Political changes in late XIX centuries were predominantly evolutionary in nature. At this time, the voting rights of citizens were expanded, stable political parties were formed, which led to the strengthening of political systems and the establishment of the principles of parliamentarism. At the same time, mass democracy arose, which contributed to the strengthening of nationalism in most European countries.
Turn of the XIX-XX centuries. was marked by the triumph of the ideas of the nation state. Mass democracy and mass political parties, nationalist sentiments in society, and the imperialist expansion of powers are gaining strength. Strengthening nationalism was one of the prerequisites for serious international conflicts.
Main events:
Main events:
- Education of mass society.
One of the phenomena of the era at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was the emergence of mass society.
Social development is characterized by the strengthening of social movements, which have become a leading factor in the socio-political life of European countries and the United States. The labor movement began to play a huge role, gradually taking on an increasingly organized character. The response of leading states to the growth of protest movements was the policy of social reformism, which included smoothing out social contradictions.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. in the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, remnants of traditional society remained, which was experiencing crisis phenomena in the economy, politics, and ideology.
Education, science, culture
Main events:
At the beginning of the 20th century. The West dominated almost all regions of the world, and its values influenced various spheres of human life. The processes that began during the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries were generally completed at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Many European states turned into colonial empires, whose possessions were territorially much larger than their metropolises. As a result of the development of the transport system, a single world economic space has emerged. The formation of the world market as a global economic system began.
Emperor Alexander III, having ascended the throne, set his main task to strengthen autocratic power and state order. The ideology of the internal political course was formulated by staunch conservatives - Chief Prosecutor of the Synod K. Pobedonostsev and publisher of Moskovskie Vedomosti M. Katkov.
On April 29, 1881, Alexander III published the “Manifesto on the Strengthening of Autocracy,” which proclaimed the inviolability of power and the end of further development reforms. Persecution of the liberal press began, supervision over universities, which were deprived of their autonomy, was strengthened. Zemstvos and city dumas lost many rights and were placed under the control of governors. Locally, an institute of zemstvo chiefs is created from nobles. To support nobles who could not adapt to the market economy, the Noble Bank helped mortgage and remortgage land.
Based on the convenience of administration and receipt of taxes, the government of Alexander III left the peasant community unchanged, which was increasingly beginning to suffer from a lack of land.
To control the activities of owners of factories and factories, a factory inspection is created. In 1882 - 1886 Alexander III issues a number of factory laws. Mandatory paybooks were introduced, and factory owners had to pay in money, not in products. Night work was prohibited for women and teenagers. Such steps could not but stir up the Russian bourgeoisie against the autocratic government.
Reactionary domestic politics could not help but provoke crude Russification, with the infringement of the rights of all foreigners, especially Jews. Pogroms swept across the country, but did not have any serious consequences.
In the difficult conditions of the formation of capitalism, talented statesman and S.Yu. Witte became a reformer. Having started his career first as a railway engineer, and then becoming Minister of Railways, in 1892 he was appointed Minister of Finance by the Emperor. In this post, he successfully carried out a number of reforms, which became a time of successful support for Russian entrepreneurship.
The main and most successful was the monetary reform. The state treasury introduced a gold “exchange ruble” for which credit notes could be exchanged. This allowed Russian entrepreneurs to more actively participate in international trade transactions, since Russian paper money was not accepted by any foreign bank. Despite the fact that the gold content of such a ruble was reduced, it was willingly accepted by all banks in Europe.
In order to reduce the flow of low-quality vodka products, the state introduced a monopoly on both the production of alcohol-containing vodka products and its sale. At the same time, strict control was introduced on sales on holidays and Sundays. The state treasury received additional income of over 500 million. rubles annually.
The active attraction of foreign capital into the development, first of all, of heavy and manufacturing industries begins. (So, the Nobel brothers earned their capital from the oil development of Baku. Part of the capital belonging to A. Nobel according to his will will become the basis of the International Nobel Prize). Foreigners were allowed into the light and food industries with great reservations (mandatory conversion to Orthodoxy and marriage to Russian noblewomen).
The introduction of a protective customs tariff for Russian goods and an increase in customs duties for imported goods (up to 33%) created favorable conditions for Russian producers.
Getting acquainted with the history of the development of capitalism in Western Europe and the USA, S.Yu. Witte comes to the idea of a faster pace of development of the railway network in Russia. The raw material base of Siberia and the Far East is becoming inaccessible due to the lack of good communication routes. The river and road systems could not be used all year round. This direction caused increased investment in the construction of railways. The heads of city councils were not aloof either. Thus, the head of the Cherepovets City Duma, I.A. Milyutin, was of particular interest, who proved the need to build a railway line from Vologda to Cherepovets. According to him, the economic potential of the city should be used not only for the development of its own production, but also become part of the national economic development.
From 1895 to 1899 In Russia, 3,000 kilometers of railways are being introduced annually. In 1891, construction of the Great Siberian Route from Chelyabinsk to Vladivostok began. If the total length of railways in 1881 was about 23,000 km, then by 1904 it was over 60,000 km. Russia has taken second place after the United States in terms of the length of railways.
S.Yu. Witte, understanding the need for state support for the Russian commodity producer during the transition period, at the same time believed that such support would be needed only at the initial stage of the development of the capitalist mode of production. As soon as the basis of market relations is strengthened, the Russian bourgeoisie will have to independently resolve issues of production and sales.
In 1899, an economic crisis broke out in Russia, for which no one was prepared; it continued until 1903, which could not but affect the fate of S.Yu. Witte. He was accused by the new Emperor Nicholas II of inability to resolve issues, and was dismissed. Although Witte did not completely leave public life. He would prepare a draft treaty with Japan and the Manifesto of October 17, 1905.
Rapidly developing sectors of the economy led to the formation of certain industrial centers. In the north-west - St. Petersburg, where mechanical engineering enterprises operated mainly. Textile and food production industries were associated with the center in Moscow. The southwestern region was known as a metallurgy region. The Ural center still remained, but it no longer played an important role in the development of industry.
Despite the successful development of the country's economy, especially in industry, Russia remained in the second tier of developed capitalist countries.
A special type of capitalism in Russia played a certain role. Among European countries, Russia was the latest to embark on the path of developing new economic relations. Russia went this way through reforms, without revolutionary upheavals. All of Western Europe, except England, experienced revolutions. If in England the existing constitutional monarchical rule allowed an evolutionary transition to capitalism, then the preservation of autocratic power in Russia, which decided to change the economic foundations in the country through reforms, indicated its peculiarity. At the same time, Russia did not have the colonies that Western European countries owned, but actively uses foreign capital to develop the economy.
A distinctive feature is shortcut industrial revolution. If England needed a hundred years, then Russia completed the industrial revolution by the 80s of the 19th century.
The most famous not only in Russia, but also in Western Europe becomes the Putilov plant, which has no analogues in terms of technical equipment of production. The concentration of production and then capital reached a high level. Various forms of monopolies are being created, the number of which by the beginning of the 20th century was 50. (“Prodamet”, “Produgol”, “Prodvagon”).
A new banking system is being formed, in which commercial banks are beginning to play a significant role. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 40 commercial joint-stock banks, 192 mutual credit banks, and 255 city public banks operating in the country.
A feature of the development of capitalism in Russia are problems in agriculture. Communal peasant farming, having most of the land in the country as a whole, did not become the basis for successful development. First of all, this was due to the weak interest of peasants in the results of their labor, low technical equipment, high taxes and taxes. And although in 1881 redemption payments from peasant plots were reduced, and in 1882 the Peasant Land Bank was established, and the poll tax was abolished - all this could not improve the peasant communal economy.
According to the Regulations of 1861, peasants who contributed their share of the redemption amount could dispose of their plots, but in 1893 they were deprived of the right to sell and pledge lands. Landowner households, deprived of free labor, were unable to organize hired labor. By the beginning of the 20th century, only 570 landowners successfully developed their estates.
Interesting feature is the development of private peasant farms, which begin to compete with the landlord economy. Thus, by the beginning of the 20th century, peasant farms provided 78.4% of grain, while landowner farms provided only 21.6%. Private peasant farms, especially in Siberia, create cooperatives both for the sale of products and for the purchase of agricultural machinery. In 1908, the first congress of cooperators took place, which set new tasks for the development of the cooperative movement.
The peculiarities of Russia's economic development also affected the country's social structure. According to the population census in 1913, out of 160 million people, 66.7% were peasants, and there were 6.4 million hired workers.
The foreign policy of Emperor Alexander III is characterized by the desire to lead Russia away from military conflicts. An agreement was reached with England in 1884 on the delimitation of spheres of influence in Central Asia, where Russia marked the borders Russian Empire Turkestan. Alexander III managed to smooth out the conflict between Germany and France, which he would save from military attack more than once. France becomes a reliable partner and ally of Russia in Europe, despite its republican form of government. As soon as the military-political bloc of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (Triple Alliance) begins to take shape in Western Europe, France will sign a secret treaty with Russia.
On October 20, 1894, Emperor Alexander III died suddenly at the age of 49 from cardiac hypertrophy.
The eldest son of Alexander III, Nicholas II, ascends the Russian throne. Unfortunately, being a crown prince, Nikolai Alexandrovich was not allowed by his father to solve state problems. Possessing wonderful human qualities and kindness, nevertheless, he was not ready to accept and understand the problems of the Russian Empire, which he had to govern. In the year of his father’s death, he married the Hessian Princess Alice of Dormstadt, who converted to Orthodoxy under the name of Alexandra Feodorovna, who had a certain influence on the emperor.
On January 6, 1895, Nicholas II, at a meeting with representatives of the Russian public, said famous words: “Let everyone know that, devoting all my strength to the good of the people, I will protect the principles of autocracy as firmly and unswervingly as my late, unforgettable parent guarded it.” This performance caused disappointment among representatives of liberal circles, but was very well used by the revolutionaries for their propaganda.
In May 1896, on the eve of the coronation in Moscow, on the Khodynka field, where military exercises were constantly taking place, refreshments began to be distributed, crowds moved around the field, which, according to official data, led to the death of 1,389 people, and 1,301 people were injured.
In 1899, unrest began among students. On February 8, 1899, police dispersed a demonstration of students who demanded “academic freedom.” The result of the speech was the decision of the government of Nicholas II to recruit politically unreliable students as soldiers. Talented professors such as S. Kovalevskaya, who goes to Stockholm, M. Kovalevsky goes to Paris, P. Vinogradov to Oxford, are expelled from universities. The mediocrity of teaching led students away from science and inclined them towards political, most often verbal, struggle.
Support of the throne Russian army increasingly alienated officers from soldiers, losing its best traditions. The theft of quartermasters is flourishing in the army and navy, which will have a negative impact during the Russian-Japanese and the First World Wars.
The role of the political police is increasing, which turns the protection of state power into a struggle with the entire Russian society. By reinforcing the split between state power and the people and sowing distrust, the police allow revolutionary forces to use this situation in their propaganda.
In an effort to establish itself in the Far East, Russia leases the Liaodong Peninsula, on which the Port Arthur fortress was built, for 750 thousand gold rubles. A railway was built to it (CER), which improved the position of the ice-free naval base. Japan, which itself was not averse to gaining a foothold in the Far East, enters into negotiations with Russia. The intervention of England, which did not want Russia to pursue a successful policy, changed Japan's attitude towards the negotiations. Taking advantage of Russia's ill-conceived, adventurous decision to develop forests in Korea, Japan is preparing for war.
On January 27, 1904, the Japanese fleet fired at the Russian squadron in the roadstead, causing damage to two battleships "Tsesarevich", "Retzivan" and one cruiser "Pallada". On the morning of the same day, the cruiser "Varyag" and the gunboat "Koreets" were attacked in the port of Chemulpo. In an unequal battle, having received many holes, the gunboat "Koreets" was blown up, and the "Varyag", whose officers and sailors did not want the Japanese to board, was sunk. All this created Japanese superiority at sea. Russian military forces were weakened by the difficulty of transferring troops to the Far East, the slowness of the military apparatus, embezzlement and theft.
The energetic Admiral S.O. is appointed commander of the Pacific Fleet. Makarov, who could turn the tide. But in the very first battle, the flagship Petropavlovsk exploded on a mine and sank. His entire headquarters, the commander himself, and the artist who was on the ship, battle painter V.V. Vereshchagin, died.
Combat operations on land were also unsuccessful for the Russian army. The Japanese army crossed the Yalu River in April 1904, entered Manzhouli, and in May 1904 besieged Port Arthur from land. The battle of Laoyang ended in the defeat of the Russian army. In October 1904, a quickly assembled squadron under the command of Admiral Rozhestvensky from the Baltic was sent to help Port Arthur. The besieged fortress, despite two attacks (in October and November), survived. By December 1904, the Japanese army outnumbered the besieged defenders by 5 times. On December 3, 1904, the talented commander, General R. Kondratenko, died. Despite the difficult situation, the garrison did not want to surrender the fortress and spoke out against capitulation. Contrary to this desire, General Stoessel surrendered the fortress to the Japanese on December 20, 1904, which held out despite superior enemy forces for 157 days and withstood six assaults. In May 1905, the Russo-Japanese War ended with the destruction of, in addition to 4 battleships that surrendered to the Japanese, the Russian squadron in the Tsushima Strait and the defeat of the Russian army near Mukden. Russian society was shocked and outraged by the revealed facts of unprofessional actions, theft and betrayal.
On August 23, 1905, a peace treaty was signed in Portsmouth (USA), according to which Russia recognized the Liaodong Peninsula with Port Arthur, the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the introduction of Korea into Japan’s sphere of influence. The war cost Russia the loss of 400 thousand dead, wounded and prisoners, and more than 3 billion rubles.
The situation inside the country worsened even more by the autumn of 1904. The economic crisis caused increased protests by the working class in all industrial cities of the country. The peasantry, seeking to redistribute the land, never ceases to worry. The Russian bourgeoisie occupies a special place in the dissatisfaction with the existing government. Playing an increasingly significant role in the country's economy, it is not allowed by the autocracy to govern the country. The Russo-Japanese War, which ended tragically for Russia, further intensified the indignation against the government of Nicholas II.
At the beginning of January 1905, workers at many enterprises in the city went on strike in St. Petersburg, demanding the introduction of an 8-hour working day and higher wages. The meeting of city entrepreneurs rejected all demands. Then, in the officially sanctioned organization “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg,” headed by priest G. Gapon, the idea arose to write a petition to Emperor Nicholas II with the problems of the working class. With this petition, it was decided to go to the Winter Palace.
On January 9, 1905, over 140 thousand workers with their families, portraits of the sovereign, and icons went to the Winter Palace. An attempt to get to the palace was stopped by special army units and shot. According to official data, 96 people were killed and 333 were injured. This event went down in Russian history under the name “Bloody Resurrection.”
The news of this event spread throughout the country, causing strikes and strikes by workers in the cities, unrest among peasants, which ended in the destruction of landowners' estates. Later, Nicholas II received a delegation of workers, but stated that “... it is criminal for a rebellious crowd to tell me about their needs.” On February 4, 1905, the Moscow governor general died from a terrorist bomb. Grand Duke Sergey Aleksandrovich.
The workers' protests do not stop. A significant fact was the creation in May 1905 of the Council of Workers' Deputies in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, which assumed the functions of power in the city. Having existed for 72 days and dispersed by troops and police, it left an interesting example of the attempt of the working class to achieve independent government activities.
On June 14, 1905, the sailors of the battleship “Prince Potemkin - Tauride,” which was stationed in the roadstead in the port of Odessa, rebelled. The rebels killed the officers, took possession of the ship, and only 12 days later, when the coal supply ran out, the ship surrendered to the Romanians in the port of Constanta. Unrest among soldiers and sailors was noted not only in the garrisons, but also in the elite guards Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments. In their speeches, soldiers and sailors demanded the convening of a Constituent Assembly, a solution to the agrarian question, and the provision of civil and political rights.
In August 1905, a Manifesto was published with the promise of convening the State Duma, which was created only as an advisory body under the emperor.
By October 1905, the situation worsened with strikes by railway workers, and then became general. Over 2 million workers took part in the strikes, and 2.5 thousand plants and factories stopped working. The Russian intelligentsia also joined the workers.
Emperor Nicholas II either fell into despair, or demanded decisive measures to restore order in the country. Repressions did not help, the period of transition to concessions began.
On October 17, 1905, prepared by S.Yu. Witte, the Manifesto “On the Improvement of State Order” was published, in which the emperor promised to introduce civil freedoms of conscience, speech, meetings and unions, and legal parties in the country. The main point of the Manifesto was the convening of the State Duma and endowing it with legislative rights. This was a decisive turn from unlimited autocratic power to a constitutional form of government. The Russian bourgeoisie, which received the opportunity to take part in governing the country, is moving away from the revolutionary movement. The first Russian revolution ended in a compromise between the authorities and the people.
The illegal parties that were dissatisfied with the Manifesto prepared the last, action of the workers in Moscow that did not change anything. The strike of workers that began on December 7, 1905 grew into an uprising that engulfed the workers' suburb of Presnya (Krasnaya Presnya). The uprising was suppressed, and the inhabitants of this suburb suffered, being hit by cannon shells when the barricades were shot.
On December 11, 1905, a law was passed on the procedure for elections to the State Duma. The elections were associated with the creation of 4 curiae from all classes: landowner, urban, peasant and worker. One elector accounted for 90 thousand workers, 30 thousand peasants, 4 thousand townspeople and 2 thousand landowners. The total number of Duma members was 524 deputies.
The new Minister of Internal Affairs, P.A. Stolypin, is entrusted with stopping the protests of workers and peasants.
The Manifesto of October 17, 1905 created the opportunity to create legal political parties in Russia. The largest and most influential party that united wide circles of the liberal intelligentsia and progressive zemstvo leaders was the People's Freedom Party, better known as the Constitutional Democratic Party (Cadets). After the first founding congress, which took place from October 12 to 18, 1905 in Moscow, the process of organizational building of the party began. By April 1906, 346 cadet organizations had been created throughout the country. The total number of members of the Cadet Party exceeded 60 thousand people.
History professor P.N. Milyukov became the main theoretician and leader of the party. The Cadets' program provided primarily for a parliamentary constitutional monarchy (of the English type). At the same time, there is a mandatory system of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial. The government becomes responsible not to the sovereign, but to the Duma. Universal suffrage, respect for civil and political rights of the individual. As for economic issues, the Cadets believed that workers had the right to strikes and walkouts and were not subject to criminal prosecution. At the same time, it must be mandatory to insure the health and life of workers at the expense of the enterprise. Compulsory for children of workers elementary education at the expense of the enterprise. As for the agrarian question, the Cadets were in favor of expanding the number of private peasant farms. It was proposed to fill the land shortage by nationalizing state lands.
The cadet program was the most radical version of the liberal-bourgeois solution to the main issues of Russian reality. The tragedy of the party lay primarily in the fact that the autocratic government did not want to undertake radical reforms, and the socialist parties took advantage of this, managing to captivate the masses with loud but impossible promises.
The more right wing was occupied by the moderate – the liberal party “Union of October 17th” (Octobrists), which emerged in 1906. This party united moderate circles of the commercial and industrial class. The famous industrialist and financier A.I. Guchkov becomes the leader of the party. The Octobrist Program stated: “The Russian Empire is a hereditary constitutional monarchy, in which the emperor, as the bearer of supreme power, is limited by the provisions of fundamental laws.” Moreover, laws can only be adopted “with the consent of the people’s representatives” and the approval of the sovereign. Citizens of Russia are guaranteed equality before the law without distinction of gender, nationality or religion, freedom of conscience, press, assembly, abolition of passports, free movement throughout the country and free travel abroad. On the issue of economic issues, the Octobrists showed a certain restraint, especially on the labor issue. It was proposed to urge Russian industrialists to review and improve labor legislation, develop insurance assistance, and allow trade unions, but all this only within the framework of existing laws. As for the agrarian issue, the program noted support for private peasant farming. The shortage of land was supposed to be solved by nationalizing part of the landowners' land on a remuneration basis.
The Octobrist program caused controversy among commercial and industrial capital itself. A group of entrepreneurs led by the famous head of an entire family of entrepreneurs, P.P., left the party. Ryabushinsky, who founded the “progressive” movement. Turbulent revolutionary events did not allow Ryabushinsky to create a party. Ryabushinsky’s opinion about the disastrous consequences for the country of being carried away by socialist ideas is known. This requires time and great effort.
The tragedy of the Octobrist party was associated with the insufficient political experience of the Russian bourgeoisie. Being the main social support of the liberal movement in the country, the bourgeoisie was unable to organize this movement. Interesting thoughts about the liberal movement of the representative of the Russian commercial and industrial class I.I. Shchukin. In a letter to A.I. He writes to Guchkov: “It’s your will, and the most cunning and well-intentioned attempts to restore the Tatar-Byzantine chambers in the European Art Nouveau style seem to me to be an impossible illusion... Haunted since childhood, driven and forgotten, Russian liberalism looks around timidly, timidly, as if stealthily, now ascends to the political field..."
An organization operating since 1901 decided to create a monarchist party. Russian collection. In November 1905 it published its program, in which it expressed its commitment to an unlimited monarchy. In the same year, the Union of the Russian People party was created, headed by the famous monarchists V. Purishkevich and A. Dubrovin, who put forward the program slogans “Orthodoxy, Autocracy and Nationality.” S.Yu. Witte figuratively called the monarchist parties “revolutionaries on the right.” These parties were small in composition, but they developed loud and noisy activities.
Among the illegal socialist parties, the largest is the party of social revolutionaries (SRs), which declared itself in January 1902. Having based their activities on populist ideas, they considered themselves a party of the peasantry. The organizational problem worried the Socialist-Revolutionaries little, since only in 1906 a leadership scheme was determined: a party congress and council. At the same time, independent military organizations operated. To achieve the goal, terror tactics are chosen as a way to cause mass discontent and a movement that will end in a socialist revolution. “Socialism as a way of systematic organization of all production by society and for society” (V.M. Chernov) The Socialist Revolutionaries viewed socialist society as a union of self-governing production associations in industry and agriculture with a wide network of cooperation. The state was assigned the role of a center coordinating the activities of self-government bodies. The Socialist Revolutionaries resolved the main issue of land only through the complete transfer of land to the peasants (“socialization of the land”) and dividing it according to consumers.
The active participation of the Socialist Revolutionaries in the February Revolution of 1917, the split in June at the first Congress of Soviets into the “right” led by B. Savenkov and the “left” led by M. Spiridonova, weakened the party. Having come to power, the Bolsheviks banned the “right” party of the Socialist Revolutionaries, and collaborated with the “left” until July 6, 1918, when they no longer needed the support of the Socialist Revolutionaries. This day will go down in history as the “revolt of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries.” In fact, there was no rebellion; it was a prepared operation by the Cheka to discredit the party. Soon the Socialist Revolutionary Party will be banned.
Another socialist party, less well known, would be the Social Democratic Party (SDEK), which proclaimed Marxism as its ideological basis. At the first congress in 1898 in Minsk, a Manifesto was adopted on the creation of the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDLP) in Russia. Soon all nine delegates to the congress were arrested, but this event became known to one of the leaders of the organization “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class”, who was in exile in Siberia - V. Ulyanov. It was he who developed the idea of creating a revolutionary party that would be welded together by strict discipline and the main principle of “democratic centralism” - the subordination of the minority to the majority.
V. Ulyanov writes a number of works in which he considers the creation of his newspaper to be the beginning of the party’s activities. Such a newspaper became Iskra, which was printed abroad and then arrived in Russia illegally. In 1903, according to the documents of engineer Lenin, he went abroad. The second congress of Russian Social Democrats is taking place first in Brussels and then in London.
The main question about the party program is presented in the projects of G. Plekhanov and V. Ulyanov (Lenin). The congress adopts the program in Lenin's draft. It consisted of two parts: a minimum program and a maximum program, which envisaged the accomplishment in Russia first of a bourgeois-democratic revolution, and only then of a socialist revolution, through the conquest of power by the working class. All other demands were of a moderate nature. But on the issue of membership in the party, a split occurred into “Bolsheviks” led by V. Ulyanov - Lenin and “Mensheviks” led by Yu. Martov (Zederbaum). Lenin was a supporter of strict discipline, and decisions of the Party Central Committee had to be implemented without discussion. Martov offered the right of a party member to his point of view and looked for opportunities to find compromises to avoid bloodshed. In October 1917, through a military coup, the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia, the Menshevik Party, like other parties, would be banned, and Yu. Martov emigrated abroad, where he wrote a number of works revealing the essence of Bolshevism.
The anarchist party, which proclaimed the foundations of the future society as a “free union of free communes,” did not find widespread support and this party was also subsequently banned by the Bolsheviks.
On February 20, 1906, a regulation was issued on the State Council, which was to become the upper house of the Duma and vested with the right to approve all bills developed by the lower house. 98 members were elected to the State Council, and 98 were appointed by the emperor.
Elections to the first State Duma took place in February–March 1906 in the difficult situation of the first Russian revolution that had not yet subsided. The leader of the RSDLP (b) Lenin, who still hoped for a massive popular uprising, was especially opposed to the elections.
478 deputies were elected to the Duma, of which 176 seats were taken by the Cadets. The first meeting took place in the Tauride Palace and immediately radical speeches began. A particularly protracted discussion unfolded on the agrarian issue, where the Trudovik peasants proposed the introduction of not only the alienation of part of the landowners' lands, but also the introduction of equal land use. The work did not go further than discussions and Nicholas II, using his right, dissolved the Duma on July 9, 1906.
Changes are also taking place in the leadership of the country. Emperor Nicholas II removes I. Goremykin from the post of Prime Minister and appoints P. A. Stolypin to this position, who becomes famous in the fight against revolutionary terror. On August 12, 1906, at Stolypin’s dacha on Aptekarsky Island, an explosion occurred by terrorists. 30 people were killed, 60 people were injured. P.A. Stolypin was not even wounded.
New elections were announced. 518 deputies were elected to the Second State Duma, of which 65 were Social Democrats. On February 28, 1907, the first meeting of the Duma opened. The preponderance of forces was on the side of the left, since they were often supported by the Cadets (222 deputies).
On March 2, Stolypin made a report on the agrarian reform project. This project became the object of criticism and attacks from the left faction, to which P.A. Stolypin replied: “They need great upheavals, we need great Russia" Discussion of the project stopped. Having received news that Social Democratic deputies were conducting anti-government agitation outside the walls of the Duma, the police demanded an investigation, but the Duma refused to deprive them of parliamentary immunity. On the night of June 3, all deputies from the Social Democratic Party were arrested, and the Duma was dissolved. After the dissolution of the Duma, the provisions for a new electoral law were promulgated.
The new election law changed the number of electors from peasants and residents of the national outskirts. In the fall of 1907, during the elections to the third State Duma, the majority of seats were taken by the “Octobrists” (154) and A.I. Guchkov was elected chairman. This Duma became the first to serve the entire allotted five-year term. Laws on land, developed by P.A. Stolypin, were adopted to reorganize the army and navy, and to increase funds for public education.
The resolution of the agrarian question or “land management” followed the path of preserving landownership, and a path was found for the development of peasant farming.
The first thing that a peasant community member was now allowed to do was freely leave the community. Now it was not necessary to decide the fate of the peasant who wished to leave the community by a majority vote of the peasant meeting. At the same time, it was possible to go out to the “cut” or “farm”. As for the “cut,” in this case the peasant remained in the village, but the community was obliged to allocate scattered plots of property to him. Since the peasant community was already suffering from a shortage of land, another way involved allocating land to the peasant for a “farm,” when the peasant was allocated land and the housing was moved. Duma deputies expressed fear that the strong owners who helped the weak would leave the community. P.A. Stolypin responded to this: “We are writing laws for the whole country, it is necessary to keep in mind the intelligent and strong, and not the drunken and weak.” The development of farm farming has taken root in Belarus, Lithuania, and Siberia.
The second direction in solving the land issue was Stolypin’s proposal to resettle the peasants of the central provinces, where the shortage of land was especially felt, to Siberia, the Far East, Central Asia, and Transcaucasia. Resettlement was often associated with bureaucratic red tape, and not everyone was able to take root in the new natural and economic conditions, but resettlement provided the opportunity to develop new lands and bring knowledge of land cultivation to these areas.
Strengthening the position of the Peasant Bank and the opportunity to take out a loan (at 6% per annum) to a private peasant farm or purchase land through the bank, expanding land ownership. At the same time, the bank saved peasants from moneylenders (kulaks), who were strangling peasant farms with interest-bearing debts.
An important change, at the suggestion of Stolypin, was the law of October 5, 1906, equalizing peasants in civil rights with other classes. Now it was possible to change not only the place of residence, but also the occupation. Peasant families could send their talented sons to study.
On September 1, 1911, during a performance at the Kiev Theater, anarchist and secret police agent D. Bagrov was mortally wounded by P. A. Stolypin. Before his death, Stolypin developed some additions to the state structure. He believed that it was necessary to strengthen the role of local self-government, restore the patriarchate, and create new ministries: labor, social security, and nationalities.
By 1914, thanks to the reforms of P.A. Stolypin, the number of owners who cultivated 18 million acres of land increased by more than two million.
On the eve of the First World War, Russian agriculture experienced a period of recovery. Thus, the rye yield rose from 30 to 35 poods to 51 poods per dessiatine, and the wheat yield reached 57 poods per dessiatine. From 1909 to 1911, grain worth 750 million rubles began to be exported from Russia annually. The production of industrial crops (potatoes, sugar beets, cotton) has increased
There is further successful development of cooperatives that help in purchasing equipment. Thus, in 1908, agricultural machinery was purchased for 54 million rubles, and in 1912 for 311 million rubles.
Before the First World War there was a general economic recovery. In 1913, goods were exported for 1.520 million rubles, and imported for 1.374 million rubles.
The activities of the Fourth State Duma began on November 15, 1912 with a predominance of right-wing forces. The Octobrist M. Rodzianko was elected chairman, and I. Goremykin was again appointed prime minister. On the eve of the war, all factions of the State Duma expressed their readiness to put aside all internal disputes and unite to repel the enemy. The leader of the Cadet Party, P.N. Milyukov, read out the appeal of the party’s Central Committee: “To keep our country united and indivisible and to maintain its position among world powers, which is being disputed by its enemy.” Only the Social Democratic Party declared the need for its government to be defeated in the war. This is how V. Ulyanov-Lenin’s idea of transforming the imperialist war into a civil war was expressed.
The Fourth Duma is working under conditions of increasing need for close cooperation between the government and the bourgeoisie. Fearing the unification of moderate members of the government with the Duma members, on September 3, 1915, the fourth The State Duma was dissolved by Emperor Nicholas II.
Russia at the end of the 19th century - beginning of the 20th century
The end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries was a period of rapid economic growth. During 1860–1880, industrial production increased 2.5 times. During the reign of Alexander III, the government's industrial policy, previously based on the principles of free competition, liberal customs policy, and “freedom” of relations between entrepreneurs and workers, was replaced by a policy of state regulation of economic and social relations. Protectionism, high customs duties on industrial products imported from abroad, assistance to some industries and some restraint on others, the introduction of regulation of factory labor conditions are the main directions of this regulation. In 1885–1913 alone, large joint-stock enterprises increased their funds by 11.1 times, although small front-line enterprises grew much more slowly. Average height production assets for the years 1885-1913 was 596%, or 7.2% per year, that is, higher than in the USA for the same period. The mechanization of production proceeded at an accelerated pace. If in 1860 machines worth 16.5 million rubles were introduced, then in 1870 already 65 million rubles, and in 1913 - 340 million rubles. If in 1860 mechanical equipment worth 100 million rubles was used in production, in 1870 - 350 million rubles, then in 1913 - almost 2 billion rubles, that is, about a fifth of the technical fleet of machines was updated annually.
The growth rate of production of means of production at private enterprises in Russia was twice as high as the growth rate of the light and food industries. As a result, the share of production of means of production reached 43% of all industrial products, 63% of the equipment and means of production needed in industry were produced within the country and only a little more than a third were imported from abroad.
In 1910, in Russia, 53% of industrial workers worked in enterprises with more than 500 employees; in the United States, the corresponding figure was 33%. Enterprises with more than 1,000 workers in Russia employed 44% of workers, which is more than two times more than in US industry.
The factory inspection data provided did not include the largest state-owned and all metallurgical plants. Including these factories, the concentration rate of workers at the largest factories in Russia increases by one and a half times. Thus, the share of large enterprises in Russia was three times greater than in Germany and the USA.
There were only 12 giant factories with more than 5,000 workers in Germany in 1907, while in Russia there were more of them in St. Petersburg alone than in all of Germany (14 factories). There were 35 giant factories throughout Russia.
During the first decade of the reign of Nicholas II, the Russian state budget increased from 965 to 1,947 million rubles, that is, more than 2 times. In 1902, it was one and a half times or more greater than the state budgets of England, France, and Germany, being the first in size. Approximately half of the budget revenues were indirect taxes and about a quarter were revenues from the state economy (state factories, factories, railways, etc.). Moreover, the income of state farms has grown 3.5 times over the decades. This meant that the concentration of people's resources occurred not only through increased taxation, but also through the development of the state economy.
In 1895, Russia switched to a gold circulation system and established extremely strict conditions for the issuance of banknotes, which had to be backed by gold. Already by 1904, the gold reserves of the State Bank of Russia amounted to 903 million rubles, while credit notes were issued for 578.4 million rubles, that is, the gold coverage was 156%. By 1914, this figure had decreased slightly, amounting to 101% gold coverage with an increase money circulation: 1664.7 million rubles. credit notes provided 1695.2 million rubles. gold reserves. Together with the country's positive trade balance, the solid security of the Russian currency gave confidence to foreign investment, helping to attract foreign capital to the country.
Since 1876-1880. Until 1913, Russia had an active continuous trade balance. From 1886 to 1913, it exported goods worth 25.3 billion gold rubles, but imported only 18.7 billion rubles, that is, it ensured an influx of gold and currency into the country worth 6.6 billion rubles.
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, industrial production gradually spread throughout Russia. Continued fast growth industry in the South of Russia and the Transcaucasus. The Donetsk basin became the center of heavy industry. In connection with the construction of the Siberian Railway, the industrial development of Siberia is intensifying. First of all, coal mining is accelerating. However, as before, about half of the production was provided by the industrial Center, North-West and Eastern Baltic states. The high degree of industrial concentration becomes even more obvious if we consider that the 11 most developed provinces of European Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladimir, Ekaterinoslav, Livland, Kiev, Kherson, Perm, Kostroma, Kharkov, Don) accounted for 63% of industrial production.
In the second half of the 19th century, Russia rapidly increased its production of coal. In terms of growth rates, it has surpassed Western countries many times over. Since the mid-19th century, coal production in Russia has increased 169 times (in the USA 63 times), reaching 2.2 billion poods in 1913. Russia's share in global coal production has increased significantly.
In 1870, 27 thousand tons of oil were produced, in 1880-360 thousand tons, in 1890 - 3,978 thousand tons, then in 1900 - 10,362 thousand tons. At the beginning of the 20th century, the level of oil production stabilized and even decreased slightly. The latter is explained mainly by the deterioration of the conditions for the development of oil reservoirs, since the best reservoirs, which gave frequent and abundant fountains, were depleted. The main oil production areas until the revolution were Baku and Grozny (98% of production). In total, between 1861 and 1913, oil production increased 1.5 thousand times according to the overall growth rate for this period, ahead of all other countries of the world and the United States. Total oil production before the First World War in Russia was 10 million tons, or 18-19% of global production. According to this indicator, Russia ranked second after the United States.
The center of metallurgy in Russia is moving from the Urals to Donbass. Already in 1911-1913, three quarters of the cast iron was supplied by the Donbass. The Ural metallurgical industry, due to the lack of close sources of coal and due to backward technical equipment, was significantly inferior compared to the South. The southern metallurgical region had nearby rich deposits of iron ore (primarily Krivoy Rog and Kerch) and coal (Donets basin). The main supplier of ore in the South was the Krivoy Rog deposit; the Kerch deposit was developed to a lesser extent (335 and 24 million poods, respectively). Before the First World War, Russia's share in world iron production reached 6%. Russia has taken 4th place in the world in steel production, and 5th in cast iron production. Russia exported rails to Italy, Denmark, Bulgaria, Romania, Argentina, Mexico, China, and Japan. Russia fully satisfied its need for cast iron, iron and steel through domestic production.
From 1861 to 1913, Russian industry grew 13 times. The rate of economic growth was the highest in the world, and in certain industries simply gigantic - steel production increased by 2234 times, oil by 1469 times, coal by 694 times, mechanical engineering products by 44 times, chemical products by 48 times. By the beginning of the First World War, Russia had ceased to be a predominantly agricultural country: in 1912, agriculture produced products worth 6.1 billion rubles, and industry - 5.6 billion rubles. Russia's national income, according to the most conservative estimates, increased from 8 billion rubles. in 1894 to 22-24 billion in 1914, that is, almost three times. The average income of the Russian population has doubled. The incomes of workers in industry grew at a particularly high rate. Over a quarter of a century, they have increased no less than threefold.
Many years of the reign of Nicholas II were characterized by a deficit-free state budget, that is, state revenues exceeded government expenditures. In the pre-war decade, the excess of government revenues over expenses was 2.4 billion rubles. Public finances flourished. Due to all this, redemption payments to peasants were cancelled, railway tariffs were lowered, and some types of taxes were eliminated.
In the first half of the reign of Nicholas II, per capita consumption of alcoholic beverages decreased. Between 1894 and 1904 it dropped from 7.4 liters to 7 liters - one of the lowest rates of alcohol consumption in the world. At this time, people in Russia drank 6 times less than in France, 5 times less than in Italy, 3 times less than in England, and two times less than in Germany.
During the reign of Nicholas II, total spending on public education and culture increased 8 times and was more than twice as high as the cost of education in France and one and a half times higher than in England. Between 1894 and 1914, the budget of the Ministry of Public Education increased 6 times, the number of students in higher and secondary educational institutions increased 3 times, and in primary schools - doubled. In terms of the number of women studying in higher education institutions, Russia ranked first in Europe.
The law of June 2, 1897 introduced rationing of the working day for the first time. According to this law, for daytime workers, work time should not exceed 11.5 hours a day, and on Saturdays and pre-holidays - 10 hours. “For workers employed, at least partly, at night, working hours should not exceed 10 hours per day.” A little later, a 10-hour working day was legally established in Russian industry.
Since 1908, compulsory free primary education has been introduced in Russia. For this purpose, more than 10 thousand additional public schools were opened every year, the number of which reached 130 thousand by 1913.
Political parties appeared, both reformist (Cadets, etc.) and revolutionary (Socialist Revolutionaries, Bolsheviks). In 1904-1905, the fleet of the Russian Empire was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War in the Far East. Against the backdrop of beginning mass unrest generated by the economic and political situation (Revolution of 1905-1907 in Russia), Russia was forced to conclude the Portsmouth Peace Treaty.
Excursion reception. The guide can make a reference with a gesture to the beginning of his story, pointing to the drawings of the Tomsk and Narym lands on the 1st stand.
Text of the excursion. As the sparsely populated region was populated, the number of temples increased. If in the first century of Russian settlement in the Middle Ob region there were only about a dozen churches in the few Russian villages and settlements (yurts) of baptized foreigners, then as life progressed and the number of villages and their inhabitants increased, the number of churches also grew.
The largest number of churches were in the most populated, southern regions of our region - especially near Tomsk (the territory of the modern Tomsk region). In the northern part of the province, with its sparse population, churches were sometimes hundreds of miles away from each other.
Especially many new ones appeared at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when a mass of peasants moved from the European part of the country to Siberia to free lands. The peasants themselves, or with the help of the treasury, charitable foundations or wealthy people, built new churches and rebuilt old ones. By 1914, in the north of the Tomsk province (the territory of the modern Tomsk region) there were 117 churches, including 69 rural ones.
Moreover, they were built not only in volost centers, but also in some villages.
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And if not a church, then a prayer house, a chapel, local residents tried to equip it (icons were placed in the chapels, but there was no altar - belonging to the church).
Topic 3. Temples of Narym (optional)
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Additional Information. The center of Orthodox life in the north of the province was the oldest settlement on the territory of the Tomsk region - Narym. In the 19th – early 20th centuries it was a provincial town, the center of northern trade and the animal and fishing industry (now the village of Narym, Parabel district).
The first church in Narym, wooden, in the name of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of the earliest in the Narym-Tomsk Ob region, was built in the 1610s. At the turn of the century, there were three church buildings in Narym: two stone (old and new cathedrals) and a wooden cemetery - in the name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, built in 1893.
Cathedral Church of the city of Narym in the name of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary (“old cathedral”). Mid-19th century. The stone temple has two altars. The chapel in the name of St. Basil the Great was consecrated in 1788. Closed by order of the diocesan authorities due to the threat of bank collapse in 1883.
Cathedral Church of Narym in honor of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord (“new cathedral”). Beginning of the 20th century. The side chapels are consecrated in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Built in 1823.
Topic 4.The fate of rural churches of the Middle Ob region in the 20th century (optional)
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Additional Information. Some of these temples, built 100–150 years ago, have been preserved on Tomsk soil. Most of these beautiful buildings were destroyed by time and people - in the 1930s, when a deliberate policy was pursued in our country to destroy temples and religion. Churches were demolished and converted into clubs, schools, warehouses... Some, alas, a few of them, deprived of domes and domes, still stand in villages. Since the 1980s, only a few of the remaining church buildings began to be registered as historical and cultural monuments and are now protected by the state. Since the 1990s, work began to restore the surviving temples. Restored ancient churches again serve Orthodox people (in the village of Togur, the villages of Molchanovo, Petukhovo, Spasskoye).
Logical transition. One of the temples is in the village. Spassky (Kolarovo), built back in the 18th century, was once famous for the fact that it housed one of the miraculous icons widely revered in the region - “The Savior Not Made by Hands”.
STAND 4. WITH A MIRACLE ICON…
Estimated length of the story: 8 min.
Topic 1.Miraculous icon in the church of St. Cherdatsky
Excursion reception. The guide, positioned between the 3rd and 4th stands during the story about rural churches with miraculous icons, shows on the map of the 3rd stand the location of the villages of Cherdatskoye, Bogorodskoye, Spassky, Semiluzhensky, Yarsky.
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In the Tomsk region there were several churches, especially famous for the sacred relics they contained - miraculous icons. People from afar came here to venerate the shrines, and long processions of the cross were organized from here so that residents of other villages could satisfy their spiritual thirst and the needs of faith.
One of these temples, a relatively small wooden one, stood in the village. Cherdatskoye taiga Mariinsky district. In the Cherdat church there was kept an icon of the Mother of God of the Mammal, painted on a canvas pasted on a board: “The Most Holy Mother is depicted on it in wonderful... colors, worthy of heavenly beauty, sitting in a garden under olive trees surrounded by a trellis. In his shuyts (left hand) he holds and nourishes with his milk the Eternal Infant of His Son.” In 1714, the icon was given by Metropolitan of Tobolsk and All Siberia John Maksimovich as a blessing to the yasak princes of the Chulym Tatars who converted to Orthodoxy. This image was considered miraculous, saving the peasants of the taiga region from their terrible scourge - an epidemic of livestock disease.
Topic 1.Miraculous icon in the church of St. Semiluzhensky (Semiluzhny)
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Other miraculous icons, known for their signs and wonders, were located in churches located closer to Tomsk: in the village. Semiluzhny - icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, in the village. Bogorodskoye (now the village of Staraya Shegarka) - icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, in the village. Spassky - The miraculous image of Christ the Savior, in the village. Yarsky icon of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple. These icons have been revered since the 18th century, when they were painted or miraculously revealed.
Contemporary evidence of the appearance of these sacred relics of the Tomsk land has been preserved. Thus, an ancient Siberian legend recorded the story of the miraculous appearance of the image of St. Nicholas the Pleasant on Tomsk soil. “...The described icon appeared on July 7, 1702 in the village. Krestinina, present-day Semiluzhenskaya volost, in the house of the widow Prokopyeva, to the Tomsk soldier’s son Grigory Rozhnev. Rozhnev was ill; there was no longer any hope for his recovery. But suddenly those present at the dying man’s bed came into indescribable amazement when Rozhnev got out of bed completely healthy.
But those present were even more amazed when they saw the image of St. Nicholas standing on a shelf among other icons. The widow did not have such an image, and no one from strangers brought it to her. No one lit a candle in front of him, and yet a candle of pure wax burned in front of the image with a bright flame.
The next day, Rozhnev told his confessor the following: “When I was lying sick, I imagined a horde of unclean spirits seeking my destruction. Frightened, I turned to the Lord and prayed for intercession. Suddenly the door in the hut opened, an extraordinary light illuminated the room, the demons fled and in the air I saw the icon of St. Nicholas. No one supported the holy image; it was carried by some unknown force and, passing through the room, stood with the other icons in its usual place. With a staff in his hands and wearing bishop's clothing, an old man, similar to the one depicted in the icon, walked behind the image.
Approaching the bed, the elder touched me with his rod, and I felt healing from the illness. To my words - who is he - the elder replied: “I am Archbishop Nicholas, Miracle of Lycia, a quick helper for Christians. My icon was in the house of a neighbor, Ilya Krestinin, but because of the wickedness of him and his family, it moved away from there with me. With honor, take it to the village of Semiluzhnaya: I want my image to stand there and be revered”...
The holy icon was immediately transferred to the prayer house in the village. Semiluzhnaya, and Rozhnev, appearing in Tomsk to the clergy and authorities, spoke about the miraculous phenomenon.
Miracles that occurred repeatedly from St. icons, prompted Tomsk residents to annually bring it to Tomsk for prayer singing, which began in the same year 1702" ([On the appearance of the miraculous image of St. Nicholas the Pleasant on Tomsk land] ("Siberian Observer". 1902)
Topic 3.Miraculous icon in the church of St. Spassky (optional)
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Additional material. There is the following legend about the miraculous image of Christ the Savior: In 1666, residents of the village of Spassky commissioned a Tomsk icon painter to paint an icon of St. Nicholas for their chapel. The latter began to work and drew the outline of the saint’s face. But the next morning, the outline of the Miraculous Image of Christ the Savior appeared on the board. The icon painter tried three times to erase the outline and paint an image of St. Nicholas, but in vain: the face of Christ appeared again. In view of such a sign, the icon of the Image Not Made by Hands was painted. A lot of signs and wonders from St. icons, and especially the cessation of widespread illness in Tomsk on people and livestock, prompted city residents to petition for permission to bring the holy image to the city every year. This petition was granted by His Eminence Anthony, Metropolitan of Siberia, in 1733, and from that time on an annual religious procession to Tomsk was established.
Topic 4.Miraculous icon in the church of St. Yarsky (optional)
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Additional material. There was such a legend about the miraculous icon of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple. In the village of Yarskoye, on the spot where a church was later built, a large bird cherry tree grew, on which one day local peasants saw the icon of the Entry of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Temple. The icon was extremely dilapidated, which is why the peasants lowered it into the Tom River, but it immediately ended up on a tree, in its old place. The St. was launched up to three times. image and three times by invisible force he returned from the river to his original place. In view of such a miraculous sign, the residents of the village of Yarsky asked the highest spiritual authorities for permission to build a chapel in honor of the Mother of God.
When they received this permission, they chose a pious and trustworthy collector from among them and, handing him the revealed icon, sent him with it to collect money for the construction of the chapel. The collector went east to the present-day Irkutsk province and there, walking from city to city, from village to village, he passed beyond Baikal. Here in one of the villages he fell ill and died. Soon the Mother of God appeared in a dream, in the form of a girl in a white robe, to the owner of the house in which the collector died, and ordered him to deliver the icon to his parish church and hand it over to the priest. The same phenomenon occurred to the priest, who was given instructions to send the icon to the Tomsk region, to the village of Yarskoye. The revealed icon was brought back to Solo Yarsk, and a chapel was built on the site of its appearance, and subsequently a church.
The rumor, first about the miraculous appearance of the icon of the Presentation of the Mother of God into the Temple, and then about its return from Transbaikalia with assistance from above, spread throughout the surrounding villages, was the reason that people began to flock in large numbers to worship this saint. icon and for prayers in front of it.
Since 1857 St. The icon was brought to Tomsk every year with the usual ceremony for a religious procession.
Topic 5.Miraculous icon in the church of St. Bogorodsky
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About the miraculous icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria in the village. There was such a legend in Bogorodsky. In the place where the village later arose. Bogorodskoye (now Staraya Shegarka, Shegarsky district) in the 17th century was a dense, impenetrable forest. Tatar hunters often heard the ringing of church bells here.
In the middle of the 17th century, immigrants from Tomsk built a settlement on this site, the inhabitants of which also repeatedly heard the gospel and the ringing of bells, in view of which they decided to build a chapel in honor of the Mother of God and sent one of their fellow villagers to order an icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria in Tobolsk to the priest famous for icon painting, Fr. Vasily, who painted the commissioned image with fasting, prayer and abstinence.
When the image was transported to its destination along the river. Ob, then a strong storm arose near Surgut: there was no hope of salvation. Those who floated fell before St. icon and with tears they asked the Mother of God for their salvation. Suddenly the wind died down, the waves subsided, and there was complete silence. The image was safely brought to the village, which was named Bogorodsky in honor of the brought icon.
Economic development of Russia in the present day. 20th century
By the beginning of the twentieth century. The Russian Empire remained agrarian state – more than 70% of the population were peasants.
Russia ranked first in the world in terms of total agricultural production. The main producer of agricultural products was the peasantry, and landowners' farms provided approximately 12% of the gross grain harvest and 22% of marketable grain.
The situation in the village was complicated by agrarian overpopulation, the existence of a community, and the almost complete exhaustion of extensive farming associated with the inability to expand sown areas in the European part of Russia.
By the beginning of the twentieth century. 4/5 of allotment peasant land was in communal use. The community dominated throughout central, northern, eastern and southern Russia and the North Caucasus. And only in the western provinces did peasant private ownership of land prevail.
Disadvantages of the community were that it slowed down the activities of strong farms; hindered the improvement of the general well-being of the village.
However, the community also had some advantages: did not allow the poor to go completely bankrupt, carried out fiscal functions.
The plight of the majority of the peasants caused concern to the government. But he was worried about only two aspects of this problem: the inability to raise taxes and the growth of arrears on existing taxes and payments and endless peasant unrest.
The main demand of the peasants – transfer of part of the landowner's land to them – could not be fulfilled, since the inviolability of landownership was the cornerstone of the Russian class system and political system.
At the turn of the 19th century – XX centuries Russian industry was experiencing rapid growth. The impetus for the growth of production was the resumption of active railway construction in 1893. The expansion of the railway network contributed to an increase in production of related industries – metallurgical, forestry, coal and oil.
During this period, Russian industry had the highest growth rates in the world – 8.1% per year. The most important reason for this is that Russia was the so-called country of the “second echelon”, that is, it used the accumulated experience and proven technologies of old industrial countries in the development of production.
TO features of industrial development Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. can be attributed:
1) leading role of the state in economics. About 30 of the largest factories belonged to various departments and were financed by the state. All these enterprises were excluded from the sphere market economy, from the elements of free competition. The only customer and buyer of the products of state-owned factories was the state, and they were managed by government officials. The emergence of such enterprises was not due to industrialization, but to traditional economic relations coming from the state manufactories of Peter I. In addition, the state owned over two-thirds of the railway networks, a huge area of land and forests. The state actively intervenes spread into all areas economic activities of private enterprises, stimulated the construction of railways, the development of ferrous metallurgy, and the coal industry. The government forcibly regulated prices, protecting the young Russian industry from competition by establishing high customs duties, distributed government orders to private companies and firms, and provided them with loans through the State Bank;
2) an important role in the Russian economy foreign capital . In 1897, Minister of Finance S.Yu.
3) Witte carried out a monetary reform, which introduced gold backing of the ruble, that is, made it convertible. The Russian government was interested in the influx of finance from abroad, since large private capital was practically absent in the country, and public funds were spent on unproductive expenses. The above-mentioned Witte reform made Russia attractive for foreign investment. In addition, foreign industrialists were tempted by the availability of raw materials and the cheapness of labor. Foreign investments in the Russian economy accounted for about 40% of all capital investments. German, French, English and other companies invested in trade, high-tech industries, coal, chemical, engineering, metallurgical industries and received up to 30% of profits (instead of the usual 4–5%); concentration of production– 1903 affected Russia. Heavy industry was especially hard hit, and railway construction was significantly reduced. More than 100 thousand enterprises that were weak in financial support or technical equipment were closed. All this caused increased concentration of production and the emergence of monopolies. Russian industry at the beginning of the century was dominated by cartels and syndicates – the lowest type of monopoly, in which there is no complete merger of companies. Their founders agreed on the terms of sale of goods, the quantity of products produced, prices, redistribution of sales markets and raw materials, sometimes – on the distribution of income and profits between enterprises. In the 1900s – the Prodamet syndicate controlled more than 70% of sales in the metallurgical industry, Prodvagon and Prodgvozd – 90% and 97%, respectively, “oil king” E. Nobel
4) the entire oil industry; multi-structure economy. The emergence of factory production and the formation of monopolies did not destroy such a characteristic sphere of the Russian economy as cottage industry
- peasant crafts and small crafts. It was she who mainly served the local market, still producing most consumer goods, but sometimes adapting to factory needs. In percentage terms, small producers continued to make up the majority of Russian production.
Government system and political development At the beginning of the 20th century. Russia was one of the few absolute monarchies remaining in Europe. The last Russian emperor–Nicholas II (1894 1917) Already in one of his first speeches he stated that he would “ to guard the beginning of autocracy firmly and unswervingly
", and called proposals for the participation of public representatives in government affairs "meaningless dreams." The emperor concentrated in his hands the entirety of the supreme legislative, executive and judicial powers and the leadership of the armed forces.
The unlimited nature of his will was stipulated in an article in the code of Basic State Laws of the Russian Empire. In 1897, the First All-Russian Population Census was conducted in Russia. Nicholas II also took part in it. In the column “Occupation” he wrote: “Master of the Russian land.” Supreme advisory body appeared under the king, which arose at the beginning of the 19th century, State Council.
The number of members of the State Council was not constant. If in the year of establishment (1810) 86 of them were appointed, then in 1890. – 60, and at the beginning of the 20th century. – more than 100. In the absence of the emperor, general meetings of the Council were headed by a Chairman appointed by the king. The work of this body was carried out both at general sessions, where ministers were invited, and in special units – departments: laws, civil and spiritual affairs, military affairs, state economy. Consisted under the State Council State Chancellery headed by the Secretary of State, who distributed cases among departments. The departments resolved the smallest matters independently, the rest – transferred to a general meeting or directly to the emperor. All decisions of the State Council were approved (or not approved) by the sovereign.
The Emperor carried out executive branch through Committee of Ministers. The ministers did not constitute the government, but were appointed by the king personally. They were responsible only to him. The Committee included 22–23 people: chairmen of departments of the State Council, ministers, chief managers of individual parts with the rights of ministers, the Secretary of State and “external members”. The Committee of Ministers was in charge of various current affairs of the state. This body did not have the right of initiative, and its decisions were made by “the highest approval.”
Ministries as the main departmental bodies were established in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century. There were 14 ministries and bodies equivalent to them. They were divided into departments, main departments, departments that prepared cases for reporting to the minister. Key among these institutions was Ministry of Internal Affairs. All administrative and police institutions of the country were under his jurisdiction. The Minister of Internal Affairs was empowered to establish open police supervision, prescribe administrative exile, authorize and prohibit the publication of periodicals, and control the activities of local government.
The Ministry of Finance also played an important role in the state system. It was in charge of the sources of state revenue and the distribution of funds between departments, and until 1905. – controlled all domestic and foreign trade and most industrial production.
The central departments also included Holy Synod, through which the emperor managed affairs Orthodox Church. The will of the autocrat in this body was carried out by a specially appointed official – Chief Prosecutor of the Synod . Until October 1905, this position was held by the famous reactionary and conservative K.P. Pobedonostsev, who enjoyed significant influence on Nicholas II.
The highest state institution was Senate, which was also divided into departments. The main functions of the Senate include: publishing laws, resolving disputes about state property, confirming the positions of district judges, certifying membership in classes, considering cases on the land structure of peasants, overseeing the legality of management, accepting cassation appeals.
Local government carried out by governors and governors-general, who were representatives and governors of the emperor. As stated above, their activities were supervised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The problem of reforming the political system was acute in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Many leading figures did not accept the principle of unlimited autocratic power.
However, in the Russian Empire there were no laws that provided the population with political rights and freedoms, and therefore there could be no legal opposition parties and political struggle. There was no need to wait for voluntary reforms “from above.” Nicholas II, like his father, was confident that “the autocracy created the historical individuality of Russia, the autocracy will collapse, ... then Russia will collapse with it.”
Social structure The official division of the population of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. It was not class (property), but class (in terms of rights and responsibilities). Census . 1897 – gives a clear picture of the distribution of all residents of the country (125 million) people by class: nobles (hereditary and personal), officials not from the nobility – 1.5%; clergy of Christian denominations – 0.5%; honorary citizens (hereditary and personal) – 0.3%; merchants – 0.2%; burghers – 10.6%; peasants – 77.1%; military Cossacks – 2.3%; foreigners (peoples of Central Asia, Eastern Siberia, Caucasus, etc.) – 6.6%; Foreigners – 0,4%.
0.5%; other – However, the real position of many people no longer corresponded to their class affiliation. There was active property stratification within many classes; more than 7% of peasants lived in cities and were not associated with agricultural activities; a working class was formed from peasants and townspeople. The erosion of social barriers also occurred within the classes themselves. – many people were marginalized. At the beginning of the 20th century, according to some researchers, the following main population groups can be distinguished: peasants and artisans – 66.7%; landowners and bourgeoisie (including wealthy peasants – 16.3%; working class – 14.8%; – 2,2%.
intelligentsia
remains with the adviser who spoke to him last. However, it would be more accurate to say that the last word remains with those who share the opinion of the emperor. Nicholas II did not like manifestations of independence and independence of judgment in his circle. Often, after listening carefully and favorably to his interlocutor, the king agreed, but then did everything differently. Despite the underdevelopment of his political views (and, perhaps, thanks to this circumstance), Nicholas II knew one thing for sure - he received from his ancestors a great autocratic monarchy, and his task was to pass it on intact to his descendants.
Significant influence at court at the beginning of the 20th century. used by two dignitaries who expressed completely opposite opinions about the future path of development of Russia - S.Yu. Witte and V.K. Plehve. Minister of Railways (1892), Minister of Finance (1892–1903), Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers (1903–1905) and the Council of Ministers (1905–1906) - S.Yu. Witte (1849–1915) believed that real reforms are necessary. The priority, in his opinion, should be economic transformations - in the field of industrial production and finance. But industrialization is necessary because, on the one hand, it will provide funds to solve painful problems, in particular, the peasant question, and on the other hand, it will partially oust the nobility from the political scene - “degenerates who recognize nothing except their personal interests” and replace it with the big bourgeoisie. This will strengthen the government and avoid revolution, and subsequently carry out liberal reforms and achieve a constitutional monarchy.
Minister of Internal Affairs and chief of a separate gendarme corps (1902–1904) V.K. Plehve (1846–1904) denied the spread of economic and historical patterns to Russia, stating that “Russia has a separate history and a special system.” His phrase was also famous: “If we are unable to change the historical movement of events..., then we are obliged to put obstacles in his way.” Reforms are needed, but they should be carried out very carefully, and they should not affect the foundations of Russian statehood. As Minister of Internal Affairs, Plehve, of course, had the most complete information about student unrest, the growth of the labor movement, peasant revolts, the strengthening of national liberation sentiments and the increasing popularity of revolutionary slogans in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. But in all this he saw not the consequence of objective reasons - poverty, lawlessness, national oppression, but the machinations of Russia’s enemies, the result of “excessive” enlightenment and enthusiasm for Western political ideas. Plehve considered, for example, the development of anti-Semitic sentiments as a means of combating public discontent. With the tacit patronage of the authorities, Jewish pogroms swept across the entire Pale of Settlement at the beginning of the century. They made it possible to solve two problems at once. Firstly , gave a safe outlet for the state to popular anger, and Secondly
Taking advantage of the economic (wine monopoly, 1894, monetary reform, 1897) and political (signing of the Portsmouth Peace, preparation of the Manifesto of October 17, etc.) talents of S.Yu. Witte, Nicholas II disliked him terribly. On the day of Witte’s death in 1915, the emperor said: “The death of Count Witte is a deep relief for me,” “he reigned in my heart.” true peace" At the same time, the sovereign shared the political views of V.K. Plehve always adhered to precisely this line of government.
Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905
Russian foreign policy in the first years of the 20th century. characterized by two trends.
On the one hand, the government of Nicholas II sought to maintain the existing balance in European affairs and prevent military clashes, came up with peacekeeping initiatives (in 1899 . The first disarmament conference was held in The Hague, at the suggestion of Nicholas II).
On the other hand, Russia needed these efforts for the smooth implementation of " Asian program» – strengthening influence in the Far East.
Russia's main rival in this region was Japan, which began expansion in Korea and China.
In 1898, China granted Russia the right to rent free of charge Liaodong Peninsula and the Port Arthur base (Lushun) for 25 years. In addition, several years earlier, permission was received to build a railway in Manchuria (northeastern China) in order to connect the Amur region with Russian Primorye. But the strengthening of Russian positions in the Far East displeased Japan, which was secretly supported by the United States and Great Britain.
In 1902, Minister of Finance S.Yu. undertook an inspection tour of the Far East. Witte. He established that Russia is not ready for war in this direction - there are no necessary communications, and there are not enough troops on the border with China. Witte directly said that without sufficient economic development of the Far Eastern region, war there is not only undesirable, but destructive. However, in 1903, at a meeting on Far Eastern affairs, Nicholas II spoke in favor of preparing for war with Japan. Most dignitaries supported him.
In addition to foreign policy reasons, the government also had domestic political reasons for starting this military conflict.
The “small victorious war,” according to many, was supposed to contribute to the rise of patriotism and the relief of social tension in the country. The war was started by Japan. . The Japanese fleet attacked the Russian squadron in the Port Arthur roadstead. At the same time, the Russian cruiser Varyag and the gunboat Koreets were attacked in the Korean Bay of Chemulpo (Incheon).
Failures plagued the Russian army throughout the war. They were caused by the general economic and, therefore, technical backwardness of Russia, an underestimation of the military power of Japan (the Japanese armed forces were twice as numerous as the Russian units in the Far East, several times larger in the number of guns and artillery, and significantly ahead technologically) and tactical command miscalculations. Neither the courage of Russian soldiers and sailors, nor the talents of local commanders could give Russia victory in this war.
In February 1904, Admiral S.O., appointed commander of the Pacific Fleet, arrived in Port Arthur.
Makarov. The Russian squadron began active military operations. However, on March 31, during reconnaissance, the flagship battleship Petropavlovsk ran into a mine, and Admiral Makarov (and the outstanding Russian battle painter V.V. Vereshchagin) died along with the entire crew. Military operations were mainly transferred to land. In April 1904, the 1st Japanese Army crossed the border of Manchuria and, having defeated the Russian troops, forced them to retreat to Liaoyang, and the 2nd Japanese Army landed on the Liaodong Peninsula in the rear of Port Arthur. Having captured the port of Dalny (Dalian), the Japanese made it a springboard for operations against Port Arthur. The heroic defense of this base was led by General R.I. Kondratenko, during the 7 months of the siege, the garrison of Port Arthur withstood 6 assaults and tied up the 2nd Army and almost the entire Japanese fleet for a long time. In August 1904, Russian troops suffered a major defeat near Liaoyang, in October - on the river. Shahe. October 2 to the aid of Port Arthur from Libau (Liepaja) The 2nd Pacific Squadron came out under the command of Admiral Z.P. Rozhdestvensky
. But she had to cross the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, enter the Pacific, and then fight her way to Port Arthur. On December 2, General R.I. died. Kondratenko, and on December 20 General A.M. Stoessel surrendered the city to the Japanese, despite the fact that the Defense Council was against it, and the garrison could still resist.
US President T. Roosevelt acted as a mediator in peace talks between Russia and Japan, they began on July 27, 1905 in Portsmouth. was signed on August 23 Portsmouth World, under the terms of which Korea was recognized as a sphere of Japanese interests; Russia ceded the lease of the Liaodong Peninsula and Port Arthur to Japan; The southern half of Sakhalin was ceded to Japan (the border – 50th parallel); Japanese fishermen received fishing rights along the Russian coasts in the Sea of Japan, Okhotsk and Bering Seas
Cruiser "Varyag"
Revolution 1905–1907
Causes of the revolution
Revolution of 1905–1907 in Russia were caused by unresolved socio-economic and political problems. The main reasons for the revolution include:
1) agrarian question . The Russian peasantry, numbering about 100 million people (more than 70% of the population), controlled only 35% of the land in the country. The shredding of peasant plots occurred against the background of the fact that a significant part of state and landowner lands was not cultivated - “lying in wastelands.” In addition, farmers continued to pay ransom payments. The peasants not only constantly starved and eked out a miserable existence, but were also completely powerless;
2) work question . Since the end of the 19th century. The number of the working class in Russia was constantly increasing, while the government did not seem to notice the existence of this population group. Attempts to create working legislation were limited, most often, to advisory measures, which, due to the lack of effective control, were not observed. According to established tradition, the government avoided active interference in relations between entrepreneurs and the proletariat.
3) A huge mass of workers lived below the poverty line and had no social guarantees. On the other hand, workers did not have basic civil rights. They were forbidden to fight independently to satisfy even economic demands; national question
4) . 57% of the population of the Russian Empire were non-Russian peoples. At the same time, the government pursued a policy of forced Russification - they did not have national-cultural autonomy (even the autonomy of Finland, the last province that retained some features of self-government by the end of the 19th century, was reduced), many of them were classified as “foreigners” and had limited rights; political crisis . The policy of Nicholas II was aimed at preserving the inviolability of unlimited autocracy. Liberal projects, even those coming from senior dignitaries (S.Yu., Witte etc.) did not find a response. In Russia there were no political rights and the possibility of legal political struggle;
5) defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War , which became obvious by the beginning of 1905.
Main stages of the revolution
Revolution of 1905–1907 in Russia can be divided into three main stages .
First stage - rise of the revolutionary movement (winter - summer 1905). The impetus for the beginning of the revolution was “Bloody Sunday”. On January 9, 1905, a crowd of 140 thousand men, women, old people and children, led by Father Georgy Gapon, with icons and portraits of the Tsar, moved towards the Winter Palace. Not knowing that Nicholas II had left the capital, the workers wanted to submit a petition to the Tsar, in which they begged the Tsar to listen to their requests for an increase in wages, the abolition of mandatory overtime, an 8-hour working day, and limiting the arbitrariness of employers. Despite the fact that, under the influence of the Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries, in addition to economic demands, the petition also included political ones (amnesty for political prisoners, personal immunity, freedom of speech, press, assembly, etc.), the general tone of the petition was that the emperor – the only source of “truth and protection.” The authorities were aware of the impending march in advance and took military measures to suppress the “unrest.” The city was divided into military sections. The troops were on full alert. The commander-in-chief of the St. Petersburg military district, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, gave the command to open fire on the crowd. In total (according to unofficial data), over 1,200 people were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded.
The shooting in the capital shook the whole country: a wave of strikes, political rallies, and demonstrations began to grow in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the Baltic states. In January, more than 400 thousand workers went on strike, in February - about 300 thousand. Employees and students joined the strikes. In total, more than 800 thousand people went on strike in January–March. In February 1905, peasant riots began in Kursk, Oryol and other provinces of Russia; in March, the agrarian movement spread to the Volga region and to the national outskirts. A new wave of revolution arose in May 1905. 600 thousand people took part in the May Day strikes. In some cities, workers seized power and created self-government bodies - Soviets (in Ivano-Frankovsk, power belonged to the Council of Workers' Deputies from May to July 1905). Wider circles of society were drawn into the revolution. In May 1905, the trade unions of the intelligentsia united into the Union of Unions, which sought liberal reforms. In June 1905, on the roadstead of Odessa, there was an uprising of the crew of the battleship Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky. Anti-government protests also took place in other military units. Over time, the revolutionary intensity did not subside. The government's attempts to calm popular discontent with half-measures (the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs P.D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky, the project to create a legislative advisory Duma by A.G. Bulygin, etc.) were unsuccessful. In the fall of 1905, every second district of European Russia was already in revolt. The main demands were political - “Down with autocracy!”
Second phase - the apogee of the revolution (autumn – winter 1905). In September 1905, the epicenter of the revolution moved to Moscow. Here a citywide political strike unfolded, which was started by the printers' trade union, and was soon supported by bakers, carpenters, tobacco workers, transport workers, and others. Strikes of solidarity with Muscovites were carried out by enterprises in Central Russia, the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia, and the national outskirts. At the beginning of October 1905, the political strike assumed an all-Russian character. For several days, plants and factories were shut down throughout the country. railways, shops closed, newspapers stopped publishing. Not only workers went on strike, but also students, pharmacists, and officials. Huge rallies raged in the streets demanding political freedoms and the convening of a Constituent Assembly.
On October 17, 1905, Nicholas II signed the manifesto “On Improving the State Order,” which gave the population political freedoms and proclaimed the State Duma a legislative body. A political amnesty was soon carried out, and in early November a decree was issued to reduce redemption payments from peasants and completely abolish them by 1907. This manifesto had a dual impact on society. The liberal forces considered their task completed and the revolution complete. At the same time, the leaders of the worker and peasant movement perceived it as evidence of the weakness of the government and called on the people to continue the struggle for the complete overthrow of the autocracy. At the beginning of November 1905, the Second All-Russian Congress of Peasants in Moscow demanded the nationalization of land, and in Sevastopol there was an uprising of military sailors, which began on the cruiser "Ochakov" under the leadership of Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt. Huge amounts of money were spent on preparing an armed uprising. On November 21, the Council of Workers' Deputies was formed in Moscow, which was to become the headquarters of the rebels. In early December, he called on workers for a political strike. The Muscovites were supported by the workers of St. Petersburg and many other cities. The government sent troops to fight the strikers. On December 10, 1905, the Moscow strike developed into an armed uprising. There were fights in the streets, barricades were built, and in some areas of the city power passed to the workers. Presnya became the center of fierce battles. But the forces were too unequal. On December 19, 1905, by decision of the Council, the uprising, which killed thousands of people, ended.
Third stage - decline of the revolution (1906–1907). This period is characterized by a gradual decline in the strike movement (if in 1905 . 2863 thousand people went on strike, then in 1906 - 1108 thousand, and in 1907 - 740 thousand) and a decrease in the intensity of the peasant struggle. On April 26, Saratov Governor P.A. was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs. Stolypin, who became famous for the brutal suppression of peasant unrest in his province in 1905. In many provinces of Russia, martial law or the state of emergency protection was introduced, which gave governors the right to transfer political cases to a closed tribunal, to close educational establishments and periodic publications, deport “unreliable persons” without trial. In August 1906 . Stolypin signed a decree on military courts. According to this decree, a trial on charges of revolutionary terror should take no more than 48 hours, and the sentence should be carried out within the next 24 hours. In 1906–1910 according to the verdicts of military courts, almost four thousand people were executed, more than 26 thousand were sentLena to hard labor. In July 1906, Nicholas II dissolved the First State Duma and appointed P.A. Stolypin Chairman of the Council of Ministers. June 3, 1907, on the initiative of P.A. Stolypin, the Second State Duma was dissolved and a new electoral law was adopted, which significantly curtailed the political rights of broad sections of the population. This coup did not cause active popular resistance, which was evidence of the end of the First Russian Revolution.
During the revolutionary events of 1905, it became clear to Nicholas II that force alone could not pacify popular discontent. On the other hand, he was disgusted by the idea of following the lead of the “raging mob,” and in no case was the emperor going to deviate from his sacred duty of maintaining an unlimited monarchy. Therefore, at the initial stage of the revolution, the authorities’ attempts to stop anti-government sentiments in society were in the nature of small concessions. So, on February 18, 1905, Nicholas II issued a rescript prepared by the Minister of Internal Affairs A.G. Bulygin, in which he proposed to involve “people elected from the population to participate in the preliminary development and discussion of legislative proposals.” At the same time, a decree was issued allowing individuals and organizations to submit petitions to the highest name and bring to the attention of the authorities their proposals for improving government activities. However, the same documents stated that the reforms should not affect the basic laws of the country and, first of all, the principle of autocratic power. But if in 1894 this was precisely what representatives of the liberal public asked from the new emperor, then in 1905 such vague promises no longer satisfied the people’s aspirations.
Ignoring this fact, the tsar continued to see this project as a means to stop the revolution. On August 6, 1905, Nicholas II signed a decree establishing State Duma. This Duma, nicknamed “Bulyginskaya”, was an advisory body, deprived of legislative initiative, without the right to vote on budget issues and basic laws. Elections to it were held according to a system that took into account property and class qualifications, which completely deprived the proletariat of voting rights and extremely limited the participation in the elections of representatives of the poor urban population, employees, etc. The decree caused not a decline in opposition sentiment in the country, but general indignation.
Most political forces boycotted the elections.
At the beginning of October 1905, the political strike that began in Moscow assumed an all-Russian character. For several days, factories, factories, and railroads all over the country shut down, shops closed, and newspapers stopped publishing. Not only workers went on strike, but also students, pharmacists, officials, etc. Protests raged in the streets demanding political freedoms and the convening of a Constituent Assembly. Under these conditions, Nicholas II finally realized that half measures would not save the situation, but would only inflame the anger of the people. He turned for help to the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, Count S.Yu. Witte. The Tsar did not like Witte, but could not help but take into account his success in the difficult Russian-Japanese negotiations in Portsmouth and the fact that among the highest dignitaries the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers was at that time practically the only one who shared liberal views. October 9, 1905 S.Yu. Witte submitted a memorandum to the emperor with a reform program, calling the measures of February 18 and August 6 insufficient and outdated and proposing to establish a real constitutional order. The Emperor hesitated, but the scale of the all-Russian political strike forced him to sign on October 17, 1905, based on the Witte memorandum “».
Manifesto on improving public order The October 17 Manifesto gave the population “the unshakable foundations of civil freedom” - personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and union. Involved in the Duma elections“those classes of the population who are now (according to the electoral law 6
If the majority of the opposition perceived this manifesto as the first step towards the creation of a constitutional monarchy in Russia, then for Nicholas II it was the maximum concession to public opinion that he could make, and which he intended to abandon as soon as possible.
On October 19, 1905, the Committee of Ministers was transformed into the Council of Ministers, and S.Yu. became its chairman. Witte. Witte was entrusted with the following tasks: to ensure the freedoms proclaimed by the Manifesto, to prepare elections to the Duma and to restore order. In order to restore order, in the very first months after the adoption of the Manifesto, it was necessary to cut back all data given to the population civil rights– those suspected of revolutionary activities were arrested, newspapers were closed, etc. On December 11, 1905, a new electoral system was adopted a law that represented clear progress compared to Law 6 August – another 25 million people received voting rights. But the elections remained multi-stage, and the rights of voters were unequal. At the same time, a reform of the State Council was carried out, which turned into the upper house of parliament with legislative powers. Finally, a serious blow to the public’s hopes associated with the Manifesto of October 17 was the adoption on April 24, 1906 of new “Basic State Laws,” which severely limited the legislative, budgetary and political rights of the Duma. The sovereign maintained the highest autocratic power, the right to convene and dissolve the Duma, and during the break between sessions- the right to proclaim and repeal laws, declare a state of emergency, etc., there was no talk of the government’s responsibility to the Duma.
Thus, already by the beginning of the work of the First State Duma, the authorities began to abandon the promises made in the manifesto of October 17.
Political parties. Revolutionaries (left-wing radicals)
1. First socialist party was founded in Russia in 1898. At the congress in Minsk, 9 deputies from social democratic organizations proclaimed the formation RSDLP(Russian Social Democratic Labor Party). However, the members of the First Congress were unable to overcome their differences, and soon all its delegates were arrested. The real activity of the Social Democratic Party in Russia began after the Second Congress, held in 1903. The charter and program of the party, which consisted of two parts, were developed.
Minimum program declared the tasks of the bourgeois-democratic revolution, which was recognized as a necessary step on the path to socialism: the introduction of a republic, general elections, the right of nations to self-determination, an 8-hour working day, the return to peasants of the lands cut off from them in 1861, the abolition of redemption payments for land .
Maximum program assumed the establishment of a socialist system and the dictatorship of the proletariat.
However, at the same congress, the RSDLP began to split into Mensheviks led by Yu.O. Martov (Tsederbaum), who received this name due to the fact that in the elections to the governing bodies of the party (Central Committee) they received a minority of votes; and the Bolsheviks led by V.I. Lenin (Ulyanov) – RSDLP(b).
The Mensheviks aimed at an alliance with the liberals . They believed that after the democratic revolution in Russia a long stage of bourgeois development would begin, during which backward Russia would be transformed into a capitalist country. After the revolution, power will pass to the bourgeois government, which will be “under pressure” from the socialist parties. During this time, the material base of socialism must mature.
Lenin and his supporters They put the ultimate goal - the socialist revolution - in the foreground, and tried to bring it as close as possible.
The proletariat must form a bloc with the poor peasantry. After the overthrow of the old system, the “revolutionary-democratic dictatorship” of the working class and peasantry must be established.
Despite the fact that the Manifesto of October 17 allowed the Social Democrats to legalize their activities, the Bolsheviks boycotted the elections to the First State Duma, considering it a powerless body created to distract workers from the revolutionary struggle. But in the elections to the Second Duma, the Bolsheviks participated together with the Mensheviks and subsequently preferred to combine legal (in the Duma) and illegal struggle. In 1906, the Social Democrats revised their agrarian program. The Mensheviks advocated municipalization land (transfer of land to local governments for renting it out to peasants). The Bolsheviks offered nationalization
land (transferring it into public ownership). The Social Democrats called the proletariat their social base.
, although the majority of the leadership of both parties were intellectuals. By 1907, the RSDLP(b) had about 60 thousand members, the Mensheviks - about 45 thousand. socialist revolutionaries(according to the first letters of the words - Socialist-Revolutionaries). What they had in common with the populists was that they considered the peasants their social base and saw one of their main tasks in agitation in the countryside, as well as the fact that the Socialist Revolutionaries proclaimed one of the main methods of struggle revolutionary terror– extermination of the “pillars of the regime.” In 1901, one of the leaders of the Socialist Revolutionaries, G.A. Gershuni organized the Combat Organization (BO AKP) specifically to carry out terrorist acts. The most high-profile “cases” of the BO include the murders of the Minister of Internal Affairs D.S. Sipyagin in 1902, Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. Plehve in 1904, governor of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich in 1905, etc.
In 1902, the creation of the Socialist Revolutionary Party - AKP - was announced. The Central Committee of the AKP was headed by V.M. Chernov. In 1903, the development of the party program began, approved at the First Congress of the AKP in 1905. The main demands of the Social Revolutionaries included: the establishment of broad democracy - a republican system with general elections, with broad autonomy of peoples, regions and communities; 8 hour day; introduction of the native language in all local, public and government institutions; free education; separation of church and state and freedom of religion; freedom of speech, press, assembly, strikes; inviolability of person and home; the destruction of the standing army and its replacement with a “people's militia”; abolition of all taxes “falling on labor”, but the establishment of a progressive tax on the income of entrepreneurs.
On the agrarian question, the Socialist Revolutionaries put forward the idea socialization land (transfer of land for the use of peasant communities with a ban on its purchase and sale), and this was the only party that truly reflected interests of peasants.
Liberals
1. In 1902, Russian liberals founded the magazine in Stuttgart "Liberation" This illegal publication expressed the hopes of a huge number of progressive-minded figures in Russia to carry out the necessary reforms in the country, and most importantly, the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. Many supporters of liberal reforms in Russia are called “constitutionalists.” Thanks to Osvobozhdenie, representatives of various moderate opposition movements were able to develop a unified program and create a single bloc. In 1904, the “Union of Liberation” was established in St. Petersburg, which included representatives of a variety of liberal forces - zemstvo leaders, representatives of the intelligentsia, liberal populists, etc. The “Osvobozhdenie” declared the autocracy to be their main enemy, and their main goal to be the convening of the Constituent Assembly and the proclamation of the Constitution. They supported the revolutionary movement, realizing that it would not be possible to achieve a transformation of the political regime from the authorities through peaceful means.
At the height of the general political strike, in October 1905, the founding congress of the Constitutional Democratic Party (Cadets) took place. The leaders of the party were famous historians: P.N. Milyukov, A.A. Kornilov, A.A. Kiesewetter, P.B. Struve; biologist and philosopher IN AND. Vernadsky; legal experts S.A. Muromtsev, F.A. Golovin, L.I. Petrazhitsky, V.D. Nabokov; philologist N.A. Kotlyarevsky and others. The Cadets were called the “party of professors” (half of the members of the Central Committee were university teachers), but they were supported by landowners, lawyers, doctors, writers, and journalists. It was a party of the Russian intelligentsia, but in its program the Cadets sought to reflect the interests of all segments of the population.
The main goal of democratic constitutionalists is the introduction of a democratic constitution in the country. An unlimited monarchy, according to their program, should be replaced by a parliamentary democratic system. They advocated the separation of powers - legislative, executive and judicial, for a radical reform of local self-government and the courts, for universal suffrage, freedom of speech, press, assembly, unions, for strict observance of civil and political rights of the individual, for freedom of teaching and free education in school, an 8-hour working day at enterprises, the right of workers to strike, to social insurance and labor protection.
Regarding the national question, the Cadets proposed the restoration of the state autonomy of Finland and Poland within Russia and the cultural autonomy of other peoples. To solve the agrarian question, they even allowed partial alienation of landowner's land in favor of the peasants, but at a “fair valuation” (i.e. at market prices). Their program is aimed at developing Russia according to the Western bourgeois model.
Democratic constitutionalists intended to achieve their goals in peaceful way(by obtaining a majority in the Duma and implementing through it the reforms written in their program). In the First and Second State Dumas, the Cadets had a majority of votes.
2. After the publication of the Manifesto on October 17 right liberals In Russia, the party “Union of October 17th” (Octobrists) was created. A prominent entrepreneur became the leader of the party A.I. Guchkov. It included mainly capitalists, nobles, retired officers and officials. The Octobrists were called the “party of masters.”
They declared their goal “to assist the government on the path of saving reforms.” The Octobrists advocated a constitutional monarchy with a State Duma. Reforms were considered necessary to ensure freedom for bourgeois entrepreneurship. The main requirements are freedom of industry, trade, acquisition of property and protection of its laws. nom, freedom of the press, assembly, unions, religion, recognition of the legality of strikes as a means of protecting the interests of workers, but only with economic demands and in enterprises “not of state importance”, insurance of workers, reduction of taxes on the population, equal rights of peasants with others estates.
On the national question, the Octobrists supported the idea of a “united and indivisible Russia,” allowing only some autonomy for Finland, but rejecting it for Poland. They solved the agrarian question by destroying the community, returning plots of land to the peasants and, in exceptional cases, alienating landowners' lands (for compensation from the treasury), regulating land leases and overpopulating land-poor and landless peasants on free lands.
Reactionaries (right-wing radicals)
The starting point in the history of conservative monarchical organizations in Russia was the end of the 19th century. In 1900, reactionary forces created the “Russian Assembly” in St. Petersburg, the slogan of which was “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality.” Initially having educational goals, very soon this association began to acquire political features. In the spring of 1905, monarchist circles united into the “Union of Russian People” - the first reactionary organization built on the principle political party. The leaders of such unions were most often representatives of the intelligentsia and nobility, but their main social base was the urban lower classes - artisans, townspeople, etc. From political opponents they received the name “Black Hundred” (“the Black Hundred” in Muscovite Rus' was the name given to the tax population of cities), but if liberals and revolutionaries put a negative meaning into this concept, implying a gray, uneducated mass, then the members of the “Union of Russian People” themselves wore this nickname with pride, saying: “Kuzma Minin’s Black Hundred saved Russia!” The entire reactionary movement is often called the Black Hundred movement.
The Black Hundred movements acted from ultra-monarchical and nationalist positions. The cornerstone of their ideology was anti-Semitism. They noted the unconditional primacy of the Russian people over other nations, fought to protect the unlimited power of the tsar and the dominant position of the Orthodox Church, and preserve class inequality. They saw the root of Russia's troubles in the corrupting influence of the West. And the main conductors of Western influence were considered to be various foreigners and, above all, Jews. The bureaucracy, bourgeoisie and intelligentsia, according to the ideologists of the reactionary movement, could not be considered truly Russian. The first “obscure the bright image of the king from the people”, the second “have become infected with the rot of the West”, and the third are simply “trash”.
In the summer and autumn of 1905, in opposition to the revolutionary movement, a wave of monarchist uprisings swept across Russia. The Black Hundreds organized Jewish pogroms, attacked workers' demonstrations, hunted for revolutionary and liberal figures (in 1905, the Bolshevik N.E. Bauman was killed, attempts were repeatedly organized on the life of S.Yu. Witte, etc.). On November 8, 1905, many reactionary forces united into the “Union of the Russian People”, led by Dr. A.I.
The authorities supported and financed the Black Hundreds. Nicholas II was an honorary member of the Union of the Russian People. Nevertheless, in the elections to the First Duma they did not receive more than one vote, since their program did not solve any agrarian, worker, or peasant issues. In 1907 V.M. Purishkevich left the "Union of the Russian People" and organized a new Black Hundred organization - "Russian People's Union named after Michael the Archangel."
The State Duma
In April 1906, the First State Duma began its work, marking the beginning of popular representation in Russia. According to the electoral law of December 11, 1905, the Duma was convened for five years; its deputies had the right to discuss bills, the budget and make requests to ministers appointed by the tsar. Military affairs and foreign policy were beyond the control of the Duma: the tsar could dissolve the Duma ahead of schedule, determined the duration of Duma sessions and breaks between them.
Elections to the Duma were unequal, indirect and not universal. Voters were divided into curiae that nominated different numbers of deputies: one landowner's vote was equal to 3 votes of representatives of the bourgeoisie, 15 votes of peasants and 45 votes of workers. But even in this situation, peasant deputies were supposed to make up 40% of the Duma deputies. The government did this deliberately, counting on the traditional faith of the peasants in the tsar.
The Council of State became the upper legislative chamber . Half of its composition was appointed by the tsar, and half was elected by corporations - zemstvos, noble assemblies, universities, etc. The bill that passed through the Duma had to receive approval from the State Council and the tsar. On the eve of the introduction of representation, a unified government was established - the Council of Ministers. Now ministers had to jointly discuss bills and important government measures. The first chairman of the Council of Ministers was Count S.Yu.
Witte. Left parties - the Bolsheviks, the Socialist Revolutionaries, the All-Russian Peasant Union - boycotted the elections to the First Duma. The Cadets and politicians aligned with them made up 43% of the deputies in the First Duma, 23% of the seats were won by the Social Democrats (Mensheviks) and Trudoviks (a faction of peasant deputies who were strongly influenced by the Socialist Revolutionaries), 14% went to national parties. Deputies put forward demands for political amnesty, government responsibility before the Duma and additional allocation of land to peasants. The Cadets proposed using for this purpose state-owned, appanage, monastic estates, as well as part of the landowners' lands alienated for ransom. The Trudoviks supported the Cadet agrarian project, and when Nicholas II rejected it, they put forward their own, much more radical one. Realizing that it was impossible to come to an agreement with such a Duma, the Tsar dissolved it already in July 1906 - 72 days after the start of work. Prime Minister I.L. Goremykin was dismissed, and Minister of Internal Affairs P.A. was appointed to this position. Stolypin.
The Second Duma met in February 1907. The elections were held on the basis of the previous law, and the new Duma was even more left-wing than the previous one: 43% - Social Democrats, Socialist Revolutionaries, Trudoviks, 19% - Cadets, 15% - national parties, 10% - Octobrists and Black Hundreds. Chairman of the Duma – cadet F.A. Golovin. The Trudoviks and Cadets again put their agricultural projects on the table for discussion. At the same time, the majority of deputies refused to approve P.A.’s agrarian reform project adopted by the tsar.
Stolypin.
The authorities came to the conclusion that it was necessary to change the political mechanism of Russia. On June 1, 1907, Stolypin demanded that the Duma authorize the arrest of Social Democratic deputies, accusing them of preparing a military coup. Stolypin's demarche was largely a pretext: without waiting for the Duma's response, the tsar dissolved it on June 3, 1907. At the same time, the electoral law was changed. According to the Manifesto of October 17, the tsar did not have the right to do this on his own, so the June events began to be called a coup d'etat.