The Revolution of 1905: A Short History

by Abraham Ascher

This is a concise history of the Revolution of 1905, a critical juncture in the history of Russia when several possible paths were opened up for the country. By the end of that year, virtually every social group had become active in the opposition to the autocracy, which was on the verge of collapse. Only the promise of reform, in particular the formation of a parliament (Duma) that would participate in governing the country, enabled to old order to survive. For some eighteen months the opposition and the Tsarist regime continued to struggle for supremacy, and only in June 1907 did the government reassert its authority. It drastically changed the relatively liberal electoral law, depriving many citizens of the vote. Although the revolution was now over, some institutional changes remained intact. Most notably, Russia retained an elected legislature and political parties speaking for various social and economic interests. As a result, the autocratic system of rule was undermined, and the fate of the political and social order remained uncertain.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Russian Revolution

248 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 2004

About the author

Abraham Ascher is Distinguished emeritus Professor of History at the Graduate School of the city University of New York. A highly respected scholar, he is the recipient of numerous awards, and the author of seven books and over thirty articles.

Reviews

[Alan (the Lone Librarian) Teder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Attempted Uprising 1904-1907 in Imperial Russia
A review of the Stanford University Press Kindle eBook (June 2, 2004), released simultaneously with the hardcover edition.

A peasant of Saratov summed up for us better than anyone else the net result of the last five years: `Five years ago there was belief and fear [of the Government]; now the belief is gone, and only the fear remains."

I am in the process of assisting in the copy editing of the 3rd Volume of the English translation of Anton Hansen Tammsaare's epic Tõde ja õigus III (1931) (Estonian for "Truth and Justice"). The book centres on the events of the 1905 Revolution in Estonia and the continued life of Indrek Paas (carrying on from Indrek: Volume II of the Truth and Justice Pentalogy (orig 1929), first introduced as a son of the peasant farmer Andres Paas in Vargamäe: Volume I of the Truth and Justice Pentalogy (orig 1926).

I decided to read several other books in relation to this for additional background information as I was only vaguely familiar with the 1905 Revolution previously, unsuccessful as it was. I started with this short history by Abraham Ascher, which is condensed from his earlier 2 Volumes of The Revolution of 1905: Russia in Disarray (1988) and The Revolution of 1905: Authority Restored (1992).

I didn't expect there to be all that much about Estonia in the book and it was really only mentioned briefly, usually in the context of the Baltic Provinces (Estland, Livland, Kurland at the time of Tsarist Russia) in general. Almost all of the mentions are in my Kindle Notes and Highlights. I did note that Reval (the pre-1918 name for the capital city of Tallinn) was misspelt as "Revel" (sic) as was "Tallin" (sic) itself. That sort of carelessness did make me doubt Ascher's thoroughness though.


Image of the marching crowd led by Father Gapon on Bloody Sunday as it faced the Tsarist soldiers and cossacks. Image sourced from Wikipedia.

Otherwise, this was a good overview of the history of the various strikes and uprisings which began in late 1904. The most famous early incident is probably the Bloody Sunday massacre in Petersburg on January 9, 1905 (Dates in Tsarist Russia were according to the Julian Calendar at the time, most of the rest of the world having adopted the Gregorian Calendar which made it January 22, 1905 elsewhere). Events led to Tsar Nicholas II proclaiming an October Manifesto in late 1905 in an effort to quell the rebellion. Among other reforms, this promised to allow the election of a Duma of people's deputies to work with the previously autocratic government. In practice, the Duma was subverted constantly and disbanded until it was obvious by 1907 that Nicholas II did not intend to share power at all. This of course led to fateful consequences in 1917.

So overall this was a 3 rating. For the slimness of the Baltic content and its misspellings it would be a 2.

Soundtrack
A song called "1905" by the Estonian band Sõpruse puiestee (Estonian: Friendship Boulevard) can be heard on YouTube here in Estonian and here in Russian.
A translation of the lyrics in English are below:

Next to the factories where the grass grew
We stood and held each other's hands
Next to the factories -
Where the villagers drove down the hill with carts.

A strike started next to the factories this year
And I couldn't find a job
Next to the factories, you suffocated in the living room
On this curfew night.

Next to the factories where the grass grew
We stood and held each other's hands
Was there any hope at all next to the factories
You answered: "what a beautiful day."

CHORUS (Sung after each verse above)

We weren't standing under the flags
We were not hit by bullets
We dyed the sheets red on the bed
With the blood that came from your lips.

[GreyAtlas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed account of this less mentioned period in Russian history. Was written in such a way that it was academic but not boring. The tone made it accessible for everyone regardless of their prior knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned alot, of which I'll quote below:

p21 defeat in crimean war initiated the great reforms that abolished serfdom, created zemstvos, rudiments of the rule of law, modernized the army.
p21 witte, architect of russian industrialization, russia was a latecomer, therefore the state would need to play a large role in stimulating the process.
p22 by 1914, russian empire was the 5th industrial power in the world.
p28 lenin stated that human initiative, not general economic forces, would be the decisive factor in political fate of russia.
p29 bolshevik means majoritarians. menshevik means minoritarians.
p29 lenin increasingly made bolsheviks into movement with distinct ideological thrust.
p31 russo japanese war caused by expansionist policies in far east.
p35 slavophile theme of 1840s, "for the people, opinions. for the tsar, authority"
p37 nicholas II decision to follow Wittes advice of the ukazi instead of mirksys legislature, would be the most criticized of his reign.
p47 bloody sunday had a lawlessness and mass violence on a scale unknown since the time of troubles early in the 17th century. witte played role.
p50 statute of 1881, referred to as the real constitution, of the empire, demolished the absense of a legal order in russia.
p53 trubeskoi "the renewal of russia should be based on trust"
p62 first "soviet" organization appeared in mid may of 1905, ivanovo voznesensk
p111 newspaper controlled by mensheviks called nachalo, trotsky called for permanent revolution, an idea originally from A. Helfound who was his mentor.
p112 lenin said the proletariat must establish an alliance with peasanty to stage a successful revolution.
p115 heavy large scale industry was more prevalent in spb than moscow. moscows industry was clothing, textile, food, whose workers were not as likely to revolt due to unsophisticated methods.
p126 tsar nicolas ii believed terror must be met by terror
p130 witte was known to have mood swings and depression
p133 newspapers in 1906 hired responsible sitting editors whose only job was to answer police calls and accept punishment
p137 duma elections in 1906 were first real election in russia. voter turnout was 30-40 percent
p157 black earth regions of central russia had most highly developed serfdom prior to 1861.
p178 stolypin was compared to bismark in germany.
p179 tsarist govt had men only from bureacracy, therefore did not command trust in society.
p187 stolypin tie symbolized the ruthlessness of the regime with its court executions
p194 stolypin believed the peasants lacked a civic spirit and were not full citizens, they affected mentality of russia.
p195 the land IS russia.
p229 tsar nicolas II held stubborn to old principles, none of russias changes and progress altered his worldview.
p231 witte said everyone in russia is radical, and i am the most radical of all.

[Aaron Schuschu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The interesting part was when it got into when the Protocols were written if they were real, when the Protocols were written if they were fake, and when the Protocols escaped right wing circles. All very interesting timing in either case. As for the actual subject, it didn’t actually get into whether or not the Revolution of 1905 was really a revolution until like the tail end.

[Vasiliki Mazis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful read

This is a gripping read on the
often forgotten yet significant Russian revolution of 1905, that changed Russia forever and which Lenin called the beginning of the Russian revolution. A must read