The short-term impact of the 1905 Revolution

The short-term impact of the 1905 Revolution

R & R, pp. 38 -39

Government recovery

-        By October the tsar was faced by the most united opposition in Romanov history

-        However, the regime began to show the sense of purpose it had so far lacked – by giving ground the government intended to divide opposition forces

-        The Liberals were the first to be appeased – the tsar issued the October Manifesto in which he accepted the creation of a legislative duma (a parliament with law-making powers)

-        The Manifesto also included the promise to introduce a range of civil rights, including freedom of speech, assembly and worship, and the legalising of trade unions – the Liberals appetite for reform was temporarily satisfied

-        The peasants were the next to be pacified – an announcement in November that the mortgage repayments were to be progressively reduced an then abolished altogether – the response was an immediate drop in the number of land-seizures by the peasants and a decline in the general lawlessness in the countryside

-        The government was now only seriously opposed by one major group – the industrial workers

-        The government felt strong enough to suppress the soviets (workers) – the returning troops from the Far East proved loyal enough to be used against the strikers

-        After a 5 day siege, the headquarters of the St Petersburg soviet were stormed and the ringleaders, including Trotsky, were arrested – the destruction of…