Sovereign, we have become impoverished, they oppress us. The Russia they lost. Bloody Sunday. From a historical source

On January 9, 1905, Nikolai Holstein-Gottorpsky shot a peaceful procession of the people with a petition to him in the capital of the empire.

Here is her text:

Sovereign!

We, workers and residents of the city of St. Petersburg, of various classes, our wives, children and helpless old parents, have come to you, sovereign, to seek truth and protection.

We are impoverished, we are oppressed, we are burdened with overwork, we are abused, we are not recognized as people, we are treated like slaves who must endure their bitter fate and remain silent.

We have endured, but we are being pushed further and further into the maelstrom of poverty, lack of rights and ignorance, we are being strangled by despotism and arbitrariness, and we are suffocating. No more strength, sir! There is a limit to patience. For us, that terrible moment has come when death is better than the continuation of unbearable torments.

And so we quit our job and told our hosts that we would not start working until they fulfilled our requirements. We asked for little, we wanted only that, without which there is no life, but hard labor, eternal torment.

Our first request was that our hosts discuss our needs with us. But we were denied this. We were denied the right to speak about our needs, finding that the law does not recognize such a right for us. Our requests also turned out to be illegal: to reduce the number of working hours to 8 per day; set the price for our work together with us and with our consent, consider our misunderstandings with the lower administration of the factories; to increase wages for unskilled workers and women to one ruble per day, to abolish overtime work; treat us attentively and without offense; arrange workshops so that they can work, and not find death there from terrible drafts, rain and snow.

Sovereign, there are many thousands of us here, and all these people are only in appearance, only in appearance, but in reality, for us, as well as for the entire Russian people, they do not recognize a single human right, not even the right to speak, think, gather, discuss needs, to take measures to improve our situation.

We were enslaved and enslaved under the auspices of your officials, with their help, with their assistance. Any one of us who dares to raise his voice in defense of the interests of the working class and the people is thrown into prison, sent into exile. Punished as if for a crime, for a kind heart, for a sympathetic soul. To take pity on a downtrodden, disenfranchised, exhausted person means to commit a grave crime.

The entire working people and peasants are handed over to the tyranny of a bureaucratic government, consisting of embezzlers of public funds and robbers, which not only does not care about the interests of the people, but tramples on these interests. The bureaucratic government has brought the country to complete ruin, brought upon it a shameful war, and is leading Russia further and further to ruin. We, the workers and the people, have no say in the expenditure of the huge taxes levied on us. We do not even know where and for what the money collected from the impoverished people goes. The people are deprived of the opportunity to express their desires, demands, to participate in the establishment of taxes and spending them. Workers are deprived of the opportunity to organize themselves into unions to protect their interests.

Sovereign! Is this in accordance with the divine laws, by whose grace you reign? And is it possible to live under such laws? Wouldn't it be better to die, to die for all of us, the working people of all Russia? Let the capitalists-exploiters of the working class and the bureaucrats-stealers and robbers of the Russian people live and enjoy.

This is what stands before us, sovereign, and it is this that has gathered us to the walls of your palace. Here we are looking for the last salvation. Do not refuse to help your people, bring them out of the grave of lawlessness, poverty and ignorance, give them the opportunity to decide their own destiny, throw off the unbearable oppression of officials from them. Break down the wall between you and your people and let them rule the country with you. After all, you are put on the happiness of the people, and officials snatch this happiness from our hands, it does not reach us, we receive only grief and humiliation.

Look without anger, carefully at our requests, they are directed not to evil, but to good, both for us and for you, sovereign. It is not impudence that speaks in us, but the consciousness of the need to get out of a situation that is unbearable for all. Russia is too big, her needs are too varied and numerous, for officials alone to manage her. [People's] representation is necessary, it is necessary that the people themselves help themselves and govern themselves. After all, he only knows his true needs. Do not push away his help, accept it, led immediately, immediately to call on representatives of the Russian land from all classes, from all estates, representatives and workers. Let there be a capitalist, and a worker, and an official, and a priest, and a doctor, and a teacher—let everyone, whoever they are, elect their representatives. Let everyone be equal and free in the right to vote, and for this they ordered that elections to the constituent assembly take place under the condition of universal, secret and equal voting.

But one measure still cannot heal all our wounds. Others are needed, and we tell you directly and openly, as a father, about them, sir, on behalf of the entire working class of Russia.

Required:

I. Measures against the ignorance and lawlessness of the Russian people.

1) Immediate release and return of all those who suffered for political and religious beliefs, for strikes and peasant unrest.

2) Immediate declaration of freedom and inviolability of the person, freedom of speech, press, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience in matters of religion.

3) General and mandatory public education to the state account.

4) The responsibility of ministers to the people and the guarantee of the legitimacy of government.

5) Equality before the law of all without exception.

6) Separation of church and state.

II. Measures against the poverty of the people.

1) The abolition of indirect taxes and their replacement with a progressive income tax.

2) Cancellation of redemption payments, cheap credit and gradual transfer of land to the people.

Here, sir, are our main needs with which we have come to you. Only if they are satisfied is it possible to liberate our country from slavery and poverty, to prosper, it is possible for the workers to organize to protect their interests from the arrogant exploitation of the capitalists and the bureaucratic government that robs and strangles the people.

Command and swear to fulfill them and you will make Russia both happy and glorious, and your name will be imprinted in the hearts of our and our descendants for all eternity. But if you don’t command, if you don’t answer our prayer, we will die here, on this square, in front of your palace. We have nowhere else to go and no reason to. We have only two paths: either to freedom and happiness, or to the grave ... let our life be a sacrifice for suffering Russia. We do not feel sorry for this sacrifice, we willingly make it!

The answer to the people was execution. Then the First Russian Revolution began.

"Sovereign!
We, workers and residents of the city of St. Petersburg, of different classes, our wives, children and helpless old parents, have come to you, sovereign, to seek truth and protection.
We are impoverished, we are oppressed, we are burdened with overwork, we are abused, we are not recognized as people, we are treated like slaves who must endure their bitter fate and remain silent.
We have endured, but we are being pushed further and further into the maelstrom of poverty, lack of rights and ignorance, we are strangled by despotism and arbitrariness, and we are suffocating. No more strength, sir! There is a limit to patience. For us, that terrible moment has come when death is better than the continuation of unbearable torment.
The petition said...
"PETITION OF WORKERS AND RESIDENTS OF PETERSBURG
FOR SUPPLY TO Tsar NICHOLAS II ON THE DAY OF JANUARY 9, 1905

Sovereign!

We, workers and residents of the city of St. Petersburg of various classes, our wives, and children, and helpless old parents, have come to you, sovereign, to seek truth and protection. We are impoverished, we are oppressed, we are burdened with overwork, we are abused, we are not recognized as people, we are treated like slaves who must endure their bitter fate and remain silent. We have endured, but we are being pushed further and further into the maelstrom of poverty, lack of rights and ignorance, we are being strangled by despotism and arbitrariness, and we are suffocating. No more strength, my lord. There is a limit to patience. For us, that terrible moment has come when death is better than. continuation of unbearable torment (...)

Look without anger, carefully at our requests, they are directed not to evil, but to good, both for us and for you, sovereign! It is not impudence that speaks in us, but consciousness, the need to get out of an unbearable situation for all. Russia is too big, her needs are too varied and numerous, for officials alone to manage her. Popular representation is necessary, it is necessary that the people themselves help themselves and govern themselves. After all, he only knows his true needs. Do not push away his help, they ordered immediately, immediately to call on representatives of the Russian land from all classes, from all estates, representatives and from the workers. Let there be a capitalist, and a worker, and an official, and a priest, and a doctor, and a teacher - let everyone, whoever they are, elect their representatives. Let everyone be equal and free in the right to vote - and for this they commanded that elections to the Constituent Assembly take 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:

I. Measures against the ignorance and lack of rights of the Russian people

1) Immediate release and return of all those who suffered for political and religious beliefs, for strikes and peasant unrest.
2) Immediate declaration of freedom and inviolability of the person, freedom of speech, press, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience in matters of religion.
3) General and compulsory public education at public expense.
4) The responsibility of ministers to the people and the guarantee of the legitimacy of government.
5) Equality before the law of all without exception.
6) Separation of church and state.

II. Measures against the poverty of the people

1) The abolition of indirect taxes and their replacement by a direct progressive income tax.
2) Cancellation of redemption payments, cheap credit and gradual transfer of land to the people.
3) The execution of orders from the military naval department should be in Russia, and not abroad.
4) Termination of the war by the will of the people.

III. Measures against the oppression of capital over labor

1) Abolition of the institution of factory inspectors.
2) Establishment at plants and factories of permanent commissions of elected [from] workers, who, together with the administration, would sort out all the claims of individual workers. The dismissal of a worker cannot take place otherwise than by the decision of this commission.
3) Freedom of consumer-industrial and professional workers' unions - immediately.
4) 8-hour working day and normalization of overtime work.
5) Freedom of struggle between labor and capital - immediately.
6) Normal wages - immediately.
7) The indispensable participation of representatives of the working classes in the development of a bill on state insurance of workers - immediately.
"Essays on the history of Leningrad" Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR 1956.
On January 8, Gapon sent a letter to the Minister of Internal Affairs, where he announced the intention of the workers to take the petition to the tsar, on Palace Square, the next day, January 9th. The content of the petition is attached. The events of January 9 are also interesting, but that's another story.

I suggest you familiarize yourself with this version of events:

At the first sprouts of the labor movement in Russia, F.M. Dostoevsky sharply noted the scenario according to which it would develop. In his novel "Demons" "Shpigulin's rebels", that is, the workers of the local factory, "driven to the extreme" by the owners; they crowded and wait for "the bosses to figure it out." But demonic shadows of "well-wishers" dart behind their backs. And they know that they are guaranteed a win no matter what the outcome. If the authorities go towards the working people, they will show weakness, which means they will drop their authority. “We won’t give them a break, comrades! We will not rest on our laurels, toughen the requirements!” Will the authorities take a tough stance, begin to restore order - “Higher is the banner of holy hatred! Shame and curse on the executioners!”

By the beginning of the XX century. the rapid growth of capitalism labor movement one of the most important factors in domestic Russian life. The economic struggle of workers and state development factory legislation led a joint attack on the arbitrariness of employers. By controlling this process, the state tried to restrain the process of radicalization of the growing labor movement, which was dangerous for the country. But in the struggle against the revolution for the people, it suffered a crushing defeat. And the decisive role here belongs to the event, which will forever remain in history as "Bloody Sunday".

Troops on Palace Square.

In January 1904, the war between Russia and Japan began. At first, this war, which was going on on the far periphery of the Empire, did not affect the internal situation of Russia in any way, especially since the economy maintained its usual stability. But as soon as Russia began to fail, a lively interest in the war was revealed in society. They eagerly waited for new defeats and sent congratulatory telegrams to the Japanese emperor. It was joyful to hate Russia together with "progressive mankind"! Hatred of the Fatherland has become so widespread that in Japan they began to treat Russian liberals and revolutionaries as their "fifth column". The sources of their funding appeared "Japanese trace". Shaking the state, the haters of Russia tried to cause a revolutionary situation. The Socialist-Revolutionaries-terrorists went to more and more daring and bloody deeds, by the end of 1904 a strike movement unfolded in the capital.

Priest Georgy Gapon and mayor I. A. Fullon at the opening of the Kolomna department of the Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg

At the same time, in the capital, the revolutionaries were preparing an action that was destined to become "Bloody Sunday". The action was conceived only on the grounds that there was a person in the capital who could organize and lead it - priest George Gapon, and it must be admitted that this circumstance was used with brilliance. Who could lead the hitherto unseen crowd of St. Petersburg workers, in the majority of yesterday's peasants, if not their favorite priest? Both women and old people were ready to follow the "father", multiplying the mass character of the people's procession.

Priest Georgy Gapon headed the legal workers' organization "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers". In the "Assembly", organized on the initiative of Colonel Zubatov, the leadership was actually captured by the revolutionaries, which was not known to the ordinary participants in the "Assembly". Gapon was forced to maneuver between the opposing forces, trying to "stand above the fray." The workers surrounded him with love and trust, his authority grew, the number of the "Assembly" grew, but, involved in provocations and political games, the priest committed treason to his pastoral ministry.

At the end of 1904, the liberal intelligentsia became more active, demanding decisive liberal reforms, and in early January 1905, St. Petersburg was on strike. At the same time, the radical environment of Gapon “throws” into the working masses the idea of submitting a petition to the tsar about the needs of the people. The submission of this petition to the Sovereign will be organized as a mass procession to the Winter Palace, which will be led by the beloved priest George. At first glance, the petition may seem like a strange document, it seems to have been written by different authors: the humbly loyal tone of the appeal to the Sovereign is combined with the extreme radicalness of the demands - up to the convening of a constituent assembly. In other words, they demanded self-destruction from the legitimate government. The text of the petition was not distributed to the people.

Sovereign!

But one measure still cannot heal our wounds. Others are also needed:

I. Measures against the ignorance and lawlessness of the Russian people.

1) Immediate release and return of all those who suffered for political and religious beliefs, for strikes and peasant unrest.

2) Immediate declaration of freedom and inviolability of the person, freedom of speech, press, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience in matters of religion.

3) General and compulsory public education at the expense of the state.

4) Responsibility of ministers to the people and guarantees of the legitimacy of government.

5) Equality before the law of all without exception.

6) Separation of church and state.

II. Measures against the poverty of the people.

1) The abolition of indirect taxes and their replacement by a direct progressive income tax.

2) Cancellation of redemption payments, cheap credit and transfer of land to the people.

3) The execution of orders from the military and naval departments should be in Russia, and not abroad.

4) Termination of the war by the will of the people.

III. Measures against the oppression of capital over labor.

1) Abolition of the institution of factory inspectors.

2) The establishment of standing committees of elected workers at factories and factories, which, together with the administration, would examine all the claims of individual workers. The dismissal of a worker cannot take place otherwise than by the decision of this commission.

3) Freedom of consumer-industrial and trade unions - immediately.

4) 8-hour working day and normalization of overtime work.

5) Freedom for the struggle of labor against capital—immediately.

6) Normal working pay - immediately.

7) The indispensable participation of representatives of the working classes in the elaboration of a draft law on state insurance of workers—immediately.

Here, sir, are our main needs with which we have come to you. Only if they are satisfied is it possible to liberate our country from slavery and poverty, to prosper, it is possible for the workers to organize to protect their interests from the exploitation of the capitalists and the bureaucratic government that is robbing and strangling the people.

Command and swear to fulfill them, and you will make Russia both happy and glorious, and your name will be imprinted in the hearts of ours and our descendants for all eternity. And if you don’t believe it, if you don’t answer our prayer, we will die here, on this square, in front of your palace. We have nowhere else to go and no reason to. We have only two paths: either to freedom and happiness, or to the grave... Let our life be a sacrifice for suffering Russia. We do not feel sorry for this sacrifice, we willingly make it!”

http://www.hrono.ru/dokum/190_dok/19050109petic.php

Gapon knew for what purpose his "friends" were raising a mass procession to the palace; he rushed about, realizing what he was involved in, but did not find a way out and, continuing to portray himself as the leader of the people, until the last moment he assured the people (and himself) that there would be no bloodshed. On the eve of the procession, the tsar left the capital, but no one tried to stop the disturbed popular element. The case was coming to an end. The people aspired to the Winter Palace, and the authorities were determined, realizing that "taking the Winter Palace" would be a serious bid for the victory of the enemies of the Tsar and the Russian state.

Until January 8, 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: newspapers were not published (In St. Petersburg, strikes paralyzed the activities of almost all printing houses - A.E.). And until late in the evening on the eve of January 9, hundreds of agitators walked through the working districts, exciting people, inviting them to a meeting with the Tsar, declaring again and again that this meeting was being prevented by the exploiters and officials. The workers fell asleep with the thought of tomorrow's meeting with the Father-Tsar.

The St. Petersburg authorities, who gathered on the evening of January 8 for a meeting, realizing that it was already impossible to stop the workers, decided not to let them into the very center of the city (it was already clear that the assault on the Winter Palace was actually expected). The main task was not even to protect the Tsar (he was not in the city, he was in Tsarskoe Selo and was not going to come), but to prevent riots, the inevitable stampede and death of people as a result of the flow of huge masses from four sides on the narrow space of Nevsky Prospekt and Palace Square, among the embankments and canals. The tsarist ministers remembered the tragedy of Khodynka, when, as a result of the criminal negligence of the local Moscow authorities, 1,389 people died in a stampede and about 1,300 were injured. Therefore, troops were drawn to the center, Cossacks with orders not to let people through, to use weapons when absolutely necessary.

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 limited, and it was pasted too late.

January 9, 1905 Cavalrymen at the Pevchesky Bridge delay the movement of the procession to the Winter Palace.

Representatives of all parties were distributed among individual columns of workers (there should be eleven of them - according to the number of branches of the Gapon organization). Socialist-Revolutionary fighters were preparing weapons. The Bolsheviks put together detachments, each of which consisted of a standard-bearer, an agitator and a core that defended them (that is, the same militants).

All members of the RSDLP are required to be at the collection points by six o'clock in the morning.

They prepared banners and banners: “Down with the autocracy!”, “Long live the revolution!”, “To arms, comrades!”

Before the start of the procession, a prayer service for the health of the Tsar was served in the chapel of the Putilov Factory. The procession had all the features of a religious procession. Icons, banners and royal portraits were carried in the forefront (it is interesting that some of the icons and banners were simply captured during the looting of two churches and a chapel along the route of the columns).

But from the very beginning, long before the first shots were fired, at the other end of the city, on Vasilyevsky Island and in some other places, groups of workers led by revolutionary provocateurs erected barricades of telegraph poles and wire, hoisted red flags.

Participants of Bloody Sunday

At first, the workers did not pay much attention to the barricades, noticing and indignant. From the columns of workers moving towards the center, exclamations were heard: “These are no longer ours, we don’t need it, these are students playing around.”

The total number of participants in the procession to Palace Square is estimated at about 300 thousand people. Separate columns numbered several tens of thousands of people. 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 authorities to introduce the procession into the framework of the order were rebuffed by specially organized groups (the previously agreed paths for the columns were violated, two cordons were broken through and dispersed).

The head of the Police Department, 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 to military units. This state of affairs led to the need for emergency measures to restore order, and military units had to act against huge gatherings of workers with firearms.

The procession from the Narva outpost was led by Gapon himself, who constantly shouted out: "If we are denied, then we no longer have a Tsar." 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.

Events developed in approximately the same way in other places - on the Vyborg side, on Vasilevsky Island, on the Shlisselburg tract. Red banners appeared, slogans “Down with autocracy!”, “Long live the revolution!” The crowd, excited by trained militants, smashed weapons stores and erected barricades. On Vasilyevsky Island, a crowd led by the Bolshevik L.D. Davydov, captured Schaff's weapons workshop. “In Brick Lane,” Lopukhin reported to the Tsar, “the crowd attacked two policemen, one of them was beaten.

Major General Elrikh was beaten on Morskaya Street, one captain was beaten on Gorokhovaya Street, and a courier was detained, and his motor was broken. A junker of the Nikolaev Cavalry School, who was passing by in a cab, was dragged off the sleigh by the crowd, broke the saber with which he defended himself, and beat him and wounded him ...

Gapon at the Narva Gate called on the people to clash with the troops: "Freedom or death!" and only accidentally did not die when volleys were fired (the first two volleys were blank, the next volley was combat over the heads, subsequent volleys into the crowd). The crowds going to the "capture of the Winter" were dispersed. About 120 people died, about 300 were injured. Immediately, a cry was raised around the world about the many thousands of victims of the "bloody tsarist regime", calls were made for its immediate overthrow, and these calls were successful. The enemies of the Tsar and the Russian people, who pretended to be his "well-wishers", extracted the maximum propaganda effect from the tragedy of January 9. Subsequently, the communist authorities entered this date into the calendar as the obligatory Day of Hatred for the people.

Father Georgy Gapon believed in his mission, and, walking at the head of the people's procession, he could die, but the Socialist-Revolutionary P. Rutenberg, assigned to him by the "commissar" from the revolutionaries, helped him escape from the shots. It is clear that Rutenberg and his friends were aware of Gapon's ties to the Police Department. If his reputation had been impeccable, he would obviously have been shot under volleys in order to carry his image to the people in the halo of a hero and martyr. The possibility of the destruction of this image by the authorities was the reason for saving Gapon that day, but already in 1906 he was executed as a provocateur "in his own circle" under the leadership of the same Rutenberg, who, as A.I. Solzhenitsyn, "later left to recreate Palestine"...

In total, on January 9, 96 people were killed (including a police officer) and up to 333 people were wounded, of whom another 34 people died before January 27 (including one assistant bailiff). So, in total, 130 people were killed and about 300 wounded.

Thus ended the pre-planned action of the revolutionaries. On the same day, the most incredible rumors began to spread about thousands of those who were shot and that the execution was specially organized by the sadistic Tsar, who wished for the blood of the workers.

Graves of the victims of Bloody Sunday 1905

At the same time, some sources give a higher estimate of the number of victims - about a thousand killed and several thousand wounded. In particular, in an article by V. I. Lenin, published on January 18 (31), 1905, in the newspaper Vperyod, the figure of 4,600 killed and wounded, which subsequently received wide circulation in Soviet historiography, is given. According to a study by Dr. historical sciences A.N. Zashikhin in 2008, there are no grounds for recognizing this figure as reliable.

Similar inflated figures were reported by other foreign agencies. Thus, the British agency Laffan reported 2,000 dead and 5,000 wounded, the Daily Mail about more than 2,000 killed and 5,000 wounded, and the Standard newspaper about 2,000-3,000 killed and 7,000-8,000 wounded. Subsequently, all this information was not confirmed. Liberation magazine reported that a certain "organizing committee of the Technological Institute" published "secret police information" that determined the number of people killed at 1216 people. No confirmation of this message was found.

Subsequently, the press, hostile to the Russian government, exaggerated the number of victims dozens of times, without bothering to provide documentary evidence. Bolshevik V. Nevsky, already in Soviet time who studied the issue according to documents, wrote that the death toll did not exceed 150-200 people (Krasnaya Letopis, 1922. Petrograd. Vol. 1. P. 55-57) This is the story of how revolutionary parties cynically used the sincere aspirations of the people for their own purposes, substituting them under the guaranteed bullets of the soldiers defending the Winter.

From the diary of Nicholas II:

January 9th. Sunday. 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 16, the Holy Synod addressed the latest events with a message to all Orthodox:
«<…>The Holy Synod, grieving, implores the children of the church to obey authority, pastors to preach and teach, those in power to protect the oppressed, the rich to generously do good deeds, and workers to work hard and beware of false advisers - accomplices and hirelings of the evil enemy.
You have allowed yourself to be led astray and deceived by traitors and enemies of our country... Strikes and rebellious gatherings only excite the crowd to such unrest, which has always forced and will force the authorities to resort to military force, and this inevitably causes innocent victims. I know that the life of a worker is not easy. Much needs to be improved and put in order. But it is criminal to tell me about your demands with a rebellious crowd.

Speaking about the hasty order of the frightened authorities who ordered to shoot, it should also be remembered that the atmosphere around the royal palace was very tense, because three days earlier an attempt had been made on the Sovereign. On January 6, during the Epiphany water blessing on the Neva in the Peter and Paul Fortress, a salute was fired, during which one of the cannons fired a live charge in the direction of the Emperor. A buckshot shot pierced the banner of the Naval Corps, hit the windows of the Winter Palace and seriously wounded the gendarmerie bailiff on duty. The officer commanding the salute immediately committed suicide, so the cause of the shot remained a mystery. Immediately after this, the Sovereign and his family left for Tsarskoye Selo, where he stayed until January 11. Thus, the Tsar did not know about what was happening in the capital, he was not in St. Petersburg that day, but the revolutionaries and liberals attributed the blame for what happened to him, calling him “Nikolai the Bloody” since then.

All the victims and the families of the victims, by order of the Sovereign, were paid benefits in the amount of one and a half years' earnings of a skilled worker. On January 18, Minister Svyatopolk-Mirsky was dismissed. On January 19, the Tsar received a deputation of workers from large factories and factories of the capital, who already on January 14, in an appeal to the Metropolitan of St. convey this repentance to the Sovereign.

sources
http://www.russdom.ru/oldsayte/2005/200501i/200501012.html Vladimir Sergeyevich ZHILKIN

Remember how we figured out, and also tried to expose

The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -

On December 27, 1904, a meeting of the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg" was held, headed by priest Georgy Gapon. It was decided to go on strike. The reason was the dismissal of the workers of the Putilov factory.

On January 3, 1905, the Putilov factory went on strike; on January 4, the Franco-Russian shipyard and the Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant, and on January 8 the total number of strikers reached 150,000.

On the night of January 6-7, priest George Gapon wrote petitions to Nicholas. On January 8, the text of the petition was approved by members of the society.

Priest George Gapon.

“Petition of the workers of St. Petersburg on January 9, 1905
Sovereign!
We, workers and residents of the city of St. Petersburg of various classes, our wives, and children, and helpless old parents, have come to you, sovereign, to seek truth and protection. We are impoverished, we are oppressed, we are burdened with overwork, we are abused, we are not recognized as people, we are treated like slaves who must endure their bitter fate and remain silent. We have endured, but we are being pushed further and further into the maelstrom of poverty, lack of rights and ignorance, we are being strangled by despotism and arbitrariness, and we are suffocating. No more strength, my lord. There is a limit to patience. For us, that terrible moment has come when death is better than the continuation of unbearable torments.

And so we quit our job and told our hosts that we would not start working until they fulfilled our requirements. We did not ask for much, we only wanted that, without which there is no life, but hard labor, eternal torment. Our first request was that our hosts discuss our needs with us. But we were denied this - we were denied the right to speak about our needs, that the law does not recognize such a right for us. Our requests also turned out to be illegal: to reduce the number of working hours to 8 per day; set the price for our work with us and with our consent; consider our misunderstandings with the lower administration of the factories; to increase wages for laborers and women for their work to 1 rub. in a day; cancel overtime; treat us attentively and without offense; arrange workshops so that they can work, and not find death there from terrible drafts, rain and snow.

Everything turned out, in the opinion of our owners and the factory administration, to be illegal, our every request is a crime, and our desire to improve our situation is impudence, insulting to them. Sovereign, there are many thousands of us here, and all these are people only in appearance, only in appearance - in reality, for us, as well as for the entire Russian people, they do not recognize a single human right, not even the right to speak, think, assemble, to discuss needs, to take measures to improve our situation. We were enslaved, and enslaved under the auspices of your officials, with their help, with their assistance.

Any one of us who dares to raise his voice in defense of the interests of the working class and the people is thrown into prison, sent into exile. Punished as if for a crime, for a kind heart, for a sympathetic soul. To take pity on a downtrodden, disenfranchised, exhausted person is to commit a serious crime. The entire working people and peasants are handed over to the tyranny of a bureaucratic government, consisting of embezzlers of public funds and robbers, which not only does not care about the interests of the people, but tramples on these interests. The bureaucratic government has brought the country to complete ruin, brought upon it a shameful war, and is leading Russia further and further to ruin. We, the workers and the people, have no say in the expenditure of the huge taxes levied on us. We do not even know where and for what the money collected from the impoverished people goes. The people are deprived of the opportunity to express their desires, demands, to participate in the establishment of taxes and spending them.

Workers are deprived of the opportunity to organize themselves into unions to protect their interests. Sovereign! Is this in accordance with the divine laws, by whose grace you reign? And is it possible to live under such laws? Wouldn't it be better to die - to die for all of us, the working people of all Russia? Let the capitalists live and enjoy - exploiters of the working class and officials - embezzlers and robbers of the Russian people. This is what stands before us, sovereign, and it is this that has gathered us to the walls of your palace. Here we are looking for the last salvation. Do not refuse to help your people, bring them out of the grave of lawlessness, poverty and ignorance, give them the opportunity to decide their own destiny, throw off the unbearable oppression of officials from them. Break down the wall between you and your people and let them rule the country with you. After all, you are put on the happiness of the people, and officials snatch this happiness from our hands, it does not reach us, we receive only grief and humiliation. Look without anger, carefully at our requests: they are directed not to evil, but to good, both for us and for you, sovereign! It is not impudence that speaks in us, but the consciousness of the need to get out of a situation that is unbearable for all. Russia is too big, her needs are too varied and numerous, for officials alone to manage her. Popular representation is necessary, it is necessary that the people themselves help themselves and govern themselves. After all, he only knows his true needs. Do not push away his help, they ordered immediately, immediately to call on representatives of the Russian land from all classes, from all estates, representatives and from the workers. Let there be a capitalist, and a worker, and an official, and a priest, and a doctor, and a teacher - let everyone, whoever they are, elect their representatives. Let everyone be equal and free in the right to vote - and for this they commanded that elections to the Constituent Assembly take place under the condition of universal, secret and equal voting.

This is our most important request, everything is based on it and on it, this is the main and only plaster for our sick wounds, without which these wounds will ooze strongly and quickly move us to death. But one measure still cannot heal our wounds. Others are needed, and we tell you directly and openly, as a father, about them, sir, on behalf of the entire working class of Russia.

Required:

I. Measures against the ignorance and lawlessness of the Russian people.

1) Immediate release and return of all those who suffered for political and religious beliefs, for strikes and peasant unrest.
2) Immediate declaration of freedom and inviolability of the person, freedom of speech, press, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience in matters of religion.
3) General and compulsory public education at the expense of the state.
4) Responsibility of ministers to the people and guarantees of the legitimacy of government.
5) Equality before the law of all without exception.
6) Separation of church and state.

II. Measures against the poverty of the people.

1) Abolishing indirect taxes and replacing them with direct progressive income taxes
tax.
2) Cancellation of redemption payments, cheap credit and gradual transfer of land
people.
3) The execution of orders from the military naval department should be in Russia, and not abroad.
4) Termination of the war by the will of the people.

III. Measures against the oppression of capital over labor.

1) Abolition of the institution of factory inspectors.
2) Establishment at plants and factories of permanent commissions elected from
workers who, together with the administration, would deal with all claims
individual workers. The dismissal of a worker cannot take place otherwise than with
the decisions of this commission.
3) Freedom of consumer-industrial and professional workers' unions - immediately.
4) 8-hour working day and normalization of overtime work.
5) Freedom of struggle between labor and capital - immediately.
6) Normal wages - immediately.
7) The indispensable participation of representatives of the working classes in the development of a bill on state insurance of workers - immediately.

Here, sir, are our main needs with which we have come to you; only if they are satisfied is it possible to liberate our Motherland from slavery and poverty, to prosper, it is possible for the workers to organize to protect their interests from the brazen exploitation of the capitalists and the bureaucratic government that robs and strangles the people. Command and swear to fulfill them, and you will make Russia both happy and glorious, and your name will be imprinted in the hearts of our and our descendants for all eternity, and if you do not command, you will not respond to our prayer, we will die here, on this square, in front of your palace. We have nowhere else to go and no reason to. We have only two paths: either to freedom and happiness, or to the grave ... ".

Priest of the St. Petersburg transit prison Georgy Gapon and mayor Ivan Fullon at the opening of the Kolomna department of the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg". 1904

January 8, Nicholas II got acquainted with the content of the petition. Minister of the Interior Prince P.D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky reassured the tsar, assuring him that, according to his information, nothing dangerous was foreseen. The Tsar did not come from Tsarskoye Selo to Petersburg.

According to Count S. Yu. Witte, the decision to prevent the procession to Palace Square was made on the evening of January 8 at a meeting with the Minister of the Interior P. D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky. The meeting was attended by the St. Petersburg mayor I. A. Fullon, Minister of Finance V. N. Kokovtsov, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs K. N. Rydzevsky, Chief of Staff of the Guards and the St. Petersburg District, General. N. F. Meshetich and others. At the meeting, it was decided to arrest Gapon, but the arrest could not be carried out, since “he sat in one of the houses of the working-class quarter and for the arrest at least 10 people would have to be sacrificed by the police.”

On the evening of January 8, by order of the emperor, martial law was introduced in St. Petersburg. All power in the capital passed into the hands of the military administration, headed by the commander of the Guards Corps, Prince. S. I. Vasilchikov. The direct chief of the book. Vasilchikov was the commander-in-chief of the St. Petersburg military district and the troops of the guard Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. All military orders came from the Grand Duke, but the orders were signed by Prince Vasilchikov. Orders for the guards in sealed packages were handed over to the units at night, with the obligation to print them at 6 am on January 9th.

On the evening of January 8, a delegation came to Svyatopolk-Mirsky: Maxim Gorky, A. V. Peshekhonov, N. F. Annensky, I. V. Gessen, V. A. Myakotin, V. I. Semevsky, K. K. Arseniev, E I. Kedrin, N. I. Kareev and worker D. Kuzin demanding the abolition of military measures. Svyatopolk-Mirsky refused to accept them. Then they came to S. Yu. Witte, trying to convince him to help the tsar accept the petition from the workers. Witte evaded decisive action. On January 11, 9 out of 10 deputies were arrested.

Sergei Witte.

On the morning of January 9, the workers who had gathered behind the Narva and Neva gates, on the Vyborg and Petersburg side, on Vasilevsky Island and in Kolpino, moved to Palace Square. Their total number reached about 50-100 thousand people.

The workers came with their families, children, festively dressed, they carried portraits of the king, icons, crosses, sang prayers. At the head of one of the columns was the priest Gapon with a cross raised high.

At 11.30 in the morning, a column of 3 thousand people led by Gapon was stopped near the Narva Gate by the police, a squadron of horse-grenadiers and two companies of the 93rd Irkutsk Infantry Regiment. At the first volley, the crowd lay down on the ground, after which they tried to move forward again. The troops fired only five volleys into the crowd, after which it fled.

At 11.30 at Troitsky Bridge (approximately 10 thousand people) was stopped by the police and units of the Pavlovsky regiment at the beginning of Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt. A salvo was fired.

Cavalrymen at the Pevchesky Bridge delay the movement of the procession to the Winter Palace. By 12 noon, the Alexander Garden was filled with crowds of men, women and teenagers. A company of the Preobrazhensky Regiment fired two volleys at the masses of people who filled the Alexander Garden right through the garden lattice.

At the Police Bridge, the 3rd battalion of the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment under the command of Colonel N.K. Riman shot the crowd on the embankment of the Moika River.

From the memoirs of M. A. Voloshin:

“Sleds were let through everywhere. And they let me through the Police bridge between the ranks of soldiers. They were loading their guns at that moment. The officer shouted to the driver: "Turn right." The driver drove off a few steps and stopped. "Looks like they're going to shoot!" The crowd was tight. But there were no workers. It was the usual Sunday crowd. “Killers!.. Well, shoot!” someone shouted. The horn played the attack signal. I ordered the cab driver to move on ... As soon as we turned the corner, a shot was heard, a dry, not strong sound. Then more and more."

From the memoirs of V. A. Serov:

“What I had to see from the windows of the Academy of Arts on January 9, I will never forget - a restrained, majestic, unarmed crowd advancing towards cavalry attacks and gun sights is a terrible sight.”

At five o'clock in the afternoon on Maly Prospekt, between the 4th and 8th lines, a crowd of up to 8,000 people erected a barricade, but was dispersed by the troops, who fired several volleys directly into the crowd.

In addition, volleys were fired on the Shlisselburg tract, at the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Gogol Street, and on Kazanskaya Square.

According to official figures, 130 people were shot dead and 299 people were injured.

"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!”.

By the highest order of January 11, 1905, Major General D. F. Trepov, a resolute fighter against revolutionary actions, was appointed to the new position of the St. Petersburg Governor General.

“For almost a year now, Russia has been waging a bloody war with the pagans for its historical calling as a planter of Christian enlightenment<…>But behold, a new test of God, grief - bitterer than the first visited our beloved fatherland. Strikes of workers and street riots began in the capital and other cities of Russia ... The criminal instigators of ordinary working people, having in their midst an unworthy clergyman who boldly violated holy vows and is now subject to the judgment of the Church, were not ashamed to give into the hands of the deceived workers the honest cross forcibly taken from the chapel , holy icons and banners, so that, under the protection of revered shrines by believers, it is more likely to lead them to disorder, and others to death. Workers of the Russian land, working people! Work according to the commandment of the Lord in the sweat of your face, remembering that the one who does not work is not worthy of food. Beware of your false advisers<…>they are accomplices or mercenaries of the evil enemy, seeking the ruin of the Russian land.

On January 19, 1905, Emperor Nicholas II, in his speech to the deputation, stated: “I know that the life of a worker is not easy. Much needs to be improved and streamlined, but be patient. You yourselves in good conscience understand that you must be fair to your masters and take into account the conditions of our industry. But the rebellious crowd to declare their needs to Me is criminal.<…>I believe in the honest feelings of working people and their unshakable devotion to Me, and therefore I forgive them their guilt.<…>“

After January 9, Nicholas II did not appear in public until the celebrations in honor of the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty in 1913.

CHRONOS LIBRARY

PETITION OF WORKERS AND RESIDENTS OF PETERSBURG

FOR SUBMISSION TO CZAR NICHOLAS II

Sovereign!

Look without anger, carefully at our requests, they are directed not to evil, but to good, both for us and for you, sovereign! It is not impudence that speaks in us, but consciousness, the need to get out of an unbearable situation for all. Russia is too big, her needs are too varied and numerous, for officials alone to manage her. Popular representation is necessary, it is necessary that the people themselves help themselves and govern themselves. After all, he only knows his true needs. Do not push away his help, they ordered immediately, immediately to call on representatives of the Russian land from all classes, from all estates, representatives and from the workers. Let there be a capitalist, and a worker, and an official, and a priest, and a doctor, and a teacher—let everyone, whoever they are, elect their representatives. Let everyone be equal and free in the right to vote, and for this they ordered that elections to the Constituent Assembly take 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:

I. Measures against the ignorance and lack of rights of the Russian people

1) Immediate release and return of all victims of political and religious beliefs,

for strikes and peasant unrest.

2) Immediate declaration of freedom and inviolability of the person, freedom of speech,

press, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience in matters of religion.

3) General and compulsory public education at the expense of the state.

4) The responsibility of ministers to the people and the guarantee of the legitimacy of government.

5) Equality before the law of all without exception.

6) Separation of church and state.

II. Measures against the poverty of the people

1) The abolition of indirect taxes and their replacement by a direct progressive income tax.

2) Cancellation of redemption payments, cheap credit and the gradual transfer of land to the people.

3) The execution of orders from the military naval department should be in Russia, and not abroad.

4) Termination of the war by the will of the people.

III. Measures against the oppression of capital over labor

1) Abolition of the institution of factory inspectors.

2) Establishment at plants and factories of permanent commissions of elected [from] workers, who, together with the administration, would sort out all the claims of individual workers. The dismissal of a worker cannot take place otherwise than by the decision of this commission.

3) Freedom of consumer-industrial and professional workers' unions—immediately.

4) 8-hour working day and normalization of overtime work.

5) Freedom for the struggle of labor against capital—immediately.

6) Normal wages - immediately.

7) The indispensable participation of representatives of the working classes in the elaboration of a draft law on state insurance of workers—immediately. (…)

Beginning of the first Russian revolution. January-March 1905. Documents and materials. M., 1955. S. 28-31.

———————————————————————————

E.A. Nikolsky is a captain from the General Staff.

Printed by book: Nikolsky E.A. Notes about the past.

Comp. and prepare. text by D.G. Browns. M., Russian way, 2007. p. 133-137.

Sunday January 9, 1905 with the permission of the civil authorities, the workers protected by the police under the leadership of a well-known priest Gapon, revolutionary Rutenberg and others moved in masses with icons and banners to the Winter Palace, wishing to express their wishes to the Sovereign. military authorities, as is known, they opposed the permitted demonstration only the day before, when it was already impossible to cancel the procession due to the small amount of time left. At the same time, the Emperor and his family left for Tsarskoye Selo.

I lived on the Petersburg side. When I walked to the headquarters in the morning across the Palace Bridge and passed the Winter Palace, I saw that units of the guards cavalry, infantry and artillery were heading towards Palace Square from all sides.

Further, I describe what I observed from the window of the General Staff building. Very soon, almost the entire area was filled with troops. Ahead were the cavalry guards and cuirassiers. At about twelve o'clock in the afternoon, individual people appeared in the Alexander Garden, then rather quickly the garden began to fill with crowds of men, women and teenagers. Separate groups appeared from the side of the Palace Bridge. When the people approached the grating of the Alexander Garden, infantry appeared from the depths of the square, passing the square at a quick pace. Having lined up with a deployed front to the Alexander Garden, after a triple warning by horns about opening fire the infantry began firing volleys at the masses of people who filled the garden. The crowds surged back, leaving many wounded and dead on the snow. The cavalry also came out in separate detachments. Some of them galloped to the Palace Bridge, and some - across the square to Nevsky Prospekt, to Gorokhovaya Street, chopping with checkers all met.

I decided to leave the headquarters not through the Palace Bridge, but to try to get out somehow as soon as possible through the arch of the General Staff Building on Morskaya Street to some side street and then go by a circuitous route to the Petersburg Side. He went out by the back door through the gate, directly facing Morskaya Street. Further - to the corner of the last and Nevsky. There I saw a company of the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment, in front of which I walked Colonel Riemann. I paused at the corner while the company crossed Morskaya towards the Police Bridge. Interested, I walked along Nevsky Prospekt directly after the company. Near the bridge, at the command of Riemann, the company was divided into three parts - into a half company and two platoons. Half company stopped in the middle of the bridge. One platoon stood to the right of Nevsky, and the other to the left, with fronts along the Moika River.

For some time the company stood idle. But groups of people - men and women - began to appear on Nevsky Prospekt and on both sides of the Moika River. Waiting for more to come Colonel Riemann, standing in the center of the company, without making any warning, as it was established by the charter, he commanded:

- Straight into the crowds firing volleys!

After this command, each officer of his unit repeated Riemann's command. The soldiers got ready, then, at the command "Platoon", they put their rifles to their shoulders, and on command« Plea» volleys rang out which have been repeated several times. After firing for people who were no more than forty or fifty steps away from the company, the survivors rushed headlong to run back. After two or three minutes, Riemann gave the command:

- Directly on the running firing packs!

Chaotic, rapid fire began, and many, who managed to run back three or four hundred paces, fell under the shots. The fire continued for three or four minutes, after which the bugler played a ceasefire.

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 he seemed to be laughing, for a moment he was crying. His eyes looked ahead of him, and it was clear that they did not see anything. A few minutes later he came to his senses, took out a handkerchief, took off his cap and wiped his sweaty face.

Watching Riemann carefully, I did not notice where the well-dressed man had come from at that time. Raising his hat with his left hand, he went up to Riemann and in a very polite manner asked his permission to go to the Alexander Garden, expressing the hope that near Gorokhovaya he might find a cab to go to the doctor. Moreover, he pointed to his right hand near the shoulder, from the torn sleeve of which blood oozed and fell into the snow.

Riemann at first listened to him, as if not understanding, but then, putting his handkerchief in his pocket, he pulled out a revolver from its holster. Hitting them in the face of the man standing in front of him, he uttered a public curse and shouted: - Go where you want, even to hell!

When this man walked away from Riemann, I saw that his whole face was covered in blood. After waiting a little longer, I went up to Riemann and asked him:

Colonel, will you fire again? I am asking you because I have to walk along the Moika Embankment to the Pevchesky Bridge.

Can't you see that I have no one else to shoot at, all this bastard got scared and fled, - was Riemann's answer.

I turned along the Moika, but at the very first gate to the left in front of me lay a janitor with a badge on his chest, not far from him was a woman holding a girl by the hand. All three were dead. In a small space of ten or twelve paces, I counted nine corpses. And then I came across dead and wounded. Seeing me, the wounded stretched out their hands and asked for help.

I went back to Riemann and told him about the need to immediately call for help. He replied to me:

Go your own way. None of your business.

I was no longer able to go along the Moika, and therefore I went back along the Morskaya, went again from the back door to the headquarters, from there I called the mayor's office by phone. I asked to be connected to the mayor's office. The officer on duty answered. I told him that I was now at the Police Bridge, there are many wounded and immediate medical assistance is needed. The order will now be made, was his answer.

I decided to go home across the Palace Bridge. Approaching the Alexander Garden, I saw that the garden was full of wounded and dead. I did not have the strength to walk along the garden to the Palace Bridge. Having crossed the square between the troops, I went past the Winter Palace to the left, along Millionnaya Street, along the Neva River Embankment, and crossed the Liteiny Bridge to my home. All the streets were deserted, I did not meet anyone along the way. The huge city seemed to have died out. I came home completely nervously and physically overwhelmed. I lay down and got up the next morning.

On Monday I had to go to the headquarters, because the hasty papers that had not been executed on Sunday were waiting for me there. Passing, as always, along the lattice of the Alexander Garden, I saw that the corpses and the wounded had all been removed. True, in many places were still visible small parts of corpses torn off by volley fire. They stood out brightly against the white snow, surrounded by blood. For some reason, I was especially impressed by a piece of a skull with hair, somehow stuck to an iron grate. He, apparently, froze to her, and the cleaners did not notice him. This piece of skull with hair remained there for several days. For twenty-seven years this piece has been before my eyes. The iron fence of the garden, made of rather thick rods, was cut in many places by rifle bullets.

For quite a long time, the scene at the Police Bridge was restored in my memory in great detail. And Riemann's face rose before me as though alive. Until now, I see a woman with a girl and the hands of the wounded stretching towards me.

Then it turned out that during the shooting along different streets random bullets killed and wounded several people in their apartments located at a great distance from the firing points. So, for example, I know of a case where the watchman of the Alexander Lyceum was killed in his lodge on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt.

After some time, I had to talk at headquarters about the incident on January 9 with one of the highest commanders of the military units of the guard. Under the influence of the still vivid impression of the bloody event, I could not restrain myself and expressed my opinion to him.

In my opinion, the execution of unarmed people walking with icons and banners with any request to their Monarch was a big mistake, which will be fraught with consequences. The sovereign should not have left for Tsarskoye Selo. It was necessary to go out onto the balcony of the palace, say a soothing speech and talk personally with the delegates called, but only from real workers who had served in their factories for at least ten to fifteen years. A warm, friendly word from the emperor to the whole mass of the people would only raise his prestige and strengthen his power. The whole event could turn into a mighty patriotic manifestation, the force of which would extinguish the voice of the revolutionaries.

The investigation proved that all the crowds of people went to their Sovereign completely unarmed. The people wanted to find answers to their painful questions.

Perhaps you are right, - the general answered me, - but do not forget that Palace Square is the tactical key to Petersburg. If the crowd had taken possession of it and turned out to be armed, then it is not known how it would have ended. And therefore, at a meeting on January 8, chaired by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, it was decided to resist by force in order to prevent the accumulation of the masses on Palace Square and advise the emperor not to stay on January 9 in St. Petersburg. Of course, if we could be sure that the people would go to the square unarmed, then our decision would be different. Yes, you are partly right, but what is done cannot be changed.

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Read here:

Gapon Georgy Apollonovich (biographical materials).

Zubatov Sergey Vasilievich (1864 - 1917) gendarmerie colonel

Rutenberg Pinkhas Moiseevich (1878-1942)

— revolutionary, Zionist activist.

Pinkhas was born in 1878 in the city of Romny, Poltava province, in a family merchant of the 2nd guild Moses Rutenberg. Mother - daughter of Rabbi Pinchas Margolin from Kremenchug. There were seven children in the family: four daughters and three sons. He studied in a cheder, at the Romensky real school, then entered the Petersburg technological Institute . In his student years he took part in the revolutionary movement. First he was a social democrat then became a member socialist revolutionary parties(party nickname Martin). He was expelled from the institute for participating in student unrest in 1899 and exiled to Yekaterinoslav. In the autumn of 1900 he was reinstated at the institute and graduated with honors.

At the very beginning of the 1900s, P. Rutenberg married Olga Khomenko - participant revolutionary movement , owner of the publishing house "Library for All". This marriage could take place only if the Jew was baptized, which he did formally. Already in exile, in the synagogue of Florence, Pinchas will perform the medieval rite of repentance of an apostate - he will receive 39 blows with a whip and return to the faith of his fathers.

In 1904, P. Rutenberg became the head of the tool workshop of the Putilov factory. Through his friend, the famous Socialist-Revolutionary Boris Savinkov, made contact with Fighting organization of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. At the same time, at the plant, he met priest Georgy Gapon, who, with the support of Plehve and Zubatov, created the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg", which united over 20 thousand workers. This organization attracted the attention of the revolutionaries, and P. Rutenberg became Gapon's closest associate.

On January 9, 1905, at the Winter Palace, a procession heading towards the tsar was shot, 1216 Russian workers died, although 130 victims were officially announced. Pinkhas Rutenberg accompanied Gapon in a column and took him to the nearest courtyard, where dressed up and cut, after which he hid in the apartment writer Batyushkov and then helped to escape abroad. Rutenberg also went abroad, where, by decision of the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, he was appointed head of the military organization of the party.

In the summer of 1905 he took part in failed attempt deliver weapons to Russia by ship« John Crafton».

In the autumn of 1905 he was arrested, he was released according to the Manifesto of October 17. Then, in accordance with this manifesto, Gapon was also able to return to Russia. In November-December 1905, P. Rutenberg led a combat squad in one of the working districts of St. Petersburg.

Abroad, where Gapon was greeted as a hero, he published his memoirs. The fees allowed him to live widely, and he distributed them to the revolutionaries, including V. Lenin. In the summer of 1905, Gapon was recruited by the police, P. Rachkovsky, the head of the political department of the police, contacted him. It was Gapon who told the head of the St. Petersburg security department that P. Rutenberg allegedly took part in the procession because he had a plan to shoot the tsar during his exit to the people.

Then he began to persuade P. Rutenberg to cooperate with the police. After that, Rutenberg went to Helsingfors (Helsinki), reported everything to the Central Committee, and he was instructed to kill Gapon and Rachkovsky. Azef - Head of the Combat Organization, fearing his exposure, single-handedly allowed to liquidate only Gapon. It was necessary to convince the workers of the "betrayal" of Gapon. During another meeting between Gapon and Rutenberg, one of the workers dressed up as a cab driver and overheard the entire conversation during which Gapon persuaded Rutenberg to be an informer. March 28 in Ozerki near St. Petersburg Gapon was hanged. In 1909, P. Rutenberg published his memoirs of these events in Paris. In 1925, his book "The Murder of Gapon" was published in Leningrad.

Departing from the revolutionary movement, P. Rutenberg left for Germany in 1906, from 1907 to 1915 he lived in Italy. It was then that he returned to Judaism and openly accepted the ideas of Zionism. Worked as an engineer new system construction of dams for hydroelectric power plants. At one time he lived with Maxim Gorky in Capri. Created in Italy Society« About Causa Ebraik», defending the interests of Jews in the post-war« world order». Participated in the society Zionist from Yekaterinoslav Ber Borokhov.

In 1915, P. Rutenberg left for the United States, where he published the article "The National Revival of the Jewish People." His call to create Jewish legion received support from D. Ben-Gurion. In the same place, in the USA, P. Rutenberg prepared a complete plan for the irrigation of Eretz Israel.

In February 1917 he returned to Russia. Head of the Provisional Government A. Kerensky appointed him deputy provincial commissar. In October, P. Rutenberg became an assistant N. Kimkina- Authorized by the government to "restore order in Petrograd."

In the days October revolution Rutenberg offered to arrest and execute V. Lenin and L. Trotsky. But during the assault on the Winter Palace he himself was arrested and spent six months in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Released at the request of M. Gorky and A. Kollontai. Then he worked in Moscow. After the announcement Soviet authorities"Red Terror", Rutenberg fled to Kyiv - the capital of the then independent Ukraine, then in Odessa led the supply in the French military administration.

In 1919, Rutenberg left Russia forever. He went to Palestine where he began the electrification of the country. Helped V. Zhabotinsky create the so-called Jewish self-defense during the Arab riots in Jerusalem in April 1920.

Then he started fighting for obtaining a concession for the use of the waters of the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers for the needs of electricity supply. In this he was supported by W. Churchill and H. Weizmann. In 1923, he established the Palestine Electric Company and began building power plants in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberias, Nagaraim. For two years (1929-1931) P. Rutenberg headed the Jewish community of Palestine. He made great efforts to smooth out the contradictions in relations between Ben-Gurion and Jabotinsky. In 1940, he issued a public appeal "To the Yishuv", in which he called on the Jewish community for national unity, opposed the party struggle and demanded equal rights for all residents of the Yishuv. In 1942, P. Rutenberg died in a Jerusalem hospital. He bequeathed his fortune, acquired in Italy and increased in Eretz Israel, to be the basis of the Rutenberg Foundation.

CHRONOS LIBRARY. Used site materials http://jew.dp.ua/ssarch/arch2003/08/sh7.htm

B.Savinkov. Memories of a Terrorist. Publishing house "Proletary", Kharkov. 1928 Part II Ch. I. Assassination attempt on Dubasov and Durnovo. XI. (About Gapon).

Spiridovich A. I."The Revolutionary Movement in Russia". Issue. 1st, "Russian Social Democratic Labor Party". St. Petersburg. 1914 Maklakov V.A. From memories. Publishing house named after Chekhov. New York 1954. Chapter Twelve.

E. Khlystalov The truth about the priest Gapon "Word" No. 4′ 2002

F. Lurie Gapon and Zubatov

Rutenberg P.M. Gapon's murder. Leningrad. 1925.

Who made the two revolutions of 1917 (biographical index)