Bloody Sunday 1905

It was January 22nd 1905 and Father George Gapon led a march of migrant workers towards the winter palace in hopes to get a peaceful agreement across about the workers rights and how they could resolve the problem more fairly. They got to the gates only to find them guarded by the Russian Imperial Guard. They’re hopes were then shattered.

Prior to that Father George Gapon had Founded the Assembly of Russian Factory and Plant Workers which was an officially sanctioned and police-sponsored organization that was made to stop the rioting and unrest from all of the Revolutionary activities. At the end of December 1904 there was a strike at Putilov Plant. Sympathy strikes in other parts of the city had raised the number of strikes to over 80,000. And by January 8th the city had no electricity and no newspapers, as well as all public areas declared closed. Then Father Gapon organized a peaceful �workers’ procession’ to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to deliver a petition to the Czar that Sunday

On that faithful Sunday all the striking workers and their families gathered at six points in the city. Then they proceeded to the Winter Palace, clutching religious icons and singing hymns. The protesters deliberately placed the women and children in the front of the march in hopes that that it would stop the troops from firing if they did decide to. The army pickets in front of the palace fired warning shots and then fired directly into the crowd. The protestors were shot and then the Imperial Guard came on horses and trampled most of the rest. The Death toll was uncertain but it was estimated at about 1,000 killed or wounded. Blood Sunday was an event that contributed to Czar Nicholas II to get overthrown and contribute in the beginning of the Russian Revolution.

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