Plehve, who had greatly
hampered them by his energetic police administration, enabled them to
work more freely, and they looked with a friendly eye on the efforts
of the Liberal Zemstvo-ists; but they took no part in the agitation,
because the Zemstvo world lay outside their sphere of action. In the
labour world, to which they confined their attention, they must have
foreseen that a crisis would sooner or later be produced by the war, and
that they would then have an excellent opportunity of preaching
their doctrine that for all the sufferings of the working classes the
Government is responsible. What they did not foresee was that serious
labour troubles were so near at hand, and that the conflict with the
authorities would be accelerated by Father Gapon. Accustomed to regard
him as a persistent opponent, they did not expect him to become suddenly
an energetic, self-willed ally. Hence they were taken unawares, and at
first the direction of the movement was by no means entirely in their
hands. Very soon, however, they grasped the situation, and utilised
it for their own ends. It was in great measure due to their secret
organisation and activity that the strike in the Putilof Ironworks,
which might easily have been terminated amicably, spread rapidly not
only to the other works and factories in St. Petersburg, but also to
those of Moscow, Riga, Warsaw, Lodz, and other industrial centres.
Though they did not approve of Father Gapon's idea of presenting
a petition to the Tsar, the loss of life which his demonstration
occasioned was very useful to them in their efforts to propagate the
belief that the Autocratic Power is the ally of the capitalists and
hostile to the claims and aspirations of the working classes.

The other great Socialist group contributed much more largely towards
bringing about the present state of things. It was their Militant
Organisation that assassinated Plehve, and thereby roused the Liberals
to action. To them, likewise, is due the subsequent assassination of the
Grand Duke Serge, and it is an open secret that they are preparing other
acts of terrorism of a similar kind. At the same time they have been
very active in creating provincial revolutionary committees, in printing
and distributing revolutionary literature, and, above all, in organising
agrarian disturbances, which they intend to make a very important
factor in the development of events. Indeed, it is chiefly by agrarian
disturbances that t