Had
there been at the time in the city three or four old and well-disciplined
regiments, or had the Cossacks who were on hand not interfered with the
police, the uprising would have been crushed quickly and effectively as
similar affairs had been before.
Yet one other factor contributed to the success of the revolution and that
was the over-confidence of the Government. The soldiers had been loyal
until now and it never occurred to those in power that they might not
always be so. They made no special preparations other than placing machine
guns on roofs. They did not even make use of the armored cars. When they
realized that the army in the city could not be trusted, they called for
troops from the front but they came too late.
From the point of view of the monarchy it was unfortunate that Protopopov
sent the Emperor to the front after having secured from him a signed blank
to dismiss the Duma; for if the Tsar had been at Tsarskoe Selo, he might
have been prevailed upon to make some concessions and saved the dynasty for
a time at least.
By Tuesday morning, March 13, the revolution was generally accepted as a
_fait accompli_; it was believed that the old despotism was gone never to
return. This was followed by an outburst of idealism and patriotism such as
comes but once or twice in the life of a nation. Every Russian was bubbling
over with enthusiasm over the glorious future of his country.
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