Alexander II “The Liberator.”
Around the late 19th to early 20th century, Russia was in a bad state of affairs. By this point in time, Russia had established the pattern of being on the wrong side of history when it came to military engagements. While the Tsars of Russia were hesitant to change, Alexander II was by Russian standards quite liberal and saw reforms were necessary to modernize his empire and avoid another Crimea War styled defeat.
Unfortunately for the Russian Empire, that would not be the case. Because Russia wanted to establish itself as a modern imperial nation, it sought to expand its power and influence in the East. The Empire of Japan saw this as a threat to their interests and, after failed negotiation attempts, decided to go to war.
In a move that bears resemblance to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Japan attacked the Russian Pacific fleet stationed at Port Arthur 3 hours before the Russians received a formal declaration of war.
Japanese print depicting the destruction of a Russian naval vessel.
To put things into perspective, no European power had ever lost a war against a non European nation. The fact that the Russians were getting thrashed by Japan, who was perceived to be an underdog going into the war was a huge insult to Russia. Russia was badly losing another war, and this combined with other woes that the Russian people faced lead to discontent which built up to a full revolution in 1905 on the home front.
At this point, the revolution and the military blunders seemed to reinforce one another. The decisive naval Battle of Tsushima (known as the Sea of Japan Naval Battle to the Japanese) set morale within the Russian military at an all time low. On the Russian battleship Potemkin, the spark that set off a mutiny was when the crew was served food consisting of rotten meat infested with maggots.
Poster illustrating the Potemkin mutiny. Caption at the bottom reads “Glory to the Peoples’ Heroes of the Potemkin!”
It wasn’t that the food was bad that led to the mutiny, but rather when the ship’s executive officer, Ippolit Giliarovsky, threatened to shoot crew members for refusing to eat the tainted meat.
The mutineers wrested control of the ship, hoisted up a red standard that had become synonymous with the revolution, and even actively participated in aiding striking workers rebelling in the city of Odessa.
Statue commemorating the crew of the Potemkin in Odessa, Ukraine.
Eventually, the Potemkin, and the revolution as a whole would fail. However, Tsar Nicholas II would only delay his fate by another 12 years.
Citations:
Freeze, Gregory L. “Revolutionary Russia 1890-1914.” Russia: A History. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1997. 249. Print.
How Togo Won the Battle. (1905, Jun 02). New York Times (1857-1922)
Believes Mutiny has Ended. (1905, Jul 02). New York Times (1857-1922)
Ivan beshoff, Last Survivor of Mutiny on the Potemkin. (1987, Oct 28). New York Times (1923-Current File)