Mohamedamiin Sharif 12S
How stable was Russia in the period from the October Manifesto (1905) to the
outbreak of war (1914)
From the introduction of the October Manifesto in 1906 to the outbreak of war in
1914,the tsar’s position and Russia as a whole was stable to a large extent.However,
there were a few occasions where instability rose, and whether Russia was stable or
on the brink of a revolution will all be explored in this essay.
One example of there being stability is the October Manifesto itself.For example,
after the 1905 revolution, the manifesto had calmed almost all of the social classes.
It accomplished this by ending the peasant’s mortgages, introducing political parties
and the duma.Stability was also brought by crushing the workers, ensuring that there
wouldn’t be another incident.This links to the duma as they’re both factors which are
integral to the stability in Russia.
Another example of where there was stability in Russia is the creation of the
Dumas.This is because, despite the second duma being called “the duma of the
people’s wrath”, they possessed no real power and were only kept mainly due to two
reasons.One being related to foreign policy as, the tsar wanted to present Russia as
a democratic nation to other European countries that it was in trade with.And, the
second reason being that they posed no real threat because they had no real power
as a result of laws brought in by the tsar.The dumas brought stability to Russia as, it
give the illusion of democracy and kept the political parties satisfied for the time
being.This closely links with repression under Stolypin as both factors ensured
stability in Russia.
The final example of stability in Russia is repression under Stolypin. For example,
between 1906 and 1911 there were, over 2,500 executions which, quieted things
down resulting in stability across Russia until the assassination of Stolypin in
1911.After ‘Stolypin’s necktie’ had been ripped apart, instability began to spread like
wildfire resulting in strikes and massacres across Russia. However, before that,
Stolypin had made many reforms, introducing land banks and by 1914 16% of the
land had been made into farms. This links to The Lena Goldfield Incident as towards
the end of both events, it sparked major instability.
Although there was stability in Russia, that’s not to say there wasn’t instability and,
The Lena Goldfield Incident in 1912 is notorious for resulting in instability. For
example, the miners in Siberia demanded better pay but, their demands were
rejected and the Okhrana were called to arrest the strike leaders. However, once the
troops got there, the situation had quickly escalated resulting in troops killing a large
number of miners.This resulted in instability as families that were already poor were
left without the men who supported the family.
Mohamedamiin Sharif 12S
In conclusion, Russia was stable to a large extent mainly due to the tsar having the
support of his army and the liberals tolerated the tsar.The most important reason for
stability in Russia is repression under Stolypin as, the mass executions served as a
deterrent to others, and as a consequence during the period 1906 to 1911 there
wasn’t any instability in Russia.
