The strikes become so widespread that the St Petersburg Soviet of Workers Deputies was formed. The Tsar knew that a decision had to be made, and so the October Manifesto was issued on the 30th. This promised civil rights, a Duma, the right to form political parties and uncensored newspapers. The liberals and middle classes believed they had won, and stopped their protests. However, by December when their were enough troops in Russia, the Tsar felt strong enough to use force to break up the Petersburg Soviet and crush the armed uprising. The Tsar successfully gained power again, but he did not have the loyal support of his people.
At the end of 1905, the Tsar had decided to allow for a Duma to be elected due to the persistent demands of the people. However the Duma did not have decisive power. It could not pass laws, appoint ministers, could not control finance in important areas such as defense, and it could be dissolved anytime by the Tsar. The first two Dumas of 1906 and 1907 were very radical, demanding more power and rights for ordinary people. The Dumas were both dissolved in less than a week. The following Duma, which favored the urban rich was much more conservative and it lasted until 1912. However it did pass on a few good measures. The forth Duma achieved very little, so overall the Duma's were unsuccessful at passing the relief the people needed and wanted.
From 1906 there was much change in the countryside. Rich peasants were able to buy strips of land, in order to create a new class of prosperous land owning peasants, Kuluks. These reforms however did have disastrous consequences. The poorer peasants were forced to sell their land and become laborers, and many workers could not earn enough money to support their family. Also four million peasants were encouraged by the government to settle on the new land at the Trans-Siberian Railway. However when they reached the land after days of uncomfortable traveling, they found that the best land had already been taken by rich land speculators.
