Why Did Tsar Nicholas II Survive The 1905 Revolution Essay

Tsar Nicholas II survived the 1905 revolution because of extensive repression, political and economic reforms and Russification. These combined led to his survival because the reforms appeased some of the opposition, reducing its size, and the weak opposition, combined with extensive repression, led to the silencing of the opposition, and hence Tsar Nicholas’ survival. Furthermore, the Russification helped increase the loyalty of some of Russia’s minorities to the Tsar.

Firstly, according to Leo Tolstoy, “One third of Russia is under a regime of reinforced surveillance…The censorship has attained a level of oppressiveness unknown even in the abominable period of the 1840s…Troops with weapons loaded ready to fire on the people have been sent
into every city....” The fact that soldiers ‘have been sent into every city’ implies that they are preparing to subdue the populace in the instance of rebellion, and the fact that soldiers were sent, in addition to the police forces that would have already been in place implies that either the situation is very perilous and that the state is preparing to violently crush a rebellion. Furthermore, because they have ‘weapons’, they are armed and ready to attack the people, to prevent uprisings, and hence to restrain the people, and to keep them in check. In addition, “reinforced surveillance” implies that the government is actively watching the people, as in a police state. This means that the government is trying to regulate the activities of the population, to stop them from attacking the state in the form of rebellion or media. This, combined with the fact that censorship is at an all-time high, implies that the government was heavily repressing the people, and attempting to subdue and restrain them. Also, because the Tsar was able to end the war with Japan, he could bring back his best soldiers to aid in the repression and restraining of the population. This helped the Tsar to remain in power because with his extensive control over the population, and power, he was able to crush the rebellions viciously and draconically, in the hope that this cruelty would discourage further rebellion. Furthermore, the censorship would have prevented anti-Tsarist rhetoric from reaching the majority of the population, and if they population is unaware of the cons of the Tsar’s government, they will not rebel, decreasing the size of the opposition, and making the situation more manageable.

Secondly, multiple reforms were put in place by the Tsar, and his minister Count Witte, in an effort to appease the opposition, and weaken the rebellion.
The October Manifesto was one of the measures put forth by the Tsar to introduce more political reform: “...grant to the population…civil freedom…freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association...a rule that no law shall take effect without confirmation by the State Duma…” The October Manifesto gave the people freer speech, as well as giving the Duma more power in the form of the ability to pass all bills into law, giving the people more control over the workings of the internal government. Furthermore, the Tsar announced “further help and financial concessions for peasants”, improving their standard of living, if only slightly. These reforms would have helped the Tsar remain in power, and survive the 1905 Revolution because the peasants would have been happier, and more pleased with the policies of the Tsar, and therefore less likely to revolt, decreasing the number of people protesting, and helping the Tsar, and his armed forces, manage the smaller size of the rebellion. Also, the giving of more political freedoms, although leading to the explosion of anti-Tsarist rhetoric, would have been seen by some, particularly the liberals, as a step in the direction of more freedom, and a more democratic society, therefore reducing the size of the opposition at that particular
time.

Thirdly, the Russification of many of Russia’s minorities, or their cultural assimilation, helped increase their loyalty to the regime, mainly because of the Orthodox Church’s preaching that the Tsar would fix their troubles and was sent by God to do so. This was particularly important, as, according to a census in 1897, only 40% of the Tsar’s subjects spoke Russian as their first language. As Kevin O’Connor writes, “…Catholic monasteries and churches, viewed by tsarist officials as hotbeds of treasonous activity were temporarily shut down throughout the Polish and Lithuanian provinces, and Russian became the official language of all guberiia and uezd offices.” This quote shows that the Orthodox Church’s religion and preaching was superimposed over that of other religions, in the hope that all residents of Russia, Russian or not, would adopt the Russian culture as their own. Furthermore, the imposition of language on foreign peoples would also have helped the Tsar stay in power because he would have had more subjects which he could reach, as well as more people the Church could preach to. Furthermore, the use of Russian in political offices would have helped increase the adoption of the language as a whole, as if the politicians are using Russian, the people will have to as well, in order to understand them. Therefore, Russification helped the Tsar remain in power because more of his subjects would have spoken Russian and been exposed to the preaching of the Orthodox Church, supposedly increasing their respect for the Tsar.