The shooting at peaceful demonstration of workers who had gathered to petition the Tsar for improvement in their living conditions on January 9, 1905 marked the beginning of the First Russian revolution. Within a short period of time revolutionary activity began to sweep across the country. Workers' demonstrations and peasant unrest, sometimes including armed resistance to the police and seizure of local power, were supported by uprisings in the army and navy. By the fall, Russia was paralyzed by a nationwide political strike. On October 17, 1905 the Emperor was compelled to issue a manifesto proclaiming basic civil freedoms and introducing constitutional rule. Having concluded a peace treaty with Japan, in which Russia lost some of its territories, the government headed by Sergey Witte succeeded in suppressing the insurrections in Moscow and at the Trans-Siberian railroad and procuring large credits from the West. The revolution lost ground.
The election to the first State Duma - held in 1906 in accordance with the October 17, 1905 manifesto - was won by the Constitutional Democrats. In sharp opposition to the government, Russia's first parliament was soon disbanded by Nicholas II. A group of Duma deputies met in protest in Vyborg and addressed the nation; the Vyborg appeal called for civil disobedience. In the second Duma the government met with even greater opposition. With the decline of the revolution Nicholas II and Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Petr Stolypin, decided to disband the second Duma on June 3, 1907.
The new electoral law adopted by the government in the absence of the Duma was called "shameless" even in government circles. Under this law, the majority vote in the third Duma was transferred to the rightists and moderate liberals. It was the end of the 1905 revolution.
Petr Arkadyevich Stolypin, who headed the government in 1906, not only decisively suppressed the revolution, but also made an attempt to eliminate its causes. For this purpose he launched reforms undermining the peasant community, supporting individual farmers and promoting the mass migration of peasants from the center to the outlying areas of the country, where land was abundant. At first Stolypin tried to persuade the tsar to alleviate the condition of Jews, but he met with a refusal. After an unsuccessful attempt to conclude a political agreement with the Constitutional Democrats, he leaned on the support of the 17th October Union and nationalists in the Duma. Stolypin's reforms were aimed at making Russia a great nation by combining reforms with strong traditional power, but did not produce the desired result. He fell victim to a terrorist act just before his impending dismissal.
A wave of Jewish pogroms and killings of revolutionaries swept across the country immediately after the October 17th manifesto. This was the handiwork of the Black Hundreds, members of radical rightist organization the "Russian People's Union" created in 1905, which combined extreme monarchism with social demagogy based on anti-semitism. Their program on ethnic issues envisaged greater discrimination against Jews with the objective of making them leave the country. Some of the Black Hundred publications called for genocide against Jews. The Black Hundreds were recruited from among the lumpen proletariat, but the leading role belonged to gendarmes, some dignitaries, many hierarchs and priests of the Russian Orthodox church, and a number of Slavophile intellectuals. The largest Black Hundred organizations operated in Volhynia.
As the result of rivalry between their leaders, the "Russian People's Union" split into two and later three organizations. They enjoyed the unfailing personal sympathy and support of Nicholas II, who repeatedly expressed his opinion on this matter and granted the "highest" pardon to those guilty of murders and pogroms. The heir to the throne wore the badge of the "Russian People's Union". The Black Hundred organizations received government subsidies on a regular basis. Besides political killings, the Black Hundreds carried out propaganda among the workers, created sobriety societies and tried to dictate their will to the local authorities. The infamous anti-semitic falsification, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", was widely distributed among the Black Hundreds. However, they failed to achieve sustained leadership of the masses.
The government succeeded in suppressing the revolution, but failed to achieve lasting stability. By 1912 a new revolutionary wave began to rise. On July 19, 1914 Russia, in alliance with France and Great Britain, entered the First World War against Germany and Austro-Hungary. For a short period, the majority of parties united in an outburst of patriotism. Yet the country was unprepared for war. Short of arms and ammunition, its troops suffered heavy casualties, especially among the officers. In 1915, military failures put the Russian army on the brink of disaster. The public spoke of treason and accused the Empress of sympathy for the Germans. In the Duma, the majority of parties formed the opposition Progressive Block which demanded "a government accountable to the Duma" and dismissal of the most reactionary and incapable ministers.
In 1915 Nicholas II assumed the duties of commander-in-chief. Yet, by late 1916 the army was still unable to counteract the enemy and fought reluctantly. The economic situation was worsening. The prestige of the authorities declined, largely owing to the notorious Grigoriy Rasputin who was considered to have a decisive influence on state affairs. Frequent changes of ministers weakened the government. Even the most conservative circles and closest relatives of the Tsar gradually came to the conclusion that the monarch should be replaced. In late 1916 Rasputin was assassinated by conspirators in an attempt to save the dynasty. Revolution was becoming inevitable.