How and why was Nicholas able to survive the 1905 revolution?

Authors Avatar
How and why was Nicholas able to survive the 1905 revolution?

According to Marxist theory there needs to be a total change of power in order for a revolution to take place, this puts the phrase '1905 revolution' into serious doubt. It is evident that there are many factors that appear to be leading towards revolution however it is debatable weather these factors were strong enough to be called a revolution itself. Survival of this period was attained certainly in the short term, however we must ask how influential the '1905 revolution' was in the eventual downfall of the tsar in 1917.

Before we can fully understand how and why Nicholas survived 1095 it is important to recognise the conditions of Russia leading up to this period and how they were caused. Unrest had been evident in Russia for a long period of time; it can be dated as far back as to the assassination of Alexander 2nd in 1979 or even further. At a time where Russia needed to move forward in order to 'keep up' with the world powers, Russia focused on a scheme of reaction and russificatioin beginning in 1881, which was maintained by Nicholas when he came into power in 1894. Opposition groups such as the Liberals had been forming due to the unrest within the country. A slump in the economy prior to 1905 following the economic spurt of the 1890's caused great unrest within the cities, the peasants were unhappy because they were still under the control of their landlords as mortgage repayments could not be paid off. The defeat in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5 added greatly to the already condensed unrest in Russia so going into the year 1905, it was clear that Russia was at a point of turmoil that needed only a small trigger to set ablaze the events which unfolded. Nicholas can be personally blamed for all of the above which puts doubt into how he managed to survive the year 1905.

It is a common thought that Nicholas was seen as an incompetent and ignorant ruler. "His character is the source of all our misfortunes. His outstanding weakness is his lack of willpower." (Sergei Witte) As Witte states, Nicholas did not have the strength as a person to take and stick to a policy of rule. This is shown because "Russia lives under emergency legislation" (Nicolai Tolstoy), referring to the reaction, a policy meant to be temporary when introduced in 1881, however still was evident in 1905. Trained as a soldier, he had little understanding of how to run a successful country, and the state of Russia by 1905 represents this. Nicholas's only purposeful and well thought out plan came in the issuing of the October Manifesto which enabled him to break down the opposition into manageable groups to control. This plan however still heavily relied upon factors far from his control such as the Army remaining loyal; therefore there is a large element of luck involved in Nicholas's survival of 1905. However, before Nicholas saw sense, his incompetence had left him with several severe threats to his rule at the start of 1905, which had become an even larger threat through the unifying of them through the Union of Unions.
Join now!


The wants and needs of the Liberals, peasants and working class civilians, the main threats to Nichols, play an important role in his survival, had the Liberals been a revolutionary group then the events which unfolded would have taken a very different outlook. As it was, the Liberals were a reformist group and their wants and needs were therefore easier for Nicholas to deal with. The Liberals, noticing the opportunity to take advantage of a weakened Russia following the unrest stated by Bloody Sunday on January 22nd, formed the 'Union of Unions' in May of 1905. Their declaration ...

This is a preview of the whole essay