Russia 1905

Synopsis

By the end of 1904, the Russian economy was strained by the country's involvement in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and from social disruptions persisting since the late nineteenth century. In January 1905 the head of one of the legal (government-recognized) trade unions, Georgy ("Georgii") Apollonovich Gapon, led a peaceful demonstration to the home of Emperor Nicholas II, the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, hoping to present him with a petition on behalf of the country's workers. Soldiers fired upon the procession; hundreds of people were killed and many more injured. The massacre of innocent men, women, and children outside the palace by imperial security guards was eventually called Bloody Sunday; it was the event that ignited the Russian Revolution of 1905.

Timeline

• 1885: Indian National Congress is founded. In the years that follow, the party will take the helm of India's independence movement.
• 1890: U.S. Congress passes the...