Orthodoxy and the Social Gospel in Late-Imperial Russia
On Sunday morning, 9 January 1905, 150,000 workers and their families marched fromvarious parts of St. Petersburg and converged upon the Winter Palace to present a "MostLoyal and Humble Address" to tsar Nicholas II asking him to improve the conditions ofthe workers. The marchers sang hymns...
| Published in: | Religion and society in Central and Eastern Europe |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
WVU
2005
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| In: |
Religion and society in Central and Eastern Europe
Year: 2005, Volume: 1, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-29 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | On Sunday morning, 9 January 1905, 150,000 workers and their families marched fromvarious parts of St. Petersburg and converged upon the Winter Palace to present a "MostLoyal and Humble Address" to tsar Nicholas II asking him to improve the conditions ofthe workers. The marchers sang hymns and carried icons and crosses, and were led by aRussian Orthodox priest, Father Georgii Gapon, resembling a religious procession morethan a labor demonstration. The workers, led by Gapon, believed in the benevolence ofthe Tsar, the batiushka ("little father"), and that he would listen to their troubles and helpthem. The day before, however, the government had ordered the march be cancelled andposted 12,000 troops in the city to prevent the marchers from reaching the palace, whileNicholas II had left Petersburg to spend the weekend at the suburban palace in TsarskoeSelo. As the first group of marchers converged upon the Narva Gates, troops openedfire upon the unarmed crowd, killing forty and wounding hundreds. In other parts of thecity soldiers also attacked the marchers, culminating in the attack on a large crowd thatapproached the Winter Palace in the afternoon. In all, some 150 people, includingwomen and children, were killed. That infamous day, known as Bloody Sunday,destroyed the popular myth of the benevolent tsar and initiated two years of chaos,strikes, and violence known as the Revolution of 1905, which nearly brought the regimeto its knees and forced it grudgingly to make significant concessions, above all the movetoward establishing a constitutional monarchy with the October Manifesto and theDuma |
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| ISSN: | 1553-9962 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion and society in Central and Eastern Europe
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