Preview

To What Extent Was the Lack of Political Reforms the Main Cause of the 1905 Revolution

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
819 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
To What Extent Was the Lack of Political Reforms the Main Cause of the 1905 Revolution
To what extent was the lack of political reforms the main cause of the 1905 revolution?

The 1905 Revolution was brought about by Bloody Sunday, this attack from the Tsar’s army on innocent peaceful protestors was the trigger for the revolution. Many other reasons throughout the years leading up to 1905 lead to the revolution. To understand fully why the revolution took place you need to understand all of the political reforms or the fact that there were not enough.
A main factor contributing to 1905 revolution was the power held by the Tsar, the peasants and workers did not agree with the autocracy that was pushed onto them. Before the revolution all other political parties were banned by the Tsar and were not allowed to form groups that were against the Tsar, any groups that did try to do this, their leaders were either killed or sent to camps in Siberia as political prisoners, this level of harsh treatment towards political opponents and because of this lack of political reform a large amount of resentment was felt towards the Tsar. The lack of a Parliament also left people in Russia pushing for change, and because of this, there was a real need for a reform to create a working parliament so that not all of the power was in the Tsars hands.
To stop the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar realised he was going to have to give up some of his power and to try and reason with his people, or this is the picture that he painted with the October Manifesto, this contained some political reforms that relinquished some of his power and some reforms that gave peasants more independence and factory workers better conditions. This manifesto showed a reasonable level of political reform but he did not actually have any intention of giving any of his power up. By deploying the October Manifesto the Tsar actually calmed tempers of his opponents and satisfied them for a time. If the Tsar had stuck to these political reforms there would have been no more unrest through the country but

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Chapter 27 Review

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages

    7: In 1905 a revolt was caused by the loss of the Russo-Japanese war. The Tsar tried to calm the people by reforming but eventually took away rights and the reforms fell apart.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the 1905 revolution Russia was in need of reforms both economically and politically, to allow it maintain its role of a great power and to prevent another revolution occurring the answer to this was the October Manifesto. However, due to the stubbornness of the Tsar who was determined not to relinquish his autocratic powers, what may have appeared as reforms were largely superficial making little change in particular to the Russian political system.…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The February Revolution of 1917 brought the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty to an end. I believe that the immediate cause of the February Revolution of 1917 was the collapse of the Tsarist regime under the gigantic strain of World War I. The underlying cause was the backward economic condition of the country, which made it unable to sustain the war effort against powerful, industrialized Germany. All the other contributing factors only had a slight impact, I believe that they were not as important as the Great War.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    To a certain extent the divisions among the opponents of the Tsar, such as the Bolshevik and Menshevik split in the Marx party after the 1903 conference, or even the divisions among different revolutionary parties entirely, e.g. Marx and the Social Revolutionaries, was responsible for the survival of Tsarist rule in this period as this led to disorganisation and lack of effectiveness among opposition. However other factors, such as the loyalty of the army, despite mutinies during the 1905, allowed the Tsar to remain in control. Furthermore actions by the Tsar himself, although not that effective, for example the reforms in the October Manifesto and the continuing support of the ruling elite was accredited to securing the Tsarists power.…

    • 2563 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were a number of reformist groups from 1881. Key examples of these were groups such as the Kadets, the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. All three of these groups had slightly different aims. But all of them wanted something in common and that was change in Russia. Therefore as we clearly see reformist parties did put a large amount of pressure on Russia and on the Tsarist government. But on the other hand there were a number of other important factors that I believe where largely involved in causing the 1905 revolution. The factors I intend to include are: The large amount of social and economic problems, the Russo- Japanese war and bloody Sunday as I believe these were also key causes of the 1905 revolutions.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the main reasons the Tsarist rule continued during the tome 1881 until 1905 was due to the splits in the political groups. The were 3 main groups, the Social Revolutionaries, the Liberal and the Social Democrats. Each group had a different aim, strategy and target group. The SR's targeted the peasants and lower class, while the liberals were only interested in the educated middle class. Each groups strategy was very different, the liberals went on strike, while the SR's took a more violent approach. The power each group had individually was not enough to threaten the Tsar, however these differences in aims and beliefs within the 3 main groups meant that they could not combine the groups and work together to bring down the tsar. They were unable to unite their cause and were weaker because of it. Furthermore, there was discontent within the political groups. In 1903 the SD's could no longer function as a single group and split into the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. The division weakened the groups more meaning the Tsar could continue to rule.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1905 Revolution was the build up of the dissatisfaction of Russia’s people with the government. Tsar Nicholas II had turned to key individuals such as Peter Stolypin to save the Tsarist regime. Stolypin, Russian Prime Minister from 1906 – 1911, had addressed a number of problems which threatened Tsarism by appeasing opposition and therefore putting down revolutionary attitudes. His reforms certainly did help gain back some of the Tsar’s supporters, however due to his assassination in 1911, it is hard to determine whether his reforms would have saved Tsarism.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each of the factors mentioned above were reason for the revolt that took place at the end of February in 1917, however, many of the factors were similar to the conditions and causes of the revolt in 1905 which raises the question: why was the revolution of 1917 successful? One reason is that WWI worked as a catalyst, which facilitated the success of the revolution by assisting each factor in aligning at the same time and place. WWI was not the only catalyst as the idea of liberal and free conscience was the second key which shaped the success of this particular revolt. The police, distraught and overcome with grief and guilt for their actions the day before when they were ordered to fire on innocent, peaceful masses, turned their weapons over and joined forces with the rebel forces. This forced Nicholas to call to the front to send back patriot soldiers in order to help stabilize the home front, who had not idea what was happening at home but it was too…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1900 Russia was a great empire ruled by the Tsar Nicholas II. He was an autocrat, this meant there was no parliament to limit his power alongside his own secret police; the okhrana, they would censor all books and newspapers. During the period until 1916, Russia had no form of income tax. As a result the Tsar raised money to maintain his regime by taxing the produce of the peasant farmers. The burden of taxation was so great that periodic riots broke out. The okhrana couldn’t cope with the opposition of the tsar and when riots broke out, the Cossacks broke up the mobs. 85% of the population were peasants. They lived with no rights, no freedom and no land of their own until 1861, when Tsar Alexander II, abolished serfdom and allowed them to own the land on which they grew crops on. However, they had to pay redemption payments over the next forty-nine years and only when they paid all instalments would the land become their personal property. Life was hard for peasants; diseases and malnutrition were very common and so the tsarist government grew unpopular. Nicholas II’s failure to give into the demands of the people was the main reason he lost his autocracy. The peasants felt betrayed by the Tsar and wanted political change. The 1905 revolution, Bloody Sunday, was an event with grave consequences for the Tsarist regime, as the disregard for ordinary people shown by the reaction of the authorities undermined support for the state. The Tsar’s troops opened fire on demonstrators who protested to improve working conditions and fairer wages. The opposition grew to Tsarist rule but the revolution ended when the tsar promised a Duma. The Tsar’s betrayal of parliamentary democracy led to widespread…

    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The revolution of 1917 was the culmination of a number of factors coming together and causing the volatile mix of reasons to come together and boil over. The people of Russia where fed up with the horrible conditions they had to put up with and decided to do something about it. Some factor I will discuss include the industrialization,…

    • 1471 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    LALALA

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Tsarism in Russia survived the revolution of 1905 but not that of March 1917 due to the difference in support it had in both years. It faced many difficulties throughout much of its late history; from the assassination of Alexander II and the similar attempts on Alexander III, to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty and the final abdication of Tsar Nicholas II on the 2nd of March. The way the country was being run and the strongly Slavophile views within Russian society made it difficult for any kind of revolt to occur at any time. There were, however, two main revolts against the Tsarist government; these were the 1905 revolution and the March revolution of 1917. The first of these predominantly failed to make any major changes to the government for lack of organisation and coordination of the Tsarist regime’s opponents and the persistently loyal attitude of the armed forces towards The Tsar. The March 1917 revolution, however, resulted in major political revolution and a brand new government due to the impact of the First World War and social and economic discontent within Russian society. The attitudes of the regime’s Liberal opposition greatly varied from 1905 in 1917, and this also played a significant part in pressuring the Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate.…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Under many aspects it is arguable that the 1905 Revolution and the March 1917 Revolution in Russia were very similar. Both years found the country still struggling from a war (one bringing humiliation and the other incomprehension and outrage); both found hostility from the streets directed against perceived governmental incompetence. Yet something had changed from 1905 to 1917 for Tsarism not to be able to survive the second revolution like it did the first. The reasons are to be researched in the impact that World War 1 had on the country, the October Manifesto issued by Nicholas II on 1905, and the loyalty that the population and the Armed Forces were not willing to give the Tsar anymore.…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Based on events in history, the main cause of the Russian Revolution was the state that the government was in and the conditions the working class was in. The Czar gave up his throne and the government began to be corrupt along with the build up of repression from the working class, who suffered for many years before, about to burst. These events set the basis for the revolution and grew with the circumstance of instability throughout the government and Dumas. Even before and after the abdication of the czar Dumas have formed and dissolved adding to the instability of the government as a whole. We see this here, “These disorders… Forced the government to promise the establishment of a consultive Duma, or assembly, elected by limited franchise.” (“Russian Revolution”) Along with this workers rioted for their working conditions and rations, soon enough the military refuse to break up the protesters and rioters involved. It now turned chaotic and violent. A peaceful protest gone bad was the influence for most of the violence because it was a weak spot to the government. The revolution caused an outcome of twelve years in suffering from a transaction of a different political standing. Negotiations came forth and at ended with Germany cutting in.…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Internal differences among its members in opposing groups also play part in helping the Tsar to stay in power. In 1905 the revolution by all parts of society was a big problem for the Autarch as his entire country was crumbling around him, completely made his look weak but he made one concession for the…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Nationwide Revolution

    • 1615 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The first reason for the revolution in 1905 was the developments in the Russian countryside and how they produced a general unhappiness among the landowners and even the peasants. A long-term social and economic cause was the continuing dissatisfaction of both these groups to the Emancipation reform of Alexander II in 1861. The Landowners did not approve of the act because it denied them the free labour they had access to before the emancipation of the serfs. They had lost their free labour and large amounts of their land. By 1905 many of the Landowners were facing large debts. Although the act did end serfdom in Russia, the peasants were still angry due to the redemption payments they were expected to pay and the poor quality of land they received. They also disliked the fact that they were still tied to the…

    • 1615 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays