Russia
Bloody Sunday
Russian soldiers with their guns pointed at the protesters.
Life in Russia during the early 1900's was not particularly beneficial to the lower and working classes. The working felt frustrated that for all the long hours of work they put in, they're pay was rather meager. The widening gap between the lower class and the upper class created a society of people that felt that life was generally unfair, wanted change, and would eventually do something about it. The lower class of Russian society worked together to create a petition, wherein they stated all of the changes they wanted, and planed to march to the Czar's palace and show him their demands. In the Worker's Petition, some of the most important points that were being asked for included reasonable working hours and fair and consistent pay, education provided by the state for all, and equal treatment under the law for all. On Sunday, January 22, 1905, a peaceful protest quickly turned into a massacre, with several hundred killed and nearly a thousand injured. Upon seeing the masses of people, the Czar's general ordered the military to fire at the citizens, resulting in massive blood loss. Although this event occurred twelve years before the Russian Revolution finally happened, this event surely accelerated the movement. The protestors did not conduct themselves in any sort of violent fashion, and even in their petition they benignly state, "But no single measure can heal all our wounds. Other measures are necessary, and we, representing of all of Russia's toiling class, frankly and openly speak to you, Sovereign, as to a father, about them." Much of Russia was outraged that such a senseless slaughter could become of a peaceful demonstration. Even though it was the Czar's general who issued the order to fire, many Russians put the blame on the Czar for the lives lost, and felt that this event only continued to disprove the theory that the Czar did not truly care about the well-being of the people. The increased distrust for the government and other levels of authority only strengthened the efforts of the revolution. Finally, in 1917, the revolution finally begun. Peasants and the working people took to the streets to protest, and even though the Czar sent his soldiers out to take order over the crowd, the soldiers simply joined the people.
Click here to see the petition that the Russian workers wrote to the Tsar. Some of these demands in the petition include: 1) The repeal of indirect taxes and their replacement by a direct, progressive income tax. 2) The participation, without fail, of working class representatives in the drafting of a law for state insurance for workers- with immediate effect. 3) An eight-hour day and the regulation of overtime.
Click here to see the petition that the Russian workers wrote to the Tsar. Some of these demands in the petition include: 1) The repeal of indirect taxes and their replacement by a direct, progressive income tax. 2) The participation, without fail, of working class representatives in the drafting of a law for state insurance for workers- with immediate effect. 3) An eight-hour day and the regulation of overtime.
Leveling the Classes out
The Russian revolution and the Greece crisis happening now, are similar in the how the leader wants to take from the rich and give it to the poor. The majority of the population were peasant farmers or the working class who earned very little in the early 1900’s in Russia. These people were separated from the wealthy in Russia by a huge economic gap. To solve the problems of the poor, the Czar Alexander II was instituting measures to take from the rich and give to the poor. He took half of all the land in Russia from the wealthy and gave it to the peasants tied to the land and freed them. Eventually the idea that giving to the poor from the rich was better for the country was adopted by most of the citizens and eventually the country of Russia turned to a socialist economy where everything would be fair for all.