How and why was Nicholas able to survive the 1905 revolution?
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.
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
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 stated that "We appeal to all groups, to all parties...with our strength...you must hasten the removal of the gang of robbers that is now in power, and put in its place a constituent assembly". This powerful statement was particularly threatening because it united all of the groups who were unhappy with the Tsar. This included the working class who were tired by unemployment and harsh living conditions and who were now enraged by the events of January 22nd. It also included the peasants, who were traumatised by rumours of their land being repossessed. The tsar now faced the most united opposition that had ever faced a Russian Tsar. He also faced the humiliation of losing a war with Japan and the effects that it might have upon the country.
The Russian Army had always had a reputation of being brutal and menacing. Its large numbers were feared by many countries and Russia "could always rely upon their army". Although Russia did not officially start the war with Japan, Nicholas saw it as an opportunity to regain his control over the country by rallying the nation together through a successful war. Leading into 1905, this was Nicholas's plan for preventing the unrest within Russia mounting to anything beyond normal. However the war was a disaster, in January Port Arthur fell to Japan, this news enraged the country at the same time as Bloody Sunday was taking place. In May, their Baltic fleet was destroyed as opposition was uniting in the introduction of the 'Union of Unions'. The war did nothing but greaten the problems for the tsar. His main fear now was weather the Army would remain loyal to him because the strength of the tsar was often visualised through the strength of the army; without them the nation could run riot with no means of control. It was vitally important that the proceedings of the ship 'Prince Potemkin' did not spread throughout the Army and Navy. Despite this fear it was still important that Nicholas found a way to manage the united opposition that he faced. His next actions were a key factor in his immediate survival of 1905.
Nicholas, being blamed for the defeat by Japan and having lost his title of 'Little Father' had no other option but to accept concession, however in doing this the government planned to split up the 'Union of Unions', and therefore remove the united threat to his control. The Tsar issued the 'October Manifesto', which proved probably the best decision of his reign. In doing this he granted the Liberals their Duma (representative government with proposed influence upon laws), he also issued a range of civil rights including freedom of speech, assembly and worship. He also legalised trade unions. This was going against Nicholas's own beliefs about autocracy, however he realised that this was needed in order to attempt to regain his authority over the country. Due to the Liberals only wanting reforms, this manifesto satisfied their wants sufficiently. This meant that they, being the main threat to Nicholas now moved towards stopping the riots and crass movements that were taking place at the time because their needs had been satisfied. This meant that the Union of Unions was split and therefore the peasants and Soviets were now left to fight their own battle with the government.
It became apparent that the 'Union of Unions' formation had actually helped the Tsar in some way. After the Liberals accepted the manifesto it became clear that the Liberals disliked the 'common people' and therefore the majority of people in Russia. Peter Struve said "Thank God for the Tsar, who has saved us from the people". The Intelligentsia's experience with the 'people' had made them see what type of people they were and they disliked it, so therefore the Tsar gained sympathy from the Liberals after the manifesto which helped the Tsar to regain his authority. With the Liberals satisfied it was easy for the Tsar to deal with the rioting peasantry. He promised to progressively reduce mortgage repayments and the abandon them altogether which did not greatly effect the Tsar as they were not being paid anyway. The immediate response to this was a drop in the number of land seizures across Russia. And following the year 1905 the number of peasant households becoming independent increased to a peak of 579,409 in 1909, although this number is still small when put into scale with the 12 million peasant households. Now, the only major group of concern for Nicholas was the industrial working class.
The Industrial working class was peasant based initially and was looking for a better standard of life. All that they saw however was poor living and working conditions, bad pay and much unemployment as they were totally at the disposal of the factory owners. This led to strikes, ending in a total of 13,995 in 1905. There was serious unrest within these people and after Bloody Sunday where it is estimated that 100's of people were killed. Violence and disorder had spread throughout the two main cities in Russia, St Petersburg and Moscow; one newspaper reported that "hundreds of buildings worth several millions of roubles, have been destroyed" in the cities. The industrial working class formed a council of workers (soviets), initially set up to represent the worker demands for better conditions however the revolutionary groups recognised their potential for revolution and led by Leon Trotsky the strikes began to threaten the Tsar politically. This late movement by the Menshevik's threatened the Tsar and it was vital that he dealt with the strikes that were taking place.
In order for Nicholas to maintain his autocratic power he knew that he must end the disorder in the cities. This is where some luck comes into Nicholas's survival. His plan was to crush the soviets using the power of the army, however he was unsure about his army; would they remain loyal to him after losing a war humiliatingly and what would their reaction be to the internal state of Russia. It was lucky for Nicholas that it took so long for the army to return from Eastern Russia across the 5,000-mile stretch. When the army returned most of the nation-wide unrest had ended and apart from in the cities the country was in relative peace. Had the army returned from the war a month before, their reaction would have been quite different. However the army remained loyal to the Tsar and they were given a moral boosting task of crushing the Soviets. A five-day siege took place in St. Petersburg, from which the Soviet leaders were arrested, including Trotsky. A violent siege took place in Moscow too. Following this, it seemed that Nicholas had come out of 1905 with his autocracy in tact as he promulgated in 1906 "no law can come into force without his (the tsars) approval". Thus meaning that the powers that the Liberals thought they had gained through the granting of a Duma were no more gained now than they were before October 1905.
Another factor that influenced Nicholas's survival was the notable lack of involvement from the revolutionary groups that had formed prior to 1905 such as the SR's, Bolsheviks, and Menskeviks. Most of the leaders were not even in the country, Lenin returned in December and it was only Trotsky who played an influential role in proceedings. This shows how this 'revolution' was not an organised revolution but a fluke series of one off events that amalgamated into a serious threat to Nicholas's power. Had there been any form of revolutionary organisation then the outcome of 1905 could have been very different however Nicholas was able to survive without a revolutionary threat. As it was the main organised group involved in 1905 was a reformist group who the Tsar found easy to satisfy. Nicholas was able to survive because no group of people had the will, knowledge or courage to take on the Tsar at this time. It was not a politically based 'revolution' but a 'revolution' caused by the sheer number of economic and social problems in Russia at the time, not helped by the defeat to Japan and the mass killing of 100's of peaceful protesters. There was little structure, and what structure there was, Nicholas was able to break it down with ease.
"It is impossible to maintain this form of government except by violence" (Nicolai Tolstoy), this is proved by Nicholas only being able to control the Soviets by using the army to suppress them. Without the army the Soviets would have grown in strength and power ad would have posed a very serious threat to the Tsar. The Tsar lived an insecure and dangerous life, which is why any person who posed the slightest hint of political opposition was put into exile and why he lived a sheltered and ignorant lifestyle away from the Russian people. Nicholas was only able to survive 1905 because not enough pressure was applied to his authority, as no group was able to provide sufficient pressure. 1905 lacked the key individuals and organisation that were so evident in the successful revolution in 1917.
I argue that 1905 was not a revolution, but more a culmination of long and short-term unrest that triggered the proceedings which took place. Nicholas was able to survive 1905 due to a long awaited purposeful and well directed plan of action, however there was a certain amount of luck involved, had certain occurrences been different Nicholas may not have remained with such control as he did. Nicholas could have prevented the actions that took place in 1905 long before they took place had he not been such an incompetent and ignorant ruler.
"The events of 1905 were a prologue to the two revolutions of 1917" (Trotsky). This tells me that although Nicholas survived the revolution in the short term, the events which took place played a vital part in the 1917 revolutions, therefore it is arguable that Nicholas did not survive the 1905 revolution because of the influences it had upon his eventual downfall in 1917.