The Dumas
The Duma was a feature promised in the October Manifesto that that were intended to be representative of the people and would mark a new period for parliamentary government in Russia. The new electoral laws that were passed on the 11th December 1905 would be instrumental in shaping the nature of the First Duma. The features of the new laws included that if individuals met requirements they could vote directly, if not only men over the age of 25 could vote indirectly, that is they vote for someone to vote for them at a higher level. Peasants were included in this voting system, however some social groups were excluded, factory workers from businesses with less than fifty people, building labours and tradesmen. The government clearly recognised these individuals as a threat to Tsarism. This left over 60% of the urban working population ineligible to vote. The mindset of the Tsar regarding the Dumas was that it was to be consultative rather than a legislative body, “I created the Duma, not to be direct by it, by to be advised by it.” Therefore the establishment of the duma “was motivated by the urgent need to save his [the Tsar] regime from collapse rather than by sincere desire to improve the nation.”(Malone) Unions and political parties were made legal on the 4th March 1906, meaning revolutionary and anti-Tsarist groups could run for the Duma elections. The First Duma ran from the 27th April 1906 to July 1906 and was heavily dominated by peasant (38% of seats) and Kadet (37% of seats) deputies. The First duma was dissolved for be anti-government as they made demands of the Tsar including: drafting a constitution to limit the Tsar’s powers, freedom to strike and assemble publicly, universal and free education, universal and direct voting and more equitable distribution of the tax burden. These demands were contributing to a revolutionary situation. The fragile nature of Tsarism was demonstrated by appeasing the people, who were demanded a second Duma. The Second Duma ran from February to June 1907 and was more revolutionary than the first, as the Social Revolutionary and Social Democrats ran in the election to spread their anti-Tsarist messages, and because of their participation the second Duma was completely ideologically divided. The second Duma became highly critical of the military and its administration and was eventually dissolved by the Tsar. Following the dismantling of the Second Duma the electoral laws were changed which restricted the influence of certain social groups. The number of deputies from peasant, urban worker, and small landowning and minority backgrounds reduced, and the number of noble and pro-Tsarist deputies increased. These changes recognised the threat of these social groups and helped built upon their “political consciousness”, thus contributing to a revolutionary situation. The Third Duma ran from November 1907 to June 1912 and the Fourth Duma ran from Novemeber 1912 to August 1914. These were both considerably more conservative and compliant and were dominated by right-wing parties. They were completely unrepresentative of the people which helped politicise the oppressed groups. However, these final Dumas were used as a “training ground” for revolutionaries that would hold positions of power in the Provisional Government of 1917, like Kerensky.
Book: Reinventing Russia, Lauren Perfect, Tom Ryan, Scott Sweeney Book: The Analysis of the Russian Revolution, 2nd Edition, Richard Malone Website: http://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/russian-revolution-timeline-1906-1913/
SEAN
Book: Reinventing Russia, Lauren Perfect, Tom Ryan, Scott Sweeney Book: The Analysis of the Russian Revolution, 2nd Edition, Richard Malone Website: http://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/russian-revolution-timeline-1906-1913/
SEAN
From the years of 1906 to 1917 Russia had four different Dumas. The first and second Dumas were both dominated by radical deputies whose demands were extreme. The demands of the radical deputies in the First and Second Dumas were; the drafting of a constitution to limit the powers of the Tsar, major land reforms, universal and free education, greater equality for all citizens before the law and a more equitable distribution of the tax burden. The emergence of the Duma allowed the grievances of the military officials to be heard as they were gradually forced into politics because of them.
The First Duma didn’t however have the right to consider the proposals because they ‘imply a huge change in the Fundamental Laws’. The radical deputies argued in reply that ‘by its refusal to fulfil the peoples demand, the government is displaying obvious contempt for the true interests of the people’. This was followed by an outbreak in violence and assassinations, which caused the Tsar to dismiss the First Duma.
The Second Duma (February-June 1907) had increased numbers of Mensheviks and National Minority groups, however was again asked the same radical demands as the First Duma. Because of this the Tsar described the deputies as trying to undermine him. The Tsar wanted nothing to do with the Duma and hence evidence was forged to suggest a plan for the radical deputies to kill Nicholas, this ‘forced’ Nicholas to close the Second Duma.
In order to decrease the number of radical deputies in the Dumas, the Tsar illegally changed the laws in 1907. The new system was overly complex and had the aim to reduce the number of deputies representing the workers, peasants and minority groups. Voting power became unequal and the Tsar had regained control of Russia.
The Third and Fourth Dumas failed to represent the Russian people with its conservative majority. The Third and Fourth Dumas gave experience to radical deputies like Alexander Kerensky and heightened the political consciousness of the population.
MADDIE
Analysing the Russian Revolution Richard Malone
A Peoples Tragedy Orlando Figes
The First Duma didn’t however have the right to consider the proposals because they ‘imply a huge change in the Fundamental Laws’. The radical deputies argued in reply that ‘by its refusal to fulfil the peoples demand, the government is displaying obvious contempt for the true interests of the people’. This was followed by an outbreak in violence and assassinations, which caused the Tsar to dismiss the First Duma.
The Second Duma (February-June 1907) had increased numbers of Mensheviks and National Minority groups, however was again asked the same radical demands as the First Duma. Because of this the Tsar described the deputies as trying to undermine him. The Tsar wanted nothing to do with the Duma and hence evidence was forged to suggest a plan for the radical deputies to kill Nicholas, this ‘forced’ Nicholas to close the Second Duma.
In order to decrease the number of radical deputies in the Dumas, the Tsar illegally changed the laws in 1907. The new system was overly complex and had the aim to reduce the number of deputies representing the workers, peasants and minority groups. Voting power became unequal and the Tsar had regained control of Russia.
The Third and Fourth Dumas failed to represent the Russian people with its conservative majority. The Third and Fourth Dumas gave experience to radical deputies like Alexander Kerensky and heightened the political consciousness of the population.
MADDIE
Analysing the Russian Revolution Richard Malone
A Peoples Tragedy Orlando Figes
The first duma (1906) was doomed before it even began. It was ineffective due to the actions of the Tsar and his government. Prior to the beginning of the first duma, the government had negotiated a loan from France which lessened the ability of the dumas to have any financial hold over the government. The duma was further restricted by the installation of the ‘Fundamental Laws’, which were purposely announced to coincide with the duma. These laws gave supreme power to the Tsar and made the duma bi-cameral, further reducing their power. The second chamber had veto power which deprived the duma of any real power therefore making it seemingly impossible for the duma to be successful. Due to the failure of the first duma, the second duma (1907) was highly critical of the government. Due to the failure of the Vyborg Appeal, the Kadets from the previous duma lost half their seats and were replaced by the SDs and SRs. Due to this the new assembly was strongly anti-government and since the right-wing parties had also increased in size, there was great disagreement within the assembly which ultimately led to the session ending. The third duma (November 1907 – June 1912) was less antagonistic towards the government as it was heavily made up of right-wing politicians. This was due to the “government’s doctoring of the electoral system”, which restricted the vote to the propertied classes. This new structure meant that there was less criticism towards tsardom. The fourth duma (November 1912- August 1914) however progressive it was, outwardly served no purpose other than building more tension within Russia. The continual questioning of government policy throughout the dumas did nevertheless push forward the state welfare system and highlight the “blindness of the tsarist government”.
ELLA
ELLA