Root Causes Of The 1905 Revolution

“The first wave of the revolutionary storm is receding. We are on the eve of an inescapable, inevitable second wave. The proletarian movement is spreading wider and has now reached the remotest outlying regions of the country” (Placeholder1). These are the words of Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik revolutionary leader, as he commented on Russia’s 1905 revolution. This was a series of massive political and social unrests that occurred in the Russian empire from 1905 to 1907 (Simkin, 1905 Russian Revolution). In particular, peasants and workers revolted against the tsarist government everywhere in the empire. In Russia’s vassal states, Poland, Finland, Estonia, and Latvia, people revolted, seeking independence for their nations. And in the Far East,

Generally, this revolution had no goals, no united leadership, and no specific targets – different groups of people revolted against the rule of the tsar, Nicholas II to release their angers. (Simkin, 1905 Russian Revolution) Ultimately, the revolution failed, and the Tsar, Nicholas II, kept his throne. There are mainly three contributing factors that led to the revolution: economic hardship of peasants and workers, a strike of St. Petersburg’s factory workers, and the effects of the Russo- Japanese war. The root cause of the revolution is the economic hardship of its people; peasants and workers made up over 85% of Russia’s total population at the beginning of the 20th century (Nafziger and Lindert 36). However, they were unhappy with their situations and social status. To understand Russian peasants and workers’ hardship and reasons why they rose up against the tsarist government, the Russian society, prior to 1905, must be further studied from aspects of economics, traditions, and politics. Economically, Russian workers were extremely exploited by their employers. In particular,

For instance, nobles started investing in fields of industry, and people who lived in rural areas went to the cities, transforming themselves to industrial laborers from farmers. However, neither the industrialization nor the modernization had improved the living conditions of Russia’s working class – needs and rights of working class people were being ignored and denied by the upper class and Russia’s rulers. In addition, even though the Serfdom was abolished by the emancipation reform of 1861, the situation of ex-serfs remained unchanged or became even worse for some ex-serfs; an extortionate compensation fee was required for serfs to exchange their freedom and land, and heavy taxations were placed on them. From the aspect of traditions, Russian workers and peasants were not respected by Russia’s upper class – noble class and newly-emerged capitalist elites still considered and treated workers and peasants as slaves. Ostensibly, the emancipation manifesto of 1861 ended the slavery in Russia, and granted serfs freedom. In fact, this so-called freedom only existed on paper – ex-serfs were soon being enslaved again by the heavy