Why did Tsarism survive the 1905 revolution but not the 1917?
Why did Tsarism survive the 1905 revolution but not the 1917 Tsarist Russia had had many problems. The Tsars was strictly autocratic and yielded absolute power; but his government was inefficient and corrupt, reforms were unsuccessful and reversed by succeeding Tsars. At a time where other western European powers were advancing in science, Russia was left behind in its firm, age-old traditions. There was widespread discontent among all the classes of Russian society and Lenin, the founding father of the Russian Soviet believed that Russia needed two revolutions before a communist state could be ushered: one from feudal to industrial and then from industrial to communist. The revolution did not take place overnight. It took almost 17years for the Russians to topple the Tsarist system. The gap between the rich and the poor was too wide. There was no middle class, no natural leaders of the society. Industrialization had rapidly spread and while the factory owners kept accumulating wealth, the factory workers were rendered poor and poor. They were made to work inhumane hours and conditions. Most of the people were outraged at this exploitation but had no means to vent their fury. There were 20 or so national minorities like the Armenians, the Fins, the Latvians, and the Poles etc who resented 'Russification'. The Jews felt prosecuted under the" pogroms ". The revolutionaries actually encouraged mass discontent in order to speed up the revolution; this was one reason why they didn't like reforms. The Russo-Japanese war finished in 1905 and by the treaty of Portsmouth in the same year, Russia didn't have to pay Japan any indemnities. This meant that there were no additional taxes on the peasants to compensate for the diminishing state
revenues. The soldiers were available to keep law and order and were moved away from the Eastern border. Also, losing the war to an Asian nation was a national humiliation and the Russians were united by this defeat. The main reason why the revolution of 1905 wasn't successful is because there were so many doubts, in the minds of the disunited. For example people wondered if Father Gapon was really a priest or a secret Russian secret police agent. People also wondered about the Tsars involvement, though he wasn't there personally on that fateful Sunday, his guards fired on the ...
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revenues. The soldiers were available to keep law and order and were moved away from the Eastern border. Also, losing the war to an Asian nation was a national humiliation and the Russians were united by this defeat. The main reason why the revolution of 1905 wasn't successful is because there were so many doubts, in the minds of the disunited. For example people wondered if Father Gapon was really a priest or a secret Russian secret police agent. People also wondered about the Tsars involvement, though he wasn't there personally on that fateful Sunday, his guards fired on the innocent crowd demanding more rights like better working conditions for them and not the Tsar himself stepping down. This is a big difference compared to the 1917 revolution. This event called the "Bloody Sunday" and it somewhat shattered the image of the Tsar being the protector of the little people. There was no alternate government ready, most people were even divided over the type of socialism they preferred - the socialist groups divided into the Russian Socialist Democratic Labour Party in 1898 and the Socialist Republic in 1901. Lenin was in hiding and Russia didn't allow foreign publications like Marx's books into Russia. In 1903, Marxism also split in two, Lenin's Bolsheviks and other more moderate men the Mensheviks. The government was also really tough on the revolutionaries and sent them to Siberia or executed them. After the revolution, the Tsar quickly won over the rebels - peasants by agreeing to end peasant redemption payment for the land they had gained in 1861, the urban workers by allowing trade unions to operate and the liberals by conceding to a national Duma. After 1905, there were considerable changes in Russia. For one, there were improved communications due to the completion of the Trans-Siberian railway. The Tsar allowed foreign publications to send their materials in to Russia and through the communication network, Lenin and other revolutionary ideas floated to the remotest of villages. Everybody now knew Lenin's socialist party and was suitably impressed by the works in "Pravda", their magazine. The universities were also given more freedom than before. By the October Manifesto, 1905, the Tsar promised more political power in the hands of the people through a national duma. However he cracked down on revolutionary leaders- Trotsky went to Siberia and Lenin fled to Finland. At this time, the harsh winter was setting on - unpaid labourers were beginning to worry. So, they calmed down for now. Though the promised elections did take place, the Tsar didn't like the first duma that was created - mainly because it was not as orthodox as he himself and wanted constitutional monarchy as in Great Britain. The Tsar didn’t like this and allowed for a second duma election in 1907. This had the same results. Finally, the Tsar followed his Prime Minister Stolypin's advice and restricted the franchise to people who would vote for right wing parties only. Hence there were two more dumas, none of which really represented the people and only increased antagonism for the Tsar in certain sections of the society. However, the creation of the "Soviets (town councils)" facilitated the co-ordination of the proletariat. The Tsar was said to be under the influence of certain people like the Konstantin Pobedonostev, the procurator of the Holy Synod. The Tsarina was literally under the spell of Rasputin, a mysterious holy man. She allowed him to make key political decisions. The man was corrupt and used his power to spread corruption and get his friends important positions in the court. The Tsar was not the protector of the little people any more: Bloody Sunday had shattered that image. During his power, there were 17 successive ministers; he didn't like anyone who was even slightly left wing, even dismissing Stolypin. Many believed that Russia shouldn't have gone into the war (World War I) when it was clear that it didn't have enough resources and was not in a position to do so. The setbacks in the war highlighted the weaknesses of the Tsars rule and military leadership. Victories were costly and defeats were many. For example in June 16, the Brusilov offensive was an attempt to end the war on the eastern front and move troops to the west. Russia attacked Austria-Hungary and even advanced a few miles. But the morale of the soldiers was down, for the first time there were mass desertions as they continued to mutiny. The Tsar was clearly not in control of the situation. Russia was also losing to Germany and some believed that this was because of Tsarina Alexandra who was German by birth and was "spying" for her native country. When Nicholas II left to go to the warfront to support his generals, he left the Tsarina behind and people did not feel it as a good sign. Earlier the Tsars cousin The Grand Duke Nicholas was in charge but now it was the Tsar himself. Any defeats under the Tsar would be identified with him and not the army. The Tsar had always been considered unlucky by the superstitious folk. Though he was oppressive, the people weren't scared of him as they were scared of Alexander III. He wrote to his wife in English, not Russian. He just didn't connect to the typical Tsar that the people had in mind. They didn't want a ruler like that. A revolution would have come sooner or later but it needed a spark and it was the women's march on the 8th of March 1917. Then riots flared up over the shortages of bread and fuel. Soon, it became a huge crowd, screaming "Down with autocracy!" From women, it swelled to workers and soldiers. The local protest on the streets of St. Petersburg turned into a general uprising. On the 11th of March 1917, the Duma refused to dissolve when ordered by the government. It later merged with the soviets to form a dual power government. This alternate government was ready, unlike in 1905. There were two main Russian peacekeepers the Militia and the Cossacks. These were the ones who suppressed riots, similar to the one in 1905. But now, in 1917, they did nothing. They too had lost confidence in the Tsar and began fraternising with the revolutionaries. The soldiers didn't intervene either because they didn't want to go back to the war. Nobody wanted the Tsar, nobody wanted the war. The Tsar out at the warfront didn't get the mood, didn't realise that he was the problem and didn't return to St. Petersburg. He continued to feel that the revolutionaries were being unpatriotic and was very slow for a situation as dangerous as then. His generals lost faith in him too and decided that the Tsar had to be sacrificed in order to restore peace so they forced him to abdicate the throne. He tried to abdicate the throne to his son Alexei but he was haemophilic and not the perfect heir. He then tried to abdicate the throne to his cousin The Grand Duke Michael who refused. The Tsar was then forced to resign. The conditions leading to and during both the revolutions were different, but the causes were the same i.e. discontent and fear of oppression. The Tsar survived the 1905 revolution because it was not very well organised and the Tsar, or rather his soldiers, responded quickly. In 1917, the Tsar did not respond quickly, he was out at the front, something unnecessary and uncalled for in Russian society, and did not stand up for his autocratic rule when he needed to.