Historian and publicist of the TV channel "Tsargrad" Pyotr Multatuli analyzes the execution of a demonstration on January 9 (22), 1905 in St. Petersburg

On January 9 (22), 1905, events took place in St. Petersburg that went down in history under the name "Bloody Sunday". The term was coined by the English journalist Emil Joseph Dillon, who in 1905 worked as a regular correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. As often happens, we, alas, continue to use the terminology of the enemy. By the way, this Dillon was a "great friend" of S. Yu. Witte, whom he accompanied to Portsmouth during peace negotiations with Japan.

"Nicholas II: truth and myths" №15. The imaginary weakness of the Sovereign Nicholas II

"Bloody Sunday", along with Khodynka and the Lena massacre, is traditionally blamed on Emperor Nicholas II. Although dozens of historical studies and scientific articles have already been published to date, completely refuting the Bolsheviks' stories about the "planned reprisal of the insidious tsar over the unfortunate workers", this false myth still continues to live in the minds and ideas of many people. The cynical and vile provocation of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, their foreign and domestic patrons, who sought to overthrow the autocratic system, even today serves to destroy our Fatherland. Just as the revolution of 1905 became the first "orange" method of overthrowing the government, so January 9 became the first "Maidan" in history. The impossibility of the "peaceful" overthrow of Nicholas II by imposing all kinds of "constitutional" projects on him led the enemies of the system to the inevitability of a revolution, which it was decided to start with a provocation. Its purpose was twofold: on the one hand, it was supposed to serve as a signal to start rebellions throughout the country, and on the other hand, to deal a crushing blow to the mystical perception of the Tsar among the people.

An objective analysis of the events of both January 9 itself and those preceding it leads to the conclusion that, in addition to the revolutionary groups and their foreign sponsors, influential forces of the St. Petersburg elite were also interested in such a scenario. First of all, this concerns S. Yu. Witte and P. D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky. The former could consider these events as a direct path to the final coming to power, the latter as his own rehabilitation in the eyes of the Zemstvo and liberal opposition after the failure of the "spring". By the beginning of 1905, Mirsky had completely lost his independent role and fell into complete submission to Witte. One of the prominent figures in the political investigation of the Russian Empire, S. V. Zubatov, pointed out in 1906: "Trepov, Prince Svyatopolk-Mirsky, Count Witte were the primary sources of the ongoing movement."

S.Yu. Witte. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

When Emperor Nicholas II went to Tsarskoe Selo after the incident on January 6, 1905, preparations for a provocation had long been in progress. The main legal driving force behind this provocation was to be the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg", headed by Priest G. A. Gapon. He enjoyed the unwavering support of Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky).

S. Yu. Witte stood at the origins of the creation of the Gapon organization, allocating an impressive amount for its needs. Officially, the purpose of the "Assembly" was to distract the workers from revolutionary activities, improve their way of life, read religious literature, and combat drunkenness. However, as Gapon himself later admitted: "From the very beginning, from the first minute, I led them all by the nose. Otherwise, nothing could be done! .. This was my whole plan built on! .." all power in the "Assembly" is in the hands of the so-called secret five, which included the workers most devoted to him, mainly Social Democrats. At the same time, Gapon put forward the idea of ​​a petition to the Tsar, which was to be conveyed through a huge procession of the workers of St. Petersburg to the Winter Palace. Its writing "coincided" with the appearance at the Putilov factory as an "adviser" of Gapon P.M. Rutenberg, a member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Central Committee and a close friend of the head of the Fighting Organization of the Socialist-Revolutionaries B.V. Savinkov. By the way, in April 1906, Rutenberg organized the murder of G. A. Gapon. I. I. Kolyshko assured that through the official for special assignments of the Police Department, I. F. Manasevich-Manuilov, Witte established close contacts with Gapon.

Initially, there were two petitions: one, written by Gapon, was in a "loyal" style, the second, written by the Rutenberg group, was revolutionary. Having begun as an Orthodox-monarchist procession, the procession was supposed to end in a clash with the authorities, during which the workers would inevitably suffer. The result of all this was to be a general uprising, the leader of which would be Gapon, and the main driving force - the party of the Socialist-Revolutionaries.

On January 2, 1905, at the Putilov plant, the Gaponavians artificially created a conflict situation with allegedly undeservedly dismissed four workers (in fact, only one was fired - for absenteeism and drunkenness). The workers demanded the return of the dismissed and went on strike. No political or social demands were put forward by the workers. However, on January 3, Gapon arrived at the Putilov factory and brought these demands: an eight-hour working day, an increase in wages for unskilled workers, and others. In a report to the Sovereign on January 5, 1905, Minister of Finance V.N. Kokovtsov called these requirements illegal and unfeasible for breeders, especially "for the Putilov factory, which fulfills urgent and responsible orders for the Manchurian army."

Further events developed quickly and in an organized manner: on January 3, the workers of the Putilov plant stopped working, on January 4 - the Franco-Russian and Shipbuilding. The main force behind the strikes was Gapon's "Assembly". On January 6, Gapon urged the workers to go with a petition to the Tsar, but hid its revolutionary content from them. V. A. Yamov, a member of the "Assembly" who was interrogated as a witness, testified that it was only "by the evening of the 8th that demands of a political nature appeared in it." The introduction of a political component into the petition took place after Gapon's meeting with representatives of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Social Democrats. In its final form, the text of the petition was a political proclamation of the most radical content: the immediate convocation of the Constituent Assembly, the separation of the Church from the State, the cessation of the war, etc.

The Metropolitan Police, until January 7, "was guided by the Minister of the Interior's view of non-intervention in this strike in view of its peaceful course and the absence of violent actions." Meanwhile, Gapon continued to hide his true intentions from the workers. On the evening of January 8, he told the Socialist-Revolutionaries:

Tomorrow we are going, but do not display your red flags, so as not to give our demonstration a revolutionary character. When I go to the Winter Palace, I will take two flags with me - one is white, the other is red. If the Sovereign accepts the deputation, then I will announce it with a white flag, and if he does not accept it, then with a red one, and then you can throw out your red flags and do as you see fit.

On the eve of January 9, the Bolshevik S. I. Gusev wrote in a letter to Lenin: “Events are developing with terrible speed. Gapon has revolutionized the masses. The strike is expanding and will probably become general. corresponding to the maximum program (political part). Gapon assumes that there will be 300,000 people and suggests stocking up on weapons."

On January 8, Gapon wrote a letter to Nicholas II, which stated that "the workers and residents of St. Petersburg, believing in You, irrevocably decided to come tomorrow at 2 pm to the Winter Palace in order to present to You their needs and the needs of the entire Russian people." Gapon urged the Tsar to go out to the people, warning that otherwise “innocent blood would be shed” and “the moral bond that still exists between You and Your people would be broken.”

Meanwhile, the authorities continued to remain inactive. On January 7, Gapon came to the Minister of Justice N. V. Muravyov, handed him the "SR" version of the petition and said: "Write a letter to the Sovereign immediately so that, without wasting time, he would come to the people and speak with them. We guarantee his safety." Already in exile, to the question of P. I. Rachkovsky "Is it true that on January 9 there was a plan to shoot the Sovereign when he went out to the people?" Gapon replied: "Yes, that's right. It would be terrible if this plan came true. I learned about it much later. It was not my plan, but Rutenberg's. The Lord saved him."

On the evening of January 7, under the chairmanship of the commander of the 1st Guards Corps, Adjutant General, Prince S. I. Vasilchikov, a meeting "on the joint action of the police and military units" was held. Battalions of infantry and cavalry regiments of the guards and the army were hastily brought into St. Petersburg. However, the troops and police were clearly not enough to contain crowds of this magnitude. According to the estimates of the Bolshevik V. D. Bonch-Bruevich, there were about 30,828 people in the troops of the St. Petersburg garrison called to the city. About 300 thousand workers took part in the procession!

On the evening of January 8, the authorities clearly knew that the next day a huge procession of people was expected in the center of the capital. They also knew that the revolutionaries were the guiding force of this procession. What to tell the Sovereign, how to explain his inaction to him? How to stop the march of thousands of people? There was no order to shoot the workers. At the end of the meeting, Mirsky declared that since the Sovereign was not in the capital, it was simply necessary to inform the workers about this in advance, and all traffic would be stopped.

As Count A. A. Bobrinsky noted in those days: "The Karelian, cunning, treacherous and intelligent figure of Witte emerges from all the internal chaos." V. N. Kokovtsov stated:

Witte could not have been unaware of all the preparations, since Prince. Svyatopolk-Mirsky consulted with him literally about his every step. I. I. Kolyshko, who knew Witte well, defined his role in the events of January 9 in this way: “Perhaps the procession of workers for justice to the Tsar was not conceived in the“ white house ”on Kamennoostrovsky. But the fact that Witte knew about him and washed his hands in the upcoming dump, there is no doubt.

On the evening of January 8, Rutenberg outlined a plan of action: build barricades, smash weapons stores and try to break through to the Winter Palace. Detachments of Socialist-Revolutionary militants were formed, who were given weapons.

One of Gapon's close associates, A.E. Karelin, openly admitted:

It must be said that neither Gapon nor the leading group had faith that the Tsar would receive the workers and that even they would be allowed into the square. Everyone knew very well that the workers would be shot, and therefore, perhaps, we took a big sin upon our souls.

Late in the evening of January 8, the Minister of the Interior, Prince Svyatopolk-Mirsky, arrived in Tsarskoye Selo. In his report to the Sovereign, he tried in every possible way to present the situation in St. Petersburg as not worthy of attention. Instead of asking the Tsar for an urgent sanction for decisive action, Svyatopolk-Mirsky reassured Nicholas II in every possible way. After the departure of the Minister, the Sovereign entered in his diary:

Since yesterday, all plants and factories have gone on strike in St. Petersburg. Troops were called in from the surrounding area to reinforce the garrison. The workers have been calm so far. Their number is determined at 120,000 people. At the head of the workers' union is some socialist priest Gapon. Mirsky came in the evening to report on the measures taken."

As you can see, in the royal diary there is not a word about the upcoming procession, about the petition, its content, revolutionary militants, barricades under construction, everything that Svyatopolk-Mirsky knew and was obliged to report, but did not report. If the Sovereign had known about the upcoming procession, he could have prevented it. But, being deluded, Nicholas II was doomed to become the main target for accusations from the revolutionaries, society and the common people, deceived just like him.

P. D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

As a result, on January 9, 1905, mass clashes between workers and military units took place in St. Petersburg. The first victims on January 9 were not workers, but police and army officers, who were shot at by the Socialist-Revolutionary militants from the crowd. In response, the troops, after warning volleys, to which the crowd did not pay attention, were forced to shoot to kill. Medical care was immediately provided to the wounded everywhere. The clashes took place near the Narva Gate, Nevsky Prospekt, Kamenny Ostrov, and Palace Square. The commander of the Life Guards of the Finland Regiment, Major General P. M. Samgin, reported that during the dispersal of the crowd on Vasilevsky Island and the dismantling of the barricades there, "the troops detained 163 people for armed resistance." According to the Police Department, on January 9, 1905, 96 people were killed (including 1 policeman) and up to 333 people were injured, including an assistant bailiff. The Bolshevik V. I. Nevsky (Krivobokov), who cannot be suspected of sympathizing with the monarchy, wrote that there were no more than 150-200 people killed.

However, from the very first day after the tragedy, liberal-revolutionary and then Bolshevik propaganda lied about "thousands of those killed." Lenin wrote in the Vperyod newspaper on January 18, 1905, about "4,600 killed and wounded" and asserted that "of course, even this figure cannot be complete." Stalin elevated the fictitious Lenin number into a dogma, and Soviet historiography, right up to the death of the "leader of all peoples," was forced to repeat it.

The events of January 9, 1905, of course, were a tragedy on an all-Russian scale. Their secret patrons, organizers and performers achieved their goals, which Princess Svyatopolk-Mirskaya accurately outlined:

The breach has been broken, and the Sovereign, with all his unwillingness to change the existing system, or if not he, then his deputy will have to do it.

The sovereign learned the full information about what happened in St. Petersburg only late in the evening of January 9 from the same Svyatopolk-Mirsky, who arrived with a report. Nicholas II was shocked, as evidenced by the diary entry:

Hard day! In St. Petersburg, there were serious riots due to 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!

A. A. Mosolov recalled that on January 10, St. Petersburg was a picture of martial law: shops were closed, electricity, mail, trams did not work, all the streets in the center were occupied by troops. The secret reports of the Police Department reported: "The anger in all sectors of society is terrible: revolutionaries of all shades use it and incline the people to arm themselves." Robbery of weapons stores was in full swing, officers were beaten, barricades continued to be built on Vasilyevsky Island. Provocateurs darted around the city, hurling curses at the Tsar. The poet O. E. Mandelstam wrote: "The lesson of the ninth of January - regicide - is a real lesson in tragedy: you cannot live if the Tsar is not killed."

Nicholas II understood that his ministers not only failed in their task, but also misled him. Treason and cowardice lurked everywhere, in almost every one it was impossible to be completely sure. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna wrote in those days to her sister, Princess Victoria of Battenberg:

The cross of my poor Nicky is very heavy, especially since he has no one on whom he could fully rely and who could be a real help to him. He experienced many disappointments, but remains courageous and full of faith in God's mercy. He tries so hard, he works with such perseverance, but there is a great shortage of people whom I call "real".

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

This opinion of the Empress is confirmed by A. A. Mosolov, when he writes: “The impoverishment in Russia in this era of state-minded and hard-working people was directly catastrophic. appointing any person to the highest position, at the same time enter into the secret list a person who can replace him. At the same time, the Sovereign put it this way: "It's good for him to talk about it. When, after great attempts, I find a person who is more or less suitable for a high position, then there is no second I can't find it."

First of all, the Tsar had to get rid of disloyal ministers and their henchmen, weakening the position of the main enemy, S. Yu. Witte, as much as possible. On January 11, the Supreme Decree was issued, which established the post of St. Petersburg Governor-General. All local civil administrations, educational institutions, gendarmerie and police authorities, state-owned factories and factories were subordinate to him. Nicholas II outlined the task of the Governor-General in this way: "To unite actions to stop the unrest in St. Petersburg." The Sovereign appointed Major-General D. F. Trepov to the post of Governor-General. S. S. Oldenburg characterized him as "a firm man, deeply devoted to the Sovereign, possessing fearlessness and common sense, although little experienced in political matters."

On January 11, the Sovereign received General D. F. Trepov in Tsarskoye Selo and discussed with him for a long time measures to restore order in St. Petersburg. D. F. Trepov addressed the workers, declaring that on January 9 they had become a "blind tool" in the hands of "malicious persons." Trepov assured that the needs of the workers "are as close to the heart of the Sovereign Emperor as are the needs of all his loyal subjects", that "the Ministry of Finance is ready to begin drafting a law on further reduction of working hours and such measures that would give the working people legal ways to declare and declare about your needs."

Emperor Nicholas II. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

You deceived us and turned the workers, loyal subjects of the Tsar, into rebels. You put us under bullets on purpose, you knew what it would be. You knew what was written in the petition allegedly on our behalf by the traitor Gapon and his gang. But we didn’t know, and if we knew, then not only wouldn’t we go anywhere, but we would tear you to shreds along with Gapon with our own hands.

The mayor's actions were successful. On January 12, Lenin's sister E. I. Elizarova wrote with regret to the Vperyod newspaper: “Today, the mood seems to be falling, and the city is taking on its usual appearance. window". Nicholas II wrote in his diary on January 12: "The day passed relatively calmly, there were attempts at several factories to get a job." By January 18, the Putilov plant had fully resumed work.

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance V.N. Kokovtsov, in a letter to Nicholas II, urged him: "Only the Sovereign Word of Your Imperial Majesty can bring calm to the capital and prevent the inevitable spread of unrest to other areas of your Empire." On this report, the Sovereign put a resolution: " I share your thoughts."

S. Yu. Witte proposed to draw up a manifesto in which grief would be expressed in connection with the tragedy of January 9, and it was also indicated that the Sovereign did not know about the proposed march of the people and the troops did not act on his orders. But Nicholas II did not want to relieve himself of responsibility and rejected the idea of ​​a manifesto. Instead, the Sovereign ordered a deputation from the workers to be gathered in the Alexander Palace. The selection of workers was entrusted to General D. F. Trepov. From each plant in the Petersburg region, a certain number of representatives were appointed to the electoral assembly, which chose from its midst 30 deputies to present to the Sovereign.

On January 19, Nicholas II received a delegation of 34 workers from the capital at the Alexander Palace. First, the Tsar addressed the workers with a prepared speech:

I know that the life of a worker is not easy. Much needs to be improved and streamlined, but be patient. You yourselves understand in good conscience that you must be fair to your employers and take into account the conditions of our industry. But it is a crime to tell Me about your needs with a rebellious crowd. In My care for working people, I will take care that everything possible to improve their life is done and to provide them with legal ways in the future to clarify their pressing needs.<…>Now return to your peaceful work, being blessed, get down to business together with your comrades, and may God help you.

After the speech, the Sovereign invited the workers to express their wishes and requests. Encouraged by the reception, the workers began to ask the Tsar that the entrepreneurs share with them part of the profits. Nicholas II explained that he could not do this, just as no one could order the workers themselves to take less pay. Then the conversation turned to the reduction of the working day. The sovereign asked: “What will you do with your free time if you work no more than 8 hours? I, the Tsar, myself work nine hours a day, and my work is more intense, because you work only for yourself, and I work for all of you. If you have free time, you will be involved in politics, but I will not tolerate it. Your only goal is your work. V. N. Kokovtsov recalled that “The sovereign spoke very affectionately with almost every one of them, asking them questions about where someone came from; what he did before entering the factory and what was the marital status of each. They treated all the delegates to tea and sandwiches, and everyone left for houses."

Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna appointed 50 thousand rubles from their own funds. to provide assistance to family members of workers killed and wounded on January 9. This amount was paid until the February Revolution of 1917. The events of January 9 had such an effect on the Sovereign that, according to available information, at the beginning of 1905 he confessed to the hieromonk of the Gethsemane Skete of the Holy Trinity Lavra, Elder Barnabas (Merkulov), who, according to legend, predicted a martyr's crown to the Sovereign.

Immediately after the events of January 9, the resignations of those who, in the opinion of Nicholas II, were responsible for the bloody events, began. On January 14, Minister of Justice N. V. Muravyov was the first to lose his post. On January 18, Prince P. D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky, the Minister of the Interior, was dismissed with the wording “due to poor health.” Nicholas II made it clear to him that he considered him guilty of what had happened and did not trust him. The prince was expelled from service without the traditional thank-you rescript, awarding an order and a new appointment. On March 4, 1905, the chief of police, A. A. Lopukhin, who was responsible for inaction, was dismissed.

Nicholas II was increasingly aware that many statesmen and public figures were more concerned about their political ambitions than the interests of the state. A heavy moral blow for the Sovereign was the fact that at the noble assembly of the Moscow province, his conservative wing managed to prevent a resolution on the need for a Constituent Assembly by only 219 votes against 147. The Red Revolution was approaching Russia.

Based on the materials of the book by P. V. Multatuli "Emperor Nicholas II. The Tragedy of the Misunderstood Autocrat".

I mean the police. — Note. ed.

This refers to the "maximum program" of the Bolshevik Party.

The mansion of S. Yu. Witte on Kamenoostrovsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg. — Note. ed.

GA RF. F. 102 DP OO. 1905. Part 4. (1). L. 168.

"Bloody Sunday" January 9 (22), 1905...

In 1905-1907, events took place in Russia, which were later called the first Russian revolution. The beginning of these events is considered to be January 1905, when the workers of one of the St. Petersburg factories entered the political struggle.

Back in 1904, a young priest of the St. Petersburg transit prison, Georgy Gapon, with the assistance of the police and city authorities, created in the city a working organization "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg." In the first months, the workers simply arranged general evenings, often with tea, dancing, and opened a mutual benefit fund. By the end of 1904, about 9 thousand people were already members of the "Assembly". In December 1904, one of the masters of the Putilov factory fired four workers who were members of the organization. The "assembly" immediately came out in support of the comrades, sent a delegation to the director of the plant, and, despite his attempts to smooth over the conflict, the workers decided to stop work in protest. On January 2, 1905, the huge Putilov factory stopped. The strikers put forward already increased demands: to establish an 8-hour working day, to increase salaries. Other metropolitan factories gradually joined the strike, and a few days later 150,000 workers were on strike in St. Petersburg.

G. Gapon spoke at meetings, calling for a peaceful procession to the tsar, who alone could stand up for the workers. He even helped prepare an appeal to Nicholas II, in which there were such lines: “We have become impoverished, we are oppressed, .. people do not recognize us, they treat us like slaves ... No more strength, Sovereign ... That terrible moment has come for us, when death is better than the continuation of unbearable torments. Look without anger ... at our requests, they are directed not to evil, but to good, both for us and for You, Sovereign!" The appeal listed the requests of the workers, for the first time it included demands for political freedoms, the organization of the Constituent Assembly - it was practically a revolutionary program. On January 9, a peaceful procession to the Winter Palace was scheduled. Gapon assured that the tsar should go out to the workers and accept an appeal from them.

On January 9, about 140,000 workers took to the streets of St. Petersburg. The columns headed by G. Gapon went to the Winter Palace. The workers came with their families, children, festively dressed, they carried portraits of the king, icons, crosses, sang prayers. Throughout the city, the procession met armed soldiers, but no one wanted to believe that they could shoot. Nicholas II was in Tsarskoye Selo that day, but the workers believed that he would come to listen to their requests. When one of the columns approached the Winter Palace, shots suddenly rang out. The first dead and wounded fell.


The people who held the icons and portraits of the tsar firmly believed that the soldiers would not dare to shoot at them, but a new volley struck, and those who carried these relics began to fall to the ground. The crowd mixed up, people rushed to run, there were screams, crying, new shots. G. Gapon himself was shocked no less than the workers.


January 9 was called "Bloody Sunday". On the streets of the capital that day, from 130 to 200 workers died, the number of wounded reached 800 people. The police ordered not to give the corpses of the dead to their relatives, they were buried secretly at night.


The events of "Bloody Sunday" shocked the whole of Russia. The portraits of the king, previously revered, were torn and trampled. Shocked by the execution of the workers, G. Gapon exclaimed: "There is no more God, no more tsar!" In his new address to the people, he wrote: “Brothers, comrades-workers! Innocent blood has still been shed ... The bullets of the tsar’s soldiers ... shot through the tsar’s portrait and killed our faith in the tsar. So let’s take revenge, brothers, on the tsar cursed by the people ... to all the robbers of the unfortunate Russian land. Death to them all!"

Maxim Gorky, shocked no less than others by what had happened, later wrote an essay on January 9, in which he spoke about the events of that terrible day: they walked, clearly seeing the goal of the path before them, a fabulous image stood majestically in front of them ... Two volleys, blood, corpses, groans and - everyone stood before the gray emptiness, powerless, with torn hearts.

The tragic events of January 9 in St. Petersburg became the day of the beginning of the first Russian revolution, which swept all of Russia.

And now let's look at events from the other side ...

"Let's turn to the main witness of that tragedy - the former priest Gapon.
Here is what was written in the Bolshevik Iskra: “Gapon said at a meeting the day before: “If ... they don’t let us through, then we will break through by force. If the troops shoot at us, we will defend ourselves. Part of the troops will go over to our side, and then we will arrange a revolution. We'll set up barricades, we'll smash gun stores, we'll smash the prison, we'll take over the telegraph and telephone. The Socialist-Revolutionaries promised bombs ... and ours will take.

Where is the weapon from? The SRs promised.

Head of the St. Petersburg security department A. V. Gerasimov in his memoirs, referring to Gapon, he wrote that there was allegedly a plan to kill the king: “Suddenly, I asked him if it was true that on January 9 there was a plan to shoot the sovereign when he went out to the people. Gapon replied: “Yes, that’s right. It would be terrible if this plan came to fruition. I learned about it much later. It was not my plan, but Rutenberg’s… The Lord saved him…’”.

The figure of Rutenberg appears. Who is it?

Rutenberg Pinkhas Moiseevich, born in 1878, active participant in the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917, one of the leaders of the Zionist movement, organizer of the Jewish Legion and the American Jewish Congress. A very interesting figure.
In 1905, he was a member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, on the instructions of which Rutenberg took part in the procession of workers and their families to the Winter Palace. Wasn't he, a Socialist-Revolutionary militant, shooting at soldiers and throwing bombs?
Let me remind you: “According to historians, there were those in the crowd who opened fire on the soldiers, provoking them to retaliate” ...

*********************************************************

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

Participants of Bloody Sunday


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


Troops on Palace Square


Cossack patrol on Nevsky Prospekt January 9, 1905


Execution of a workers' procession on January 9, 1905


Graves of the victims of Bloody Sunday 1905

Priest George Gapon, leading the procession, was practically an instigator and provocateur of unsuspecting workers - he inspired them that the petition would certainly be accepted by the tsar, and pushed the masses to the abyss of bloodshed.

People who did not think about the revolution were thrown into the volleys of army units. Having come to their senses, the workers tried to stop the religious procession, but they got into pincers between the troops, the revolutionaries and the pushing masses of the rear ranks of the marchers who had not yet realized what was happening.

Gapon, who had provoked the masses, went into hiding and then fled abroad. The excited crowd smashed shops, erected barricades, attacked policemen, military officers, officers and people simply passing by in cabs. There were many killed and wounded, the numerical data on this in different sources differ very significantly.

Clashes also took place at the Narva outpost, on the Shlisselburgsky tract, Vasilevsky Island and the Vyborg side. On Vasilyevsky Island, a group of workers led by the Bolshevik L.D. Davydova seized Schaff's weapons workshop, but was expelled from there by the police.

As the immediate consequences of this event, the liberal opposition and revolutionary organizations became more active, and the first Russian revolution began.

On January 22 (9 according to the old style), 1905, the troops and the police broke up a peaceful procession of St. Petersburg workers who were going to the Winter Palace to hand Nicholas II a collective petition about the needs of the workers. In the course of the demonstration, as Maxim Gorky described the events in his famous novel The Life of Klim Samgin, ordinary people also joined the workers. The bullets flew at them too. Many were trampled down by a frightened crowd of demonstrators who rushed to run after the execution began.

Everything that happened in St. Petersburg on January 22 went down in history under the name "Bloody Sunday". In many ways, it was the bloody events of that day off that predetermined the further decline of the Russian Empire.

But like any global event that turned the course of history, "Bloody Sunday" gave rise to a lot of rumors and mysteries, which hardly anyone can solve after 109 years. What are these riddles - in the selection of "RG".

1. Proletarian solidarity or a cunning conspiracy?

The spark from which the flame flared up was the dismissal of four workers from the Putilov factory in St. Petersburg, famous for the fact that at one time the first cannonball was cast there and the production of railway rails was launched. “When the demand for their return was not satisfied,” writes an eyewitness of what was happening, “the plant immediately became very friendly. they sent a deputation to other factories with a message of their demands and a proposal to join. Thousands and tens of thousands of workers began to join the movement. As a result, 26,000 people were on strike. A meeting of Russian factory workers in St. Petersburg, headed by priest Georgy Gapon, prepared a petition for the needs of the workers and residents of St. Petersburg. The main idea there was the convening of a people's representation on the terms of universal, secret and equal voting. In addition to this, a number of political and economic demands were put forward, such as freedom and inviolability of the person, freedom of speech, press, assembly, freedom of conscience in matters of religion, public education at public expense, equality of all before the law, responsibility of ministers to the people, guarantees legitimacy of government, replacement of indirect taxes with direct progressive income tax, introduction of an 8-hour working day, amnesty for political prisoners, separation of church and state The petition ended with a direct appeal to the king. Moreover, this idea belonged to Gapon himself and was expressed by him long before the January events. Menshevik A. A. Sukhov recalled that back in the spring of 1904, Gapon, in a conversation with workers, developed his idea: “The officials interfere with the people, but the people will come to an agreement with the tsar.

However, there is no smoke without fire. Therefore, subsequently, both the monarchist-minded parties and movements, and the Russian emigration, assessed the Sunday procession as nothing more than a carefully prepared conspiracy, one of the developers of which was Leon Trotsky, and whose main goal was to kill the tsar. The workers were simply set up, as they say. And Gapon was chosen as the leader of the uprising only because he was popular among the workers of St. Petersburg. Peaceful manifestations were not planned. According to the plan of the engineer and active revolutionary Peter Rutenberg, clashes and a general uprising were to take place, for which weapons were already available. And it was delivered from abroad, in particular, Japan. Ideally, the king should have gone out to the people. And the conspirators planned to kill the king. But was it really so? Or was it still ordinary proletarian solidarity? The workers were simply very annoyed by the fact that they were forced to work seven days a week, paid little and irregularly, and, in addition, they were fired. And then it went and went.

2. A provocateur or an agent of the tsarist secret police?

Around George Gapon, a half-educated priest (at one time he abandoned the Poltava Theological Seminary), there have always been many legends. How could this young man, although, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, possessed a bright appearance and outstanding oratorical qualities, become the leader of the workers?

In the notes of the prosecutor of the St. Petersburg Court of Justice to the Minister of Justice dated January 4-9, 1905, there is such a note: “The named priest has acquired extraordinary importance in the eyes of the people. Most consider him a prophet who came from God to protect the working people. To this, legends about him are added invulnerability, elusiveness, etc. Women speak of him with tears in their eyes. Relying on the religiosity of the vast majority of workers, Gapon carried away the entire mass of factory workers and artisans, so that at present about 200,000 people are participating in the movement. Using precisely this side of the moral forces of a Russian commoner, Gapon, in the words of one person, "slapped" the revolutionaries, who lost all significance in these unrest, issuing only 3 proclamations in an insignificant number. By order of Father Gapon, the workers drive the agitators away from themselves and destroy the leaflets, blindly follow her spiritual father. With this way of thinking of the crowd, she undoubtedly firmly and convincedly believes in the rightness of his desire to submit a petition to the king and have an answer from him, believing that if students are persecuted for their propaganda and demonstrations, then an attack on a crowd going to the king with a cross and a priest will be clear evidence of the impossibility for the subjects of the king to ask him for their needs.

During Soviet times, the historical literature was dominated by the version according to which Gapon was an agent provocateur of the tsarist secret police. “Back in 1904, before the Putilov strike,” the “Short Course of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks” said, “with the help of the provocateur priest Gapon, the police created their own organization among the workers - the Assembly of Russian Factory Workers.” This organization had its branches in When the strike began, priest Gapon at the meetings of his society proposed a provocative plan: on January 9, let all the workers gather and, in a peaceful procession with banners and royal portraits, go to the Winter Palace and submit a petition (request) to the tsar about their needs. they say, he will go out to the people, listen and satisfy their demands. Gapon undertook to help the tsarist secret police: to cause the execution of workers and drown the labor movement in blood.

Although for some reason Lenin's statements were completely forgotten in the "Short Course". Already a few days after January 9 (22), V.I. Lenin wrote in the article "Revolutionary Days": "Gapon's letters, written by him after the massacre on January 9, that "we have no tsar", calling him to fight for freedom etc. - all these are facts that speak in favor of his honesty and sincerity, because such powerful agitation for the continuation of the uprising could no longer be included in the tasks of a provocateur. Further, Lenin wrote that the question of Gapon's sincerity "could be decided only by unfolding historical events, only by facts, facts and facts. And the facts decided this question in favor of Gapon." After the arrival of Gapon abroad, when he set about preparing an armed uprising, the revolutionaries openly recognized him as their colleague. However, after the return of Gapon to Russia after the Manifesto of October 17, the old enmity flared up with renewed vigor.

Another common myth about Gapon was that he was a paid agent of the tsarist secret police. The studies of modern historians do not confirm this version, since it has no documentary basis. So, according to the research of the historian-archivist S. I. Potolov, Gapon cannot be considered an agent of the tsarist secret police, since he was never listed in the lists and file cabinets of agents of the security department. In addition, until 1905, Gapon legally could not be an agent of the security department, since the law strictly prohibited the recruitment of representatives of the clergy as agents. Gapon cannot be considered an agent of the Okhrana for factual reasons, since he has never been engaged in intelligence activities. Gapon is not involved in the extradition of a single person to the police who would be arrested or punished on his tip. There is not a single denunciation written by Gapon. According to the historian I. N. Ksenofontov, all attempts by Soviet ideologists to portray Gapon as a police agent were based on the juggling of facts.

Although Gapon, of course, cooperated with the Police Department and even received large sums of money from him. But this cooperation was not of the nature of undercover activity. According to Generals A. I. Spiridovich and A. V. Gerasimov, Gapon was invited to cooperate with the Police Department not as an agent, but as an organizer and agitator. Gapon's task was to fight the influence of revolutionary propagandists and convince the workers of the advantages of peaceful methods of fighting for their interests. In accordance with this attitude, Gapon set up and his students explained to the workers the advantages of legal methods of struggle. The police department, considering this activity useful for the state, supported Gapon and from time to time supplied him with sums of money. Gapon himself, as the head of the "Assembly", went to officials from the Police Department and made reports to them on the state of the labor issue in St. Petersburg. Gapon did not hide his relationship with the Police Department and the receipt of money from him from his workers. Living abroad, in his autobiography, Gapon described the history of his relationship with the Police Department, in which he explained the fact of receiving money from the police.

Did he know what he was leading the workers on January 9 (22)? Here is what Gapon himself wrote: "January 9 is a fatal misunderstanding. In this, in any case, it is not society that is to blame with me at the head ... I really went to the king with naive faith for the truth, and the phrase:" at the cost of our own lives, we guarantee the inviolability of the individual sovereign" was not an empty phrase. But if for me and for my faithful comrades the person of the sovereign was and is sacred, then the good of the Russian people is dearest to us. at the head, under the bullets and bayonets of the soldiers, in order to testify with their blood to the truth - namely, the urgency of the renewal of Russia on the basis of truth. (G. A. Gapon. Letter to the Minister of Internal Affairs ").

3. Who killed Gapon?

In March 1906, Georgy Gapon left St. Petersburg on the Finnish Railway and did not return. According to the workers, he went to a business meeting with a representative of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. When leaving, Gapon did not take any things or weapons with him, and promised to return by evening. The workers were worried that something bad had happened to him. But no one did much research.

It was only in mid-April that reports appeared in the newspapers that Gapon had been killed by Peter Rutenberg, a member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. It was reported that Gapon was strangled with a rope and his corpse was hanging on one of the empty dachas near St. Petersburg. The messages have been confirmed. On April 30, at the dacha of Zverzhinskaya in Ozerki, the body of a murdered man was found, who by all signs resembled Gapon. The workers of the Gapon organizations confirmed that the murdered man was Georgy Gapon. An autopsy showed that death was due to strangulation. According to preliminary data, Gapon was invited to the dacha by a person well known to him, was attacked and strangled with a rope and hung on a hook driven into the wall. At least 3-4 people were involved in the murder. The person who rented the dacha was identified by a janitor from a photograph. It turned out to be engineer Peter Rutenberg.

Rutenberg himself did not admit to the allegations and subsequently claimed that Gapon was killed by the workers. According to a certain "hunter for provocateurs" Burtsev, Gapon was strangled with his own hand by a certain Derental, a professional killer from the entourage of the terrorist B. Savinkov.

4. How many victims were there?

The "Short Course on the History of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks" contained the following data: more than 1,000 killed and more than 2,000 wounded. at the same time, in his article "Revolutionary Days" in the newspaper "Vperyod" Lenin wrote: the figure cannot be complete, because even during the day (not to mention the night) it would be impossible to count all the dead and wounded in all the skirmishes.

In comparison with him, the writer V. D. Bonch-Bruevich tried to somehow substantiate such figures (in his article of 1929). He proceeded from the fact that 12 companies of different regiments fired 32 volleys, a total of 2861 shots. Having allowed 16 misfires per volley per company, for 110 shots, Bonch-Bruevich threw off 15 percent, that is, 430 shots, attributed the same amount to misses, received 2000 hits in the remainder and came to the conclusion that at least 4 thousand people suffered. His methodology was thoroughly criticized by the historian S. N. Semanov in his book Bloody Sunday. For example, Bonch-Bruevich counted a volley of two companies of grenadiers at the Sampsonievsky bridge (220 shots), while in fact no shots were fired at this place. Not 100 soldiers fired at the Alexander Garden, as Bonch-Bruevich believed, but 68. In addition, the even distribution of hits is completely incorrect - one bullet per person (many received several wounds, which was registered by hospital doctors); and part of the soldiers deliberately fired upwards. Semanov was in solidarity with the Bolshevik V.I. Nevsky (who considered the most plausible total figure of 800-1000 people), without specifying how many were killed and how many wounded, although Nevsky gave such a division in his 1922 article: "Figures of five or more thousand, which were called in the early days are clearly incorrect. One can approximately determine the number of wounded from 450 to 800 and killed from 150 to 200. "

According to the same Semanov, the government first reported that only 76 people were killed and 223 were wounded, then they made an amendment that 130 were killed and 229 were wounded. To this it must be added that in a leaflet issued by the RSDLP immediately after the events of January 9, it was said that "at least 150 people were killed, but many hundreds were wounded."

According to the modern publicist O. A. Platonov, on January 9, there were 96 killed (including a police officer) and up to 333 wounded, of which 34 more people died by the old style by January 27 (including one assistant bailiff). Thus, in total, 130 people were killed and died of wounds and about 300 were injured.

5. Come out the king to the balcony ...

"A hard day! Serious unrest occurred in St. Petersburg due to 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! "- wrote Nicholas II after the events in St. Petersburg .

Baron Wrangel’s comment is noteworthy: “One thing seems certain to me: if the Sovereign came out onto the balcony, if he listened to the people one way or another, nothing would happen, except that the tsar would become more popular than he was ... How the prestige of his great-grandfather, Nicholas I, was strengthened, after his appearance during the cholera riot on Sennaya Square! But the Tsar was only Nicholas II, and not the Second Nicholas ... "The Tsar did not go anywhere. And what happened happened.

6. A sign from above?

According to eyewitnesses, during the dispersal of the procession on January 9, a rare natural phenomenon was observed in the sky of St. Petersburg - a halo. According to the memoirs of the writer L. Ya. Gurevich, “in the cloudy, hazy sky, the cloudy-red sun gave two reflections around itself in the fog, and it seemed to the eyes that there were three suns in the sky. Then, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, an unusual bright rainbow in winter lit up in the sky, and when it dimmed and disappeared, a snow storm arose.

Other witnesses saw a similar picture. According to scientists, a similar natural phenomenon is observed in frosty weather and is caused by the refraction of sunlight in ice crystals floating in the atmosphere. Visually, it manifests itself in the form of false suns (parhelia), circles, rainbows or solar pillars. In the old days, such phenomena were considered as heavenly signs, foreshadowing trouble.

On January 22 (January 9, old style), 1905, the police and regular troops shot down a procession of workers heading towards the Winter Palace. There was no dialogue with the authorities. The first Russian revolution began with Bloody Sunday.

Prerequisites

The immediate reason for the procession of workers was the Putilov Incident - the unfair dismissal in December 1904 of four workers, members of the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg" under the leadership of priest Georgy Gapon, the largest legal workers' organization in the country. It should be noted that the "Assembly of Workers" was founded on the initiative of the head of the Special Department of the Police Department S.V. Zubatov and was under the auspices of the St. Petersburg mayor, General I.A. Fullon. However, by January 1905, Zubatov had long been retired, control over the "Assembly" was lost, and it itself underwent a radicalization of moods.
Another reason is the refusal of the leadership of the Putilov factory to introduce an eight-hour working day from the New Year. The company goes on strike. The Putilovites are supported by workers from other factories. A large-scale workers' strike breaks out in St. Petersburg.

The decision to hold a Sunday procession to convey the demands of the workers directly to the tsar was made on the afternoon of January 6 at a meeting of the activists of the "Assembly". The original text of the petition was composed by the priest George Gapon, the then leader of the protest. The next day, January 7, after Gapon's meeting with representatives of the revolutionary parties, the text was revised and in its final form was actually an ultimatum to Nicholas II and the government, political demands began to prevail over economic demands: the immediate convening of the Constituent Assembly, the separation of the Church from the State, - obviously unacceptable to the authorities.

The reaction of the authorities

The law enforcement agencies missed the situation with the beginning of the strike movement in the capital. The then heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Justice - Prince P.D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky and N.V. Muravyov were in anticipation of their resignation and were preparing to transfer their affairs to their successors. The emperor and his retinue were busy celebrating the Baptism of the Lord.
Only on January 7 did the Minister of Justice NV Muravyov finally meet with the priest Gapon, but the parties could not agree. On the same day, at a meeting of representatives of law enforcement agencies, the issue of the immediate arrest of Gapon was discussed, but it was decided not to provoke the workers. On the evening of January 8, martial law was declared in St. Petersburg, Gapon and his closest supporters were decided to be detained anyway. That evening, after a conference with the Emperor, martial law was lifted. Already after midnight, another meeting of the security forces: they discussed the disposition of the troops, a decision was made - the procession of workers through the city should not be touched, but in no case should they be allowed to enter Palace Square. It was only on the night of the 9th that the security forces fully realized that bloodshed was inevitable, but they did not prepare another meeting for the striking workers.

Nicholas II

In all likelihood, the king was ill-informed about the seriousness of the situation. Nicholas II was in Gatchina, a diary entry made by him on January 8 reads: “Since yesterday, all plants and factories in St. Petersburg went on strike. Troops were called in from the surrounding area to reinforce the garrison. The workers have been calm so far. Their number is determined at 120,000 people. At the head of the workers' union is some socialist priest Gapon. Mirsky came in the evening to report on the measures taken. And that's all. It seems that at first, those around the Sovereign themselves did not understand what was going on, and when it became clear, no one found the courage to report the true state of things.

The main column of workers, led by priest George Gapon, dressed in a ceremonial cassock and holding a cross, moved to Palace Square from the Narva Gate. Many workers walked with their families, carrying icons, portraits of the king and queen in their hands. The demonstrators sang. When there were no more than a hundred steps left to the Arc de Triomphe, the cavalry unexpectedly swooped down on the workers. Then the soldier's chain fires five aimed volleys. They shoot to kill. When the crowd thins out, and many workers remain lying on the pavement, the soldiers lower their sights - they finish off the wounded.
Gapon miraculously escapes. Some work columns still reach the Palace Square, where they are stopped no less cruelly. On this day, shots are heard throughout the city. Hundreds of Cossacks raid the workers on Vasilyevsky Island. The actions of the troops are poorly coordinated, two policemen - Zholtkevich and Shornikov - will be killed by soldier shots by mistake.
Only by the evening of January 9 (22) the procession was completely dispersed, small pockets of resistance were suppressed. In the city, Gapon's proclamations appear and begin to spread rapidly with curses against the traitor king and condemnation of soldiers and officers.

On January 22 (9th according to the old style), 1905, an event occurred in St. Petersburg that political scientists would call "the point of no return." On that day, it became clear to many: the former Russia is not only leaving, but has already left. Forever and ever.

We know this day as Bloody Sunday. Guards units then opened fire to kill. The goal is civilians, women, children, flags, icons and portraits of the last Russian autocrat.

last hope

For a long time, there was a curious joke among ordinary Russian people: “We are the same gentlemen, only the very underside. The master learns from books, and we learn from bumps, but the master has a whiter ass, that's the whole difference. That's how it was, but only for the time being. By the beginning of the XX century. the joke is no longer true. The workers, who are yesterday's peasants, have completely lost faith in a good gentleman who "will come and judge in justice." But the chief master remained. Tsar. The same one who, during the census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897, wrote in the column "occupation": "The owner of the Russian land."

The logic of the workers who came out on that fateful day in a peaceful procession is simple. Since you are the owner - put things in order. The elite was guided by the same logic. The main ideologue of the empire Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod Konstantin Pobedonostsev directly said: "The basis of the foundations of our system is the immediate proximity of the tsar and the people under the autocratic system."

Now it has become fashionable to argue that, they say, the workers had no right either to march or to petition the sovereign. This is an outright lie. Petitions to kings were served from time immemorial. And normal sovereigns often gave them a go. Catherine the Great, for example, condemned by a peasant petition. To Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich the Quietest twice, during the Salt and Copper riots, a crowd of Moscow people tumbled in with collective demands to stop the boyar arbitrariness. In such cases, it was not considered shameful to yield to the people. So why in 1905 So why did the last Russian emperor break with the centuries-old tradition?

Here is a list of not even demands, but the requests of the workers with which they went to the “reliability-sovereign”: “The working day is 8 hours. Work around the clock, in three shifts. The normal wage for a laborer is not less than a ruble ( in a day. — Red.). For a female laborer - not less than 70 kopecks. For their children, arrange a nursery. Overtime work is paid at double the rate. The medical personnel of the factories must be more attentive to the wounded and crippled workers. Is it excessive?

World financial crisis 1900-1906 at it's peak. Prices for coal and oil, which Russia exported even then, fell three times. About a third of the banks collapsed. Unemployment reached 20%. The ruble against the pound sterling collapsed by about half. Shares of the Putilov factory, from which it all began, fell by 71%. They began to tighten the nuts. This is with the "bloody" Stalin they were fired for being late for 20 minutes - under the “good” king, they flew out of work in 5 minutes of delay. Fines for marriage due to bad machines sometimes devoured the entire salary. So it's not about revolutionary propaganda.

Here is another quote from a complaint against the owners of factories who, among other things, carried out a government military order: factories of state-owned and directors of private factories, down to apprentices and lower employees, robs people's money and forces workers to build ships that are clearly unsuitable for long-distance navigation, with lead rivets and putty seams instead of embossing. Summary: “The workers' patience has run out. They clearly see that the government of officials is the enemy of the motherland and the people.”

“Why are we like this?!”

How does the “Master of the Russian Land” react to this? But no way. He knew in advance that the workers were preparing a peaceful demonstration, their requests were known. The king-father chose to leave the city. So to speak, took self-withdrawal. Interior Minister Pyotr Svyatopolk-Mirsky On the eve of fatal events, he wrote down: “There are reasons to think that tomorrow everything will turn out well.”

Neither he nor the mayor had any intelligible plan of action. Yes, they ordered 1,000 leaflets to be printed and distributed warning against unauthorized marches. But no clear orders were given to the troops.

The result is impressive. “People were writhing in convulsions, screaming in pain, bleeding. On the grate, embracing one of the bars, a 12-year-old boy with a crushed skull drooped ... After this wild, wanton murder of many innocent people, the indignation of the crowd reached an extreme degree. Questions were heard in the crowd: “For the fact that we came to ask for intercession from the king, they shoot us! Is this possible in a Christian country with Christian rulers? This means that we do not have a king, and that the officials are our enemies, we already knew this before! eyewitnesses wrote.

Ten days later, the tsar received a deputation of 34 workers specially selected by the new Governor-General of St. Petersburg Dmitry Trepov, who immortalized himself with the order: “Do not spare cartridges!” The king shook hands with them and even gave them lunch. And in the end, he... forgave them. The families of 200 killed and about 1,000 wounded were assigned 50,000 rubles by the imperial couple.

The English Westminster Gazette of 27 January 1905 wrote: “Nicholas, nicknamed the new peacemaker as the founder of the Hague Conference on Disarmament, could accept a deputation of peaceful subjects. But for this he did not have the courage, intelligence, or honesty. And if a revolution breaks out in Russia, it means that the tsar and the bureaucracy forcibly pushed the suffering people onto this path.

I agreed with the British Baron Wrangel, which is difficult to suspect of betrayal: “If the Sovereign had come out onto the balcony, if he had listened to the people, nothing would have happened, except that the king would have become more popular ... How did the prestige of his great-grandfather strengthen, Nicholas I, after his appearance during the cholera riot on Sennaya Square! But our Tsar was only Nicholas II, and not the second Nicholas.