One of the most tragic events that took place in the history of Russia is Bloody Sunday. In short, on January 9, 1905, a demonstration was shot down, in which about 140 thousand representatives of the working class became participants. It happened in St. Petersburg during which after that the people began to call Bloody. Many historians believe that it was the decisive impetus for the start of the 1905 revolution.
a brief history
At the end of 1904, political ferment began in the country, it happened after the defeat that the state suffered in the infamous Russo-Japanese War. What events led to the mass execution of workers - a tragedy that went down in history as Bloody Sunday? In short, it all started with the organization of the “Assembly of Russian Factory Workers”.
Interestingly, he actively contributed to the creation of this organization. This was due to the fact that the authorities were concerned about the growing number of dissatisfied people in the working environment. The main purpose of the "Assembly" was originally to protect the representatives of the working class from the influence of revolutionary propaganda, the organization of mutual assistance, education. However, the "Assembly" was not properly controlled by the authorities, resulting in a sharp change in the course of the organization. This was largely due to the personality of the person who led it.
Georgy Gapon
What does Georgy Gapon have to do with the tragic day that is remembered as Bloody Sunday? In short, it was this clergyman who became the inspirer and organizer of the demonstration, the outcome of which turned out to be so sad. Gapon took over as head of the "Assembly" at the end of 1903, it soon found itself in his unlimited power. The ambitious clergyman dreamed that his name would go down in history, proclaiming himself the true leader of the working class.
The leader of the "Assembly" founded a secret committee whose members read forbidden literature, studied the history of revolutionary movements, and developed plans to fight for the interests of the working class. Gapon's associates were the Karelinas, who enjoyed great prestige among the workers.
The "Program of Five", including the specific political and economic demands of the members of the secret committee, was developed in March 1904. It was she who served as the source from which the demands were taken, which the demonstrators planned to present to the tsar on Bloody Sunday 1905. In short, they failed to achieve their goal. On that day, the petition did not fall into the hands of Nicholas II.
Incident at the Putilov factory
What event led the workers to decide on a massive demonstration on the day known as Bloody Sunday? You can briefly talk about this as follows: the impetus was the dismissal of several people who worked at the Putilov factory. All of them were members of the Assembly. Rumors spread that people were fired precisely because of their affiliation with the organization.
The unrest did not spread to other enterprises operating at that time in St. Petersburg. Mass strikes began, leaflets began to circulate with economic and political demands on the government. Inspired by Gapon, he decided to submit a petition personally to the autocrat Nicholas II. When the text of the appeal to the tsar was read to the participants of the "Assembly", whose number already exceeded 20 thousand, people expressed their desire to participate in the rally.
The date of the procession, which went down in history as Bloody Sunday, was also determined - January 9, 1905. Briefly about the main events are described below.
Bloodshed was not planned
The authorities became aware in advance of the impending demonstration, in which about 140,000 people were to take part. On January 6, Emperor Nicholas left with his family for Tsarskoye Selo. The Minister of the Interior called an urgent meeting the day before the event, which was remembered as Bloody Sunday 1905. In short, during the meeting, it was decided not to allow the meeting participants to go not only to Palace Square, but also to the city center.
It is worth mentioning that the bloodshed was not originally planned. Representatives of the authorities had no doubt that the sight of armed soldiers would make the crowd disperse, but these expectations were not justified.
Massacres
The procession, which moved to the Winter Palace, consisted of men, women and children who did not have weapons with them. Many participants in the procession were holding portraits of Nicholas II, banners. At the Nevsky Gates, the demonstration was attacked by cavalry, then shooting began, five shots were fired.
The next shots rang out near the Trinity Bridge from the Petersburg and Vyborg sides. Several volleys were also fired at the Winter Palace, when the demonstrators reached the Alexander Garden. The scenes of the events soon became littered with the bodies of the wounded and the dead. Local skirmishes continued until late in the evening, only by 11 p.m. did the authorities manage to disperse the demonstrators.
Effects
The report, which was presented to Nicholas II, significantly underestimated the number of people affected on January 9th. Bloody Sunday, a summary of which is retold in this article, claimed the lives of 130 people, another 299 were injured, if you rely on this report. In reality, the number of dead and wounded exceeded four thousand people, the exact figure remained a mystery.
Georgy Gapon managed to escape abroad, but in March 1906 the clergyman was killed by the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Mayor Fullon, who was directly involved in the events of Bloody Sunday, was dismissed on January 10, 1905. The Minister of the Interior Svyatopolk-Mirsky also lost his post. The meeting of the emperor with the working delegation took place during it, Nicholas II expressed regret that so many people had died. However, he nevertheless stated that the demonstrators had committed a crime and condemned the mass procession.
Conclusion
After the disappearance of Gapon, the mass strike stopped, the unrest subsided. However, this turned out to be only the calm before the storm, and soon the state was in for new political upheavals and casualties.
The harbinger of Red Sunday was the so-called Putilov incident, when the workers of the Putilov plant opposed the actions of master Tetyavkin, who unfairly fired people. This small conflict led to colossal consequences: on January 3, a strike began at the Putilov factory, which was joined by workers from other enterprises.
One of the members of the labor movement writes: “When the demand for the return of their [workers] was not satisfied, the factory became immediately, very amicably. The strike has a completely restrained character: the workers have sent several people to guard the machines and other property from any possible damage on the part of the less conscious. Then they sent a deputation to other factories with a message of their demands and a proposal to join.
Protesting workers at the gates of the Putilov factory
“We decided to extend the strike to the Franco-Russian shipbuilding and Semyannikovsky factories, where there were 14,000 workers. I chose these factories, because I knew that just at that time they were fulfilling very serious orders for the needs of the war, ”Georgy Gapon, leader of the workers’ uprising, would later say.
The protesters drew up a working petition outlining their demands. They intended to hand it over to the tsar "with the whole world". The main demands of the petition were the creation of popular representation in the form of a Constituent Assembly, freedom of the press and equality of all before the law.
“It must be said that neither Gapon nor the leading group had faith that the tsar would receive the workers and that even they would be allowed to reach the square. Everyone knew very well that the workers would be shot, and therefore, perhaps, we took a big sin on our souls, ”recalled Alexei Karelin, one of the leaders of the Russian labor movement.
Soldiers at the Narva Gate on the morning of December 9
“Today there is some kind of heavy mood, it is felt that we are on the eve of terrible events. According to the stories, the goal of the workers at this moment is to ruin the water supply and electricity, leave the city without water and light and start arson, ”wrote General Alexander Bogdanovich’s wife in her diary on January 8.
The head of the St. Petersburg security department, Alexander Gerasimov, recalled: “Until late in the evening, surrounded by the Sovereign, they did not know what to do. I was told that the Sovereign wanted to go out to the workers, but this was strongly opposed by his relatives, headed by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. At their insistence, the Tsar did not go to St. Petersburg from Tsarskoye Selo, leaving Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who was then commander of the troops of the St. Petersburg Military District, in charge. It was Vladimir Alexandrovich who led the actions of the troops on Red Sunday.
In the early morning of January 9, at 6:30 am, workers from the Izhora plant set off from Kolpino towards St. Petersburg, who had the longest journey ahead of them. Collectives of other enterprises gradually joined them. According to some estimates, the crowd reached 50,000 people. In the hands of the protesting workers were banners, icons and royal portraits. The military blocked the path of the demonstrators at the Narva Gate. It was there that the first skirmish began, which escalated into battles throughout the city.
Palace Square January 9, 1905
In his book Notes on the Past, Colonel E. A. Nikolsky, an eyewitness to the events of Bloody Sunday, says: “Groups of people — men and women — began to appear on Nevsky Prospekt and on both sides of the Moika River. After waiting for more of them to gather, Colonel Riemann, standing in the center of the company, without giving any warning, as was established by the charter, ordered: “Shooting straight into the crowds with volleys!” Volleys were fired, which were repeated several times. Chaotic, rapid fire began, and many, who managed to run back three or four hundred paces, fell under the shots. I went closer to Riemann and began to look at him for a long time, attentively - his face and the look in his eyes seemed to me like those of a madman. His face kept twitching in a nervous spasm, for a moment it seemed he was laughing, for a moment he was crying. The eyes looked in front of them, and it was clear that they did not see anything.
“The last days have arrived. Brother rose against brother… The Tsar gave the order to shoot at the icons,” wrote the poet Maximilian Voloshin.
The correspondent of the English newspaper Daily Telegrph Dillon describes in his material a conversation with one of the courtiers, which took place on the day of "Bloody Sunday". The Englishman asked why the troops were killing unarmed workers and students. The courtier replied: “Because civil laws have been abolished and military laws are in force. Last night, his majesty decided to remove the civil power and hand over the care of maintaining public order to Grand Duke Vladimir, who is very well read in the history of the French Revolution and will not allow any crazy indulgences. He will not fall into the mistakes of which many of Louis XVI's associates were guilty; he will not find weakness. He believes that the surest remedy for curing the people of constitutional inventions is to hang hundreds of discontented people in the presence of their comrades. No matter what happens, he will tame the rebellious spirit of the crowd. even if he had to send all the troops at his disposal against the population for this.
Shooting at the General Staff. Film frame
Nicholas II, according to his own diary, was absent from the capital and learned about the tragedy only later. However, the next day he immediately took action, dismissing the mayor Ivan Fullon and the Minister of the Interior Peter Svyatopolk-Mirsky.
“We accuse Interior Minister Svyatopolk-Mirsky of premeditated, not caused by the state of affairs and senseless murder of many Russian citizens,” Maxim Gorky said in a statement that the police confiscated from him.
The cavalrymen delay the procession
After the incident, the head of the police department, Lopukhin, reported: “Crowds of workers, electrified by agitation, not succumbing to the usual general police measures and even cavalry attacks, stubbornly rushed to the Winter Palace, and then, irritated by the resistance, began to attack military units. This state of affairs led to the need to take emergency measures to restore order, and the military units had to act against huge gatherings of workers with firearms.
Ten days after Bloody Sunday, Nicholas II received a deputation of workers. He told them: “You have allowed yourself to be led astray and deceived by traitors and enemies of our country. Inviting you to go and petition me for your needs, they raised you to revolt against me and my government, forcibly tearing you away from honest work at a time when all truly Russian people must work together and tirelessly to overcome our stubborn external enemy. .
Many of us must have seen the film directed by Sergei Eisenstein for the tenth anniversary of the Bolshevik coup. If not the entire film, then almost everyone remembers the episode in which the "revolutionary sailors" climb the bars of the gates of the Winter Palace. These shots, almost like documentaries, are very fond of quoting many television, so to speak, publicists in their programs about the "Great October". Well, this is precisely the task that the director set himself - to create a myth about the "storm", what kind of "revolution" without the "storm". And the image quality, due to the then level of filming equipment, really allows you to create the illusion that you are not watching a silent feature film, but a real film report from the scene. But still, despite all this "film forgery", there is something true in it, debunking another later myth. The myth of the "blank" shot "Aurora". The events and their immediate material consequences, apparently, were still fresh in the memory of eyewitnesses. Therefore, there was no need to hide the fact that after a six-inch bow gun fired, a real shell exploded in one of the floors of the Winter Palace. But what about the "blank shot"? After blank shots, explosions, as you know, do not happen. This small fact disproved the legend that the Aurora cruiser only gave the signal to storm the palace. Those who bothered to find out in more detail about how everything really happened could find out that the Aurora fired live shots, and not once, but three times. One shell exploded on Sennaya Square (wow, a flight !?), one fell into the Neva, and only with the third shell did the revolutionary gunners, in the absence of officers, hit the “target”. But in addition to the Aurora, Zimny, which, by the way, in addition to the Provisional Government, housed a soldier's infirmary, was fired upon by two batteries located on the beach of the Peter and Paul Fortress. So, the revolutionaries did not even think about any preservation of the works of art of the Hermitage, the “national treasure” in the Bolshevik way. This example prompts us to treat with great caution all the "historical facts" presented by communist and post-communist falsifiers. This fully applies to the so-called "Bloody Sunday", the events of January 9, 1905 in St. Petersburg.
Indeed, what do we know about them at the suggestion of communist-liberal “historians”: “Hundreds of thousands of workers of the capital, driven to despair by lawlessness and poverty, outraged by the surrender of Port Arthur, a winter Sunday afternoon with wives and children, with icons, banners and royal portraits , singing prayers and the anthem "God save the Tsar", peacefully, with an expression of loyal feelings, came to the Palace Square to tell Emperor Nicholas II about their needs, in the hope that the Tsar Father would protect them from the arbitrariness of breeders and manufacturers. The king ordered them to be shot, shedding streams of innocent blood. More than 4,600 people were killed and wounded. “As the King is with us, so are we with the King, etc.” That, perhaps, is all.
But there is one circumstance. None of the columns of demonstrators reached the Palace. The columns did not even cross the Neva (those who moved from Vasilyevsky Island, the Petrograd and Vyborg sides) and the Fontanka (those who moved from the Narva outpost and the Shlisselburg tract). The most numerous of them, marching under the leadership of Gapon from the Putilov plant, was scattered near the Obvodny Canal. To disperse the columns, weapons were also used at the Shlisselburg fire station and at the Trinity Bridge. On Vasilyevsky Island, there was a real battle with the revolutionaries, who were entrenched on the barricades (these are no longer “columns of a peaceful procession”). Nowhere else were shots fired at the crowd. This is a historical fact confirmed by police reports. Small groups of hooligan "revolutionaries" really penetrated the city center. On Morskaya Street they beat Major General Elrich, on Gorokhovaya Street they beat one captain and detained a courier, and his car was broken. A cadet of the Nikolaev Cavalry School, who was passing by in a cab, was dragged off the sleigh, the saber with which he defended himself was broken, and he was beaten and wounded. But these "freedom fighters" fled from one kind of Cossack patrols that appeared in the distance. In general, no one on Palace Square were not shot. A small lie (the first), causing, as they say, a big mistrust. Distrust, in turn, gives rise to a desire to get to know real events more closely.
What was the source of the lie?
Morning Petersburg newspapers of January 10. But the primary source on which the metropolitan journalists relied was a leaflet that had been distributed in St. Petersburg since 5 o'clock in the afternoon on January 9th. It was in it that “thousands of workers shot on Palace Square” were reported. But, excuse me, how could it have been written and replicated by that time, especially since printing houses did not work on Sunday, sent to the districts and distributed to distributors. It is obvious that this provocative leaflet was made in advance, no later than January 8, i.е. when neither the place of execution nor the number of victims was known to the authors. Here it should be noted that the number of dead, including police officers, on January 9 was actually 96 people, and 311 injured. Not thousands. This is the second lie. And, although one human life is priceless, a lie does not become the truth from this. In other words, what was planned was passed off as actually happening. Who planned all this? When is it scheduled and how? Naturally, those who wrote the leaflet and organized the "peaceful procession", i.e. revolutionaries. Revolutions do not happen spontaneously, they are carefully prepared, funds are sought, weapons are acquired, and so on.
Therefore, we must turn our attention not only to the events of January 9, 1905, but, above all, to those that preceded them.
On January 27, 1904, as is known, Japan treacherously attacked Russia without declaring war. The combat strength of the troops of the Japanese troops, well equipped and organized according to the German model, at the beginning of the war was 140 thousand bayonets and sabers with 684 guns. By the end of the third month of hostilities, this number could be increased to 200 thousand bayonets and sabers with 720 guns. Russia, immediately after the start of the war, could oppose in the corresponding region no more than 25 thousand people, not counting the garrisons of fortresses, and after 2-3 months - 70 thousand bayonets and cavalry with 160 guns for field operations and about 30 thousand bayonets of the garrison of the fortress of Port Arthur, whose construction was not yet completed. Despite this advantage, the Japanese generals failed to achieve a quick victory. An attempt to capture Port Arthur with one blow immediately failed. The losses of the Japanese during the first assault amounted to 15 thousand people against 6 thousand Russians. For 157 days, the heroic defenders of Port Arthur, the heirs of Nakhimov and Totleben, repulsed the attacks of the enemy, who sent 200 thousand soldiers and officers against them. Three assaults were repulsed, inflicting 110,000 casualties on the enemy, while the Russians lost 27,000. And, despite the fact that the fortress of Russian glory fell under the onslaught of a many times superior, stubborn and skillful enemy, Japan could not count on victory in the war with its daily depleted forces alone. The military power of Russia in the Far East was constantly growing. By 1905, the Siberian road was already passing 14 pairs of trains a day, instead of 4 at the beginning of the war. About 300 thousand people were concentrated in Manchuria. The economy and finances of the land of the rising sun were undermined. The war practically did not affect the life of internal Russia. The State Bank did not stop the exchange of bank notes for gold for a single day. The harvest of 1904 was plentiful. Industry increased its production, including as a result of military orders, which, by the way, ensured wage increases, primarily in the defense industry (this, by the way, refutes the third lie, about “workers driven to poverty”). Military expenses were partly covered by the free cash of the treasury, partly by loans. At the same time, the subscription to both external loans several times exceeded the issue amount. Russia's credit was high: it borrowed money at 5-6% per annum, while Japan, despite all its military successes, had to pay 7-8%. Japan, using all its forces, was still ahead (in the Far East, that is, in the immediate vicinity of its base), but Russia was beginning to catch up. By the spring or summer of 1905, with the normal development of the forces of both sides, Russia had to overcome the difficulties caused by the remoteness of the theater of operations from the vital centers of the country. Russia's victory was undeniable. It would have been, if the internal enemy had not entered into an alliance with the external enemy of our Motherland.
Revolutionaries of all stripes, as well as the liberalizing so-called "public", were the natural helpers of the Japanese. “If the Russian troops win a victory over the Japanese, which, after all, is not so impossible as it seems at first glance, wrote a certain N. O-v in Osvobozhdenie (the press organ of the liberal Union of Osvobozhdeniye, which suffered from the beginning of the war , in January 1904, his activities from Switzerland to St. Petersburg), then freedom will be calmly strangled to the cries of cheers and the bell ringing of the triumphant Empire. Only large-scale sabotage in the rear of the fighting Russian army, only internal unrest in Russia could prevent such an outcome of the war. This was the only chance for Japan and for the revolution.
And the paths of the enemies of Russia, of course, did not fail to cross. The former military attache in St. Petersburg, who moved to Stockholm after the outbreak of the war and headed the Japanese spy network in Western Europe, Colonel Matoir Akashi in July 1904, through the terrorist Vera Zasulich, established contact with the Lenin Plekhanovs who were in exile.
“We are ready,” Akashi told the revolutionaries, “to help you financially to purchase weapons, but the most important thing is not to let the movement (revolutionary - A.S.) cool down and thus introduce an element of constant protest against the government into Russian society” . At his meetings with the haters of historical Russia, the Japanese spy insisted on organizing armed insurgent detachments numbering up to 100,000 militants.
The revolutionaries received 750,000 yen to purchase weapons through Akashi and his men. The agents of the Japanese resident also did not remain in the loser. So, only one of them, Georgy Dekanozov, Stalin's future favorite, received 125 thousand francs for travel expenses alone.
One of Akasha's top agents was the Finnish revolutionary Connie Zilliacus. It was through him that Japanese money was distributed among the revolutionary parties. Among his papers, discovered by Russian intelligence, a document was found listing the number of weapons transferred to the revolutionary parties: 8 thousand rifles - to Finnish nationalists, 5 thousand rifles - to Georgian nationalists, a thousand to Socialist-Revolutionaries, 8 thousand to other socialist parties and another 500 carbines - Mausers - for distribution between the Finnish nationalists and the Socialist-Revolutionaries. With Japanese money, under the leadership of Zilliacus, two clandestine factories were built in the Grand Duchy of Finland, which released thousands of bombs.
The English journalist Dillon, a certain enemy of the tsarist government, wrote in his book The Decline of Russia: “The Japanese distributed money to Russian revolutionaries of certain shades, and considerable sums were spent on this. I must say that this is an indisputable fact.”
In addition to the Japanese, the anti-Russian revolution was subsidized by American millionaires, who transferred many millions of dollars to subversive work in Russia. Particularly distinguished here is a certain Jacob Schiff - the owner of the Kuhn, Leeb and Co. banking house in New York. The total amount of foreign money directed "to the revolution" in Russia amounted to at least 50 million dollars. A huge sum for those times. It is noteworthy that the revolutionaries did not even try to hide the fact that the so-called "first Russian revolution" was made with foreign money. The notorious leader of the militant organization, Social Revolutionary Boris Savinkov wrote in his memoirs (1917): American millionaires in the amount of one million francs, and Americans set a condition so that this money goes to the armament of the people and is distributed among all revolutionary parties. The Central Committee accepted this amount, subtracting 100,000 francs for the fighting organization.
"Educated Society"
The “educated society”, for its part, with some kind of pathological gloating, longed for the defeat of Russia. “The common secret prayer,” wrote the German journalist G. Ganz, who lived in St. Petersburg during the war, “not only liberals, but moderate conservatives at that time was “God, help us be defeated.” Therefore, when we hear from the lips of the heirs of these traitors that the revolution was caused by patriotic feelings offended by military defeats, we say - a lie. This is already the fourth. It was with the outbreak of the war that they headed for the revolution. It was in these difficult days for our Motherland that the founding congress of the notorious "Union of Liberation" was held to create local organizations, which was attended by 105 delegates representing 33 provinces, including 32 chairmen of provincial councils, 7 provincial representatives of the nobility. The question “on the general conditions of state life and desirable changes in it” is submitted for discussion at the congress. 71 people vote for the creation of an elected legislative representation, and only 27 votes for a legislative representation. At the same time, the right of nations to self-determination is proclaimed. In other words, the task is to liquidate the autocracy and dismember Russia. Simultaneously with the Union of Liberation, another illegal organization, the Union of Zemstvo-Constitutionalists, was created, which also set as its goal the overthrow of the existing system.
It is not surprising, therefore, that these liberal "leaders" took part in a meeting of "opposition and revolutionary parties" convened in September-October 1904 in Paris on the initiative of the same Conny Zilliacus and with Japanese money. In addition to liberals and socialists, Polish, Latvian, Finnish, Armenian, Georgian and Jewish nationalists were widely represented.
Thus, under the tutelage of Japan, the liberal, socialist and nationalist branches of the anti-Russian forces entered into an agreement. The Paris Conference adopted a resolution on the "destruction of the autocracy" and on the creation of "a free democratic system based on the universal suffrage." Its participants recognized the "usefulness" for the "liberation" of Russia of its defeat in the war with Japan and urged to contribute in every possible way to this. After the meeting, concrete work began on the preparation of the revolution.
On the initiative of the Union of Liberation, as if by magic, on the fortieth anniversary of the judicial reform of Emperor Alexander II, November 20, 1904, "progressive" talkers throughout the country are conducting a "banquet campaign." In 34 cities, 120 meetings and rallies were held, in which 50,000 supporters of the Union of Liberation took part. All their participants are invited to accept the same proposals addressed to the government with a desire to limit royal power.
The revolutionaries, on the other hand, began preparing armed uprisings. The main one was to be the uprising in St. Petersburg. For its organization, the legal “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers in St. Petersburg”, created on February 15, 1904, was used. By 1905, it had 11 departments and about 20 thousand members in the capital and its environs. The very active participation of the authorities in the establishment of this workers' organization reveals the fifth lie - that the workers are deprived of rights. It was from the hands of tsarist Russia that the workers received the long-awaited freedom of assembly and mutual assistance, the opportunity to organize leisure and self-education. Libraries and free lectures were organized at the branches of the "Assembly". The leadership of the "Assembly" successfully defended the rights of its members, canceled illegal fines and dismissal decisions. In the autumn of 1904, the "Assembly" had a reserve capital, consumer shops and tea shops were opened at its branches. The idea arose of a broad system of cooperation and cheap workshops. A project of a special working bank was put forward. The working members of the "Assembly" responded to the authorities with complete loyalty. This circumstance and decided to use the revolutionary provocateurs.
Assuring the police officials of loyalty to the Tsar, the leader of the "Assembly", the priest of the church of the St. Petersburg transit prison G.A. Gapon, who dreamed of becoming a people's leader, began, in cooperation with the revolutionaries, to gradually conduct anti-government propaganda and agitation. Those monarchist-minded workers who were critical of the prospect of their involvement in the political struggle and were not inclined to completely trust Gapon, around whom a narrow group, the so-called. headquarters: social democrats A. Karelin and D. Kuzin, as well as non-party I. Vasiliev and N. Varnashov. Back in March 1904 on conspiratorial meeting, they obliged Gapon to accept secret the political program of the Assembly. In fact, this was already the same petition that would be carried to the Tsar on January 9, 1905. More broadly, it was the program of the 1905 revolution: freedom of speech, press, assembly, freedom of conscience, the responsibility of ministers "to the people", amnesty for political prisoners. Special work was carried out among women. The organizer of this work was the old Social Democrat Vera Markovna Karelina. And in general, despite the assertion that the Gapon movement was represented only by workers, a large number of Social Democrats-intellectuals participated in it.
Thus, the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers", which was by no means the only one among the legal workers' organizations, designed to defend only the socio-economic rights of workers without involving them in the political struggle, turned under the leadership of Gapon into an officially recognized, but oriented as a radical social - economic and radical political struggle of the mass workers' organization, which, thanks to the loyal nature of its statements, was not only not controlled by the authorities, but could act completely unexpectedly for the authorities, following only the instructions of its recognized leader and the revolutionaries standing behind him. Using, like Azef and Malinovsky, relations with the police as a screen, Gapon and the revolutionaries surrounding him, and the main "curator" of Gapon was the Socialist-Revolutionary Pinkhus Rutenberg (party nickname - Martyn Myrtynovich), were preparing a bloody provocation and rebellion. “Only I have to wait,” said Gapon, “for some external event; let Arthur fall«.
December 20, 1904 Port Arthur fell. “The pitiful remnants of the victorious legions have laid down their arms at the feet of the victor,” the legal newspaper Our Days wrote with undisguised gloating, differing little in tone from Osvobozhdenie. The signal for revolution has sounded. Some reason was needed to start an uprising.
In December 1904, representatives of the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers" intervened in the conflict that took place at the Putilov factory between the workers and the factory administration, which fired four workers. December 27, 1904 at a meeting of representatives of the district departments of the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers" under the leadership of Gapon and with the participation of representatives of the revolutionary parties a provocative resolution was adopted against not only the administration of the plant, but also the city authorities, excluding the possibility of any positive consideration of it - it ended with an open threat to the city authorities: “If these legitimate demands of the workers are not satisfied,” the fifth paragraph of the resolution emphasized, “the union abdicates all responsibility in case of disturbance of the peace in the capital.
On January 2, 1905, at a meeting of the Narva department of the “Assembly of Russian Factory Workers”, after receiving a refusal from the directorate of the Putilov factory, factory inspection and town authorities to satisfy the requirements set forth in the resolution, it was decided to start a strike on January 3, putting forward economic demands to the directorate ( An 8-hour working day is in wartime, three-shift work, the abolition of overtime, free medical care), while organizing a procession to the Winter Palace on January 9 to present the workers' petition to the tsar.
On January 3, 1905, a strike of workers at the Putilov factory (12.6 thousand people) began. On January 4, a strike began at the Obukhov and Nevsky factories. 26 thousand people are on strike. A leaflet was issued by the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP "To all the workers of the Putilov Plant": "We need political freedom, we need freedom to strike, unions and meetings ...".
On January 4 and 5, workers from the Franco-Russian shipyard and the Semyannikovsky plant joined them. Gapon himself subsequently explained the beginning of the general strike in St. Petersburg in this way by the workers of precisely these factories. " We decided,” Gapon wrote, “... to extend the strike to the Franco-Russian shipbuilding and Semyannikovsky factories, which numbered 14,000 workers. I chose these factories because I knew that just at that time they carried out very serious orders for the needs of the war". On January 5, 1905, Metropolitan Anthony of St. Petersburg summoned Gapon twice, demanding an explanation regarding his activities, which were incompatible with the priesthood. However, Gapon did not appear either to Metropolitan Anthony or to the St. Petersburg Theological Consistory, and on the night of January 6, he fled from home, going into an illegal position.
By January 6, 40,000 people are on strike. During the blessing of water on the Neva in front of the Winter Palace, the following incident occurred: one of the guns of the battery that fired the salute fired grapeshot. Unexpectedly for everyone, large grape shot bullets fell both on the pavilion and on the facade of the Winter Palace. About 5 bullets were counted in the gazebo, of which one fell very close to the Sovereign. According to the recollections of a direct eyewitness, General A. A. Mosolov, who served as head of the office of the Ministry of the Imperial Court, no one believed that this was an accident, everyone was sure that this was an attempt on the Sovereign, outgoing from among the troops. Having perceived the incident with the restraint characteristic of him in acute situations, the Sovereign, after the reception of foreign diplomatic representatives scheduled for that day in the Winter Palace, at 16 o'clock on the same day left with his family for Tsarskoye Selo.
Revolutionaries know this. At such a moment, it would have been natural for the priest to cancel the procession, thereby preventing the shedding of blood. But Gapon seems to forget about his calling to reconcile and forgive. He becomes, as it were, the antipode of the priest, he is all a fiery revolutionary. Inspired by his role in the ongoing events, he rushes around the various branches of the "Assembly" and calls on people to fight. He is the first to talk about shooting and bloodshed: “If the soldiers shoot, we will resist. The SRs promised bombs." He and his accomplices still lead the people to Palace Square. For the flame of revolution to flare up, the blood of the working people must be shed. On the same day, Gapon met with representatives of the "Union of Liberation" headed by V. Khizhnyakov, at which he did not rule out the possibility that "they would shoot" along the procession to the Winter Palace. On January 6, Gapon also took part in a conference with representatives of the revolutionary parties "on the possibility of any joint action» between striking workers and revolutionaries during the preparation and implementation of the procession to the Winter Palace. At this meeting, the text of the petition to the Tsar was again discussed, its demands were radicalized, transferring the main meaning of its content from the economic needs of the workers to political demands on power. “... In the whole pile of memoirs and documents, not a single case of editing a petition ... directly by the workers was recorded,” one of the modern researchers of the Gapon movement rightly notes, “all the options and amendments known to us are the result of a series of narrow meetings ... It was there that the petition was born as a political document , there it was developed as a common platform, equally acceptable to both the liberal "public" and the left parties.
By January 7, 105,000 people are already on strike. Newspapers came out for the last time; from that day on, the strike, turned into a citywide strike, spread to the printing houses. The St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP decides to send its best agitators to all departments of the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers". On January 7, at a conference with the Mensheviks, Gapon said: “If they beat us, we will respond in kind, there will be victims ... Let's set up barricades, smash gun shops, break up the prison, take over the telephone and telegraph—in a word, we'll start a revolution.... ". At the same time, Gapon and his closest assistants held a meeting with representatives of the Social Democratic and Socialist-Revolutionary parties. Gapon himself described his speech to them as follows. “It has been decided that tomorrow we will go,” I told them, “but do not put up your red flags so as not to give our demonstration a revolutionary character. If you want to, go ahead of the procession (!). When I go to the Winter Palace, I will take with me two flags, one white, the other red. If the Sovereign accepts the deputation, then I will announce this with a white flag, and if he does not accept it, then with a red one, and then you you can throw out your red flags and do what you think is best". “In conclusion, I asked if they had weapons, but the Social Democrats answered me that they did not, and the Social Revolutionaries that they had several revolvers, from which, as I understood, they prepared shoot at the troops". This is the actual agreement on signals. On January 7, the petition is finalized, which is a remarkable document of its kind. Despite the expressions of loyal feelings of the workers towards their Sovereign contained in it, it was a harsh political ultimatum of the authorities, making obviously impossible demands on the Sovereign. Firstly, the petition was drawn up not only on behalf of the workers, but also on behalf of all “residents of the city of St. Petersburg of various classes” in general. The content of the petition testified that the demands were put forward not so much to satisfy the economic needs of the workers, but rather - under their cover - the interests of liberals and revolutionaries - “led immediately, immediately call on representatives of the Russian land from all classes, from all estates, representatives and from workers ... Let everyone be equal and free in the right of election, - and for this they ordered that Elections to the Constituent Assembly took place under the condition of universal, secret and equal voting. This is our biggest request... But one measure still cannot heal our wounds. Others are also needed: the immediate release and return of all those who suffered for political ... convictions; immediate declaration of freedom of speech, press, freedom of assembly; the responsibility of the ministers to the people and the guarantee of the legitimacy (?) of government; separation of church and state« . Did the workers of St. Petersburg really intend to control the ministers? Or did they, Orthodox Russian people, need a separation of church and state? This is where the sixth lie lies - there was no provocative procession that was essentially loyal. The unconditional unacceptability for the state authorities of the content of the petition drawn up under the leadership of Gapon was aggravated by the legal inadmissibility of such actions in relation to the Tsar, because Russian legislation did not provide for the right to submit such petitions to the Emperor by anyone other than representatives of the nobility, and the “Code of Punishments ”suggested bringing to court the compilers of such petitions. Therefore, from a legal point of view, Gapon's petition, even regardless of the method of its submission and content, was a crime.
So, at the very last moment, instead of the economic demands accepted and supported by the workers, a petition appears, allegedly also drawn up on behalf of the workers, but containing extremist demands for nationwide reforms, the convening of a Constituent Assembly, and a political change in the state system. All points known to the workers and actually supported by them are carried over to the conclusion. It was in its purest form a political provocation of the revolutionaries, who tried on behalf of the people in difficult military conditions to present demands to the Russian government they did not like.
The workers, who were invited to go to the Tsar for help, were introduced only to economic demands. Gapon's provocateurs, when they were going to the Tsar, even spread the rumor that the Tsar himself wanted to meet with his people. The scheme of provocation is as follows: revolutionary agitators, allegedly on behalf of the Tsar, went around and conveyed to the workers approximately the following “his” words: “I, the Tsar of God, by the grace of God, am powerless to cope with officials and bars, I want to help the people, but the nobles do not give. Rise up, Orthodox, help me, the Tsar, to overcome my and your enemies.” Many eyewitnesses told about this, for example, the Bolshevik L. Subbotina. She also relayed a dialogue with one revolutionary student: “Well, comrade Lydia, just think about the greatness of the idea,” says one student, whom we called the Fire Breather, “to use faith in the Tsar and God for the revolution ...”. Hundreds of revolutionary provocateurs walked among the people, inviting people on January 9 at two o'clock to Palace Square, declaring that the Tsar would be waiting for them there. The workers prepared for this day like a holiday: they ironed their best clothes, many were going to take their children with them. In general, for the majority of workers this day seemed like a big religious procession to the Tsar, especially since it was promised to be led by a priest, a spiritual person, traditionally revered.
By January 8, 111,000 people are on strike. The St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP issued proclamations "To all St. Petersburg workers" calling for the overthrow of the autocracy and "To the soldiers" calling not to shoot at the people. At an illegal night meeting of the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP, it was decided to take part in the procession to the Winter Palace.
Until that day, the authorities did not yet know that another petition was prepared behind the backs of the workers, with extremist demands. And when they found out, they were horrified. An order is given to arrest Gapon, but it is too late, he has fled. And it is already impossible to stop the huge avalanche - the revolutionary provocateurs have done a great job.
On January 9, hundreds of thousands of people are ready to meet with the Tsar. It cannot be canceled: the newspapers did not come out. And until late in the evening on the eve of January 9, hundreds of agitators walked through the workers' districts, exciting people, inviting them to a meeting with the Tsar. The workers fell asleep with the thought of tomorrow's meeting with the Father-Tsar. In an effort to avert tragedy, the authorities issued a notice banning the January 9 march and warning of the danger. But due to the fact that only one printing house worked, the circulation of the advertisement was small.
On January 8, Gapon sent a letter to the Minister of the Interior, from which it is clear that, for the sake of certain forces, he deceived both the workers and the Tsar himself: “Your Excellency! Gapon wrote. - The workers and residents of St. Petersburg of various classes desire and must see the Tsar on the ninth of this January, on Sunday at 2 pm on Palace Square, in order to directly express to him their needs and the needs of the entire Russian people.
The king has nothing to fear. I, as a representative of the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of the City of St. Petersburg", my fellow workers, even all the so-called revolutionary groups of various trends, guarantee the inviolability of his personality. May he come out like a true King, with a courageous heart, to His people and accept our petition from hand to hand. This requires his good, the good of the inhabitants of St. Petersburg, the good of our country.
Otherwise, the end of that moral connection that still existed between the Russian Tsar and the Russian people may come to an end.
Your duty, a great, moral duty to the Tsar and all the Russian people, immediately, today, to bring to the attention of His Imperial Highness (as in the source - A.S.) both all of the above and our petition attached here. Tell the Tsar that I, the workers and many thousands of the Russian people, peacefully, with faith in him, have decided to irrevocably go to the Winter Palace. Let him treat us with confidence in deeds, and not only in manifestos. copy from this acquittal document of a moral nature has been removed and will be brought to the attention of the entire Russian people. January 8, 1905 Fr. Gapon
Obviously, Gapon, deceiving both the Tsar and the People, hid from them the subversive work that was carried out by his entourage behind their backs. He promised immunity to the Tsar, but he himself knew very well that the so-called revolutionaries whom he invited to participate in the procession would come out with the slogans “Down with the autocracy”, “Long live the revolution”, and bombs and revolvers would be in their pockets. Finally, Gapon's letter had an unacceptably ultimatum character - a native Russian did not dare to speak with the Tsar in such a language and, of course, would hardly have approved this message. Gapon and the criminal forces standing behind him were preparing to kill the Tsar himself. Later, after the events of January 9, Gapon was asked in a narrow circle: “Well, Father Georgy, now we are alone and there is nothing to be afraid that dirty linen will be taken out of the hut, and it’s a thing of the past. You know how much they talked about the event of January 9 and how often one could hear the judgment that if the Sovereign accepted the deputation with honor, listen to the deputies kindly, everything would have turned out in a good way. Well, what do you think, oh. George, what would happen if the Sovereign went out to the people? Quite unexpectedly, but in a sincere tone, Gapon replied: "They would have killed in half a minute, half a second!" So, when the enemies of the authorities then wrote that the Sovereign "would have to go out to the crowd and agree to at least one of its demands" (which one - about the constituent assembly?) and then "the whole crowd would kneel before him" - that was the grossest distortion of reality.
January 9, 1905
Now, now that we know all these circumstances, we can take a different look at the events of January 9, 1905 itself. Winter Palace to transfer the petition personally to the Sovereign. Other columns were to be prevented from reaching the Palace Square, but shot on the approaches to the city center, which would have fueled the indignation of those gathered at the palace. At the moment when the Sovereign appeared for a pacifying appeal, the terrorist was supposed to kill the Emperor. Further, the elements excited by blood would complete the destruction of the Royal Family. Part of this diabolical plan succeeded.
By six o'clock in the morning on January 9, 1905, the workers of the capital's outskirts began to gather at the assembly points of 11 departments of the Assembly. On the morning of January 9, Gapon himself went to the southwestern part of the city, beyond the Narva outpost, where one of the largest groups of workers was located, who at the same time and from different parts of St. Petersburg were going to move to Palace Square. Without serving the liturgy (this is on a Sunday), on the morning of January 9, Gapon leads people to death.
The beginning of the mass procession of the workers of Petersburg in that part of the city where Gapon was located, he described in his memoirs as follows: “I thought it would be good to give the whole demonstration a religious character, and immediately sent several workers to the nearest church for banners and images, but they refused to give them to us. Then I sent 100 men to take them by force and after a few minutes they brought them. Then I ordered that a royal portrait be brought from our department in order to emphasize the peaceful and decent character of our procession. The crowd grew to enormous proportions... "Should we go straight to the Narva outpost or take a roundabout way?" they asked me. "Straight to the outpost, take heart(?), or death or freedom,” I shouted. In response, there was a thunderous "hurrah". The procession moved to the powerful singing of “Save, O Lord, Thy people,” and when it came to the words “Our Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich,” representatives of the socialist parties invariably replaced them with the words “save Georgy Apollonovich,” while others repeated “death or freedom.” The procession was in full force. My two bodyguards walked ahead of me ... ". This clearly indicates that the Orthodox-monarchical paraphernalia in this procession was used as a disguise and was combined with a very active desire of the representatives of the revolutionary parties participating in it to direct the actions of the workers along the path of their tough confrontation with the authorities, even despite the fact that among the workers were women and children.
The total number of participants in the procession to Palace Square is estimated at about 300 thousand people. Individual columns numbered several tens of thousands. This huge mass fatally moved towards the center and the closer it came to it, the more it was subjected to agitation by revolutionary provocateurs. There were no shots yet, and some people spread the most incredible rumors about mass executions. Attempts by the police, who, of course, were not intended to counter the large crowds, to introduce the procession into the framework of order, were rebuffed. specially organized groups.
The procession from the Narva outpost, as already mentioned, was led by Gapon himself, who constantly shouted out: “If we are refused, then we no more king". The column approached the Obvodny Canal, where the ranks of soldiers blocked its path. The officers suggested that the crowd, which was pushing harder and harder, stop, but it did not obey. The first volleys followed, blank ones. The crowd was ready to return, but Gapon and his assistants went forward and dragged the crowd along. Live shots rang out. At the first shots fired at the workers by the troops, along with the workers, the policemen who accompanied the Gapon procession were killed or wounded. On the Petrograd side, after provocative shots were fired from the crowd, the troops were also forced, following warning volleys into the air, to make a volley at people.
Events developed in approximately the same way in other places - on the Vyborg side, on the Shlisselburg tract. There, from the very beginning of the “march”, red banners appeared, the slogans “Down with the autocracy!”, “Long live the revolution!” On Vasilyevsky Island, even before the first shots were fired, a crowd led by the Bolshevik L.D. Davydov, captured Schaff's weapons workshop. 200 people defeated the administration of the 2nd section of the Vasilyevsky police unit. The crowd, excited by trained militants, smashed weapons stores and erected barricades. “In Brick Lane,” the Head of the Police Department Lopukhin reported to the Tsar, “the crowd attacked two policemen, one of them was beaten.” By the way, the greatest number of victims on both sides was brought not by the pacification of the demonstrators in the first half of the day, but by the skirmishes with the rioters on Vasilyevsky Island, when the militants tried to hold the arsenals and local weapons stores. All this clearly shows that all statements about a "peaceful" demonstration are lies (seventh).
Lopukhin, who, by the way, sympathized with the socialists, wrote about these events: “Electrified by agitation, crowds of workers, not succumbing to the usual general police measures and even cavalry attacks, stubbornly rushed to the Winter Palace, and then, irritated by the resistance, began to attack military units . This state of affairs led to the need to take emergency measures to restore order, and military units had to act against huge gatherings of workers with firearms ... "
On the evening of January 9, Gapon wrote a slanderous inflammatory leaflet: “January 9, 12 midnight. To the soldiers and officers who killed their innocent brothers, their wives and children, and to all the oppressors of the people, my pastoral curse; soldiers who will help the people to achieve freedom, my blessing. I allow their soldier's oath to the traitor Tsar, who ordered to shed the innocent blood of the people. Priest George Gapon. Subsequently, in the Socialist-Revolutionary Russia press organ, this false priest called: “Ministers, mayors, governors, police officers, police officers, guards, gendarmes and spies, generals and officers who order to shoot at you - kill… All measures so that you have real weapons and dynamite on time - know that they have been taken... Refuse to go to war ... Revolt at the direction of the combat committee ... Destroy water pipelines, gas pipelines, telephones, telegraph, lighting, horse trams, trams, railways ... ".
In order to suppress unrest in the capital, the post of St. Petersburg governor-general (D.F. Trepov became it), who is given emergency powers. Trepov managed to find the right line of conduct. In a fairly short time, he restored order in St. Petersburg - every day Trepov had meetings either with the factory owners, or with representatives of the workers or other sections of the population. Where necessary, he was not afraid to show firmness, realizing that the revelry of subversive elements and anarchy would cost many times more sacrifices. His famous order to the troops "to spare no cartridges", despite his outward bloodthirstiness, actually stopped the bloodshed. The crowds, set on fire by the subversive elements, feared the troops after this energetic order, and not a single shot was fired that day. Further street clashes were stopped almost within one day. On January 11, the troops were returned to the barracks, and the order on the streets of the city was again controlled by the police, reinforced by Cossack patrols. Already on January 14, the strike in St. Petersburg began to wane. On January 17, the Putilov plant resumed work. On January 29, a “Commission was created to find out the causes of the discontent of the workers in St. Petersburg and its suburbs and to find measures to eliminate them in the future”, which eventually achieved complete appeasement of the workers of the capital. Thus ended the first act of a pre-planned bloody anti-Russian turmoil, later called the "Russian revolution".
Hard day
In comparison with Gapon's exuberant satanic malice, the reaction of Emperor Nicholas II to what happened is remarkable. The tragic meaning of the catastrophe on January 9 was realized by him in the evening of that day. Deliberately avoiding in his diary lengthy and emotional assessments of the events that took place in his life, on January 9, 1905, the Sovereign made the following diary entry: “A hard day! Serious riots broke out in St. Petersburg as a result of the desire of the workers to reach the Winter Palace. The troops had to shoot in different parts of the city, there were many killed and wounded. Lord, how painful and hard!”. On January 19, addressing the working delegation, the Tsar, who allocated 50,000 rubles from his own funds to help the victims (an average of six months' earnings for each dead), gave a correct assessment of the events of "Bloody Sunday": "Unfortunate events , with sad but the inevitable consequences of turmoil, occurred because you allowed yourself to be led astray and deceived by traitors and enemies of our country. Inviting you to go and petition Me for your needs, they raised you to rebellion against Me and My government, forcibly tearing you away from honest labor at a time when all truly Russian people must work together and tirelessly to overcome our stubborn external enemy."
Believing in the sanity and devotion of the Russian people, the Tsar turned to him with a manifesto in which he called on "well-meaning people to help the government in eradicating sedition and strengthening the Autocracy." The Holy Tsar-Martyr with an open heart went towards the people, realizing that in order to counteract the forces hostile to Russia, it is necessary to unite all honest Russian people. The Tsar rightly considered the undermining of the autocratic, Orthodox-monarchical principle as the destruction of Russia, the blame for which and the blood associated with it lies entirely with those who, in the expectation of a world fire, ignited the hellish flame of theomachism in our Motherland.
It was with the money received from Akash that on January 1, 1905 (Old Style), Lenin published the first issue of the Bolshevik newspaper Vperyod. Subsequently, after January 9, the financing of the revolutionaries by the Japanese continued. So, only in the spring of 1905, Japanese intelligence gave the revolutionaries funds for the purchase of 14 thousand rifles with a total value of 382 thousand francs. In addition, the Socialist-Revolutionaries received 200,000 francs from Japanese money for the smuggling of weapons to Russia (for the purchase of the ship Calixta Garzia and pay for the crew). To organize an uprising in the Black Sea Fleet, in order to prevent its redeployment to the Far East, Japan allocated another 40,000 yen. The personality of this person is characterized, for example, by the following facts: even during his studies at the seminary, he allowed himself to be rude and even blackmailed towards teachers, as a result of which in 1893 he received a diploma of the second degree and "failed" in behavior, which created obstacles for him to receiving dignity; he argued that Christ for him, as well as for his teacher L. Tolstoy, is only the greatest man, the righteous, while he serves the liturgy only as a remembrance and an occasion for delivering a sermon; in the summer of 1902, he seduces the minor pupil of the Blue Cross orphanage, Alexandra Uzdaleva (even before that, he liked to visit the pupils' chambers, wrote immodest poems in their albums, and sinned against chastity); after the discovery of this circumstance, he continues to live with Uzdaleva, declaring her his common-law wife, because of which, according to the 25th Apostolic Canon, Gapon was not supposed to continue the priesthood. The revolutionaries looked at Gapon more realistically. Socialist-Revolutionary P. Rutenberg, assigned by his party to Gapon for a long time and independently of the "staff", says frankly these days: "Gapon is a pawn and the whole question is who moves this pawn." And they decide to "move" against the tsar and his government. who, by the way, worked as the head of the workshop of the Putilov factory. Socialist-Revolutionary fighters were preparing another attempt on the Tsar, which was supposed to take place at the ball. Terrorist Tatyana Leontyeva managed to sneak into the confidence of the organizers of one of the secular balls and received an offer to engage in a charitable sale of flowers. She offered to personally commit regicide. However, the ball was cancelled. What is a revolution without storming its "Bastille"? Isn't it familiar? That's who, it turns out, studied "the leader of the proletarian revolution." The work of a significant part was paralyzed defense enterprises, which was noted with joy by Japanese intelligence. A strike committee was put together, a large money fund was created to help the strikers (mostly from the same foreign funds; the workers, of course, did not know about this), from which they were paid benefits no less than their wages. All the threads of the strikes were drawn to the organization, which was formally headed by Gapon, in fact, it was in the hands of experienced "revolutionaries" like Rutenberg. In the Russian Empire, there never existed police officers, not only divisions, but also regiments. Therefore, in order to prevent the advance of columns of demonstrators into the central part of the city, where government offices were located, the authorities were forced to use troops, naturally untrained in such actions.
On January 22 (9 according to the old style), 1905, the troops and the police broke up a peaceful procession of St. Petersburg workers who were going to the Winter Palace to hand Nicholas II a collective petition about the needs of the workers. In the course of the demonstration, as Maxim Gorky described the events in his famous novel The Life of Klim Samgin, ordinary people also joined the workers. The bullets flew at them too. Many were trampled down by a frightened crowd of demonstrators who rushed to run after the execution began.
Everything that happened in St. Petersburg on January 22 went down in history under the name "Bloody Sunday". In many ways, it was the bloody events of that day off that predetermined the further decline of the Russian Empire.
But like any global event that turned the course of history, "Bloody Sunday" gave rise to a lot of rumors and mysteries, which hardly anyone can unravel after 109 years. What are these riddles - in the selection of "RG".
1. Proletarian solidarity or a cunning conspiracy?
The spark from which the flame flared up was the dismissal of four workers from the Putilov factory in St. Petersburg, famous for the fact that at one time the first cannonball was cast there and the production of railway rails was launched. “When the demand for their return was not satisfied,” writes an eyewitness of what was happening, “the plant immediately became very friendly. they sent a deputation to other factories with a message of their demands and a proposal to join. Thousands and tens of thousands of workers began to join the movement. As a result, 26,000 people were on strike. A meeting of Russian factory workers in St. Petersburg, headed by priest Georgy Gapon, prepared a petition for the needs of the workers and residents of St. Petersburg. The main idea there was the convening of a people's representation on the terms of universal, secret and equal voting. In addition to this, a number of political and economic demands were put forward, such as freedom and inviolability of the person, freedom of speech, press, assembly, freedom of conscience in matters of religion, public education at public expense, equality of all before the law, responsibility of ministers to the people, guarantees legitimacy of government, replacement of indirect taxes with direct progressive income tax, introduction of an 8-hour working day, amnesty for political prisoners, separation of church and state The petition ended with a direct appeal to the king. Moreover, this idea belonged to Gapon himself and was expressed by him long before the January events. Menshevik A. A. Sukhov recalled that back in the spring of 1904, Gapon, in a conversation with workers, developed his idea: “The officials interfere with the people, but the people will come to an agreement with the tsar.
However, there is no smoke without fire. Therefore, subsequently, both the monarchist-minded parties and movements, and the Russian emigration, assessed the Sunday procession as nothing more than a carefully prepared conspiracy, one of the developers of which was Leon Trotsky, and whose main goal was to kill the tsar. The workers were simply set up, as they say. And Gapon was chosen as the leader of the uprising only because he was popular among the workers of St. Petersburg. Peaceful manifestations were not planned. According to the plan of the engineer and active revolutionary Peter Rutenberg, clashes and a general uprising were to take place, the weapons for which were already available. And it was delivered from abroad, in particular, Japan. Ideally, the king should have gone out to the people. And the conspirators planned to kill the king. But was it really so? Or was it still ordinary proletarian solidarity? The workers were simply very annoyed by the fact that they were forced to work seven days a week, paid little and irregularly, and, in addition, they were fired. And then it went and went.
2. A provocateur or an agent of the tsarist secret police?
Around George Gapon, a half-educated priest (at one time he abandoned the Poltava Theological Seminary), there were always many legends. How could this young man, although, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, possessed a bright appearance and outstanding oratorical qualities, become the leader of the workers?
In the notes of the prosecutor of the St. Petersburg Court of Justice to the Minister of Justice dated January 4-9, 1905, there is such a note: “The named priest has acquired extraordinary importance in the eyes of the people. Most consider him a prophet who came from God to protect the working people. To this, legends about him are added invulnerability, elusiveness, etc. Women speak of him with tears in their eyes. Relying on the religiosity of the vast majority of workers, Gapon carried away the entire mass of factory workers and artisans, so that at present about 200,000 people are participating in the movement. Using precisely this side of the moral forces of a Russian commoner, Gapon, in the words of one person, "slapped" the revolutionaries, who lost all significance in these unrest, issuing only 3 proclamations in an insignificant number. By order of Father Gapon, the workers drive the agitators away from themselves and destroy the leaflets, blindly follow her spiritual father. With this way of thinking of the crowd, she undoubtedly firmly and convincedly believes in the rightness of his desire to submit a petition to the king and have an answer from him, believing that if students are persecuted for their propaganda and demonstrations, then an attack on a crowd going to the king with a cross and a priest will be clear evidence of the impossibility for the subjects of the king to ask him for their needs.
During Soviet times, the historical literature was dominated by the version according to which Gapon was an agent provocateur of the tsarist secret police. “Back in 1904, before the Putilov strike,” the “Short Course of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks” said, “with the help of the provocateur priest Gapon, the police created their own organization among the workers - the Assembly of Russian Factory Workers.” This organization had its branches in When the strike began, priest Gapon at the meetings of his society proposed a provocative plan: on January 9, let all the workers gather and, in a peaceful procession with banners and royal portraits, go to the Winter Palace and submit a petition (request) to the tsar about their needs. they say, he will go out to the people, listen and satisfy their demands. Gapon undertook to help the tsarist secret police: to cause the execution of workers and drown the labor movement in blood.
Although for some reason Lenin's statements were completely forgotten in the "Short Course". Already a few days after January 9 (22), V.I. Lenin wrote in the article "Revolutionary Days": "Gapon's letters, written by him after the massacre on January 9, that "we have no tsar", calling him to fight for freedom etc. - all these are facts that speak in favor of his honesty and sincerity, because such powerful agitation for the continuation of the uprising could no longer be included in the tasks of a provocateur. Further, Lenin wrote that the question of Gapon's sincerity "could be decided only by unfolding historical events, only by facts, facts and facts. And the facts decided this question in favor of Gapon." After the arrival of Gapon abroad, when he set about preparing an armed uprising, the revolutionaries openly recognized him as their colleague. However, after the return of Gapon to Russia after the Manifesto of October 17, the old enmity flared up with renewed vigor.
Another common myth about Gapon was that he was a paid agent of the tsarist secret police. The studies of modern historians do not confirm this version, since it has no documentary basis. So, according to the research of the historian-archivist S. I. Potolov, Gapon cannot be considered an agent of the tsarist secret police, since he was never listed in the lists and file cabinets of agents of the security department. In addition, until 1905, Gapon legally could not be an agent of the security department, since the law strictly prohibited the recruitment of representatives of the clergy as agents. Gapon cannot be considered an agent of the Okhrana for factual reasons, since he has never been engaged in intelligence activities. Gapon is not involved in the extradition of a single person to the police who would be arrested or punished on his tip. There is not a single denunciation written by Gapon. According to the historian I. N. Ksenofontov, all attempts by Soviet ideologists to portray Gapon as a police agent were based on the juggling of facts.
Although Gapon, of course, cooperated with the Police Department and even received large sums of money from him. But this cooperation was not of the nature of undercover activity. According to Generals A. I. Spiridovich and A. V. Gerasimov, Gapon was invited to cooperate with the Police Department not as an agent, but as an organizer and agitator. Gapon's task was to fight the influence of revolutionary propagandists and convince the workers of the advantages of peaceful methods of fighting for their interests. In accordance with this attitude, Gapon set up and his students explained to the workers the advantages of legal methods of struggle. The police department, considering this activity useful for the state, supported Gapon and from time to time supplied him with sums of money. Gapon himself, as the head of the "Assembly", went to officials from the Police Department and made reports to them on the state of the labor issue in St. Petersburg. Gapon did not hide his relationship with the Police Department and the receipt of money from him from his workers. Living abroad, in his autobiography, Gapon described the history of his relationship with the Police Department, in which he explained the fact of receiving money from the police.
Did he know what he was leading the workers on January 9 (22)? Here is what Gapon himself wrote: "January 9 is a fatal misunderstanding. In this, in any case, it is not society that is to blame with me at the head ... I really went to the king with naive faith for the truth, and the phrase:" at the cost of our own lives, we guarantee the inviolability of the individual sovereign" was not an empty phrase. But if for me and for my faithful comrades the person of the sovereign was and is sacred, then the good of the Russian people is dearest to us. at the head, under the bullets and bayonets of the soldiers, in order to testify with their blood to the truth - namely, the urgency of the renewal of Russia on the basis of truth. (G. A. Gapon. Letter to the Minister of Internal Affairs ").
3. Who killed Gapon?
In March 1906, Georgy Gapon left St. Petersburg on the Finnish Railway and did not return. According to the workers, he went to a business meeting with a representative of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. When leaving, Gapon did not take any things or weapons with him, and promised to return by evening. The workers were worried that something bad had happened to him. But no one did much research.
It was only in mid-April that reports appeared in the newspapers that Gapon had been killed by Peter Rutenberg, a member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. It was reported that Gapon was strangled with a rope and his corpse was hanging on one of the empty dachas near St. Petersburg. The messages have been confirmed. On April 30, at the dacha of Zverzhinskaya in Ozerki, the body of a murdered man was found, who by all signs resembled Gapon. The workers of the Gapon organizations confirmed that the murdered man was Georgy Gapon. An autopsy showed that death was due to strangulation. According to preliminary data, Gapon was invited to the dacha by a person well known to him, was attacked and strangled with a rope and hung on a hook driven into the wall. At least 3-4 people were involved in the murder. The person who rented the dacha was identified by a janitor from a photograph. It turned out to be engineer Peter Rutenberg.
Rutenberg himself did not admit to the allegations and subsequently claimed that Gapon was killed by the workers. According to a certain "hunter for provocateurs" Burtsev, Gapon was strangled with his own hand by a certain Derental, a professional killer from the entourage of the terrorist B. Savinkov.
4. How many victims were there?
The "Short Course on the History of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks" contained the following data: more than 1,000 killed and more than 2,000 wounded. at the same time, in his article "Revolutionary Days" in the newspaper "Vperyod" Lenin wrote: the figure cannot be complete, because even during the day (not to mention the night) it would be impossible to count all the dead and wounded in all the skirmishes.
In comparison with him, the writer V. D. Bonch-Bruevich tried to somehow substantiate such figures (in his article of 1929). He proceeded from the fact that 12 companies of different regiments fired 32 volleys, a total of 2861 shots. Having allowed 16 misfires per volley per company, for 110 shots, Bonch-Bruevich threw off 15 percent, that is, 430 shots, attributed the same amount to misses, received 2000 hits in the remainder and came to the conclusion that at least 4 thousand people suffered. His methodology was thoroughly criticized by the historian S. N. Semanov in his book Bloody Sunday. For example, Bonch-Bruyevich considered a volley of two companies of grenadiers at the Sampsonievsky bridge (220 shots), while in fact no shots were fired at this place. Not 100 soldiers fired at the Alexander Garden, as Bonch-Bruevich believed, but 68. In addition, the even distribution of hits is completely incorrect - one bullet per person (many received several wounds, which was registered by hospital doctors); and part of the soldiers deliberately fired upwards. Semanov was in solidarity with the Bolshevik V.I. Nevsky (who considered the most plausible total figure of 800-1000 people), without specifying how many were killed and how many wounded, although Nevsky gave such a division in his 1922 article: "Figures of five or more thousand, which were called in the early days are clearly incorrect. One can approximately determine the number of wounded from 450 to 800 and killed from 150 to 200. "
According to the same Semanov, the government first reported that only 76 people were killed and 223 were wounded, then they made an amendment that 130 were killed and 229 were wounded. To this it must be added that a leaflet issued by the RSDLP immediately after the events of January 9 stated that "at least 150 people were killed, but many hundreds were wounded."
According to the modern publicist O. A. Platonov, on January 9, there were 96 killed (including a police officer) and up to 333 wounded, of which 34 more people died by the old style by January 27 (including one assistant bailiff). Thus, in total, 130 people were killed and died of wounds and about 300 were injured.
5. Come out the king to the balcony ...
"A hard day! Serious unrest occurred in St. Petersburg due to the desire of the workers to reach the Winter Palace. The troops were supposed to shoot in different parts of the city, there were many killed and wounded. Lord, how painful and hard!" Nicholas II wrote after the events in St. Petersburg .
Baron Wrangel’s comment is noteworthy: “One thing seems certain to me: if the Sovereign came out onto the balcony, if he listened to the people one way or another, nothing would happen, except that the tsar would become more popular than he was ... How the prestige of his great-grandfather, Nicholas I, was strengthened, after his appearance during the cholera riot on Sennaya Square! But the Tsar was only Nicholas II, and not the Second Nicholas ... "The Tsar did not go anywhere. And what happened happened.
6. A sign from above?
According to eyewitnesses, during the dispersal of the procession on January 9, a rare natural phenomenon was observed in the sky of St. Petersburg - a halo. According to the memoirs of the writer L. Ya. Gurevich, “in the cloudy, hazy sky, the cloudy-red sun gave two reflections around itself in the fog, and it seemed to the eyes that there were three suns in the sky. Then, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, an unusual bright rainbow in winter lit up in the sky, and when it dimmed and disappeared, a snow storm arose.
Other witnesses saw a similar picture. According to scientists, a similar natural phenomenon is observed in frosty weather and is caused by the refraction of sunlight in ice crystals floating in the atmosphere. Visually, it manifests itself in the form of false suns (parhelia), circles, rainbows or solar pillars. In the old days, such phenomena were considered as heavenly signs, foreshadowing trouble.
Among the labels affixed to Russian history in the 20th century, perhaps the most absurd were the mythologems about the good grandfather Lenin and Tsar Nicholas the Bloody, although everything was exactly the opposite. If there was a bloody ruler in Russia, then he actually was Vladimir Ulyanov. But the story of him lies ahead of us. So far, in our story the year is 1905 and Lenin's political role is close to zero. On the hills of Manchuria, the cannons of the Japanese war rumble, and in Russia the hellish flames of the revolution boil. And the evil day of January 9 is approaching - the day that gave rise to the monstrous myth of the bloody tsar and the good people's defenders of the revolutionaries.
Russian Empire in 1905
Despite the tremendous help provided by England and the Wall Street banking houses, Japan was unable to win the war. The huge economic potential of the empire of Nicholas II was beginning to show. Only the last assault on Port Arthur cost the Japanese 22 thousand people killed, among whom were both sons of the Japanese commander-in-chief of the fleet, Admiral Togo. The Russian military industry began to gain momentum.
The transfer of troops to the Far East was in full swing. By the beginning of 1905, the Russian field army in the Far East alone numbered 300 thousand people and for the first time since the beginning of the war became more numerous than the Japanese. The total number of troops in the theater reached 1 million. The Siberian railway now passed up to 14 pairs of trains a day, instead of 4 at the beginning of the war. The losses of the Japanese killed approached 90 thousand people, despite the fact that the Russian losses were half as much. Japan's economy was running at its breaking point, despite Schiff and company's aid of more than $30 million. In terms of today's money, this assistance would amount to at least $20 billion.
“Time worked in favor of Russia; her powerful organism should have affected - more powerful both militarily and financially ”(S.S. Oldenburg“ The Reign of Emperor Nicholas II ”).
The army was sure of victory. Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich also had no doubts about the defeat of Japan, well aware of the difference in the potentials of Russia, which had just begun to wake up, and the country of the rising sun, which had already overstrained itself by that moment. 1905 promised to be a year of victory and joy, but everything turned out differently.
Tsesarevich
In the midst of the war, a joyful event occurred in the personal life of the sovereign: he had a long-awaited son, the heir Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich. The joy of the parents knew no bounds, and the point was not only that after 4 daughters the king finally had a son, but also that his birth strengthened the internal position in the country, removed a possible struggle for the throne in case of death or illness Nicholas II. However, the joy was soon overshadowed by bitter news - the Tsarevich turned out to be sick with hemophilia. Any cut, bruise, abrasion could lead to death. Since then, constant fear and anxiety for a small child appeared in the royal house. The serious illness of Tsarevich Alexei, the future royal martyr, although it brought incredible suffering, was only a physical illness.
Russian society was sick spiritually. The Russian elite did not want victory for their country. The Russian intelligentsia sent greeting cards to the Japanese emperor, rejoicing at Russian defeats and Russian deaths. The complex of negative self-perception in society bordered on a condition similar to the condition of a patient with sadomasochism. If even the highest officials were ill, in the words of Danilovsky, with the "disease of foreignness", that is, dislike for their Fatherland and admiration for everything foreign, then what can we say about the simple intelligentsia, infected with liberal ideology, and sometimes even Marxism. It is clear that in such a situation, Japanese intelligence had someone to rely on in our country.
Preparing for a bloody provocation
Russian intelligence became aware of the inter-party conference of the Social Revolutionaries and Finnish radicals that had taken place in Geneva. It decided to organize an armed uprising in St. Petersburg. The bet was placed on the figure of the so-called priest Gapon and his popularity among the workers of St. Petersburg. Peaceful manifestations were not planned. Work was underway to deliver large quantities of weapons to Russia. The Japanese intelligence officer Colonel Akashi actively joined this task. The Japanese General Staff hurried the revolutionaries with all their might.
“Work hard. Find a shipping method. We should finish soon.” (Colonel Akashi)
In 1905, a real civil war was being prepared on the mountain of Russia. Its customers were American Jewish bankers, England, Japan and America itself. Revolutionary terrorist organizations and national separatists of all stripes were chosen as the executors. At the same time, it is worth noting the fact that tsarist Russia, being a strong military and economic power, was absolutely unprepared to fight internal rebellions. Although liberals and communists called the Russian Empire a police state, in reality it was not so. The advanced intelligentsia dreamed of Western democracy without the police, although in Western countries the police apparatus was much more powerful than in the "prison of peoples" unloved by liberals.
« There were only 10,000 gendarmes for the entire Russian Empire. In republican France, which was four times less populous than Russia, there were 36,000 gendarmes. They were denounced by a power that our police never dreamed of. (A.A. Kersnovsky "History of the Russian Army").
At the end of 1904, about a week before January 9, later called Bloody Sunday, preparations began for an uprising in St. Petersburg. On November 28, under the leadership of Rutenberg and under the chairmanship of Gapon, a meeting was held at which a general plan was developed for the speech scheduled for January 9. The Social Revolutionary-Gaponian plan was as follows: having arranged a strike at the Putilov factory, under the guise of a meeting of factory workers, to organize a general procession of the people to the tsar. For purposes of disguise, the demonstration was to be originally of a monarchical nature, and the petition intended to be presented to the Tsar was to be purely economic; and only at the last moment should radical revolutionary demands be made. Then, according to Rutenberg's plan, clashes and a general uprising were to take place, for which weapons were already available. Ideally, the king should have gone out to the people. The conspirators planned to kill the king.
The Iskra newspaper drew a parallel between the events of January 9, 1905 in Russia and October 5-6, 1789 in France, when the demonstrators also wanted to see the monarch:
“Thousands of crowds of workers decided to gather at the Winter Palace and demand that the Tsar personally go out onto the balcony to accept the petition and swear that the demands of the people will be fulfilled. This is how the heroes of the Bastille and the campaign against Versailles addressed their "good king"! And then there was a cheer in honor of the monarch who appeared to the crowd at her request, but in this cheer sounded the death sentence of the monarchy.
Strike at the Putilov factory
It all started with a provocation at the Putilov factory. During the Christmas holidays, a false rumor was spread among the workers of the plant about the dismissal of 4 people. The factory went on strike. On January 3, Gapon arrived at the plant with a petition drawn up by the Socialist-Revolutionaries with obviously unacceptable demands.
Recall that the strike at the Putilov factory, which was fulfilling an order for the Japanese front, began in wartime. Try to imagine a strike in 1943 during the Great Patriotic War. What would happen to the strikers then? The answer is obvious - execution without trial or investigation. But in tsarist Russia, called the “prison of peoples,” negotiations begin with the workers. On January 4, the director of the Putilov factory accepts Gapon's petition and replies as follows:
“For the Putilov factory, which fulfills emergency orders for the Manchurian army, the establishment of an 8-hour working day is hardly acceptable” (from the work “The Beginning of the First Russian Revolution”).
After that, using a meeting of factory workers, the Social Revolutionaries organize a wave of strikes. The strikes are being organized according to the plan worked out by Trotsky, who was still abroad at the time. The principle of chain transmission is used: workers from one strike factory burst into another and agitate for a strike; those who refuse to strike are subject to threats and physical terror.
“In some factories this morning, workers wanted to start work, but they were approached from neighboring factories and persuaded to stop work. After that, the strike began ”(Minister of Justice N.V. Muravyov).
revolutionary petition
On January 8, at a general meeting of the Social Revolutionaries, a new, purely revolutionary petition was adopted, demanding the separation of church and state and the responsibility of ministers to the people. It was decided not to make public this petition before the workers. The St. Petersburg mayor Fulon completely trusted Gapon and was not opposed to the procession organized by the factory assembly of workers. But on January 8, a secret note from Kremenetsky appeared in the police department:
“According to the information received, the revolutionary organizations intend to take advantage of the workers' march expected tomorrow ... The Socialist-Revolutionaries intend to take advantage of the disorder to plunder weapons stores. Today, during a meeting of workers in the Narva department, an agitator came there, but was beaten by the workers.”
The episode with the beating of the revolutionary agitator proves that the workers were deceived by the revolutionaries and Gapon and did not have any revolutionary sentiments, but were going to go to the tsar with purely economic demands. But the revolutionaries were preparing a massacre for the people and the authorities using Japanese money.
“On Sunday, Gapon appointed a procession to the Winter Palace. Gapon intends to stock up on weapons ”(from a letter from the Bolshevik S.I. Gusev to V.I. Lenin).
January 8 Gapon sends political demands to the Minister of Justice Muravyov. Ants is horrified... But Gapon is not arrested. At a meeting with the Minister of Internal Affairs, Svyatopolk-Mirsky, it was decided not to allow workers into the center and to send troops into the city. Take control of the power plants, gas works, the Putilov plant and the Syromyatnikov factory. The troops were allowed to use weapons only as a last resort.
But the revolutionaries needed blood. Gapon knew in advance what he was leading the workers to.
“A great moment is coming for all of us, do not grieve if there are victims not in the fields of Manchuria, but here, on the streets of St. Petersburg. The shed blood will renew Russia” (Gapon “The Story of My Life”).
Interestingly, both the Minister of the Interior Svyatopolk-Mirsky, and the Minister of Justice Muravyov, and the St. Petersburg mayor Fulon were afraid to report to the emperor about the impending demonstration and the conspiracy of the Socialist-Revolutionaries.
“Svyatopolk-Mirsky deceived the monarch. He considered it necessary to convince Nicholas II that calm had come in the capital ”(F.M. Lurie“ Zubatov and Gapon ”).