Why did the Tsarist regime in Russia survive the 1905 Revolution but not the February 1917 Revolution?

The Tsarist regime faced opposition more than once in history, the most prominent examples being the 1905 Revolution and the 1917 Revolution. The following essay examines the reasons which made the 1917 Revolution successful as opposed to the 1905 Revolution. Focus will be given to the role of WWI, the role of the army, the organisation of the opposition and the objectives of each uprising. It can be said from the outset that the nature of each revolution was fundamentally different.

Arguably, the most important factor to the fall of the Tsarist regime was the outbreak of WWI. Through this war, the Romanovs' popularity was hit on a number of fronts. Firstly, the Tsar's self-appointment as commander in chief did not work in his advantage, as he drove his troops directly into defeat. This deeply damaged his reputation and caused the anger of many Russian civilians through the enormous number of casualties. Additionally, the Tsar had left his wife in charge of state affairs while away fighting, who proved to be equally incompetent. This, in addition to her German nationality, made her widely hated by the people. WWI also brought about severe food shortages and famine. The transport system was paralysed since the railroads were being used for war effort. Moreover, many peasants were taken to fight, resulting in a reduction in cultivation of agriculture. Additionally, soldiers had higher priority to food supplies, which led to the starvation of many civilians. Indeed, the 1905 Revolution occurred after the Russians had seen the consequences of the Russio-Japanese war. However, the devastating results of WWI left people disappointed, who blamed the Tsar for the embarrassing defeats and significant losses. Opposition grew stronger as the unpopularity of the Romanov family increased. Opposition started breeding within the army and the nobles. During the 1917 Revolution, the army supported the Petrograd Soviet rather than the Tsar as they did during the 1905 Revolution. In 1905 the Tsar was able to demonstrate his power in commanding the army to fire warning shots as well as shoot directly into the crowds to scatter the revolutionaries. In 1917, he could not impose his will like this. Instead, the army chiefs and remaining ministers suggested that he abdicates his throne. Upon doing that, he was placed under house arrest by the provisional government. An important determination can be made here: the 1917 Revolution was a top-down revolution rather than a bottom-up Revolution, as in 1905. The peasants did not have the means to win in 1905, but the nobles did in 1917. In addition, the opposition in 1905 was fragmented and unaimed. This is evident in that there were several opposition groups (Social Revolutionaries, Social Democrats, Populists) which were spread in rural areas, while there was no leader to coordinate these groups. In addition, the aim of this Revolution was to gain rights and improve living standards for the peasants, which is a rather vague and idealistic target. On the other hand, during the 1917 revolution the Progressive Bloc was formed, which was a coalition of all the opposing parties in Russia. This facilitated the establishment of the first Provisional Government when the revolution broke out, as members of the bloc formed the Provisional Committee of the Duma. Moreover, the 1917 Revolution aimed solely on bringing down the Tsar. It can be thus determined that the 1917 revolution’s success was also based on the power which a united opposition projected.