Russian Revolution Of 1905

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Russian Revolution of 1905 Many culminating events caused the year 1905 to be a pivotal year in the development of the Russian Revolution. The year began with a major industrial strike in St. Petersburg on January 9 and concluded with an armed uprising in Moscow on December 8. The year 1905 marked the height and triumph of Russia liberalism. Before this year, the revolutionary pressures on the government derived solely from the social elite. However, the passivity of Russia's social masses"" mostly peasants and workers""drastically changed after the massacre of worker demonstrators on January 9, 1905.

On this day, also known as Bloody Sunday, Father George Gapon led a strike and procession of 120,000 workers to present Tsar Nicholas II a petition of grievances. The petition claimed that without radical political change, worker conditions would not improve. It also called for a constituent Assembly to listen and politicize worker and peasant grievances.

After beginning their march to the Winter Palace, the peaceful demonstrators were confronted by army pickets who reacted by firing point-blank at the advancing crowd, killing nearly 200 and injuring 800. Immediately, "Bloody Sunday"� resulted in widespread feelings of revulsion and revolution among Russia's masses. These feelings followed in succeeding months by a series of strikes, riots, assassinations, naval mutinies, and peasant breakouts. On January 18, these disorders, along with the disaster of the Russo-Japanese War, forced the government to promise the establishment of a consultative duma, or assembly, elected by limited franchise.

On February 18, Nicholas signed a manifesto urging the masses to restore order and also an invitation to his people to submit suggestions "on matters concerning the improvement of the state and the nation's well-being."� While experts were drafting the proposal for the Duma, a growing number of the former "silent majority"� began to voice...