In what year did the first Russian revolution begin? Main events of the first Russian revolution. What we learned

45. The first Russian revolution, prerequisites, stages, results. Formation of a new political system.

The causes of the revolution were rooted in the economic and socio-political system of Russia:

The preconditions for the revolution developed mainly at the end of the 19th century.

The main one was the contradiction between the development of the country (especially economic) and the survivals in the political, social, economic and other spheres - the preservation of autocracy, the class system, unresolved agrarian and labor issues.

The unsuccessful Russo-Japanese War played a big role.

A serious prerequisite was the national socio-political crisis.

It was expressed in the struggle of workers against the autocratic police system, in the creation of radical left political parties and liberal opposition unions, in disputes within the ruling elite and fluctuations in government policy.

The labor movement acquired great scope. Strikes covered all large industrial regions: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Donbass, Baku, and the Urals. The workers demanded the convening of the Constituent Assembly, an end to the Russo-Japanese War, an 8-hour working day and an improvement in their situation.

Peasant farming has also reached significant proportions. However, during these years, the peasants did not demand the division of the landowners' land, or a reduction in taxes and duties. The highest rise was noted in 1902, when, due to famine caused by a bad harvest in 1901, unrest began in Ukraine, the Volga region, Georgia and Azerbaijan. During the struggle, its character gradually changed. Political demands were increasingly being made. Now the peasants opposed both individual landowners and the government’s agrarian policy.. The first reason was: The revolution lasted 2.5 years (from January 9, 1905 to June 3, 1907). The prologue to the revolution was the events in St. Petersburg - the general strike and Bloody Sunday. On January 9, workers who went to the Tsar with a petition were shot. It was drawn up participants of the “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers” under the leadership of G.A. Gapon. The petition contained a request from workers to improve their financial situation and political demands - the convening of a Constituent Assembly on the basis of universal, equal and secret voting, the introduction of democratic freedoms. In response to the shooting, the workers began to take up arms and build barricades. The authorities knew about it in advance and a military garrison was pulled up to the winter palace.

The following stages are distinguished: First stage. From January 9 to the end of September 1905. 2nd - October - December 1905 - the highest rise of the revolution, 3rd floor - From January 1906 to June 3, 1907 - the decline and retreat of the revolution.

First stage. From January 9 to the end of September 1905, it gradually covered all regions of Russia.

Main events: January-February strikes and protest demonstrations in response to Bloody Sunday - in this movement, the strike in the textile industry city of Ivanovo-Voznesensky became a major one, and the nearby cities of Shui and Kokhma joined it. During the strike, a “council of workers’ representatives” was elected; it formed a workers’ militia, closed taverns, prohibited raising prices, and increased wages by 10%. Their social base expanded at the expense of peasants from the black earth provinces in 1905. -February. In the summer, the “All-Russian Peasant Union” was formed. Cat. In Aug. 1905 His illegal congress was held in Moscow.

The uprising also engulfed the sailors on the battleship Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky, which was part of the Black Sea Fleet. After 11 days of voyage, he arrived at the Romanian city of Constanta and surrendered to local authorities. spring-summer demonstrations of workers in Moscow, Odessa, Warsaw, Lodz, Riga and Baku.

Under the pressure of the revolution, the government made its first concession in February 1905. Minister Bulygin was instructed to develop a law on the creation of an elected representative institution. According to his project to the State Duma. Elections were held for 3 curiae: landowning, urban, rural, and workers and peasantry were excluded. The adoption of the Project was disrupted.

Second phase. October - December 1905 - the highest rise of the revolution. Main events: the general All-Russian October political strike (more than 2 million participants) in Moscow, this strike was led by the Council of Workers' People's Deputies, created following the example of Ivano-Voznesensky. Their demands: 8chu slave. Day, democratic Freedom, convening a constituent assembly. Under the influence of this The strike government issued a Manifesto on October 17, “On the Improvement of State Order,” in which the tsar promised to introduce some political freedoms and convene a legislative State Duma on the basis of a new electoral law; and providing the State Duma legislativeright In contrast to the Duma, the State Council was vested with legislative rights, becoming the “upper” legislative chamber: bills adopted by the Duma then had to receive its approval. The introduction of a representative legislative body in the person of the State Duma did not undermine the prerogatives of the autocratic power of the emperor. Laws adopted by the Duma and approved by the State Council received force only upon their approval by the emperor. the emperor appointed and dismissed ministers responsible only to him, and not to the Duma. He had the exclusive right to conclude treaties with other states. He could dissolve the Duma and call new elections to it. Published April 23, 1906 "Basic State Laws" it was said “that the supreme autocratic power belongs to the All-Russian Emperor.”

Autumn 1905, the scale of peasant riots, cat. Accompanied by the destruction of landowners' estates and the seizure of landowners' lands. Peasant riots at that time covered more than half of the country's counties. At the beginning of November 1905, the Second All-Russian Congress of the Peasant Union took place. He announced the transfer of all land into public ownership, the introduction of universal suffrage and the democratization of local government. On November 3, 1905, under the influence of a broad peasant movement, a manifesto was published announcing a reduction in redemption payments for allotment land by half, and redemption payments were completely abolished from January 1, 1907.

In October - December 1905, performances in the army and navy. The largest of them was the uprising of sailors and soldiers of the Black Sea Fleet under the leadership of Lieutenant P.P. Schmidt in the outskirts. The uprising began on the cruiser Ochakov. It was joined by 12 ships of the Black Sea Fleet. the uprising was defensive in nature. The military command suppressed it. Lieutenant Schmidt, along with other leaders of the uprising, was captured and shot. Ordinary participants in the uprising were sentenced to hard labor and imprisonment. The December strikes and uprisings in Moscow, Kharkov, Chita, Krasnoyarsk and other cities were suppressed by the state.

Third stage. From January 1906 to June 3, 1907 - the decline and retreat of the revolution. It was marked by new forms of social struggle. A major uprising took place in Presnya, a large working-class district, where the rebels held barricades for about a week, until December 19. With the help of the Semyonov regiment it was suppressed. Armed uprisings in December 1905 - January 1906 took place in Nizhny Novgorod, Kharkov, Krasnoyarsk, Chita, Vladivostok and in a number of working centers in Ukraine and Georgia. Everywhere, with the help of regular troops, they were easily suppressed. After the December events of 1905, the “retreat of the revolution” began. First of all, it was expressed in the decline in the workers' strike movement: in 1906 - 1.1 million, and in 1907 - 740 thousand.

Spring - summer 1906 a new wave of peasant agrarian movement arose, which acquired even greater scope than in 1905 d. It spread to 240 counties of the country, but it was a series of local riots. Easily suppressed. uprisings in the army and navy, which took on an even more threatening character than in 1905 in July 1906 in Kronstadt, Sveaborg and Reval, the uprisings were well prepared and led by the Social Revolutionaries, who developed a plan to surround the capital with a ring of military uprisings and force the government to capitulate. However, the uprisings were suppressed by troops loyal to the government. The national liberation movement under the leadership of local nationalist parties in Finland, the Baltic states, Poland, Ukraine, and Transcaucasia assumed impressive proportions in 1906.

The reasons for the failure of the rebels: 1. There was no pre-developed plan, the uprising was spontaneous 2. There was no organizing and leadership center 3. The uprising arose locally, as a result of which they were easy to suppress 4. Poor weapons - limited mainly to barricades and defense.

The main result of the revolution was a change in politics. Systems in the camp. During the revolution, a law was passed on the creation and convening of the State. Duma, autocracy preserved. New political forces have entered the political arena - political. Party cat. Took part in state elections. Duma: 1) revolutionary democratic (social democratic and neo-populist); 2) liberal opposition; 3) conservative

1:Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDLP) took shape at the Second Congress (1903), at the same time it split into Bolsheviks(leader V.I. Lenin) and Mensheviks(Yu. O. Martov (Tsederbaum). At the congress, a program of 2 parts was adopted: 1st - the overthrow of the autocracy and the establishment of a democratic republic, the introduction of broad local self-government, the granting of the right of self-government to all nations that are part of Russia, the establishment of an 8-hour working day. In peasant terms, since 1906, the Bolsheviks put forward the complete confiscation of all landowners', state, appanage, church and monastic lands, as well as theirs. nationalization - transfer to state ownership (the peasants wanted public property - the people are the owner of the land, and the distribution of plots is carried out by the community). Menshiviks - municipalization land. Those. confiscated state, landowner, appanage, monastic and church lands were placed at the disposal of self-government bodies (municipalities), which then distributed it among the peasants.

Part 2: socialist reconstruction of society after the revolution. But the Bolsheviks’ tactics included the possibility of a direct “development of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist one.” The Mensheviks believed that in Russia it was necessary to go through a certain period of bourgeois-democratic development of the country in order to begin socialist transformations.

Essers: declared its existence in 1902, but took shape organizationally at its founding congress at the end of 1905, at which its program and charter were adopted. Leaders of the Socialist Revolutionaries - V. M. Chernov, A. R. Gots. Program: democratic freedoms, overthrow of the autocracy and establishment of a democratic republic, autonomy of regions and communities on a federal basis, widespread use of federal relations between individual nations, free education. The Social Revolutionaries demanded that all land be taken away from private property. But they advocated “socialization,” that is, the transfer of land not to the state, but to the “public domain.” They viewed terror as a “last resort.” It was carried out by the “Combat Organization of the Social Revolutionaries”.

Constitutional democratic party (cadets), in October 1905. It consisted of teachers from higher and secondary educational institutions, doctors, engineers, lawyers, and partly artisans. The leader of the influential party of the liberal bourgeoisie was the historian P. N. Milyukov. The most important goal of the Cadets was the introduction of a democratic constitution in the country (hence the name of their party). An unlimited monarchy should be replaced by a parliamentary democratic system (the Cadets avoided the question of whether it would be a constitutional monarchy or a republic). They advocated the separation of powers - legislative, executive and judicial, for a radical reform of local government and the courts, democrats. Freedom According to Agrarian Question: partial “alienation” of landowners’ land in favor of peasants “at a fair valuation” (i.e. at market prices), they advocated private land ownership and were resolute opponents of its socialization

The union was formed on October 17, 1905. He chose the Tsar's Manifesto of October 17, 1905 as his banner (hence its name). It was the party of big capital - the upper ranks of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie and landowners-entrepreneurs. It was headed by A.I. Guchkov. The Octobrists presented the government system as a constitutional monarchy, with “people's representation” - the State Duma and the State Council, formed on the basis of qualification elections - direct in cities and two-tier in rural areas. Democratic freedoms - freedom of speech, unions, religion, the legality of strikes was recognized as a means of protecting the interests of workers, insurance was provided for workers. reduction of taxes on the population, equal rights of peasants with other classes. The agrarian question: they stood for the destruction of the community, the return of plots to the peasants, and allowed the alienation of part of the landowners' land for compensation to its owners at the expense of the treasury.

3. Conservative parties (landlord-monarchist and clerical) were represented "Union of the Russian People"- arose in 1905 - attracted small shopkeepers and townspeople into its ranks. The leaders of the “Union” were the official of special assignments at the Ministry of Internal Affairs V. M. Purishkevich, the Kursk landowner N. E. Markov. The slogan of this party is: “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality.” The Black Hundreds advocated for the unlimited power of the Tsar and the dominant position of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The first elections were held in the state. Duma In March - April 1906, there were basically two main forces in it: the Cadets, the Trudoviks and the Social Democrats. The main focus was the discussion of agricultural issues. 2 positions appeared - 1. Cadets create a state. The land fund for the allocation of land and landless peasantry from appanages, monasteries by purchasing them from their owners, and leasing them, the Trudoviks put forward a demand to take them away. The Duma was dissolved, then in February 1907. Elections were held to the 2nd State. Duma, in the cat. Democrats had 43% of the votes. Parties (Social Democrat, Trudoviks). They discussed the agrarian question, and it was dissolved under the pretext (fabricated by the secret police) of the Social Democrats organizing a conspiracy to overthrow the state. The existing system. On June 3, 1905, a law was promulgated that changed the procedure for elections to the Duma. Its publication was a direct violation of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905. Thus, an act of coup d'état was committed.

In general, during the revolution, the peasants achieved the abolition of redemption payments. During the revolution, the prerequisites were created for carrying out agrarian reform, which contributed to the further development of bourgeois relations in the countryside. The end of the revolution led to the establishment of temporary internal political stabilization in Russia. There have been changes in politics. System - State Thought.

Grigoriev and Orlov: The main result was that the supreme power was forced to change the socio-political system of Russia. New government structures emerged in it, indicating the beginning of the development of parliamentarism. Some limitation of autocracy was achieved, although the tsar retained the ability to make legislative decisions and full executive power. The socio-political situation of Russian citizens has changed: democratic freedoms have been introduced, censorship has been abolished, and the organization of trade unions and legal political parties has been allowed. The bourgeoisie received a wide opportunity to participate in the political life of the country. The financial and legal situation of workers has improved. In a number of industries, wages increased and working hours decreased. The peasants achieved the abolition of redemption payments. During the revolution, the prerequisites were created for carrying out agrarian reform, which contributed to the further development of bourgeois relations in the countryside. The end of the revolution led to the establishment of temporary internal political stabilization in Russia.

Mironov, Sakharov. Tyukavkin.

Chronology

• 1905, January 9 “Bloody Sunday”
• 1905, May Formation of the first Council of Workers' Deputies in Ivanovo-Voznesensk
• 1905, October All-Russian October political strike
• 1905, October 17 Publication of the Manifesto “On the Improvement of State Order”
• 1905, October Creation of the “Constitutional Democratic Party”
• 1905, November Creation of the party “Union of October 17”
• Creation of the party “Union of the Russian People”
• 1906, April-June Activities of the First State Duma
• 1907, February-June Activities of the Second State Duma
• 1907, June 3 Dispersal of the Second State Duma
• 1907 - 1912 Activities of the III State Duma
• 1912 - 1917 Activities of the IV State Duma

First Russian Revolution (1905 - 1907)

Beginning of the 20th century for Russia it was stormy and difficult. In the conditions of the brewing revolution, the government sought to preserve the existing system without any political changes. The main socio-political support of the autocracy continued to be the nobility, the army, the Cossacks, the police, the extensive bureaucratic apparatus, and the church. The government used the age-old illusions of the masses, their religiosity, and political darkness. However, innovations also appeared. The government camp was heterogeneous. If rights sought to block all attempts at reform, defended unlimited autocracy, advocated the suppression of revolutionary uprisings, then in the government camp appeared liberals, who understood the need to expand and strengthen the socio-political base of the monarchy, the alliance of the nobility with the upper ranks of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie.

Liberal camp developed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Its formation proceeded slowly due to the fact that representatives of the bourgeoisie firmly stood in loyal positions and pointedly avoided political activity. 1905 was a turning point, but even at that time the Russian bourgeoisie was not particularly radical.

The liberals intensified their activities on the eve of the revolution of 1905. They created their own illegal organizations: “ Union of Zemstvo Constitutionalists" And " Liberation Union”.

The real fact of the established liberal opposition to autocracy was 1st zemstvo congress, opened November 6, 1904 in St. Petersburg. It adopted a program that reflected the main provisions of the programs of the Osvobozhdenie and Zemstvo constitutionalists. Following the congress, the so-called “ banquet campaign”, organized by the “Union of Liberation”. The culmination of this campaign was a banquet held in the capital on the anniversary of the Decembrist uprising of 1825, at which 800 participants proclaimed the need for the immediate convening of a Constituent Assembly.

The inglorious defeat on land and sea in the military conflict with Japan inflamed the situation in Russian society and was a catalyst that accelerated the emergence of the revolution. Causes of the revolutionary explosion- unresolved agrarian question, preservation of landownership, high degree of exploitation of workers of all nations, autocratic system, lack of democratic freedoms. The accumulated social protest broke out, uniting various segments of the Russian population under a single slogan “ Down with autocracy!”.

First stage of the revolution

Chronological framework the first Russian revolution - January 9, 1905 - June 3, 1907“Bloody Sunday” became the starting point of the revolution.

On January 3, 1905, 12 thousand workers of the Putilov plant stopped working in protest against the dismissal of four comrades. The strike spread to all enterprises in St. Petersburg. During the strikes, the workers decided to petition the tsar. The petition was drawn up by a priest Gapon Society of Factory Workers in St. Petersburg and received 150 thousand signatures. It was an amazing mixture of harsh demands (convening the Constituent Assembly, ending the war with Japan, etc.) and mystical blind faith in the all-powerful king.

In the morning January 9 A stream of people rushed to the Winter Palace, abandoned by Nicholas II on January 6. The workers were greeted by gun shots. On “Bloody Sunday” faith in the Tsar was shot.

The news of the shooting of workers in St. Petersburg caused a huge number of strikes in the country. In January 1905 alone, 440 thousand workers went on strike. In the first third of 1905, 810 thousand people were already on strike. In a number of cases, strikes and demonstrations were accompanied by clashes with police and regular troops. During the revolution, the proletariat created its own democratic bodies for the leadership of the revolutionary struggle - Councils of workers' deputies. The first Council arose in May 1905 during the strike in Ivanovo-Voznesensk.

In the spring of 1905, unrest spread to the village. Three large centers of the revolutionary movement of peasants emerged - the Chernozem region, the western regions (Poland, the Baltic provinces) and Georgia. As a result of these protests, more than 2 thousand landowners' estates were destroyed.

It broke out in June insurrection on the most modern vessel of the Russian Black Sea Fleet “ Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky" Thus, the army also joined the revolution as an opposition force.

August 6, 1905 Nicholas II signed a decree on the establishment State Duma, which would be engaged in “preliminary development of laws.” This project caused widespread outrage Bulyginsky Duma(named after the Minister of Internal Affairs), because he limited the voting rights of the population by high class and property qualifications.

Second stage of the revolution

In the fall, the first stage of the revolution, which was characterized by the development of the revolution in depth and breadth, ends, and the second stage begins. October - December 1905 - the highest rise of the revolution.

The economic strike of printers, which began in Moscow on September 19, soon turned into a nationwide one mass political strike. At the beginning of October, the Moscow railway junction joined the strike movement, which was a decisive factor in the spread of strikes throughout the country. The strike covered 120 Russian cities. It was attended by 1.5 million workers and railway workers, 200 thousand officials and employees of government agencies, about 500 thousand representatives of the democratic strata of the city, at the same time about 220 peasant protests took place in the village. Trotsky, one of the leaders of Social Democracy, subsequently wrote about this event: “... this small event revealed nothing more and no less than an all-Russian political strike that arose because of punctuation marks and knocked down absolutism”.

Count Witte presented the tsar with a program of urgent reforms, and on October 13, 1905 he became Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Count Witte accepted this post from the emperor on the condition of approval of his program for improving public order. This program was the basis for the famous Manifesto October 17. It should be emphasized that the concessions that tsarism made when issuing this manifesto were largely determined not by the desire to follow the path of reforms and transformations, but by the desire to extinguish the revolutionary fire. Only under the pressure of events, which were no longer possible to contain through suppression and terror, did Nicholas II come to terms with the new situation in the country and choose the path of evolution towards the rule of law.

1. Grant freedom of personality, speech, freedom to create organizations;
2. Do not postpone elections to the State Duma, in which all classes must participate (and the Duma will subsequently develop the principle of general elections);
3. No law can be passed without the consent of the Duma.

Many questions remained unresolved: how exactly the autocracy and the Duma would be combined, what the powers of the Duma would be. The question of the constitution was not raised at all in the Manifesto.

The forced concessions of tsarism, however, did not weaken the intensity of the social struggle in society. The conflict between the autocracy and the conservatives supporting it, on the one hand, and revolutionary-minded workers and peasants, on the other, is deepening. Between these two fires were the liberals, in whose ranks there was no unity. On the contrary, after the publication of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, the forces in the liberal camp became even more polarized.

This document was highly praised in moderate liberal circles, which immediately expressed their readiness to cooperate with the government and provide it with support in the fight against the revolution. The leader of the radical wing, P.N. Miliukov, having received news of the manifesto, gave an inspired speech in a literary circle in Moscow with a glass of champagne: “Nothing has changed, the war continues.”

Political parties in the revolution

Liberal camp

The process of organizing liberal parties begins. Even during the All-Russian political strike on October 12, the liberal bourgeoisie convened its congress. Everything was ready for the proclamation Constitutional Democratic Party. But they didn’t want to create an illegal party, so they delayed the congress. When the manifesto appeared on October 17, the party was proclaimed on October 18. The congress adopted a program, statutes, and elected a temporary Central Committee. And in November 1905 it was created Octobrist Party(“Union October 17"). These are the two most numerous liberal parties, brought to life by the first revolution in Russia. By the winter of 1906, the number of the Cadet Party was 50-60 thousand people, the “Union of October 17” - 70-80 thousand people.

The social composition of the parties was far from homogeneous. Representatives of different social groups united here. The motives that guided people who joined the Cadets or Octobrist parties were very diverse.

To the party cadets included color intelligentsia, but in the central and local organizations there were large landowners, merchants, bank employees, and prominent entrepreneurs of that time. There were 11 large landowners in the party's central committee. The most famous surnames in Russia: F.A. Golovin - member of the district and provincial zemstvo, chairman of the Second State Duma; Prince Pavel Dmitrievich Dolgorukov - district leader of the nobility; N.N. Lvov - district leader of the nobility, honorary justice of the peace, deputy of four Dumas; DI. Shakhovskoy - district leader of the nobility, secretary of the First Duma.

The intelligentsia was represented by famous scientists, such as the historian P.N. Miliukov, academician V.I. Vernadsky, famous lawyers S.N. Muromtsev, V.M. Gessen, S.A. Kotlyarevsky. The Central Committee of the Constitutional Democratic Party consisted of at least one third lawyers. Party leader and her main ideologist P.N. spoke Miliukov.

The Cadets considered the main method of struggle to be the legal struggle for political freedoms and reforms through the Duma. They raised questions about the convening of the Constituent Assembly and the need to adopt a Constitution. Their political ideal was parliamentary monarchy. They proclaimed the idea of ​​separation of legislative, executive and judicial powers. The Cadets demanded reform of local self-government, recognized the right to create a trade union, freedom of strikes and meetings, but did not recognize the people’s right to self-determination; they believed that they could limit themselves only to the right to free cultural self-determination. They denied social revolution, but believed that political revolution could be caused by “unreasonable” government policies.

As part of the governing bodies Octobrists Zemstvo figures played a particularly noticeable role: D.N. Shipov- a prominent zemstvo figure, who led the party in 1905; Count D.A. Olsufiev - a large landowner, member of the State Council; Baron P.L. Korf is a comrade of the chairman of the Central Committee of the Union of October 17; ON THE. Khomyakov - provincial leader of the nobility (future chairman of the Third State Duma); Prince P.P. Golitsyn is a member of the State Council. Even the manager of His Imperial Majesty’s office for accepting petitions, Rudolf Vladimirovich von Freimann, joined the Octobrist party.

As for representatives of the intelligentsia, scientists and cultural figures, among them were: popular lawyer F.N. Gobber; IN AND. Guerrier is a professor of general history at Moscow University; B.A. Suvorin is the editor of the newspaper “Evening Time”.

And of course, social support of the Octobrist party, first of all, there were representatives of the large commercial and industrial bourgeoisie. In this sense, the party of the “Union of October 17” was much more bourgeois than the Cadet party, which relied mainly on broad layers of the intelligentsia. Many bankers and industrialists became Octobrists, for example, the brothers Vladimir and Pavel Ryabushinsky, owners of a banking house and manufactories; A.A. Knoop - Chairman of the Moscow Bank; A.I. Guchkov (future chairman of the III State Duma), who led the Octobrist party in 1906; his brothers, Konstantin, Nikolai and Fedor, who owned commercial banks in Moscow, tea trade, beet sugar factories, book and newspaper publishing; M.V. Zhivago is the director of the Lena Gold Mining Partnership.

The Octobrists considered their goal to be assistance to the government, which was following the path of reforms aimed at updating the social system. They rejected the ideas of revolution and were supporters of slow changes. Their political program was conservative in nature. Opposing parliamentarism, they defended principle of hereditary constitutional monarchy with the legislative advisory State Duma. The Octobrists were supporters of a united and indivisible Russia (with the exception of Finland), the preservation of property and educational qualifications, and residence in order to participate in elections to the State Duma, local government, and the courts.

Conservative camp in the revolution

IN November 1905 the main landowner-monarchist party arose “ Union of the Russian People" Nicholas II called this Union “a reliable support of law and order in our fatherland.” The most prominent figures of the Union were Dr. A.I. Dubrovin (chairman), Bessarabian landowner V.M. Purishkevich, Kursk landowner N.E. Markov. Among the rather extensive network of the government camp, it should be noted such as the “Union of Russian People”, “Russian Monarchist Party”, “Society for Active Struggle against the Revolution”, “People’s Monarchist Party”, “Union of Russian Orthodox People”. These organizations were called Black Hundreds. Their programs were based on the inviolability of autocracy, the privileged position of the Orthodox Church, great-power chauvinism and anti-Semitism. To attract workers and peasants to their side, they advocated state insurance for workers, shorter working hours, cheap credit, and assistance to displaced peasants. By the end of 1907, the Black Hundreds, primarily the Union of the Russian People, operated in 66 provinces and regions, and the total number of their members was more than 400 thousand people.

Revolutionary camp

The leading parties of the revolutionary democratic camp are Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) and Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs).

Held in Minsk V March 1898 1st Congress of the RSDLP only proclaimed the creation of the RSDLP. Having neither a program nor a charter, the party existed and acted separately, in the form of separate organizationally unrelated circles. After a lot of preparatory work by Russian Social Democrats, who lasted a total of over 5 years, the Second Congress of the RSDLP was prepared. The congress took place in July - August 1903 in Brussels, and then in London, and was essentially of a constituent nature. The main task of the congress is to adopt the Party Program and Charter.

The party program consisted of two parts: minimum and maximum programs. Minimum program considered the immediate political tasks: a bourgeois-democratic revolution, which was supposed to overthrow the autocracy and establish a republic. Three groups of issues were identified to be resolved after the immediate political tasks were completed: 1) political demands(equal and universal suffrage, freedom of speech, conscience, press, assembly and association, election of judges, separation of church and state, equality of all citizens, the right of nations to self-determination, abolition of estates); 2) economic workers' demands (8-hour working day, improvement of economic and housing situation, etc.); 3) agricultural demands (abolition of redemption and quitrent payments, return of land plots taken from peasants during the reform of 1861, establishment of peasant committees). Maximum program determined the ultimate goal of social democracy: social revolution, establishment dictatorship of the proletariat for the socialist reconstruction of society.

At the Second Congress of the RSDLP it was also adopted charter, which establishes the organizational structure of the party, the rights and responsibilities of its members.

Social Revolutionary Party organizationally took shape in 1901 as illegal, the basis of which were former populists. Socialist revolutionaries (SRs) fully adopted the populist ideology, supplementing it with new ideas from the radical left-wing bourgeois-democratic strata of Russian society. In general, the party was created from disparate populist groups with different political shades.

The third stage of the revolution. The State Duma is the first experience of Russian parliamentarism

At the height of the December armed uprising in Moscow, the government published a decree “On changing the regulations on elections to the State Duma” and announced preparations for elections.

This act allowed the government to reduce the intensity of revolutionary passions. January 1906 - June 3, 1907 - the third stage of the revolution, its retreat, decline. The center of gravity in social movement moves to State Duma- the first representative legislative institution in Russia. This is the most important political outcome of the events of 1905.

The State Duma existed for about 12 years, until the fall of the autocracy, and had four convocations. In the elections in First Duma in 1906 Legal political parties formed in the country took part. The victory in the elections was won by the left-liberal constitutional democratic party (the Cadets), which received the majority of seats in the Russian parliament. Chairman became a member of the Central Committee of the Cadet Party, professor-lawyer S.A. Muromtsev.

Elections were held according to the class-curial principle: 1 elector from 2 thousand landowners, 1 from 4 thousand city owners, 1 from 30 thousand peasants and 1 from 90 thousand workers. A total of 524 deputies were elected. The socialist parties boycotted the elections to the First Duma, so the victory of the Kadet party (more than 1/3 of the seats), as the most radical of those participating in the elections, turned out to be inevitable. The victory of the Cadet Party was one of the main reasons for Witte’s resignation. The head of government who replaced him, I.L. Goremykin categorically rejected all the demands put forward by radical deputies: general elections, agrarian reform, universal free education, abolition of the death penalty, etc. As a result, on July 9, 1906, the Duma was dissolved. To the new Prime Minister P.A. Stolypin had to subdue the opposition and pacify the revolution.

During the elections in II State Duma in February 1907(revolutionary parties also took part in them), the composition of the deputies turned out to be even more unacceptable for the government (about 100 deputies were socialists, 100 cadets, 100 Trudoviks, 19 Octobrists and 33 monarchists). As a result, the Second Duma turned out to be even more leftist than the First Duma. The main struggle was over the agrarian issue; peasant deputies opposed the government’s agrarian program developed by Stolypin.

In the context of the decline of the revolution July 3, 1907 The Social Democratic faction of the Second State Duma was arrested on charges of preparing a coup. Herself The Duma was dissolved and a new electoral law was announced. Thus, the autocracy violated the provision formulated in the Manifesto of October 17 that no new law is valid without the approval of the Duma. Even Nicholas II called the new electoral law “shameless.” This situation in the political history of Russia is usually called “ June 3rd coup" He put an end to the revolution.

III State Duma was elected after the suppression of the revolution and became the first to serve the entire five-year term. Of the 442 seats, 146 were occupied by the right, 155 by the Octobrists, 108 by the Cadets and only 20 by the Social Democrats. The “Union of October 17” became the Duma center, and the chairman was first N.A. Khomyakov, then A.I. Guchkov.

In 1912 - 1917 worked IV State Duma(Chairman - Octobrist M.V. Rodzianko).

The first Russian revolution is a whole chain of events that began on January 9 in 1905 and continued until 1907 in the then Russian Empire. These events became possible thanks to the prevailing situation in the country at the beginning of the 20th century.

The first Russian revolution showed that radical changes were simply necessary for the state. However, Nicholas II was in no hurry to make changes in the country.

Causes of the first Russian revolution:

• economic (world economic crisis at the beginning of the 20th century; backwardness of development in both agriculture and industry);
• social (the development of capitalism did not entail any changes in the old ways of life of people, hence the contradictions between the new system and the old remnants);
• supreme power; the decline in the authority of everyone after the lost victory in the rapid Russo-Japanese War, and, as a consequence, the intensification of leftist opposition movements);
• national (lack of rights of nations and a high degree of their exploitation).

What forces existed in Russia on the eve of the revolution? Firstly, this is a liberal movement, the basis of which was the nobility and the bourgeoisie. Secondly, this is a conservative direction. Thirdly, radical democratic movements.

What were the objectives of the first revolution?

1) solving a number of issues, including agricultural, labor, national;

2) overthrow of the autocracy;

3) adoption of the constitution;

4) classless society;

5) freedom of speech and choice.

The first Russian revolution was bourgeois-democratic in nature. The reason for its implementation was the events of early January, called “Bloody Sunday”. On a winter morning, a peaceful procession of workers headed towards the Tsar, carrying his portrait and chanting “God Save the Tsar...”. At the head of the procession was It is still unclear whether he was an ally of the revolutionaries or a supporter of the peaceful procession, since his sudden disappearance remains a mystery... The events of Bloody Sunday led to the execution of the workers. This occasion gave a strong impetus to the activation of all left forces. The first bloody Russian revolution began.

Nicholas II adopts several manifestos, including the “manifesto on the establishment of the State Duma” and the “manifesto on the improvement of state order.” Both documents are literally the course of events. During the revolution, 2 state dumas carried out their activities, which were dissolved before their completion date. After the dissolution of the second, the “Third June Political System” came into force, which became possible after Nicholas II violated the manifesto of October 17, 1905.

The first Russian revolution, the causes of which had been on the surface for a long time, led to a change in the political situation and citizens in Russia. The coup also gave rise to agrarian reform. However, the 1st Russian Revolution did not solve its main problem - the elimination of the autocracy. and autocracy in Russia will last another 10 years.

The main results of the revolution were: a change in the form of government in Russia, it became a constitutional (limited) monarchy; weakening the landowners and improving the lives of the peasants; improving workers' living standards; the national outskirts received representation in the Duma; permission for the legal activities of political parties, trade unions, and the press.

One of the main results of the revolution of 1905-1907. There have been changes in the mentality of the people. Patriarchal Russia was replaced by revolutionary Russia. The people gained experience in the struggle for freedom and democracy.

Some workers received voting rights. The proletariat was given the opportunity to form trade unions, and workers no longer bore criminal liability for participating in strikes.

The working day in many cases was reduced to 9-10 hours, and in some even to 8 hours. During the revolution, workers achieved a 12-14% increase in wages. A system of collective agreements between workers and entrepreneurs was introduced, and the procedure for organizing work and rest was regulated.

The created State Duma, despite its limited rights, still provided some opportunity for legal democratic propaganda. Tsarism had to come to terms with the existence in the country of such elements of bourgeois democracy as a multi-party system. Russian society has achieved recognition of fundamental individual rights (however, not in full and without guarantees of their observance).

Changes also took place in the countryside: the government was forced to begin agrarian reform, redemption payments were abolished, landlord arbitrariness was reduced, and the rental and sale price of land was reduced; peasants were equal to other classes in the right to movement and residence, admission to universities and the civil service. Officials and police did not interfere in the work of peasant gatherings.

However, the main agrarian question was never resolved: the peasants did not receive land.

The revolution of 1905 affected not only Russia, but also stirred up the peoples of the East. Revolutionary events and clashes between the masses and the authorities took place in Asian countries.

Revolution 1905-1907 did not solve the main problems of political and socio-economic development, but pushed Russia into a period of development in all spheres of society.

The Role of the Revolution

The first Russian revolution, having raised the broadest masses of the people (8) to fight, became a school of political education for workers and peasants. The revolution showed all classes of Russian society in action and allowed the working people to identify their friends and enemies.

Russia got a chance to move from an autocratic form of government to a constitutional monarchy and liberalization of the political regime.

One of the most important results of the revolution was the opportunity to create legal parties based on the manifesto “On Improving Public Order.” The liberal parties Constitutional Democratic (leader P.N. Milyukov) and “Union of October 17” (leader A.I. Guchkov) are created; monarchical (Black Hundred) organizations are formed - “Union of the Russian People” (leader A.I. Dubrovin), Russian Monarchist Party, etc.

Also, one of the most important results of the revolution was the main direction of Stolypin’s activity, the introduction of agrarian reform. And on November 9, 1906, the tsar approved the decree proposed by Stolypin, which began agrarian reform. Its main content was the destruction of the peasant community and giving the peasants the right to decide their own future fate. To eliminate the land shortage of peasants, Stolypin proposed to begin a large-scale resettlement of everyone who needed land to the eastern regions of the country, where there were vast uninhabited spaces. To support the settlers, it was planned to provide them with loans through the Peasant Bank and provide assistance in land development. In addition to agrarian reform, Stolypin developed projects for social reform (it was supposed to somewhat soften the situation of the workers), restructuring the education system (it was supposed to provide universal primary education within 15-20 years), adjusting national policy (introducing zemstvo self-government in the western provinces), etc. However, Stolypin was not destined to fulfill his plans. In September 1911, he died in Kyiv at the hands of a terrorist. Many of his undertakings disappeared along with him.

During the revolution of 1905-1907, the foundations were laid for the creation, under the leadership of the proletariat, of a united revolutionary front of the oppressed peoples of Russia. The revolution weakened the liberal bourgeoisie as a political force, depriving it of a significant portion of its reserves and, above all, the peasantry. The revolution confirmed the correctness of the Bolshevik strategic plan developed by V.I. Lenin. It proved that the role of leader of the working class and all working people can only be fulfilled by a revolutionary Marxist party - a party of a new type.

The revolution of 1905-1907 had a huge impact on the development of the international revolutionary movement; the revolution raised the proletarian movement throughout the world to a new, higher level. Under its powerful influence, a powerful wave of strikes and strikes swept through all the countries of Western Europe.

At the beginning of the 20th century. A total of more than 150 political parties were created - all-Russian, regional and national. The basis for their legalization arose with the publication of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, which proclaimed the freedom to form unions and hold meetings. The growth of liberal parties was facilitated by election campaigns to the State Duma, and radical parties by mass popular uprisings.

The process of formation of the Russian multi-party system had specific features.

Firstly, political parties arose in Russia much later than in the advanced countries of Western Europe and America, where the process of the genesis of party movements and organizations was associated with the struggle of the nascent bourgeoisie against the feudal-absolutist system, which began in the 17th century.

Secondly, the sequence of the emergence of parties was different. In Western Europe, conservative parties emerged first, then liberal ones, and only then socialist ones. The order of their emergence was determined by the evolution of European capitalism: conservative parties expressed the interests of large farmers and traders of the pre-industrial era, liberal parties expressed the interests of the industrial, financial and commercial bourgeoisie associated with the development of industry, proletarian parties appeared in conditions of aggravated contradictions in bourgeois society. In Russia, where large capitalist industry coexisted with the remnants of feudalism, parties with a socialist orientation were the first to emerge, then liberal parties and others appeared. finally, conservative.

Thirdly, the organizers and leaders of the parties were a specifically Russian social stratum - the intelligentsia, which consisted of representatives of different classes. Most parties sought to present themselves as supra-class, national, expressing the general needs of the country's development, which was reflected in their names. Thus, the Cadet Party called itself the “people's freedom party.” Meanwhile, a typical feature of the Russian multi-party system was confrontation, which manifested itself in the relationships of parties among themselves and with the authorities.

It was a regime of police brutality and persecution. Defeat of the First Russian Revolution.

Lecture 47

Russia in 1907-1914 Stolypin agrarian reform

In the summer of 1906, the youngest governor of Russia, Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin, was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs and then Prime Minister by Nicholas II.

Agrarian reform was Stolypin's main and favorite brainchild.

Goals of the reform.

1. Socio-political. To create a strong support for the autocracy in the countryside in the form of strong peasant farms (prosperous peasant owners).

2. Socio-economic. Destroy the community, giving the peasants the opportunity to freely leave it: to determine their place of residence and the type of their activity.

3. Economic. To ensure the rise of agriculture and accelerate the industrial development of the country.

4. Resettle land-poor peasants beyond the Urals, promoting more intensive development of the eastern regions of Russia..

Solve the agrarian question at the expense of the peasants themselves, leaving the landowners' lands intact, while at the same time eliminating the basis for possible social conflicts.

Results of the Stolypin agrarian reform

Positive:

Up to 1/4 of the farms were separated from the community, the stratification of the village increased, the rural elite provided up to half of the market grain,

3 million households moved from European Russia,

4 million des. communal lands were included in market circulation,

Fertilizer consumption increased from 8 to 20 million poods,

Per capita income of the rural population increased from 23 to 33 rubles. in year.

Negative:

From 70 to 90% of peasants who left the community retained ties with the community,

0.5 million displaced people returned to Central Russia,

There were 2-4 dessiatines per peasant household, while the norm was 7-8 dessiatines. arable land,

The main agricultural implement was the plow (8 million pieces); 52% of farms did not have plows.

Wheat yield 55 pounds. with dec. in Germany - 157 pounds.

CONCLUSION.

Thanks to the successful progress of agrarian reform, Russia by 1914 had achieved great success in economic and financial development, which allowed it to play a prominent role in world politics. However, Russia's entry into the war and subsequent defeat again set the country back, increasing its gap with the leading European powers.

Lecture 48

The formation of political parties in Russia at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.

Workers and the growing strike movement with economic demands had a significant influence on the political life of the country. The peasant movement also grew. It was caused by the agrarian crisis, the political lack of rights of the peasantry and the famine of 1901. From 1900 to 1904, 670 peasant uprisings took place.

Opposition sentiments at the beginning of the twentieth century. covered broad layers of the intelligentsia, the petty and middle bourgeoisie and students. The lack of freedom of public activity in Russia made it difficult to form legal political parties.

The consignment - this is the organization of the most active part of the class, which sets as its task the conduct of political struggle for the interests of this class and most fully and consistently expresses and protects them. The main thing that interests a political party is state power.

At the beginning of the twentieth century. in Russia there were up to 50 parties, and in 1907 - more than 70. The largest and most influential among them were the following:

Illegal parties

Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) in 1901 – 1902 – completed the unification of revolutionary organizations into the party. Its number is several thousand (by 1907 - up to 40 thousand). Newspaper "Revolutionary Russia". Party leader, program author, newspaper editor, leading theorist - Viktor Chernov.

The goal of the party is to build a socialist society through revolution, but society is not a state, but a self-governing union of productive associations, whose members receive the same income.

Tactics are a combination of political terror in the “centers” and agrarian terror (violent actions against property or against the person of “economic oppressors”) in the countryside.

RSDLP (Russian Social Democratic Labor Party) founded in 1903 at the II Congress.

The main task is to build socialism through social revolution and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. At the Third Congress, the party split into two parts: the Bolsheviks (leader V. Ulyanov (Lenin) and the Mensheviks (Yu. Martov)). Martov opposed Lenin's idea of ​​the dictatorship of the proletariat, believing that the proletariat would not be able to play a leading role, since capitalism in Russia was in its early stages of development. He believed that “the bourgeoisie will still take its rightful place - the leader of the bourgeois revolution.” Martov shared Herzen’s fears that “communism could become a Russian autocracy in reverse.” At the party conference in Prague (1912), the final split took shape organizationally.

Legal parties

Union of the Russian People founded in 1905. Printing organ - “Russian Banner”. (100 thousand people) Leaders – A. Dubrovin and V. Purishkevich.

Main ideas : Orthodoxy, autocracy, Russian nationality.

Main trends : acute nationalism, hatred of all “foreigners” and the intelligentsia. The bulk of party members: small shopkeepers, janitors, cab drivers, lumpen (people of the “bottom”). They created fighting squads - “black hundreds” for pogroms and murders of progressive public figures and revolutionaries. This was the first Russian version of fascism.

Constitutional Democratic Party of People's Freedom (Cadets). Created in 1905 (100 thousand people). Edition "Rech". Leader P. Milyukov. Bourgeois reform party: an evolutionary path to revolution.

Union of October 17 (Octobrists). 30 thousand people Edition "Slovo". Leaders: Guchkov and Rodzianko. Party of the big bourgeoisie. With the help of reforms, achieve a constitutional monarchy coexisting with the Duma.

Conclusion: The creation of socialist and bourgeois parties is an indicator of a significant shift in the socio-political development of the country. An active part of the population realized the need to fight for democratic rights of freedom.

Lecture 49

Russia at the turnXIX- XXcenturies (90sXIXcentury - 1905). Russo-Japanese War

Causes and nature of the war

The Russo-Japanese War was one of the first wars of the era of imperialism. Its main reason is the clash of interests of Japanese and Russian imperialism. The ruling classes of Japan have been plundering China for many years.

They wanted to capture Korea, Manchuria, and gain a foothold in Asia. Tsarism also pursued an aggressive policy in the Far East; The Russian bourgeoisie needed new markets.

Exacerbation of contradictions between Japan, Russia, England and the United States due to influence in China.

Russia's construction of the Siberian Railway (Chelyabinsk - Vladivostok) - 7 thousand km in 1891-1901, which caused discontent in Japan.

Russia's attempt to reduce Japan's aggressive plans as a result of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895. Russia issued an ultimatum (supported by Germany and France) that Japan renounce the Liaodong Peninsula.

The conclusion of a defensive alliance between Russia and China against Japan, according to which:

a) construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway Chita - Vladivostok began (via China)

b) China leased the Liaodong Peninsula with Port Arthur to Russia for 25 years

The interest of European countries and the United States in the clash between Japan and Russia II

. Japan's preparation for war

Conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty against Russia

Japan's construction of a modern navy in England

England and the USA helped Japan with strategic raw materials, weapons, and loans. France took a neutral position and did not support its ally, Russia.

Conducting trial mobilizations, maneuvers, creating arsenals, training landings. The Japanese fleet spent the entire winter of 1903 at sea, preparing for naval battles.

Ideological indoctrination of the Japanese population.

Imposing the idea of ​​the need to seize “the northern territories due to the overpopulation of the Japanese islands.” Conducting extensive reconnaissance and espionage activities in the future theater of military operations.

III

. Russia's unpreparedness for war

Difficulties in transporting troops and equipment over 10 thousand km (Near Lake Baikal, the Siberian Railway was not completed. Cargo was transported by horse-drawn vehicles).

Only 2 divisions could be transferred from central Russia to the Far East per month.

The navy was dispersed, with twice as many cruisers and one-third as many destroyers as Japan.

Technical backwardness in weapons, sluggishness of the bureaucratic apparatus, embezzlement and theft of officials, underestimation of enemy forces, unpopularity of the war among the masses. I V

. The beginning and course of hostilities

Using the superiority of forces and the factor of surprise, on the night of January 27, 1904, without a declaration of war, 10 Japanese destroyers suddenly attacked the Russian squadron on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur and disabled 2 battleships and 1 cruiser. On the morning of January 27, 6 Japanese cruisers and 8 destroyers attacked the cruiser Varyag and the gunboat Koreets in the Korean port of Chemulpo.

In the unequal 45-minute battle, the Russian sailors showed miracles of courage: both ships had four times fewer guns than the Japanese, but the Japanese squadron was seriously damaged, and one cruiser was sunk. The damage prevented the Varyag from breaking through to Port Arthur, Komanda Both ships were transferred to French and American ships, after which the “Korean” was blown up and the “Varyag” was sunk so that they would not fall to the enemy.

In August 1904, the first assault on Port Arthur took place. 5 days of fighting showed that the fortress could not be taken by storm; the Japanese army lost a third of its strength and was forced to proceed to a long siege. At the same time, the stubborn resistance of Russian soldiers thwarted the Japanese offensive near Liaoyang. However, Kuropatkin did not use this success and gave the order to retreat, which made it easier for the enemy to launch a new attack on Port Arthur.

The second assault on Port Arthur in September 1904 was again repulsed. The defenders of the fortress, led by the talented general R.I. Kondratenko, pinned down almost half of the Japanese forces.

The counter-offensive of Russian troops on the Shahe River at the end of September was unsuccessful. The third assault in October, the fourth in November of Port Arthur did not bring victory to the Japanese, although the defenders of the fortress were 3 times smaller than the enemy forces.

Constant bombing destroyed most of the fortifications. On December 3, 1904, General Kondratenko died. Contrary to the decision of the Defense Council, on December 20, 1904, General Stessel surrendered Port Arthur.

The fortress withstood 6 assaults over 157 days. 50 thousand Russian soldiers pinned down about 200 thousand enemy troops.

In 1905, Russia suffered two more major defeats: land (in February near Mukden) and sea (in May near the Tsushima Islands). Further waging the war was pointless. The Russian army was losing its combat effectiveness, hatred of incompetent generals grew among soldiers and officers, and revolutionary ferment intensified. In Japan the situation was also difficult.

There were not enough raw materials and finances. The United States offered Russia and Japan its mediation for negotiations.

I Technical backwardness in weapons, sluggishness of the bureaucratic apparatus, embezzlement and theft of officials, underestimation of enemy forces, unpopularity of the war among the masses. Under the peace treaty, Russia recognized Korea as a Japanese sphere of influence.

1. Russia transferred to Japan the right to lease part of the Liaodong Peninsula with Port Arthur and the southern part of Sakhalin Island

   The Kuril Islands ridge passed to Japan

   Russia made concessions to Japan in fishing

   . Results of the Russo-Japanese War

   Russia spent 3 billion rubles on the war

About 400 thousand people were killed, wounded, or captured (Japan had 135 thousand killed, 554 thousand wounded and sick)

Death of the Pacific Fleet

A blow to Russia's international prestige

Defeat in the war accelerated the start of the revolution of 1905–1907.

CONCLUSION:

The causes of World War I were the transition of leading European countries to imperialism, the formation of monopolies, the pursuit of monopoly high profits, which pushed capitalist states to fight for the redivision of the world, for new sources of raw materials and new markets.

On June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, the Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, were killed by a member of the national-patriotic organization “Young Bosnia” G. Princip. The monarchical circles of Austria-Hungary and Germany decided to use the assassination of the Archduke as a direct pretext for world war.

This war was the result of inter-imperialist contradictions between two military-political blocs that formed in Europe at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries:

1882 - Triple Alliance, uniting Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

1907 – Entente, uniting Russia, England and France.

Each of these countries had its own aggressive goals, except for Serbia and Belgium, which defended the territories of their states.

The following should be noted: there are different types of wars - large and small, just and aggressive, liberation and colonial, popular and anti-national, cold and hot, long and fleeting. There are also absurd ones. Just such a bloody and cruel massacre, which claimed millions of lives, was the one that began on August 1, 1914, with the declaration of war on little Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. All participants expected to implement their military plans within 3-4 months. However, already from the first days of the war, the calculations of leading military strategists about the lightning-fast nature of the war collapsed.