of this crisis, the people of Russia rebelled against the Tsarist government in the early months of 1905. By extension, it can be seen that the Japanese victory over Russia encouraged the revolutionaries of the Middle East as well. In this regard, Keddie notes that "the strength shown by the supposedly backward Japanese against the dreaded Russians gave people courage" (Keddie, 1981, p. 72). The Russian Revolution was also inspirational because it set an example for the other nations to follow. The most notable achievement of the revolution in Russia was that it forced the Tsar "to concede the principle of constitutional limitations on the monarchy" (Daniels, 1985, p. 90). In the aftermath of this event, nationalist leaders throughout the Middle East were convinced that a constitutional government was "more efficient than an autocracy" (Mansfield, 1985, p. 155). In the late nineteenth century, the Russian Empire was actively expanding its interests in both Iran and Turkey. However, the events of 1904 and 1905 forced the Empire to turn some of its attention away from Middle Eastern affairs. Revolutionaries in both Iran and Turkey took advantage of this situation in 1908, when they tried to implement their own constitutional governments.
Common political reasons can be found in the origins of the 1908 Iran and Turkey revolutions, as well as in the 1916 Arab Revolt. In all of these cases, nationalists rebelled against an autocratic government in the hopes of establishing a constitutional one. In Russia, the autocrat was the Tsar Nicholas II. According to Dmytryshyn, Nicholas II was ill-prepared for the responsibilities he had to face as leader of the Russian Empire. For example, "he was totally oblivious to the great social and political events of the day" (Dmytryshyn, 1977, p. 397). Before 1908, Iran was also run by a repressive regime. Since 1795, the nation had been ruled by a series of Shahs. In the late nineteenth c...