What were the main differences between the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917?

Answer 1

The foremost difference is that the 1905 failed while the 1917 succeeded. The 1905 seems to have been unplanned, beginning with a mutiny aboard a Black Sea Fleet battleship, and the 1917 was both planned and well coordinated according to Marxist doctrine. Both revolutions happened in proximity with Russian wars, but the war with Germany was likely more devastating for the Russian people than the war with Japan.

Alternate Answer/Opinion:

The differences between the 1905 revolution and the "1917 revolution" must be looked at keeping in mind that there were two separate revolutions in 1917.

As to the 1905 revolution was not a true revolution in the sense that the people of Russia were looking to overthrow the Tsarist government.

Nevertheless, there was some planning to it in the sense that Father Georgy Gapon organized a march of over a hundred thousand people to bring petitions of grievances to the Tsar at the Winter Palace. They were marching peacefully even chanting patriotic songs; but the Tsar ordered a Cossack cavalry unit to ride through the crowd killing people. Then he ordered his palace guard to fire their rifles into the crowd. This disregard for human life then spurred the crowd into a spontaneous demonstration and strike which spread to workers, soldiers and peasants elsewhere. It became a full scale riot but not truly a revolution. The Tsar was forced to concede to create a democratically elected legislature and promise many new civil liberties. That satisfied the people and they stopped rioting. It wasn't successful in in getting rid of the government, but it was never intended to do that.

In 1917 there was the February Revolution and the October Revolution. The February Revolution was totally unplanned. It began in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) with a demonstration by several women complaining about food shortages. It quickly spread to other areas of the city and to workers, soldiers and peasants and then to other cities as well. Then it got out of hand and the Tsar was forced to abdicate. It was all very surprising, in fact Lenin was in Switzerland at the time and didn't even know about it until it was all over.

The October Revolution was planned very carefully by the Bolsheviks. They seized key rail and telegraph stations in all the large cities simultaneously and paralyzed the Provisional Government. It was more like a military coup than a popular rebellion.

Answer 2

Answer this question…Both revolutions stemmed from frustration with the czarist system.

Answer 3

Both revolutions stemmed from frustration with the czarist system.

Answer 4

Answer this question…

Both revolutions tried to disrupt Russia's traditional political and economic systems.