Russian Revolution: Causes, Forces, and 1905 Uprising

1. Introduction

Marx had thought that his communist society would be in an industrialized country, but it was not. The communist revolution took place in a society which emerged from absolutism and was agricultural. In the early twentieth century, Tsar Nicholas II believed in the divine right of kings. The main feature was the Russian Tsar, who had the support of the nobility and the Orthodox Church, which was closely linked to power. The tsarist regime was based on three pillars: a large army, police policies that were not judged by the Tsar, and the religious Orthodox Church.

The Russian economy was based on agriculture and needed much foreign capital. Farmers, representing 60% of the population, lived almost bonded until 1860. Still, living conditions did not improve much. The industry was centered in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the Donets-Urals region. The rest was basically countryside. The process of industrialization in Russia, in the late nineteenth century, was developed primarily by the state, but with French capital. Foreign banks were also dependent on the Russians. This was due to the fact that the Russian bourgeoisie was a minority and had no economic and political power. That was problematic.

2. Revolutionary Forces

The situation was such that Russian opposition spread easily. The first revolutionary organizations were populist in nature and had Bakunin (anarchism) as a model. This sector wanted to destroy the state and have a peasant revolution. In 1881, they made an attack on the Tsar. In industrial areas, the ideas of Marx were disseminated, and a political party advocating Marxist tenets was created around the figure of Plekhanov. Lenin rose to prominence within the party. In the early twentieth century, the party split into two trends: the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. They defended different views on the revolutionary path: Bolsheviks advocated for a proletarian socialist party, while Mensheviks saw a bourgeois revolution as a step towards working-class emancipation. In the early twentieth century, another liberal party, the KD, appeared, which defended the destruction of the absolutist state to reach a liberal state. On the other hand, there were more radical groups who wanted a peasant revolution and to establish a collective society.

3. The Revolution of 1905

The lack of economic change and the spread of liberal ideas such as Marxism and anarchism wore down the Russian Empire. People asked for basic freedoms, a more just society, a better distribution of wealth, and a transparent political and judicial system. Since the beginning of the reign of Nicholas II, political turmoil had increased, motivated by poor living conditions and corruption in the court. This situation was aggravated by the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. The opposition to the regime sought to improve living conditions and establish a democratic political system.

On 22 January 1905, a peaceful demonstration took place in front of the Winter Palace of the Tsar. Many demonstrators and the Orthodox priest, Gapon, were imprisoned. This shook the Tsarist government. The demonstration was broken up violently, causing deaths and injuries (Bloody Sunday). The Tsar refused to make any changes, causing the reaction of the Bolsheviks, who promoted strikes in all industrial centers. The Socialist-Revolutionaries promoted the peasant rebellion, which called for collective ownership of land. At the same time, there were military rebellions, like the one on the battleship "Potemkin". In August of 1905, the KD tried to unite all those who wanted regime change. All this generated a spirit of mass organization. The Soviets were assemblies with a large component of democratic organization. Russia signed peace with Japan, and the Tsar was forced to make some small reforms (some liberal principles were agreed upon, and he accepted a call for elections for a representative assembly, the Duma). The workers continued their struggle against the regime, and the Tsar created an electoral system that favored his control of the Duma. Attempts at economic reform were not enough. Even with the elimination of feudal forms of property, the system did not improve. The Empire remained almost as it was.