The First Duma was dominated by the Kadets who wanted Russia to have a parliament based very much on the British model with legislative powers. Those who held the reins of power wanted it to be no more than a discussion chamber — one in which the government could easily identify its critics as speeches in the Duma were made in public. The First Duma was meant to have been a consultative body.
Many interpreted the October Manifesto as being conciliatory and as if to emphasise the conciliatory nature of the government an amnesty was granted to all political figures except to those who had taken part in revolutionary activities. The Duma put forward to Nicholas II a programme of reform that they believed would benefit all of Russia.
No one knew if Nicholas would even receive the programme. In the event, the Duma was told that most of its programme of reform was inadmissible to the government. Most government ministers reacted to this attack in a negative and uncompromising manner — all except Stloypin.
He looked on the attack favourably as it clearly identified to him who were the main opponents to the government. He also identified those who criticised the government but in a far more mellow manner — people, he believed, he could work with at the expense of those who he felt were a danger to the government, and to his mind, Russia.
The Duma tried to rally public support by calling for reforms and symbolically passing them in the Duma , which they knew the government would reject. The Tsar refused and instead ordered him to assume the role of a military dictator. The Grand Duke drew his pistol and threatened to shoot himself on the spot if the Tsar did not endorse Witte's plan. On 30th October, the Tsar reluctantly agreed to publish details of the proposed reforms that became known as the October Manifesto.
This granted freedom of conscience, speech, meeting and association. He also promised that in future people would not be imprisoned without trial. Finally it announced that no law would become operative without the approval of the State Duma. It has been pointed out that "Witte sold the new policy with all the forcefulness at his command". He also appealed to the owners of the newspapers in Russia to "help me to calm opinions". These proposals were rejected by the St.
Petersburg Soviet : "We are given a constitution, but absolutism remains The struggling revolutionary proletariat cannot lay down its weapons until the political rights of the Russian people are established on a firm foundation, until a democratic republic is established, the best road for the further progress to Socialism.
The first meeting of the Duma took place in May A British journalist, Maurice Baring , described the members taking their seats on the first day: "Peasants in their long black coats, some of them wearing military medals You see dignified old men in frock coats, aggressively democratic-looking men with long hair There is a Polish member who is dressed in light-blue tights, a short Eton jacket and Hessian boots There are some socialists who wear no collars and there is, of course, every kind of headdress you can conceive.
Several changes in the composition of the Duma had been changed since the publication of the October Manifesto. Nicholas II had also created a State Council, an upper chamber, of which he would nominate half its members. He also retained for himself the right to declare war, to control the Orthodox Church and to dissolve the Duma. The Tsar also had the power to appoint and dismiss ministers.
At their first meeting, members of the Duma put forward a series of demands including the release of political prisoners, trade union rights and land reform.
The Tsar rejected all these proposals and dissolved the Duma. Stolypin was the former governor of Saratov and his draconian measures in suppressing the peasants in made him notorious.
At first he refused the post but the Tsar insisted: "Let us make the sign of the Cross over ourselves and let us ask the Lord to help us both in this difficult, perhaps historic moment. Stolypin attempted to provide a balance between the introduction of much needed land reforms and the suppression of the radicals. In October, , Stolypin introduced legislation that enabled peasants to have more opportunity to acquire land.
They also got more freedom in the selection of their representatives to the Zemstvo local government councils. However, he also introduced new measures to repress disorder and terrorism. On 25 August , three assassins wearing military uniforms, bombed a public reception Stolypin was holding at his home on Aptekarsky Island. Stolypin was only slightly injured, but 28 others were killed. Stolypin's year-old daughter had both legs broken and his 3-year-old son also had injuries.
The Tsar suggested that the Stolypin family moved into the Winter Palace for protection. Elections for the Second Duma took place in Peter Stolypin , used his powers to exclude large numbers from voting. This reduced the influence of the left but when the Second Duma convened in February, , it still included a large number of reformers. He blamed Lenin and his fellow-Bolsheviks for this action because of the revolutionary speeches that they had been making in exile.
Members of the moderate Constitutional Democrat Party Kadets were especially angry about this decision. The leaders, including Prince Georgi Lvov and Pavel Milyukov , travelled to Vyborg, a Finnish resort town, in protest of the government. Milyukov drafted the Vyborg Manifesto. In the manifesto, Milyukov called for passive resistance, non-payment of taxes and draft avoidance.
Stolypin took revenge on the rebels and "more than leading Kadets were brought to trial and suspended from their part in the Vyborg Manifesto. Stolypin's repressive methods created a great deal of conflict. Lionel Kochan , the author of Russia in Revolution , pointed out: "Between November and June , from the ministry of the interior alone, persons were killed and wounded.
Altogether, up to the end of October , 3, government officials of all ranks, from governor-generals to village gendarmes, had been killed or wounded. Peter Stolypin instituted a new court system that made it easier for the arrest and conviction of political revolutionaries. In the first six months of their existence the courts passed 1, death sentences. It has been claimed that over 3, suspects were convicted and executed by these special courts between and As a result of this action the hangman's noose in Russia became known as "Stolypin's necktie".
Peter Stolypin now made changes to the electoral law. This excluded national minorities and dramatically reduced the number of people who could vote in Poland, Siberia, the Caucasus and in Central Asia.
The new electoral law also gave better representation to the nobility and gave greater power to the large landowners to the detriment of the peasants. Changes were also made to the voting in towns and now those owning their own homes elected over half the urban deputies. In Stolypin introduced a new electoral law, by-passing the constitution, which assured a right-wing majority in the Duma.
The Third Duma met on 14th November The former coalition of Socialist-Revolutionaries , Mensheviks , Bolsheviks , Octobrists and Constitutional Democrat Party , were now outnumbered by the reactionaries and the nationalists. Unlike the previous Dumas, this one ran its full-term of five years. The revolutionaries were now determined to assassinate Stolypin and there were several attempts on his life. Nicholas II was with him at the time: "During the second interval we had just left the box, as it was so hot, when we heard two sounds as if something had been dropped.
I thought an opera glass might have fallen on somebody's head and ran back into the box to look. To the right I saw a group of officers and other people. They seemed to be dragging someone along. Women were shrieking and, directly in front of me in the stalls, Stolypin was standing. He slowly turned his face towards me and with his left hand made the sign of the Cross in the air.
Only then did I notice he was very pale and that his right hand and uniform were bloodstained. He slowly sank into his chair and began to unbutton his tunic. This greatly reduced the power of the Kadets. The second Duma lasted for five months. It was dissolved when members began promoting revolutionary organisations within the army. Established in , this Duma was intended to be much more supportive of the Tsar. Arrangements had been made for landowners to have more voting power. This meant only the most affluent third of the population were able to vote in the election.
The resulting Duma was less radical and more favourable to the government. Prime Minister, Pyotr Stolypin was able to pass considerable land reform.
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