Principal Personages

Nicholas, II, Tsar of Russia 1894-1917

Sergei Yulievich Witte, Count, first constitutional Russian Premier 1905-1906

Alexander Dubrovin, president of the "Union of the Russian People," a reactionary group which supported the tsarist government

Paul Miliukov, Russian historian and leader of the Constitutional Democrats

Leon Trotsky (Leib Davydovich Bronstein), leader of the leftist Soviet of Workers' Deputies


Summary of Event

The Revolution of 1905 in Russia proved to be largely abortive, but out of it came one significant event: the promulgation by Tsar Nicholas II of the October Manifesto. It marked, at least at its face value, Russia's first departure from tsarist autocracy in favor of a more limited tsarist rule under a constitutional government. The October Manifesto also bore witness to Nicholas II's begrudging and belated concession to the demands of the people for sweeping reforms, which had been openly voiced in January, 1905. The Tsar's troops had ruthlessly opened fire upon a peaceful procession of petitioners in what came to be known as the Bloody Sunday affair. This episode combined with the disasters befalling Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 to touch off the Revolution of 1905.

Between January and October, 1905, there were strikes in the industrial centers, peasant revolts in the countryside, periods of national unrest in the western border states, and mutinies in the army and navy. In order to conciliate his people, Tsar Nicholas proclaimed in August the establishment of the Duma, or Russian parliament, to advise the Tsar concerning legislation. Though an elective body, it was chosen by a limited and indirect franchise; and its function was solely consultative. Its creation proved to be completely ineffective in quieting the general unrest. In October, there was a widespread general strike which paralyzed the entire country for about ten days, and Nicholas was obliged to make broader concessions. On October 30, he reluctantly agreed to promulgate the draft of a constitution, drawn up by Count Sergei Yulievich Witte, his former finance minister and now Premier, as an imperial manifesto.

The October Manifesto introduced the means, if not the reality, of a constitutional monarchy in Russia. The government promised to make significant concessions: (1) to guarantee fundamental civil liberties, including freedom of speech, assembly, and conscience; freedom of the press; freedom from arbitrary arrest; and the right to form trade unions; (2) to extend the franchise for elections to the Duma to those excluded under the previous decree made in August; (3) to guarantee that no law would be enacted without the consent of the Duma; and (4) to provide that the Duma should have the right to decide upon the legality of decisions of the Tsar's administrators.

The government hoped that publication of the October Manifesto would quell unrest, but in fact it ushered in fresh waves of disorder throughout the country. The wild and uncontrolled delirium of those supporting the manifesto, unaccustomed as they were to liberty, was more than matched by elements of the population who demonstrated against the new freedoms. Indeed, the October Manifesto accentuated the divisions which already existed in the ranks of the revolutionary movement, and helped the government to restore much of its autocratic authority by the end of 1905.

Broadly speaking, there were different responses to the October Manifesto by the Right, the Center, and the Left. On the extreme Right, reactionaries in the service of the government and the Russian Orthodox Church organized the Union of the Russian People under the presidency of Dr. Alexander Dubrovin. Elements from this group, to which Tsar Nicholas himself belonged, led the Black Hundreds, who were gangs of toughs, in demonstrations on behalf of the Tsar against supporters of the manifesto. During the week after its publication, the Black Hundreds launched a wave of pogroms against the traditional scapegoats, the Jews, many of whom suffered loss of life or property. Meanwhile, the Octobrists, moderate Rightists fully in accord with the October Manifesto, hailed it as the climax of a successful revolution. In the Center, the Constitutional Democrats, or Cadets, also favored the manifesto, but led by the historian Paul Miliukov, they wanted to move forward rapidly on such matters as land reform.

The Leftist parties rejected the manifesto outright as being too moderate, and they attempted to continue the revolution. In Saint Petersburg, the Soviet, or Council, of Workers' Deputies, comprising members of the Social Revolutionary, Bolshevik, and Menshevik parties, had been established several days before the manifesto had been published. Afterwards, the leaders of this Soviet, among them Leon Trotsky (whose real name was Leib Davydovich Bronstein), laid plans for new strikes which they hoped would expand into an armed uprising. Encouraged in their plans by the continuing revolts by peasants and mutinies by troops, they had clearly begun by November to lose their hold over the workers; the program of strikes failed, and by mid-December the government stepped in and arrested the leaders. In Moscow the Soviet of Workers' Deputies attempted an armed uprising in December, but by the end of that month the government was able to muster sufficient loyal troops to put it down.

The Revolution of 1905 was over. The tsarist monarchy had survived. Nicholas II was shaken, but he now began to restore his traditional autocratic rule at the expense of the promises he had made in the October Manifesto.

The Revolution of 1905 was a prologue to the Revolution of 1917. In one sense the Revolution of 1905 was not a revolution at all; the Tsar remained on his throne, the throne remained autocratic despite promises made in the October Manifesto, and most of the army remained loyal. In 1917, however, the Tsar fell, partly because his troops went over almost immediately to swell the ranks of the revolutionaries. In 1905, concessions to the contrary notwithstanding, the tsarist autocracy prevailed over the demands of the moderates and the radicals; in 1917, tsarism gave way to a moderate regime which was in turn overthrown by Bolshevik radicals. The two revolutions are nevertheless similar in some respects. Both began when Russia was severely weakened by military disasters in unsuccessful wars; and both the Russo-Japanese War and World War I underscored longstanding political, social, and economic grievances which could not be redressed within the framework of government then in existence. Both revolutions took place partly because mediocre leadership had cut itself off from reality and the growing discontent of the Russian people.

FURTHER READINGS

Florinsky, Michael T. Russia: A History and Interpretation. 2. The Macmillan Company, 1958.

Witte, Sergei. The Memoirs of Count Witte. Ed. Abraham Yarmolinsky. Trans. by Abraham Yarmolinsky. Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1921.

Postgate, Raymond. Revolution from 1789 to 1906. Grant Richards Ltd., 1920; in paperback, Harper Torchbooks.
A useful collection of documents on the Revolution of 1905; those dealing with events after the publication of the October Manifesto are especially interesting


Wren, Melvin C. The Course of Russian History. 3rd. The Macmillan Company, 1968.
A useful introduction to the subject for those new to it


Ulam, Adam B. The Bolsheviks: The Intellectual and Political History of the Triumph of Communism in Russia. The Macmillan Company, 1965.
Discusses the 1905 Revolution and shows how the revolutionary movement intensified as a result of the promulgation of the October Manifesto


Pares, Sir>Bernard. "The Reform Movement in Russia," The University Press, The Cambridge Modern History. Ed. A. W. Ward. 12(1910)Ch. XII.
An interesting account by a leading authority on Russian history


Seton-Watson, Hugh. The Decline of Imperial Russia, 1855-1914. Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, Inc, 1952.
A brief but illuminating discussion of the aftermath of the October Manifesto