oct manifesto

• • August Attempts at Concessions:
  • Previous attempts by the Tsar to offer concessions had failed to neutralize unrest.
  • In August, the Bulygin Constitution was announced, but its terms were limited.
  • The Duma would only be consultative and based on a narrow franchise, excluding workers and national minorities.
  • Attempts to lift University restrictions in the same month led to campus protests.
  • Why it mattered: The Tsar tried to calm people down by offering a new plan for government, but it didn't go far enough to satisfy the protesters. This made people even angrier.
• st-Russo-Japanese War Shift:

  • The Russo-Japanese War had strained Russia both militarily and economically.
  • After the Treaty of Portsmouth ended the war, the government had more resources available to suppress unrest with force.
  • Why it mattered: acess to army again Military Support for Autocracy:
• witte's Advice to Nicholas:

  • Chief minister Witte suggested to the Tsar that concessions should be granted temporarily to buy time until the army returned from the front.
  • The goal was to divide the opposition by appealing to conservative elements among the peasantry.
  • Witte believed that establishing a Duma would result in conservative peasant representatives, which would undermine more radical demands.
• nov manifesto

  • abolished redemption dues; trying appease peasentry
• what it did


  focuesed to eppease liberals eg granted elective assembly, the duma + declared political amnesty + full civil liberations restored
• war shift, acesss army effect ie supression

  • Military expeditions sent to crush peasant uprisings after concessions.
  • Black Hundreds used to break strikes and attack students,jews,strik.
  • 3 dec St. Petersburg Soviet (workers,sailors,soilders)arrested, tried, and exiled.
  • dec Moscow worker's armed uprising took weeks to suppress with artillery and summary executions.
  • Mutinies at Kronstadt, Sebastopol, and on the Potemkin had limited impact.
• The Dumas (quasi constitutional politics) 1905 1916Two new institutions were created by the October Manifesto: a) The Duma 500 elected deputies from all classes of Russian society, and, because of the political amnesty, from any of the political partiesb) The State Council elected and appointed representatives of the major social, religious, educational and financial institutions. They were designed to allow public participation in the deliberative and legislative processes of policy making at government level, appeasing the constitutionalists.
• Fundamental Laws (April 23, 1906)


  • Defined powers of the Duma, which were limited
  • Couldn't pass laws independently, appoint ministers, or control military finance in the budget
  • Could be dissolved at the Tsar's will
  • Not a Western-style parliament but a gesture towards popular representation
• Dismissal of First Two Dumas

  • Dismissed due to radical demands
  • Election procedures changed for later Dumas to ensure a conservative assembly
• Witte's Replacement by Stolypin

  • Witte lost his job due to radicalism in the first two Dumas
  • Peter Stolypin, known as an oppressor, became Prime Minister
  • Dissolved the first Duma in July 1906
• Second Duma (Feb-June 1907)


  • More divided than the first, with socialist parties participating
  • Included right-wing representatives from the Union of the Russian People
• Stolypin's Goals


  • Ensured the Duma became a conservative institution
  • Altered electoral qualifications to favor the rich urban classes and landed gentry
  • Pressed ahead with his own reforms, breaking the alliance between moderates and extremists
• Duma had to respond to Tsar but significant as some form democracy