Just a few examples of things he would avoid are the left, public opinion, industry, the press and unions. He basically did everything possible to avoid engaging with the modern world because he was afraid that it would threaten his control over Russia.1 He was not at all in touch with the workers or peasants in his country. He was cut off in the court town of Tsarskoe Selo where there are 20 foots railings, so he simply never encountered people of that social class.1 A major part of his distance was the control over the press that he had. The Tsar was once quoted stating that the Russian press will “never set…free as long as I live. The Russian press
Peasant dissatisfaction was heightened by fear of what they believed was the government’s repossession of property. The assertion of national factions amidst the instability was found at its highest form in Georgia’s declaration of independence. The “Union of Unions”, an organization of liberal groups, was formed in May with the intent of forming some sort of alliance to include peasants and factory workers. Summer brought mutinies from both the navy and army. The humiliating outcome of the war with Japan did little to soothe the spirits of a country already increasingly suspicious of their leaders’ capability.
The term Russian Revolution includes not only one event or even process but a sequence of disruptive and strongly violent happenings which occurred more or less at the same time. It started as a rebellion of the most conservative elements in Russian society, dissatisfied with the Royal family and their connection to the self-styled monk Rasputin and the mismanagement of the decision in the war. But the riots were soon spread to the liberals who feared that of the monarchy remained as it was, the revolution would become inescapable. The Romanov dynasty had lasted over 300 years but Nicholas II, who ascended the throne in 1894, turned out to be the last tsar of Russia. How did such an ancient monarchy collapse so dramatically?
How far does the reign of Alexander III deserve to be called reactionary? When Alexander III became Tsar in March 1884, Russia was in crises, following the assassination of Alexander II at the hands of The People’s Will. There was a huge amount of pressure on Alexander III, not only to govern the world’s largest country, but also to be a good leader in an autocratic empire and restore the approach in which the slavophiles were demanding for. Reactionaries believed that the reforms of Alexander II disestablished the country by encouraging demand for further reforms; Alexander III transformed this opinion brining back harsher rulings to regain power and to deserve the title of a reactionary. The generally chaotic nature of the Empire following Alexander II’s death was suggestive of the need for strong leadership to stabilise the country.
How accurate is it to say that the growth of reformist groups in the years from 1881 was the main cause of the 1905 revolution? The most notable reformist groups that had an impact on the 1905 revolution were the national minorities, the army and the revolutionary parties. The national minorities leapt at the chance of changing autocracy, ending Russification and a democratic government by using Russia’s confusion against itself. It consisted of Jews who wanted civil rights, Polish and Finnish people (and other parts of the Russian empire) who wanted independence and many others. This turned into great violence across the empire, with peasants even attacking officials.
Some believe the Tsar lacked integrity, others say Alexandra and Rasputin were to blame; still others blame the dismantling of the Duma and the harsh rule of the government. Mutual distrust existing between great powers meant The Hague convention was among the first formal statements of the laws of war. On November 1 1894 Alexander III died suddenly from Nephritis. An unprepared naive Nicholas II took power. A bewildered Nicholas beseeched his brother-in-law Grand Duke Alexander, "What am I going to do?
However after Karakazov attempts to assassinate the Tsar in 1866, he becomes much more autocratic, revealing that he had no intention of significantly developing politics, his use of the Zemstvas were in fact to help sustain autocracy, through making local administration more efficient. It can be suggested from this that Alexander II had put the Zemstva Act in place to appease the nobles angered by the Emancipation Act. Alexander III was much more of a successful autocrat. His reactionary attitude led to the reversal of many of his father’s liberal reforms, and was in some cases angered by them. Alexander III re-implements Tsarist form, through the use of repression and terror.
How Accurate is it to Say that the Growth of Reformist Groups in the Years from 1881 was the Main Cause for the 1905 Revolution? Following Alexander II’s assassination in 1881, Russia was faced with their worst nightmare which was faced with their worst nightmare which was a truly repressive Tsar, Alexander III. His unpopularity was caused by his extremely backwards ideology that left the Russian population dissatisfied without their ‘Tsar Liberator.’ Alexander III found himself battling with millions of people who wanted their previous freedom restored and autocracy destroyed. I personally feel that the main cause for the 1905 revolution was Alexander III himself in the long term. Alexander was hopelessly out of touch with the emerging realities of a modern Russia.
Therefore Liberals wanted constitutional reform and more power to be given to the Reichstag. Whereas socialists demanded social reform and power to the workers and trade unions. However conservatives, such as Bismarck wanted to conserve to the Junkers – the elite class. To do this he proposed the Anti-Socialist Law in 1879 and also passed the Tariff Law, which appeased the liberals. The years leading up to the war the German people were dreading it, there were protests in Berlin in July 1914.
During the period 1905 – 1917 in Russia, numerous political and social alterations occurred. These ultimately led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II on March 2nd 1917 along with the falling of the Romanov Dynasty whom has ruled Russia for 3 centuries. Chain events of poor political actions from the 1904 – 1917 combined to influence the decisions of the Russian society. As these changes occurred, the people of Russia began to question the Tsar as the ruler, which led to lose of support from workers, peasants and the military. Despite the key cause of the February revolution was sparked by Russia’s involvement in World War I, it wasn’t the only factor in the regime.