Gapon And The Russian Revolution Of 1905

George Gapon(1870-1906),Russian Orthodox pastor,distinguished speaker,missionary,social and political activist.He was born in 1870 to a peasant family in Poltava province,the Russian Empire.Influenced by the family environment,he was determined to become a priest in his early years.In his school life,influenced by Tolstoy's ideas,he grew tired of what the Russian church and clergy did at the time,and instead used his own unique way of preaching to serve the lower classes.From the end of the 19 th century to the beginning of the 20 th century,Russia emerged complex labour problems due to rapid industrialization;but until the empire perishd,the government did not issue a reasonable policy to solve the labour problem.Although officials such as Zubatov,the head of the secret police,tried to solve the workers' problems,but in the end it failed.Gapon deeply sympathized with the fate of workers,along with workers,he began to develop the idea of solving workers' problems.Gapon has worked with Zubatov in St.Petersburg;but because of different opinions,the two eventually parted ways.On the basis of the succession of Zubatov,Gapon founded “The Assembly of the Russia Factory and Mill Workers of the City of St.Petersburg” in 1903 to fight for the legitimate rights and interests of workers.As the Assembly grew,the general strike sweeping the capital pushed Gapon at the cusp.Gapon led strike workers to submit a petition to the tsar on January 9,1905.After January 9,he fled abroad.In exile,he organized a conference of revolutionary parties and planned an armed insurrection in St.Petersburg.Gapon returned to Russia after the promulgation of the October Manifesto in an attempt to continue to lead the Assembly and to cooperate briefly with Witte.He continued to cooperate with the police after Witte lost power.In March 1906,Gapon was assassinated by members of Social Revolutionary Party.The labor problem triggered the Russian Revolution of 1905,and Gapon played a crucial role in the early stage of the revolution.As a worker activist and statesman,he was not a police spy.He led the Assembly and planned a petition movement that contributed to “Bloody Sunday”,which kicked off the Russian Revolution of 1905.He was not a complete revolutionist after “Bloody Sunday”,though he had once thrown himself into the arms of the revolutionaries.Besides,his tragic fate was ultimately determined by the inconsistent political attitude of “Bloody Sunday”.