Twilight of Absolutism: 1905

Abstract

N December I9, I904, Port Arthur, Russia's Far-Eastern stronghold, surrendered to the Japanese. The consternation created by this staggering defeat was immediately overshadowed by untoward domestic events. Early in January a strike broke out in St. Petersburg and within a few days spread to a number of factories employing tens of thousands of workers. The movement was directed by the Assembly (Sobranie) of Russian Workingmen, an association sponsored and financed by the police and headed by the priest, George Gapon, who conceived the plan of a dramatic appeal to the Tsar. On Sunday, January 9, I905, columns of workers bearing a petition listing their grievances and wishes (they ranged from minor abuses to the convocation of a Constituent Assembly) converged from distant suburbs upon the palace square. The authorities were fully aware of the proposed demonstration. The marchers were peaceful and orderly, some of them, indeed, carried portraits of the Tsar and sacred icons. They were stopped, nevertheless, by cordons of troops and when they refused to disperse were fired upon. The actual number of victims was probably larger than the official estimate of I30 killed and several hundred wounded.1