"The 1905 Revolution transformed the autocracy". Assess the validity of this view of Russia 1855-1914.

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“The 1905 Revolution transformed the autocracy”. Assess the validity of this view of Russia 1855-1914.

The 1905 Revolution was an empire-wide struggle of both anti-government and undirected violence which swept through vast areas of Russia. It was not controlled or managed, and it had no single cause or aim, but instead was the culmination of decades of unrest and dissatisfaction stemming from the autocratic rule of the Tsars and the slow pace of reform in Russian society as well as nationalist movements within the Empire. The initial cause was the failure of the Tsar's military forces in the Russo-Japanese War, which set off a series of revolutionary activities, sometimes by mutinous soldiers and at other times by revolutionaries.

Economically, it can be argued that the 1905 revolution transformed the autocracy. Post-1905, dramatic reforms made by Prime Minister Peter Stolypin – Stolypin realised that reforms were essential if the autocracy was to survive. His aim was to create a prosperous land owning class which would support the Tsar and identify with the goals of the Tsar and his government rather than the revolutionary aims of those who wanted to change Russia’s government. In doing so, he made changes to land ownership, change to systems of land cultivation and the expansion of the Peasant Bank, allowing those Peasants who could afford it to buy more land - this in particular affected 2 million families and brought a prosperous, successful group of peasants (known as Kulaks, a Capitalist rural class) who could act as a buffer to against revolution in order to protect their own interests. Furthermore, Stolypin also abolished redemption payments and these reforms led to bumper harvests in the years 1909-1913, thus ensuring an ample food supply and alleviating the problems such as famine and riots that ravaged rural Russia in previous years. Economic progress was not limited to agriculture, however: in terms of industry, rearmament stimulated industrial production which grew at the rate of 6% per year 1907-1914. Overall then, it was the 1905 revolution which caused Stolypin to introduce such dramatic reforms rarely seen in previous years. The 1905 Revolution made him realise the importance of appeasing rural Russia – and the best way according to him was by making them more prosperous, which would hopefully lead to less famine, poverty and instability. Obviously his main goal was the preservation of the autocracy, and these reforms would have gone a long way to achieve this.

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It can also be argued that the 1905 revolution transformed the autocracy in social terms. After the 1905 Revolution, strikes became more organised – after the failure of 1905, it was as if workers had learnt they needed to strike as one unit, as opposed to previously where there was no unity, and 1905 was when this started to happen regularly – for example, the Printer’s strike in late September 1905 which quickly turned into a general strike. This was also the time when Soviets emerged, seizing control of essential services, power, hospitals and food distribution in the cities. ...

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