The 1905 Revolution & the October Manifesto

The 1905 Revolution

Tensions in Russia reached a particularly tricky point in 1905. An uprising against the Tsar in 1905 very nearly turned into a revolution.

Russo-Japanese War

Nicholas II lost the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. The battles mainly took place in the province of Manchuria and in Korea.
This fuelled people's view that he was a weak leader.

Peaceful demonstrators

At a demonstration led by a priest, Father Gapon, Tsar Nicholas II ordered his Cossack forces to fire on the peaceful workers' protest, killing many of them.
This caused widespread rioting and striking.
Every electricity worker in Moscow and St Petersberg went on strike in response to the killings.
On the battleship, 'Potemkin' sailors rebelled.
Workers and sailors organised themselves into 'Soviets' to represent their interests.

Result

Nicholas was almost overthrown, but managed to hold on to power.
He created the Shidlovsky Commission to pacify workers and also published the October Manifesto.

The October Manifesto

The tsar was forced to compromise after the uprisings of 1905. He laid out his reforms in the October Manifesto.

The Duma

To please the liberals, the tsar allowed the formation of a parliament, called the Duma.
This was the tsar's main attempt to restore order.
- But on the 8th of July 1906, after the Duma had been running 2 months, the tsar quickly dissolved the Duma because it was too radical.

Additional reforms

The Shidlovsky Commission was created to try to improve the lives of workers. The tsar cut taxes for the poorest people in Russia.
He also had the Okhrana (secret police) find and arrest revolutionaries.

1The End of Tsardom

1.1Russia's Economy & Society

1.1.1Industrialisation

1.1.2Living & Working Conditions

1.2Nicholas II's Autocracy & the Court

1.2.1Growth of Revolutionary Opposition

1.2.2The 1905 Revolution & the October Manifesto

1.2.3Reforming Russia Before 1914 - Stolypin

1.2.4The Duma & Political Stalemate

1.3The First World War

1.3.1The Impact of Military Defeats

1.3.2Social & Economic Effects of WW1

1.3.3Romanov Unpopularity

1.3.4The Tsar's Abdication

1.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - The End of Tsardom

2Lenin's New Society

2.1The Provisional Government

2.1.1The Failure of the Government

2.1.2Social & Economic Problems

2.1.3Lenin & Trotsky

2.1.4The Growth of the Bolsheviks

2.1.5The October / November Revolution

2.1.6Top Grade AO2/3 - The Provisional Government

2.2The Impact of Lenin's Dictatorship

2.2.1The End of the First World War

2.2.2The Cheka

2.2.3Red Terror & Centralisation

2.2.4The Civil War & The Red Army

2.2.5Propaganda

2.2.6Top Grade AO2/3 - Early Bolshevism & the Civil War

2.3Social & Economic Developments

2.3.1War Communism

2.3.2The Kronstadt Rising

2.3.3The New Economic Policy (NEP)

2.3.4The Achievements of Lenin & Trotsky

2.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - Social & Economic Developments

3Stalin's USSR

3.1Stalin the Dictator

3.1.1The Power Struggle to Succeed Lenin

3.1.2The Communist Party & Government

3.1.3The Terror & the Purges

3.1.4The Secret Police

3.1.5Cult of Personality

3.1.6Propaganda & Censorship under Stalin

3.1.7Top Grade AO2/3 - Stalin's Dictatorship

3.2Stalin's Modernisation of the USSR

3.2.1Collectivisation

3.2.2Five Year Plans

3.2.3Social & Economic Consequences

3.2.4Social & Economic Consequences 2

3.2.5The Extent of Modernisation

3.3Impact of the Second World War

3.3.1Stalin's Wartime Leadership

3.3.2Political, Economic & Social Consequences of War

3.3.3Top Grade AO2/3 - Modernisation of the USSR

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