In January 1905, there was a revolutionary tide in Russia. This was mainly caused by the defeat of the Russo-Japanese War in September and the Bloody Sunday Incident in January. In the country, workers, peasants and merchants were holding demonstrations in order to express their discontent to the Tsarist government. Although Nicholas II issued the October Manifesto to pacify the discontent of people temporarily, he still had to face some problems after the 1905 Revolution. To regain the support from people, he needed to carry out the reforms in the October Manifesto.
Many historians have said Alexander II was considering the formation of a parliament in Russia. Furthermore, the assassination caused Alexander III to rule in reactionary nature in which many counter-reforms were created to limit the impact of the Great Reforms done by his father. This supports the view that the People’s Will were highly unsuccessful, even in the taking out of Alexander II. It can be said that the only example in this period of effective political opposition was the October 1917 revolution, where, unquestionably, the Bolsheviks took power and let their political vision be known. They were extremely successful in both the short term and the long term.
It is without a doubt that the great war was a major factor for the outbreak of the February revolution in 1917, however many other factors have to be taken into consideration when dealing with a complex issue such as this. Issues such as the decisions made by Tsar Nicholas II whilst in power, the lack of political reform since the October manifesto was issued in 1905, the socio-economic position of the proletariat which was ever worsening and the fact that this revolution was much more organized than the 1905 revolution all contributed to the outbreak of the February revolution. When Russia mobilised against Germany on its western front, families were to each send a male who was capable of fighting to conscript in the Russian military. The Russian military at the time was poorly trained and equipped compared to that of Germany. Russian train infrastructure was relatively new and underdeveloped, when war broke out the rail lines were used to transport troops and supplies for war, food shortages in cities were afflicting the masses, this caused discontent at home.
The long-term policies of Russification imposed by the Tsar in the 1880s, caused a lot of political unrest within Russia and these contributed to the 1905 revolution. Russia was the only country within Europe with no elected national parliament. The only form of elected representation (what the Tsar referred to as ‘senseless dreams’) was the “Zemstva”. The Union of Liberation demanded in December 1904, that a parliament should be set up because they felt the Russian population needed an outlet to express their views. At the time, the formation of political parties was illegal but despite this, they still existed.
He soon became her confidant and personal adviser, and also convinced her to fill some governmental offices with his own handpicked candidates. Many of whom had loyalty to him and not to the Tsar What evidence is there for the total lack of support for the tsar in the period of 1916-1917? Despite miltarys successes in 1916, the Russian war effort is still characterised by shortages, poor command, death and desertion. Away from the front, the conflict causes starvation, inflation and a torrent of refugees. Both soldiers and civilians blame the defeats in the war and the growing crises on the home front on Tsar.
The War also had massive social and economic impacts on Russia that resulted in a strike that ended with a revolution. The Tsar going to the front was the start of the clear path that lead to the revolution in February 1917; he had left his wife the Tsarina in charge of Russia and relied on her to tell him how things were going at home. While police reports in 1916 were saying that the country was in complete social unrest, on the brink of a revolution, while the Tsarina was sending letters to the Tsar saying that the unrest was merely some of the population acting like a bunch of teenagers and they would get over it. The Tsarist Autocratic system had managed to survive a revolution in 1905 but now that the Tsar did not really know what was happening it was doubtful that there wouldn’t be a revolution soon. The Brussolov offensive caused a major blow to Russia because the Tsarina advised the Tsar not to send any troops to the north as Rasputin had foreseen their failure in the north.
Script: Simran: Nicholas the Second (NII) was the last Imperial Ruler of Russia he came at a point, when Russia desperately needed a great visionary to reform and industrialize her, while NII was known to be a poor leader who was not equipped with knowledge to handle a political reform. Born in 1868 to Alexander III, he was the heir to Russian throne which he attained 1894. Ewalina: It is important to note that NII was a poor leader but he was not a weak character. This means that he did have a vision for Russia, which was to maintain traditions of stardom, Nicholas was a firm believer in autocracy; he was virtually unmovable in this belief. -His stern faith in stardom stemmed from his upbringing, because he was brought up by Konstantin
Why did the opposition grow between August 1914 and December 1916? “The events that took place on the Eastern Front...would have a profound impact upon world history for the remainder of the century.” This reference shows that the facts and historic value of the tsars ruling had a profound effect on history that century. In August 1914 Russia was facing hardship. June 28th Franz Ferdinand was assassinated which later started a war between Germany and Russia. The opposition against the Tsar grew due to the loss of war and other factors such as; the Tsar controlling the army, the refusal to co-operate with the Dumas and Rasputin being an advisor.
They were a political group that battled for the Tsar as they thought the Slav culture was the best for Russia. Therefore, if intellegensai were fighting for the Tsar instead of against him, this would help him stay in power in 1914. However, some revolutionaries were against the Tsar such as the Bolsheviks who wanted a revolution relatively quickly. The Okhrana sent groups like these to Siberia and some groups were hanged for their crimes. This shows opposition against the Tsar was very weak as they were only a small
He recalls "Maggie fussed around, bullied us into two lines... then she proceeded to go down the lined up Cabinet like a sergeant". This personality would not have been popular amongst her party and would favour opposition parties as they could see splits in the Conservative government. Another reason why Thatcher fell from power is because of Michael Heseltine. Commonly known as "Tarzan" due to his beautiful, flowing locks and his muscular, burly attitude, Heseltine and Thatcher shared a rivalry greater than any other in the Conservative party. On one particular occasion, Heseltine and Thatcher argued over a bid for the British helicopter company.