The St. Petersburg Workmen's Petition to the Tsar is a historical document and petitionАдрианов П. Последняя челобитная // Ленинградская правда. — Л., 1928. — № 19 (22 January). — P. 3.Карелин А. А. Девятое (22-е) January 1905 года. — М., 1924. — 16 p. with which St. Petersburg workers, led by the priest Georgy Gapon, marched to Tsar Nicholas II on Bloody Sunday, January 9 (22), 1905. The petition was made up on January 5–8, 1905 by Georgy Gapon and a group of workers — leaders of the "" (hereinafter — "Sobranie") with the participation of representatives of the democratic intelligentsia. The petition contained a number of demands, some of them political, some of them economic. The main demands of the petition were the removal of officials' power and popular representation in the form of a constituent assembly on the basis of universal, direct, secret and equal suffrage. The other demands of the petition were divided into three parts: "Measures against the ignorance and powerlessness of the Russian people", "Measures against the poverty of the people", and "Measures against the oppression of capital over labor". There were seventeen demands in total. The political demands of the petition, which proposed to limit the tsarist autocracy, were considered "impertinent" by the government, which therefore dispersed the workers' protests.Доклад директора Департамента полиции А. Лопухина о событиях 9-го января 1905 г. // Красная летопись. — Л., 1922. — № 1. — pp. 330—338. Archive: 14 October 2011.

Background

The practice of petitioning the authorities dates back to ancient times. In the Middle Ages, such petitions were often called by the Latin word "petition", which later entered the Russian language. In Russia, such petitions were traditionally called "" (from the expression "to beat the earth with the forehead" — to give an earthly bow). In the 16-17th centuries the practice of sending petitions to the authorities became widespread. For their consideration in the Russian kingdom was created a special order. According to the historian N. P. Pavlov-Silvansky, the petition of January 9, 1905 had as its prototype the "mundane" petitions of the 17th century.Павлов-Сильванский Н. П. История и современность. Лекция // История и историки : Историографический ежегодник. 1972. — М., 1973.

It was the priest Georgy Gapon who had the idea of petitioning the Tsar about the people's needs. Grigory Gapon, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, had been the head of the largest legal workers' organization, the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workmen of St. Petersburg" since 1903. Created under the auspices of the St. Petersburg city government and police department, the Sobranie was designed to unite workers for education and mutual aid, thus weakening the influence of revolutionary propaganda on them. However, deprived of proper control by the authorities, the Sobranie soon deviated from its goals. At workers' meetings, they began to openly discuss not only ways to improve their daily lives, but also ways for workers to fight for their rights. Among these ways were strikes, walkouts and more radical methods.Святловский В. В. Профессиональное движение в России. — СПб.: Изд-е М. В. Пирожкова, 1907. — 406 p.

The idea of petitioning the tsar was first expressed by G. Gapon in early 1904. In his memoirs he recalled that this idea was inspired by conversations with E. A. Naryshkina, a lady-in-waiting at the court of Tsar Nicholas II. According to her, Nicholas II was a kind and honest man, but he lacked firmness of character. In his imagination, Gapon created the image of an ideal tsar who had no opportunity to show himself, but from whom alone one could expect to save Russia. Gapon wrote: "I thought, that when the moment came, he would show himself in his true light, listen to his people, and make them happy".Гапон Г. А. История моей жизни = The Story of My Life. — М.: Книга, 1990. — 64 p. Archive: 29 May 2010. According to Menshevik A. A. Sukhov, as early as March 1904 Gapon was eagerly developing his idea in meetings with workers. "The people are hindered by the officials, " Gapon said, "and with the tsar the people will agree. Only it is necessary to achieve it not by force, but by petition, in the old-fashioned way".Сухов А. А. Гапон и гапоновщина // Э. Авенар. Кровавое воскресенье. — Харьков, 1925. — pp. 28—34. At about the same time, he expressed the idea of appealing to the tsar collectively, "the whole world". "It is necessary for all of us to ask," he said at a meeting of workers. - We will go peacefully, and we will be heard".Манасевич-Мануйлов И. Ф. Страничка воспоминаний. (К 9 января) // Новое время. — СПб., 9 January 1910.

The March "Program of Five"

The first draft of the petition was written by Gapon in March 1904 and is known in historical literature as the "Program of Five".Шилов А. А. К документальной истории петиции 9 января 1905 г. // Красная летопись. — Л., 1925. — № 2. — pp. 19—36. Archive: 13 October 2011. By the end of 1903, Gapon had already established relations with an influential group of workers from Vasilievsky Island, known as the "Karelin group". Many of them had come through Social Democratic circles, but had tactical differences with the Social Democratic Party. In an effort to attract workers to work in his "Sobranie," Gapon convinced them that the purpose of the "Sobranie" was the real struggle of the workers for their rights. However, the workers were greatly confused by Gapon's connection with the police department, and they could not overcome their distrust of the mysterious priest for a long time. In order to find out Gapon's political face, the workers invited him to express his views directly. "Why don't you comrades help?" — Gapon would often ask them, to which the workers would reply: "Georgy Apollonovich, who are you, tell us and maybe we could be your comrades, because so far we know nothing about you".Карелин А. Е. Из воспоминаний участника гапоновской организации // 9 January: Сборник под ред. А. А. Шилова. — М.—Л., 1925. — pp. 26—32.

In March 1904, Gapon gathered four workers in his apartment, and after taking their word to keep the subject of discussion secret, he outlined his program to them. The workers who took part in this meeting were A. E. Karelin, D. V. Kuzin, I. V. Vasiliev, and N. M. Varnashyov. According to the story of I. I. Pavlov, Karelin once again asked Gapon to reveal his cards. "Yes, finally, tell us, Father Georgy, who you are and what you are. What is your program and tactics, and where and why are you leading us?" — "Who and what I am," Gapon objected, "I have already told you, but where and why I am leading you ... here, look," and Gapon threw on the table a paper written in red ink, listing point by point the needs of the working people.Павлов И. И. Из воспоминаний о «Рабочем Союзе» и священнике Гапоне // Минувшие годы. — СПб., 1908. — № 3—4. — pp. 21—57 (3), 79—107 (4). Archive: 14 October 2011. This was the draft of the petition of 1905, and at that time it was considered the program of the leading circle of the Sobranie.Варнашёв Н. М. От начала до конца с гапоновской организацией // Историко-революционный сборник. — Л., 1924. — V. 1. — pp. 177—208. Archive: 26 November 2011. The draft contained three groups of demands: I. Measures against the ignorance and powerlessness of the Russian people; II. Measures against the poverty of the people; and III. Measures against the oppression of capital over labor, — and subsequently formed the whole of the first edition of the Gapon Petition.

After familiarizing themselves with the text of the program, the workers came to the conclusion that it was acceptable to them. "We were astonished," recalled A. E. Karelin. — After all, I was still a Bolshevik, I had not broken with the party, I was helping it, cleaning it up; Kuzin was a Menshevik. Varnashyov and Vasiliev, although they were nonpartisans, were honest, loyal, good, understanding people. And here we all saw that what Gapon wrote was broader than the Social-Democrats. Here we realized that Gapon was an honest man, and we believed him".Карелин А. Е. Девятое января и Гапон. Воспоминания // Красная летопись. — Л., 1922. — № 1. — pp. 106—116. Archive: 27 January 2010. N. M. Varnashyov added in his memoirs that "for none of those gathered was the program a surprise, because Gapon was partly forced by them to develop it". Asked by the workers how he intended to make his program public, Gapon replied that he did not intend do so, but first intended to expand the activities of his "Sobranie" to include as many people as possible. With thousands and tens of thousands of people in its ranks, the "Assembly" will become such a force that both the capitalists and the government will have to reckon with it. If an economic strike arose on the basis of general discontent, it would then be possible to make political demands on the government. The workmen accepted the plan.

After this incident, Gapon was able to overcome the distrust of the radical workers, and they agreed to help him. After Karelin and his comrades joined the ranks of "Sobranie", they agitated among the masses to join Gapon's society, and their numbers began to grow. At the same time, the "Karelians" continued to make sure that Gapon did not deviate from the planned program and reminded him of his commitments at every opportunity.

Zemstvo petition campaign

In the fall of 1904, with the appointment of P. D. Svyatopolk-Mirsky as Minister of Internal Affairs, a political awakening began in the country, which became known as the "Svyatopolk-Mirsky Spring". During this period, the activities of liberal forces, demanding the restriction of autocracy and the introduction of the constitution, intensified. At the head of the liberal opposition stood the "Union of Liberation", created in 1903, which united a wide range of intellectuals and zemstvo workers. On the initiative of the Union of Liberation, a large-scale campaign of zemstvo petitions was launched in November 1904. Zemstvo and other public institutions addressed the highest authorities with petitions or resolutions calling for the introduction of political freedoms and popular representation in the country. An example of such a resolution was the Resolution of the Zemstvo CongressПостановление Земского съезда 1904 года // И. П. Белоконский. Земское движение. — СПб., 1914. — pp. 221—222. held in St. Petersburg on November 6–9, 1904.И. П. Белоконский. Земское движение. — М.: «Задруга», 1914. — 397 p. Due to the relaxation of censorship allowed by the government, the texts of Zemstvo petitions penetrated into the press and became the subject of public discussion. The general political upsurge began to affect the mood of the workers. "In our circles, everything was listened to, and everything that was going on worried us a lot, — recalled one of the workers. — Some fresh air turned our heads, and one meeting succeeded another". In Gapon's entourage began to talk about the need for the workers to join the common voice of all Russia.