Why was the Tsar able to survive Revolution in 1905 with his powers intact?

Authors Avatar

Why was the Tsar able to survive Revolution in 1905 with his powers intact? [30]

The Revolution of 1905 produced a lot of opposition for the Tsar from the three united classes; peasants, liberals and the industrial working class. It seemed at first that the Tsar had little chance of surviving because of his naivety in politics, and because all had turned against him, even his most loyal supporters. However, he survived this revolution with his powers intact.

The Revolution itself was triggered by the peaceful protest in January 1905 which was fired upon by soldiers, called ‘Bloody Sunday’. From here, events escalated with three major classes striking and protesting. The reasons that these classes protested was because of a build up of economic factors like poor working conditions, high taxes, famine, but also political isolation. This, combined with the events of Bloody Sunday, which kicked off the Revolution, shows that revolution was not a well planned event, and is widely seen as an accident, showing that the Tsar did not have that strong an opposition, and so could easily pacify the protests. Also, because the Revolution was a result of economic, not political factors, the Tsar could hold on to his powers because it seemed that no-one wanted to, or had any reason to, to overthrow him and could so contest that this, in fact, was not a revolution.

The ‘Revolution’ also saw the alliance of the Liberals and the Industrial Working Class. Despite creating a big threat to the Tsar, because even his most loyal, the Liberals, were going against him, this alliance could not last. This is because the Liberals did not enjoy the experience, because of the working class’ lack of manners. This is supported by a quote from a Kadet leader who said at the end of the ‘Revolution’; ‘Thanks God for the Tsar, who has saved us from the people’. This shows that the two classes were not really united and could be easily broken, which would happen with the concessions stated in the October Manifesto. This also shows that the Liberals were eager to accept any concession, creating doubts as to how much change the Liberals really wanted. This lack of unity could not prove to be a good fight against the Tsar, with the lack of strong opposition allowing him to hold onto his rule and survive the ‘Revolution’. The actions of the Liberals, however, also support the opinion that the events in 1905 were not a revolution because there was no drive to overthrow the Tsar.

Join now!

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 ...

This is a preview of the whole essay