1905 Revolution Factory conditions at the beginning of the twentieth century were generally harsh, with workers being

forced to work long hours and little attention given to health and safety. Trade unions were illegal and any attempt to form a union was resisted by the factory owners (the owners of the mean of production), and those involved were likely to be imprisoned in Siberia. In 1903 Father George Gapon, a St Petersburg priest, formed the Assembly of the Russian Workers, and within a year it had over 9000 members. 1904 was a particular bad year for workers, with prices rising and real wages declining. After four members of the Assembly were dismissed Gapon called for industrial action and in St Petersburg over 80,000 went on strike. On 22 January 1905, Gapon led a large procession of workers to the Winter Palace to deliver a petition to the Tsar demanding improved civil rights for the workers. However, the guards at the palace opened fire on the workers, resulting in between 200 and 1000 deaths. The incident became known as Bloody Sunday, and resulted in mass outrage across Russia, sparking further strikes all over the country, and mutinies in the army and navy. The middle classes were also dissatisfied with the backwardness of Russia, and formed the Union of Unions, which demanded a constituent assembly. These waves of discontent culminated in a general strike in October, when the St Petersburg Soviet was formed. This was an elected council for the workers of St Petersburg, in which Leon Trotsky became heavily involved after returning from exile. He was eventually elected as chairman. Trotsky was a Jew, which made his rise to popularity amongst the workers particularly unusual as Russia had long had a history of bitter anti-Semitism which reached a crescendo under the reign of Alexander III, when a wave of frequently authorityapproved pogroms swept across Russia. Sergi Witt, the Tsars Chief Advisor, coauthored and presented to the Tsar the October Manifesto; which roughly followed demands made by the Zemstvo in September including granting basic civil rights, the legalization of the formation of new parties, and the establishment of an elected Duma in the government. The Tsar finally signed this on the 30th October, though felt that he had betrayed his dynasty in doing so. In reaction to this the majority of strikes were called off or else soon broke down. However, whereas the liberals began preparing for elections, the socialists felt the manifesto wasnt enough, and pressed for a resumption of violence to finish off Tsarism for good. By the end of the year, however, the final spasm of striking workers in Moscow had been defeated by government troops, leaving parts of the city in ruins.