October General Political Strike of 1905

Categories / Social Life
GENERAL POLITICAL STRIKE OF OCTOBER 1905 was part of the All-Russian October political strike held under the slogans of overthrowing autocracy and demanding democratic liberties, marking the beginning of the highest stage of the Revolution of 1905-07. The signal for the strike was the strike of railroad men in Moscow, supported by the workers of St. Petersburg, which started on 7 October 1905; on 12 October, work stopped at the Alexandrovsky Mechanical Plant, the Nevsky Ship Building Plant, the Atlas iron-copper foundry, the Pal Cotton factory, the Maxwell Cotton and Weaving factories, and in other factories located along the Schlisselburg Highway. Also, right bank factories went on strike, including the Thornton Wool-making Factory and the Vargunin Paper Factory. Despite police and military action, railroad men of the Baltic and Petersburg-Warsaw railways rebelled, and work stopped at the Nikolaevskaya Railway depot and station. At a mass-meeting at the Politechnical Institute, a decision was made to join the Petersburg proletariat and the All-Russian strike. On 13 October, the Obukhovsky, Putilovsky, and Baltic Ship builders, and the Metal Factories, all went on strike; on 14 of October, other factories and plants throughout the capital stopped work. Horse-drawn trams stopped, city electric power stations stopped working, clerks and tradesmen stopped working, and newspapers were not published. On 13 -14 October, 87 drugstores were closed. On 13 October, the Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies was created to supervise the strike. On 15 - 17 October, clerks from a number of banks, from the telegraph and telephone service, a number of ministries, and students joined the strike. The city's was paralyzed. By 18 October, 135.000 people were on strike. Mass-meetings were held in university building, at the Highest Women’s (Bestuzhev) Courses, the Technological Institute, and the Academy of Arts. The government tried to suppress the strike by force, and clashes with the police and army troops broke out in the city. In response, Emperor Nicolas II was forced to publish the October Manifesto on 17 October 1905, granting civil liberties and introducing election of representatives. The St. Petersburg proletariat organized anti-government mass-meetings and political demonstrations, demanding real political liberties. During the night of 18 October, troops opened fire at students from the Technological Institute and demonstrators on the corner of Zagorodny Avenue and Gorokhovaya Street. On 21 October, after a partial amnesty for political prisoners, the strike was stopped in an organized manner by the decision of the Petersburg Soviet.

Reference: Всероссийское политическая стачка в октябре 1905 года: В 2 ч. М.; Л., 1955; Шустер У. А. Петербургские рабочие в 1905-1907 гг. Л., 1976.

Z. P. Solovyeva. Nicholas II, Emperor
Gorokhovaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Zagorodny Avenue/Saint Petersburg, city
Всероссийское политическая стачка в октябре 1905 года: В 2 ч. М.; Л., 1955
Шустер У. А. Петербургские рабочие в 1905-1907 гг. Л., 1976 Revolution of 1905-07
Nevsky Plant
Polytechnical University
Obukhovsky Plant
Kirovsky Plant
Baltic Shipyard and Machine-Building Plant
Leningrad Metallurgic Plant (LMP)
Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies
Bestuzhev's Courses
State University, St. Petersburg
State Institute of Technology, St. Petersburg
Academy of Arts
Academy of Arts
1905