Assess the view that the 1905 revolution posed little threat to the Tsarist regime.

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Assess the view that the 1905 revolution posed little threat to the Tsarist regime.

The Tsarist regime was the autocratic government run by the Romanov dynasty between 1613 and 1917. This means that Russia was under the absolute rule of one person, and this was the Tsar. In the year of 1905 Tsar Nicolas II was subject to mass protest from the dissatisfied middle-class who began the question Russia's autocratic administration and rule of authority, and also from the many workers and peasants who wanted to secure civil rights for their homes and jobs. Workers led strikes, illegal unions were formed and peasants squatted and burnt down the houses of their landlords. This happened on a large scale throughout Russia as many social groups were becoming disgruntled. There is debate however to whether the 1905 revolution posed an actual threat to the Tsarist regime. Passages A, B, C and D consider this question by the study of how far the protests were unified, how far the Tsar was supported sufficiently enough by others to survive the threat and how far were the motives of the protests revolutionary to be dangerous to the Tsarist regime.

It is argued by historians such as R.Service and O.Figes in passages A and C that there was some unity between protestors that resulted in a potential threat to the Tsar's position. Passage A states that there was 'a revulsion against the Emperor among the factory workers and their demonstrations,' suggesting that there was growing unity between what was considered the proletariat and bourgeoisie with a common cause. Such a large and unified group protesting against Tsar Alexander's style of governance could have posed threat to him. Passage C also recognises there was 'the coordinating role played by the Union of Unions,'...