Russia, 1905 to 1914

1. How did Tsar Nicholas II survive the 1905 Revolution?
Tsar Nicholas II survived the 1905 revolution because his opponents were not united, there was no central leadership, he had been willing to compromise at the critical moment by issuing the october manifesto, promising concessions and most of the army remained loyal.

2. What was the Tsar's general attitude about the Dumas?
He did not take them seriously. He changed the DUmas rules all the time. He had the First duma dispersed by troops after only 10 weeks. The second duma he changed the voting system and the third and fourth duma lasted longer but he still controlled them greatly.

3. What specifics improvements occcured following the 1905 Revolution?
The specific improvements occured following the 1905 revolution were the traditional liberal view was that although the regime had obviously weaknesess, there were signs that shortly before the first world war broke out, living standards were improving, and that given time, the chances of revolution would have diminished.

4. Summarize the 5 major weaknesses of the Tsar's regime
1. Failure of the land reforms: Stolypis land reforms would not have the desired effect because the peasant population was growing too rapidly.
2. Industial unrest: There was a wave of industrial strikes set off by the shooting of 270 striking goldminers.
3. Government repression: There was little relaxation of the goverments repressive policy, as the secret police rooted out revolutionaries among university students and lextures deported jews.
4. Revival of revolutionary parties: That the workers would soon get enough money and that they would want to rule themselves
5. The royal family discredited: The royal family was discredited by a number of scandals one being that Nicholas himself was a party to the murder of Stolypin.