The liberals' failure to rally the masses in defence of the Duma in practice left them "high and dry" and only clinging on in the hope of persuading the Tsarist regime to liberalise itself and with an even larger fear of 'the masses'.
The liberals' failure to garner widespread support for the Duma left them in a vulnerable state, holding on to the possibility that the Tsarist regime might reform and fearing even greater unrest among the population.