Despite failure being a consistent feature in peasant opposition throughout the period it does not mean that the peasantry failed to experience any success. Peasant disturbances had increased when both Alexander II and Lenin entered office, with armed force being employed 185 times between 1856-60 and the Green armies of the peasantry providing stubborn resistance to the Reds and Whites. As well as defeat in Crimea, increased disturbances shaped Alexander II’s decision to carry out the emancipation of the serfs. He acknowledged this in a statement to the nobles when he said that ‘’it is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait until it will begin to abolish its self from below’’. As well as playing their part in the February revolution, for example the Food riots of 1916-7, peasants also shaped policy under the tenure of Lenin and Stalin. War communism was badly affected with peasants battling the requisition squads for supplies. One of the reasons why Lenin had to abandon war communism for NEP was because the peasantry were more organised and better armed than ever before. Under Stalin, initial resistance to collectivisation showed some success, however this did not last. The continuing failure of peasant opposition showed once again as famine, terror and purges killed millions. Despite some limited successes, peasant opposition was often divided and without a unifying cause, meaning it was often devoid of effectiveness.
Russian Governments also faced external opposition, again with limited success. As censorship was relaxed and reforms took effect , several stands of intelligentsia opposition had emerged under Alexander II. Initially opposition was again limited and without a unifying cause, as demonstrated by the split of Land and Liberty. This was a continuing theme within Tsarist Russia until the 1917 revolutions, after that communist intolerance for opposition was so great that any attempts became futile. The continuing failure of external opposition is also shown by nations within the Russian Empire, and later the USSR. The Polish Revolt 1863 and Hungary Rebellion 1956 were both easily crushed by the Russian military, which was a key instrument of the state throughout the period in dealing with opponents. External opponents to Russian Governments did enjoy some success, such as the 1905 revolutions which led to concessions in the October Manifesto, the 1917 revolutions and the assassination of Alexander II by the People’s Will. However the assassination removed any chance of Russia becoming a constitutional monarchy in the same way as the deposition of the Provisional Government removed any possibility of a democratic Russia. In removing Nicholas II and the Provisional Government respectively, opposition still did not completely succeed as once Lenin and his Bolsheviks seized power, little changed. Arguably, despite the success of the 1917 revolutions Russia simply switched from one form of autocracy to another, which is not what opponents had hoped for. Lenin is constantly argued to be a ‘red Tsar’, because he was just as autocratic as the Tsars before him, despite not having absolute authority. Tsarist repression was intensified through the use of the Cheka, and the situation became far worse under Stalin than at any point under Romanov rule. So in that sense, opposition had not succeeded in bringing about thorough change to Russian society and was largely ineffective.
Among Nicholas II’s concessions in the October Manifesto was to introduce the Duma. This led to a rise in internal opposition, which had not been much of an issue for Nicholas’ predecessors. The first two Duma’s contained a large amount of opponents intent on reform, including the social revolutionaries and the Bolsheviks, and were quickly dissolved. Stolypin’s changes to the electoral system ensured that the third Duma was filled with pro Tsarists, which along with his use of the fundamental laws removed any hope opposition had. The Duma, despite promising much, demonstrates the lack of success internal opposition had through much of the period. This remained the case until Stalin’s triumph in the power struggle. Show trials removed any remaining threat completely by wiping out political opponents, such as Kamanev and Zinoviev, as well as exiling Trotsky. Internal opposition did have some effect on Russian Government. This is mainly demonstrated in the removal of Khrushchev, but also following the Emancipation Act the Nobles were opposed to the prospect of losing some of their land, and were compensated as such. The Central Committee were similarly opposed to Khrushchev, who focused on a destalinization process following the Secret Speech. Russia had been humiliated in the Cuban missile crisis and his policies such as agriculture were formed with the best of intentions however had little effect. Khrushchev was successfully deposed from power in 1964, however this is one of few examples throughout the period showing the effectiveness of internal opposition.
The Polish and Hungarian revolts demonstrate the continuing use of the military, however the high level of repression from Russian Governments throughout the period had a very big role to play in the ineffectiveness of opposition from all sources. The threat of death, exile and imprisonment was used by Russian Governments throughout the period once Alexander III had substantially increased repression in 1881. This peaked during the unprecedented reign of terror under Stalin which removed the possibility of any opposition to his policies such as collectivisation. Even before Stalin gained power, Lenin’s Cheka continued many aspects of Tsarist repression, which were often heavily intensified to crush any potential opponents. Unlike Tsarist Governments where repression had provoked opposition and increased tensions, repression under communist Governments had removed any possibility of effective opposition developing.
The view that opposition to Russian Governments was ineffective throughout the 1855-1964 period is an accurate one, as demonstrated by the consistent failure of opposition whether it was from the peasantry, the intelligentsia, countries under Russian control or from within Government its self. Heavy use of repression and the continuing deployment of military force were key factors in the failure of opposition, as was the clever use of propaganda by communist Governments in particular, such as the cult of Stalin. Even when opposition to Russian Government had succeeded, such as the removal of Nicholas II and the Provisional Government or the assassination of Alexander II, the events that followed were not successes as opponents had hoped for. In addition to Government intervention and reform, opposition consistently lacked a shared ideology and a common cause, rendering it ineffective throughout the 1855-1964 period.