Why Did Tsarism Survive The 1905 Revolution Essay

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.

Both revolution were spontaneous and started off
As the ‘Bloody Sunday’ episode – and many other cases after it – clearly showed, during 1905 Revolution the army’s loyalty still belonged to the Tsar and his family. Soldiers would shoot on innocent people at cold blood, and although some occasional mutinies did occur in some units, most of the army only followed the Tsar’s orders. However, with the army’s support on their side, 1917 revolutionaries had a much bigger chance of success. More and more units started doubting the efficiency of the Tsar’s ruling, and refused to do as they were ordered. Unit after unit, the Tsar was losing his most powerful weapon against popular opposition, and soon had to face the fact that the Romanov family’s days were over. It may not seem as obvious and significant an event if we do not take into account the army’s policy that threatened of execution whoever mutinied. The understanding of this law is fundamental to fully comprehend why the Tsar’s loss of loyalty from the Armed Forces was so decisive, because once mutinied soldiers needed this revolution to succeed, and thus did anything in their possibilities to make it a success, otherwise they would have all paid with their