Nicholas II: The Last Romanov Tsar [r ]

The Tsar & His Family

Hemophilia & the Tsarevich

Causes of Revolution

1. Early 20 c : Russian Social Hierarchy

2. First Stages of Industrialization An Early Russian Factory

3. Weak Economy 1905 Russian Rubles

4. Extensive Foreign Investments & Influence Building the Trans-Siberian RR [Economic benefits only in a few regions.]

5. Russo-Japanese War [ ] The “Yellow Peril”

Russo-Japanese War ( ) Imperial rivalry between Japan and Russia over Korea and Manchuria Japanese surprise attack and take Port Arthur, Manchuria from the Russians –First modern defeat in war of a European power by a non-European power Treaty of Portsmouth (1905) –Russians left Manchuria –Japan gained recognition of Korea as part of its sphere of influence (i.e., imperialism) –Japan gained the southern half of Sakhalin Island

Russia Is Humiliated Text reads: Russian Bear: “Running Away? Not a bit of it! I’m luring ‘em on!”

Treaty of Portsmouth President Theodore Roosevelt Acts as the Peacemaker [He gets the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.]

6. Unrest Among the Peasants & Urban Working Poor Father Georgi Gapon

March on the Winter Palace Among long-standing complaints, the people were unhappy over Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, hunger, famine and poor working conditions Bloody Sunday (January, 1905) –Peaceful protesters, led by a priest named Gapon, marched on the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg with a petition –Shot at by Tsar’s forces –92 dead and hundreds wounded

Bloody Sunday January 22, 1905 The Czar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg

The Revolution Spreads

The Battleship Potemkin Mutiny [June, 1905]

Results

1. The Opening of the Duma: Possible Reforms? 1906  The first two tries were too radical.  The third duma was elected by the richest people in Russia in 1907.

2. The Tsar’s October Manifesto October 30, 1905

Russian Duma August, 1905—Duma organized as an advisory body –But this wasn’t well received October Manifesto –Legislative powers for the Duma and civil liberties for the people Nicholas II repeatedly butted heads with the Duma –Socialists and revolutionaries kept winning seats so he kept dissolving and reducing its power

The Russian Constitution of 1906  Known as the Fundamental Laws [April 23, 1906].  The autocracy of the Russian Tsar was declared.  The Tsar was supreme over the law, the church, and the Duma.  It confirmed the basic human rights granted by the October Manifesto, BUT made them subordinate to the supremacy of the law.

3. Jews targeted in systematic and spontaneous pogroms. Why? Why? Government incited, (via the Okhrana) were intended to detract from civilian unrest and also as a by-product could eliminate revolutionaries. As well, Jews are scapegoated for losses in Russo-Japanese War. Pogroms across Russian territories in July

After October Manifesto – Pogroms in 660 towns across Ukraine region of Empire. Over 800 confirmed Jewish deaths though the number could be much higher. In the port city of Odessa alone, the police reported that at least 400 Jews and 100 non-Jews were killed and approximately 300 people, mostly Jews, were injured, with slightly over 1,600 Jewish houses, apartments, and stores incurring damage. (Robert Weinberg, "The Pogrom of 1905 in Odessa: A Case Study" ) Postcard of 1905 Odessa Pogrom source: jewishsphere.com

By 1907 Pogroms are on the decline across Russia. USA and Western Europe are flooded with Jewish refugees.

4. The Path to October, Many lessons have been learned