This collection provides scholars and students with a wide-ranging overview of the issues, events and personalities of the two turbulent decades before the 1917 revolution in Russia. In particular, it analyzes the motivations and activities of the various political parties operating during the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, nicknamed by his opponents 'Nicholas the Last'. The factions examined range from the most radical foes of the tsarist regime, including the anarchists, the Socialists Revolutionaries, and the Social Democrats, such as the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, to conservative and monarchist groups loyal to the imperial system. This book also considers the response to intense political activity and the revolutionary upheaval from state institutions such as the police and the church. This volume brings together the most recent scholarship and a variety of perspectives, including those based on new discoveries in the Russian archives after the fall of Communism.
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