Group+4-Seeds+of+Revolution

1904-1905 The Russo-Japanese War
The conflict between Russia and Japan over territorial expansion in East Asia. After Russia leases the strategically Port Arthur and expanded into Manchuria, it faced the increasing power of Japan. The war was a disaster for Russia; the humiliating defeats weakened the Czar's authority and set off a revolution that contributed to the eventual triumph of the Bolsheviks a dozen years later. The Russo-Japanese War was a conflict that grew out of the rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea. The major theatres of operations were Southern Manchuria, specifically the area around the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden, the seas around Korea Japan and the Yellow Sea. The Russians sought a warm water port on the Pacific Ocean, for their navy as well as for the maritime trade. From the end of the First Sino- War and 1903, negotiations between Russia and Japan had proved to be completely useless. Japan chose war to maintain power in Korea. The Japanese military consistently gained victory over the Russian forces. These victories, as time went by, would dramatically transform the balance of power in East Asia, resulting a reassessment of Japan’s recent entry onto the world stage. The Russian government was flexible, and it was willing to risk an armed conflict in the belief that Japan was bound to be defeated and that a Russian victory would head off the growing threat of internal revolution in Russia. The Japanese government regarded Korea, which was close to Japan, as a huge part of its national security; Japan’s population explosion and economic needs were also factored into Japanese foreign policy. The Japanese wanted to keep Korea independent under Japanese influence. 

**Bloody Sunday **
In 1905, ﻿Russia found itself losing a war to the Japanese, Czar Nicholas II losing support, new political groups arising, and anger amongst the citizens. Bloody Sunday was a massacre on January 22, 1905 in St. Petersburg, where peaceful demonstrators marching to present a petition to Tsar Nicholas II were shot by the Imperial Guard. The march was organized by Father Gapon, who had collaborated with the Tsarist secret police to create workers organizations and is considered by some to be its agent provacateur Unarmed, peaceful demonstrators marching to present a petition to Tsar Nicholas II were gunned down by the Imperial Guard. Bloody Sunday was an event with huge consequences for the Tsarist regime, as the disregard for people shown by the massacre undermined support for the state. A big strike occurred at military plants so other people all around the city began striking. The count grew to 80 000 and workers delivered a petition to the Tsar. The petition demanded and made clear the problems and opinions of the workers and called for improved working conditions. The Tsar refused to meet the demands because of the depression. Troops had been deployed around the Winter Palace and at other key points. Over 100 workers were killed and some 300 wounded. On the Sunday, striking workers and their families gathered at six points in the city of St. Petersburg, organized and led by father Gapon. The demonstrators brought along their families to deliver the petition to him so he would take into account their miseries and attempt to sort their problems for them. This signaled the start of the 1905 Revolution. 

Russia was an autocratic empire up to the end of 19th century which was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II. He ruled the country as he liked with unlimited power and authority over the empire. He believed his will was a source of law, taxation and justice. He had control over the army, all officials, and even on religious affairs. The Japanese attacked Russia on the Asian mainland resulting in the Russo Japanese war, which had the consequence of the defeat of the Russians at the hand of the Japanese. The Japanese claimed Lushun<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> and seized economic concession in Manchuria<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">. The defeat of the Russo-Japanese war produced an uprising throughout Russia<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> and caused the society to undermine the political society. The influence of the government and ability of the autocratic empire was brought down drastically. This was a brutal blow to the imperial government and caused them to lose lots of influence over the people which resulted in the outbreak of the revolution from 1905-1906. The government no longer could ignore the needs of their people in wanting change. At this point the non noble class wanted advancement in their miserable and poor conditions. This caused people to rise in persuading Tsar in an attempt to alter the Russian government from an autocracy into a constitutional monarchy. On sunday January 22nd, also known as Bloody Sunday, workers were led to the winter palace in Saint Petersburg<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> so they could use their voices to demand their wants to tsar. The government did not like this very much and in hope of frightening any others from stepping forward in disagreement, they shot and killed many of the protesters. The Russian government tried to calm the people down by agreeing to some their demands but was unsuccessful with aid and caused the people to vent in anger. With the failure of help from the tsarist regime many opposition groups were created: the Social Democratic, Social Revolutionary, and Constitutional Democrats. In response Nicholas II issued the October manifesto on October 17, 1905 which was signed by the government and him. This promised and formed a new court system which made it easier for arrest and conviction of political revolutionaries. It also promised to award people with their own rights which included: freedom of religion, and freedom of association. There was also a ruling that a law can not come into force without the consent of the state Duma. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">1905 Revolution **

**<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Creation & Failure of the Dumas **
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Duma is an assembly of delegates in the modern Russian Government which was introduced under the rule of the last Tsar, Nicholas II in 1906. Previously in Russia<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">’s history, the Duma had been an advisory council for the Russian monarchy, but the assembly’s position had been terminated in 1721 when Peter the Great was ruling. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">In August 1905, a respected Russian advisor, Sergei Witte, suggested that the Duma be reintroduced to the government system; the Tsar then came out with the October Manifesto, which handed over legislative powers to the soon-anticipated Duma. Then, just a few days before the Duma was to be disclosed in April 1906, the Tsar came out with a list of Fundamental Laws which were conditions that determined how much power the Duma was really able to have. This was mainly to ensure that the Tsar would still have absolute power. The conditions included the following: <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">· The Duma could not elect the Tsar’s ministers <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">· All laws would have to be approved by the Duma before being passed, however, the Duma would have to check with the State Council, which was controlled by the Tsar. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">· Before passing anything Duma could be removed from power by the Tsar at any time. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">· The Tsar could call for an election at random. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">· The Tsar could pass temporary laws at random <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The First Duma was officially disclosed on April 27th, 1906 and consisted of 500 deputies. They met for the first time as a whole group on May 10th, 1906, in the Tauris Palace<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">, which was to be the official meeting place for the Duma. Soon after their first session, the First Duma came out with a plan of improvement that they believed would be beneficiary for all of Russia<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">. The Tsar, however, claimed that the plan of reform was unacceptable in their government. Due to the lack of enthusiasm from the government, the Duma began openly insulting the government and its policies, which could only result in more problems for them and the government. As part of their plan to rally against the government, the Duma started passing laws during their meetings that they knew the government would disagree with. The Tsar decided that having the Duma bring too much negative attention towards the government would be too risky, and in result, the first Duma was terminated on July 21st, just weeks after it had been formed. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The Second Duma, elected in February 1907, did not last long either; right away there was conflict between the Duma and the Tsar because the right wing Tsar did not see eye to eye with the views of the social-democratic Duma. In early June, the Prime Minister Stolypin issued an ultimatum to the Duma; they would have to get rid of all their Social Democratic members, or be dissolved. When the Duma turned down the ultimatum, the Tsar ended the Second Duma on June 3rd, 1907. The third and fourth Dumas were also short-lived, although the fourth Duma dissolved on their own account during the revolution, and afterwards they never regained thier Duma status. Instead, they became Russia's new form of government, or the Russian Provisional Government. The Duma decided to dissolve itself just before the Russian Civil War.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Do you believe one particular event prompted a revolutionary thought more than another? <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Yes, because the Japanese invaded Russia which angered the people of Russia. The people were upset because Japan won the war, and in their eyes the government had failed them. It was the first time they had lost to a non-western country, and they saw this as a time for change in their autocratic government. The people of Russia revolted which led to the revolution in 1905. If the revolution had not occurred, the devastation of Bloody Sunday would have never happened and there would've been no extreme change in Russia. The Dumas, however, in our opinion, was not really a cause of revolution, only a symbol of the Tsar's determination to keep his power. The creation of the Duma gave hope to the people, until the Tsar issued laws that kept them from having any real power. These events, as a whole, cause the later Russian revolution (1917) to be entirely inevitable.

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Bloody Sunday." //Chico// //Unified School District - CUSD Main - CUSD Homepage - CUSD Homepage//. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://www.cusd.chico.k12.ca.us/~bsilva/projects/russia/Nick_II/BloodySunday.htm>. "Duma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duma#In_early_russian_history>.    "State Duma of the Russian Empire facts - Freebase." //Freebase//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. <http://www.freebase.com/view/en/state_duma_of_the_russian_empire>.     "The First Duma." //History Learning Site//. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. <  @http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/first_duma.htm >

"1905 Russian Revolution." //TheCorner//. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://www.thecorner.org/hist/russia/revo1905.htm>. 1906, April, more than 14, 000 people had been executed, 75, and 000 imprisoned.. "1905 Russian Revolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1905_Russian_Revolution>. "Russian Revolution of 1905 -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." //Encyclopedia// Russo-Japanese War — Infoplease.com." //Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help. — Infoplease.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0842745.html>. //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Japanese_War>.  "Russo-Japanese War: Definition from Answers.com." //Answers.com: Wiki Q&A combined with free online dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedias//. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://www.answers.com/topic/russo-japanese-war>.