In St. Petersburg fifty-five
thousand workers went out--and there were literally hundreds of other
smaller "strikes" of a similar nature throughout the country. In April
another anniversary of the martyrdom of revolting working-men was similarly
celebrated in most of the industrial centers, hundreds of thousands of
workers striking as a manifestation against the government. The 1st of May
was celebrated as it had not been celebrated since 1905. In the various
industrial cities hundreds of thousands of workmen left their work to march
through the streets and hold mass meetings, and so formidable was the
movement that the government was cowed and dared not attempt to suppress it
by force. There was a defiant note of revolution in this great uprising of
the workers. They demanded an eight-hour day and the right to organize
unions and make collective bargains. In addition to these demands, they
protested against the Balkan War and against militarism in general.
Had the great war not intervened, a tragic interlude in Russia's long
history of struggle, the year 1914 would have seen the greatest struggle
for the overthrow of Czarism in all that history. Whether it would have
been more successful than the effort of 1905 can never be known, but it is
certain that the working-class revolutionary movement was far stronger
than it was nine years before.
Pages:
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124