The Russian twentieth century began with the war. Local wars with unclear goals and dubious successes. In 1905, the first revolution in Russia broke out. Then came the reforms. Then again the war, again the revolution. And so it was for a hundred years. The century of wars and revolutions. There were historical reasons for this. But, of course, there was also a trigger that directed the fate of the country along a tragic route.
Landscape before the battle
The Russo-Japanese War began in 1904 somewhere far from the capitals, in the Far East. At first, the country did not seem to feel it. But, contrary to victorious expectations, events developed tragically - one annoying defeat after another. By July, part of the Russian army was besieged in the Chinese city of Port Arthur, leased to Russia. The capitals were seething. The intelligentsia demanded constitutional reforms in power - they say, the people will calm down, and things at the front will go better. On December 25 (old style) the emperor issued a decree containing a program of limited political reforms. On January 2, 1905, the Japanese captured Port Arthur. On the 14th - a general strike in Warsaw, in the Kingdom of Poland, which is always gravitating towards separatism. On the 16th - the strike was already in St. Petersburg at the Putilov factories, it was supported by the proletariat of the entire city. Earning good moneyhighly skilled workers of this defense enterprise were extremely unhappy with one of the factory foremen.
The head of state, a man of honor, sincerely wishing to look like the "father of the fatherland", an officer (colonel), could not decide for himself what to do with the land subject to him - to leave everything as it is or to follow the path of drastic modernization with poorly predictable results? However, nothing seriously rushed the emperor. You never know there have been unsuccessful wars and disgruntled workers. In his empire, everything somehow creakily, slowly, not as we would like, but in the end it always worked out. For a real rebellion to begin, in order to move something in a huge country altogether, some event, flagrant in its injustice, was needed.
Bloody Sunday is considered the beginning of the first Russian revolution. But is it?
Sunday January 9 (22nd, new style), priest Georgy Gapon, the head of the first legal workers' organization in Russia, created with the help of the police department, led the residents of St. Petersburg to a demonstration with the aim of presenting a petition to the tsar.
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By itself, this petition is a very curious document, written not only on behalf of the workers, but also on behalf of the residents of St. Petersburg of different classes. “We have become impoverished, we are oppressed, burdened with backbreaking work, they will abuse us, they do not recognize us as people,” read the text of the address. -… The limit of patience has come. The entire people, workers and peasants, are left to the mercy of the bureaucratic government, which consists of embezzlers and robbers, who not only does not care about the interests of the people, but tramples on these interests. The bureaucratic government has brought the country to complete ruin, brought on it a shameful war and further and further leads Russia to ruin."
Further, it was stated point by point what the sovereign should do to stop these torments. The professionally formulated political demands had to be fulfilled immediately, which was simply impossible, and the authors of the petition could not but understand this. Who are its authors? The main theses are attributed to the organizer of the fatal procession of the capital's residents, Gapon. Father George was an exalted romantic by his temperament, who sincerely wanted to save all "downtrodden, powerless, exhausted people", while he had a very vague idea of how this could be done. The political demands set forth in the petition were clearly added by one of the professional revolutionaries who were illegally present in Gapon's workers' circles.
Take the banners by force
Of course, Georgy Gapon realized that on January 9, some very important, great thing would begin, but which one, with what consequences? No one could see the scale of the catastrophe that followed the bloody horror in Russia's gloomy winter time. Leading the workers' march that day, Gapon, according to his later admission, “thought it would be good to give the whole demonstration a religious character, and immediately sent several workers to the nearest church for banners and icons, but they refused to give them to us. Then I sent 100 people to take them by force, and after a few minutes they brought them. Then I ordered to bring … a royal portrait to emphasize the peaceful and decent character of our procession. " “The crowd grew to enormous proportions,” Gapon recalled. - One old woman, obviouslywho wanted to give her 17-year-old son an opportunity to see the king, gave him an icon and placed it in the first row. In the first row stood those who carried the royal portrait in a wide frame, in the second row they carried banners and icons, and I walked in the middle. A crowd followed us, about 20 thousand people, men, women, old and young. Despite the intense cold, everyone walked without hats, filled with a sincere desire to see the tsar, so that, according to one of the workers, "like children," weep their grief on the chest of the tsar-father … "in the words of one of the workers, "like children" cry out their grief on the chest of the tsar-father … "in the words of one of the workers, "like children" cry out their grief on the chest of the tsar-father …"
Aleksey Aleksandrovich Lopukhin, a very knowledgeable person due to his duty, could not predict what would follow the event prepared by Gapon. As director of the police department, he judged the forthcoming procession from his belfry. “Since there were quite definite indications that the leaders of the anti-government organizations existing in the capital intend to use the mood of the workers and their gathering on the square of the Winter Palace to create a number of anti-government demonstrations demanding a change in the existing state system in order to give a completely peaceful movement of workers the nature of the popular demonstration aimed at limiting the autocracy, and that the mass of workers are not aware of the introduction of political demands in the petition,and I am deceitfully confident that His Majesty presented a petition exclusively to satisfy some of the needs of the working class, then the implementation of such an intention could in no way be allowed, and therefore the residents of the capital were warned in advance about maintaining order in the streets and that all demonstrative gatherings and the processions will be scattered by military force, "wrote Alexei Lopukhin in his report and reported that the Minister of Internal Affairs was given a. Petersburg city governor ordered the arrest of Gapon and 19 who were at the head of the meeting of workers, but "Adjutant General Fulon said that these arrests could not be carried out, since this would require too many police officers." It turned out that it was easier for the officials responsible for order in the capital to shoot a hundred or two unarmed people,than arresting one priest and 19 workers.
On Saturday, January 8, the emperor wrote in his diary: “Since yesterday all factories and factories have been on strike in St. Petersburg. Troops were summoned from the vicinity to reinforce the garrison. The workers have been calm so far. Their number is determined at 120,000 hours. At the head of the workers' union is some priest - the socialist Gapon …"
Actually, and everything that the sovereign noted for himself that day.
Fatal misunderstanding
Usually, talking about the events of that fateful day, commentators report that the metropolitan governor unexpectedly gave orders to the garrison troops to "shoot" and "cut". More than 100 people died. The townspeople of different classes are shocked! This has not happened in the capital since the Decembrist uprising. Very far from the "workers' movement" and from V. Serov. Soldiers, brave children. Where is your glory? 1905 politicians in general, the artist Alexander Benois, who lived at that time with his family in St. Petersburg, recalled from the words of his children, eyewitnesses of the execution: “A colossal mass of workers headed to the Winter Palace with the popular priest Gapon in order to submit some kind of petition to the emperor, but was shot at point-blank range. The whole area in front of the palace is strewn with corpses and wounded. In other places, the same massacres took place. After checking it turned out that the number of victims, thank God,not so great, but the very fact of the shooting of innocent, peacefully minded people remained outrageous. No one in our circle knew exactly what the workers wanted, but the fact that they, unarmed, had to express some of their wishes (there was no question of demands at that time) to the supreme head of state, met with general sympathy.
… Why could this happen? Who was to blame for this? Countless comments immediately arose. However, no one doubted that there was a provocation here; Possibly, the priest Gapon himself, who embarked on a march to the priest-tsar, was a provocateur who acted in agreement with the police, who decided that a frightening precedent had to be set.
Most of all, it was not the demonstrators who took part in the "course" that suffered, but completely strangers who gathered to gaze at the outlandish spectacle, for this purpose they made their way into the Alexander Garden, covered with snow. From there, it was really possible to somehow see from the side and in seeming safety what was about to happen on Palace Square. And it was these outsiders who paid dearly for their curiosity. The boys who climbed into the trees in order to better see, children and women who stood in the garden behind the fence, they were almost all killed or wounded by the very first salvo of those troops that were brought in to guard the residence. And the tsar was not at all in the Winter Palace. Nicholas II and his family did not leave Tsarskoye Selo since autumn. Thus, it would not have been possible to get to him that day from the workers anyway …"
Gapon, who was at the head of the demonstration, was wounded, but survived. The denouement of the undertaken event seemed incomprehensible to Father George. “January 9 is a fatal misunderstanding. In this, in any case, society is not to blame with me at the head … I really went with naive faith to the Tsar for the truth, and the phrase "at the cost of our own life we guarantee the integrity of the Tsar's personality" was not an empty phrase, "he wrote after a while after Bloody Sunday. According to the testimony of contemporaries, Gapon, who had illegally emigrated from Russia, turned from a complacent preacher into a cruel avenger who hates the monarchy. The self-proclaimed benefactor of all disadvantaged Russia failed to save either the workers or even his own convictions.
The tsar was shocked by what had happened no less than others: “Serious disturbances took place in St. Petersburg as a result of the workers' desire to reach the Winter Palace. The troops had to shoot in different parts of the city, there were many killed and wounded. Lord, how painful and hard it is! - he wrote in his diary.
At any cost
After this fateful day, the capital and the empire froze in some kind of anticipation. The shock continued throughout January. For what and by whom was all this started? Actually, the mechanism for launching the first revolution is still not completely clear. Dozens of victims, almost a state of siege in St. Petersburg, and no decisive action from anyone. For comparison: in 1917, the February Revolution demolished the monarchy in "three days". And in 1905, at the end of January, a government commission on the workers' question was created (to study the working conditions of workers). However, on February 4, the Social Revolutionary Ivan Kalyaev in the Kremlin killed the tsar's uncle - Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. The outskirts of the empire began to play tricks: a massacre broke out in Baku between the Armenians and the "Azeri Turks" (Azerbaijanis). But this was not yet a revolution.
On February 18 (!), The tsar issued a manifesto on the restoration of order, promising in the future the assembly of people's representatives, which was demanded by the January 9 petition. The victims were mourned, measures were taken … By Russian standards, the sluggish pacification of the revolution could continue for as long as desired. But, apparently, Bloody Sunday had very persistent and influential sponsors who were not satisfied with such an inert movement of events. Funds spent.
The month of March brought new troubles to the authorities - the defeat of the Russian troops at Mukden. Now the customers of the Russian revolution have the opportunity to rush it once again, this time from above. It is curious that just at this time, the main tsarist rapporteur - the state secretary of his majesty, a clever courtier (a political strategist, as they would say today), and at the same time the minister of finance S. Yu. … The true motives of the actions of this gentleman also remain a mystery to this day. Was he seriously concerned about the fate of parliamentarism in Russia, was he sincerely devoted to the august family, did he wholeheartedly love the Russian people, did he want to preserve the greatness of the empire? There is no direct answer to these questions in the documents. As for the events of the fifth year, here he had his own private interest.
To suppress the revolution, thanks to the talents of Sergei Yulievich, Russia received a huge loan - two and a half million francs - from foreign banks. Moreover, the money was paid only on condition of "democratic reforms in the empire." The internal policy of our state was directly dependent on the French bankers. So, the note submitted by the Secretary of State to the Emperor read: “In the present state of affairs, the only prudent way out is to enter into negotiations on peaceful conditions and, in order to calm Russia down a little, to carry out the order given by the highest rescript of A. G. Bulygin (preparation of constitutional legislation and the introduction of legislative bodies. - Ed.). The continuation of the war is more than dangerous;the country with the existing state of mind will not endure further sacrifices without terrible disasters. To continue the war, you need a lot of money and a wide range of people. Further costs will completely upset the financial and economic situation of the empire, which is the central nerve of the life of modern states. Poverty of the population will increase, and at the same time, anger and darkening of the spirit will increase … If there is still a weak harvest and the appearance of cholera, then huge riots can develop into a hurricane. In general, at present, an army is needed in Russia itself. Of course, it is terribly painful to start peace negotiations, and it is necessary to surround them with conditions that preserve the prestige of the tsarist power. But it is better to do this now than to expect an even more formidable future … "Here you have both" peace "at any cost, and" constitution "immediately, immediately. Both prophecies and threats. The tone is just not the same as in the "petition of workers and different classes."
Wheel of history
As if to confirm the words of the Secretary of State, in April there was a new outbreak of unrest in Poland. On May 27, in the Tsushima Strait, after seven and a half months of sailing from the Baltic to the shores of Japan, the 2nd Pacific Squadron died in a battle with the Japanese fleet. A month later, a riot began on the battleship Potemkin and riots in Odessa. The tsar still did not dare to end the war or reform the state. He was involved in big foreign policy. And he took a step that entailed a much greater disaster than the war with Japan and the first revolution. On June 24, German Kaiser Wilhelm II and Nicholas II signed an agreement on a defensive alliance between the two countries. But their foreign ministers, Prince von Bülow, on the one hand, and Vladimir Nikolaevich Lamsdorf, with the participation of the same Witte, on the other, persuaded the sovereigns to annul this treaty. And Nikolai Alexandrovich obeyed. But if such an alliance was consolidated, it would not be so easy to start an impending world war. Or, at least, the composition of the warring coalitions and the results could be different.
The work on drafting constitutional reform by August ended with the establishment of the "Bulygin", named after the compiler of the draft Bulygin, the Duma - an advisory body under the tsar. The Duma was elected on the basis of census representation. Witte, on behalf of the tsar, signed a peace treaty with Japan on September 5 in Portsmouth with the mediation of American President Theodore Roosevelt. Russia ceded Port Arthur, the South Manchurian Railway and South Sakhalin to the enemy.
But these measures did not stop the revolution. In October, railroad strikes began, which grew into a general strike. They demanded not to shorten the working day and improve working conditions, but to radically change the political system. October 17 (old style) Witte achieved another "victory". Tsar Nicholas II granted Russia a constitution. Witte was appointed prime minister of the renewed government. It was a triumph for Sergei Yulievich. Indeed, in constitutional monarchies the sovereign reigns, and the prime minister rules!
Like notes
In the same autumn, Gapon returned to his homeland. On November 8, an uprising broke out in Kronstadt. On the 24th - a powerful demonstration of sailors and soldiers in Sevastopol. The next day, sailors from the cruiser Ochakov joined the rebels. In December, Moscow bristled with barricades. At this point, the criminals roamed. The elements splashed out onto the streets of cities, red roosters flew up in factories and estates. "Political strategists" who tried to achieve their goals with someone else's hands lost control over the situation. In 1906, Witte lost his post as prime minister; the revolution could not be suppressed for another two years.
An unexpected turn occurred in the fate of Georgy Gapon. His former comrade-in-arms in the proletarian movement, N. Petrov, admitted in the Rus newspaper that Gapon had received 30 thousand rubles from … Witte to resume the activities of workers' organizations controlled by the authorities. Gapon's inner circle declared Petrov a traitor and sentenced him to death. Further events developed fantastically. It was said that Gapon gave his personal revolver to the worker Cheryomukhin for the execution of the sentence, and Cheryomukhin, instead of becoming an executioner, took it and shot himself, from this very revolver, in front of his comrades.
But what about Witte? Furious Georgy was blown up by the fact that Sergei Yulievich did not fulfill his promises: the departments were briefly opened, but after the Moscow uprising they were closed again, and he, the leader of the workers, was never legalized. And then he began a double game in which, in addition to the government, the Socialist-Revolutionary Party was involved. One of the workers close to Gapon recalled how he “with a constant smile on his characteristic face, said:“Be quiet, brother … I understand everything better than you myself. On the shoulders of the government it is necessary to make a revolution!.. They think that they fooled me, but I’m inflating them!.. You will see … I read everything like clockwork … I have my own star … All this he said a few days before the trip in Ozerki, when the decision to eliminate Gapon, suspected of being an agent provocateur, had already been given by the central committee of the SR combat organization (more precisely, Azev,Savinkov and Chernov). Its member Pyotr Moiseevich Rutenberg received 700 rubles for the costs of Gapon's murder.
The murder took place on March 28 (April 10) at the dacha rented by the Social Revolutionaries in Ozerki, near St. Petersburg. This murder, under the leadership of Rutenberg, was carried out with outstanding cruelty, reaching the point of cynicism. That is why, probably, Pyotr Moiseevich complained to Savinkov: “I see him in a dream … He keeps imagining him. Think - I saved him on January 9th … And now he hangs! " However, not everyone believed in this version, others recalled the saying that was common in St. Petersburg: "Gapon Witte will save him, and Witte will destroy him." Witte, in his memoirs, convinced that, they say, “it was decided that Gapon would come to me with a pistol and kill me from Browning. But he did not succeed, because, despite the requests of Manuilov and Meshchersky, I did not accept Gapon."
The year that began on Bloody Sunday turned into a bloody revolution. Some were dying for their idea of justice, some by taking an oath, some from excessive curiosity, some from excessive indifference. "Riot in Russia is not difficult!" - boasted while he was alive, Georgy Apollonovich Gapon. And he was right: a riot, as he said, can be "equipped in a short time." That's just to curb the elements, to control it, an arrogant person, arrogant people are not able to. Russia has set off into its twentieth century along the suffering rut of its unpredictable history.
By the way
After the resignation of S. Yu. Witte left big politics forever. He did not have a chance to see the death of the empire - he died in 1915 from meningitis. But fate turned out to be more favorable to the former director of the police department Alexei Alexandrovich Lopukhin. In the fall of 1905, he was dismissed from office and became an oppositionist, exposing the police department, which, he said, issued anti-Semitic proclamations. In 1909, Lopukhin was put on trial for his anti-government activities and sentenced to deprivation of rights and hard labor. In 1912 he was pardoned and took the post of vice-director of the Siberian Trade Bank in Moscow.
After the October Revolution of 1917, he remained in Russia for some time, and then left as a member of the board of the Petrograd International Commercial Bank to Paris, where he died safely in 1928.
Well, Rutenberg moved away from the revolution. Wikipedia reports that he “returned to Judaism and became one of the leaders of the Zionist movement. After the 1917 revolution, he left for Palestine, where he took part in the electrification of the country and in the creation of the state of Israel. He tried not to remember his participation in the Gapon case … And at the end of his life he confessed in a private conversation: "I am still not sure whether Gapon's murder was fair, whether he was in fact an agent provocateur."
