he
civilising element in the rural population, and the surest support of
the throne, would drift into the towns and there sink into poverty or
amalgamate with the commercial plutocracy, and help to form a tiers etat
which would be hostile to the Autocratic Power.

In these circumstances it was evident that the headstrong Minister
of Finance could maintain his position only so long as he enjoyed the
energetic support of the Emperor, and this support, for reasons which I
have indicated above, failed him at the critical moment. When his
work was still unfinished he was suddenly compelled, by the Emperor's
command, to relinquish his post and accept a position in which, it was
supposed, he would cease to have any influence in the administration.

Thus fell the Russian Colbert-Turgot, or whatever else he may be
called. Whether financial difficulties in the future will lead to his
reinstatement as Minister of Finance remains to be seen; but in any case
his work cannot be undone. He has increased manufacturing industry to
an unprecedented extent, and, as M. Plehve perceived, the industrial
proletariat which manufacturing industry on capitalist lines always
creates has provided a new field of activity for the revolutionists.
I return, therefore, to the evolution of the revolutionary movement in
order to describe its present phase, the first-fruits of which have
been revealed in the labour disturbances in St. Petersburg and other
industrial centres.

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT IN ITS LATEST PHASE

Influence of Capitalism and Proletariat on the Revolutionary
Movement--What is to be Done?--Reply of Plekhanof--A New Departure--Karl
Marx's Theories Applied to Russia--Beginnings of a Social Democratic
Movement--The Labour Troubles of 1894-96 in St. Petersburg--The Social
Democrats' Plan of Campaign--Schism in the Party--Trade-unionism and
Political Agitation--The Labour Troubles of 1902--How the Revolutionary
Groups are Differentiated from Each Other--Social Democracy and
Constitutionalism--Terrorism--The Socialist Revolutionaries--The
Militant Organisation--Attitude of the Government--Factory
Legislation--Government's Scheme for Undermining Social
Democracy--Father Gapon and His Labour Association--The Great Strike in
St. Petersburg--Father Gapon goes over to the Revolutionaries.

The development of manufacturing industry on capitalist lines, and the
consequent formation of a large industrial proletaria