In 1905 Tsar Nicholas managed to control the situation and stop the revolution. He did this mainly by being able to split the opposition. Riots broke out in the major cities and Tsar Nicholas firstly tried to use force, but this only angered peaceful demonstrators. In the end the Tsar and his authorities could not fully control the rioters and strikers and so knew he had to make a deal. He promised to give the people a parliament, Duma, but refused to give it any real power. This meant more people became angry and more people got involved in the revolution including the middle class. They were angry about the poor offer and they now demanded a proper parliament to be elected. They set up a political party in which to do this as did the working classes. One big strike crippled the country and brought the whole economy to a stand still. The working organisation, soviets, now seemed to rule the country with their own police force. The Tsar knew he had to do something and so issued the October Manifesto. This promised to turn Russia into a constitutional monarchy and so give people more freedom and power. He also let there be a parliament with power. The parliament, Duma, had the power to make laws and this also gave people a say and some power. In this way he had given the middle class what they wanted and they soon swapped sides and wanted to end the revolution. They now became aware of the extremism of the workers and peasants, which threatened to completely undermine social order. They wanted the revolution to stop right away and no longer joined in with the revolution, as did some others. This meant the Tsar’s opposition was extremely weakened and he had managed to split them. He then went about arresting the leaders of the soviets and used his armed forces to repress any other demonstrations, riots or strikes. This meant the 1905 revolution collapsed as it had nobody to lead demonstrations and the people were disorganised and soon gave up. However in the 1917 revolution people were a lot more determined and far more organised. As already said more unions and political parties were involved and so the situation was harder to control. Also he was unable to split the opposition as a Duma was already in place, although the Tsar kept dissolving it, and the people wanted the Duma ruling rather than the Tsar. People also did not believe in any of the Tsar’s promises as in the last revolution he had gone back on all his promises. So now the revolution was about getting rid of the Tsar and not merely changing things. He also could not use his military to crush the opposition with sheer force as his army was still at war and severely weakened, this will be fully explained later. So in 1917 he was unable to control the situation and so forced to abdicate.
After the 1905 revolution the Tsar went back on most of the promises he had made. An elected parliament was formed and first met in 1906. They wanted confiscation of all large estates, so the land could be distributed between the peasants. They also wanted government ministers responsible to the Duma and the abolition of the Tsar’s emergency powers. The Tsar simply dissolved the Duma as he thought the concessions were ridiculous. He gave very little power to the Duma and he could dissolve it as he pleased and did not really listen to their views. Further Dumas met, but were dissolved in the same way. By the time a third Duma had met the government had changed the rules so that more of its supporters, such as rich landowners, were elected. This meant a Duma which supported the Tsar also and this was more to the Tsars liking. However this gave less power to the people and the middle class did not like this. The Tsar also lost support from the workers because he crushed the soviets. He arrested its leaders and then anyone who challenged him. This meant that working and living conditions did not really change for them and they were very annoyed at this, as this was the sole reason they had joined the revolution in the first place. Going back on his promises meant he could not be trusted when it came to the 1917 revolution. This meant any promises he did make were ignored and so were any deals. Also because nothing had changed after the 1905 revolution they now wanted to get rid of the Tsar instead of demanding changes as in the end these would happen. This meant his abdication in 1917, but not in 1905.
The two wars before both revolutions contributed greatly to the start of both revolutions and the outcomes. This paragraph explains how war affected the home front and in turn how this affected the revolutions. In 1904-1905 the Russo-Japanese war took place. They were fighting over Manchuria, an area of northern China. Russia had built an important extension of the Trans-Siberian railway in the area and they wanted this land, but so did Japan. The Tsar thought if they won the war it would gain him respect and hopefully bring an end to the questioning of his capability to rule. Everybody thought Russia would win as it was the worlds most powerful land force and third ranking sea power. However they had great difficulty getting troops and their navy to East Russia from the large towns and ports in the west of Russia. The Russian Baltic Fleet sailed half way around the world to try and meet the Japanese fleet, but was easily defeated. In the end Russia was forced to ask for peace and they had lost the war. This showed the weakness of the Tsar’s regime. However the battle was fought mainly by the Navy and only the “professional Navy” were involved, so ordinary people were not conscripted and were not involved. It was therefore mainly fought at sea and or in less populated areas so far less people were affected. The defeat was blamed upon the naval commanders as they were in charge and they had lost. Similarly there was a war before and during the 1917 revolution which was the First World War. However this war was far bigger and involved a lot more people in Russia. The standard army was not enough to fight opposition and so conscription was introduced. This meant ordinary men were called up to fight and if they died it affected their families back in Russia. Also the First World War was fought in Europe near more of the major cities and so nearly all of the Russian population was affected in one way or another. The Tsar was also in charge of the army so the defeat in 1917 was his fault and many people blamed him. Although 15million peasants were conscripted food production wasn’t affected. However Russia’s railway system could not cope with so many supplies and bad administration made things worse. By the end off the war people in major cities experienced food shortages and the armies fighting at the front were ill supplied. Industry was also largely affected by the First World War. Heavy industry grew and the production of steel and iron soared. This led to job losses, higher prices, food shortages and many factories closed down. Russia was quite a poor country as well and couldn’t really afford large war and so was forced to borrow money. Income taxes fell as well as many people were at war or unemployed. Bad leadership decisions also reduced tax income like the banning of alcohol, which meant this could not be taxed. The result was inflation and Russia’s money lost value and so people became worse off. All of these led to waves of strikes and all because of the war. In the Russo-Japanese war none of these problems were caused and so even less people were affected and so the revolution wasn’t so bad as not as many people were getting involved because of the war and how it had affected their working and living conditions.
The Tsar was also undermined by his family. The Tsar’s only son, Alexis, suffered from haemophilia which means he would be too weak to ever become Tsar and so Tsar Nicholas didn’t have an heir. This was frowned upon by some people as they thought a strong leader should have an heir. Rasputin was a Siberian peasant, who claimed to be a healer and was therefore introduced to the Tsar and his son. Rasputin seemed to be able to control the condition and soon gained trust and friendship from the royal family. However Rasputin had a rebellious background and the people of Russia did not like him. When the Tsar went to war in 1915 the Tsarina was let in charge and she ruled. This was frowned upon as she was a woman and many people had chauvinistic views. She came to rely on Rasputin for advice and he began to make nearly all of the decisions. He made some terrible decisions and as they thought it was the Tsarina who was making them they began to dislike her. As she was the Tsar’s wife the disliking soon spread to the Tsar as well. The Tsarina and Rasputin did not control situations well and they sacked able ministers and replaced them with hopeless ones. Wild rumours spread that the Tsarina and Rasputin were having an affair and the Tsar was considered naïve by his people for letting them take charge and he lost a lot of respect. Other rumours spread saying that Rasputin and Tsarina were trying to make peace with Germany. Nobody trusted either of them, the Tsarina because she was German as was the enemy. These rumours meant they disliked the Tsarina even more and therefore the Tsar as well and people began to lose faith in the Tsar. In the Russo-Japanese war the enemy was Japan and so no such rumours spread about the Tsarina making peace as she was not that nationality. In 1905 she was also not left in charge and Rasputin had only just met the royal family and so did not have a say at all. So in 1905 there was nothing major to undermine the Tsar and so people did not dislike him as much and therefore did not want to get rid of him.
Two similarities between the revolutions were the two wars fought just before both and as already said they contributed greatly to he start and outcome of both. This paragraph explains how the wars affected the armies and in turn how this affected the outcomes of both revolutions. In the Russ-Japanese war not many men died as the battle was mainly fought at sea. This meant that the Tsar’s armies were still fine. So when the 1905 revolution happened the Tsar had enough troops to crush and repress any opposition using force. These troops were also trained and very loyal and had been told to follow orders no matter what. However in the First World War Russia lost most of its army and so ordinary men had to be conscripted. When the 1917 revolution happened the Tsar’s original army was either dead or still fighting at war. So the Tsar had to use the conscripted soldiers to try and crush opposition. However these were not very well trained and were not that loyal. They felt sorry for the rebelling people as they were previously probably peasants or workers themselves, and so when told to open fire on rioting mobs some didn’t. They also deeply resented the harsh discipline of military life and many mutinied. Government buildings were attacked as the troops swapped sides and joined in with the riots. This meant the Tsar could not physically crush the opposition and this was one of the main reasons for his abdication as he knew the situation was hopeless and without armed forces he could never control the situation. In 1905 he had armed forces and so could quite easily deal with any opposition and repress them.
I think the most important reason for his abdication in 1917, but not 1905 were the two wars. In 1905 the war didn’t affect that many people and was only a short-term effect which only angered people as they had lost. It also didn’t create any other factors which may have affected the people further. However in 1917 the First World War meant lots of people lost their lives and this affected many as did the other reasons and so nearly all of Russia was affected and the impact was much greater. This angered people more and undermined the Tsar the most. The war also affected and created other factors which caused the revolution. For instance if the war hadn’t have happened then Rasputin would never have been a factor as the Tsar would have ruled. Also inflation, job loss, food shortages and therefore strikes may not have happened. So I conclude that war was the most important reason for his abdication as it affected the most things and the most people.
