The concessions that were made also played a major part in how the Tsar kept his rule. The Tsar, advised by Prime Minister Witte, realised that concessions were inevitable.
The Liberals were bribed by the October Manifesto, a document that was issued by the government which granted them a Duma, and so granted them a say in how the country was run. It also granted everyone civil rights, like freedom of speech, assembly, worship and trade unions, which effectively ended Nicholas’ policy of Russification. The October Manifesto satisfied the Liberals’ appetite for reform, and could claim a success. This granted the Tsar the renewed support of his most loyal supporters, and allowed him to survive the ‘Revolution’ even more because of it. Again, the concession was very easily accepted, and the working class were so easily betrayed, and so created more doubts on whether you could call these events a Revolution because of the doubts on how much the Liberals really wanted reform.
The peasants were also bribed with concessions which gave them what they wanted. With this group, the Tsar wanted to use the Okhrana, but Witte persuaded him otherwise because he realised that they were the main driving force in Russia. The Tsar, or rather Witte, brought off the peasants by reducing, and eventually abolishing their mortgage repayments, giving them what they were protesting for. Their land seizures and squatting dropped, and farming was on the up. This now meant that the Industrial Workers were now isolated, but now had more food resources, creating less of a reason to protest. With most of his opposition satisfied with the concessions, the Tsar was gaining more and more support, and so had more of a chance of surviving 1905 with his powers intact.
From these two concessions, you could say that the reason the rule of the Tsar was unharmed in 1905 was because of the Prime Minister, Witte, who had kept a level head (and could appreciate how important everyone in Russia was). If it were not for Witte, Nicholas would have tried to crush both groups, which would have led to more protests and revolts, and would probably have led to a real revolution, like the one that occurred later in Russia in 1917. Therefore you could say that the Tsar was able to keep his power because Witte kept his nerve and easily knew how to pacify the peasants and the Liberals.
However, because they were now isolated, the Tsar could suppress the Industrial Workers. He could only do this with the support of the army, which he gained when he back paid them with their return from the Russo-Japanese War. The Tsar could then use the army against the Soviets, and stormed their headquarters, as well as imprisoning ringleaders, including Trotsky, who was the only major revolutionary in Russia at the time. This then links back to the fact that the other two groups didn’t really want a revolution, and the advice from Witte, which ensured that this group could easily be suppressed, allowing the Tsar to hold onto his powers. Also, the fact that Trotsky was the only revolutionary in Russia meant that protestors were unorganised with no clear sense of direction, showed that it seemed relatively easy for the Tsar to survive 1905.
On top of this, mutinies that occurred in the armed services, like Prince Potemkin, did not spread and loyal troops returned to destroy the Soviets, enabling the Tsar to maintain his power.
Lastly, Nicholas took back his concessions in 1906 with the publishing of the Fundamental Laws. This clearly showed how limited the Duma’s power would be, and how the Tsar’s power would remain unharmed, perhaps even stronger, and how no law could be passed without the Tsar’s approval. Again, like the concessions, the Tsar was persuaded to publish this by Witte, and consequently showed that that Tsarist regime had no intention of allowing the concessions to seriously limit its absolute authority. It therefore seems that this could the main reason that the Tsar was able to survive ‘Revolution’ in 1905 with his powers intact.
There were many aspects of 1905 that could have threatened the Tsar rule, but Nicholas was able to overcome these. He ultimately did this by isolating the main driving force of the protests; the Industrial Workers. He could only have done this, however, with the aid of Witte, who thought of, and persuaded the Tsar to publish the October Manifesto and the Fundamental Laws. (and aid the army)
Other factors that allowed the Tsar to keep his rule was the fact that protestors were disunited and inexperienced, with a lack of revolutionaries, which also leads to the argument that the events of 1905 were, in fact, not a revolution, because most people did not want a revolution, and there was hardly any political involvement.
Ultimately, I believe that main reason that the Tsar was able to survive Revolution in 1905 with his powers intact was because of his advice from Witte, which, in the end, allowed him the support of the majority of Russia, and stopped him escalating matters.