Lecture on the centenary of the Russian Revolution
The Legacy of 1905 and the Strategy of the Russian Revolution
By
Fred Williams
7 May 2017
This is an edited version of a lecture delivered live on March 25. The audio and slides for the lecture are embedded below can be accessed here. To register for the lecture series, visit wsws.org/1917.
Lenin described 1905 as “the dress rehearsal” for 1917. Trotsky called it, among other things, “a magnificent prelude,” which it was. There is an article republished by the World Socialist Web Site a few days ago, in which Trotsky reiterates that thought and says that workers must study and learn from 1905.
The Russian Empire was ruled in 1905 by a tsar, tsar Nicholas II, who was an absolute despot. He ruled by decree, resting on a layer of nobles and bureaucrats to run the enormous state machine. A large military, which consumed a great portion of the national wealth, was also ruled by the tsar.
There was no freedom of speech in Russia at that time. There was no freedom of the press, and indeed there was strict censorship. There was no right to assemble, no right even to petition the tsar. It was illegal to even submit a petition to the tsar, only a handful of nobles in his ministries were allowed to do that. There was no right to strike; no right to form a union. There was no parliament; no right to vote; no 8-hour day. Indeed, at the end of the 19th century, the typical working day for most workers was about 14 hours, 12 if you were lucky. In 1897, the tsar magnanimously reduced the working day to 11 and one-half hours, although this was not observed in many factories. Workers would be fined for the slightest offenses. If they were 15 minutes late to work, they would be fined a day’s wage. If there were mistakes in…