Page 43 - All About History - Issue 58-17

Russia had weathered
the revolutionary
T
storm in 1905 THE 1917 UPRISING WAS
R RUSSIA’S BIGGEST, BUT
T
T
NOT ITS FIRST
N T
Although the consequences of the 1917 insurgency for the
Romanov dynasty were catastrophic, it wasn’t the first revolt that
the monarchy had experienced. In fact, Tsar Nicholas II had
already weathered the storm of revolution in 1905, an experience
that had lefthimbatteredandweakened.Although he avoided a
complete disaster in the earlier uprising, he was forced to agree
to concessions that limited his powers, resulting in the launch of
th
he October Manifesto, which agreedtoanumberofdemandsmadebyhissubjects.
T hese included measures to improve civil liberties, universal male suffrageandthe
in
ntroduction of anelectedlegislatureknownastheDuma.Aboveall,however,in
19
905 the immensely powerful military remained predominantly loyal to the tsar’s
re egime whereas, 12 years later, they were not. This was a crucial tipping point —
when Nicholas lost the backing of the military, he also lost the throne.
w