In 1905, workers' strikes and peasant uprisings began to break out across the empire. During this period, anarcho-communist ideas spread throughout the Caucasus. Caucasian anarchists organized armed workers' detachments, expropriating land and property from the wealthy classes, while they also established agricultural communes, self-managed workers' collectives and the country's first trade unions. In November 1905, a general strike was called in Alaverdi, becoming the largest strike in the history of the Caucasus and managing to force the bosses into conceding to their workers' demands. Armenian rail workers also went on strike, seizing control of the country's entire rail network and forming armed battalions for self-defense. The Imperial Russian Army eventually intervened, putting down the Moscow uprising, which led to the collapse of the workers' movement in Armenia.