Obukhov defense was one of the first clashes in Russian history between workers and state forces on the basis of political protest. After only five to seven years, such performances will become commonplace for the public of the Russian Empire. The beginning of the 20th century was extremely intensive in this respect. During this period, many revolutionary political forces penetrated factories in St. Petersburg and other large cities of the country, where they expanded their own social base and the number of sympathizers for their ideas.
Preconditions for an uprising
So, at the Obukhov steel plant in St. Petersburg, revolutionary propaganda was actively carried out by almost two dozen circles of a social democratic orientation. Together they covered about two hundred people. In April 1901, the management of the enterprise tried to boost production rates by tightening the work schedule and introducing overtime. This step aroused the extreme discontent of the majority of the workers. However, the proper conclusions were not made by the management of the plant.made. The latter continued to bend their line. In response to such a policy, representatives of several underground circles at once declared a political strike on May 1, 1901. Several hundred workers did not show up for work that day. The management of the plant tried to pacify the employees with exemplary dismissals: on May 5, about seventy ringleaders lost their jobs.
The demands of the workers and the beginning of the uprising
In turn, the strikers already on May 7 went to the administration with social demands: firstly, to cancel the decision on layoffs, and also to establish an 8-hour working day, designate May 1 as a holiday, create a workers' council on plant, cancel overtime, increase wages, reduce fines, and so on.
After the refusal of the administration to meet the demands, the strikers finally stopped the work of the workshops.
They took to the streets, where they were also joined by workers from the Cardboard Factory and the Alexander Factory. Soon, detachments of mounted police arrived at the scene, but they were thrown with a hail of stones. The police opened fire on the workers, after which they were forced to hide in the premises of the Cardboard Factory.
Soon, representatives of other factories of the capital also tried to come to the aid of the barricaded strikers. The formed Union of the Obukhov Defense literally dispersed the police detachments, total chaos began on the streets of the capital.
Soldiers of the Omsk regiment urgently brought inmanaged to restore order on the streets of the city only in the evening, using volleys and rifle butts. The Obukhov defense claimed the lives of eight workers and several policemen on the very first day.
Results of the uprising
The next few days both sides were in suspense. However, such large-scale actions were no longer repeated. On May 12, the elected deputies from the workers again appeared before the management of the plant, repeating their demands. As a result of the negotiations, twelve of the fourteen demands of the workers were met. Obukhov's defense has borne fruit. The issue of granting May 1 the status of a holiday has been postponed. And although the conflict was generally resolved, the Obukhov defense continued in the form of local skirmishes throughout the city for another whole month.
