In 1905 there was a revolution in Russia, the people demanded a change in government - as the policies of the one in power denied many of the people a decent standard of living- and they wanted protection of their political and civil rights. Throughout 1905 there was mass-spread rioting, strikes, protest, demonstrations, even uprisings and assassinations – all carried out with the aim to force the Tsar to act. Eventually, afters months conflict, the Tsar gave into the people’s demands and created the ‘October Manifesto’- which promised an elected parliament- the Duma; the right to form political parties; uncensored newspapers; it protected civil rights and set out the Russian people’s political rights.
The Revolution began in January 1905 with a massacre occurring on the 22nd of January (Bloody Sunday) acting as a catalyst for revolt. There were many other factors that led to the 1905 Revolution; some were issues that had plagued the people for a longer period of time than others and some factors were more important than others in causing the Revolution.
The long term causes that led to 1905 Revolution were very important in as they affected a number of people for an extensive period of time. If we think about the Revolution as a fire- the long term causes were the logs smouldering away at it’s foundation. The plight of the peasants was an extremely important factor in causing the Revolution as peasant made up 84% of the Russian population in 1900- yet despite being the large majority they were by far the poorest; they lived in squalor- disease and starvation was commonplace. Peasants went through hours of gruelling labour - only to produce enough food for their families and little to sell on for a profit. The main problem was that there wasn’t enough land to be divided equally amongst the peasants. Before 1861, most peasants had been Serfs- slaves working upon the land owned by masters. When they