“1905 was a watershed in the history of the late imperial Russia.”(Freeze 252). During this time there was radical political and social changes across Russia. There were different elements of the revolution including peasant and worker up-rise, along with military rebellions. Instead of focusing on those against the Russian Empire during the 1905 Revolution, this blog post will focus on those for it, the nationalist. The nationalist goal during the Revolution were to unify the Empire. They tended to be a group of elite and wealthy loyalist. Nationalist were not completely on board for the new westernization that was sweeping across the Empire. They were afraid that the Revolution and what peasants and the working class were fighting for would disrupt tradition and their social order. Nationalist opposed the idea of spreading democracy and political power to the masses and general people of Russia.
The idea of nationalist and conservatism can be easily overshadowed by the new reforms and pressure the government had by the lower classes. They necessarily were not out protesting for change or for new rights because the majority of nationalist had the rights that peasants were fighting for. Conservatives did not completely opposed rights for peasants and the working class but what they believed it was more important that one had loyalty to both the autocracy and representative institutions.
One of the biggest changes during the Revolution of 1905 was the issue of the October Manifest which “ended the unlimited autocracy in Russia and ushered in an era of constitutional monarchy.” (October Manifesto Britannica). The Nationalist view point of the October Manifest was that it was necessary to avoid violence but they did not completely desire or agree with it. October Manifest created a representative legislative body also known as the Duma. The Duma was created so the people’s voices would be heard more in the government. What is ironic is that before the first Duma meeting, Tsar Nicholas II, the Emperor of Russia at the time, implemented the Fundamental Laws. These laws did not allow the Duma to have say in state budget or state ministers. The Duma actually had little ability to make effective legislative changes that would help the people. With this being said the nationalist and loyalist loved Tsar and agreed with everything he did.
The nationalist brought great set backs to the reforms and what the people were fighting for during The Revolution of 1905. It was not until the rise of World War I and after the March Revolution of 1917, that the Duma was redesigned as the Provisional Government and when Tsar Nicholas the II resigned from being Emperor. This period of loyalty to the empire that Tsar had ruled had finally come to an end.
http://community.dur.ac.uk/a.k.harrington/Russhist.HTML
Click to access russian-political-parties-in-1905.pdf
https://www.britannica.com/event/October-Manifesto
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Duma-Russian-assembly
Russia a History, by Gregory L. Freeze
20th Century Russia: Maddie Williams 
I like the fact that you wrote from the nationalist perspective rather than the opposing views of the Revolution. I also appreciate how you explained every “vocabulary word” that was mentioned. You clearly defined each term that was introduced which helped me follow along!
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The Nationalist perspective is one that is overlooked in comparison to the revolution as a whole. I am glad you focused on this aspect! The definition of the Duma is well written, and helps explain its role. It is interesting because the Nationalist movement, which contained wealthy elites and nobles, only comprised around 2% of the population at the time, but most of the resources and influence.
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I agree with the other commenters – I like your focus on the nationalists and the implications of the 1905 Revolution looking forward to the 1917 Revolution! Being that you took this unique approach from a lot of your classmates, I encourage you to read some of the other posts that focus on the religious groups/working class/peasants during the revolution! Katelin wrote a nice post about the Jews: https://katelingamble4soviethist.wordpress.com/2017/01/29/assimilation-at-its-finest/
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I enjoyed reading what you wrote about the nationalists and believe it is important to look at as many angles of a situation as you can. Your focus on those who were pro Russian Empire is an interesting change to what many others wrote about. I also like how you expounded on what the nationalists thought of the Fundamental Laws and the October Manifesto, since they’re both very important.
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Looks like you found a topic that others can relate to! The Nationalists’ attitude toward the October manifesto is really important. This is the foundation of the constitutional order in Russia, yet this group that identifies itself as the “Nationalists” is ambivalent (at best) about it. What does that tell us? How are they different from “The Octobrists?”
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I found this post fascinating for presenting the nationalist’s point of view. While the Tsarist government was exceedingly unpopular, it is interesting to see the perspective of those that wanted to system to remain the way it was.
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