Rollercoaster of a Revolution

The 1905 Revolution in Russia defies succinct summary because the situation changed so radically from month to month (Freeze 252).

 

The Russian Revolution of 1905 was instrumental in convincing Tsar Nicholas II to attempt the transformation of the Russian government from an autocracy into a constitutional monarchy. In the years prior to the Revolution, diverse social groups demonstrated their discontent with the Russian social and political system. Their protests ranged from liberal rhetoric to strikes and included student riots and terrorist assassinations. These demonstrations of unrest culminated with the massacre of peaceful demonstrators in front of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Later dubbed Bloody Sunday, the massacre would go on to spike a “roller coaster” of strikes and protests from major cities, to rural areas, even to non-Russian parts of the empire.

With  documents like the ‘October Manifesto’, Russia was able to divide the opposition. Along with the return of much of Russia’s Army from the Russo-Japanese War, Russia was able to arrest the Petersburg soviets and suppress the December uprising of workers and revolutionaries in Moscow. Calm would not fully be restored for another year and a half, but the back of the Revolution had been broken (Freeze 255).

Sources:

Freeze, Gregory L. Russia: A History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 216. Print.

Polnoe sobranie zakonov Rossiiskoi Imperii, 3rd series, vol. XXV/I, no. 26803.