General characteristics of the legislative activity of the First and Second State Dumas. The reasons for their fragility.
On April 27, 1906, the State Duma began to work in Russia. Contemporaries called it the “Duma of People's Hopes for a Peaceful Path.” Unfortunately, these hopes were not destined to come true. The Duma was established as a legislative body, without its approval it was impossible to pass a single law, introduce new taxes, or new expenditure items in the state budget. The Duma also had other issues that required legislative support: the state list of income and expenses, state control reports on the use of the state list; cases of alienation of property; cases concerning the construction of railways by the state; cases on the establishment of companies on shares and a number of other equally important cases. The Duma had the right to send requests to the government and more than once declared no confidence in it.
The organizational structure of the State Dumas of all four convocations was determined by the Law “Establishment of the State Duma,” which established the duration of the Duma’s activities (5 years). However, the tsar could dissolve it ahead of schedule by a special decree and set elections and dates for convening a new Duma.
The First State Duma functioned for only 72 days - from April 27 to July 8, 1906. 448 deputies were elected, of which: 153 cadets, 107 Trudoviks, 63 deputies from the national outskirts, 13 Octobrists, 105 non-party members and 7 others. S.A. was elected Chairman of the Duma. Muromtsev (professor, former vice-rector of Moscow University, member of the Central Committee of the Cadet Party, lawyer by training). Leading positions were occupied by prominent figures of the Cadet Party: P.D. Dolgorukov and N.A. Gredeskul (comrades of the chairman), D.I. Shakhovsky (Secretary of the Duma). The First State Duma raised the issue of alienation of landowners' lands and turned into a revolutionary tribune. She proposed a program for broad democratization of Russia (introduction of ministerial responsibility before the Duma, guarantee of all civil liberties, universal free education, abolition death penalty and political amnesty). The government rejected these demands, and on July 9 the Duma was dissolved. As a sign of protest, 230 Duma members signed the Vyborg Appeal to the population, calling for civil disobedience (refusal to pay taxes and serve in the army). This was the first time in the history of Russia that parliamentarians addressed the nation. 167 members of the Duma were brought before the court, which handed down a sentence of 3 months imprisonment. The convening of the Second Duma was announced. P.A. became the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Stolypin (1862-1911), and I.L., who previously held this post. Goremykin (1839-1917) was dismissed.
The Second State Duma worked for 103 days - from February 20 to June 2, 1907. Of the 518 members of the Duma, only 54 members of the right faction were members. The Cadets lost almost half of their seats (from 179 to 98). The left factions increased in number: the Trudoviks had 104 seats, the Social Democrats - 66. Thanks to the support of the Autonomists (76 members) and other parties, the Cadets retained leadership in the Second Duma. Member of the Central Committee of the Cadet Party F.A. was elected its chairman. Golovin (he is also the chairman of the bureau of zemstvo and city congresses, a participant in large railway concessions).
The main issue remained agricultural. Each faction proposed its own draft solution. In addition, the Second Duma considered: the food issue, the budget for 1907, the implementation of the state budget, the recruitment of recruits, the abolition of the emergency decree on military courts, and the reform of the local court. P.A. Stolypin sharply condemned the left factions of the Duma for “supporting bomb throwers,” revolutionary terror, formulating their position with the words “hands up” and the decisive phrase “you will not intimidate.” At the same time, the deputies noted that the Duma was turning into a “department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.” They pointed to the existing state terror and demanded the abolition of military courts. The Duma refused P.A.’s request. Stolypin should be deprived of his immunity and the Social Democratic faction should be exposed as preparing to overthrow the state system. In response to this, on June 3, 1907, the Manifesto and Decree on the dissolution of the Second State Duma and calling elections to the Third Duma were published. At the same time, the text of a new electoral law was published, the approval of this law actually carried out a coup d'etat, since according to the “Basic State Laws” (Article 86) this law had to be considered by the Duma. The new electoral law was reactionary. He actually returned the country to unlimited autocracy and reduced the voting rights of the broad masses of the population to a minimum. The number of electors from landowners increased by almost 33%, and from peasants decreased by 56%. The representation of national borderlands has decreased significantly (in Poland and the Caucasus - by 25 times, in Siberia - by 1.5 times); population Central Asia was generally deprived of the right to elect deputies to the State Duma.
The Law of June 3, 1907 marked the defeat of the Russian Revolution. The number of deputies was reduced from 524 to 448. In subsequent Dumas, the right prevailed. It seems that the reason for the short-lived nature of the first Dumas is that absolutism did not want to simply give up its position without a fight; it wanted, if possible, to reverse the development of history, and at some point it partially succeeded. The period of the “June Third Monarchy” began.
Russian State Duma
Contents of the article
STATE DUMA OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. For the first time, the State Duma as a representative legislative institution of the Russian Empire with limited rights was introduced according to the Manifesto of Emperor Nicholas II On the establishment of the State Duma(received the name “Bulyginskaya”) and of August 6, 1906 and the Manifesto About improvement public order dated October 17, 1905.
First State Duma (1906).
The establishment of the First State Duma was a direct consequence of the Revolution of 1905–1907. Nicholas II, under pressure from the liberal wing of the government, mainly in the person of Prime Minister S.Yu. Witte, decided not to escalate the situation in Russia, making it clear to his subjects in August 1905 of his intention to take into account the public need for a representative body of power. This is directly stated in the manifesto of August 6: “Now the time has come, following their good initiatives, to call on elected people from the entire Russian land to constant and active participation in the drafting of laws, including for this purpose in the composition of the highest state institutions a special legislative advisory institution, to which the development is granted and discussion of government revenues and expenditures.” The Manifesto of October 17, 1905 significantly expanded the powers of the Duma; the third point of the Manifesto transformed the Duma from a legislative advisory body into a legislative body; it became the lower house of the Russian parliament, from where bills were sent to the upper house - the State Council. Simultaneously with the manifesto of October 17, 1905, which contained promises to involve in participation in the legislative State Duma “as far as possible” those sections of the population that were deprived of voting rights, a decree was approved on October 19, 1905 On measures to strengthen unity in the activities of ministries and main departments. In accordance with it, the Council of Ministers turned into a permanent highest government institution, designed to provide “direction and unification of the actions of the main heads of departments on the subjects of legislation and higher public administration.” It was established that bills could not be submitted to the State Duma without prior discussion in the Council of Ministers, in addition, “no management measure of general significance can be adopted by the main heads of departments other than the Council of Ministers.” The ministers of war and navy, the ministers of the court and foreign affairs received relative independence. The “most submissive” reports of the ministers to the tsar were preserved. The Council of Ministers met 2–3 times a week; The chairman of the Council of Ministers was appointed by the king and was responsible only to him. The first chairman of the reformed Council of Ministers was S. Yu. Witte (until April 22, 1906). From April to July 1906, the Council of Ministers was headed by I.L. Goremykin, who enjoyed neither authority nor trust among the ministers. Then he was replaced in this position by the Minister of Internal Affairs P.A. Stolypin (until September 1911).
The First State Duma operated from April 27 to July 9, 1906. Its opening took place in St. Petersburg on April 27, 1906 in the largest Throne Hall of the Winter Palace in the capital. After examining many buildings, it was decided to house the State Duma in the Tauride Palace, built by Catherine the Great for her favorite, His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin.
The procedure for elections to the First Duma was determined in the election law issued in December 1905. According to it, four electoral curiae were established: landowner, city, peasant and workers. According to the workers' curia, only those workers who were employed in enterprises with at least 50 employees were allowed to vote. As a result, 2 million male workers were immediately deprived of the right to vote. Women, young people under 25, military personnel, and a number of national minorities did not take part in the elections. The elections were multi-stage electors - deputies were elected by electors from voters - two-stage, and for workers and peasants three- and four-stage. In the landowning curia there was one elector per 2 thousand voters, in the urban curia - per 4 thousand, in the peasant curia - per 30, in the workers' curia - per 90 thousand. The total number of elected Duma deputies at different times ranged from 480 to 525 people. April 23, 1906 Nicholas II approved , which the Duma could change only on the initiative of the tsar himself. According to the Code, all laws adopted by the Duma were subject to approval by the tsar, and all executive power in the country also continued to be subordinate to the tsar. The tsar appointed ministers, single-handedly directed the country's foreign policy, the armed forces were subordinate to him, he declared war, made peace, and could impose a state of martial law or a state of emergency in any area. Moreover, in Code of Basic State Laws a special paragraph 87 was introduced, which allowed the tsar, during breaks between sessions of the Duma, to issue new laws only in his own name.
The Duma consisted of 524 deputies.
Elections to the First State Duma were held from March 26 to April 20, 1906. Most left-wing parties boycotted the elections - the RSDLP (Bolsheviks), national social democratic parties, the Socialist Revolutionary Party (Socialist Revolutionaries), the All-Russian Peasant Union. The Mensheviks took a contradictory position, declaring their readiness to participate only in the initial stages of the elections. Only the right wing of the Mensheviks, led by G.V. Plekhanov, stood for participation in the elections of deputies and in the work of the Duma. The Social Democratic faction was formed in the State Duma only on June 14, after the arrival of 17 deputies from the Caucasus. In contrast to the revolutionary social democratic faction, everyone who occupied right-wing seats in parliament (they were called “rightists”) united into a special parliamentary party - the Peaceful Renewal Party. Together with the “group of progressives” there were 37 people. The constitutional democrats of the KDP (“Cadets”) carried out their election campaign thoughtfully and skillfully; they managed to bring the majority of democratic voters to their side with their commitments to restore order in the work of the government, carry out radical peasant and labor reforms, and introduce by law the entire range of civil rights and political freedoms. The tactics of the Cadets brought them victory in the elections: they received 161 seats in the Duma, or 1/3 of the total number of deputies. At some points, the number of cadet factions reached 179 deputies. The CDP (People's Freedom Party) advocated for democratic rights and freedoms: conscience and religion, speech, press, public meetings, unions and societies, strikes, movement, for the abolition of the passport system, inviolability of person and home, etc. The KDP program included items on the election of people's representatives through universal, equal and direct elections without distinction of religion, nationality and gender, the expansion of local self-government throughout the entire territory of the Russian state, the expansion of the range of local government departments to the entire area of local government; concentration of part of the funds from the state budget in local governments, the impossibility of punishment without a verdict of the competent court that has entered into force, the abolition of the intervention of the Minister of Justice in the appointment or transfer of judges to conduct cases, the abolition of the court with class representatives, the abolition of the property qualification when filling the position of a magistrate and execution jury duty, abolition of the death penalty, etc. Detailed program also concerned the reform of education, the agricultural sector, and taxation (a progressive taxation system was proposed).
The Black Hundred parties did not receive seats in the Duma. The Union of October 17 (Octobrists) suffered a serious defeat in the elections - by the beginning of the Duma session they had only 13 deputy seats, then their group became 16 deputies. There were also 18 Social Democrats in the First Duma. There were 63 representatives from the so-called national minorities, 105 from non-party members. Representatives of the Agrarian Labor Party of Russia – or “trudoviks” – were also a significant force in the First Duma. The Trudovik faction numbered 97 deputies in its ranks. On April 28, 1906, at a meeting of deputies of the 1st State Duma from peasants, workers and intellectuals, a Labor Group was formed and a Temporary Committee of the group was elected. The Trudoviks declared themselves representatives of the “working classes of the people”: “peasants, factory workers and intelligent workers, aiming to unite them around the most urgent demands of the working people, which should and can be implemented in the near future through the State Duma.” The formation of the faction was caused by disagreements over agrarian question peasant deputies with the Cadets, as well as the activities of revolutionary democratic organizations and parties, primarily the All-Russian Peasant Union (VKS) and the Socialist Revolutionaries interested in consolidating the peasants in the Duma. By the opening of the First Duma, 80 deputies definitely announced their joining the Trudovik faction. By the end of 1906 there were 150 deputies. Peasants made up 81.3% of it, Cossacks - 3.7%, and burghers - 8.4%. Initially, the faction was formed on a non-party principle, so it included cadets, Social Democratic Socialist Revolutionaries, members of the VKS, progressives, autonomists, non-party socialists, etc. About half of the Trudoviks were members of left parties. The party-political diversity was overcome with the process of developing a program, the charter of the group and the adoption of a number of measures to strengthen factional discipline (members of the group were prohibited from joining other factions, speaking in the Duma without the knowledge of the faction, acting in contradiction with the faction program, etc.).
After the opening of the sessions of the State Duma, the non-partisan Union of Autonomists was formed, numbering about 100 deputies. Both members of the People's Freedom Party and the Labor Group took part in it. On the basis of this faction, a party of the same name was soon formed, which advocated the decentralization of public administration on the basis of democratic principles and the principle of broad autonomy of individual regions, ensuring minorities of civil, cultural, national rights, the use of their native language in public and government institutions, the right to cultural and national self-determination with the abolition of all privileges and restrictions based on nationality and religion. The core of the party consisted of representatives of the western outskirts, mainly large landowners. Independent politics was carried out by 35 deputies from 10 provinces of the Kingdom of Poland, who formed the “Polish Kolo” party.
From the very beginning of its activity, the First Duma demonstrated its desire for independence and independence from the tsarist government. Due to the non-simultaneous nature of the elections, the work of the First State Duma was carried out with an incomplete composition. Having taken a leading position in the Duma, the Cadets on May 5, in a written response to the Tsar’s “throne” speech, unanimously included the demand for the abolition of the death penalty and amnesty for political prisoners, the establishment of the responsibility of ministers to the people’s representation, the abolition of the State Council, the real implementation of political freedoms, universal equality, the elimination of state , appanage monastic lands and forced purchase of privately owned lands to eliminate the land hunger of the Russian peasant. The deputies hoped that the tsar would accept deputy Muromtsev with these demands, but Nicholas II did not honor him with this honor. The response of the Duma members was given in the usual manner for “royal reading” to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers I.L. Goremykin. Eight days later, on May 13, 1906, Chairman of the Council of Ministers Goremykin refused all the demands of the Duma.
On May 19, 1906, 104 deputies of the Labor Group introduced their own bill (project 104). The essence agrarian reform according to the bill, it was reduced to the formation of a “public land fund” to provide for the landless and land-poor peasantry by giving them – not for ownership, but for use – plots within the limits of a certain “labor” or “consumer” norm. As for the landowners, the Trudoviks proposed leaving them only a “labor standard.” The confiscation of land from landowners should, according to the authors of the project, be compensated by rewarding the landowners for the confiscated lands.
On June 6, Esser’s even more radical “Project of 33” appeared. It provided for the immediate and complete destruction of private ownership of land and declaring it, along with all its mineral resources and waters, the common property of the entire population of Russia. The discussion of the agrarian question in the Duma caused an increase in public excitement among the broad masses and revolutionary uprisings in the country. Wanting to strengthen the position of the government, some of its representatives - Izvolsky, Kokovtsev, Trepov, Kaufman - came up with a project to update the government by including cadets (Milyukova and others). However, this proposal did not receive the support of the conservative part of the government. The left liberals, calling the new institution in the structure of the autocracy the “Duma of Popular Wrath,” began, in their words, “an assault on the government.” The Duma adopted a resolution of complete no-confidence in Goremykin's government and demanded his resignation. In response, some ministers declared a boycott of the Duma and stopped attending its meetings. The deliberate humiliation of the deputies was the first bill sent to the Duma appropriating 40 thousand rubles for the construction of a palm greenhouse and the construction of a laundry at Yuryev University.
On July 6, 1906, the elderly Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Ivan Goremykin, was replaced by the energetic P. Stolypin (Stolypin retained the post of Minister of Internal Affairs, which he had previously held). On July 9, 1906, deputies came to the Tauride Palace for the next meeting and came across closed doors; Nearby on a pole hung a manifesto signed by the tsar about the termination of the work of the First Duma, since it, designed to “bring calm” to society, only “incites unrest.” The manifesto on the dissolution of the Duma stated that the law establishing the State Duma “has been preserved without changes.” On this basis, preparations began for a new campaign, this time for elections to the Second State Duma.
So I State Duma existed in Russia for only 72 days, during which time it accepted 391 requests about illegal government actions.
After its dissolution, about 200 deputies, among them Cadets, Trudoviks and Social Democrats, gathered in Vyborg, where they adopted an appeal To the people from the people's representatives. It said that the government was resisting the allocation of land to the peasants, that it did not have the right to collect taxes and conscript soldiers for military service or make loans without popular representation. The appeal called for resistance through such actions as refusal to give money to the treasury and sabotage of conscription into the army. The government initiated criminal proceedings against the signatories of the Vyborg Appeal. By court decision, all “signatories” served three months in the fortress, and then were deprived of electoral (and, in fact, civil) rights during elections to the new Duma and other public positions.
The Chairman of the First Duma was cadet Sergei Aleksandrovich Muromtsev, a professor at St. Petersburg University.
S. Muromtsev
born September 23, 1850. From an old noble family. After graduating from Moscow University, Faculty of Law and spending more than a year on an internship in Germany, he defended his master's thesis in 1874, his doctorate in 1877 and became a professor. In 1875–1884, Muromtsev wrote six monographs and many articles, in which he substantiated the idea of bringing science and law closer to sociology, innovative for that time. He worked as vice-rector of Moscow University. After being removed from the post of vice-rector, he began to “instill legal consciousness in society” through the popular publication “Legal Bulletin,” which he edited for many years, until in 1892, this magazine, due to its direction, was banned. Muromtsev was also the chairman of the Legal Society, led it for a long time and managed to attract many outstanding scientists, lawyers, and prominent public figures to the society. During the heyday of populism, he opposed political extremism, defended the concept of evolutionary development, and sympathized with the zemstvo movement. Muromtsev’s scientific and political views were able to clearly manifest themselves only in 1905–1906, when, elected as a deputy and then chairman of the First State Duma, he took an active part in the preparation of a new edition of the Basic Laws of the Russian Empire, and above all, Chapter Eight About rights and responsibilities Russian citizens and ninth - About laws. Signed Vyborg Appeal July 10, 1906 in Vyborg and convicted under Article 129, Part 1, Clause 51 and 3 of the Criminal Code. Died 1910.
Comrades (deputies) of the Chairman of the First State Duma were Prince Pyotr Nikolaevich Dolgorukov and Nikolai Andreevich Gredeskul. The Secretary of the State Duma was Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Shakhovskoy, his comrades were Grigory Nikitich Shaposhnikov, Shchensny Adamovich Poniatovsky, Semyon Martynovich Ryzhkov, Fedor Fedorovich Kokoshin, Gavriil Feliksovich Shershenevich.
Second State Duma (1907).
Elections to the Second State Duma were held according to the same rules as to the First Duma (multi-stage elections by curiae). At the same time, the election campaign itself took place against the backdrop of a fading but ongoing revolution: “agrarian riots” in July 1906 covered 32 provinces of Russia, and in August 1906 peasant unrest covered 50% of the counties of European Russia. The tsarist government finally took the path of open terror in the fight against the revolutionary movement, which was gradually declining. The government of P. Stolypin established military courts, severely persecuted revolutionaries, suspended the publication of 260 daily and periodical publications, and applied administrative sanctions to opposition parties.
Within 8 months the revolution was suppressed. According to the Law of October 5, 1906, peasants were given equal rights with the rest of the country's population. The Second Land Law of November 9, 1906 allowed any peasant to demand his share of the communal land at any time.
By any means, the government sought to ensure an acceptable composition of the Duma: peasants who were not householders were excluded from elections, workers could not be elected in the city curia, even if they had the housing qualification required by law, etc. Twice, on the initiative of P.A. Stolypin, the Council of Ministers discussed the issue of changing the electoral legislation (July 8 and September 7, 1906), but members of the government came to the conclusion that such a step was inappropriate, since it was associated with a violation of the Basic Laws and could lead to an aggravation of the revolutionary struggle.
This time, representatives of the entire party spectrum, including the far left, took part in the elections. In general, four currents fought: the right, standing for strengthening the autocracy; the Octobrists who accepted Stolypin's program; cadets; a left bloc that united Social Democrats, Socialist Revolutionaries and other socialist groups. Many noisy pre-election meetings were held with “debates” between the Cadets, Socialists and Octobrists. And yet the election campaign had a different character than during the elections to the First Duma. No one defended the government then. Now the struggle took place within society between electoral blocs of parties.
The Bolsheviks, having abandoned the boycott of the Duma, adopted the tactic of creating a bloc of left forces - Bolsheviks, Trudoviks and Socialist Revolutionaries (the Mensheviks refused to participate in the bloc) - against the right and Cadets. A total of 518 deputies were elected to the Second Duma. The Constitutional Democrats (Kadets), having lost 80 seats in comparison with the First Duma (almost half as many), nevertheless managed to form a faction of 98 deputies.
The Social Democrats (RSDLP) received 65 seats (their number increased due to the abandonment of boycott tactics), the People's Socialists - 16, the Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) - 37. These three parties received a total of 118 out of 518, i.e. more than 20% of parliamentary mandates. The Labor Group, the faction of the All-Russian Peasant Union and those adjacent to them, a total of 104 deputies, were very strong, formally non-party, but strongly influenced by the socialists. During the election campaign to the 2nd State Duma, the Trudoviks launched extensive agitation and propaganda work. They abandoned the program, recognizing that it was sufficient to develop “the general principles of the platform” in order to ensure its acceptability for “people of different moods.” The basis of the Trudoviks’ electoral program was the “Draft Platform,” which contained demands for large-scale democratic changes: Convening a Constituent Assembly, which was supposed to determine the form of “democracy”; the introduction of universal suffrage, equality of citizens before the law, personal inviolability, freedom of speech, press, meetings, unions, etc., urban and rural local government; in the social field - the abolition of estates and estate restrictions, the establishment of a progressive income tax, the introduction of universal free training; carrying out army reform; “complete equality of all nationalities” was proclaimed, cultural and national autonomy of individual regions while maintaining the unity and integrity of the Russian state; The basis of agrarian reforms was the “Project 104”.
Thus, the share of left-wing deputies in the Second Duma accounted for about 43% of deputy mandates (222 mandates).
The moderates and Octobrists improved their affairs (Union of October 17) - 32 seats and the right - 22 mandates. Thus, the right (or more precisely the center-right) wing of the Duma had 54 mandates (10%).
National groups received 76 seats (Polish Kolo - 46 and the Muslim faction - 30). In addition, the Cossack group consisted of 17 deputies. The Democratic Reform Party received only 1 deputy mandate. The number of non-party members was reduced by half, there were 50 of them. At the same time, the Polish deputies who formed the Polish Kolo belonged, for the most part, to the People's Democratic Party, which, in essence, was a bloc of magnates of Polish industry and finance, as well as large land owners. In addition to the “Narodovtsy” (or National Democrats), who formed the basis of the Polish Kolo, it included several members of the Polish national parties: real politics and progressive politics. By joining the Polish Kolo and submitting to its factional discipline, representatives of these parties “lost their party individuality.” Thus, the Polish Colo of the Second Duma was formed from deputies who were members of the national parties of people's democracy, real and progressive politics. Polish Kolo supported the Stolypin government in its fight against the revolutionary movement both within Poland and throughout the empire. This support in the Second Duma was expressed mainly in the fact that the Polish Kolo, in the confrontation with the left factions of the Duma opposition, primarily with the Social Democratic one, approved government measures of a repressive nature. Having directed their Duma activities to defending the autonomy of the Kingdom of Poland, the Poles represented a special group with special goals. The Chairman of the Polish Kolo II Duma was R.V. Dmowski.
The opening of the Second State Duma took place on February 20, 1907. The right-wing cadet Fyodor Aleksandrovich Golovin, elected from the Moscow province, became the Chairman of the Duma.
F. Golovin
born December 21, 1867 into a noble family. In 1891 he completed a course at the university department of the Tsarevich Nicholas Lyceum and took an exam at the legal testing commission at the university. Upon completion of the exams, he received a second degree diploma. After studying he began performing in the field social activities. For a long time he was a member of the Dmitrov district zemstvo. From 1896 - a member of the Moscow provincial zemstvo, and from the next 1897, a member of the provincial zemstvo council, head of the insurance department. Since 1898 he participated in railway concessions.
Since 1899 - member of the "Conversation" circle, since 1904 - of the "Union of Zemstvo Constitutionalists". Constantly participated in congresses of zemstvo and city leaders. In 1904–1905 he served as chairman of the bureau of zemstvo and city congresses. On June 6, 1905, he took part in the deputation of Zemstvo residents to Emperor Nicholas II. At the founding congress of the Constitutional Democratic Party (October 1905) he was elected to the Central Committee and headed the Moscow Provincial Committee of Cadets; played an active role in negotiations between the cadet leadership and the government (October 1905) on the creation of a constitutional cabinet of ministers. On February 20, 1907, at the first meeting of the State Duma of the second convocation, he was elected chairman by a majority of votes (356 out of 518 possible). During the work of the Duma, he unsuccessfully tried to achieve agreement between various political forces and business contacts with the government. His insufficiently clear adherence to the line of the Cadet Party led to the fact that in the Third Duma he remained an ordinary deputy and worked on the Peasant Commission. In 1910, in connection with receiving a railway concession, he resigned as a deputy, considering these two activities incompatible. In 1912 he was elected mayor of Baku, however, due to his affiliation with the cadet party, the governor of the Caucasus did not confirm him in office. During the First World War he actively participated in the creation and activities of a number of societies; one of the founders and member of the executive bureau, and from January 1916 - member of the Council of the Cooperation Society, chairman of the Society for Relief to War Victims; Chairman of the Board of the Moscow People's Bank, participated in the work of the All-Russian Union of Cities. From March 1917 - Commissioner of the Provisional Government. Participated in the State Meeting. Delegate to the 9th Congress of the Cadet Party, candidate member of the Constituent Assembly (from Moscow, Ufa and Penza provinces). After the October Revolution he served in Soviet institutions. On charges of belonging to an anti-Soviet organization, by decision of the “troika” of the NKVD of the Moscow Region on November 21, 1937, at the age of seventy, he was shot. Posthumously rehabilitated in 1989.
Nikolai Nikolaevich Poznansky and Mikhail Egorovich Berezin were elected deputy (comrades) chairman of the State Duma. The secretary of the Second State Duma was Mikhail Vasilyevich Chelnokov, his comrades were Viktor Petrovich Uspensky, Vasily Akimovich Kharlamov, Lev Vasilyevich Kartashev, Sergei Nikolaevich Saltykov, Sartrutdin Nazmutdinovich Maksudov.
The Second Duma also had only one session. The Second Duma continued to struggle for influence on the activities of the government, which led to numerous conflicts and became one of the reasons for the short period of its activity. In general, the Second Duma turned out to be even more radical than its predecessor. The deputies changed tactics, deciding to act within the framework of the law. Guided by the norms of Articles 5 and 6 Regulations 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 began to develop numerous bills. The main issue remained the agrarian issue, on which each faction presented its own project. In addition, the Second Duma actively considered the food issue, discussed the State Budget for 1907, the issue of conscripting recruits, the abolition of courts-martial, etc.
During the consideration of issues, the Cadets showed compliance, calling to “protect the Duma” and not give the government a reason to dissolve it. At the initiative of the Cadets, the Duma refused to debate the main provisions of the government declaration, which was delivered by P.A. Stolypin and main idea which was to create “material norms” in which new social and legal relations should be embodied.
The main subject of debate in the Duma in the spring of 1907 was the question of taking emergency measures against the revolutionaries. The government, introducing to the Duma a draft law on the use of emergency measures against revolutionaries, pursued a dual goal: to hide its initiative to wage terror against revolutionaries behind the decision of a collegial government body and to discredit the Duma in the eyes of the population. However, on May 17, 1907, the Duma voted against the “illegal actions” of the police. The government was not happy with such disobedience. The staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs prepared a draft of a new electoral law in secret from the Duma. A false accusation was made up about the participation of 55 deputies in a conspiracy against the royal family. On June 1, 1907, P. Stolypin demanded the removal of 55 Social Democrats from participation in Duma meetings and the deprivation of 16 of them parliamentary immunity, accusing them of preparing for the “overthrow of the state system.”
Based on this far-fetched reason, Nicholas II on June 3, 1907 announced the dissolution of the Second Duma and changes in the electoral law (from a legal point of view, this meant a coup d'etat). Deputies of the Second Duma went home. As P. Stolypin expected, no revolutionary outbreak followed. It is generally accepted that the act of June 3, 1907 meant the completion of the Russian Revolution of 1905–1907.
The Manifesto on the dissolution of the State Duma on June 3, 1907 says: “... A significant part of the composition of the second State Duma did not live up to Our expectations. Not with a pure heart, not with a desire to strengthen Russia and improve its system, many of the people sent from the population began to work, but with a clear desire to increase unrest and contribute to the disintegration of the State.
The activities of these individuals in the State Duma served as an insurmountable obstacle to fruitful work. A spirit of hostility was introduced into the environment of the Duma itself, which prevented a sufficient number of its members who wanted to work for the benefit of their native land from uniting.
For this reason, the State Duma either did not consider the extensive measures developed by Our Government at all, or slowed down the discussion, or rejected it, not even stopping to reject the laws that punished the open praise of crime and especially punished the sowers of trouble in the troops. Avoiding condemnation of murders and violence. The State Duma did not provide moral assistance to the Government in establishing order, and Russia continues to experience the shame of criminal hard times
A significant part of the Duma turned the right of inquiries to the Government into a way of fighting the Government and inciting distrust of it among broad sections of the population.
Finally, an act unheard of in the annals of history took place. The judiciary uncovered a conspiracy by an entire part of the State Duma against the State and the Tsarist Power. When Our Government demanded the temporary, until the end of the trial, removal of the fifty-five members of the Duma accused of this crime and the detention of the most incriminated of them, the State Duma did not immediately fulfill the legal demand of the authorities, which did not allow any delay.
All this prompted Us, by decree given to the Governing Senate on June 3, to dissolve the State Duma of the second convocation, setting the date for convening the new Duma on November 1, 1907...
Created to strengthen the Russian State, the State Duma must be Russian in spirit.
Other nationalities that are part of Our State should have representatives of their needs in the State Duma, but they should not and will not be among them, giving them the opportunity to be the arbiters of purely Russian issues.
In those outskirts of the State where the population has not achieved sufficient development of citizenship, elections to the State Duma should be suspended.
All these changes in the election procedure cannot be carried out in the usual legislative way through the State Duma, the composition of which We have recognized as unsatisfactory, due to the imperfection of the very method of electing its Members. Only the Authority that granted the first electoral law, the historical Authority of the Russian Tsar, has the right to repeal it and replace it with a new one...”
(Complete Code of Laws, Third Collection, Vol. XXVII, No. 29240).
Third State Duma (1907-1912).
The Third State Duma of the Russian Empire served a full term of office from November 1, 1907 to June 9, 1912 and turned out to be the most politically durable of the first four state dumas. She was elected according to Manifesto on the dissolution of the State Duma, on the time of convening a new Duma and on changing the procedure for elections to the State Duma And Regulations on elections to the State Duma dated June 3, 1907, which were published by Emperor Nicholas II simultaneously with the dissolution of the Second State Duma.
The new electoral law significantly limited the voting rights of peasants and workers. The total number of electors for the peasant curia was reduced by 2 times. The peasant curia, therefore, had only 22% of the total number of electors (versus 41.4% under suffrage Regulations on elections to the State Duma 1905). The number of workers' electors accounted for 2.3% of the total number of electors. Significant changes were made to the election procedure for the City Curia, which was divided into 2 categories: the first congress of urban voters (big bourgeoisie) received 15% of all electors and the second congress of urban voters (petty bourgeoisie) received only 11%. The First Curia (congress of farmers) received 49% of the electors (versus 34% in 1905). Workers of the majority of Russian provinces (with the exception of 6) could participate in elections only through the second city curia - as tenants or in accordance with the property qualification. The law of June 3, 1907 gave the Minister of the Interior the right to change the boundaries of electoral districts and at all stages of elections to divide electoral assemblies into independent branches. Representation from the national outskirts has sharply decreased. For example, previously 37 deputies were elected from Poland, but now there are 14, from the Caucasus there used to be 29, but now only 10. The Muslim population of Kazakhstan and Central Asia was generally deprived of representation.
The total number of Duma deputies was reduced from 524 to 442.
Only 3,500,000 people took part in the elections to the Third Duma. 44% of the deputies were noble landowners. The legal parties after 1906 remained: “Union of the Russian People”, “Union of October 17” and the Peaceful Renewal Party. They formed the backbone of the Third Duma. The opposition was weakened and did not prevent P. Stolypin from carrying out reforms. In the Third Duma, elected under the new electoral law, the number of opposition-minded deputies significantly decreased, and on the contrary, the number of deputies supporting the government and the tsarist administration increased.
In the third Duma there were 50 far-right deputies, moderate right and nationalists - 97. Groups appeared: Muslim - 8 deputies, Lithuanian-Belarusian - 7, Polish - 11. The Third Duma, the only one of the four, worked all the time required by the law on elections to the Duma five-year term, five sessions held.
| Factions | Number of deputies 1st session | Number of deputies V session |
| Far right (Russian nationalists) | 91 | 75 |
| Rights | 49 | 51 |
| 148 | 120 | |
| Progressives | 25 | 36 |
| Cadets | 53 | 53 |
| Polish colo | 11 | 11 |
| Muslim group | 8 | 9 |
| Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian group | 7 | 7 |
| Trudoviks | 14 | 11 |
| Social Democrats | 9 | 13 |
| Non-partisan | 26 | 23 |
An extreme right-wing deputy group arose led by V.M. Purishkevich. At Stolypin’s suggestion and with government money, a new faction, the “Union of Nationalists,” was created with its own club. She competed with the Black Hundred faction “Russian Assembly”. These two groups constituted the “legislative center” of the Duma. Statements by their leaders were often overtly xenophobic.
At the very first meetings of the Third Duma , which opened its work on November 1, 1907, a right-wing Octobrist majority was formed, which amounted to almost 2/3, or 300 members. Since the Black Hundreds were against the Manifesto of October 17, differences arose between them and the Octobrists on a number of issues, and then the Octobrists found support from the progressives and the much improved Cadets. This is how the second Duma majority was formed, the Octobrist-Cadet majority, which made up about 3/5 of the Duma (262 members).
The presence of this majority determined the nature of the activities of the Third Duma and ensured its efficiency. A special group of progressives was formed (initially 24 deputies, then the number of the group reached 36, later on the basis of the group arose the Progressive Party (1912–1917), which occupied an intermediate position between the Cadets and the Octobrists. The leaders of the progressives were V.P. and P.P. Ryabushinsky The radical factions - 14 Trudoviks and 15 Social Democrats - stood apart, but they could not seriously influence the course of Duma activities.
The position of each of the three main groups - right, left and center - was determined at the very first meetings of the Third Duma. The Black Hundreds, who did not approve of Stolypin’s reform plans, unconditionally supported all his measures to combat opponents of the existing system. Liberals tried to resist the reaction, but in some cases Stolypin could count on their relatively friendly attitude towards the reforms proposed by the government. At the same time, none of the groups could either fail or approve this or that bill when voting alone. In such a situation, everything was decided by the position of the center - the Octobrists. Although it did not constitute a majority in the Duma, the outcome of the vote depended on it: if the Octobrists voted together with other right-wing factions, then a right-wing Octobrist majority (about 300 people) was created, if together with the Cadets, then an Octobrist-Cadet majority (about 250 people) . These two blocs in the Duma allowed the government to maneuver and carry out both conservative and liberal reforms. Thus, the Octobrist faction played the role of a kind of “pendulum” in the Duma.
Over the five years of its existence (until June 9, 1912), the Duma held 611 meetings, at which 2,572 bills were considered, of which 205 were put forward by the Duma itself. The main place in the Duma debates was occupied by the agrarian question related to the reform, labor and national. Among the bills adopted were laws on private ownership of land by peasants (1910), on insurance of workers against accidents and illness, on the introduction of local self-government in the western provinces, and others. In general, of the 2,197 bills approved by the Duma, the majority were laws on estimates of various departments and departments; the state budget was approved annually in the Duma. In 1909, the government, contrary to basic state laws, removed military legislation from the jurisdiction of the Duma. There were failures in the functioning mechanism of the Duma (during the constitutional crisis of 1911, the Duma and the State Council were dissolved for 3 days). Throughout the entire period of its activity, the Third Duma experienced constant crises, in particular, conflicts arose on issues of reforming the army, agrarian reform, on the issue of attitude towards the “national outskirts,” as well as due to the personal ambitions of parliamentary leaders.
Bills coming to the Duma from ministries were first of all considered by the Duma meeting, consisting of the Chairman of the Duma, his comrades, the Secretary of the Duma and his comrade. The meeting prepared a preliminary conclusion on sending the bill to one of the commissions, which was then approved by the Duma. Each project was considered by the Duma in three readings. In the first, which began with a speech by the speaker, there was a general discussion of the bill. At the end of the debate, the chairman made a proposal to move to article-by-article reading.
After the second reading, the chairman and secretary of the Duma made a summary of all the resolutions adopted on the bill. At the same time, but no later than a certain period, it was allowed to propose new amendments. The third reading was essentially a second article-by-article reading. Its purpose was to neutralize those amendments that could pass in the second reading with the help of a random majority and did not suit influential factions. At the end of the third reading, the presiding officer put the bill as a whole with the adopted amendments to a vote.
The Duma's own legislative initiative was limited by the requirement that each proposal come from at least 30 deputies.
In the Third Duma, which lasted the longest, there were about 30 commissions. Large commissions, such as the budget commission, consisted of several dozen people. Elections of commission members were carried out at general meeting Duma upon preliminary approval of candidates in factions. In most commissions, all factions had their representatives.
During 1907–1912, three chairmen of the State Duma were replaced: Nikolai Alekseevich Khomyakov (November 1, 1907 – March 1910), Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov (March 1910 – 1911), Mikhail Vladimirovich Rodzyanko (1911–1912). The chairman’s comrades were Prince Vladimir Mikhailovich Volkonsky (substituting comrade chairman for the Chairman of the State Duma) and Mikhail Yakovlevich Kapustin. Ivan Petrovich Sozonovich was elected Secretary of the State Duma, Nikolai Ivanovich Miklyaev (senior comrade of the Secretary), Nikolai Ivanovich Antonov, Georgy Georgievich Zamyslovsky, Mikhail Andreevich Iskritsky, Vasily Semenovich Sokolov were elected Secretary of the State Duma.
Nikolai Alekseevich Khomyakov
born in Moscow in 1850, into a family of hereditary nobles. His father, Khomyakov A.S., was a famous Slavophile. In 1874 he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. Since 1880, Khomyakov N.A., was Sychevsky district, and in 1886–1895 Smolensk provincial leader of the nobility. In 1896, director of the Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property. Since 1904, member of the Agricultural Council of the Ministry of Agriculture. Participant of the zemstvo congresses of 1904–1905, he was an Octobrist, and since 1906 a member of the Central Committee of the Union of October 17th. In 1906 he was elected a member of the State Council from the nobility of the Smolensk province. Deputy of the 2nd and 4th State Dumas from the Smolensk province, member of the Bureau of the parliamentary faction of the Union of October 17th. From November 1907 to March 1910 - Chairman of the 3rd State Duma. In 1913–1915, chairman of the St. Petersburg Club of Public Figures. Died in 1925.
Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov
born on October 14, 1862 in Moscow into a merchant family. In 1881 he graduated from the 2nd Moscow Gymnasium, and in 1886 he graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University, with a candidate's degree. After serving as a volunteer in the 1st Life Guards Regiment of the Ekaterinoslavsky Regiment and passing the exam for the officer rank of warrant officer in the army infantry reserve, he went abroad to continue his studies. He listened to lectures at Berlin, Tübingen and Vienna universities, studied history, international, state and financial law, political economy, and labor legislation. In the late 80s - early 90s, he was a member of a circle of young historians, lawyers, and economists grouped around Moscow University professor P.G. Vinogradov. In 1888 he was elected an honorary justice of the peace in Moscow. In 1892–1893, on the staff of the Nizhny Novgorod governor, he was engaged in the food business in Lukoyanovsky district. In 1893 he was elected a member of the Moscow City Duma. In 1896–1897 he served as a comrade of the mayor. In 1898 he entered the Orenburg Cossack Hundred as a junior officer as part of the newly formed Special Security Guard of the Chinese Eastern Railway. In 1895, during the period of aggravation of anti-army sentiments in Turkey, he made an unofficial trip through the territory of the Ottoman Empire, and in 1896 he crossed through Tibet. From 1897 to 1907 he was a member of the City Duma. In 1897–1899 he served as a junior officer in the guards of the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria. In 1899, together with his brother Fedor, he made a dangerous journey - in 6 months they traveled 12 thousand miles on horseback across China, Mongolia and Central Asia.
In 1900, he participated as a volunteer in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902: he fought on the side of the Boers. In a battle near Lindley (Orange Republic) in May 1900, he was seriously wounded in the thigh, and after the city was captured by British troops, he was captured, but was released after recovery “on parole.” Upon returning to Russia, he was engaged in business. He was elected director, then manager of the Moscow Accounting Bank and a member of the boards of the St. Petersburg Petrograd Accounting and Loan Bank, the Rossiya Insurance Company, and the A.S. Suvorin Partnership - “New Time”. By the beginning of 1917, the value of the property belonging to Guchkov was estimated at no less than 600 thousand rubles. In 1903, a few weeks before the wedding, he left for Macedonia and, together with its rebel population, fought against the Turks for the independence of the Slavs. In September 1903 he married Maria Ilyinichna Ziloti, who came from a famous noble family and was in close family relations with S. Rachmaninov. In the years Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905 Guchkov was again on Far East as a representative of the Moscow City Duma, and assistant to the chief commissioner of the Russian Red Cross Society and the Committee of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna under the Manchurian Army. After the Battle of Mukden and the retreat of the Russian troops, he remained with the Russian wounded in the hospital to protect their interests and was captured. He returned to Moscow as a national hero. During the revolution of 1905–1907, he defended the ideas of moderate national liberalism, spoke out in favor of preserving the historical continuity of power, cooperation with the tsarist government in implementing the reforms outlined in the Manifesto of October 17, 1905. Based on these ideas, he created the “Union of October 17” party, the recognized leader of which he was throughout all the years of its existence. In the fall of 1905, Guchkov took part in negotiations between S. Yu. Witte and public figures. In December 1905, he participated in Tsarsko-Selo meetings to develop an electoral law for the State Duma. There he spoke out in favor of abandoning the class principle of representation in the Duma. Supporter of a constitutional monarchy with a strong central executive power. He defended the principle of a “single and indivisible empire”, but recognized the right of individual peoples to cultural autonomy. Opposed sudden radical changes political system fraught, in his opinion, with the suppression of the historical evolution of the country, the collapse Russian statehood.
In December 1906 he founded the newspaper "Voice of Moscow". Initially he supported the reforms carried out by P.A. Stolypin, and considered the introduction of courts-martial in 1906 as a form of self-defense of state power and protection of the civilian population during national, social and other conflicts. In May 1907 he was elected a member of the State Council from industry and trade, in October he refused membership in the Council, was elected as a deputy of the 3rd State Duma, and led the Octobrist action. He was chairman of the Duma Defense Commission, and in March 1910 - March 1911 chairman of the State Duma. He had frequent conflicts with Duma deputies: he challenged Miliukov to a duel (the conflict was settled by seconds), fought with Count. A.A. Uvarov. He made a number of sharply oppositional speeches - on the estimate of the War Ministry (autumn 1908), on the estimate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (winter 1910), etc. In 1912, he conflicted with the Minister of War V. A. Sukhomlinov in connection with the introduction of political surveillance of officers in the army. Challenged to a duel by the gendarme lieutenant colonel Myasoedov, who was attached to the Ministry of War (later executed for treason), he shot in the air (this was the 6th duel in Guchkov’s life). Having resigned the title of Chairman of the Duma, in protest against the implementation of the law on zemstvos in the western provinces, bypassing the Duma, Guchkov was in Manchuria until the summer of 1911 as a representative of the Cross to combat the plague epidemic in the colony. Initiator of the transition of the "Union of October 17" to the opposition to the government due to the strengthening of reactionary tendencies in its policies. In a speech at a conference of Octobrists in (November 1913), speaking about “prostration”, “senility” and “internal mortification” of the Russian state body, he spoke in favor of the party’s transition from a “loyal” attitude towards the government to increasing pressure on it through parliamentary methods. At the beginning of the 1st World War at the front, as a special representative of the Russian Red Cross Society, he was involved in the organization of hospitals. He was one of the organizers and chairman of the Central Military Industrial Committee, a member of the Special Defense Conference, where he supported General A.A. Polivanov. In 1915 he was re-elected to the Council of the Trade and Industrial Curia. Member of the Progressive Bloc. Public accusations of the Rasputin clique displeased the emperor and the court (Guchkov was under secret surveillance). At the end of 1916–1917, together with a group of officers, he hatched plans for a dynastic coup (the abdication of Emperor Nicholas in favor of an heir during the regency of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich) and the creation of a ministry of liberal politicians responsible to the Duma.
On March 2, 1917, as a representative of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma (together with V.V. Shulgin) in Pskov, he accepted the abdication of Nicholas II from power and brought royal manifesto to Petrograd (in connection with this, later in exile, a monarchist attempted to assassinate Guchkov). From March 2 (15) to May 2 (15), 1917, military and naval minister of the Provisional Government, then participant in the preparation of a military coup. Participated in the State Conference in Moscow (August 1917), at which he spoke in favor of strengthening central government power to combat “chaos”, member of the Provisional Council Russian Republic(Pre-Parliament) from the military-industrial committees. On the eve of the October Revolution, Guchkov moved to North Caucasus. During the Civil War, he actively participated in the creation of the Volunteer Army, and was one of the first to give money to generals Alekseev and Denikin (10,000 rubles) for its formation. In 1919, he was sent by A.I. Denikin to Western Europe for negotiations with the leaders of the Entente. There Guchkov tried to arrange the transfer of weapons to the army of General Yudenich, which was advancing on Petrograd, and discovered a sharply negative attitude towards this on the part of the governments of the Baltic states. Remaining in exile, first in Berlin, then in Paris, Guchkov was outside the emigrant political groups, but nevertheless participated in many all-Russian congresses. He often traveled to the countries where his compatriots lived in the 20s and 30s, and provided assistance to Russian refugees, and worked in the administration of the Foreign Red Cross. He spent the rest of his capital on financing Russian-language emigrant publishing houses (Slovo in Berlin, etc.) and mainly on organizing the struggle against Soviet power in Russia. In the early 30s, he headed the work of coordinating famine relief in the USSR. A.I. Guchkov died on February 14, 1936 from cancer, and was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Mikhail Vladimirovich Rodzianko.
Born on March 31, 1859 in the Yekaterinoslav province, into a noble family. In 1877 he graduated from the Corps of Pages. In 1877–1882 he served in the Cavalry Regiment and retired to the reserve with the rank of lieutenant. Retired since 1885. In 1886–1891, the district leader of the nobility in Novomoskovsky (Ekaterinoslav province). Then he moved to the Novgorod province, where he was a district and provincial zemstvo councilor. Since 1901, chairman of the zemstvo government of the Ekaterinoslav province. In 1903–1905, editor of the newspaper “Bulletin of the Ekaterinoslav Zemstvo”. Participant in zemstvo congresses (up to 190З). In 1905 he created the “People's Party of the Union of October 17th” in Yekaterinoslav, which later joined the “Union of October 13th”. One of the founders of the "Union"; from 1905 a member of its Central Committee, participant in all congresses. In 1906–1907 he was elected from the Ekaterinoslav zemstvo as a member of the State Council. On October 31, 1907, he resigned in connection with his election to the Duma. Deputy of the 3rd and 4th State Dumas from the Ekaterinoslav province, chairman of the land commission; at various times he was also a member of the commissions: resettlement and local government affairs. From 1910 - Chairman of the Bureau of the Octobrist parliamentary faction. He supported the policies of P.A. Stolypin. He advocated an agreement between the center of the Duma and the center of the State Council. In March 1911, after the resignation of A.I. Guchkov, despite the protests of a number of Octobrist deputies, he agreed to nominate himself and was elected chairman of the 3rd, then 4th State Duma (he remained in this post until February 1917). M. V. Rodzianko was elected to the post of Chairman of the Third Duma by the right-wing Octobrist majority, and to the Fourth Duma by the Octobrist-Cadet majority. In the Fourth Duma, right-wingers and nationalists voted against him; they defiantly left the meeting room immediately after the voting results were announced (for - 251 votes, against - 150). Immediately after his election, at the first meeting on November 15, 1912, Rodzianko solemnly declared himself a convinced supporter of the constitutional system in the country. In 1913, after the split of the Union of October 17 and its parliamentary faction, he joined its centrist wing of the Octobrist Zemtsy. For many years, he was an irreconcilable opponent of G.E. Rasputin and the “dark forces” at court, which led to a deepening confrontation with Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and court circles. Supporter of an offensive foreign policy. At the beginning of the 1st World War, during a personal meeting, he obtained from Emperor Nicholas II the convening of the 4th State Duma; considered it necessary to bring the war “to a victorious end, in the name of the honor and dignity of our dear fatherland.” He advocated the maximum participation of zemstvos and public organizations in supplying the army; in 1915 chairman of the Committee for Supervision of the Distribution of State Orders; one of the initiators of the creation and member of the Special Defense Conference; was actively involved in the logistics of the army. In 1914, the chairman of the Committee, a member of the State Duma for providing assistance to the wounded and victims of the war, was elected chairman of the evacuation commission in August 1915. In 1916, chairman of the All-Russian Committee for Public Assistance to War Loans. He opposed Emperor Nicholas II assuming the duties of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. In 1915 he participated in the creation of the Progressive Bloc in the Duma, one of its leaders and the official mediator between the Duma and the supreme power; demanded the resignation of a number of unpopular ministers: V.A. Sukhomlinov, N.A. Maklakov, I.G. Shcheglovitov, Chief Prosecutor V.K. Sabler and Chairman of the Council of Ministers I.L. Goremykin. In 1916, he appealed to Emperor Nicholas II to unite the efforts of the authorities and society, but at the same time tried to refrain from open political protests, acting through personal contacts, letters, etc. On the eve of the February Revolution, he accused the government of “widening the gap” among themselves , the State Duma and the people as a whole, called for extending the powers of the 4th State Duma and making concessions to the liberal part of society for the sake of more effective warfare and saving the country. At the beginning of 1917, he tried to mobilize the nobility in support of the Duma (the Congress of the United Nobility, Moscow and Petrograd provincial leaders of the nobility), as well as the leaders of the Zemsky and City Unions, but rejected offers to personally lead the opposition. During the February Revolution, he considered it necessary to preserve the monarchy and therefore insisted on the creation of a “responsible ministry.” On February 27, 1917, he headed the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, on whose behalf he issued an order to the troops of the Petrograd garrison and addressed appeals to the population of the capital and telegrams to all cities of Russia calling for calm. Participated in the Committee's negotiations with the leaders of the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet on the composition of the Provisional Government, in negotiations with Emperor Nicholas II on the abdication of the throne; after the abdication of Nicholas II in favor of his brother - in negotiations with Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and insisted on his renunciation of the throne. He nominally remained the chairman of the Provisional Committee for several more months; in the first days of the revolution, he claimed to give the Committee the character of supreme power, and tried to prevent further revolutionization of the army. In the summer of 1917, together with Guchkov, he founded the Liberal Republican Party and joined the Council of Public Figures. He accused the Provisional Government of the collapse of the army, economy and state. In relation to the speech of General L.G. Kornilov, he took the position of “sympathy, but not assistance.” During the days of the October armed uprising he was in Petrograd, trying to organize the defense of the Provisional Government. After the October Revolution, he went to the Don and was with the Volunteer Army during its first Kuban campaign. He came up with the idea of reconstructing the 4th State Duma or a meeting of deputies from all four Dumas under the armed forces of the South of Russia to create a “power base.” He took part in the activities of the Red Cross. Then he emigrated and lived in Yugoslavia. He was subjected to fierce persecution by monarchists, who considered him the main culprit in the collapse of the monarchy; V political activity did not participate. He died on January 21, 1924, in the village of Beodra in Yugoslavia.
Fourth State Duma (1912–1917).
The fourth and last of the State Dumas of the Russian Empire operated from November 15, 1912 to February 25, 1917. It was elected according to the same electoral law as the Third State Duma.
Elections to the IV State Duma took place in the autumn (September-October) 1912. They showed that the progressive movement of Russian society was moving towards the establishment of parliamentarism in the country. The election campaign, in which the leaders of bourgeois parties actively participated, took place in an atmosphere of discussion: to be or not to have a constitution in Russia. Even some parliamentary candidates from right-wing political parties were supporters of the constitutional order. During the elections to the Fourth State Duma, the Cadets carried out several “left” demarches, putting forward democratic bills on freedom of unions and the introduction of universal suffrage. Declarations by bourgeois leaders demonstrated opposition to the government.
The government mobilized forces to prevent the aggravation of the internal political situation in connection with the elections, to conduct them as quietly as possible and to maintain or even strengthen its positions in the Duma, and even more so to prevent its shift “to the left.”
In an effort to have its proteges in the State Duma, the government (in September 1911 it was headed by V.N. Kokovtsev after the tragic death of P.A. Stolypin) influenced the elections in certain regions with police repressions, possible frauds such as limiting the number of voters as a result of illegal “ explanations." It turned to the help of the clergy, giving them the opportunity to widely participate in district congresses as representatives of small landowners. All these tricks led to the fact that among the deputies of the IV State Duma there were more than 75% of landowners and representatives of the clergy. In addition to land, more than 33% of deputies had real estate (factories, factories, mines, trading enterprises, houses, etc.). About 15% of the total number of deputies belonged to the intelligentsia. They played an active role in various political parties, many of them constantly participating in the discussions of the general meetings of the Duma.
The sessions of the IV Duma opened on November 15, 1912. Its chairman was the Octobrist Mikhail Rodzianko. The comrades of the Chairman of the Duma were Prince Vladimir Mikhailovich Volkonsky and Prince Dmitry Dmitrievich Urusov. Secretary of the State Duma - Ivan Ivanovich Dmitryukov. The secretary's comrades are Nikolai Nikolaevich Lvov (senior comrade of the Secretary), Nikolai Ivanovich Antonov, Viktor Parfenevich Basakov, Gaisa Khamidullovich Enikeev, Alexander Dmitrievich Zarin, Vasily Pavlovich Shein.
The main factions of the IV State Duma were: rightists and nationalists (157 seats), Octobrists (98), progressives (48), Cadets (59), who still made up two Duma majorities (depending on who they were blocking with at that moment Octobrists: Octobrist-cadet or Octobrist-right). In addition to them, Trudoviks (10) and Social Democrats (14) were represented in the Duma. The Progressive Party took shape in November 1912 and adopted a program that provided for a constitutional-monarchical system with the responsibility of ministers to popular representation, expansion of the rights of the State Duma, etc. The emergence of this party (between the Octobrists and the Cadets) was an attempt to consolidate the liberal movement. The Bolsheviks led by L.B. Rosenfeld took part in the work of the Duma. and the Mensheviks led by N.S. Chkheidze. They introduced 3 bills (on an 8-hour working day, on social insurance, on national equality), which were rejected by the majority.
By nationality, almost 83% of the deputies in the State Duma of the 4th convocation were Russians. Among the deputies there were also representatives of other peoples of Russia. There were Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Tatars, Lithuanians, Moldovans, Georgians, Armenians, Jews, Latvians, Estonians, Zyryans, Lezgins, Greeks, Karaites and even Swedes, Dutch, but their share in the total corps of deputies was insignificant. The majority of deputies (almost 69%) were people aged 36 to 55 years. About half of the deputies had higher education, and slightly more than a quarter of the total Duma members had secondary education.
|
Composition of the IV State Duma |
||
| Factions | Number of deputies | |
| I session | III session | |
| Rights | 64 | 61 |
| Russian nationalists and moderate right-wingers | 88 | 86 |
| Right-wing centrists (Octobrists) | 99 | 86 |
| Center | 33 | 34 |
| Left centrists: | ||
| – progressives | 47 | 42 |
| – cadets | 57 | 55 |
| – Polish colo | 9 | 7 |
| – Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian group | 6 | 6 |
| – Muslim group | 6 | 6 |
| Left radicals: | ||
| – Trudoviks | 14 | Mensheviks 7 |
| - Social Democrats | 4 | Bolsheviks 5 |
| Non-partisan | - | 5 |
| Independent | - | 15 |
| Mixed | - | 13 |
As a result of the elections to the Fourth State Duma in October 1912, the government found itself in even greater isolation, since the Octobrists now firmly stood on a par with the Cadets in the legal opposition.
In an atmosphere of growing tension in society, in March 1914, two inter-party meetings were held with the participation of representatives of the Cadets, Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, left Octobrists, progressives, and non-party intellectuals, at which issues of coordinating the activities of the left and liberal parties were discussed with the aim of preparing extra-Duma speeches. The World War that began in 1914 temporarily extinguished the flaring opposition movement. At first, the majority of parties (excluding the Social Democrats) spoke out for trust in the government. At the suggestion of Nicholas II, in June 1914 the Council of Ministers discussed the issue of transforming the Duma from a legislative body into a consultative one. On July 24, 1914, the Council of Ministers was granted emergency powers, i.e. he received the right to decide most cases on behalf of the emperor.
At an emergency meeting of the Fourth Duma on July 26, 1914, the leaders of the right and liberal-bourgeois factions made a call to rally around the “sovereign leader leading Russia into a sacred battle with the enemy of the Slavs,” putting aside “internal disputes” and “scores” with the government. However, failures at the front, the growth of the strike movement, and the inability of the government to ensure governance of the country stimulated the activity of political parties and their opposition. Against this background, the Fourth Duma entered into an acute conflict with the executive branch.
In August 1915, at a meeting of members of the State Duma and the State Council, the Progressive Bloc was formed, which included Cadets, Octobrists, Progressives, some nationalists (236 out of 422 members of the Duma) and three groups of the State Council. The chairman of the bureau of the Progressive Bloc became the Octobrist S.I. Shidlovsky, and the actual leader was P.N. Milyukov. The bloc's declaration, published in the newspaper Rech on August 26, 1915, was of a compromise nature and provided for the creation of a government of “public trust.” The bloc's program included demands for a partial amnesty, an end to persecution for religion, autonomy for Poland, the abolition of restrictions on the rights of Jews, and the restoration of trade unions and the workers' press. The bloc was supported by some members of the State Council and the Synod. The bloc's irreconcilable position in relation to state power and its harsh criticism led to the political crisis of 1916, which became one of the causes of the February Revolution.
On September 3, 1915, after the Duma accepted the war loans allocated by the government, it was dissolved for vacation. The Duma met again only in February 1916. On December 16, 1916 it was dissolved again. Resumed activity on February 14, 1917 on the eve of the February abdication of Nicholas II. On February 25, 1917, it was dissolved again and no longer officially met, but formally and actually existed. The Fourth Duma played a leading role in the establishment of the Provisional Government, under which it actually worked in the form of “private meetings”. On October 6, 1917, the Provisional Government decided to dissolve the Duma in connection with preparations for the elections to the Constituent Assembly.
On December 18, 1917, one of the decrees of Lenin’s Council of People’s Commissars also abolished the office of the State Duma itself.
Prepared by A. Kynev
APPLICATION
(BULYGINSKAYA)
[...] We announce to all our loyal subjects:
The Russian state was created and strengthened by the inextricable unity of the Tsar with the people and the people with the Tsar. The consent and unity of the Tsar and the people is a great moral force that created Russia over the centuries, defended it from all troubles and misfortunes, and is to this day the guarantee of its unity, independence and integrity of material well-being and spiritual development in the present and future.
In Our Manifesto, given on February 26, 1903, We called for the close unity of all the faithful sons of the Fatherland to improve the state order by establishing a lasting system in local life. And then we were concerned about the idea of harmonizing elected public institutions with government authorities and eradicating the discord between them, which had such a detrimental effect on the correct course of public life. The Autocratic Tsars, Our Predecessors, did not stop thinking about this.
Now the time has come, following Their good undertakings, to call on elected people from the entire Russian land to constant and active participation in the drafting of laws, by including for this purpose a special legislative advisory institution in the composition of the highest state institutions, which is given the preliminary development and discussion of legislative proposals and consideration of the list of state revenues and expenses.
In these forms, preserving inviolable the fundamental law of the Russian Empire on the essence of Autocratic Power, We recognized the good of establishing the State Duma and approved the Regulations on elections to the Duma, extending the force of these laws to the entire space of the Empire, with only those changes that will be considered necessary for some , located in special conditions, its outskirts.
We will specifically indicate the procedure for the participation in the State Duma of elected representatives from the Grand Duchy of Finland on issues common to the Empire and this region.
At the same time, We ordered the Minister of Internal Affairs to immediately submit to Us for approval the rules on putting into effect the Regulations on elections to the State Duma, in such a way that members from 50 provinces and the region of the Don Army could appear in the Duma no later than half of January 1906.
We remain entirely concerned about the further improvement of the Establishment of the State Duma, and when life itself indicates the need for those changes in its establishment that would fully satisfy the needs of the time and the good of the state, we will not fail to give appropriate instructions on this subject in due time.
We are confident that the people elected by the trust of the entire population, who are now called to joint legislative work with the Government, will show themselves before all of Russia worthy of the Royal trust by which they are called to this great work, and in full agreement with other state regulations and with the authorities, from We have been appointed, they will provide us with useful and zealous assistance in Our labors for the benefit of Our common Mother Russia, to strengthen the unity, security and greatness of the State and national order and prosperity.
Invoking the blessing of the Lord on the work of the state establishment established by Us, We, with unshakable faith in the mercy of God and in the immutability of the great historical destinies predetermined by Divine Providence for our dear Fatherland, firmly hope that with the help of Almighty God and the unanimous efforts of all our sons, Russia will emerge triumphant from the difficult trials that have now befallen her and will be reborn in the power, greatness and glory imprinted by her thousand-year history. [...]
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE DUMA
I. ABOUT THE COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF THE STATE DUMA
1. The State Duma is established for the preliminary development and discussion of legislative proposals, ascending, by the force of fundamental laws, through the State Council, to the Supreme Autocratic Power.
2. The State Duma is formed from members elected by the population of the Russian Empire for five years on the grounds specified in the regulations on elections to the Duma.
3. By Decree of the Imperial Majesty, the State Duma may be dissolved before the expiration of a five-year term (Article 2). The same Decree calls for new elections to the Duma.
4. The duration of the annual sessions of the State Duma and the timing of their breaks during the year are determined by Decrees of the Imperial Majesty.
5. The General Assembly and Divisions are formed within the State Duma.
6. There must be no less than four and no more than eight departments in the State Duma. There are at least twenty members in each department. The immediate establishment of the number of departments of the Duma and the composition of its members, as well as the distribution of affairs between departments depends on the Duma.
7. For the legal composition of meetings of the State Duma, the presence of: in the general meeting - at least one third of the total number of members of the Duma, and in a department - at least half of its members is required.
8. Expenses for the maintenance of the State Duma are charged to the State Treasury. [...]
V. ABOUT THE SUBJECTS OF RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATE DUMA
33. The following are subject to the jurisdiction of the State Duma:
a) items requiring the publication of laws and states, as well as their amendment, addition, suspension and repeal;
b) financial estimates of the Ministries and Main Directorates and the state list of income and expenses, as well as cash allocations from the treasury, not provided for by the list, - on the basis of special rules on this subject;
c) report of the State Control on the execution of state registration;
d) cases of alienation of part of state income or property, requiring the Highest Assent;
e) cases on the construction of railways by direct order of the treasury and at its expense;
f) cases on the establishment of companies on shares, when exemptions from existing laws are sought;
g) cases submitted to the Duma for consideration by special Supreme commands.
Note. The State Duma is also in charge of estimates and distribution of zemstvo duties in areas where zemstvo institutions have not been introduced, as well as cases of increasing zemstvo or city taxation against the amount determined by zemstvo assemblies and city Dumas [...].
34. The State Duma is authorized to raise proposals for the repeal or amendment of existing laws and the publication of new laws (Articles 54 – 57). These assumptions should not concern the beginnings government structure, established by laws main ones.
35. The State Duma is authorized to declare to the Ministers and Chief Managers of individual parts subordinated by law to the Government Senate about the communication of information and explanations regarding such actions followed by the Ministers or Chief Managers, as well as persons and institutions subordinate to them, which, in the opinion of the Duma, are violated , existing legal provisions (Articles 58 – 61).
VI. On the procedure for conducting cases in the State Duma
36. Matters subject to discussion by the State Duma are submitted to the Duma by the Ministers and Chief Administrators of individual units, as well as the State Secretary.
37. Cases submitted to the State Duma are discussed in its departments and then submitted to its General Assembly for consideration.
38. Meetings of the General Assembly and departments of the State Duma are appointed, opened and closed by their chairmen.
39. The Chairman stops the member of the State Duma who deviates from maintaining order or respect for the law. It is up to the Chairman to adjourn the meeting or close it.
40. In case of violation of order by a member of the State Duma, he may be removed from the meeting or excluded from participation in Duma meetings for a certain period. A member of the Duma is removed from the meeting by resolution of the Department or the General Meeting of the Duma, according to his affiliation, and is excluded from participation in meetings of the Duma for a certain period of time by resolution of its General Meeting.
41. Outsiders are not allowed to attend meetings of the State Duma, its General Assembly and departments.
42. The Chairman of the Duma is authorized to allow representatives of the temporary press, no more than one from a particular publication, to attend meetings of its General Assembly, except for closed meetings.
43. Closed meetings of the General Meeting of the State Duma are appointed by resolution of the General Meeting or by order of the Chairman of the Duma. By his order, closed sessions of the General Assembly of the State Duma are appointed and in the case when the Minister or Chief Executive separate part, the subjects of the department of which the case subject to consideration by the Duma concerns, will declare that it constitutes a state secret.
44. Reports on all meetings of the General Meeting of the State Duma are compiled by sworn stenographers and, with the approval of the Chairman of the Duma, are allowed to be published in the press, except for reports on closed meetings.
45. From the report of a closed meeting of the General Assembly of the State Duma, those parts may be subject to publication in the press, the publication of which is considered possible either by the Chairman of the Duma, if the meeting was declared closed by his order or by resolution of the Duma, or by the Minister or the Chief Manager of a separate part, if the meeting was declared closed due to his statement.
46. The Minister or the Chief Administrator of a separate part may take back the matter submitted by him to the State Duma in any of its provisions. But a matter submitted to the Duma, as a result of its initiation of a legislative issue (Article 34), can be taken back by the Minister or the Chief Administrator only with the consent of the General Assembly of the Duma.
47. The conclusion of the State Duma on the cases considered by it is recognized as the opinion adopted by the majority of members of the General Assembly of the Duma. This conclusion must clearly indicate the Duma's agreement or disagreement with the proposal made. The changes proposed by the Duma must be expressed in precisely established provisions.
48. Legislative proposals considered by the State Duma are submitted with its conclusion to the State Council. After discussing the matter in the Council, its position, except for the case specified in Article 49, is presented to the Supreme Court in the manner established by the establishment of the State Council, together with the conclusion of the Duma.
49. Legislative proposals rejected by a majority of two-thirds of the members in the General Assemblies of both the State Duma and the State Council are returned to the relevant Minister or Chief Administrator for additional consideration and reintroduced for legislative consideration, if this is followed by the Highest permission.
50. In cases where the State Council encounters difficulty in accepting the conclusion of the State Duma, the matter may, by resolution of the general meeting of the Council, be transferred to reconcile the opinion of the Council with the conclusion of the Duma to a commission of an equal number of members from both institutions, at the choice of the General Meetings of the Council and the Duma, by affiliation. The commission is chaired by the Chairman of the State Council or one of the chairmen of the departments of the Council.
51. The conciliation conclusion developed in the commission (Article 50) is submitted to the General Meeting of the State Duma, and then to the general meeting of the State Council. If no conciliatory conclusion is reached, the matter is returned to the general meeting of the State Council.
52. In cases where a meeting of the State Duma does not take place due to the failure of the required number of members to arrive (Article 7), the case to be considered is assigned to a new hearing no later than two weeks after the failed meeting. If during this period the case is not scheduled for hearing or the meeting of the Duma does not take place again due to the failure of the required number of its members to arrive, then the responsible Minister or the Chief Administrator of a separate part may, if he considers it necessary, submit the case to the State Council for consideration without the conclusion of the Duma.
53. When it pleases the Imperial Majesty to draw attention to the slowness of the State Duma’s consideration of a matter submitted to it, the State Council sets a deadline by which the Duma’s conclusion should follow. If the Duma does not report its conclusion by the appointed date, then the Council will consider the case without the conclusion of the Duma.
54. Members of the State Duma about the repeal or amendment of an existing law or the publication of a new law (Article 34) submit a written application to the Chairman of the Duma. The application must be accompanied by a draft of the main provisions of the proposed change in the law or a new law with an explanatory note to the draft. If this application is signed by at least thirty members, then the chairman submits it for consideration by the relevant department.
Advertisement applications to him, no later than one month before the date of the hearing.
56. If the Minister or the Chief Administrator of a separate part or the State Secretary (Article 55) shares the views of the State Duma on the desirability of repealing or amending the current law or issuing a new law, then he gives the matter movement in the legislative order.
57. If the Minister or the Chief Manager of a separate part or the State Secretary (Article 55) does not share considerations on the desirability of changing or repealing an existing or issuing a new law, adopted in the department, and then by a majority of two-thirds of the members in the General Assembly of the State Duma, then the matter is presented by the Chairman of the Duma to the State Council, through which he ascends in accordance with the established procedure to the Highest View. In the event of the Highest order to direct the matter into law, its immediate development is entrusted to the subject
The Minister or the Chief Manager of a separate unit or the Secretary of State.
58. Members of the State Duma submit a written statement to the Chairman of the Duma regarding the communication of information and explanations regarding such actions taken by the Ministers or Chief Managers of individual units, as well as persons and institutions subordinate to them, in which a violation of existing legal provisions is seen (Article 35). This statement must contain an indication of what the violation of the law is and which one. If the application is signed by at least thirty members, then the Chairman of the Duma submits it for discussion at its General Meeting.
60. Ministers and Chief Managers of individual units, no later than one month from the date of transfer of the application to them (Article 59), inform the State Duma of the appropriate information and explanations, or notify the Duma of the reasons why they are deprived of the opportunity to provide the required information and explanations.
61. If the State Duma, by a majority of two-thirds of the members of its General Assembly, does not consider it possible to be satisfied with the message of the Minister or the Chief Administrator of a particular part (Article 60), then the matter ascends, through the State Council, to the highest view of God. [...]
Printed by: . St. Petersburg, 1906
FROM THE REGULATIONS ON ELECTIONS TO THE STATE DUMA
I. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. Elections to the State Duma are carried out: a) by provinces and regions and b) by city: St. Petersburg and Moscow, as well as Astrakhan, Baku, Warsaw, Vilna, Voronezh, Ekaterinoslav, Irkutsk, Kazan, Kiev, Chisinau, Kursk , Lodz, Nizhny Novgorod, Odessa, Oryol, Riga, Rostov-on-Don together with Nakhichevan, Samara, Saratov, Tashkent, Tiflis, Tula, Kharkov and Yaroslavl.
Note. Elections to the State Duma from the provinces of the Kingdom of Poland, the regions of the Ural and Turgai and the provinces and regions: Siberian, the Governor-Generals of the Steppe and Turkestan and the Viceroyalty of the Caucasus, as well as elections from nomadic foreigners are carried out on the basis of special rules.
2. The number of members of the State Duma by province, region and city is established by the schedule attached to this article.
3. The election of members of the State Duma for provinces and regions (Article 1, paragraph a) is carried out by the provincial electoral assembly. This assembly is formed under the chairmanship of the provincial leader of the nobility or the person replacing him, from electors elected by congresses: a) district landowners; b) city voters and c) representatives from volosts and villages.
4. The total number of electors for each province or region, as well as their distribution between districts and congresses, is established by the schedule attached to this article.
5. The election of members of the State Duma from the cities specified in paragraph “b” of Article 1 is carried out by an electoral assembly formed, under the chairmanship of the city mayor or a person replacing him, from electors elected: in capitals - among one hundred and sixty, and in other cities - among the eighty.
6. The following do not participate in elections: a) females; b) persons under twenty-five years of age; c) students in educational institutions; d) military ranks of the army and navy who are on active duty military service; e) wandering foreigners and f) foreign nationals.
7. In addition to the persons specified in the previous (6) article, the following also do not participate in elections: a) those who have been tried for criminal acts entailing deprivation or restriction of the rights of state or exclusion from service, as well as for theft, fraud, misappropriation of entrusted property, concealment of stolen property, purchase and mortgage of property known to be stolen or obtained through deception and usury, when they are not justified by court sentences, even if after conviction they were released from punishment due to statute of limitations, reconciliation, by the force of the Most Merciful Manifesto or a special Highest command; b) those dismissed from office by court sentences - for three years from the time of dismissal, even if they were released from this punishment due to statute of limitations, by the force of the Most Merciful Manifesto or a special Highest command; c) under investigation or trial on charges of criminal acts referred to in paragraph “a” or entailing removal from office; d) subject to insolvency, pending determination of its nature; e) insolvents whose affairs of this kind have already been brought to an end, except for those whose insolvency is recognized as unfortunate; f) deprived of clergy or rank for vices or expelled from society and noble assemblies by sentences of the classes to which they belong; and g) convicted of evading military service.
8. The following do not take part in elections: a) governors and vice-governors, as well as city governors and their assistants - within the localities under their jurisdiction and b) persons holding police positions - in the province or city for which elections are held.
9. Female persons may provide their real estate qualifications for participation in elections to their husbands and sons.
10. Sons may participate in elections instead of their fathers based on their real estate and by their authority.
11. Congresses of voters are convened in a provincial or district city, according to their affiliation, under the chairmanship of: congresses of district landowners and representatives from volosts - the district leader of the nobility or the person replacing him, and congresses of city voters - the mayor of the provincial or district city, according to their affiliation, or persons replacing them. For the counties specified in paragraph “b” of Article 1 of the cities, separate congresses of city voters of the county are formed in these cities, chaired by the local mayor. In counties in which there are several urban settlements, several separate congresses of urban voters may be formed with the permission of the Minister of the Interior, who is authorized to distribute the electors to be elected among individual urban settlements.
12. Participating in the congress of county landowners are: a) persons who own in the county, by right of ownership or lifelong ownership, taxed land for zemstvo duties in the amount determined for each county in the schedule attached to this article; b) persons who own mining and factory dachas in the district under possession rights in the number specified in the same schedule; c) persons who own in the district, by right of ownership or lifelong possession, real estate other than land, which does not constitute a commercial and industrial establishment, with a value, according to the zemstvo assessment, of not less than fifteen thousand rubles; d) authorized by persons who own in the county either land in the amount of at least a tenth of the number of dessiatines determined for each county in the above-mentioned schedule, or other real estate (clause “c”), with a value according to the zemstvo assessment of not less than one thousand five hundred rubles ; and e) authorized by the clergy who own church land in the district. [...]
16. The following shall participate in the congress of city voters: a) persons who own, within the urban settlements of the county, on the right of ownership or lifelong ownership of real estate, assessed for imposition of zemstvo tax in the amount of at least one thousand five hundred rubles, or requiring the collection of a fishing certificate by a commercial and industrial enterprise : commercial - one of the first two categories, industrial - one of the first five categories or steamship, from which the basic trade tax is paid at least fifty rubles per year; b) persons paying state apartment tax within the urban settlements of the county, starting from the tenth category and above; c) persons who pay within the city and its county the basic fishing tax for personal fishing activities in the first category, and d) persons who own a commercial and industrial enterprise in the county specified in paragraph “a” of this article.
17. The congress of representatives from the volosts involves elected representatives from the volost assemblies of the county, two from each assembly. These electors are elected by volost assemblies from among the peasants belonging to the rural communities of the given volost, if there are no obstacles to their election specified in Articles 6 and 7, as well as in paragraph “b” of Article 8 [...].
Printed by: Legislative acts of transitional times. St. Petersburg, 1906
THE HIGHEST MANIFESTO ON THE DISSOLUTION OF THE II STATE DUMA
We announce to all Our faithful subjects:
By our command and instructions, since the dissolution of the State Duma of the first convocation, Our government has taken a consistent series of measures to calm the country and establish the correct course of state affairs.
The Second State Duma, which We convened, was called upon to contribute, in accordance with Our sovereign will, to the calming of Russia: first of all, by legislative work, without which the life of the state and the improvement of its system is impossible, then by considering the breakdown of income and expenses, which determines the correctness of the state economy, and, finally, by the reasonable implementation rights of inquiry to the government, in order to strengthen truth and justice everywhere.
These responsibilities, entrusted by Us to those elected by the population, thereby imposed on them a heavy responsibility and a sacred duty to use their rights for reasonable work for the benefit and strengthening of the Russian state.
Such were Our thoughts and will when granting the population new foundations of state life.
To Our regret, a significant part of the composition of the second State Duma did not live up to Our expectations. Many of the people sent from the population began to work not with a pure heart, not with a desire to strengthen Russia and improve its system, but with a clear desire to increase unrest and contribute to the disintegration of the state.
The activities of these individuals in the State Duma served as an insurmountable obstacle to fruitful work. A spirit of hostility was introduced into the environment of the Duma itself, which prevented a sufficient number of its members who wanted to work for the benefit of their native land from uniting.
For this reason, the State Duma either did not consider the extensive measures developed by Our government at all, or slowed down the discussion, or rejected it, not even stopping to reject the laws that punished the open praise of crimes and especially punished the sowers of trouble in the troops. Having avoided condemning murders and violence, the State Duma did not provide moral assistance to the government in establishing order, and Russia continues to experience the shame of criminal hard times.
The slow consideration of the State Duma by the State Duma caused difficulties in the timely satisfaction of many urgent needs of the people.
A significant part of the Duma turned the right to interrogate the government into a way of fighting the government and inciting distrust of it among broad sections of the population.
Finally, an act unheard of in the annals of history took place. The judiciary uncovered a conspiracy by an entire part of the State Duma against the state and tsarist power. When Our government demanded the temporary, until the end of the trial, removal of the fifty-five members of the Duma accused of this crime and the detention of the most incriminated of them, the State Duma did not immediately fulfill the legal demand of the authorities, which did not allow any delay.
All this prompted Us, by decree given to the government Senate on June 3, to dissolve the State Duma of the second convocation, setting the date for convening the new Duma on November 1, 1907.
But, believing in the love of the motherland and the state mind of Our people, We see the reason for the double failure of the State Duma in the fact that, due to the novelty of the matter and the imperfection of the electoral law, this legislative institution was replenished with members who were not true exponents of the needs and desires of the people.
Therefore, leaving in force all the rights granted to our subjects by the Manifesto of October 17, 1905 and the fundamental laws, We decided to change only the very method of calling elected representatives of the people to the State Duma, so that each part of the people would have its own elected representatives in it.
Created to strengthen the Russian state, the State Duma must be Russian in spirit.
Other nationalities that were part of our state should have representatives of their needs in the State Duma, but they should not and will not appear in a number that gives them the opportunity to be arbiters of purely Russian issues.
In those outskirts of the state where the population has not achieved sufficient development of citizenship, elections to the State Duma should be temporarily suspended.
All these changes in the election procedure cannot be carried out in the usual legislative way through the State Duma, the composition of which We have recognized as unsatisfactory, due to the imperfection of the very method of electing its members. Only the power that granted the first electoral law, the historical power of the Russian Tsar, has the right to repeal it and replace it with a new one.
The Lord God has given us royal power over our people. Before His throne We will give an answer for the fate of the Russian state.
From this consciousness We draw our firm determination to complete the work of transforming Russia that We have begun and grant it a new electoral law, which we command the governing Senate to promulgate.
From Our faithful subjects We expect unanimous and cheerful service to our homeland, along the path indicated by Us, whose sons have at all times been a strong bulwark of its strength, greatness and glory.<...>
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Kuzmina I.V. Professional composition of the progressive bloc in the IV State Duma(based on materials from RGIA) // Historians reflect: Sat. Art. Vol. 2. M., 2000
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I State Duma: history of creation and activities: Bibliography decree. / North-West. acad. state services. St. Petersburg: Education - Culture, 2001
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More than 100 years ago, the First State Duma of the Russian Empire began its work in the historical hall of the Tauride Palace. This event caused various responses and reactions in Russia at that time - from enthusiastic-optimistic to alarming-pessimistic.
The manifesto of October 17, 1905 proclaimed the convening of the State Duma. Its task was to initiate cases to repeal, change existing or issue new laws, with the exception of basic state laws. Unlike many countries in the world, where parliamentary traditions have developed over centuries, in Russia the first representative institution was convened only in 1906. It was named the State Duma and existed for about 12 years, until the fall of the autocracy. There were four convocations of the State Duma in total.
Some believed that the formation of the State Duma was the beginning of Russia’s entry into European life. Others were sure that this was the end of Russian statehood, based on the principle of autocracy. In general, the elections to the State Duma and the very fact of the beginning of its work caused a crisis in Russian society at the beginning of the 20th century. new expectations and hopes for positive changes in the country. Meeting room of the State Duma in the Tauride Palace, St. Petersburg
Meeting room of the State Duma in the Tauride Palace, St. Petersburg
Having just experienced the revolution of 1905, the country was expecting a profound reform of the entire state system of the Russian Empire.
Although in Russia for a long time there was no parliament and the principle of separation of powers, this does not mean that there were no representative institutions - they were in the form of the Veche in Ancient Rus', city dumas and zemstvos in subsequent eras. But all of them were legislative in relation to the supreme power, but now not a single law could be adopted if it was not approved by the State Duma.
In all four convocations of the State Duma, the predominant position among deputies was occupied by representatives of three social strata - landed nobility, urban intelligentsia and peasantry.
The Duma was elected for five years. Duma deputies were not accountable to voters, their removal could be carried out by the Senate, and the Duma could be dissolved early by decision of the emperor. With a legislative initiative, the Duma could include ministers, commissions of deputies and the State Council.
First State Duma
Elections to the First State Duma were held in February-March 1906, when the revolutionary situation in the country was already beginning to be controlled by the authorities, although instability continued to persist in some outlying areas, and elections could not be held there.
478 deputies were elected to the First Duma: 176 Cadets, 16 Octobrists, 105 non-party members, 97 peasant-trudoviks, 18 Social Democrats (Mensheviks), and the rest were members of regional-national parties and associations, in large part adjacent to the liberal wing.
The elections were not universal, equal and direct: women, young people under 25, military personnel, and a number of national minorities were excluded;
- there was one elector per 2 thousand voters in the landowning curia, and per 4 thousand in the city curia;
- voters, in the peasant sector - by 30 thousand, in the labor sector - by 90 thousand;
— a three- and four-degree election system was established for workers and peasants.
Before the convening of the First State Duma, Nicholas II approved a set of “Basic State Laws”. The articles of the code confirmed the sacredness and inviolability of the tsar’s person, established that he exercised legislative power in unity with the State Council and the Duma, supreme management of foreign relations, army, navy, finance, and so on. One of the articles consolidated the power of the State Duma and the State Council: “No new law cannot follow without the approval of the State Duma and the State Council and accept force without the approval of the sovereign emperor.”
The opening of the Duma was a major public event; All the newspapers described it in detail.
Cadet S.A. Muromtsev, a professor at Moscow University, was elected chairman. Prince P. D. Dolgorukov and N. A. Gredeskul (both cadets) became the chairman’s comrades. Secretary - Prince D.I. Shakhovskoy (cadet).
The main issue in the work of the First State Duma was the land issue. On May 7, the cadet faction, signed by 42 deputies, put forward a bill that provided for additional allocation of land to peasants at the expense of state, monastic, church, appanage and cabinet lands, as well as partial forced purchase of landowners' lands.
During the entire period of work, deputies approved 2 bills - on the abolition of the death penalty (initiated by deputies in violation of the procedure) and on the allocation of 15 million rubles to help victims of crop failure, introduced by the government.
On July 6, 1906, instead of the unpopular I. L. Goremykin, the decisive P. A. Stolypin was appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers (who also retained the post of Minister of Internal Affairs). The government, seeing signs of “illegality” in the actions of the Duma, dissolved the Duma on July 8. The First Duma lasted only 72 days.
Second State Duma
Elections to the Second State Duma took place at the beginning of 1907, and its first session opened on February 20, 1907. A total of 518 deputies were elected: 98 Cadets, 104 Trudoviks, 68 Social Democrats, 37 Socialist Revolutionaries, and 37 non-party members. 50, Octobrists – 44.
One of the leaders of the cadets, Fyodor Aleksandrovich Golovin, was elected Chairman of the Duma .
The agrarian question again came into focus, but now there was a government program for the restructuring of land ownership and land use, which became the object of fierce attacks.
Right-wing deputies and Octobrists supported the decree of November 9, 1906 on the beginning of the Stolypin agrarian reform. The Cadets tried to find a compromise on the land issue with the Trudoviks and autonomists, minimizing demands for the forced alienation of landowners' lands. Trudoviks defended a radical program of alienation of landowners and privately owned lands that exceeded the “labor norm” and the introduction of equal land use according to the “labor norm”. The Social Revolutionaries introduced a project for the socialization of the land, the Social Democratic faction - a project for the municipalization of the land. The Bolsheviks defended the program of nationalization of all land.
Most of the meetings of the Second State Duma, like its predecessor, were devoted to procedural issues. This became a form of struggle to expand the competence of Duma deputies. The government, responsible only to the tsar, did not want to reckon with the Duma, and the Duma, which considered itself as the people's chosen one, did not want to recognize the narrow scope of its powers. This state of affairs became one of the reasons for the dissolution of the State Duma.
The Duma was dissolved after existing for 102 days. The reason for the dissolution of the Duma was the controversial case of the rapprochement of the Duma faction of Social Democrats with the “military organization of the RSDLP,” which was preparing an armed uprising among the troops on June 3, 1907. Along with the Manifesto on the dissolution of the Duma, a new Regulation on Elections was published. The change in the electoral law was carried out in clear violation of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, which emphasized that “no new laws can be adopted without the approval of the State Duma.”
Third State Duma
In the III State Duma, 51 rightists were elected, 136 Octobrists, 28 progressives, 53 cadets, 90 nationalists, 13 Trudoviks, 19 social democrats. The chairmen of the State Duma of the third convocation were: N.A. Khomyakov, A.I. Guchkov, M.V. Rodzianko.
As one would expect, the majority of right-wingers and Octobrists formed in the Third State Duma. It continued its work from November 1, 1907 to June 9, 1912 and held 611 meetings during this period, considered 2,572 bills, of which 205 were put forward by the Duma itself.
The main place was still occupied by the agrarian question related to the Stolypin reform, labor and national. The Duma approved 2,197 bills, most of which related to estimates of various departments and departments, and the state budget was approved annually in the State Duma. In 1909, the government, once again violating the fundamental law, removed military legislation from the jurisdiction of the Duma.
Over the five years of its existence, the Third State Duma adopted a number of important bills in the field of public education, strengthening the army, and local self-government. The Third Duma, the only one of the four, served the entire five-year term required by the law on elections to the Duma - from November 1907 to June 1912. Five sessions took place.
Fourth State Duma
In June 1912, the powers of the deputies of the III State Duma expired, and in the fall elections to the IV State Duma took place. The Duma of the IV convocation began its work on November 15, 1912 and continued until February 25, 1917. The chairman all this time was the Octobrist M.V. Rodzianko. The composition of the State Duma of the fourth convocation: rightists and nationalists - 157 seats, Octobrists - 98, progressives - 48, Cadets - 59, Trudoviks - 10 and Social Democrats - 14.
The situation did not allow the Fourth Duma to concentrate on large-scale work. Moreover, with the outbreak of the World War in August 1914, after major failures of the Russian army at the front, the Duma entered into an acute conflict with the executive branch.
On September 3, 1915, after the Duma accepted the war loans allocated by the government, it was dissolved for vacation. The Duma met again only in February 1916.
But the Duma did not last long. On December 16, 1916 it was dissolved again. It resumed its activities on February 14, 1917, on the eve of the February abdication of Nicholas II. On February 25 it was dissolved again. There were no more official plans. But formally and actually it existed.
The new State Duma resumed its work only in 1993.
Let's sum it up
During the existence of the State Duma, progressive laws for those times were adopted on education and on labor protection at work; Thanks to the consistent line of Duma members, significant budgetary allocations were allocated for the rearmament of the army and navy, which were seriously damaged during the Russo-Japanese War.
But the pre-revolutionary Dumas were unable to resolve many pressing issues of their time, in particular the land issue.
In Russia it was the first representative institution of parliamentary type.
The State Duma was established as “a special legislative establishment, which is provided with the preliminary development and discussion of legislative proposals and consideration of the breakdown of state revenues and expenditures”. The development of the election regulations was entrusted to the Minister of Internal Affairs Bulygin, the convening date was set - no later than half of January 1906.
The basis of the legislative competence of the State Duma was clause 3 of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, which established “as an unshakable rule that no law could take effect without the approval of the State Duma.” This norm was enshrined in Art. 86 of the Basic Laws of the Russian Empire as amended on April 23: “No new law can be enacted without the approval of the State Council and the State Duma and take force without the approval of the Sovereign Emperor.” From an advisory body, as established by the Manifesto * of August 6, the Duma became a legislative body.
The first meeting of the State Duma took place on April 27 of the year at the Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg.
| Party | I Duma | 2nd Duma | III Duma | IV Duma |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RSDLP | (10) | 65 | 19 | 14 |
| Social Revolutionaries | - | 37 | - | - |
| People's Socialists | - | 16 | - | - |
| Trudoviks | 107 (97) | 104 | 13 | 10 |
| Progressive Party | 60 | - | 28 | 48 |
| Cadets | 161 | 98 | 54 | 59 |
| Autonomists | 70 | 76 | 26 | 21 |
| Octobrists | 13 | 54 | 154 | 98 |
| Nationalists | - | - | 97 | 120 |
| Far right | - | - | 50 | 65 |
| Non-partisan | 100 | 50 | - | 7 |
I convocation
Convened in accordance with the electoral law of December 11, according to which 49% of all electors belonged to peasants. Elections to the First State Duma took place from March 26 to April 20, 1906.
Elections of Duma Deputies took place not directly, but through the election of electors separately for four curiae - landowners, city, peasants and workers. For the first two, the elections were two-degree, for the third - three-degree, for the fourth - four-degree. The RSDLP, national social democratic parties, the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the All-Russian Peasant Union announced a boycott of the elections to the Duma of the first convocation.
Of the 448 deputies of the State Duma of the first convocation, there were 153 cadets, autonomists (members of the Polish Kolo, Ukrainian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and other ethnic groups) - 63, Octobrists - 13, Trudoviks - 97, 105 non-party and 7 others.
The first meeting of the State Duma took place on April 27, 1906 at the Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg (after a reception with Nicholas II in the Winter Palace). Cadet S.A. was elected chairman. Muromtsev. The chairman's comrades are Prince P.D. Dolgorukov and N.A. Gredeskul (both cadets). Secretary - Prince D.I. Shakhovskoy (cadet).
The first Duma worked for 72 days. Two projects on the agrarian issue were discussed: from the Cadets (42 signatures) and from deputies of the Duma labor group (104 signatures). They proposed the creation of a state land fund to allocate land to the peasantry. The Cadets wanted to include state, appanage, monastery, and part of the landowners' lands in the fund. They advocated the preservation of exemplary landowner farms and the alienation of the land that they lease at the market price. To provide for the peasants, the Trudoviks demanded that plots be allocated to them according to the labor standard at the expense of state, appanage, monastic and privately owned lands that exceed the labor standard, the introduction of egalitarian labor land use, the announcement of a political amnesty, the liquidation of the State Council, and the expansion of the legislative rights of the Duma.
On May 13, a government declaration appeared that declared the forced alienation of land unacceptable. Refusal to grant political amnesty and expand the prerogatives of the Duma and introduce the principle of ministerial responsibility to it. The Duma responded with a decision of no confidence in the government and replacing it with another. On June 6, Esser’s even more radical “project of 33” appeared. It provided for the immediate and complete destruction of private ownership of land and declaring it, along with all its mineral resources and waters, the common property of the entire population of Russia. On July 8, 1906, the Tsarist government, under the pretext that the Duma not only did not calm the people, but was further inciting unrest, dissolved it.
The Duma members saw the dissolution manifesto on the morning of the 9th on the doors of Tavrichesky. After this, some of the deputies gathered in Vyborg, where on July 9-10, 200 deputies signed the so-called. Vyborg Appeal.
II convocation
The State Duma of the second convocation worked from February 20 to June 2 of the year (one session).
In terms of its composition, it was generally to the left of the first, since Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries took part in the elections. Convened in accordance with the electoral law of December 11, 1905. Of the 518 deputies there were: Social Democrats - 65, Socialist Revolutionaries - 37, People's Socialists - 16, Trudoviks - 104, Cadets - 98 (almost half as many as in the first Duma), right-wing and Octobrists - 54, autonomists - 76, non-party members - 50, the Cossack group numbered 17, the party of democratic reforms is represented by one deputy. Cadet F.A. Golovin was elected chairman. Comrades of the chairman - N.N. Poznansky (non-party leftist) and M.E. Berezin (trudovik). Secretary - M.V. Chelnokov (cadet). The Cadets continued to advocate the alienation of part of the landowners' land and its transfer to the peasants for ransom. Peasant deputies insisted on nationalization of the land.
III convocation
Simultaneously with the decree on the dissolution of the Duma of the 2nd convocation, on June 3, 1907, a new Regulation on elections to the Duma, that is, a new electoral law, was published. According to this law, a new Duma was convened. Elections took place in the fall. In the 1st session of the State Duma of the 3rd convocation, there were: extreme right deputies - 50, moderate right and nationalists - 97, Octobrists and those associated with them - 154, "progressives" - 28, cadets - 54, Trudoviks - 13, social democrats - 19, Muslim group - 8, Lithuanian-Belarusian group - 7, Polish Kolo - 11. This Duma was significantly more to the right than the previous two.
The chairmen of the Duma of the 3rd convocation were: N.A. Khomyakov (Octobrist) - from November 1, 1907 to March 4, 1910, A.I. Guchkov (Octobrist) from October 29, 1910 to March 14, 1911, M.V. Rodzianko (Octobrist) from March 22, 1911 to June 9, 1912
Comrades of the chairman - Prince. V.M. Volkonsky (moderate right), bar. A.F. Meyendorff (Octobrist) from November 5, 1907 to October 30, 1909, S.I. Shidlovsky (Octobrist) from October 30, 1909 to October 29, 1910, M. Ya. Kapustin (Octobrist) from October 29, 1910 to June 9, 1912. Secretary - Ivan Sozonovich (right).
Five sessions were held: from November 1, 1907 to June 28, 1908, from October 15, 1908 to June 2, 1909, from October 10, 1909 to June 17, 1910, from October 15, 1910 to On May 13, 1911, from October 15, 1911 to June 9, 1912, the Third Duma, the only one of the four, served the entire five-year term prescribed by the law on elections to the Duma - from November 1907 to June 1912. Five sessions took place.
The Octobrists, a party of large landowners and industrialists, controlled the work of the entire Duma. Moreover, their main method was blocking on various issues with different factions. When they formed a bloc with the openly right-wingers, a right-wing Octobrist majority appeared; when they formed a bloc with the progressives and Cadets, an Octobrist-Cadet majority appeared. But the essence of the activity of the entire Duma changed slightly from this.
Acute disputes in the Duma arose on various occasions: on issues of reforming the army, on the peasant question, on the issue of attitude towards the “national outskirts”, as well as because of personal ambitions that tore apart the deputy corps. But even in these extremely difficult conditions, opposition-minded deputies found ways to express their opinions and criticize the autocratic system in the face of all of Russia. For this purpose, deputies widely used the request system. For any emergency, deputies, having collected a certain number of signatures, could submit an interpellation, that is, a demand for the government to report on its actions, to which one or another minister had to respond.
Great experience was accumulated in the Duma during the discussion of various bills. In total, there were about 30 commissions in the Duma. Large commissions, such as the budget commission, consisted of several dozen people. Elections of commission members were carried out at a general meeting of the Duma with the preliminary approval of candidates in the factions. In most commissions, all factions had their representatives.
Bills coming to the Duma from ministries were first of all considered by the Duma meeting, consisting of the Chairman of the Duma, his comrades, the Secretary of the Duma and his comrade. The meeting made a preliminary conclusion on sending the bill to one of the commissions, which was then approved by the Duma.
Each project was considered by the Duma in three readings. In the first, which began with a speech by the speaker, there was a general discussion of the bill. At the end of the debate, the chairman made a proposal to move to article-by-article reading.
After the second reading, the chairman and secretary of the Duma made a summary of all the resolutions adopted on the bill. At the same time, but no later than a certain period, it was allowed to propose new amendments. The third reading was essentially a second article-by-article reading. Its purpose was to neutralize those amendments that could pass in the second reading with the help of a random majority and did not suit influential factions. At the end of the third reading, the presiding officer put the bill as a whole with the adopted amendments to a vote.
The Duma's own legislative initiative was limited by the requirement that each proposal come from at least 30 deputies.
IV convocation
Elections to the IV State Duma
Preparations for the elections to the Fourth Duma began already in 1910: the government made great efforts to create the composition of the deputy corps it needed, as well as maximally involving clergy in the elections. It mobilized forces to prevent the aggravation of the internal political situation in connection with the elections, to hold them “silently” and, with the help of “pressure” on the law, to maintain and even strengthen its positions in the Duma, and to prevent its shift “to the left.” As a result, the government found itself in even greater isolation, since the Octobrists now firmly joined the legal opposition along with the Cadets.
Legislative activity
The last Duma in the history of autocratic Russia worked in the pre-crisis period for the country and the whole world. Five sessions took place between November 1912 and February 1917. Two occurred in the pre-war period and three during the First World War. The first session took place from November 15, 1912 to June 25, 1913, the second from October 15, 1913 to June 14, 1914, and the emergency session took place on July 26, 1914. The third session met from January 27 to 29, 1915, the fourth from July 19, 1915 to June 20, 1916, and the fifth from November 1, 1916 to February 25, 1917.
Siberian group of members of the IV State Duma. Sitting (from left): A.S. Sukhanov, V.N. Pepelyaev, V.I. Dzyubinsky, N.K. Volkov. N.V. Nekrasov, S.V. Vostrotin, M.S. Rysev. Standing: V.M. Vershinin, A.I. Rusanov, I.N. Mankov, I.M. Gamov, A.A. Dubov, A.I. Ryslev, S.A. Taskin
In composition it differed little from the third; there was a significant increase in clergy in the ranks of deputies.
Among the 442 deputies of the State Duma of the IV convocation, there were 120 nationalists and moderate rightists, 98 Octobrists, 65 rightists, 59 Cadets, 48 progressives, three national groups (Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian group, Polish Kolo, Muslim group) numbered 21 deputies , Social Democrats - 14 (Bolsheviks - 6, Mensheviks - 7, 1 deputy, who was not a full member of the faction, joined the Mensheviks), Trudoviks - 10, non-party - 7. Octobrist M.V. Rodzianko was elected Chairman of the Duma. The chairman's comrades were: Prince. D.D. Urusov (progressive) from November 20, 1912 to May 31, 1913, book. V.M. Volkonsky (non-party, moderate right) from December 1, 1912 to November 15, 1913, N.N. Lvov (progressive) from June 1 to November 15, 1913, A.I. Konovalov (progressive) from November 15, 1913 to May 13, 1914, S.T. Varun-Sekret (Octobrist) from November 26, 1913 to November 3, 1916, A. D. Protopopov (left Octobrist) from May 20, 1914 to September 16, 1916, N. V. Nekrasov (cadet) with November 5, 1916 to March 2, 1917, gr. V. A. Bobrinsky (nationalist) from November 5, 1916 to February 25, 1917, the secretary of the IV Duma was the Octobrist I.I. Dmitryukov.
Since 1915, the Progressive Bloc played a leading role in the Duma. The Fourth Duma, both before and during the First World War, was often in opposition to the government.
IV State Duma and the February Revolution
Bibliography
- State Duma in Russia (1906–1917): Review / RAS, INION; Ed. Tverdokhleb A.A., Shevyrin V.M. – M.: RAS, 1995. – 92 p.
- Kiryanov I.K., Lukyanov M.N. Parliament of autocratic Russia: The State Duma and its deputies, 1906 - 1917 Perm: Perm University Publishing House, 1995. - 168 p.
- Soloviev K.A. Duma monarchy: Public dialogue against the backdrop of reform // Rodina. 2006. No. 11.
Links
- Code of laws of the Russian Empire. Volume one. Part two. Basic state laws. Edition 1906. Chapter Ten About the State Council and the State Duma and their mode of action.
On July 9, 1906, Nicholas II dissolved the State Duma of the Russian Empire of the first convocation. This was the first attempt to create a representative legislative body in the country. Before the February Revolution of 1917, the State Duma was convened three more times.
Grand opening of the State Duma
After the revolution of 1905, Nicholas II was faced with the task of transferring the monarchy from autocratic to parliamentary. This is how the State Duma appeared. It was assigned the role of a legislative advisory body. The first convocation was elected for five years and served for 72 days. During this time, the deputies managed to hold one session. Each subsequent convocation worked longer.
The State Duma of the first convocation worked less than the next three
The procedure for holding elections in each of the four convocations assumed that not all residents of the country could vote: only owners of large real estate; taxpayers who contributed the most to the treasury; a small percentage of those who could participate in the elections were peasants.
The procedure was multi-stage: those who had the right to vote were divided into curiae, each of which elected electors to the assembly of district voters, which then elected as many deputies as were due from a given district. The government and the emperor abandoned the idea of direct, equal and secret elections, fearing that in a peasant country where the majority of the population was not sophisticated in political art, they would lead to victory of irresponsible demagogues.
Radicals boycotted the elections to the State Duma of the first convocation
The first convocation was less representative in terms of political trends. Members of left-wing and far-right parties boycotted the elections under the pretext that the Duma did not have real power.
State Duma meeting
The lower house of parliament was extremely opposed to the government and the emperor. This ultimately led to its dissolution. Subsequently, amendments were made to the electoral legislation so that the composition of the State Duma was selected more loyal to the executive branch. As a result, the election procedure became more complicated, which provoked an increase in distrust in the Duma as an institution of power.
At the meetings of the first convocation, extremely pressing issues were raised. In the future, the deputies did not allow themselves such radical behavior. Questions about the amnesty of all political prisoners, the abolition of the death penalty, the abolition of the State Council, the establishment of responsibility of the Council of Ministers before the Duma, the allocation of land to peasants - the deputies whiled away the time at the meetings discussing these topics.
Over time, the procedure for elections to the State Duma only became more complicated
The government refused almost all the proposals and demands of the Duma. Moreover, in early June, the Council of Ministers, accusing the Duma of escalating the situation and unnerving the population, decided to dissolve it. A month later, a corresponding decree of Nicholas II followed.
Political cartoon, 1906
“Instead of the work of legislative construction, they deviated into an area that did not belong to them and turned to investigating the actions of local authorities appointed by Us, to pointing out to Us the imperfections of the Fundamental Laws, changes to which can only be undertaken by Our Monarch’s will, and to actions that are clearly illegal, as an appeal on behalf of Duma to the population. Confused by such disorders, the peasantry, not expecting a legal improvement in their situation, moved in a number of provinces to open robbery, theft of other people’s property, disobedience to the law and legitimate authorities,” said the manifesto on the dissolution of the State Duma.
The Duma of the first convocation was perhaps the least bureaucratic. Over time, the period for considering legislative initiatives became longer, and the procedure itself became more complex. Numerous committees for the preliminary examination of documents, an office and other departments appeared.