Bloody Sunday short description. Bloody January, Bloody Sunday
01/09/1905 (01/22). – Provocation “Bloody Sunday” – the beginning of the “first Russian revolution”
Provocation "Bloody Sunday"
“Bloody Sunday” on January 9, 1905 was a planned provocation and became the beginning of the “first Russian revolution”, to incite which, taking advantage, the world behind the scenes threw a lot of money.
The organizer of the “peaceful march” on January 9, a former priest (banned from serving and then defrocked) Gapon, was associated with both the security department (ostensibly to keep the demands of the workers in a law-abiding direction) and with the socialist revolutionaries (through a certain Pinchas Rutenberg), then there played a double role. Having called the workers to a peaceful demonstration at the Winter Palace with a petition to, the provocateurs were preparing a far from peaceful clash with the shedding of blood. The workers were announced about the Procession of the Cross, which, indeed, began with a prayer service for the health of the Royal Family. However, the text of the petition, without the knowledge of the workers, included demands for an end to the war with Japan, the convocation, separation of Church and state, and “the Tsar’s oath before the people” (!).
The night before, January 8, the Tsar became familiar with the contents of Gapon’s petition, in fact a revolutionary ultimatum with unrealizable economic and political demands (abolition of taxes, release of all convicted terrorists), and decided to ignore it as unacceptable in relation to state power. At the same time, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Prince P.D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky reassured the Tsar, assuring him that, according to his information, nothing dangerous or serious was expected. Therefore, the Tsar did not consider it necessary to come from Tsarskoe Selo to the capital.
Gapon understood perfectly well that he was preparing a provocation. He said at a rally the day before: “If... they don’t let us through, then we will break through by force. If the troops shoot at us, we will defend ourselves. Some of the troops will come over to our side, and then we will start a revolution. We will set up barricades, destroy gun stores, break up a prison, take over the telegraph and telephone. The Social Revolutionaries promised bombs... and ours will take it."(report on the demonstration in Iskra No. 86)...
After the bloodshed that had been achieved, Gapon was frank in his memoirs:
“I 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 images, but they refused to give them to us. Then I sent 100 people to take them by force, and in a few minutes they brought them. Then I ordered a royal portrait to be brought from our department in order to emphasize the peaceful and decent nature of our procession. The crowd grew to enormous proportions... “Should we go straight to the Narva outpost or take a roundabout route?” - they asked me. “Straight to the outpost, take heart, it’s death or freedom,” I shouted. In response there was a thunderous "hurray". The procession moved to the powerful singing of “Save, Lord, Thy people,” and when it came to the words “To our Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich,” representatives of the socialist parties invariably replaced them with the words “save Georgy Apollonovich,” while others repeated “death or freedom.” The procession walked in a solid mass. My two bodyguards walked ahead of me... Children were running along the sides of the crowd... when the procession moved, the police not only did not interfere with us, but themselves, without hats, walked with us... Two police officers, also without hats, walked ahead us, clearing the road and directing the passing crews to the side". The procession went to the city center in several columns from different sides, their total number reached 200 thousand people.
At the same time, inflammatory leaflets were distributed in the city, then telephone poles were toppled and barricades were built in several places, two gun shops and a police station were destroyed, and attempts were made to seize the prison and telegraph office. During the procession, provocative shots were fired at the police from the crowd. The troops, completely unprepared to counter such mass uprisings of the urban population, found themselves forced to withstand the pressure of crowds from different sides of the city and make decisions on the spot.
All this must be taken into account in order to understand the fear of those who ordered to shoot at the advancing crowd (according to official police reports, on January 9 and 10, 96 people were killed and more than 333 were injured; the final figures are 130 dead and 299 injured, including police and the military; TSB gives a false figure from a revolutionary leaflet of that time: “more than a thousand killed and over two thousand wounded”). Even before the bloody events, he made a speech at a meeting of the Free Economic Society, declaring: “Today a revolution began in Russia. gives 1000 rubles for the revolution, Gorky - 1500 rubles...” However, the plan collapsed due to the fact that the troops did not go over to the side of the rebels. In some places, workers beat up agitators and barricade organizers with red flags: “We don’t need this, it’s the Jews who are muddying the waters...”.
Speaking about the hasty order of the frightened authorities who ordered the shooting, it should also be remembered that the atmosphere around the royal palace was very tense, because three days earlier an attempt had been made on the life of the Sovereign. On January 6, during the Epiphany blessing of water on the Neva, a fireworks display was fired in the Peter and Paul Fortress, during which one of the cannons fired a live charge towards the Emperor. A shot of grapeshot pierced the banner of the Naval Corps, hit the windows of the Winter Palace and seriously wounded the gendarmerie police officer on duty. The officer commanding the fireworks immediately committed suicide, so the reason for the shot remained a mystery. Immediately after this, the Emperor and his family left for Tsarskoe Selo, where he remained until January 11. Thus, the Tsar did not know about what was happening in the capital, he was not in St. Petersburg that day, but revolutionaries and liberals attributed the blame for what happened to him, calling him “Nicholas the Bloody” from then on.
Meanwhile, the Emperor, having received news of what had happened, wrote in his diary that day, somewhat violating his usual dry style of summarizing current events: “Hard day! Serious riots occurred in St. Petersburg due to the workers’ desire to reach the Winter Palace. The troops had to shoot in different places in the city, there were many killed and wounded. Lord, how painful and difficult!..”
By order of the Sovereign, all victims and families of the victims were paid benefits in the amount of one and a half years' earnings of a skilled worker. On January 18, Minister Svyatopolk-Mirsky was dismissed. On January 19, the Tsar received a deputation of workers from large factories and plants of the capital, who already on January 14, in an address to the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, expressed complete repentance for what had happened: “Only in our darkness did we allow that some persons alien to us expressed political desires on our behalf” and asked convey this repentance to the Emperor.
However, the revolutionary provocateurs achieved their goal, now all that remained was to exaggerate passions. On the same night, January 9, Gapon (he fled from the procession at the first shots) published a call for a riot, which, due to the blood shed and mainly due to the incitement of most of the press, caused unrest in many places in Russia that lasted more than two years. In October, the entire country was paralyzed by a strike, which caused many casualties...
“What is most regrettable is that the unrest that has occurred was caused by bribery from the enemies of Russia and all public order. They sent significant funds in order to create civil strife among us, in order to distract workers from work to prevent the timely dispatch of naval and ground forces to the Far East, to complicate the supply of the active army and thereby bring untold disasters on Russia...”
The name of the provocateur “Pop Gapon” became a household name, but his fate was unenviable. Immediately after the provocation, he fled abroad, but by the fall he returned to Russia with repentance and, whitewashing himself, began to expose the revolutionaries in print. Head of the St. Petersburg security department A.V. Gerasimov describes in his memoirs that Gapon told him about the plan to kill the Tsar when he came out to the people. Gapon replied: “Yes, that’s true. It would be terrible if this plan came true. I found out about it much later. It was not my plan, but Rutenberg’s... The Lord saved him...”
On March 28, 1906, Gapon was executed by the same Rutenberg in the village of Ozerki, by decision of the Central Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. “The Moor did his job...” - and was removed to hide traces of provocation. According to a Jewish source, Rutenberg after this “underwent a rite of return to Judaism in Italy in 1915 with the scourging due to him, became close to Jabotinsky, then to Weizmann and Ben-Gurion, participated in an attempt to organize the Jewish Legion... In 1922 moved to Palestine forever."
But, unfortunately, many people are still deceived and believe that the Holy Tsar was to blame for all the troubles of Russia and always blame Bloody Sunday on him!
To Anton: uh, why are you asking such stupid questions, my friend?
Excellent. Otherwise you live with garbage in your head, which
They poured it there back in Soviet school.
I have a question
Why was the king not in the city? and why weren’t the scoundrel revolutionaries arrested in advance and the marches allowed? Who fired from the crowd and where and how many policemen and soldiers died?
This article raises more questions than it answers. What kind of king is this if he doesn’t know what’s going on in his state? What merits do you praise the king for today? after all, murder is a grave sin, be it committed by the tsar (albeit indirectly) or by the Bitsevsky maniac
Save us, Lord, from idiots and anti-Semites! By the way, author! Emperor Nicholas II began to be called “bloody” not since 1905, but long before that. Our last tsar received this nickname after his coronation in 1896, when there was a mass stampede on Khodynka. A lot of people died.
Please respond to my review, maybe I'm wrong?
Well, it’s true that the uterus hurts the eyes, and the moderator???
The truth doesn't hurt our eyes. Only there is no truth in your malice. We can post any opinions based on facts, but not blasphemy against St. Sovereign. Unfortunately, it is impossible to sweep away your garbage within the framework of short responses. We suggest opening a discussion on our forum - they will answer you in detail there. Here we will answer only the main question: why did the Tsar not prevent the tragedy. Because no ruler can “know” and control everything and everyone. In addition, to anticipate and prevent all the insidious actions of attackers, provocateurs and demons acting secretly and without rules. If this were possible, there would be “heaven on earth.” A war was then started against Orthodox Russia by all the united anti-Russian forces using all unexpected provocative methods. When this became clear, the response to these forces, on behalf of the Emperor, was given by Stolypin. But on January 9, 1905, no one could yet know that the “first revolution” was being prepared. And one cannot blame the Tsar for the fact that the Jews started this vile war against him, including sowing slanderous garbage into the heads of both the people and the intelligentsia. And the best representatives of the ruling class and law enforcement agencies simply began to be shot - more than 10 thousand. And not everyone was able to find a replacement...
There is only one answer to the question of why Bloody Sunday happened:
Every nation deserves its own ruler.
Why Lenin: see above.
Why Stalin: see even higher.
And so on.
If the people themselves do not want to leave serfdom, then no Gapon will give them freedom.
Once again: every nation deserves its own ruler.
I am teaching at school now. We are just going through this topic, God only knows how hard it is! Of course, that’s not what they say in textbooks!
It’s sad that the current Bolshevik bastards howl to the evil cries of the Jews, who hate everything Russian, Orthodox and, of course, our Tsar, the holy martyr and passion-bearer, to the point of diarrhea. He is a martyr because he was killed by the Jews, and a passion-bearer because his Russian compatriots not only did not prevent this heinous ritual crime, but also contributed to it. As with the overthrow of the legitimate authority of the Anointed of God, so now “there are lies, cowardice and deceit all around.” The duty of honest teachers is to convey the truth about our Sovereign, the purest and most merciful of all Russian sovereigns.
I can say to Andrey-11: yes, he is worthy, and therefore now the descendants of the same Judas and Jews are in power instead of the Orthodox Tsar, as after 1917. That is why now the Russian land is populated by stray migrants, tumbleweeds, and holy places and the graves of ancestors are desecrated.
The article is an example of dishonest journalism and has no relation to history. For some reason, Multatuli did not sign in this case, although the text is obviously his. I write this even though I have nothing in common with Marxism and revolutionism. The problem is that most of the facts in this article were sucked out by the author, it is no coincidence and there are no links to sources. It would not hurt Pyotr Valentinovich to master at least a little source study. Copying something from a tabloid newspaper or a dubious memoir does not mean establishing a fact. Otherwise the experts will laugh at him. And no correct Orthodox beliefs will help him.
Thank you for your attention. Multatuli has nothing to do with this article; it was written by the calendar compiler based on various sources (Journal of Veche, etc.). And the “Church historian” should point out possible errors (they can never be excluded; we would be grateful for corrections) and sign the criticism with his name so that we can judge its quality. So far, his unsubstantiated remark has no value here. And it has nothing to do with history.
I read your links - thank you. I didn’t find any errors, but I added some facts and quotes. However, I cannot agree with your proposed “moral assessment” of the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints of the MP, that “a certain share of responsibility for the tragic events of January 9, 1905 can be assigned to the Sovereign from both historical and moral points of view.” Such provocations are precisely designed to create an “immoral” image of the authorities. And, unfortunately, the Synodal Commission of the MP also succumbed to this to a certain extent.
thanks but the information is false
The article is good, and most importantly, truthful. I say this as a historian. It’s sad that even now there are people who believe the Soviet interpretation.
It’s very painful and scary that all this happened in our Russia. It’s a shame to tears!!! Thank you for the article, very interesting and informative.
This is the truth!!! And SHAME on the moderator for oppressing the truth!!! FOR GREAT Rus'!!!
thanks for the truth. I knew that the Emperor could not shed innocent blood!
To confirm what was written, I would like to see Gapon’s memoirs. I searched on the Internet and couldn’t find it. Without confirmation, this article cannot be taken seriously.
Horror! do you all really believe this? Haven’t you realized yet that the Russian Orthodox Church is an ordinary sect extracting money from us! Gentlemen, come to your senses, there is no God!
I completely agree with the author of the article in the truth he conveys, but not in the specific truth. It is better to rework the article so that they are compatible (the article, for example, talks about the abolition of taxes in general, while the workers ask to abolish only indirect ones).
Original text of the petition of St. Petersburg workers:
And I completely agree: the demands are impossible! 8 hour work day? With low labor productivity, this is impossible, but the owner also needs to eat. A salary of 1 ruble a day? To wander around restaurants? Never. And in general, my great-great-grandfather told me that Putilov’s workers drank champagne in buckets. No, the Emperor did everything right, he thought about preserving the purity, deep asceticism and splendor of the people’s body!
ROC - The Russian Orthodox Church is not a bunch of OFFICIALS IN CASSBALLS, but the SUMMARY OF ALL CHRISTIANS, both living and dead. From the fact that you are very embittered by the thievery of a number of officials in cassocks, it does not at all follow that there is no God! On the contrary, for our sins the Lord ALLOWS such, so to speak, “hierarchs”, so that we, having delved into the Truth, can finally SEE THE ROOT of our troubles...
Unfortunately, the patriotic movement is now teeming with GAPONs, which contributes to disunion into small groups and “deviation from the route” (military)
Here is what the poet Konstantin Balmont wrote:
But it will happen - the hour of reckoning awaits.
Who began to reign - Khodynka,
He will end up standing on the scaffold.
When the obscene Roma Trakhtenberg was buried (with a rabbi) at the St. Petersburg JUDIAN CEMETERY NAMED AFTER THE VICTIMS OF JANUARY 9, many Russian simpletons finally thought: it’s strange why the victims of “Bloody Sunday” are entirely Jews? How could they go “with portraits of the Tsar and icons” if...? But the “Church historians” are apparently going to rest in the neighborhood of Trachtenberg!
In pursuit.
It dawned on me: the “historian of the Church” is, after all, Georgiy Mitrofanov himself, welcome to the site?! Log in, my friend!
Here we still need to figure out what kind of agents of the BACKSTAGE, entrenched then almost at the very Throne, CANCELLED all security measures during the Coronation and introduced GOAT PROVOCATORS into the people's crowd, who acted in the same way as on January 9.
And Mr. Balmont was very far from looking at the ROOT, for hatred of the Autocrat overshadowed his mind, as well as his other fellow intellectuals...
the Tsar is guilty, he could not have known about the upcoming execution of the working people
The emperor did not know about the execution of the workers. He was not in St. Petersburg. My great-grandfather served in the cavalry regiment of Nicholas II. He lived for 92 years, dying, in oblivion, “fought” for the Tsar and the Fatherland in the Russo-Japanese War - he had dying visions and again saw himself as a young non-commissioned officer at the front. When on January 9, senior officers gave the order to shoot into the crowd, Nicholas II’s cavalry regiment fired into the air, because it was obvious to them that this was treason and a provocation, designed to denigrate the Tsar in the eyes of Russia.
Thank you very much for being here. I have been looking for like-minded people for a long time. In the face of the growing danger of the resuscitation of Leninism, duping the population and depriving it of its historical roots, only our unity on the basis of the Holy Orthodox Church and the Russian Idea can and, I am sure, will save our Fatherland. WE ARE TOGETHER!
What is especially interesting is that the first blood was shed not by the workers, but by the soldiers. Something to think about!!!
We are still waking up! and glory to the Lord!
Nicholas II is God’s anointed and the redeemer of Russia before the Lord! If it weren’t for Him, there wouldn’t be us, Russia, that is.
in Him is our salvation, and in our repentance for our betrayal of the Orthodox Faith and the Tsar Father!
and he alone is the legitimate Sovereign of the Russian land to this day! (autocracy and autocracy are different things) he is already gathering his army from those walking on our land, in whom true love for our Lord and selfless devotion to the Orthodox Faith still live, in order to come and forever establish the power of God on Russian land and save us from the Judeo-Masonic yoke and ecumenist heresy!
Get ready, prepare your heart and soul! I woke up myself - help someone else!
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me.
Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven: just as they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Gospel of Matthew 5.6; 5.10; 5.11-12)
I’ll probably say this harshly, but the nameless author would have been a huge success in Komsomol times - in Soviet agitprop. This propaganda, with careful spelling of the word “Sovereign” with a capital letter, with pink monarchical saliva, is ideal for fighters against Jews and lovers of the “tsar-redeemer” - facts are not so important to them. I can’t say that this is a complete lie, no, everything is written in the best traditions of the Soviet Union: we take some superficial fact and from it we develop a picture that is completely untrue. I'll give an example to make it clearer.
In this anonymous article:
“On January 19, the Tsar received a deputation of workers from large factories and factories of the capital, who already on January 14, in an address to the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg, expressed complete repentance for what had happened: “Only through our darkness did we allow that some persons alien to us expressed political desires on our behalf” and asked to convey this repentance to the Emperor"
Is that how it was? Yes, BUT: there is no mention of a “small” detail: these 34 “deputies” were forcibly recruited by the police from among, so to speak, “reliable elements” according to lists compiled in advance, and urgently taken to the emperor, and they were searched and even banned communicate with each other.
There's a difference, isn't there?
“The head of the St. Petersburg security department, A.V. Gerasimov, describes in his memoirs that Gapon told him about the plan to kill the Tsar when he came out to the people. Gapon replied: “Yes, that’s true. It would be terrible if this plan came to fruition. I found out about him much later. It was not my plan, but Rutenberg’s... The Lord saved him..."
So? Yes - BUT again there is a “small nuance”: besides Gerasimov, not a single source (and there are a lot of them) confirms this, and Gerasimov certainly cannot be considered an objective source.
And so the anonymous author, in general, wrote his entire text: pulled up, arranged and presented - just to a properly engaged public. But not for those who are interested in how it really happened.
But how did everything really happen, Dmitry? It seems to you that you know this for certain... Are you a long-liver hiding from the media, a participant in that very “peaceful” march? Open our dark eyes to what is happening. The author, a champion and zealot of the Orthodox Autocracy, would have had enormous success during the times of the atheistic Soviet regime... You are right more than ever. He would undoubtedly have been immediately awarded the Stalin Prize and enthusiastically received at all the highest levels and would have been provided with all the conditions for a peaceful and serene life in a Soviet concentration camp. Dimitri, you combine incompatible things in your head. This is a warning sign.
I was interested in this tragedy a lot. At first glance, for uninquiring minds, the accusation against the king is obvious, and not many have understood the truth. I am grateful to the author of the article, because this is the truth.
I found valuable information! My grandfather, Chief Engineer of the Putilov Plant, was on that deputation that was received by the Tsar on January 19, 1905. I know for sure that he was immediately imprisoned and we don’t know anything else about him. Since his wife Anna Konstantinovna Govorova is my grandmother .His name was Sergey, unfortunately I don’t even know his middle name. If anyone has any information, please share!!!
I didn’t find anything in the reviews about the question I was interested in! I would like to add. By that time my grandfather Sergei Govorov already had three children and the fourth was my mother Olga Sergeevna Govorova, born on July 24, 1905. half a year later her husband was arrested. And my grandmother gave birth not in St. Petersburg, but in Dnepropetrovsk. With “Comrades” in the Social Democratic party. I believe that my grandfather suffered politically. I am stating facts not for discussion. You can’t redo history! I just want to know. What happened to him?
Nicholas 2 was called “bloody” not because of January 9, 1905, but because of the day of his coronation on the Khodynka Field, when more than 3,000 people died in a stampede during the distribution of gifts. If an error is given in such trifles, then can you trust all the information???
There is no mistake here. It doesn't matter when someone called first. It is important when, why and for what purpose this label was stuck on and began to be actively exaggerated as a revolutionary slogan precisely in connection with “Bloody Sunday” - to justify and promote the revolution. If this is not clear to you, then please reserve your teachings for more justified examples of my mistakes. I am always grateful for their corrections.
Thank you very much for the article. I knew that “Bloody Sunday” was a provocation, but had no evidence of this, I doubted it. Our textbooks do not contain such information, teachers teach in a different direction. When I read this article, I was very pleased that at least someone is telling the truth, the truth erased from the consciousness of our people during the years of the Soviet period. Thank you very much!
So what has changed since then in Russia? Nothing...
Thank you*)
Bloody Sunday is a pure provocation thanks for the article
“Bloody Resurrection” is not an isolated incident taken out of time.
According to the 4th State Duma, from 1901 to 1914. tsarist troops opened fire more than 6 thousand times (almost every day), including artillery, on peaceful rallies and demonstrations of workers, on gatherings and processions of peasants. The number of victims exceeded 180 thousand people. Another 40 thousand people died in prisons and hard labor.
One thing is obvious: those marching (Jan 9) were not armed.
Naturally, a variety of revolutionary and opposition forces tried to use this grandiose demonstration-march-religious procession for their own purposes.
It turns out that in almost every village the tsarist troops fired artillery at peasant gatherings?.. Doesn’t your number of victims exceed the number of participants in the gatherings? This digital information about the evil tsarist troops is clearly from the same kitchen as the “millions killed” during the Baptism of Rus'.
This is not something that “comes out” for us. This is according to the State Duma of the fourth convocation.
/IV State Duma. On February 25, 1917, Emperor Nicholas II signed a decree to terminate the Duma until April of the same year; Being one of the centers of opposition to Nicholas II, the Duma refused to submit, meeting in private meetings.../
And don’t distort: “including artillery” does not mean “only artillery”
My opinion: The Tsar did a lot to prevent the revolutionary breakdown of the foundations of the state, but you cannot change the course of History. The withdrawal was overdue and it happened.
P.S. And foundations are always broken with blood, be it baptism (the essence of rebaptism into a different faith) or a change of system.
Well, yes, in this State Duma only lovers of truth gathered who did not slander the Tsar and did not prepare a revolution... Therefore, one must certainly believe in the “honesty” of the 180 thousand victims of “evil tsarism” they indicate, how could it be otherwise...
I didn’t say anything “about the evil tsarist troops” or about “evil tsarism” - these are your words.
For me, whether it’s the Tsar or the Secretary General... I’m interested in facts.
However, it is important for believers to believe, not to know.
Pop Gapon defended the rights of the working people, which means he was against the authorities and against the church feeding on the authorities.
The Bolsheviks did not need any defenders of the people other than themselves.
Both those, and others, and others, without agreement, enlisted Gapon as a provocateur.
Listen to some - the revolution in Russia began with Priest Gapon!
........................
Nicholas II was very unlucky - his reign fell at a turning point in history. Fodalism in Russia was replaced by wild and unbridled capitalism, which led the country to revolution.
nonsense, the church would not have canonized the Tsar if everything happened as they say in history books
The strange holiness of the king, under whom the power collapsed.
The fact that the organization “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers”, which was headed by Gapon, is not mentioned is very strange. Meanwhile, this organization was created with the participation of an official of the police department, Zubatov. So there is no need to attribute everything to essayers. The police were obviously aware. I will soon believe that the police gentlemen and others like them were the authors of this provocation. According to one version, in February 1917, they also wanted to delay several trains with bread to Petrograd, provoke unrest, and suppress them for the sake of raising wages (Nicholas had previously refused to raise them - there was a war after all). So to speak, demonstrate your need. (doesn't seem true?)
And Gapon, apparently a very controversial person, decided to hope that there would be no bloodshed. But I miscalculated.
As for the execution of Gapon, it is unclear. By that time, he again began communicating with officials - write for yourself. Everything he could give out he could give out. So there was no need to hide any ends.
<<По одной из версий в феврале 1917 они тоже хотели задежали несколько поездов с хлебом в Петроград, спровоцировать беспорядки, и подавить их ради повышения зарплаты>>
There was hardly any need to provoke riots.
Abolished, but preserved serfdom - the land remained with the landowners; the chaos of young Russian capitalism plus war - leading the people to poverty... everything was boiling, everything was cracking, everything was coming apart at the seams.
Again - first promotion, and then suppression - first money, then chairs! And everyone knows that wages are not raised during war.
That’s when the truth is revealed, he has lived. And they still hide a lot from us!
Certainly! The “pink and fluffy” Tsar, the “royal passion-bearer,” herded several tens of thousands of soldiers and gendarmes into the city, hoping that they would “politely” ask the desperate workers to get off the streets, and he himself fled to Tsarskoe. A fool understands that in this situation shooting will begin! And then this “holy man” had the audacity to “forgive” the workers! It’s disgusting that now they are trying to fill our brains with stories about the “good” Sovereign and stupid workers who fell under the corrupting influence of certain forces hostile to Russia, seeking to destroy it from the inside! We had something like this recently, if you strain your memory... Thus, the new round of history, which is now being actively rewritten, is no different from the previous one. And we will step on the same rake again!
No one is messing with your brains, my dear; they have long been cemented by Bolshevik propaganda. Read more, although it may be useless. But speaking about the Emperor, who suffered a painful death, in such a tone is unacceptable and does not show you from your best side. Solzhenitsyn gave the definition of EDUCATION to people like you.
Thank you! I really liked the article. It’s nice that they write the truth. These Soviet school textbooks are impossible and unpleasant to read.. I am the only student who reads additional information that contradicts the absurdity in the textbook. The rest accept the “truth.” And the teacher is actively promoting communism.
Governor General Trepov and Metropolitan Yuvinaliy immediately, without delay, identified those who organized the provocation: it turned out that they were the Japanese, to whom Russia had just lost the war (I wonder who was to blame for this defeat? Probably Lenin and Gapon together). Ask ,why the Japanese? very simple: Trepov still did not know anything that in a few years another force would appear - the Bolsheviks. Since the one who wrote the article forgot about the Japanese, but knew about the Bolsheviks what they were at the end of 17, he decided not to philosophize and call them provocateurs ... Ignoring the speech of the people is like ignoring diarrhea: not from a great mind..
The king knew everything perfectly well, he could not help but know! And Bloody Sunday is also on his conscience... Such a crowd could only be contained by gunfire, otherwise they would have destroyed and burned St. Petersburg. Now the royal family is ranked among the Holy Passion-Bearers, but... Nicholas II and his family were shot in the same way as the workers in 1905... That is, the evil returned to the king 13 years later. In February 1917, the Tsar abdicated the throne and Russia, which was unthinkable for God’s anointed to do! They also demanded renunciation from Paul the First, but he went to his death, but did not sign the renunciation! Even though Paul was considered an eccentric, a tyrant, and a hysterical woman, at a tragic, fatal moment for himself, he remained faithful to the throne and Russia.
Thank you for the truth. Glory to the great King!
yes guys. Now we have lost more than 12 million people; on leaving the union there were 160 million due to all kinds of stupidity; and Lenin and the Jews were not enough, the Russian authorities and most importantly, I don’t remember that in the USSR someone tried to pinch us, like the Caucasians, everyone was cultured and the Russian people did not die out like mammoths.
Ignoring the demands of the people, it is impossible to ignore the laws of class struggle.
There are some inconsistencies here and there and the material, in my opinion, needs improvement)
One of the most tragic events that took place in the history of Russia is Bloody Sunday. Briefly speaking, on January 9, 1905, a demonstration was executed, in which about 140 thousand representatives of the working class took part. This happened in St. Petersburg during the time of which people began to call it Bloody. Many historians believe what exactly served as the decisive impetus for the start of the 1905 revolution.
Brief background
At the end of 1904, political ferment began in the country, this happened after the defeat that the state suffered in the notorious Russian-Japanese War. What events led to the mass execution of workers - a tragedy that went down in history as Bloody Sunday? Briefly speaking, it all started with the organization of the “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers.”
It is interesting that the creation of this organization was actively promoted. This was due to the fact that the authorities were concerned about the growing number of dissatisfied people in the working environment. The main goal of the “Assembly” was initially to protect representatives of the working class from the influence of revolutionary propaganda, organize mutual assistance, and educate. However, the “Assembly” was not properly controlled by the authorities, as a result of which there was a sharp change in the direction of the organization. This was largely due to the personality of the person who headed it.
Georgy Gapon
What does Georgy Gapon have to do with the tragic day that is remembered as Bloody Sunday? Briefly speaking, it was this clergyman who became the inspirer and organizer of the demonstration, the outcome of which was so sad. Gapon took the post of head of the “Assembly” at the end of 1903, and it soon found itself in his unlimited power. The ambitious clergyman dreamed of having his name go down in history and proclaiming himself a true leader of the working class.
The leader of the “Assembly” founded a secret committee, whose members read forbidden literature, studied the history of revolutionary movements, and developed plans to fight for the interests of the working class. The Karelin spouses, who enjoyed great authority among the workers, became Gapon's associates.
The "Program of Five", including the specific political and economic demands of the members of the secret committee, was developed in March 1904. It was she who served as the source from which the demands that the demonstrators planned to present to the Tsar on Bloody Sunday 1905 were taken. In short, they failed to achieve their goal. On that day, the petition never fell into the hands of Nicholas II.
Incident at the Putilov plant
What event made workers decide to demonstrate massively on the day known as Bloody Sunday? You can briefly talk about it like this: the impetus was the dismissal of several people who worked at the Putilov plant. All of them were participants in the “Meeting”. Rumors spread that people were fired precisely because of their affiliation with the organization.
The unrest did not spread to other enterprises operating at that time in St. Petersburg. Mass strikes began and leaflets with economic and political demands on the government began to be distributed. Inspired, Gapon decided to submit a petition personally to the autocrat Nicholas II. When the text of the appeal to the Tsar was read to the participants of the “Meeting”, the number of which already exceeded 20 thousand, people expressed a desire to participate in the meeting.
The date for the procession was also determined, which went down in history as Bloody Sunday - January 9, 1905. The main events are summarized below.
Bloodshed was not planned
The authorities became aware in advance of the impending demonstration, in which about 140 thousand people were supposed to take part. Emperor Nicholas left with his family for Tsarskoe Selo on January 6. The Minister of the Interior called an emergency meeting the day before the event, which is remembered as Bloody Sunday 1905. In short, during the meeting it was decided not to allow the rally participants to go not only to Palace Square, but also to the city center.
It is also worth mentioning that bloodshed was not initially planned. Authorities had no doubt that the crowd would be forced to disperse by the sight of armed soldiers, but these expectations were not justified.
Massacres
The procession that moved to the Winter Palace consisted of men, women and children who did not have weapons with them. Many participants in the procession held portraits of Nicholas II and banners in their hands. At the Neva Gate, the demonstration was attacked by cavalry, then shooting began, five shots were fired.
The next shots were heard at the Trinity Bridge from the St. Petersburg and Vyborg sides. Several volleys were fired at the Winter Palace when the demonstrators reached the Alexander Garden. The scene of the events soon became littered with the bodies of the wounded and dead. Local clashes continued until late in the evening; only by 11 p.m. did authorities manage to disperse the demonstrators.
Consequences
The report that was presented to Nicholas II significantly downplayed the number of people injured on January 9. Bloody Sunday, summarized in this article, killed 130 people and injured another 299, according to this report. In reality, the number of killed and wounded exceeded four thousand people; the exact figure remained a mystery.
Georgy Gapon managed to hide abroad, but in March 1906 the clergyman was killed by the Social Revolutionaries. Mayor Fullon, who was directly related to the events of Bloody Sunday, was dismissed on January 10, 1905. The Minister of Internal Affairs Svyatopolk-Mirsky also lost his post. The meeting of the emperor with the working delegation took place during which Nicholas II expressed regret that so many people had died. However, he still stated that the demonstrators had committed a crime and condemned the mass march.
Conclusion
After Gapon's disappearance, the mass strike ended and the unrest subsided. However, this turned out to be only the calm before the storm; soon new political upheavals and casualties awaited the state.
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 member 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 of a 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.” .
The immediate beginning of the First Russian Revolution was Bloody Sunday, which occurred on January 9, 1905. To understand the nature of what happened, you need to understand its background. They directly relate to the “Assembly”, meaning the assembly of workers, a legal organization headed by priest Georgy Gapon.
But in general, historians believe that the reasons for Bloody Sunday should be sought in the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, as well as in the reluctance of Nicholas II to engage in government. On the one hand, people felt quite strong dissatisfaction. The working class, which was practically not protected in any way in the country, was especially oppressed. On the other hand, they had little understanding of what they needed to do; they did not see a bright leader in the person of the monarch. Therefore, the appearance of such personalities as Pop Gapon, charismatic, with well-developed oratorical talent, who understand their audience, forced people to start listening.
It is worth noting that a number of workers’ demands were indeed fair. For example, an 8-hour working day. Or protection from illegal dismissal, the ability to file complaints, and so on. At the same time, the workers themselves wanted to control the amount of payment they received; during their speeches in the “Assembly” they practically convinced themselves that this was quite possible. It is difficult to imagine that this would actually be feasible even now. Although, of course, some guarantees are normal here.
If we cover such a historical event as Bloody Sunday 1905 briefly, then the main events can be reduced to the following: the “Assembly” performances began to gain more and more popularity, Gapon managed to achieve concessions at several enterprises through strikes, which worried entrepreneurs. As a result, at the Putilov factory, the master fired 4 workers because they were members of the “Assembly”. Attempts to agree on the cancellation of this decision and sanctions for the master did not yield any results. The strike also led to nothing, even when it began to spread to other enterprises. In total, about 150 thousand people were involved in the situation.
Taking into account the current situation, Gapon proposed submitting a petition to the Tsar. He also tried to meet and talk with representatives of the authorities, handed over the document to the Winter Palace, but the priest was stubbornly ignored. Which led to an escalation of the situation and toughening of formulations, and then to extremes: either the king will satisfy all our demands, or we do not have a king. The situation became tense, and when on January 9, 1905, the workers decided to go to the Winter Palace, blood was shed. The fact that most of them were completely unarmed caused enormous outrage in society. So the date January 9, 1905 went down in history and became the beginning of the First Russian Revolution.
Bloody Sunday: myths
Historically, there are a lot of myths around Bloody Sunday, exaggerations in one direction or the other. To begin with: for some reason many, especially Soviet historians, like to portray Bloody Sunday as the execution of an unarmed crowd in front of the windows of the Winter Palace in front of the Tsar, who listened as they first called him for a long time, then refused to disperse, but he still did not come out. And the entire crowd was shot. There really were murders of unarmed people, and the situation does not justify them. However, the whole picture
somewhat more complicated. Moreover, the king did not come out to anyone, because he was not in the city at all in those days. Perhaps he would not have come out anyway, but his absence is a fact.
Unlike those historical events that happened many years ago, what is being described happened in 1905, even photographs of Gapon, a lot of eyewitness accounts, interrogation reports, and so on have been preserved. The event is truly extremely unsightly, especially for the government, so there is no point in distorting what happened in any way.
To begin with, it is worth characterizing the role of Gapon himself. He was a talented speaker, as already mentioned, as a priest he inspired confidence in both sides, that is, both the authorities and the workers. Thanks to his friendship with the mayor, he avoided arrest for quite a long time, which he took advantage of. His struggle for rights and a better life is sympathetic. But at the same time, Gapon turned out to be overly optimistic about the outcome of the procession and the attempt to hand over the petition to the Tsar personally. He also quite abruptly moved from demands and hope for the tsar as a protector to threats of overthrow and constant strikes. A careful study of the background to the events of Bloody Sunday reveals how his position changed more dramatically almost every day. It can be said that by the rapidity of events, he frightened the authorities and did not give them time to consider the existing options for how they could react to the situation. It cannot be said that what happened was entirely Gapon’s responsibility. However, some part is definitely there.
What is alarming when carefully studying the data on the activities of the “Assembly” is that the workers wanted to listen exclusively to Gapon or only to his proxies. When other revolutionaries (Mensheviks, Bolsheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries) realized that a real revolutionary force had formed in St. Petersburg, they tried to go to meetings and agitate, but they were not listened to, they were driven away or even beaten, they threw out and tore up leaflets. According to eyewitnesses, an almost religious atmosphere reigned at Gapon’s meetings. The priest often read the “Our Father”, each point of the petition was not only read out, but also explained until everyone reached a state of complete agreement, until the whole hall began to loudly shout out approval to the speaker in chorus. Most of all, this resembles some sects, rather than the critical development of action plans.
Which echoes the behavior of the workers who walked to the Winter Palace on January 9. Many, at the sight of the soldiers, opened their coats and outerwear, began to shout, offering to shoot, and laughed. This is reminiscent of people brought to a state of sectarian ecstasy, confident that they are suffering for a better life, serving a higher purpose. Perhaps some lacked the understanding that there was a real threat to life or that what was happening was real. At the same time, the Socialist Revolutionaries were going to participate in the same procession. They planned to bring weapons, some planned to bring bombs, some made plans to build barricades.
And here it’s worth moving smoothly to the idea of the exclusively peaceful and harmless nature of the procession. For starters: Gapon threatened to bring up to 150 thousand people onto the streets of St. Petersburg. Even now this is quite a lot, then it was a very serious figure, which posed a danger, since such a crowd could not be controlled by any forces, except perhaps the army. Even unarmed.
In addition, there are still memories that Gapon asked the Socialist Revolutionaries for weapons, including bombs. Shots were fired at the military from the crowd; therefore, the demonstrators had weapons with them. However, the demonstration was truly peaceful: not a single soldier was killed by the demonstrators, no one resisted the dispersal, while the soldiers shot or chopped up several hundred people with sabers throughout the day and wounded about the same number. Nevertheless, the Socialist Revolutionaries and Bolsheviks had their own plans regarding inclusion in the demonstration. And they just did not expect a completely peaceful outcome of events. However, in fairness, it should be noted that Gapon, with great difficulty, convinced the workers to give guarantees of immunity and security to the tsar. And one must assume that if Nicholas II had come to them, they would have been fulfilled.
The above does not mean that the peaceful nature of the demonstration is in any way denied. It’s just that the events are somewhat more complicated than Soviet historians usually showed them. And if you don’t understand such moments and don’t try to figure it out, then inevitable distortion begins.
Responsibility of the authorities
The responsibility of the authorities is of great importance in what is happening. Nicholas II was informed about the mood of the workers even before the tragedy. If he wanted, he could well delve deeper into the situation, especially since censorship was weakened at that time, and many events were leaked to the press. If the emperor had personally taken control of the situation, agreed to communicate with the delegates before the tragedy occurred, and promised them to reform the legislation in the direction of protecting their rights, then it is likely that the First Russian Revolution would not have taken place at all. After all, a careful study of the situation showed that before all the events began, not a single revolutionary party had any real weight.
The newspaper "Culture" published material about the tragedy of January 9, 1905.
On that day, a peaceful demonstration of workers was dispersed by troops using weapons. Why this happened is still not completely clear. A lot of questions remain. However, while disagreeing with the details of Nils Johansen’s material, it must be said that the essence of what happened was conveyed correctly. Provocateurs - shooters in the ranks of peacefully marching workers, shooting at the troops; immediately appearing leaflets with the number of victims many times higher than the real ones; the strange (treacherous?) actions of some figures in power who banned the demonstration, but did not properly notify the workers and did not take measures to ensure that it was impossible to hold. Pop Gapon, for some reason confident that nothing bad will happen. At the same time, inviting Socialist Revolutionary and Social Democratic militants to a peaceful demonstration, with a request to bring weapons and bombs, with a ban on shooting first, but with permission to shoot back.
Would the organizer of a peaceful march do this? And what about the seizures of church banners on the way to churches on his orders? The revolutionaries needed blood and they got it - in this sense, “Bloody Sunday” is a complete analogue of those killed by snipers on the Maidan. The dramaturgy of the tragedy varies. In particular, in 1905, police officers died not only from gunfire from militants, but also from gunfire... from troops, as law enforcement officers were guarding columns of workers and were caught in the fire along with them.
Nicholas II did not give any orders not to shoot at people, however, as The head of state certainly bears responsibility for what happened.And the last thing I would like to note is that there were no purges in power.carried out, no one was punished, no one was removed from office. As a result, in FebruaryIn 1917, the authorities in Petrograd turned out to be completely helpless andweak-willed, the country collapsed and many millions died.
"Trap for the Emperor.
110 years ago, on January 9, 1905, factory workers in St. Petersburg went to the Tsar to seek justice. For many, this day was the last: in the ensuing shootout between the provocateurs and the troops, up to a hundred peaceful demonstrators were killed, and about three hundred more were wounded. The tragedy went down in history as “Bloody Sunday.”
In the interpretations of Soviet textbooks, everything looked extremely simple: Nicholas II did not want to go out to the people. Instead, he sent soldiers, who, on his orders, shot everyone. And if the first statement is partly true, then there was no order to open fire.
Wartime problems
Let us recall the situation of those days. At the beginning of 1905, the Russian Empire was at war with Japan. On December 20, 1904 (all dates are according to the old style), our troops surrendered Port Arthur, but the main battles were still ahead. There was a patriotic upsurge in the country, the sentiments of the common people were clear - the “Japs” needed to be broken. The sailors sang “Up, you, comrades, everyone is in place!” and dreamed of avenging the death of the Varyag.
Otherwise, the country lived as usual. Officials stole, capitalists received excess profits on military government orders, quartermasters carried everything that was in bad condition, workers increased the working day and tried not to pay overtime. Unpleasant, although nothing new or particularly critical.
The worst was at the top. Vladimir Ulyanov’s thesis about the “decomposition of the autocracy” was supported by quite convincing evidence. However, in those years Lenin was still little known. But the information shared by the soldiers returning from the front was not encouraging. And they talked about the indecisiveness (betrayal?) of military leaders, the disgusting state of affairs with the armament of the army and navy, and blatant embezzlement. Discontent was brewing, although, in the opinion of the common people, officials and military personnel were simply deceiving the Tsar-Father. Which, in fact, was not far from the truth. “It became clear to everyone that our weapons were outdated rubbish, that the supply of the army was paralyzed by the monstrous theft of officials. The corruption and greed of the elite subsequently brought Russia to the First World War, during which an unprecedented bacchanalia of embezzlement and fraud broke out,” sums up the writer and historian Vladimir Kucherenko.
Most of all, the Romanovs themselves stole. Not the king, of course, that would be strange. But his uncle, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich - Admiral General, head of the entire fleet - put the process on stream. His mistress, the French dancer Elisa Balletta, quickly became one of the richest women in Russia. Thus, the prince spent the funds intended for the purchase of new battleships in England on diamonds for the imported industrial network. After the Tsushima disaster, the audience booed both the Grand Duke and his passion in the theater. "Prince of Tsushima!" - they shouted to the courtier, “The blood of our sailors is on your diamonds!” - this is already addressed to the French woman. On June 2, 1905, Alexey Alexandrovich was forced to resign, he took the stolen capital and, together with Balletta, went for permanent residence in France. And Nicholas II? “It’s painful and difficult for him, the poor one,” the emperor wrote in his diary, indignant at the “bullying” of his uncle. But the kickbacks that the admiral general took often exceeded 100% of the transaction amount, and everyone knew it. Except Nikolai...
On two fronts
If Russia were at war with only Japan, this would not be a big problem. However, the Land of the Rising Sun was only an instrument of London during the next anti-Russian campaign, which was carried out with English loans, English weapons and with the involvement of English military experts and “consultants”. However, the Americans also showed up then - they also gave money. “I was extremely happy about the Japanese victory, because Japan is in our game,” said US President Theodore Roosevelt. Russia's official military ally, France, also took part, and they also gave a large loan to the Japanese. But the Germans, surprisingly, refused to participate in this vile anti-Russian conspiracy.
Tokyo received the latest weapons. Thus, the squadron battleship Mikasa, one of the most advanced in the world at that time, was built at the British Vickers shipyard. And the armored cruiser Asama, which was the flagship in the squadron that fought with the Varyag, is also “English”. 90 % of the Japanese fleet was built in the West. There was a continuous flow of weapons, equipment for the production of ammunition and raw materials to the islands - Japan had nothing of its own. The debts were supposed to be paid off with concessions for the development of mineral resources in the occupied territories.
“The British built the Japanese fleet and trained naval officers. The Union Treaty between Japan and Great Britain, which opened a wide line of credit for the Japanese in politics and economics, was signed in London back in January 1902,” recalls Nikolai Starikov.
However, despite the incredible saturation of the Japanese troops with the latest technology (primarily automatic weapons and artillery), the small country was unable to defeat huge Russia. It took a stab in the back for the giant to stagger and stumble. And the “fifth column” was launched into battle. According to historians, the Japanese spent more than $10 million on subversive activities in Russia in 1903–1905. The amount was colossal for those years. And the money, naturally, was not ours either.
Evolution of petitions
Such a long introduction is absolutely necessary - without knowledge of the geopolitical and internal Russian situation of that time, it is impossible to understand the processes that led to “Bloody Sunday”. The enemies of Russia needed to disrupt the unity of the people and the authorities, namely, to undermine faith in the tsar. And this faith, despite all the twists and turns of the autocracy, remained very, very strong. Blood was required on the hands of Nicholas II. And they did not fail to organize it.
The reason was the economic conflict at the Putilov defense plant. The thieving management of the enterprise did not pay overtime on time and in full, did not enter into negotiations with the workers and in every possible way interfered with the activities of the trade union. By the way, it’s quite official. One of the leaders of the “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg” was priest Georgy Gapon. The trade union was led by Ivan Vasiliev, a St. Petersburg worker, a weaver by profession.
At the end of December 1904, when the director of Putilovsky fired four slackers, the trade union suddenly decided to act. Negotiations with management failed, and on January 3 the plant stopped working. A day later, other enterprises joined the strike, and soon more than one hundred thousand people were on strike in St. Petersburg.
An eight-hour working day, overtime pay, wage indexation - these were the initial demands set out in a document called the “Petition for Essential Needs.” But soon the document was radically rewritten. There was practically no economy left there, but demands appeared for the “fight against capital”, freedom of speech and... an end to the war. “There was no revolutionary sentiment in the country, and the workers gathered to the tsar with purely economic demands. But they were deceived - with foreign money they staged a bloody massacre,” says historian, professor Nikolai Simakov.
What is most interesting: there are a great many variants of the text of the petition, which of them are genuine and which are not is unknown. With one of the versions of the appeal, Georgy Gapon went to the Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Nikolai Muravyov. But with which one?..
“Pop Gapon” is the most mysterious figure of “Bloody Sunday”. Little is known for certain about him. School textbooks say that a year later he was executed by hanging by certain “revolutionaries.” But were they actually executed? Immediately after January 9, the clergyman promptly fled abroad, from where he immediately began to broadcast about thousands of victims of the “bloody regime.” And when he allegedly returned to the country, only a certain “body of a man similar to Gapon” appeared in the police report. The priest is either registered as an agent of the secret police, or declared an honest defender of workers' rights. The facts clearly indicate that Georgy Gapon did not work for the autocracy at all. It was with his knowledge that the workers’ petition was transformed into an openly anti-Russian document, into a completely impossible political ultimatum. Did the simple workers who went out into the streets know about this? Hardly.
The historical literature indicates that the petition was drawn up with the participation of the St. Petersburg branch of the Socialist Revolutionaries, and the “Mensheviks” also took part. The CPSU (b) is not mentioned anywhere.
“Georgy Apollonovich himself neither went to prison nor was surprisingly harmed during the riots. And only then, many years later, it became clear that he collaborated with certain revolutionary organizations, as well as with foreign intelligence services. That is, he was not at all the supposedly “independent” figure that he seemed to his contemporaries,” explains Nikolai Starikov.
The upper classes don't want it, the lower classes don't know
Initially, Nicholas II wanted to meet with the elected representatives of the workers and listen to their demands. However, the pro-English lobby at the top convinced him not to go to the people. To be sure, the assassination attempt was staged. On January 6, 1905, the signal cannon of the Peter and Paul Fortress, which to this day fires a blank salvo every noon, fired a warhead - buckshot - towards Zimny. No harm done. After all, the martyr king, who died at the hands of villains, was of no use to anyone. A “bloody tyrant” was required.
On January 9, Nikolai left the capital. But no one knew about this. Moreover, the emperor’s personal standard flew above the building. The march to the city center was apparently banned, but this was not officially announced. Nobody blocked the streets, although it was easy to do. Strange, isn't it? The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Prince Peter Svyatopolk-Mirsky, who became famous for his amazingly gentle attitude towards revolutionaries of all stripes, swore and swore that everything was under control and no unrest would happen. A very ambiguous personality: an Anglophile, a liberal of the times of Alexander II, it was he who was indirectly guilty of the death at the hands of the Socialist Revolutionaries of his predecessor and boss - the smart, decisive, tough and active Vyacheslav von Plehve.
Another indisputable accomplice is the mayor, Adjutant General Ivan Fullon. Also a liberal, he was friends with Georgy Gapon.
"Colored" arrows
The festively dressed workers went to the Tsar with icons and Orthodox banners, and about 300,000 people took to the streets. By the way, religious objects were seized on the way - Gapon ordered his henchmen to rob the church on the way and distribute its property to the demonstrators (which he admitted to in his book “The Story of My Life”). Such an extraordinary pop... Judging by the recollections of eyewitnesses, people were in high spirits, no one expected any dirty tricks. The soldiers and police standing in the cordon did not interfere with anyone, they only observed order.
But at some point the crowd started shooting at them. Moreover, apparently, the provocations were organized very competently, casualties among military personnel and police officers were recorded in different areas. "Hard day! Serious riots occurred in St. Petersburg as a result of the workers’ desire to reach the Winter Palace. The troops had to shoot in different places in the city, there were many killed and wounded. Lord, how painful and difficult!” - Let us again quote the diary of the last autocrat.
“When all the exhortations did not lead to any results, a squadron of the Horse Grenadier Regiment was sent to force the workers to return back. At this moment, the assistant police officer of the Peterhof police station, Lieutenant Zholtkevich, was seriously wounded by a worker, and the police officer was killed. As the squadron approached, the crowd spread out in all directions, and then two shots were fired from a revolver from its side,” wrote the head of the Narvsko-Kolomensky district, Major General Rudakovsky, in a report. Soldiers of the 93rd Irkutsk Infantry Regiment opened fire on the revolvers. But the killers hid behind the backs of civilians and shot again.
In total, several dozen military and police officers died during the riots, and at least a hundred more were hospitalized with injuries. Ivan Vasiliev, who was clearly used in the dark, was also shot. According to the revolutionaries, they were soldiers. But who checked this? The trade union leader was no longer needed; moreover, he became dangerous.
“Immediately after January 9, priest Gapon called the tsar a “beast” and called for an armed struggle against the government, and as an Orthodox priest he blessed the Russian people for this. It was from his lips that the words came about the overthrow of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Provisional Government,” says Doctor of Historical Sciences Alexander Ostrovsky.
Shooting at the crowd and at the soldiers standing in a cordon - as we are familiar with today. Ukrainian Maidan, “color revolutions”, the events of 1991 in the Baltic states, where certain “snipers” also appeared. The recipe is the same. In order for unrest to begin, blood is needed, preferably of innocent people. On January 9, 1905, it spilled. And the revolutionary media and foreign press immediately turned several dozen dead workers into thousands of dead. What is most interesting is that the Orthodox Church responded most quickly and competently to the tragedy of “Bloody Sunday”. “What is most regrettable is that the unrest that took place was also caused by bribery from the enemies of Russia and all public order. They sent significant funds in order to create civil strife among us, in order to distract workers from work, to prevent the timely dispatch of naval and ground forces to the Far East, to complicate the supply of the active army... and thereby bring untold disasters on Russia,” wrote the message of the Holy Synod. But, unfortunately, no one listened to official propaganda anymore. The first Russian revolution was flaring up."
