The October ManifestoEssay Preview: The October ManifestoReport this essayIn June, 1905, the Potemkin Mutiny took place and industrial workers all over Russia went on strike. In October, 1905, the railwaymen went on strike which paralyzed the whole Russian railway network. Later that month, Leon Trotsky and other Mensheviks established the St. Petersburg Soviet. Over the next few weeks over 50 of these soviets were formed all over Russia.
Witte, the new Chief Minister, advised Nicholas II to make concessions. He eventually agreed and published the October Manifesto. This granted freedom of conscience, speech, meeting and association. He also promised that in future people would not be imprisoned without trial. Finally he announced that no law would become operative without the approval of the State Duma.
As the Duma was only a consultative body, many Russians felt that this reform did not go far enough. Leon Trotsky and other revolutionaries denounced the plan. In December, 1905, Trotsky and the rest of the executive committee of the St. Petersburg Soviet were arrested. Others followed and gradually Nicholas II and his government regained control of the situation.
Bloody Sunday in 1905 had severely weakened any hope Nicholas II had of calling himself the вЂ?father of his people’. By the end of the year, St Petersburg had been affected by many strikes and political agitation in the factories was rife. On the first Sunday in March, an estimated 300,000 people had taken to the streets of the capital shouting out a variety of slogans. The most worrying for the authorities must have been “All power to the Soviets” while “God save the tsar and open his eyes to our wants” would have given the glimmer of hope that some of the people still demonstrated loyalty to Nicholas II. Even more worrying for the government was the fact that the demonstrations were spontaneous and not pre-planned and involved a curious mix of political
• a mixture of agrarian and agricultural workers. The population wanted to hold a rally at noon, but the workers did not have sufficient manpower (or with the requisite supply of such workers) to hold a rally at noon. People were told not to go to the shops (labor is less efficient at the markets than during the regular business hours of the day) for days when they could participate directly without a government visit so that «no one could be arrested!» Even the government had no interest in preventing mass demonstrations so as to avoid the need to hold them. The workers felt that there was a clear lack of coordination among bureaucrats and the workers were very worried about their safety. Moreover, some of the young people thought that demonstrations of some sort could happen at the same time because the government had promised to ensure that all of the factories, the roads, the shops were full and that all of the workers could enjoy adequate wages and social services such as hospitalization and education. The local governor, Vasiliy PukhovÓs (the wife of former president Aleksey Zharova), also voiced his concern about unrest. If the government were to take control and allow the people to take on the government as they wished then it would pose a real threat to the lives of many of the workers because no one would be allowed to participate in most activities. It would only lead to more workers being arrested; there was the very same risk of mass protests. The workers also felt that many of the workers were suffering from depression and that their future depended as far as their participation in demonstrations was concerned. Some workers were even afraid to go to the shops on Sunday for fear of being arrested and to see a doctor. This was well understood. One of the workers described how many factories were closed on Sunday because of shortages of food. One worker said: “People are starving. The price is extremely high for everything we sell. There are too many workers in our factories because of this.” This was also heard from the workers of different regions. Most people saw little hope for the future, and they did not want any kind of organized revolutionary movement. They had heard that the government was in the process of issuing some measures to try to stop mass protests or to stop workers coming into the factories on Sunday. But many of these measures were met by some of the mass demonstrations that started from around 6PM on a Saturday. An official on the government’s staff wrote to the workers on July 1, 1912: «This is a problem, no way shall we do that. Our workers are not going to work on Sunday, but this is already happening with the last few weeks. You can see that the government has not given any guidance at all about how to manage things. The workers have worked so hard and have been so busy that they will think that it is no big deal that they need to come in on Sunday!»
People in the factories were carrying anti-government and pro-government posters and a list of political slogans. There were even leaflets that read “This is why the tsar, who is not a democrat, is being treated as a tyrant of the land. If he is sent to prison, he will become a tyrant of himself.”
This was one of the early expressions of discontent and rebellion.
The anti-communist workers in the factories began to be arrested when one of them, Anu Thum Thum, began to act as an intermediary between the officials and the workers. The workers were so worried that to carry out their orders and the movement had to be organised in other areas of the city. It became clear that the police could not be trusted to do their job and that if Thum did not stop by the factory he would be arrested under the orders of one of the officials.
As the workers began to show resistance in the streets, many of them took the initiative to call for a revolution and the tsars’ presence in Moscow led to an outbreak of clashes between the government and the workers.
On the 25th of April 1904, a few hundred thousand miners marched from the factories of Giaksia to Giaksia Square to stand against the tsar by a square at one of the barricades. An anonymous worker claimed that he had seen a procession of 50 thousand of his comrades and he felt intimidated and frightened. He went on to identify himself as Igor Thum Thum a revolutionary, a Marxist and a peasant worker and on the 16th of May he reported in the New York Times that as long as he could stay in town, he would be able to form revolutionary groups and would be able to organize a movement. It was the same night that he and the other rebels stormed the barracks. As the men were going out of the barracks they were knocked back in and their legs cut off. For the soldiers the struggle ended in a bloody battle between the workers and the police while the officers took their place by force of will. They lost, but it did not end with a single man being hanged in the streets.
The Bolshevik party in Tsarist Russia had a few of these groups. The majority were made up of revolutionaries and others were in work. At a later point in time the Party could only have two such groups.
Ivan Thum Thum was an ordinary street-to-street worker. On the day he met the Tsar, he was met by a street guard and three other men who threw him into the street, put him into a van and drove off. When they arrived, Ivan found he had been struck and there were scratches and bruises which went on down the sides of his face and back, and the last three were swollen from his head to his hands and legs. The men put him in the car where he spent the day. For a third of the day they did not find any of his stuff except a handful of money and a small, gold scissor and a box cutter. As soon as the man was taken out to the cells Ivan was treated in serious terms. In addition he was sent to a separate department of the Communist Party.
At this point the Party could only deal with the workers because it was unable to control them. The other organizations had the support of the Tsar and there were also these other groups. They acted together or they organized together. After a single day at work the Bolsheviks called an international meeting in Moscow where at a later date they were to form up a revolutionary group. (The organization was not officially sanctioned by the Tsarist government.)
[…] The idea of a Revolutionary Socialist Party under the party of the Communist Party, such a group could be formed by men of the working class and by people whose social conditions put them at a certain point in their lives. It might even be that this group was something more then a party from which to join. It was not in its general attitude that this party should not only govern, but would take up those tasks which the people of the proletariat should do. This would be necessary in order for the party, which was at present on the receiving end of most of the popular political opinions, to carry on active politics through mass elections which included the election of an anti-Tsarist and the removal of the head of the proletariat. It was necessary that a revolutionary party was able to become more and more important by making such decisions. This could not by itself be done overnight. In order that it could have a revolutionary organization the whole world could be under its protection and that a whole new society should be created if it could hold the necessary power for itself and for the proletariat.
The Bolsheviks had decided, on May 5th, 1902, to establish a Revolutionary Socialist Party in order to fight fascism and for the overthrow of the Tsarist government. Since the events of 1904 in which the Bolshevik Party led a revolt against the tsars had made it clear that the Party must take the fight to the Communists on the streets, this decision was confirmed on June 6th by a letter sent in which an independent section of the Party said: “Our Revolution will come under the rule of the Communist Party and its revolutionary representatives. The fact that there exists a revolutionary Marxist Bolshevik Party in which, as now, the Party is the key to the development of the People’s government and which we must maintain from the first may mean that the struggle can finally take place on a proletarian basis.” A comrade and comrade of comrade and comrade of comrade, we received a similar letter from September 18th which described the movement of the party under the party. It said: “Of course the Russian Revolution is a struggle with the bourgeoisie. It is a struggle with every bourgeoisie, no matter how small and insignificant it may be. And in spite of our successes, we do not have the ability to destroy capitalism unless we have destroyed the
Many people found it necessary that the workers be allowed freedom as long as they could make up their minds which was the last thing they needed.
The anti-Communist workers from within the cities began to call for insurrection in their capital city. Thousands of people marched in the streets of Krasnodar and the factories of Tomsk, but not everyone who joined the demonstration in the factories was anti-Tatsk. Many of the revolutionaries who participated also had their own views on the future of socialism and a desire for greater social safety.
People in the factories were carrying anti-government and pro-government posters and a list of political slogans. There were even leaflets that read “This is why the tsar, who is not a democrat, is being treated as a tyrant of the land. If he is sent to prison, he will become a tyrant of himself.”
This was one of the early expressions of discontent and rebellion.
The anti-communist workers in the factories began to be arrested when one of them, Anu Thum Thum, began to act as an intermediary between the officials and the workers. The workers were so worried that to carry out their orders and the movement had to be organised in other areas of the city. It became clear that the police could not be trusted to do their job and that if Thum did not stop by the factory he would be arrested under the orders of one of the officials.
As the workers began to show resistance in the streets, many of them took the initiative to call for a revolution and the tsars’ presence in Moscow led to an outbreak of clashes between the government and the workers.
On the 25th of April 1904, a few hundred thousand miners marched from the factories of Giaksia to Giaksia Square to stand against the tsar by a square at one of the barricades. An anonymous worker claimed that he had seen a procession of 50 thousand of his comrades and he felt intimidated and frightened. He went on to identify himself as Igor Thum Thum a revolutionary, a Marxist and a peasant worker and on the 16th of May he reported in the New York Times that as long as he could stay in town, he would be able to form revolutionary groups and would be able to organize a movement. It was the same night that he and the other rebels stormed the barracks. As the men were going out of the barracks they were knocked back in and their legs cut off. For the soldiers the struggle ended in a bloody battle between the workers and the police while the officers took their place by force of will. They lost, but it did not end with a single man being hanged in the streets.
The Bolshevik party in Tsarist Russia had a few of these groups. The majority were made up of revolutionaries and others were in work. At a later point in time the Party could only have two such groups.
Ivan Thum Thum was an ordinary street-to-street worker. On the day he met the Tsar, he was met by a street guard and three other men who threw him into the street, put him into a van and drove off. When they arrived, Ivan found he had been struck and there were scratches and bruises which went on down the sides of his face and back, and the last three were swollen from his head to his hands and legs. The men put him in the car where he spent the day. For a third of the day they did not find any of his stuff except a handful of money and a small, gold scissor and a box cutter. As soon as the man was taken out to the cells Ivan was treated in serious terms. In addition he was sent to a separate department of the Communist Party.
At this point the Party could only deal with the workers because it was unable to control them. The other organizations had the support of the Tsar and there were also these other groups. They acted together or they organized together. After a single day at work the Bolsheviks called an international meeting in Moscow where at a later date they were to form up a revolutionary group. (The organization was not officially sanctioned by the Tsarist government.)
[…] The idea of a Revolutionary Socialist Party under the party of the Communist Party, such a group could be formed by men of the working class and by people whose social conditions put them at a certain point in their lives. It might even be that this group was something more then a party from which to join. It was not in its general attitude that this party should not only govern, but would take up those tasks which the people of the proletariat should do. This would be necessary in order for the party, which was at present on the receiving end of most of the popular political opinions, to carry on active politics through mass elections which included the election of an anti-Tsarist and the removal of the head of the proletariat. It was necessary that a revolutionary party was able to become more and more important by making such decisions. This could not by itself be done overnight. In order that it could have a revolutionary organization the whole world could be under its protection and that a whole new society should be created if it could hold the necessary power for itself and for the proletariat.
The Bolsheviks had decided, on May 5th, 1902, to establish a Revolutionary Socialist Party in order to fight fascism and for the overthrow of the Tsarist government. Since the events of 1904 in which the Bolshevik Party led a revolt against the tsars had made it clear that the Party must take the fight to the Communists on the streets, this decision was confirmed on June 6th by a letter sent in which an independent section of the Party said: “Our Revolution will come under the rule of the Communist Party and its revolutionary representatives. The fact that there exists a revolutionary Marxist Bolshevik Party in which, as now, the Party is the key to the development of the People’s government and which we must maintain from the first may mean that the struggle can finally take place on a proletarian basis.” A comrade and comrade of comrade and comrade of comrade, we received a similar letter from September 18th which described the movement of the party under the party. It said: “Of course the Russian Revolution is a struggle with the bourgeoisie. It is a struggle with every bourgeoisie, no matter how small and insignificant it may be. And in spite of our successes, we do not have the ability to destroy capitalism unless we have destroyed the
Many people found it necessary that the workers be allowed freedom as long as they could make up their minds which was the last thing they needed.
The anti-Communist workers from within the cities began to call for insurrection in their capital city. Thousands of people marched in the streets of Krasnodar and the factories of Tomsk, but not everyone who joined the demonstration in the factories was anti-Tatsk. Many of the revolutionaries who participated also had their own views on the future of socialism and a desire for greater social safety.