One of the main triggers of the revolution in 1905 was not the fact that Russia was at war with Japan in 1905, but the fact that Russia lost the war to what was a smaller, and supposedly a more inferior country. The idea of going to war was for Russia to take over Japan’s ports, so therefore Russia could develop its navy, and also that Russian authorities rejected Japanese proposals for the settlement of the Korean question, in hope that Japan and its military will respond to it (i.e. Japan would go to war with Russia), and although this plan worked, Russia’s loss in the war had negative consequences on Russia and its people. However, this event was not the only factor leading to Bloody Sunday, the start of the Revolution, other factors such Alexander I I I's manifesto – also led to the start of the revolution.
Firstly, the effects that the loss of the Russo-Japanese war had on the Government lead people to feel negatively towards the government and hence want to start a revolution. The humiliation that such a large, ‘strong’ country lost to a much smaller, inferior country was strongly felt by the government, as well as Russia as a whole. However, it was the government, and in particular, Witte (minister of the interior’s) miscommunication which lead to the war in the first place. Because of this error, the whole country blamed the government for the loss of the war, which had caused many Russian citizens to feel insulted and resented.
It was not only the government, but the Navy/Army too who were humiliated, and this lead the government to fear that Russian soldiers may try to overthrow the government. The fact that the government failed to prepare the army for the war successfully also, therefore made the incompetence of the government more apparent, so this also made people aware of the government’s weakness, and hence possibly encouraged them to try to take advantage of this by