which came to him to protest the proclamation of the state of siege in Congress Poland. The Soviet called for a general strike in solidarity with Poland and to protest the government's announcement that the Kronstadt sailors who had taken part in the October strike would be tried in military courts. This second strike, however, had to end on , due to the exhaustion of part of the population; by then the government had partially relented and allowed the civilian trial of the sailors. A few days later, and in the face of the Russian employers, who reacted to the forced introduction of the eight-hour day with factory closures that left 100,000 workers on the street, the Soviet had to give in again and abandon this demand. Despite the revolutionary impulse of part of the population, the Soviet was weak. Crisis and suppression The government succeeded in crushing attempts at military rebellion in some units. It also succeeded in restoring censorship of the press despite the protests of the Soviet. On , the authorities arrested the chairman of the Soviet and some of its leaders. The Socialist Revolutionaries expressed the need to react by attacking Tsarist ministers, while others preferred to call a new general strike. Trotsky then proposed to elect a new chairmanship and to continue preparations for an uprising against the government. A collegial chairmanship, including Trotsky himself, was subsequently elected. Preparations for the insurrection, however, were minimal, and the government took it upon itself to hinder them. Shortly afterwards, it sent an armed force to guard the building of the Free Economic Society, the new seat of the Soviet. Unable to organise an armed uprising, the soviet opted for a financial boycott of the government and asked the population to stop paying taxes and demand payment in gold. The request precipitated the expected confrontation with the authorities. On the evening of , while the executive council was discussing the government's latest repressive measures - permission to provincial governors to proclaim a state of siege, censorship of the press which had published the petition for a boycott of the Soviet, plans to ban socialist parties, etc. - news of the imminent government assault arrived: the building was already surrounded. The Soviet decided to put up no resistance and continued to meet. After the police officer in charge of announcing the arrest order was admonished by Trotsky and left