57-701: The State Duma of the Russian Empire of the Second Convocation was a representative legislative body of the Russian Empire ( State Duma of the Russian Empire ), convened after the early dissolution of the State Duma of the 1st convocation. It was elected according to the same rules as the previous Duma and also entered into a sharp confrontation with the Council of Ministers, and also held only one session, from February 20 to June 3, 1907, when it
114-575: A Bolshevik who was a double agent for the secret police. In March 1913 the Octobrists , led by Alexander Guchkov , President of the Duma, commissioned an investigation on Grigori Rasputin to research the allegations being a Khlyst . The leading party of the Octobrists divided itself into three different sections. The Duma "met on 8 August for three hours to pass emergency war credits, [and] it
171-480: A focal point of political resistance. On 3 September 1915 the Duma prorogued. On the eve of the war the government and the Duma were hovering round one another like indecisive wrestlers, neither side able to make a definite move. The war made the political parties more cooperative and practically formed into one party. When the tsar announced he would leave for the front at Mogilev , the Progressive Bloc
228-471: A private meeting. According to Buchanan: "It was an act of madness to prorogue the Duma at a moment like the present." "The delegates decided to form a Provisional Committee of the State Duma . The Provisional Committee ordered the arrest of all the ex-ministers and senior officials." The Tauride Palace was occupied by the crowd and soldiers. "On the evening the Council of Ministers held its last meeting in
285-482: A significant portion of the members of the second Duma did not justify Our expectations. Many of those sent by the people to work [for them] did not go with a pure heart, with a desire to strengthen Russia and to improve its system, but [went rather] with an explicit intention to increase unrest and to promote the disintegration of the state.” The new Duma, according to the Tsar (and Stolypin), “must be Russian in spirit,” and
342-559: The Marinsky Palace and formally submitted its resignation to the tsar when they were cut off from the telephone. Guchkov, along with Vasily Shulgin , came to the army headquarters near Pskov to persuade the tsar to abdicate. The committee sent commissars to take over ministries and other government institutions, dismissing Tsar-appointed ministers and formed the Provisional Government under Georgi Lvov . In
399-854: The Revolutionary Socialists – 37, the Muslim faction – 30, the Cossack group – 17, the Popular Socialists – 16, the right-wing monarchists – 10, one deputy belonged to the Party of Democratic Reform . The right cadet Fyodor Aleksandrovich Golovin elected from the Moscow Province became the chairman of the Duma. Nikolai Poznansky (non-party left) and Mikhail Berezin (the Trudovik) became deputy chairmen. The secretary
456-563: The Russian Constitution of 1906 as a mock-constitution, and approximately 200 deputies mostly from the liberal Kadets party decamped to Vyborg , then part of Russian Finland , to discuss the way forward. From there, they issued the Vyborg Appeal , which called for civil disobedience and a revolution. Largely ignored, it ended in their arrest and the closure of Kadet Party offices. This, among other things, helped pave
513-467: The Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905) issued a manifesto about the convocation of the Duma, initially thought to be a purely advisory body, the so-called Bulygin -Duma. In the subsequent October Manifesto , the emperor promised to introduce further civil liberties , provide for broad participation in a new "State Duma", and endow the Duma with legislative and oversight powers. The State Duma
570-523: The "illegal actions" of the police. Such disobedience did not suit the government. The Office of the Ministry of the Interior has prepared a draft of the new electoral law secretly from the Duma. On June 1, 1907, Pyotr Stolypin demanded the removal of 55 Social Democrats from participation in Duma meetings and depriving 16 of them of parliamentary immunity, accusing them of preparing for the "overthrow of
627-674: The Cadets, the Socialists and the Octobrists. And yet the election campaign was different in nature than in the previous elections to the Duma. Then nobody defended the government. Now the struggle was within the society between the electoral blocs of the parties. A solemn prayer service in honor of the opening of the Second State Duma and the first meeting took place on February 20, 1907. A total of 518 deputies were elected. Deputies were distributed as follows: Only 32 members of
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#1732771934835684-544: The Duma (6%) were deputies of the first Duma. Such a small percentage was explained by the fact that after the dissolution of the First Duma, 180 deputies signed the Vyborg Manifesto , for which they were deprived of voting rights and could not participate in the new elections. The participation in elections of a greater number of political forces led to a greater diversity of political forces in comparison with
741-560: The Duma could not build a working relationship, being divided on the issues of land confiscation (which the socialists and, to a lesser extent, the Kadets, supported but the tsar and Stolypin vehemently opposed) and Stolypin's brutal attitude towards law and order. On 1 June 1907, prime minister Stolypin accused Social Democrats of preparing an armed uprising and demanded that the Duma exclude 55 Social Democrats from Duma sessions and strip 16 of their parliamentary immunity . When this ultimatum
798-641: The Duma, and consequently won a number of seats. The election was an overall success for Russian left-wing parties: the Trudoviks won 104 seats, the Social Democrats 65 (47 Mensheviks and 18 Bolsheviks), the Socialist Revolutionaries 37 and the Popular Socialists 16. The Kadets (by this point the most moderate and centrist party), found themselves outnumbered two-to-one by their more radical counterparts. Even so, Stolypin and
855-598: The Duma: "maybe [we will be] dismissed to 9 January, maybe until February", but in the evening the Duma was closed until 12 January, by a decree prepared on the day before. A military guard had been on duty at the building. The February Revolution began on 22 February when the tsar had left for the front, and strikes broke out in the Putilov workshops. On 23 February ( International Women's Day ), women in Petrograd joined
912-586: The Government and the Duma; consequently, the Duma lasted a full five-year term, and succeeded in 200 pieces of legislation and voting on some 2500 bills. Due to its more noble, and Great Russian composition, the third Duma, like the first, was also given a nickname, "The Duma of the Lords and Lackeys" or "The Master's Duma". The Octobrist party were the largest, with around one-third of all the deputies. This Duma, less radical and more conservative, left clear that
969-532: The Government of Russia continued to be a non-official absolute monarchy . It was in this context that the first Duma opened four days later, on April 27, 1906. The first Duma was established with around 500 deputies; most radical left parties, such as the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party had boycotted the election, leaving the moderate Constitutional Democrats (Kadets) with
1026-547: The Ministers! Down with Protopopov!" The prime minister was not allowed to speak and had to leave the rostrum three times. Trepov threatened to shut the troublesome Duma completely in its attempt to control the tsar. The tsar, his cabinet, Alexandra, and Rasputin discussed when to open the Duma, on 12 or 19 January, 1 or 14 February, or never. Rasputin suggested to keep the Duma closed until February; Alexandra and Protopopov supported him. On Friday, 16 December Milyukov stated in
1083-942: The Provisional government decided that the Duma would not be reconvened. Following the Kornilov affair and the proclamation of the Russian Republic , the State Duma was dissolved on 6 October 1917 by the Provisional Government; a Provisional Council of the Russian Republic was convened on 20th October 1917 as a provisional parliament, in preparation to the election of the Russian Constituent Assembly . Party of Democratic Reform (Russia) The Party of Democratic Reform ( Russian : Партия демократических реформ )
1140-509: The Russian people, the navy , and the army ; the war could be won. For the Octobrists and the Kadets, who were the liberals in the parliament, Rasputin, and his support of autocracy and absolute monarchy, was one of their main obstacles. The politicians tried to bring the government under control of the Duma. "To the Okhrana it was obvious by the end of 1916 that the liberal Duma project
1197-454: The Russian revolution of 1905–07. In general, the legislative activity of the second Duma for 102 days, as in the case of the first State Duma, bore traces of political confrontation with the authorities. 287 government bills were submitted to parliament (including the budget for 1907, the bill on the reform of the local court, the responsibility of officials, the agrarian reform, etc.). The Duma approved only 20 bills. Of these, only 3 received
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#17327719348351254-524: The Statute on the approval of the State Duma of February 20, 1906, deputies formed departments and commissions for the preliminary preparation of cases to be considered in the Duma. The created commissions have started the development of numerous bills. The main issue remained the agrarian question, according to which each faction presented its own project. In addition, the Second Duma actively considered
1311-471: The apartment requirement required by law, etc. On the initiative of Pyotr Stolypin , the question of changing the electoral legislation (July 8 and September 7, 1906) was discussed twice in the Council of Ministers, but government members came to the conclusion that such a step was not appropriate because it was associated with a violation of the Fundamental Laws and could lead to an aggravation of
1368-549: The approval of the noble-dominated State Council (half of which was to be appointed directly by emperor), and the emperor himself retained a veto. The laws stipulated that ministers could not be appointed by, and were not responsible to, the Duma, thus denying responsible government at the executive level. Furthermore, Nicholas II had the power to dismiss the Duma and announce new elections whenever he wished; article 87 allowed him to pass temporary (emergency) laws by decrees. All these powers and prerogatives assured that, in practice,
1425-446: The attention of rural communities who were instead committed to other parties. The Duma ran for 73 days until 8 July 1906, with little success. The emperor and his loyal prime minister Ivan Goremykin were keen to keep it in check, and reluctant to share power; the Duma, on the other hand, wanted continuing reform, including electoral reform, and, most prominently, land reform. Sergei Muromtsev , Professor of Law at Moscow University,
1482-679: The background of a fading but continuing revolution: "agrarian soil riots" in July 1906 covered 32 provinces of Russia, and in August 1906 50% of counties in European Russia were involved in peasant unrest. Within 8 months the revolution was suppressed. According to the Law of October 5, 1906, the peasants were equal in rights with the rest of the population of the country. The Second Land Law of November 9, 1906 allowed any peasant at any time to demand
1539-658: The collapse of the empire in February 1917. The first and the second dumas were more democratic and represented a greater number of national types than their successors. The third duma was dominated by gentry, landowners, and businessmen. The fourth duma held five sessions; it existed until 2 March 1917, and was formally dissolved on 6 October 1917. Coming under pressure from the Russian Revolution of 1905 , on August 6, 1905 (O.S.), Sergei Witte (appointed by Nicholas II to manage peace negotiations with Japan after
1596-702: The dissolution of the Second Duma, to the funeral of the Speaker of the First Duma, Muromtsev, and the funeral of Leo Tolstoy , to the fanatical [right-wing] monk Iliodor , or to the notorious agent provocateur , Yevno Azef . Stolypin was assassinated in September 1911 and replaced by his finance minister Vladimir Kokovtsov . It enabled Count Kokovtsov to balance the budget regularly and even to spend on productive purposes. The Fourth Duma of 15 November 1912 – 6 October 1917, elected in September/October,
1653-460: The electoral law for the Third Duma reduced the size of the assembly, cutting the representatives in non-Russian regions and cities to prevent the election of Liberals, Socialists, and local Nationalists. The tsar was unwilling to be rid of the State Duma, despite these problems. Instead, using emergency powers, Stolypin and the tsar changed the electoral law and gave greater electoral value to
1710-426: The famous question "Is this stupidity or treason?" Alexander Kerensky called the ministers "hired assassins" and "cowards" and said they were "guided by the contemptible Grishka Rasputin!" Stürmer and Alexander Protopopov asked in vain for the dissolution of the Duma. Stürmer's resignation looked like a concession to the Duma. Ivan Grigorovich and Dmitry Shuvayev declared in the Duma that they had confidence in
1767-479: The first time in his life, the tsar made a visit to the Tauride Palace , which made it practically impossible to hiss at the new prime minister. On 1 November 1916 ( Old Style ) the Duma reconvened and the government under Boris Stürmer was attacked by Pavel Milyukov in the State Duma, not assembled since February. In his speech he spoke of "Dark Forces", and highlighted numerous governmental failures with
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1824-541: The food question, discussed the State budget for 1907, the question of calling for new recruits, about the abolition of field-military courts, etc. During the consideration of questions, the cadets showed flexibility, calling for "taking care of the Duma" and not giving the government a reason for its dissolution. The main subject of debate in the Duma in the spring of 1907 was the question of taking extraordinary measures against revolutionaries. On May 17, 1907 Duma voted against
1881-695: The force of law (on the establishment of a contingent of recruits and two projects to help victims of crop failure). State Duma (Russian Empire) The State Duma , also known as the Imperial Duma , was the lower house of the legislature in the Russian Empire , while the upper house was the State Council . It held its meetings in the Tauride Palace in Saint Petersburg . It convened four times between 27 April 1906 and
1938-474: The fourth from 19 July 1915 to 3 September, the fifth from 9 February to 20 June 1916, and the sixth from 1 November to 16 December 1916. No one exactly knew when they would resume their deliberations. It seems the last session was never opened (on 14 February), but kept closed on 27 February 1917. There was one promising new member in Alexander Kerensky , a Trudovik , but also Roman Malinovsky ,
1995-546: The most deputies (around 184). Second came an alliance of slightly more radical leftists, the Trudoviks (Laborites) with around 100 deputies. To the right of both were a number of smaller parties, including the Octobrists . Together, they had around 45 deputies. Other deputies, mainly from peasant groups, were unaffiliated. The Kadets were among the only political parties capable of consistently drawing voters due to their relatively moderate political stance. The Kadets drew from an especially urban population, often failing to draw
2052-488: The new electoral system would always generate a landowners-controlled Duma in which the tsar would have vast amounts of influence over, which in turn would be under complete submission to the Tsar, unlike the first two Dumas. In terms of legislation, the Duma supported an improvement in Russia's military capabilities, Stolypin's plans for land reform, and basic social welfare measures. The power of Nicholas' hated land captains
2109-613: The previous Duma. According to party factions, they were distributed as follows: the labor peasant faction – 104 deputies, which consisted of the actual Trudoviks – members of the Labor Group (71 people), members of the All-Russian Peasant Union (14 people) and sympathizers (19), Cadets – 98, Social Democratic fraction – 65, non-party – 50, Polish Kolo – 46, the Octobrist faction and the moderate group – 44,
2166-640: The resignation of all members of the Council of Ministers was needed, "to make it clear that they want to go in a new way." On Monday soldiers of the Volhynian Life Guards Regiment brought the Litovsky, Preobrazhensky , and Moskovsky Regiments out on the street to join the rebellion. On the 27th the Duma delegates received an order from his Majesty that he had decided to prorogue the Duma until April, leaving it with no legal authority to act. The Duma refused to obey, and gathered in
2223-621: The revolutionary struggle. This time, representatives of the entire party spectrum, including the extreme left, participated in the elections. In general, four currents fought: the right-wing politicians , standing for the strengthening of autocracy ; Octobrists who adopted the Stolypin program; cadets ; the left bloc that united the Social Democrats , the Social Revolutionaries and other socialist groups. Many noisy pre-election meetings were held with "disputes" between
2280-494: The rioting by force. Mutinous soldiers of the fourth company of the Pavlovsky Life Guards Regiment refused to fall in on parade when commanded, shot two officers, and joined the protesters on the streets. Nikolai Pokrovsky believed that "no one neither the Duma, nor the government cannot do anything one without the other one." The liberal Vasily Maklakov and Bloc spokesman, expressed his opinion that
2337-497: The seventeen months of the "Tsarina's rule", from September 1915 to February 1917, Russia had four Prime Ministers, five Ministers of the Interior, three Foreign Ministers, three War Ministers, three Ministers of Transport and four Ministers of Agriculture. This "ministerial leapfrog", as it came to be known, not only removed competent men from power, but also disorganized the work of government since no one remained long enough in office to master their responsibilities. On 2 March 1917
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2394-422: The share of communal land due to him. According to the "Senate clarifications" of the electoral law (January–February 1907), part of the workers and small landowners was excluded from the elections to the Duma. The government in any way sought to ensure an acceptable Duma composition: peasants who were not householders were excluded from the elections, workers could not be elected in the city curia, even if they had
2451-404: The state system" and conspiracy against the royal family. On the basis of this, Nicholas II , on June 3, 1907, announced the dissolution of the Second Duma and the amendment of the electoral law. Deputies of the Second Duma went home. As Peter Stolypin expected, there was no revolutionary flash. It is generally accepted that the act of June 3, 1907 ( Coup of June 1907 ) signified the completion of
2508-402: The strike, demanding woman suffrage , an end to Russian food shortages, and the end of World War I. Although all gathering on the streets were absolutely forbidden, on 25 February, some 250,000 people were on strike. The tsar ordered Sergey Semyonovich Khabalov , an inexperienced and extremely indecisive commander of the Petrograd military district (and Nikolay Iudovich Ivanov ) to suppress
2565-418: The tsarist government. On 17 July 1915 the Duma reconvened for six weeks. Its former members became increasingly displeased with Tsarist control of military and governmental affairs and demanded its own reinstatement. When the tsar refused its call for the replacement of his cabinet on 21 August with a "Ministry of National Confidence", roughly half of the deputies formed a "Progressive Bloc", which in 1917 became
2622-452: The votes of landowners and owners of city properties, and less value to the votes of the peasantry, whom he accused of being "misled", and, in the process, breaking his own Fundamental Laws. This ensured the third Duma (7 November 1907 – 3 June 1912) would be dominated by gentry, landowners and businessmen. The number of deputies from non-Russian regions was greatly reduced. The system facilitated better, if hardly ideal, cooperation between
2679-569: The way for an alternative makeup for the second Duma. The Second Duma (from 20 February 1907 to 3 June 1907) lasted 103 days. One of the new members was Vladimir Purishkevich , strongly opposed to the October Manifesto . The Bolsheviks and Mensheviks (that is, both factions of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party ) and the Socialist Revolutionaries all abandoned their policies of boycotting elections to
2736-422: Was Mikhail Chelnokov (cadet). The Duma continued the struggle for influence on the activities of the government, which led to numerous conflicts and was one of the reasons for the short period of its activities. In general, the Second Duma turned out to be even more radical than its predecessor. Deputies changed tactics, deciding to act within the bounds of the rule of law. Guided by the norms of Articles 5 and 6 of
2793-458: Was also of limited political influence. The first session was held from 15 November 1912 to 25 June 1913, and the second session from 15 October 1913 to 14 June 1914. On 1 July 1914 the tsar suggested that the Duma should be reduced to merely a consultative body, but an extraordinary session was held on 26 July 1914 during the July Crisis . The third session gathered from 27 to 29 January 1915,
2850-437: Was consistently reduced. It also supported more regressive laws, however, such as on the question of Finnish autonomy and Russification , with a fear of the empire breaking up being prevalent. Since the dissolution of the Second Duma a very large proportion of the empire was either under martial law, or one of the milder forms of the state of siege. It was forbidden, for instance, at various times and in various places, to refer to
2907-423: Was dissolved ( Coup of June 1907 ). After that, the electoral legislation was changed. The State Duma of the 2nd convocation worked for 102 days. The Second State Duma of the Russian Empire existed from February 20 to June 2, 1907. Elections to the Second Duma were held according to the same rules as in the First Duma (multi-stage elections for curia). At the same time, the election campaign itself took place against
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#17327719348352964-415: Was elected Chairman. Lev Urusov held a famous speech. Scared by this liberalism, emperor dissolved the parliament, reportedly saying "Curse the Duma. It is all Witte's doing". The same day, Pyotr Stolypin was named as the new prime minister who promoted a coalition cabinet , as did Vasily Maklakov , Alexander Izvolsky , Dmitri Trepov and the emperor. In frustration, Pavel Milyukov , who regarded
3021-403: Was formed, fearing Rasputin's influence over Tsarina Alexandra would increase. The Duma gathered on 9 February 1916 after the 76-year-old Ivan Goremykin had been replaced by Boris Stürmer as prime minister and on the condition not to mention Rasputin. The deputies were disappointed when Stürmer held his speech. Because of the war, he said, it was not the time for constitutional reforms. For
3078-711: Was not asked to remain in session because it would only be in the way." The Duma volunteered its own dissolution until 14 February 1915. A serious conflict arose in January as the government kept information on the battlefield (in April at Gorlice ) secret to the Duma. In May Guchkov initiated the War Industries Committees in order to unite industrialists who were supplying the army with ammunition and military equipment, to mobilize industry for war needs and prolonged military action, to put political pressure on
3135-470: Was rejected by Duma, it was dissolved on 3 June by an ukase (imperial decree) in what became known as the Coup of June 1907 . On June 3, 1907, the Second Duma was dissolved. The reason was an alleged insurrection attempt planned by Social Democrat members of the Duma based on dubious evidence. In the manifesto dissolving the Duma, Nicholas II went into considerable detail to explain his action: “To Our regret,
3192-510: Was superfluous, and that the only two options left were repression or a social revolution." On 19 November Vladimir Purishkevich , one of the founders of the Black Hundreds , gave a speech in the Duma. He declared the monarchy had become discredited because of what he called the "ministerial leapfrog". On 2 December, Alexander Trepov ascended the tribune in the Duma to read the government programme. The deputies shouted "down with
3249-408: Was to be the lower house of a parliament, and the State Council of Imperial Russia the upper house . However, Nicholas II was determined to retain his autocratic power (in which he succeeded). On April 23, 1906 ( O.S. ), he issued the Fundamental Laws , which gave him the title of "supreme autocrat". Although no law could be made without the Duma's assent, neither could the Duma pass laws without
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