The socio-political development of Russia in 1894-1904 is associated with the formation of a new way of thinking among the broad masses of the population. Instead of the usual "God Save the Tsar!" “Down with autocracy!” was openly heard in the streets. All this eventually led to a catastrophe, which had no analogues in the entire thousand-year history of our state. What happened? A conspiracy at the top, reinforced by external factors, or did social development really lead to the fact that the people demanded change?
Why, with the highest flourishing of the economy, science, culture, education, agriculture, industry in the country, the emperor turned into a "bloody king"? Of course, history has no subjunctive mood. But if Nicholas II had really been a “bloodthirsty executioner of peoples,” as his contemporaries called him, there would have been no revolution, and the workers of the Putilov factory, who paralyzed all military production in the main industrial city of the country during the World War, would have been shot as “traitors to the Motherland”. This happened already after the Revolution, during the period when the communists were in power. But in 1884 no onecould know it. More details about the social development of the society of that time will be discussed later.
How it all started
The change in public consciousness began on October 20, 1894. On this day, Emperor Alexander III died, who received the nickname "Reformer" from grateful contemporaries and descendants. His son Nicholas II came to the throne - one of the most controversial personalities in our history, along with Ivan the Terrible and Joseph Stalin. But, unlike them, the emperor was never able to hang the label of "murderer" and "executioner", although, perhaps, everything possible was done for this among Soviet historians. It was under the last Russian tsar that the dynamics of social development began to grow at a gigantic pace towards the overthrow of the autocracy. But first things first.
Biography of Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov
Nicholas II was born on May 6, 1868. On this day, Christians venerate St. Job the Long-suffering. The emperor himself believed - this is a sign that says that he is doomed to suffering in life. And so it happened later - social development led to the fact that the hatred of the autocracy among the people over the previous centuries reached a boiling point and resulted in irreversible consequences. The centuries-old anger of the people fell precisely on the king who, more than all his ancestors, cared about the well-being of his own people. Of course, many will argue with this point of view, but, as they say, how many people, so many opinions.
Nicholas II was well educated, knew several foreign languages perfectly inperfection, but always spoke Russian.
Liberal politicians labeled him as a weak, weak-willed person who did not make independent decisions and was always under the influence of women: first his mother, and then his wife. Decisions, in their opinion, were made by the adviser, who last consulted with the emperor. The communists called him a "bloody tyrant" who led Russia to disaster.
I would like to object to all the labels, and remember the bloody year of 1921 with the mass executions of the Cheka, as well as the period of Stalin's repressions. The "bloody tyrant" did not even shoot those who, during the World War, sabotaged the supply of bread and ammunition to the front at the end of 1916, when Russian soldiers were dying of hunger, and the lack of ammunition forced them to go on the attack with their bare hands on machine guns. Of course, ordinary soldiers did not understand the true reasons for what was happening, and skillful agitators quickly found the culprit of all the troubles in the person of the last Russian emperor.
Nicholas II was not a weak-willed person who personally made many political decisions contrary to the opinions of the surrounding minority, the bourgeoisie, the top of the nobility and court relatives. But all of them were not “the whims of a petty tyrant”, but solved the serious problems of the broad masses of the population. He called the last of the advisers only the one who shared his point of view, hence the erroneous opinion of liberal politicians.
January 17, 1895 Nicholas II announced the preservation of the autocracy and the old order, which automatically predetermined the further development of the country. The revolutionary base after these words began to form withwith unprecedented speed, as if someone purposefully organized it from the outside.
The social and political development of Russia in 1894-1904: the struggle in the highest echelons of power
It is a mistake to assume that the split was only among the common people. Social development led to the fact that even among the highest political figures of the state there were disagreements about the path of Russia's development. The eternal struggle of Western liberals, flirting with the countries of Europe and America with patriotic conservatives, who tried to isolate Russia by any means, escalated even at that time. Unfortunately, the absence of a "golden mean" and the understanding that economic, political and social development in the state should go in alliance with the West, but while defending internal interests, has always been in our history. Today's time has not changed the situation. In our country, there are either patriots who want to isolate themselves, to close themselves off from the whole world, or liberals who are ready to give all concessions to foreign countries.
Nicholas II pursued a policy on the principle of the "golden mean", which made him an enemy for both the former and the latter. The fact that the emperor was precisely an adherent of an alliance with the West in defending domestic interests speaks of the internal political struggle of the two forces, both of which held high government positions.
Westerners
Western liberals led by Finance Minister S. Yu. Witte were the first.
Their main task is to develop the country's economy: industry, agriculture, etc.e. The industrialization of the country, according to Witte, should greatly influence the socio-political development. It will solve the following tasks:
- To accumulate funds to solve social problems.
- To develop agriculture at the expense of better and cheaper, compared to imported, tools.
- Form a new class - the bourgeoisie, which can be opposed to the traditional nobility, ruling on the principle of "divide and rule."
Conservatives
At the head of the conservative forces was the Minister of Internal Affairs V. K. It also looks strange that not a single pro-Western high-ranking politician suffered in the “bloody purge” of revolutionary terrorists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who considered Russia to be an original state with its own mentality and culture.
Plehve believed that economic and socio-political development is impossible under the influence of "immature" youth, which is "infected" with pro-Western ideas that are alien to our country.
Russia is a country with its own vector of development. Reforms, of course, are necessary, but there is no need to break all the social institutions that have evolved over the centuries.
Growing contradictions
Revolutions are known to be made by youth. Russia is no exception in this regard. The first massunrest in 1899 began precisely among students demanding the return of the rights of university autonomy. But the "bloody regime" did not massacre the demonstrators, and no one was arrested among the organizers. The authorities simply sent a few activists to the army, and the "student rebellion" immediately died down.
However, in 1901 the Minister of Education N. P. Bogolepov was mortally wounded by a former student P. Karpovich. This murder of a high-ranking official after a long break in the attacks indicated that social development was leading to radical change.
In 1902, uprisings broke out in the southern provinces of the country among the peasants. They were dissatisfied with the lack of land. Crowds of thousands smashed the landlords' huts, food barns, warehouses, devastating them.
To restore order, the army was brought in, which was strictly forbidden to use weapons. This speaks of the ability of the authorities to restore order and at the same time shows all the "bloodyness" of the regime. The only severe measure was applied to the instigators, who were subjected to public flogging. No mass executions and shootings are recorded in historical sources. For comparison, I would like to recall the events that took place 20 years later in the Tambov province. A mass uprising broke out there against the food robberies of the Bolsheviks. The Soviet government ordered the use of chemical weapons against the peasants hiding in the forest, and for their families they came up with a kind of concentration camp, into which their wives and children were driven. The men had to set them free in exchange for their own lives.
Unrest in Finland
It was also restless on the national outskirts. For the first time in the history of Finland joining Russia in 1899, the central authorities took the following measures:
- Restricted the National Diet.
- Introduced paperwork in Russian.
- Disbanded the national army.
All this cannot but speak of the firmness of the political will of Nicholas II, since before him even the most determined rulers did not take such measures. Of course, the Finns were unhappy, but let's imagine that there is some kind of autonomy within the state, where budget money is invested for development, but it has its own army, laws, government, which is not subordinate to the center, all official office work is conducted in the national language. Finland was not a colony of the Russian Empire, as local nationalists like to claim, but an independent territorial entity that enjoyed the protection and financial assistance of the Center.
The socio-political development of Russia in 1894-1904 is associated with the emergence and development of a new force that will play a huge role in our history - the RSDLP party.
Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP)
In March 1902, the I party congress took place in Minsk of 9 people, 8 of whom were arrested, which debunks the myth about the inability of law enforcement agencies to identify conspirators. Sources say nothing about why the ninth delegate was not arrested or who he was.
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II Congress was held in July-August 1903, 2 years before the first Russian revolution of 1905, away from Russia - in London and Brussels. It adopted the charter and program of the party.
RSDRP minimum program
Modern opposition parties are even afraid to think about what tasks the RSDLP party had. Minimum:
- The overthrow of the autocracy and the establishment of a democratic republic.
- Universal suffrage and democratic elections.
- The right of nations to self-determination and their equality.
- Large local government.
- Eight hour work day.
- Cancel redemption payments, return money to those who have already paid everything.
RSDRP maximum program
The maximum program was the general world proletarian revolution. In other words, the party wanted to unleash a world war on the planet, at least it proclaimed it. Violent change of not just power, but of the social system, cannot be achieved by peaceful means.
Political parties with statutes, programs, goals are new forms of social development in Russia at that time.
The delegates of the RSDLP at the second congress split into two camps:
- Reformers led by L. Martov (Yu. Zederbaum), who were against the revolution. They advocated a civilized, peaceful way of gaining power, and also intended to rely on the bourgeoisie to achieve their political goals.
- Radicals - proclaimedto overthrow the government by any means, including during the revolution. They relied on the proletariat (working class).
The radicals led by V. I. Lenin received the majority of seats in the leading positions of the party. For this reason, the name Bolsheviks was assigned to them. Subsequently, the party split, and they became known as RSDLP (b), and after a while - VKP (b) (All-Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks).
Party of Social Revolutionaries (AKP)
Officially, the AKP adopted its charter in December 1905 - January 1906, when the socio-political development of Russia changed after the revolution and the Manifesto on the creation of the State Duma. But the social revolutionaries, as a political force, appeared long before that. It was they who staged mass terror against the statesmen of that time.
In their program, the SRs also proclaimed a violent change of power, but, unlike everyone else, they relied on the peasantry as the driving force of the revolution.
Social development of Russia: general conclusions
Many people ask why the decade from 1894-1904 has been in science. considered separately, because Nicholas II continued to be in power? We will answer that the history of social development in 1894-1904. preceded the first Russian revolution in 1905, after which Russia turned into a Duma monarchy. The Manifesto of October 17, 1905 introduced a new authority - the State Duma. Of course, the laws passed had no effect without the approval of the emperor, but her political influence was enormous.
Besides, it was then that Russia began to lay a time bomb that would explode later, in 1917, leading to the overthrow of the autocracy and the Civil War.
