Strikes Leon Trotsky played a leading part in the 1905 revolution. He came from Jewish family in Southern Ukraine where his father was a farmer. While he was a student he became a Marxist revolutionary. In 1899 and 1900 students went on strike in universities all over Russia. In St Petersburg police tried to control them with whips. Students shot and killed first the Minister of Education in 1901, and then the Minister of the Interior in 1902.
Unrest with Plehve The Tsar chose Viacheslev Plehve to be his next Minister of the Interior. Plehve had helped run the Tsar’s secret police (Okhrana) and was well known for his hatred of the Jews. He claimed that 40 per cent of revolutionaries were Jews and that almost all revolutionaries were students. He did nothing to stop vicious pogroms (attacks by mobs) on Jews and their property. It was illegal for workers to set up trade unions. Plehve and the Okhrana deliberately set up trade unions to trap revolutionaries.
A priest called Father George Capon was an Okhrana agent. His trade union, the Assembly of Russian factory and Plants Workers, became one of the most popular in St Petersburg. This confused and upset many businessmen and employers who worried that it could lead to trouble. In 1864 Alexander II had set up district councils (zemstva) in the countryside.
Peasants could vote in elections to the zemstva. Tsar Alexander II had reduced power of the zemstva following the assassination of his father. Nicholas made further changes in 1900 by taking away some of their power to raise taxes. Plehve made things worse by trying to take them over and make them a part of the Ministry of Interior. Plehve’s unpopular policies upset both liberals and revolutionaries so much that in July 1903 they agreed to work together against the government. They met in Switzerland where they formed a Union of Liberation.
Modern Russia And The Soviet Union Stalin
ter> Modern Russia and The Soviet Union: Stalins character was the main reason for his rise to power Stalin was born as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili on December 21, 1879 in Gori, Georgia. He grew up in a mountain town of about 5,000 people. He was the third and only surviving child of Vissarion Dzhugashvili and Catherine Geladze. His father used to drink and beat him and his mother; this ...
On 14 July 1904 a Socialist Revolutionary threw a bomb at Plehve’s carriage and he was killed. The Union of Liberation The zemstva proposed that Russia should have an elected Duma (parliament) and a constitution. The Union of Liberation organised a campaign of nationwide banquets to spread the news. However, Nicholas refused to have elected representatives in the government, even just to advise him. Bloody Sunday After all these pre-stir-ups, Bloody Sunday happened.
In 1905 Tsarist troops open fire on a peaceful demonstration of workers in St Petersburg. These demonstration workers were carrying a petition signed by thousands of people, they were unarmed and when not allowed to give the petition to the Tsar because he was away, the troops fired upon them and many were slaughtered.
