1905 Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire, some of which was directed at the government. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies. It led to constitutional reform (namely the "October Manifesto"), including the establishment of the State Duma, the multi-party system, and the Russian Constitution of 1906. The 1905 revolution was spurred by the Russian defeat in the Russo-Japanese war (1904–1905), but also by the growing realization by the people of the need for reform, after politicians such as Sergei Witte failed to accomplish this. While the Tsar managed to keep his rule, the events foreshadowed those of the Russian revolutions in 1917, which resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy, execution of the royal family, and creation of the Soviet Union by the Bolsheviks. Some historians contend that the 1905 revolution set the stage for the 1917 Russian Revolutions, and allowed for Bolshevism to emerge as a distinct political movement in Russia, although it was still a minority. Lenin, as head of the USSR later on, called it "The Great Dress Rehearsal," without which the "victory of the October Revolution in 1917 would have been impossible".

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