Assess the reasons why opponents of Russian governments were rarely successful in the period 1855-1964.

One reason as to why nothing was successful was due to the fundamental fact that the formation of opposition parties was banned under all the rulers apart from a small 12 year gap between the rulings of Nicholas 2nd and Lenin, any breaking of this law was dealt with severely (usually with the hanging of the founding members/most important figures of the party). This basic limitation meant that people for the most part were too scared to act upon any mistreatment handed down to them by their rulers and in this respect meant that the number of opposition parties were so few that they never offered  any threat.

Another aspect of this failing was due to the fact that the opposition (when present) were for the most part poorly structured this meat that any protest was dealt with fairly easily. An example of this is the Whites (who were the opposition to Lenins regime), who failed to form any kind of offence against the reds in the civil war. Another example is the failing of the Narodnik or the ‘going to the people movement’ of 1877 orchestrated by the populists who failed mainly due to the fact that there was never a strong enough leader in place to achieve their aims.

The way that these revolts were dealt with by the government also made it a big deterrent for any people thinking about standing up to the mainly oppressive governments. The revolutionaries were treated so harshly that this incited fear in the general population and made them for the most part docile. An example of this is under Lenins rule (while leader of the Bolsheviks) when the Mensheviks were forced into exile.

The only opposition group to have any major sustained success were the Bolsheviks and the reason for this was due to them flourishing in the vacuum left from the First World War, enabling them to take power in the chaos that followed Russia’s defeat before the government in place could react.

In summary the reason opposition parties were rarely successful was due to the fact that the government was so well prepared to deal with any threat towards them, be it from the fact that parties were for the most part banned throughout the period or be it the way in which the government cracked down on any opposition.