ABSTRACT
The complacency of the autocracy in the face of mounting opposition is all the more breathtaking since Russia was afforded that rarest of historical experiences, an unmistakeable warning of the depth and seriousness of its situation in the form of the so-called 1905 revolution. This is something of a misnomer in that it actually lasted from 1904 to 1907 and was not a revolution. None the less, it was a brilliant illumination of Russian reality and a clear demonstration of its fundamental problems.
