What Were The Causes of The1905 Revolution & TheConsequences of The Uprising?

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What Were The Causes of The1905 Revolution & The Consequences of The Uprising?

In January 1905 Russia was thrown into 'revolution' triggered by the events of Bloody Sunday. The causes for the revolution are a mix of long term problems and short term causes that made them all surface at one time. Also they were many consequences from this event on the people, Tsar and Russia itself.

The causes of the 1905 revolution in Russia can be traced back as far as 1861. The Tsar was the ruler of Russia and ruled by autocracy at a time when Europe as a whole was becoming more democratic and liberal. Russia was very much medieval in the 19th century in the fact that Serfdom still existed. The Serfs were peasants who were owned by the Tsar, according to law. The Serfs (80% of the population) became very disgruntled and Alexander II recognized this by granting them their freedom, through the Emancipation Act of 1861. He felt it was 'better to abolish Serfdom from above than to wait for the Serfs to liberate themselves from below.' With hindsight this caused further problems, as even though it was a major step in modernizing Russia, the granting of limited freedom to the Serfs resulted in them calling for further rights, and thus a long term cause of the revolution of 1905.

The Russian population was made up of a wide range in ethnic backgrounds, with over 22 different nationalities. Each group had their own customs, culture and religion and seeked independence. Alexander II tried to force Russian customs, culture, language and religion upon them. This was known as Russification and was a long term underlying problem in Russia.

Alexander II did set up limited local authorities called Zemstva, which mainly concentrated on agricultural issues. This created greater awareness amongst the people and a liberal class of Intelligencia was set up. They wanted Russia to become democratic and opposed the Tsars' autocratic rule and later became known as the 'Kadets'. Their opposition towards him was a long term cause of the revolution.
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The Kadets went about achieving their aims through conventional methods, whilst there were extremist groups, such as 'The People's Will'. They felt Alexander II had abandoned his earlier liberalizing policies and assassinated him in a bomb attack in 1881. The turn of events meant that Alexander III, the Tsar's son, became Tsar even though he was regarded as too young and out of touch with the people to rule Russia. Firstly he sentenced the 5 assassins to death and then ushered in an era where all the previous freedoms granted by his father were abolished, as he felt ...

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