The October Manifesto

The events of ‘Bloody Sunday’ led many ordinary Russians into becoming active revolutionaries, but there were still many different groups, all with their own agendas and ideas for reform (one group, the Bolsheviks, was led by Lenin, later to head the Soviet regime following the revolution of 1917 which ended Tsarist rule). In August 1905 Nicholas II agreed to the formation of a ‘Duma’ (parliament), but it soon became clear that this did not allow as much power to the masses as they initially believed would be the case. Following many uprisings and strikes Tsar Nicholas also agreed to sign the ‘October Manifesto,’ which granted more civil liberties and allowed the formation of political parties. The manifesto also dramatically reduced the power of the monarchy in Russia, and Nicholas later said that he felt “sick with chame at this betrayal of the dynasty.”