reform.

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

Results of the Stolypin agrarian reform

Positive:

Up to 1/4 of the farms were separated from the community, the stratification of the village increased, the rural elite provided up to half of the market grain,

3 million households moved from European Russia,

4 million des. communal lands were included in market circulation,

Consumption of fertilizers increased from 8 to 20 million poods,

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

Negative:

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

0.5 million displaced people returned to Central Russia,

There were 2-4 dessiatines per peasant household, while the norm was 7-8 dessiatines. arable land,

The main agricultural implement was the plow (8 million pieces); 52% of farms did not have plows.

Wheat yield 55 pounds. with dec. in Germany - 157 pounds.

CONCLUSION.

Thanks to the successful progress of agrarian reform, Russia by 1914 had achieved great success in economic and financial development, which allowed it to play a prominent role in world politics. However, Russia's entry into the war and subsequent defeat again set the country back, increasing its gap with the leading European powers.

Lecture 48

The formation of political parties in Russia at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.

Workers and the growing strike movement with economic demands had a significant influence 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, 670 peasant uprisings took place.

Opposition sentiments at the beginning of the twentieth century. covered broad layers 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 political struggle for the interests of this class and most fully and consistently expresses and protects 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 are a combination of political terror in the “centers” and agrarian terror (violent actions against property or against the person of “economic oppressors”) in the countryside.

RSDLP (Russian Social Democratic Labor Party) founded in 1903 at the II Congress.

The main task is to build socialism through social revolution and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. At the Third Congress, the party split into two parts: the Bolsheviks (leader V. Ulyanov (Lenin) and the Mensheviks (Yu. Martov)). Martov opposed Lenin's 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 early stages 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. Printing organ - “Russian Banner”. (100 thousand people) Leaders – A. Dubrovin and V. Purishkevich.

Main ideas : Orthodoxy, autocracy, Russian nationality.

Main trends : acute nationalism, hatred of all “foreigners” and the intelligentsia. The bulk of the party members: small 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. This was the first Russian version of fascism.

Constitutional Democratic Party of People's Freedom (Cadets). Created in 1905 (100 thousand people). Edition "Rech". Leader P. Milyukov. 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, achieve 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. An active part of the population realized the need to fight for 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 of Japanese and Russian imperialism. The ruling classes of Japan have been plundering China for many years. They wanted to capture Korea, Manchuria, and 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.

Russia's construction of the Siberian Railway (Chelyabinsk - Vladivostok) - 7 thousand km in 1891-1901, which caused discontent in Japan.

Russia's attempt to reduce Japan's aggressive plans as a result of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895. Russia issued an ultimatum (supported by Germany and France) that Japan renounce the Liaodong Peninsula.

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

a) construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway Chita - Vladivostok began (via China)

b) China granted Russia a 25-year lease on the Liaodong Peninsula with Port Arthur

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

II . Japan's preparation for war

Conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty against Russia

Japan's construction of a modern navy in England

England and the USA helped Japan with strategic raw materials, weapons, and loans. France took a neutral position and did not support its ally, Russia.

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

Ideological indoctrination of the Japanese population. Imposing the idea of ​​the need to seize “the northern territories due to the overpopulation of the Japanese islands.”

Conducting extensive reconnaissance and espionage activities in the future theater of military operations.

III . Russia's unpreparedness for war

Russia's diplomatic isolation

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

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

The navy was dispersed, with twice as many cruisers and one-third as many destroyers as Japan.

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

I V . The beginning and course of hostilities

Using the superiority of forces and the factor of surprise, on the night of January 27, 1904, without a declaration of war, 10 Japanese destroyers suddenly attacked the Russian squadron on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur and disabled 2 battleships and 1 cruiser. On the morning of January 27, 6 Japanese cruisers and 8 destroyers attacked the cruiser Varyag and the gunboat Koreets in the Korean port of Chemulpo. In the unequal 45-minute battle, the Russian sailors showed miracles of courage: both ships had 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, Komanda Both ships were transferred to French and American ships, after which the “Korean” was blown up and the “Varyag” was sunk so that they would not fall 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 took his squadron to the outer roadstead to engage the enemy and lure him under the fire of 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 this, the fleet went on the defensive, since the commander-in-chief, the mediocre admiral E.I. Alekseev, refused to take active action on sea.

On land, military operations were also unsuccessful. In February-April 1904, Japanese troops landed in Korea and on the Liaodong Peninsula. The commander of the ground army, General A.N. Kuropatkin, did not organize a proper response, 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 strength and was forced to proceed to a long siege. At the same time, the stubborn resistance of Russian soldiers thwarted the Japanese offensive near Liaoyang. However, Kuropatkin did not use this success and gave the order to 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, pinned down almost half of the Japanese forces. The counter-offensive of Russian troops on the Shahe River at the end of September was unsuccessful. 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. Constant bombing 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 over 157 days. 50 thousand Russian soldiers pinned down 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 waging the war was pointless. The Russian army was losing its combat effectiveness, hatred of incompetent generals grew among soldiers and officers, and revolutionary ferment intensified. In Japan the situation was also difficult. There were not enough raw materials and finances. The United States offered Russia and Japan its 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 Kuril Islands ridge passed to Japan

Russia made concessions to Japan in fishing

V I . Results of the Russo-Japanese War

1. Russia spent 3 billion rubles on the war

   About 400 thousand people were killed, wounded, or captured (Japan had 135 thousand killed, 554 thousand wounded and sick)

   Death of the Pacific Fleet

   A blow to Russia's international prestige

   Defeat in the war accelerated the start of the revolution of 1905–1907.

CONCLUSION:

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

Lecture 50

Russia in the First World War: main military operations,

domestic political development, economics

The causes of World War I were the transition of leading European countries to imperialism, the formation of monopolies, the pursuit of monopoly high profits, which pushed 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 world war.

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

1882 - Triple Alliance, uniting Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

1907 – Entente, uniting Russia, England and France.

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

The following should be noted: there are different types of wars - large and small, just and aggressive, liberation and colonial, popular and anti-national, cold and hot, long and fleeting. There are also absurd ones. Just such a bloody and cruel massacre, which claimed millions of lives, was the one that began on August 1, 1914, with the declaration of war on little Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. All participants expected to implement their military plans within 3-4 months. However, already from the first days of the war, the calculations of leading military strategists about the lightning-fast nature of the war collapsed.

The revolution lasted 2.5 years (from January 9, 1905 to June 3, 1907). It went through several stages in its development.

The prologue to the revolution was the events in St. Petersburg - the general strike and Bloody Sunday. The organization “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg” was created under the leadership of G. A. Gapon. The Charter set rather innocent goals for the “Assembly”: the fight for a sober lifestyle, strengthening national self-awareness, buying books and opening libraries, organizing lectures and evenings, etc. Gapon's activities were approved by Zubatov, the head of the Moscow security department. On the one hand, Gapon passionately wanted to alleviate the lot of the workers, but, on the other hand, he perfectly understood that without the support of the powers that be, he, a simple priest, could not do anything, so he pretended to obey the government. The organization created by Gapon quickly gained weight and influence, and he himself became the leader of the St. Petersburg workers.

But peaceful coexistence could not last long. The situation in the country and failures on the fronts of the Russo-Japanese War intensified anti-government sentiments in society. Gapon could not remain aloof from these events and proposed to the leadership of the “Assembly” departments at the end of 1904 to develop a petition to submit to the Tsar and now they needed a convenient moment to submit it: when the administration fired four workers from the country’s largest Putilov plant, members of the “ Meetings,” and negotiations on their reinstatement ended with zero results - on January 3, at Gapon’s proposal, a strike began at the plant that produces weapons for the Russian army. On January 3, in a conversation with Fullon, Gapon reassured the mayor and assured that the workers’ demands were purely economic. However, economic demands also grew: on January 4, an increase in pay for unskilled workers was added, prices were set by mutual agreement, etc. The administration sharply rejected these demands, turning to the authorities with a complaint that the workers' union had violated its charter.

However, on January 5, the situation changed dramatically: after a conversation with Fullon, Gapon realized that his union would be closed, and went all-in to expand the strike by involving workers from other factories. At the same time, he turned to the parties for assistance and found himself forced to agree to all the parties’ conditions. And now in the petition, in the first place was the demand for the convening of the Constituent Assembly (which gave the petition a political and revolutionary character) and there was no clause on the transfer of land to the peasants; a demand was added to end the war with Japan and the separation of church and state. Initially, the strikers opposed the text of such a petition, but Gapon suppressed the opponents with his authority. And by the evening of January 7, the strike became general: 130 thousand workers went on strike, and Gapon could no longer stop the movement, since the mood of the workers was extremely excited.

Thus, Gapon, who swore allegiance to the Tsar on January 4, was planning a revolution by the evening of the 7th. This turn was a complete surprise for the authorities and the movement of St. Petersburg workers took the police by surprise. On the afternoon of January 8, the king was informed of the contents of the petition; the categorical nature of many of its demands, which appeared as a result of the last edit, made it impossible for the tsar to go out to the people and any negotiations with the petitioners. Therefore, when the columns moved towards the city center on January 9, the troops had orders not to allow the crowd to approach the Winter Palace - the symbol of royal power; after all, an invasion of the palace by a crowd would mean a revolution. At first, the troops tried to stop the columns with cavalry actions, but this did not help, then they had to resort to firearms, as a result, more than 1,200 people were killed and about 5 thousand were wounded. In response, the workers took up arms and began building barricades. These events were called "Bloody Sunday".

The first stage of the revolution. From January 9 to the end of September 1905 - the beginning and development of the revolution along an ascending line, its expansion in depth and breadth: more and more new masses of the population were drawn in and gradually covered all regions of Russia.

Main events:

January-February strikes and protest demonstrations in response to Bloody Sunday under the slogan “Down with autocracy!”;

Spring-summer demonstrations of workers in Moscow, Odessa, Warsaw, Lodz, Riga and Baku;

Creation of a new workers' power body in Ivanovo-Voznesensk - the Council of Authorized Deputies;

Revolt of sailors on the battleship "Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky";

Mass movement of peasants and agricultural workers in 1/5 of the districts of Central Russia, Georgia and Latvia;

The creation of the Peasant Union, which made political demands.

During this period, part of the bourgeoisie supported popular uprisings. The government, under the pressure of the revolution, made the first concession and promised to convene the State Duma, but the attempt to create a legislative advisory body with significantly limited voting rights of the population in the conditions of the development of the revolution ended in failure.

Second stage of the revolution. October-December 1905 - the highest rise of the revolution.

Main events:

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 state order”;

Peasant revolts, which led to the abolition of ransom payments;

Performances in the army and navy (uprising in Sevastopol under the leadership of Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt);

December strikes and uprisings in Moscow, Kharkov, Chita, Krasnoyarsk.

The government suppressed all armed uprisings. At the height of the uprising in Moscow, which caused a special political resonance in the country, on December 11, 1905, a decree “On changing the regulations on elections to the State Duma” was published and preparations for elections were announced. This act allowed the government to reduce the intensity of revolutionary passions.

The bourgeois-liberal strata, frightened by the scale of the movement, recoiled from the revolution. They welcomed the publication of the Manifesto and the new electoral law, believing that this meant the weakening of autocracy and the beginning of parliamentarism in Russia. Taking advantage of the promised freedoms, they began to create their own political parties.

In October 1905, on the basis of the Liberation Union and the Union of Zemstvo Constitutionalists, the Constitutional Democratic Party (Cadets) was formed, which became opposition to the tsarist government.

In November 1905, the “Union of October 17” was created, which expressed the interests of large industrialists, the financial bourgeoisie, liberal landowners and wealthy intellectuals, and was ready to cooperate with the government.

Also in November 1905, the “Union of the Russian People” was created and in 1908 the “Union of Michael the Archangel” (Black Hundreds), who fought against any revolutionary and democratic protests, insisted on strengthening the autocracy, the integrity and indivisibility of Russia, maintaining the dominant position of Russians and strengthening the position of the Orthodox Church.

Ensuring the unshakable foundations of civil freedom “on the basis of actual personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and unions”;

Granting universal suffrage;

Creation of the Legislative Duma.

The October 17 Manifesto was a major political concession from tsarism to the revolutionary movement. However, it said nothing about the fate of the autocracy, the principles of the relationship between the emperor and the Duma, or the powers of the Duma. Therefore, the revolution did not end with the promulgation of the Manifesto on October 17.

The third stage of the revolution. From January 1906 to June 3, 1907 - decline and retreat of the revolution.

Main events:

- “rearguard battles of the proletariat”, which had an offensive, political character (1.1 million workers took part in strikes in 1906, 740 thousand in 1907);

New scope of the peasant movement;

Sailors' revolts (Kronstadt and Sveaborg);

National liberation movement (Poland, Finland, Baltic states, Ukraine).

Gradually the wave of popular protests weakened. The center of gravity in the social movement moved to the polling stations and to the State Duma, since under the pressure of the revolution, Nicholas II agreed to its creation.

It is necessary to highlight the formation of two state dumas:

I State Duma. Elections to it were held in March-April 1906; they were not universal (farmers, women, soldiers, sailors, students and workers employed in small enterprises did not participate in them). Each class had its own standards of representation: the vote of 1 landowner was equal to 3 votes of the bourgeoisie, 15 votes of peasants and 45 votes of workers. The outcome of the election was determined by the ratio of the number of electors. The government still counted on the monarchical commitment and Duma illusions of the peasants, so a relatively high standard of representation was established for them. The elections were not direct: for peasants - four degrees, for workers - three degrees, for nobles and the bourgeoisie - two degrees. An age limit (25 years) and a high property qualification for city residents was introduced to ensure the advantage of the big bourgeoisie in the elections.

However, among the deputies of the First State Duma there were 34% cadets, 14% Octobrists, 23% Trudoviks (a faction close to the Social Revolutionaries and expressing the interests of the peasantry). The Social Democrats were represented by the Mensheviks (about 4% of the seats), the Black Hundreds did not enter the Duma, and the Bolsheviks boycotted the elections. Thus, the composition of the Duma was leftist.

The Duma proposed a program for the democratization of Russia, which included:

Introducing the responsibility of ministers to the Duma;

Guarantee of all civil liberties;

Establishment of universal free education;

Carrying out agrarian reform;

Meeting the demands of national minorities;

Abolition of the death penalty and complete political amnesty.

On the agrarian question, two bills were discussed: the Cadets and the Trudoviks. Both of them stood for the creation of a “state land fund” from state, monastic, appanage and part of landowners’ lands. However, the Cadets recommended not touching the profitable landowners' estates, and they proposed to buy back the seized part of the landowners' land from the owners "at a fair valuation" at the expense of the state. The Trudoviks’ project provided for the alienation of all privately owned lands free of charge, leaving their owners with only a “labor standard.”

The Government of the country, supported by all conservative forces in the country, rejected all projects of the State Duma. And 72 days after the opening of the Duma, the tsar dissolved it, saying that it did not calm the people, but inflamed passions. Repressions were intensified: military courts and punitive detachments operated.

The authorities used the period between the activities of the First and Second State Dumas to achieve stability in the country. The tsarist administration, represented by the Minister of Internal Affairs P.A. Stolypin, took the path of solving the “peasant problem” using the “carrot and stick” method, combining brutal repressive actions of army units with the preparation of laws that significantly mitigated the explosive situation in the countryside. According to the first law (dated October 5, 1906), peasants were given equal legal rights with the rest of the population; according to the second (dated November 9, 1906), any peasant was allowed to demand his share of land when allocated from the community. Through the efforts of Stolypin, the unrest in the army and navy was put an end to with the introduction on August 19, 1906, of military courts, popularly called “quick-fire” (in 8 months they announced 100 death sentences).

II State Duma (February - June 1907). During the elections of the new Duma, the right of workers and peasants to participate in them was curtailed. Propaganda of radical parties was prohibited, their rallies were dispersed. The Tsar wanted to get an obedient Duma, but he miscalculated: the Second State Duma turned out to be even more left-wing than the first. The Cadet Center “melted” (19% of seats), the right flank strengthened - 10% of the Black Hundreds, 15% of Octobrists and bourgeois-nationalist deputies entered the Duma. Trudoviki, Socialist Revolutionaries and Social Democrats formed a left bloc with 222 seats (43%). Beginning in February 1906, a system of higher and central government operated in the Russian Empire.

As before, the agrarian question was central. The Black Hundreds demanded that the landowners' property be preserved intact, and that allotment peasant lands be withdrawn from the community and divided into cuts among the peasants. This project coincided with the government's agrarian reform program. The cadets abandoned the idea of ​​creating a state fund. They proposed to buy part of the land from the landowners and transfer it to the peasants, dividing the costs equally between them and the state. The Trudoviks again put forward their project for the gratuitous alienation of all privately owned lands and their distribution according to the “labor norm”. Social Democrats demanded the complete confiscation of landowners' land and the creation of local committees to distribute it among the peasants.

Projects of forced alienation of landowners' land frightened the government. The decision was made to disperse the Duma. The pretext for dissolution was the accusation of deputies of the Social Democratic faction of preparing a coup d'etat.

In fact, the coup was carried out by the government. On June 3, 1907, simultaneously with the Manifesto on the dissolution of the Second State Duma, a new electoral law was published. This act was a direct violation of Article 86 of the “Basic Laws of the Russian Empire,” according to which no new law could be adopted without the approval of the State Council and the State Duma. June 3 is considered the last day of the revolution of 1905-1907. - the revolutionaries retreated.