What were the causes and effects of the 1905 Revolution?

The 1905 Revolution happened due to a combination of causes and effects that resulted in such a revolutionary situation. To begin with the political temperature had been raised by the Russo-Japanese war in 1904-5, which was an unnecessary war, fought over Nicholas’ policy to expand the Empire in the Far East. As a consequence it had affected Russian Port Arthur and sank most of the Russian fleet. Even when the peace settlement was reached in 1905 the Russia’s bitter defeat was seen as a humiliation. For that reason by 1905 there was an adequate amount of public dissatisfaction over the war. The situation further exacerbated by the economic slump that was a result of food shortages in the cities. Moreover the industrial workers were negatively affected and the unrest continued to rise as well as the causes for a Revolution.
Therefore on 9 of January 1905 the Revolution led by Father Gapon was unavoidable. The march was attended by more than 150,000 people who demanded more efficient wages, shorter working days and free elections. The liberals joined in the call for constitution that would give all people political rights with the intention to establish a Parliament. Father Gapon had led the workers to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg in order to give the Tsar a “little petition”. As soon as the people arrived to the Winter palace the troops opened fire, killing more than hundred marchers.
The “Bloody Sunday” had two momentum effects, the first one was believed that the Tsar had given order to open fire. This was not proven, although the incident crushed the idea of the Tsar being “The Little Father” of Russia and gradually weakened his authority in the eyes of ordinary people. The second effect was the development of the popularity of strikes and unrest as well as the increasing number of those who supported such occasions.
Whereas in St. Petersburg and other cities workers councils, known as the soviets, were established for the sake of coordinating the unrest. However, the unrest was too intense and spontaneous for any group to control. There also were not keen of controlling other causes of the unrest such as the fears of the peasants in paying off the redemption payments that led to riots and seizure of property from large estates. The low morale of the army due to the wars of Japan was another cause for some mutinies. In addition Naval units were protesting over the low pay and the harshness of their treatment by the officers.
For these causes of the Revolution, the Tsar was forced into making concessions. Witte advised Nicholas to set up Duma under the October Manifesto of 1905. This Manifesto agreed to allow all classes to take part in the elections. It granted freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of arbitrary arrest. This new constitution was a response of the Tsar to aim at saving the regime. Yet a limitation on these concessions was made when the Tsar issued the Fundamental Laws. It stated that only the Tsar could command the armed forces and issue laws. Trotsky best described the Fundamental Law as a “Whip wrapped in the parchment of a constitution.” Nevertheless the causes of the Revolution were drawn from aiming at a more democratic system and had dreadful effects. Nevertheless, they were easily resolved by the Tsar at this stage of the disorder. These were some the positive effects for the Tsar; The liberals were pleased with the concessions and saw them as a useful basis for further development. The cancellation of redemption payments helped to ease the peasant discontent. A great improvement in the economy was also a positive factor that helped to tighten the urban unrest and restore order.
In conclusion the Revolution of 1905 had many causes from the peasantry and the industrial workers as well as many clashing effects for the Tsarist regime. It also carried a direct threat of the revolutionary ideas that were present in Russia .Yet, the October Manifesto was a thoughtful and effective step taken by the Tsar in order to reduce the unrest and supply the people with a more democratic system. The Revolution of 1905 is often referred to as a “dress rehearsal” for the upcoming Revolution of the 1917. As a result the roles for both of the revolutionary groups had little effect on the circumstances for both the revolutionary groups and the Tsarist regime. The causes of the Revolution of 1905 were certainly alarming to the Tsarist regime and the effects of such manifestations were very well overlooked by the Tsar. In turn, he had shown some flexibility when faced with opposition and took effective actions in arresting the revolutionary leaders. He also wanted prove to the people that he is ready to receive the Challenge and secure his authority further. Moreover his Concessions were also effective in the cancellation of the call for revolution. All in all such measures were taken by the Tsar in order to escape the analogous causes and effects of another possible revolution in the future. As another was might have been terminal for Nicholas’ regime.