The harbinger of Red Sunday was the so-called Putilov incident, when workers at the Putilov plant opposed the actions of master Tetyavkin, who unfairly fired people. This small conflict led to colossal consequences: on January 3, a strike began at the Putilov plant, which was joined by workers of other enterprises.
One of the members of the labor movement writes: “When the demand for the return of them [the workers] was not satisfied, the plant immediately became very friendly. The strike was of a completely sustained nature: the workers dispatched several people to protect cars and other property from any possible damage by the less conscientious. Then they sent a deputation to other factories with a message of their demands and an offer to join.”
Protesting workers at the gates of the Putilov plant
“We decided to extend the strike to the Franco-Russian shipbuilding and Semyannikovsky factories, where there were 14 thousand workers. I chose these factories because I knew that just at that time they were fulfilling very serious orders for the needs of the war,” the leader of the workers’ uprising, Georgy Gapon, would later say.
The protesters drew up a working petition outlining their demands. They intended to hand it over to the king “with the whole world.” The main demands of the petition were the creation of popular representation in the form Constituent Assembly, freedom of the press and equality of all before the law.
“It must be said that neither Gapon nor the leadership group had faith that the tsar would accept the workers and that even they would be allowed to reach the square. Everyone knew well that the workers would be shot, and therefore, perhaps, we took a great sin upon our souls,” recalled one of the leaders of the Russian labor movement, Alexei Karelin.
Soldiers at the Narva Gate on the morning of December 9
“Today there is some kind of heavy mood, it feels like we are on the eve of terrible events. According to stories, the workers’ goal at this moment is to ruin the water supply and electricity, leave the city without water and electricity and start arson,” the general’s wife, Alexandra Bogdanovich, wrote in her diary on January 8.
The head of the St. Petersburg security department, Alexander Gerasimov, recalled: “Until late in the evening, those surrounded by the Sovereign did not know what to do. I was told that the Emperor wanted to go out to the workers, but this was resolutely opposed by his relatives, led by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. At their insistence, the Tsar did not go to St. Petersburg from Tsarskoe Selo, leaving the decision to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who was then the commander of the troops of the St. Petersburg Military District. It was Vladimir Alexandrovich who led the troops’ actions on Red Sunday.”
In the early morning of January 9, at 6:30, workers from the Izhora plant set off from Kolpin towards St. Petersburg, who had the longest journey ahead of them. They were gradually joined by teams from other enterprises. According to some estimates, the crowd reached 50 thousand people. In the hands of the protesting workers were banners, icons and royal portraits. The military blocked the path of the demonstrators at the Narva Gate. It was there that the first skirmish began, which escalated into battles throughout the city.
Palace Square January 9, 1905
In his book “Notes on the Past,” an eyewitness to the events of “Bloody Sunday,” Colonel E. A. Nikolsky says: “Groups of people - men and women - began to appear on Nevsky Prospect and on both sides of the Moika River. After waiting for more of them to gather, Colonel Riman, standing in the center of the company, without giving any warning, as established by the regulations, commanded: “Fire in volleys straight into the crowds!” Volleys were heard, which were repeated several times. Random, rapid fire began, and many who managed to run three hundred to four hundred steps fell under the shots. I came closer to Riemann and began to look at him for a long time, carefully - his face and the look of his eyes seemed to me like that of a madman. His face kept twitching in a nervous spasm, for a moment he seemed to be laughing, for a moment he was crying. The eyes looked in front of them, and it was clear that they did not see anything.”
“The last days have come. Brother rose up against brother... The Tsar gave the order to shoot at the icons,” wrote the poet Maximilian Voloshin.
A correspondent for the English newspaper Daily Telegrph, Dillon, describes in his material a conversation with one of the courtiers that took place on the day of “Bloody Sunday.” The Englishman asked why the troops were killing unarmed workers and students. The courtier replied: “Because civil laws have been abolished and military laws are in effect. Last night His Majesty decided to remove the civil power and entrust the care of maintaining public order to the Grand Duke Vladimir, who is very well read in the history of the French Revolution and will not allow any crazy indulgences. He will not fall into the same mistakes that many close to Louis XVI were guilty of; he will not reveal weakness. He believes that the surest way to cure the people of constitutional undertakings is to hang hundreds of dissatisfied people in the presence of their comrades. Whatever happens, he will tame the rebellious spirit of the crowd. even if he had to send all the troops at his disposal against the population to do this.”
Shooting at the General Staff. Still from the film
Nicholas II, according to his own diary, was absent from the capital and learned about the tragedy only later. However, the next day he immediately took action, dismissing the mayor Ivan Fullon and the Minister of Internal Affairs Peter Svyatopolk-Mirsky.
“We accuse the Minister of Internal Affairs Svyatopolk-Mirsky of the premeditated, unprovoked and senseless murder of many Russian citizens,” Maxim Gorky said in a statement that the police seized from him.
Cavalrymen delay the procession
The head of the police department, Lopukhin, reported after the incident: “Crowds of workers, electrified by agitation, not succumbing to the usual general police measures and even cavalry attacks, persistently strove for the Winter Palace, and then, irritated by the resistance, began to attack military units. This state of affairs led to the need to take emergency measures to restore order, and military units had to act against huge crowds of workers with firearms.”
10 days after Bloody Sunday, Nicholas II received a deputation of workers. He told them: “You allowed yourself to be led into error and deception by traitors and enemies of our homeland. Inviting you to go submit a petition to me for your needs, they incited you to revolt against me and my government, forcibly tearing you away from honest work at a time when all truly Russian people must work together and tirelessly to defeat our stubborn external enemy.” .
In 1905 - 1907, events took place in Russia that were later called the first Russian revolution. The beginning of these events is considered to be January 1905, when workers of one of the St. Petersburg factories entered the political struggle. Back in 1904, the young priest of the St. Petersburg transit prison, Georgy Gapon, with the assistance of the police and city authorities, created in the city labor organization"Meeting of Russian factory workers of St. Petersburg." In the first months, workers simply organized common evenings, often with tea and dancing, and opened a mutual aid fund.
By the end of 1904, about 9 thousand people were already members of the “Assembly”. In December 1904, one of the foremen of the Putilov plant fired four workers who were members of the organization. The “assembly” immediately came out in support of the comrades, sent a delegation to the director of the plant, and, despite his attempts to smooth out the conflict, the workers decided to stop work in protest. On January 2, 1905, the huge Putilov plant stopped. The strikers have already put forward increased demands: to establish an 8-hour working day, to increase salaries. Other metropolitan factories gradually joined the strike, and after a few days 150 thousand workers were already on strike in St. Petersburg.
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G. Gapon spoke at meetings, calling for a peaceful march to the tsar, who alone could stand up for the workers. He even helped prepare an appeal to Nicholas II, which contained the following lines: “We are impoverished, we are oppressed, .. we are not recognized as people, we are treated like slaves... We have no more strength, Sovereign... That terrible moment has come for us, when death is better than continuation of unbearable torment. Look without anger ... at our requests, they are directed not towards evil, but towards good, both for us and for You, Sovereign! " The appeal listed the requests of the workers; for the first time, it included demands for political freedoms and the organization of a Constituent Assembly - it was practically a revolutionary program. A peaceful march to the Winter Palace was scheduled for January 9. Gapon insisted that the tsar should go out to the workers and accept their appeal.
On January 9, about 140 thousand workers took to the streets of St. Petersburg. Columns led by G. Gapon headed towards the Winter Palace. The workers came with their families, children, festively dressed, they carried portraits of the Tsar, icons, crosses, and sang prayers. Throughout the city, the procession met armed soldiers, but no one wanted to believe that they could shoot. Nicholas II was in Tsarskoe Selo that day, but the workers believed that he would come to listen to their requests.
On the eve of the tragic events of January 9, 1905, Nicholas II introduced martial law in St. Petersburg. All power in the capital automatically passed to his uncle, the commander-in-chief of the guard troops of the St. Petersburg Military District, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich.
On his birthday, April 10, 1847, Vladimir Alexandrovich was appointed chief of the Life Guards Dragoon Regiment, and was a member of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment and the Life Guards Sapper Battalion. On March 2, 1881, he was appointed commander of the guard troops and the St. Petersburg Military District. Emperor's Manifesto Alexandra III dated March 14, 1881, he was appointed regent (“Ruler of the State”) in the event of the death of the emperor - until the age of majority of the heir to the throne, Nikolai Alexandrovich (or in the event of the death of the latter).
From 1884 to 1905 Grand Duke served as Commander-in-Chief of the Guard Troops and the St. Petersburg Military District. During the riots on January 9, 1905 in St. Petersburg, it was he who gave the order to shoot at the crowd.
During the execution, Gapon was pulled out from under the bullets by the Socialist-Revolutionary P. M. Rutenberg, and for some time hid in the apartment of A. M. Gorky. With a changed appearance, with his hair cut short, he left the apartment and in the evening of the same day, under a false name, he delivered an accusatory speech at the Free Economic Society. “Brothers, comrade workers!”, edited by Rutenberg in the Socialist-Revolutionary spirit, in which, among other things, he called for terror and, calling the tsar a beast, wrote: “So let us take revenge, brothers, on the tsar cursed by the people and all his viper brood, the ministers, all the robbers of the unfortunate Russian land. Death to them all!"
The events of "Bloody Sunday" shocked all of Russia. Portraits of the king, previously revered as shrines, were torn and trampled on the streets. Shocked by the execution of the workers, G. Gapon exclaimed: “There is no more God, there is no more tsar!” On the night after Bloody Sunday he wrote a leaflet:
Soon after the January events, Georgy Gapon fled abroad. In March 1905 he was defrocked and expelled from the clergy.
Abroad, Gapon enjoyed enormous popularity. He was, in the words of L. D. Trotsky, a figure of almost biblical style. Gapon met with J. Jaurès, J. Clemenceau and other leaders of European socialists and radicals. In London I saw P. A. Kropotkin.
In exile, Georgy Gapon founded the Gapon Foundation, which received donations for the Russian Revolution. In May-June 1905, he dictated his memoirs, which were originally published in translation into English language. Gapon also met with G.V. Plekhanov and V.I. Lenin, and joined the RSDLP.
Regarding rumors about Gapon being a provocateur, Lenin wrote:
Through an intermediary, Gapon received 50 thousand francs from the Japanese envoy to purchase weapons and deliver them to Russian revolutionaries. The steamship John Crafton, which was carrying weapons, ran aground near the Russian coast, and almost all the cargo went to the police. In April 1905, the newly minted Social Democrat held a conference of socialist parties in Paris with the aim of developing common tactics and uniting them into the Fighting Alliance. In May of the same year, he left the RSDLP and, with the assistance of V.M. Chernov, joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party, however, he was soon expelled due to “political illiteracy.”
Return to Russia. The end of the provocateur.
After the amnesty declared by the manifesto on October 17, 1905, he returned to Russia. Wrote a letter of repentance to Witte. In response, the prime minister promised to give permission to restore Gapon’s “Assembly...”. But after the arrest of the St. Petersburg Council of Workers' Deputies and the suppression of the Moscow uprising in December 1905, the promises were forgotten, and articles appeared in some newspapers incriminating Gapon of having connections with the police and receiving money from a Japanese agent. Perhaps these publications were inspired by the government to discredit Gapon mainly in the eyes of the workers.
In January 1906, the activities of the "Meeting..." were prohibited. And then Gapon takes a very risky step - he invites the head of the political department of the Police Department, P. I. Rachkovsky, to hand over the Social Revolutionary Fighting Organization with the help of his savior P. M. Rutenberg, of course, for free. Minister of Internal Affairs P. N. Durnovo agreed to this operation and allowed him to pay 25 thousand rubles for it. Perhaps Gapon, as was typical of him before, was playing a double game.
However, this time he paid dearly for it: Rutenberg reported Gapon’s proposal to the Central Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, after which the decision was made to kill Gapon. Considering Gapon's still-surviving popularity in work environment, the Central Committee demanded that Rutenberg organize the double murder of Gapon and Rachkovsky, so that evidence of the former priest’s betrayal would be obvious. But Rachkovsky, suspecting something, did not show up for the meeting at the restaurant with Gapon and Rutenberg. And then Rutenberg lured Gapon to a dacha in Ozerki near St. Petersburg, where he previously hid “Gapon’s” workers. During a frank conversation about extraditing the Combat Organization, angry workers burst into the room and immediately hanged their recent idol. This is the eventual outline of Gapon’s murder, according to Rutenberg’s notes.
Maxim Gorky, no less shocked by what happened than others, later wrote the essay “January 9,” in which he spoke about the events of this terrible day: “It seemed that most of all, cold, soul-dead amazement poured into people’s chests. After all, a few insignificant minutes before that they walked, clearly seeing the goal of the path in front of them, a fabulous image stood majestically in front of them... Two volleys, blood, corpses, groans and - everyone stood in front of the gray emptiness, powerless, with torn hearts.”
The tragic events of January 9 in St. Petersburg were also reflected in the well-known novel by the future classic of Soviet literature, “The Life of Klim Samgin.” They became the day of the beginning of the first Russian revolution, which swept all of Russia.
Another culprit of the bloody events, the Grand Duke and uncle of the Tsar Vladimir Alexandrovich, was soon forced to resign from his post as Commander of the Guard and the St. Petersburg Military District (dismissed on October 26, 1905). However, his resignation was not at all connected with the unjustified use military force against the peaceful demonstration of St. Petersburg workers. On October 8, 1905, the eldest son of the Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich married the divorced Grand Duchess of Hesse, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. There was no marriage Highest resolution, although there was the blessing of the Dowager Empress Maria Pavlovna. Kirill's fiancee was his ex-wife sibling Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Despite this, marriage to a “divorcee” was considered indecent for a member of the imperial family. He deprived Grand Duke Kirill of all rights to Russian throne and to a certain extent discredited his close relatives.
Vladimir Alexandrovich was a famous philanthropist, patronized many artists, and collected a valuable collection of paintings. Since 1869, comrade (deputy) of the president (Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna), since 1876 - president of the Imperial Academy of Arts, was a trustee of the Rumyantsev Museum. His death on February 4, 1909 was officially announced by the Imperial Manifesto of the same day; On February 7, his body was transported from his palace to the Peter and Paul Cathedral, on February 8 - a funeral service and burial there, which was led by Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky) of St. Petersburg and Ladoga; the emperor and the widow of the deceased were present Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (arrived with Nicholas II), other members imperial family, Chairman of the Council of Ministers P. A. Stolypin and other ministers, as well as the Tsar of Bulgaria Ferdinand.
Thus, the instigator of the demonstrations that resulted in mass riots on the streets of St. Petersburg in January 1905 was the double agent Georgy Gapon, and the bloody outcome was initiated by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. Emperor Nicholas II eventually received only the title “bloody,” although he was least involved in the events described.
On January 22, 1905, there was a shooting of a workers' demonstration in St. Petersburg, known in history as Bloody Sunday. One of the main participants in these tragic events was the priest Georgy Gapon, who unfairly went down in history as a provocateur and secret police agent.
Double game
Contemporaries knew Georgy Gapon as a passionate, unshakable revolutionary, leader of the organization “Meetings of Russian Factory Workers.” According to the historian Felix Lurie, “Pop Gapon” played a double game: he lulled the vigilance of the police, assuring their highest ranks that there was no place for revolutionary ideas in the “Assembly,” while at the same time he incited the workers to declare a general strike. Thanks to his connections with the police, Gapon received the label “provocateur”, with which he went down in history. They say that Gapon specifically led the people to the Narva outpost so that the police would brutally suppress the uprising.
Indeed, the “peaceful procession with banners” organized by Georgy Gapon raised many questions among historians. What did the organizers of the demonstration count on when it was known in advance about the tsar’s intention to reject the petition and harshly suppress the unrest? The essence of the “appeal” reached Nicholas II on January 7 through the Minister of Justice Muravyov. And the very next day the sovereign ordered the arrest of the authors of the petition.
What did Gapon achieve when he led a crowd of people to certain death? Was the work issue that important to him or were there higher goals? It is quite possible that he hoped that the shooting of a peaceful procession would cause a popular uprising, headed by him, Georgy Gapon. This is evidenced by the memoirs of another revolutionary, Vladimir Posse, who once asked a priest what he would do if the tsar accepted the petition. Gapon replied:
“I would fall on my knees before him and convince him, in front of me, to write a decree on amnesty for all political ones. The king and I would go out onto the balcony, I would read the decree to the people. General rejoicing. From this moment on, I am the first adviser to the Tsar and the de facto ruler of Russia. Well, what if the king didn’t agree? - Then it would be the same as when refusing to accept a delegation. There is a general uprising, and I am at the head of it."
By the way, the organizers of the “peaceful march” had different opinions. For example, right hand, and later Gapon’s killer, Pyotr Rutenberg, was preparing an assassination attempt on the Tsar, hoping to kill him when he went out onto the balcony of the Winter Palace to address the people. We learn about this from the memoirs of the head of the St. Petersburg security department, Gerasimov.
Agent
Another question that remains open is whether Georgy Gapon was a police officer, a double agent. It is no secret that it was rumors about Gapon’s betrayal and his denunciations against former comrades, including the Socialist Revolutionaries, that became the main reason for his murder. It must be said that when the archives were made public, many researchers rummaged through the documents in search of any denunciations written by George. After a long search, one of the specialists on this issue, historian S.I. Potolov, stated that in the lists of the Police Department, as well as in other documents, there is no information about the secret agent Georgy Gapon, therefore there is no confirmation of this popular myth. In addition, the ban on recruiting clergymen as agents, like Gapon, despite all his public activities, speaks in favor of refuting this opinion. Today, the most common version is that Gapon was framed by shuffling documents and deliberately spreading rumors.
It cannot be said that he had no connections with the police at all. He often used the latter as a financial source, by transmitting certain information about people, whom he himself then warned in advance about the danger. But Gapon gave all his money to the needs of workers and organizations. True, the public often did not believe this, calling Gapon Judas and accusing him of greed.
Peter Rutenberg, in his book, noted the high cost of George’s suit, when all his other comrades were dressed in ordinary coats, and Savinkov, the second organizer of the bloody murder of the priest, wrote that George was a down-to-earth person in his desires - he loved luxury, money, women.
Against the background of such a general mood, the information that upon returning to Russia after the Manifesto of October 17, Gapon received 30 thousand rubles from Witte, worked as a trigger. Gapon was going to revive his former organization “Council”, and the money from the Minister of Finance was used for this. In general, Georgy often did this - first he took money from the Police Department, thanks to his connections, then spent it on campaigning. He was sincerely surprised by the excitement that 30 thousand caused: “Are you amazed by my open relations with Witte and the consent of hungry workers’ organizations to accept money from him?”
A negative reaction, in fact, was caused by another rumor launched - they say that 30 thousand were transferred to the account of a certain Rybnitsky, who is Gapon. The last straw for George’s associates was the news of receiving 100 thousand rubles from the Police Department for information about the terrorist plans of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and handing over Rutenberg’s name to the authorities.
"Big name"
There is a hypothesis that the reason for Gapon’s murder was certain documents. The priest's widow said that these papers contained some kind of famous name, but did not give her last name. Georgy Gapon himself, shortly before his death, claimed that he had incriminating information on some important people. He even gave some of the documents to his lawyer Sergei Margolin. The latter died two months after Gapon's death under strange circumstances. His colleagues said that a week before his death, he mentioned the need to publish some papers.
There were rumors that the “big name” was Sergei Witte, the Minister of Finance, who lent Gapon 30 thousand. But exact evidence of this was never found.
Shadow of Yevno Azef
Yevno Fishelevich Azef - he is also a police officer “Raskin”, he is also one of the leaders of the Socialist Revolutionaries: “Ivan Nikolaevich”, “Valentin Kuzmich”, “Tolstoy”. This “super secret police agent” has a track record of surrendering numerous revolutionaries, including the arrest and execution of members of the flying combat squad of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in February 1908. He also prevented several major assassination attempts: an attack on the Minister of Internal Affairs Durnovo and on Nicholas II himself.
At the same time, Yevno Azev organized “in the role of a revolutionary” several terrorist attacks and murders. On his conscience are the deaths of the chief of the gendarme corps - V.K. Pleve, military prosecutor V.P. Pavlov, and even Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov. Perhaps it was he who planned and provoked the murder of Gapon as a “provocateur”, and then of his lawyer Margolin. For what? To hide your “double” or even “triple” personality. Some historians, including V.K. Agafonov, they believe - playing on both sides, he was sent third - it was western agent, who was sent to Russia to incite unrest.
Azef met Gapon during the latter’s flight abroad after Bloody Resurrection. He let him stay at his apartment. Together they equipped the yacht John Grafton, which was supposed to deliver the necessary weapons for resistance to the Russian revolutionaries. Perhaps, while living in the same apartment with Gapon, Azef learned about some compromising evidence that fell into the hands of George.
Murder
Georgy Gapon was killed on March 28, 1906 at Zverzhinskaya’s dacha in the village of Ozerki near St. Petersburg. He was found only a few days later with a noose around his neck.
Gapon's official killer - the priest's closest associate Pyotr Rutenberg - was quickly found and caught. He was identified by a local janitor. Peter did not deny his involvement, he told how the murder itself happened, and which other workers were present. He named the reason for the corruption and betrayal of Gapon, his connections with the vice director of the Police Department P.I. Rachkovsky. But later historians found another “dark shadow” behind the reprisal against Gapon - this is the “Fat” already known to us, that is, Yevno Azef. It was he who framed Gapon’s accusation of a “double game” in order to shield the real secret agent - himself. As a result, two “frontmen” were killed at the same time - first the “people’s prophet” Georgy Gapon, and then the provocateur N. Yu. Tatarov, who unsuccessfully tried to open the eyes of the Socialist Revolutionary leadership to the hypocritical nature of their party leader.
Bloody Sunday began as a peaceful protest by disgruntled steel workers in St. Petersburg. Angered by poor working conditions, economic decline and the ongoing war with Japan, thousands of workers marched to the Winter Palace to ask Nicholas II for reform. But the king was not in the palace that day, and the panicked soldiers, unable to find another solution, began mass execution of the striking people.
In any other period, such an incident could have frightened the people and discouraged them from going on strikes for a long time, but not then. The authority of the tsar fell, and dissatisfaction with the prevailing regime in the country increased. Subsequently, it was the events of Bloody Sunday that would serve as the impetus for the outbreak of general strikes, peasant unrest, murders and political mobilization, better known as the 1905 revolution.
Prerequisites
The economic boom of 1900 caused a surge in industrial growth, but had virtually no effect on labor legislation. By the beginning of the twentieth century, labor in Russia was valued cheaper than in all European countries (in fact, it was low wages that attracted foreign investors). The workers worked in terrible conditions: 10.5 hours, six days a week, but there were also cases of 15-hour shifts. There were no days off on holidays, sick leave or pensions.
Hygiene and safety levels also left much to be desired, accidents and injuries at work were common, and victims were not even paid compensation, simply dismissing incapacitated employees.
Factory owners often fined workers for being late, taking bathroom breaks, talking, and even singing during their shift! Most workers lived in overcrowded apartment buildings or dilapidated barns owned by their employers; This type of housing tended to be overcrowded, the houses themselves were old, and the amenities—heating and plumbing—were intermittent.
Dissatisfaction with this attitude towards work, as well as the fact that the overwhelming majority of production was located in cities, provoked the ferment of revolutionary ideas in the working environment. Workers' dissatisfaction with the conditions in which they worked grew steadily, but became especially acute in the last months of 1904. This was greatly facilitated by the difficult and bloody war with Japan and the economic crisis.
Foreign trade fell and government revenues shrank, forcing companies to lay off thousands of workers and further tighten working conditions for those who remained. The country plunged into hunger and poverty, in order to somehow equalize incomes, the entrepreneur increased food prices by 50%, but to raise wages workers were refused.
Georgy Gapon
Not surprisingly, such conditions gave rise to a wave of unrest and dissent in the country. Trying to somehow change the existing regime, the workers formed “work sections”, whose activities, at first limited to discussions, later developed into strike actions.
Some of these strike committees were headed by Georgy Gapon, a priest and native of Ukraine.
Gapon was an eloquent and persuasive speaker and an exemplary activist. Sergei Zubatov, the head of the special department of the police department, noticed Gapon’s outstanding oratorical abilities and offered him an unusual position. Zubatov was aware of the revolutionary movements, but opposed the policy of sending all those who disagreed to hard labor.
Instead, he invited Gapon to lead the revolutionary movement, thereby controlling the workers “from the inside.” But Zubatov’s hopes were not justified: Gapon, working closely with the impoverished and starving workers, ultimately took their side.
In December 1904, foreman A. Tetyavkin, for no apparent reason, fired four workers - members of Gapon's workers' section, provoking a wave of indignation at the plant.
At a meeting of workers, it was decided to “quietly and peacefully” suspend work until the management met the conditions - the dismissal of Tetyavkin and the reinstatement of workers who had lost their positions at the plant.
The director of the Putilov plant, convinced of the inconsistency of the charges brought against Tetyavkin, demanded to end the strike, otherwise threatening to fire all workers without exception.
On the evening of January 4, a delegation of 40 workers from different workshops, led by Gapon, went to the director with a list of demands, which included, among others, an 8-hour working day.
On the same day, workers of the Franco-Russian Mechanical Plant, workers of the Nevsky Thread, Nevsky Paper-Spinning and Ekateringof Manufactories, and many, many others, joined the Putilovites. Speaking to the workers, Gapon criticized capitalist officials who valued material wealth above the lives of ordinary workers and insisted on the need for political reforms.
The slogan “Down with bureaucratic government!” was first heard from Gapon. It is noteworthy that the idea of appealing to the tsar to voice the needs of the people was proposed by Gapon long before the events of January. Gapon himself, however, hoped to the last that the strike would be won and there would be no need for a petition. But the administration stood its ground, and the workers’ loss in this conflict became obvious.
"Bloody Sunday"
Gapon prepared a petition to the Tsar, in which he described all the demands aimed at improving living and working conditions. It was signed by over 150,000 workers, and on Sunday, January 9, a mass procession moved to the Winter Palace, intending to convey these demands to the Tsar. There was no one in the palace that day; it was in Tsarskoe Selo, 25 km from the capital.
Seeing a crowd of thousands of workers, the officers called in the palace security garrison to guard all entry points. As the workers approached, the soldiers began firing massively. It is not known for certain whether this was an order or the unauthorized actions of the soldiers. The number of victims according to various sources ranges from 96 to 200 people, and revolutionary groups insisted on an even larger number.
Reaction
The events of Bloody Sunday were covered all over the world. In newspapers in London, Paris and New York, Nicholas II was portrayed as a cruel tyrant, and in Russia, soon after the events, the tsar was dubbed “Bloody Nicholas.” Marxist Pyotr Struve called him “The People’s Executioner,” and Gapon himself, who miraculously escaped bullets in the events of January 9, said: “God no longer exists. There is no king!”
Bloody Sunday provoked mass strikes by workers. According to some sources, in January-February 1904, up to 440,000 people went on strike in St. Petersburg alone. IN as soon as possible The St. Petersburg strikes were also supported by residents of other cities - Moscow, Odessa, Warsaw and cities in the Baltic countries.
Later protests of this kind became more concerted and were accompanied by clearly articulated and signed demands for political reform, but during 1905 the Tsarist regime was undoubtedly experiencing one of the most difficult periods in its three-century history. Briefly, the events of “Bloody Sunday” can be described as follows:
- Russian production workers worked in appalling conditions for meager wages and endured extremely disrespectful treatment from employers;
- The economic crisis of 1904-1905 worsened the already bad conditions life and work, making them unbearable, which led to the formation of workers' sections and the fermentation of revolutionary sentiments among the masses;
- In January 1905, workers, led by priest Gapon, signed a petition with demands for the Tsar;
- While trying to hand over the petition, the workers came under fire from soldiers guarding the Winter Palace;
- “Bloody Sunday” became, in fact, the first signal of the impossibility of putting up with the existing tsarist regime and the arbitrariness of the authorities and, as a consequence, the revolution of 1917 any longer.
January 9 (new style January 22) 1905 - important historical event V modern history Russia. On this day, with the tacit consent of Emperor Nicholas II, a 150,000-strong procession of workers who were going to present the Tsar with a petition signed by tens of thousands of St. Petersburg residents asking for reforms was shot.
The reason for organizing the procession to the Winter Palace was the dismissal of four workers of the largest Putilov plant in St. Petersburg (now the Kirov plant). On January 3, a strike of 13 thousand factory workers began, demanding the return of those fired, the introduction of an 8-hour working day, and the abolition of overtime work.
The strikers created an elected commission from workers to jointly with the administration examine the workers' grievances. Demands were developed: to introduce an 8-hour working day, to abolish compulsory overtime, to establish a minimum wage, not to punish strike participants, etc. On January 5, the Central Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDLP) issued a leaflet calling on the Putilovites to extend the strike, and workers of other factories should join it.
The Putilovites were supported by the Obukhovsky, Nevsky shipbuilding, cartridge and other factories, and by January 7 the strike became general (according to incomplete official data, over 106 thousand people took part in it).
Nicholas II transferred power in the capital to the military command, which decided to crush the labor movement until it resulted in revolution. the main role The guard was assigned to suppress the unrest; it was reinforced by other military units of the St. Petersburg district. 20 infantry battalions and over 20 cavalry squadrons were concentrated at predetermined points.
On the evening of January 8, a group of writers and scientists, with the participation of Maxim Gorky, appealed to the ministers with a demand to prevent the execution of workers, but they did not want to listen to her.
A peaceful march to the Winter Palace was scheduled for January 9. The procession was prepared by the legal organization "Meeting of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg" led by priest Georgy Gapon. Gapon spoke at meetings, calling for a peaceful march to the tsar, who alone could stand up for the workers. Gapon insisted that the tsar should go out to the workers and accept their appeal.
On the eve of the procession, the Bolsheviks issued a proclamation “To all St. Petersburg workers,” in which they explained the futility and danger of the procession planned by Gapon.
On January 9, about 150 thousand workers took to the streets of St. Petersburg. The columns led by Gapon headed towards the Winter Palace.
The workers came with their families, carried portraits of the Tsar, icons, crosses, and sang prayers. Throughout the city, the procession met armed soldiers, but no one wanted to believe that they could shoot. Emperor Nicholas II was in Tsarskoye Selo that day. When one of the columns approached the Winter Palace, shots were suddenly heard. The units stationed at the Winter Palace fired three volleys at the participants of the procession (in the Alexander Garden, at the Palace Bridge and at the General Staff building). The cavalry and mounted gendarmes chopped down the workers with sabers and finished off the wounded.
According to official data, 96 people were killed and 330 wounded, according to unofficial data - more than a thousand killed and two thousand wounded.
According to journalists from St. Petersburg newspapers, the number of killed and wounded was about 4.9 thousand people.
The police buried those killed secretly at night in Preobrazhenskoye, Mitrofanyevskoye, Uspenskoye and Smolenskoye cemeteries.
The Bolsheviks of Vasilyevsky Island distributed a leaflet in which they called on workers to seize weapons and begin an armed struggle against the autocracy. Workers seized weapons stores and warehouses and disarmed the police. The first barricades were erected on Vasilyevsky Island.
