Essay 2 – What was the ‘Constitutional Experiment’ undertaken after 1905 and why did it fail by 1917?

The revolution had shaken the Tsarist regime to its foundations. The Tsar was forced to appease the revolutionaries and take necessary steps to prevent the downfall of Czarism. Therefore he issued the October Manifesto in October 1905 to pacify the people and used it as a tactic to neutralise the revolutionaries of 1905.

The manifesto addressed the unrest in Russia and brought about certain changes which formed a new constitution for Russia. It pledged to grant civil liberties to the people: including personal immunity, freedom of religionfreedom of speechfreedom of assembly, and freedom of association. It granted broad participation in the Duma, and a decree that no law should come into force without the consent of the state Duma. But this Constitutional Experiment failed miserably.

By the provisions of the October Manifesto, two houses were created at the centre – The Imperial Council and the State Duma. Some political parties were also legalised such as the Imperial Council, the State Duma, the Octobrists, Constitutional Democrats(Cadets), Social Democrats and Social Revolutionaries.

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The major political parties which had been recognised were the Social Revolutionaries and Social Democrats, Constitutional Democrats, Octobrists, and the Union of Russian People.

In 1900, Populist groups united to form the Social Revolutionaries. They are one of the two main branches of Russian Revolutionaries. The populists were supported mainly by peasantry and followed a programme based on rural socialism. They divided into different groups which included the ‘Black Partition’ and the ‘Peoples will’.

The Constitutional Democrats or the Cadets, is a party which was legalised in 1905-06 and adopted a programme based on liberal democracy. They ...

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