Both Russian Revolutions stemmed from Russians' dissatisfaction with the Tsarist government's ineptitude

Authors Avatar

“Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” So says Mao Zedong, late overlord of China, staunch Marxist and hardened revolutionary. The truth of his statement can be observed in many instants in the long human history, and not least of all in the two Russian Revolutions of early twentieth century. The first revolution happened in 1905, and after a little more than a decade of tentative peace, the second revolution happened in 1917. Most historians talk about two revolutions in 1917, the February revolution, and the Bolshevik revolution in October. However, the two revolutions of 1917 can be seen as one protracted revolution undergoing many shifts in government and finally ended with the Bolshevik’s seizure of power in October. In this essay, the revolutions of 1917 will be treated as one single revolution.

 The revolution of 1905 and 1017 stemmed from the same causes, they were instigated and executed in similar fashion, the same people provided the bulk force that manned the actions, and both revolutions were permeated by the contest for power among different groups and the accompanying anarchy. There is only one difference between the two revolutions: where the control of an effective military force lies. Supposedly one difference amidst the multitude of similarities should hardly create any noticeable differences? That’s not what one observes in history. Thanks to that single difference, the revolution of 1905 and 1917 had drastically different results. The revolution of 1905 hardly made a dent in the Tsarist regime’s supreme power and only brought about an elected assembly that had little says in state affairs and was called upon and dismissed at the Tsar’s whim. The revolution of 1917, on the other hand, completely toppled the Tsarist government and set up a new socialist Russia with the Bolsheviks at the head. The Russian Revolution of 1905 and 1917 had similar causes, course of events, political ambience and only differ in who controlled the effective military force, yet the two revolutions had completely distinct results because of that one key difference. Power out of a gun barrel indeed.  

Both Russian Revolutions stemmed from Russians’ dissatisfaction with the Tsarist government’s ineptitude. Before the onset of the 1905 revolution there was brewing resentment in all three faction of the Russian population: the peasants, the workers, and the intelligentsia. The peasants were feeling considerable strain since they paid high taxes and had constant food shortages because of the increasingly large cereal export by the government to repay industrialization debt. An acute land-hunger was also persistent across Russia’s countryside. Workers felt exploited and sought protection from government, but were always disappointed. In fact a large part of the petition presented to the Tsar on the infamous “Bloody Sunday” had to do with better working conditions and minimum wage for workers. The intelligentsia was discontent as well, finding the government ineffective and inefficient and clamored for reform. The spark that turned dissatisfaction to action was the Russo-Japanese war, in which the Russian Army was easily and embarrassingly defeated by an upstart Asian power. Following the defeat of Russian Army at Mukden, hundreds of thousands of St. Petersburg citizens marched to present the Tsar with a petition, thus beginning the revolution of 1905. The situation before the revolution of 1917 was much more dire, but the root problems remained the same. The shortage of food already permeating the countryside was felt by everyone in 1917, due to World War I and the tsarist government’s inability to graft controls in the wake of the war. Again Russian army was defeated swiftly and embarrassingly on the battlefield, further demoralizing the nation. The intelligentsia was also absolutely frustrated with the government’s refusal of their help for the war. The brewing dissent again found citizens of St. Petersburg (now named Petrograd) taking to the street in protest. The same frustration and resentment towards an ineffective and inefficient government fueled both Russian Revolutions.

Join now!

  The two Russian Revolutions are also initiated and carried out in similar fashions. The same people—namely the workers of Petrograd—spearheaded the revolutions. The Petrograd Soviets of Workers and Soldiers proved to be key power that all conflicting parties tried to win over. Both revolutions were bulked up by general strikes that swept across the nation, creating disorder and anarchy that would eventually lead to political insurrection and changes in government. The revolution of 1905 won its meager success with the strike itself. The general strike across Russian stopped all essential services like railroads, banks, newspapers, and even lawyers’ offices. ...

This is a preview of the whole essay