The October Manifesto (manifesto of October 17, 1905) is a legislative act developed by the government and signed by Emperor Nicholas 2 in order to put an end to numerous riots and strikes of workers and peasants.
The manifesto was the government's response to the ongoing strikes and popular protests taking place in the country since October 12, the author of the document was S.Yu. Witte.
« The highest manifesto about improvement public order"was a forced measure that Nicholas 2 took in order to stabilize the situation. The essence of the manifesto was to make concessions to the workers and fulfill a number of their demands - to give civil rights and freedom - thereby ending the chaos in the country.
Prerequisites for the creation of the Manifesto
This document became one of the most notable events during the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907 and was its original result.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the economic and political situation in Russia was very difficult. The abolition of serfdom greatly changed the country's economy, but the old system (autocratic monarchy) could not adequately respond to the changes taking place and support new type economy. The country experienced an industrial decline, as there was no one to work in the factories, the country's internal debt grew every day, and several consecutive lean years led to the country starving. The economic crisis, as well as Russia's failures in the military field, led to the fact that the government aroused less and less trust among the people.
Workers who had nothing to eat demanded that they be given civil rights and more freedom, so that the economy could be regulated not only by the decrees of the sovereign, but also by the will of the people. During this period, the slogan “down with autocracy” began to sound more and more often.
Despite the discontent, the government was still somehow coping with the situation, but after the tragic events of Bloody Sunday, when a peaceful demonstration of workers was shot by imperial troops, it was no longer possible to stop the revolution. Riots and strikes began throughout the country - people demanded to overthrow the Emperor.
The strikes peaked in October, when more than 2 million people went on strike. The strikes were accompanied by pogroms and bloody clashes.
The government's reaction to the revolution. Creation of the Manifesto October 17, 1905
At the beginning of the revolution, the government tried to cope with the situation by issuing numerous legislative acts and decrees, as well as using force. In particular, Nicholas 2 first issued a decree, according to which every citizen or group of citizens could submit for consideration a document on changing the state order, but then a second decree was immediately issued - it said that all power belonged exclusively to the emperor. Of course, the people were unhappy that they were trying to give them rights only on paper. The demonstrations grew more intense.
In May 1905, it was submitted to the Duma for consideration. new law a project that provided for the creation in Russia of a completely new law-making body, which would become a kind of mediator between the sovereign and the people - this body would deal with the consideration of citizens' proposals and the process of introducing appropriate amendments to official legislation. The Emperor did not like such a bill; its content, by order of Nicholas 2, was changed in favor of autocracy and the power of the monarchy.
When the riots reached their peak, Nicholas 2 was forced to return to the first edition of the new bill, because there was no other way to stop the bloody events. He issued an order to immediately compile the text of the Manifesto.
The manifesto marked a new beginning state system- constitutional monarchy.
Contents of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905
The new Tsarist Manifesto, first of all, gave a number of freedoms to citizens and public institutions. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom to form unions and public organizations. Immediately after the publication of the Manifesto, more than a hundred different societies and associations were created in Russia.
The Manifesto also gave the right to vote to those sections of the population that previously did not have it. The essence of this was to give the opportunity to take part in the fate of the country to all segments of the population, regardless of class and financial situation. This was the beginning of a democratic society.
Another innovation was that all bills were now considered and approved by the State Duma, the emperor ceased to be the sole ruler and lawmaker, and his power weakened.
Results of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905
Despite the fact that the adoption of the Manifesto stopped the revolution and became important step in perestroika Russian society, this step was only intermediate, since it did not fully satisfy the demands of society.
The manifesto gave the right to vote to almost all citizens, proclaimed a number of democratic freedoms and marked Russia’s transition to new level public administration. The sole power of the monarchy was significantly weakened, and a more modern legislative body appeared, which was supposed to take into account the interests of the people.
Unfortunately, the emperor's reluctance to relinquish power led to the fact that he reserved the sole right to dissolve the Duma at any time, which, in fact, nullified all the changes adopted. The manifesto served for several years, but could not fully satisfy the demands of the people. In 1917, a new revolution took place and the monarchy was overthrown.
The beginning of 1905 was marked by an event that predetermined all further Russian unrest - “Bloody Sunday”.
On January 9, a demonstration of workers led by priest G.A. Gapon, the head of the organization “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers of St. Petersburg” created by the police, went with a petition to the Tsar. On the way to the Winter Palace, a peaceful demonstration consisting of workers, their wives and children, carrying banners, icons, crosses, portraits of Nicholas II., was shot... Thus, the first Russian revolution began.
In the spring and summer of 1905, the revolutionary movement continued to grow. Congresses of Bolsheviks and Mensheviks took place. The strike movement intensified. On May 12, 1905, a general strike began in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, which lasted two and a half months. As a result, the workers managed to achieve an increase from the Government wages, improving sanitary conditions, etc.
June 1905 was marked, firstly, by an uprising in Lodz (Poland), caused by the police shooting of Social Democratic workers, and, secondly, by an uprising on the battleship Prince Potemkin Tauride, which was part of the Black Sea squadron. Since the beginning of October, the strike movement has engulfed railway workers. By October 12, 750 thousand white-collar workers took part in the strike and traffic on all railway lines ceased. On October 17, the strike completely covered St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Thus, it became obvious that the current political situation in the country needs to be regulated and resolved. The first attempt to resolve the situation in the country was made by Nicholas II on February 18, 1905, when the tsar signed a rescript from the Minister of Internal Affairs A. Bulygin, promising to involve him in the discussion of laws.
With a manifesto of August 6, 1905, Emperor Nicholas II established the State Duma as “a special legislative advisory institution, which is given the preliminary development and discussion of legislative proposals and consideration of the list of state revenues and expenses.”
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. However, the provisions on elections to the Duma developed by the commission headed by Bulygin, discussed at the Peterhof meeting chaired by Nicholas II and approved by the Tsar’s manifesto of August 6, 1905 (only limited categories of persons were given the right to vote: large owners real estate, large payers of trade and housing taxes, and - on special grounds - peasants) caused strong discontent in society, numerous protest rallies and strikes eventually resulted in the All-Russian October political strike, and elections to the “Bulygin Duma” did not take place.
During the period of the All-Russian October political strike, the situation was almost completely out of the control of the emperor and the government. Therefore, Nicholas II was faced with a choice: to restore order with an “iron hand” or to make concessions. Sergei Yulievich Witte was entrusted with resolving this dilemma. Witte, in turn, instructed Finance Minister A.D. Obolensky. This project, heavily revised during group discussion, provided for the “indispensable” participation of the State Duma and the State Council in the consideration of all legislative matters.
The document provided for the fulfillment of the will of the emperor, which consisted in the “granting” of civil rights, early elections to the Duma, involving in participation in them those sections of society that had previously been deprived of voting rights, establishing the inviolability of the rule that no law could gain force without the approval of the Duma , which was given the opportunity to oversee the actions of the authorities. On October 17, Nicholas II signed the manifesto in the form in which it was prepared by A.D. Obolensky and N.I. Vuich under the leadership of Witte, and, at the same time, approved Witte’s report. That is, documents that were largely contradictory to each other, separated by only a week, simultaneously gained force, but it was this week that became a turning point in the course of the revolution.
- On October 17, 1905, the “Manifesto for the Improvement of State Order” proclaimed:
- 1) granting freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association;
- 2) attracting wider sections of the population to the elections (suffrage is given to those sections that have never had it);
- 3) the mandatory procedure for approval by the State Duma of all laws issued (i.e., a legislative body is formed).
The new basis for 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 Fundamental Laws Russian Empire as amended on April 23, 1906. “No new law can follow without the approval of the State Council and the State Duma and take force without the approval of the Sovereign Emperor. Russian legislation of the 10th-20th centuries: in 9 volumes. Vol. 5. Legislation during the heyday of absolutism. Reply ed. E.I. M., Legal literature, 1987. P. 114. " From an advisory body, as established by the Manifesto of August 6, 1905, the Duma became a legislative body. Kharlamova Yu. V. Relationships between the legislative and executive branches of government in modern Russia(1993-2007) // Bulletin of Moscow State University, Series 18: “Sociology and Political Science”, 2008, No. 1
This legislative act was the first in the history of the Russian Empire in which the ruler declared bourgeois-democratic freedoms. But these were statements of a declarative nature. With the formation of the legislative body, Nicholas II renounces sole lawmaking. The manifesto served as an impetus for the creation of many pieces of legislation. So on December 11, 1905, the Decree “On Changing the Regulations on Elections to the State Duma” was issued, which significantly expanded the circle of voters Isaev I.A. History of state and law of Russia. M.: LLC TK Velby, 2002. P. 174. 1.
The Manifesto of February 20, 1906 further defined the methods of legislative interaction between bodies supreme authority; in fact, he transformed the State Council of the Russian Empire into a kind of upper house of parliament.
In April 1906, the State Duma Library was created, which worked until 1918, when, by decree of the Council of People's Commissars, the office of the State Duma and all the structures that made up its apparatus, including the library, were abolished. The first meeting of the State Duma took place on April 27, 1906 at the Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg.
Defeat of the revolution.
The manifesto of October 17, 1905 was the second after the reforms of the 60s. XIX century the biggest step along the path of political transformation of the Russian state.
Under the influence of the October strike, the government was forced to make concessions. On October 17, 1905, the Emperor signed the Manifesto, which promised:
- - convene the State Duma, vested with legislative powers;
- - provide the population with democratic freedom of speech, collection, seal, conscience;
- - introduce universal suffrage;
Many questions remained unresolved: how exactly the autocracy and the Duma would be combined, what the powers of the Duma would be. The question of the constitution was not raised at all in the Manifesto.
The forced concessions of tsarism, however, did not weaken the intensity of the social struggle in society. The conflict between the autocracy and the conservatives supporting it, on the one hand, and revolutionary-minded workers and peasants, on the other, is deepening. Between these two fires were the liberals, in whose ranks there was no unity. On the contrary, after the publication of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, the forces in the liberal camp became even more polarized.
Autumn - winter 1905 revolutionary movement reached highest point Moscow becomes the center of the struggle, where a political strike began. The workers demanded an 8-hour working day and higher wages. On October 6, railway workshop workers went on strike. And on October 15, the strike developed into an All-Russian political strike under the slogans: “Down with the autocracy!”, “Long live the nationwide uprising!” Demands for democratic freedoms and the convening of a Constituent Assembly were also put forward. The October political strike was led by the Soviets of Workers' Deputies, formed following the example of the Ivanovo-Voznesensky Soviet. 2 million people took part in the political strike: workers, engineers, doctors, teachers, journalists, actors, students, etc.
Peasant uprisings covered 1/3 of Russia's counties. Nicholas II was forced to issue a decree to stop collecting ransom payments from peasants.
The system of representative institutions was introduced in Russia by a number of state acts, starting with the Manifesto on August 6, 1905 and ending with the “Basic State Laws” on April 23, 1906. According to the original draft (August 6, 1905), the State Duma was supposed to be a “legislative institution” elected based on qualified representation from three curiae. The aggravation of the political situation soon required a revision of the project.
On December 11, 1905, after the defeat of the armed uprising in Moscow, a decree “On changing the regulations on elections to the State Duma” was issued, which significantly expanded the circle of voters. Almost the entire male population of the country over the age of 25, except for soldiers, students, day laborers and some nomads, received voting rights. The right to vote was not direct and remained unequal for voters of different categories (curiae).
Deputies were elected by electoral assemblies consisting of electors from each province and row major cities. Electors were chosen by four separate curiae of voters: landowners, city dwellers, peasants and workers. Landowners with a full land qualification (150 dessiatines) directly participated in district congresses of landowners who voted for electors from the province. Small landowners elected representatives to the district congress, one for each full qualification.
The peasant elections were four-stage: first, representatives were elected to the volost assembly, then to the district congress of representatives from the volosts, and at the congress electors were elected to the provincial electoral assembly. The workers elected a congress of their representatives, at which electors were elected to the electoral assembly of the provinces or large cities.
95 years have passed since the day when Russian citizens gained basic democratic freedoms for the first time in the country's history. This document, although extremely small in volume, in content, was a turning point in the history of the country. In particular, it declared the highest command
- 1. To grant the population the unshakable foundations of civil freedom on the basis of actual personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association.
- 3. Establish as an unshakable rule that no law can take effect without the approval of the State Duma and that those elected by the people are provided with the opportunity to truly participate in monitoring the regularity of the actions of the authorities appointed by us.
It seemed not only to the liberal opposition, but also to many of the highest dignitaries of the empire that “now the new life". So, in particular, said the all-powerful favorite of Nicholas II at that time, St. Petersburg Governor-General Trepov, and a prominent figure in political investigation, Rachkovsky, generally believed that “tomorrow they will celebrate Christ on the streets of St. Petersburg.” But everything turned out exactly the opposite. Manifesto of 17 October not only did not stop the revolution, but gave it a new impetus. Radicals from the camp of liberals and socialists used the “gift” of Nicholas II to strengthen the struggle against the regime. It is significant that it was on October 17 that the prominent liberal Pavel Miliukov told his like-minded people at one of the banquets. that “nothing has changed, the war continues.”
On the other hand, the freedoms promised by the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, turned out to be an empty phrase in the conditions of the revolution. When suspects were being arrested all around, there was no one to talk about personal integrity. Freedom of speech was also minimized by the Law of February 13, 1906, according to which any person could be prosecuted for “anti-government propaganda.” Freedom to strike was sharply curtailed by the Law of December 2, 1905, which prohibited civil servants and workers in enterprises vital to the country's economy from striking. And yet, the Manifesto of October 17 was fulfilled in the main thing - in terms of elections to the State Duma.
Nicholas II himself, assessing the significance of the Manifesto of October 17, wrote that the decision to give Russia civil liberties and a parliament was “terrible” for him, but nevertheless, “he made this decision completely consciously.” Finally, the emperor writes the following: “After such a day, my head became heavy and my thoughts began to get confused. Lord, help us, pacify Russia.” Russia calmed down only for a little over 11 years. But all this time, liberals, socialists, and the government itself demonstrated their inability to working together for the benefit of the country both within the walls of parliament itself and in public policy. Nicholas II's decision to give Russia civil liberties and a parliament turned out to be fatal both for the empire and for him personally. Many negative reviews about the significance of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905 for Russia are widely known. In particular, the emperor's cousin Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich believed that on October 17, 1905, the Russian Empire ceased to exist. How fair are these types of assessments? This, and many other steps of Emperor Nicholas II in the last few years have become the subject of controversy not only among historians.
Today there is a very real danger of a “new reading” of the history of the reign of Nicholas II in the spirit of unrestrained apologetic assessments of the personality and activities of the last emperor. The canonization of Nicholas II, unfortunately, creates a favorable background for the distortion of his political image. Last Russian Emperor in fact bears enormous responsibility for all the cataclysms that happened to the country in 1917. Many of his decisions, made under pressure from far from state-minded people, of whom there were plenty in the Romanov dynasty itself, turned into a tragedy for the country.
By giving Russia civil rights and a parliament at the very time when almost all sections of the population opposed to the autocracy wanted only one thing - to take away as much as possible from the tsar, and, if possible, all power, Nicholas II either demonstrated a lack of understanding of the political situation, or simply “washed his hands of ", heeding the advice of Prime Minister Witte, who did most of the work in preparing the October 17 manifesto. However, Witte offered the tsar an alternative - to introduce a strict dictatorship, but the emperor voluntarily limited his power by agreeing to the convening of the State Duma. Nicholas II himself justified his decision by his reluctance to shed new blood from his subjects, as well as by the consideration that it is better “to give everything at once than to be forced in the near future to give in on trifles and still come to the same thing.”
The October 17 Manifesto cannot clearly be considered a happy acquisition for Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, and not only because the opposition took advantage of civil liberties to intensify the fight against the autocracy, which only led to new blood (at least during the suppression of the uprising in Moscow in December 1905 ), but also because the government itself did not know and did not understand what parliamentarism, political parties and public opinion are in conditions of freedom of the press. Russia, by the will of Nicholas II, entered a qualitatively different state state, being absolutely unprepared for this. And the emperor did nothing to ensure that his ministers learned to work in the new conditions that he created for them. The bureaucracy, subordinate only to the tsar, was absolutely incapable of parliamentarism of the European type. She not only did not want, but also did not understand what a government report to people's representatives or a discussion with these same representatives of the budget was. Tsarist officials, with rare exceptions, were absolutely unprepared for public politics; deputies drove many ministers into hysterics. “In Russia, thank God, there is no parliament,” this was the saying of Prime Minister Kokovtsov, which outraged the deputies of the Third State Duma to the core, expressing not only the bureaucracy’s rejection of parliamentarism, but also the tsarist dignitaries’ elementary misunderstanding of the new realities that arose with the advent of country of political parties and parliament. The head of the St. Petersburg security department, A. Gerasimov, recalled that when in December 1905 he asked the Minister of Internal Affairs P. Durnovo, “with which parties the government will work in agreement and with which parties it is impossible for the government to cooperate,” the minister replied: “About which parties you say? We won’t allow any parties in the Duma. Each elected person will have to vote according to his own conscience.” “It became clear to me,” Gerasimov further writes, “that Durnovo is even less prepared for the new conditions than I am.”
The authorities are unprepared for political struggle in the conditions of a multi-party system, parliamentarism and freedom of the press, it did not serve it well. The royal dignitaries rushed from one extreme to the other. They flirted with the Cadets, inviting them to create a coalition government. Stolypin carried out all his major bills, overcoming the sharp discontent of deputies both on the left and on the right. Nicholas II himself was forced to dissolve parliament three times ( last time in 1917 he no longer succeeded), which in itself indicated that the parliament “given” to Russia turned out to be in fact the legal center of the struggle against the autocracy. In the end, the confrontation between the State Duma and the imperial power ended in victory for the former. Those who fought for parliamentary mandates turned out to be perfectly prepared for the parliamentary struggle with the authorities. Precisely to fight, not to cooperation. To the Tsar’s call to the deputies of the First State Duma to unite for the sake of the interests of the Fatherland and the people, the deputies responded with a demand to expand the powers of parliament, and the liberal press mocked them in every possible way. In all Dumas, the tone was set by politicians who saw parliament as an exclusively political platform for the fight against the regime. Witte and Stolypin understood perfectly well that the same cadets went to parliament not only in order to meekly sanction the tsar’s decrees, but also in order to move from the seats of deputies to the seats of ministers. In all the negotiations that Witte, Trepov and Stolypin conducted with the leaders of the liberal parties, the demand for ministerial portfolios was the main one on the part of the liberals. Moreover, the liberals did not stand on ceremony. Miliukov, for example, directly told Stolypin that “public opinion” did not approve of his presence as Minister of Internal Affairs.
Of course, in the relationship between the Duma and the imperial government there was not only political confrontation. From time to time, both sides came to agreed upon sober decisions, but still mutual distrust, often turning into a bitter struggle, caused a constant split in society. Nicholas II missed a historic chance to introduce Russian liberalism into a creative state channel when, at the dawn of his reign, under the influence of Chief Prosecutor Pobedonostsev, he rejected the most modest requests of the Russian liberal public to expand the rights of zemstvos. Unwilling to make small concessions, arrogantly bullying the touchy Russian liberals, the emperor demonstrated political blindness, lack of flexibility and himself pushed them into an all-out fight against the autocratic system itself. On the other hand, by giving Russia civil liberties and a parliament at the height of the revolution, when opposition-minded layers of the intelligentsia were no longer thinking about partial reforms of self-government, but at least about seriously limiting the power of the tsar, Nicholas II with his own hands prepared the destruction of the empire. Intoxicated by the successes of the revolution, the opposition intelligentsia regarded the Manifesto of October 17 not only as their victory, but also as the foundation on which to build further plans to seize power. There was every reason for this. In the negotiations that the government conducted with the cadets in 1906, D. Trepov agreed to form a coalition government and even agreed to give the cadets the post of prime minister. It is possible that this was simply a distracting maneuver, but such proposals pushed the Cadets to even more active actions to take power.
Civil liberties and parliament, granted by Nicholas II, came somewhat at the wrong time. In a country engulfed in the fire of revolution, freedom inevitably turns into one of its opposites - dictatorship or anarchy. Because both the authorities and the opposition seek to use this freedom not for creation, but for momentary political goals. The emperor gave freedom and parliament in the naive hope of “pacifying Russia”; the motley opposition used these freedoms to further incite the revolution. All democratic freedoms and institutions became bargaining chips in the fierce struggle between the authorities and the opposition, in which the latter gradually gained more and more points, since it was able to work effectively with public opinion. This opinion became increasingly anti-monarchical. The emperor was gradually left without a capable political elite, the monarchical idea itself began to lose all attractiveness not for common people, but for the educated, thinking layer. Nicholas II, having given society the broadest freedoms, wittingly or unwittingly contributed to the devaluation of the sense of state responsibility among the newly created elite, who settled in parliament and in the editorial offices of newspapers, and was unable to rally a strong layer around himself statesmen capable of working in parliamentary conditions. Having acquired civil liberties and parliament on October 17, 1905, the Russian state and society came not to the long-awaited agreement, but to a new round of confrontation. Unprincipled politicking, insinuations and hatred instead of state responsibility and political compromise - this is what the country received as a result of the famous Manifesto of Nicholas II.
The Supreme Manifesto of October 17, 1905 is a legislative act of the supreme power of the Russian Empire. According to one version, it was developed by Sergei Yulievich Witte on behalf of Emperor Nicholas II. According to other sources, the text of the Manifesto was prepared by A.D. Obolensky and N.I. Vuich, and Witte provided general leadership. There is information that on the day the manifesto was signed, two projects were on the table in front of the tsar: the first was to introduce a military dictatorship (his uncle Nikolai Nikolaevich was planned to be dictator), and the second was a constitutional monarchy. The Tsar himself was inclined towards the first option, but the Grand Duke’s decisive refusal forced him to sign the Manifesto. Adopted under the pressure of the October general political strike and, above all, the railway workers' strike, the Manifesto granted democratic freedoms to society and promised the convening of a legislative State Duma. The main significance of the Manifesto was that it previously distributed the sole right of the emperor between the monarch and the legislative State Duma. As a result of the adoption of the Manifesto by the Emperor, changes were made to the Basic State Laws of the Russian Empire, which actually became the first Russian Constitution.
In the conditions of the First Russian Revolution, it is with this act that the transition from the autocratic form of government in Russia to a constitutional monarchy is traditionally associated, as well as the liberalization of the political regime and the entire way of life in the country. The Manifesto of October 17 granted Russian citizens civil liberties, and the future State Duma was endowed legislative rights instead of the legislative ones promised earlier on August 6. This Manifesto is based on new project State Duma, which was aimed at “the speediest end to the unrest that is so dangerous for the state.” In addition to taking measures to “eliminate direct manifestations of disorder,” the government was entrusted with three tasks: to grant the population the unshakable foundations of civil freedom on the basis of actual inviolability of the person, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association; to attract to participation in the Duma those classes of the population that are completely deprived of voting rights (we were talking about workers); establish that no law can be adopted without the approval of the State Duma. At the same time, the emperor retained the right to dissolve the Duma and block its decisions with his veto.
The document ended with an appeal “to all the faithful sons of Russia”, together with the sovereign, “to exert all efforts to restore silence and peace in their native land.” But the period from October 18 to 29, 1905 was marked by another outbreak of violence: during these days about 4 thousand people were killed and about 10 thousand were injured. Such violence became possible due to the confusion of the central and, especially, local authorities, after the publication of the Manifesto. The fact is that the Manifesto was prepared in complete secrecy, and after its publication no explanations were made. There is evidence that even the Minister of the Interior found out about it at the same time as everyone else. What can we say about the governors and police chiefs in the provinces, if even the capital’s officials did not know how to act under the terms of the “constitution”.
The manifesto was published simultaneously with the note by S.Yu. Witte addressed to the emperor, which emphasized that the principles of the new order for Russia should “be implemented only insofar as the population acquires the habit and civic skill of them.” In practice, despite the cancellation corporal punishment, the Cossacks and peasants in the community continued to flog the guilty. As before, “lower ranks (soldiers) and dogs” were strictly prohibited from entering parks for the “clean” public. Merchants continued to imprison debtors from the merchant guilds in a commercial debtor's prison.
Decree “On strengthening the principles of religious tolerance” dated April 17, 1905 and the provisions of the 7th chapter of the Code of Basic State Laws (dated April 23, 1906), by which the Orthodox were allowed to freely convert to other faiths, and all those not belonging to the ruling church were subjects of the Russian states and foreigners to enjoy “everywhere the free exercise of their faith and worship according to its rites” only led to the penetration of ideas of proselytism and missionaries into Russia, the creation of various kinds of sects and the strengthening of the schism in the highest Orthodox clergy.
In addition to the State Duma, the Manifesto of October 17, 1905 also changed the functions of the rest of the highest government institutions of the empire. By decree of October 19, 1905, the Council of Ministers became a permanent body responsible to the Tsar. That is, he did not become an office in European sense, since he was not responsible to the Duma. Ministers were also appointed by the emperor. By decree of February 20, 1906, the State Council was turned into the upper house of parliament as a counterweight to the Duma. Now half of the members of the State Council were appointed by the tsar (including the chairman and vice-chairman), and the other half were elected from zemstvos, noble assemblies and universities.
However, hopes for the “pacification” of Russia were not justified, since the Manifesto was regarded in left-wing circles as a concession to the autocracy, and in right-wing circles as a royal favor. This, in turn, determined the very contradictory and half-hearted nature of the transformations associated with the implementation of the civil liberties proclaimed by the Manifesto. A direct consequence of the release of the October Manifesto was the emergence of legal political parties, trade unions and other public organizations, as well as the legal opposition press.
The Decree of March 4, 1906 “On temporary rules on societies and unions” regulated the activities of political parties, the activities of which were legalized by the Manifesto of October 17. This was the first legal act in the history of Russia that officially allowed and established certain rules for the activities of various political entities, including opposition ones. Societies and unions could be formed without “asking for permission from government authorities” on the basis of compliance with the rules established by decree. First of all, societies pursuing goals contrary to public morality or prohibited by criminal law, threatening public peace and security, as well as those managed by institutions or persons located abroad, if the societies pursue political goals, were prohibited.
At the beginning of the century, about 100 parties were created, which can be divided into: conservative-monarchist, conservative-liberal (Octobrists), liberal (Cadet), neo-populist, social-democratic and nationalist. The Constitutional Democratic Party (self-name - “Party of People's Freedom”) took organizational form at its first congress in Moscow on October 12-18, 1905. In the spring and summer of 1906, there were about 50 thousand people in the party (of which 8 thousand were in Moscow and St. Petersburg). The Union of October 17 party was formed after the publication of the Tsar's manifesto on October 17, 1905. The total number of the party in 1905-1907 was about 50-60 thousand members. At the same time, the number of the Moscow organization reached about 9-10 thousand, and the St. Petersburg organization reached about 14 thousand people. Law-abiding parties of the center, which later merged with the Octobrists, include the Trade and Industrial Union (established in St. Petersburg in October-November 1905 and dissolved at the end of 1906), the Moderate Progressive Party (formed in October-November 1905 in Moscow); the St. Petersburg Progressive Economic Party (emerged in October-November 1905) and the Right Order Party (emerged in St. Petersburg in mid-October 1905). As for the Black Hundred organizations, they arose even before the publication of the Manifesto. So, Russian collection was formed in the fall of 1900, the Union of Russian People (in October 1905, transformed into the Union of the Russian People) and the Russian Monarchist Party - in March 1905. The total number of these organizations by the summer of 1906 was more than 250 thousand members. We didn't wait Tsar's Manifesto and left parties, whose formation began in late XIX century. The formation of trade unions also took place without waiting for the Manifesto to appear.
In the six-month activity of the cabinet of S.Yu. Witte great place was allocated to transformations related to the implementation of the civil liberties proclaimed by the Manifesto - laws on societies and unions, on meetings and the press. But on the other hand, already in mid-February 1906, Witte switched to the position of a supporter of unlimited tsarist power and began to prove that the Manifesto of October 17 not only did not mean a constitution, but could also be canceled “every hour.”
A clear example of the limited nature of reforms in the field of citizens' rights is censorship legislation, which, as a result of all amendments and innovations, by 1904 was essentially reduced to the Charter of 1828. Another thing is that in the wake of the revolution, publishers actually stopped turning to censorship for permission. Under these conditions, the government was satisfied with the hastily prepared next Temporary Rules on time-based publications dated November 24, 1905. They abolished preliminary censorship and the system of administrative penalties. The latter, however, continued to be applied on the basis of the 1881 Law on the State of Exception, which was extended to a significant part of the territory of Russia. The right of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to prohibit discussion in the press of any issue of national importance was abolished, but individual issues of newspapers and magazines could be seized by order of an official with the simultaneous initiation of prosecution.
On April 23, 1906, four days before the start of the Duma, Nicholas II, by personal decree, approved the “Basic Laws” (Constitution) of the Russian Empire, prepared by a special commission headed by S.Yu. Witte. The count himself defined the regime being established as “legal autocracy.” The Constitution broadly declared fundamental freedoms and rights: judicial protection of the private property of subjects (forced confiscation of the latter was allowed only in court and with prior equivalent compensation); the right to legal representation in the event of arrest and transfer of the case to a jury trial; the right to freely choose your place of residence and freely travel abroad. True, there was no mass exodus of the “non-noble classes” (80% of the population) abroad, with the exception of small groups of revolutionaries. The definition of the tsar’s power as unlimited was removed from the Basic Laws (he exercised legislative power together with the Duma and the State Council), but the title “autocratic” was retained. The prerogatives of the tsar were declared: revision of basic laws, higher government administration, leadership foreign policy, the supreme command of the armed forces, the declaration of war and the conclusion of peace, the declaration of a state of exception and martial law, the right to mint coins, the appointment and dismissal of ministers, the pardon of convicts and a general amnesty. But the imperial family was not subject to civil and criminal law.
BY GOD'S GRACE,
WE, NICHOLAY THE SECOND,
EMPEROR AND AUTOCRATIC ALL-RUSSIAN,
KING OF POLISH, GRAND DUKE OF FINNISH
AND ETC., AND ETC., AND ETC.
We announce everything to Our loyal subjects:
Unrest and unrest in the capitals and in many localities of the empire fill our hearts with our great and grave sorrow. The good of the Russian sovereign is inseparable from the good of the people, and the people's sorrow is his sorrow. The unrest that has now arisen may result in deep national disorder and a threat to the integrity and unity of our state.
The great vow of royal service commands us with all the forces of our reason and power to strive for a speedy end to the unrest that is so dangerous for the state. Having ordered the subject authorities to take measures to eliminate direct manifestations of disorder, riots and violence, to protect peaceful people striving for the calm fulfillment of everyone’s duty, we, for the most successful implementation of our general plans for pacification state life measures, recognized the need to unite the activities of the highest government.
We entrust the government with the responsibility of fulfilling our unyielding will:
1. Grant the population the unshakable foundations of civil freedom on the basis of actual personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association.
2. Without stopping the scheduled elections to the State Duma, now attract to participation in the Duma, to the extent possible, corresponding to the shortness of the period remaining before the convocation of the Duma, those classes of the population that are now completely deprived of voting rights, thereby granting further development the beginning of general suffrage and the newly established legislative order.
3. Establish as an unshakable rule that no law can take effect without the approval of the State Duma and that those elected by the people are provided with the opportunity to truly participate in monitoring the regularity of the actions of the authorities decreed by us.
We call on all the faithful sons of Russia to remember their duty to their Motherland, to help put an end to this unheard-of unrest and, together with us, to strain all their strength to restore silence and peace in their native land.
Given in Peterhof, on the 17th day of October, in the year of Christ one thousand nine hundred and five, the eleventh of our reign.
On the original His Imperial Majesty's Own hand is signed:
"NICHOLAY".
Vitenberg B. Political experience of Russian parliamentarism (1906-1917): Historical essay // New Journal. 1996. No. 1. P. 166-192
Leiberov I.P., Margolis Yu.D., Yurkovsky N.K. Traditions of democracy and liberalism in Russia // Questions of history. 1996. No. 2. P. 3-14
Medushevsky A.N. Constitutional monarchy in Russia // Questions of history. 1994. No. 8. P. 30-46
Orlova N.V. Political parties Russia: pages of history. M., 1994
Political history Russia in parties and persons. M., 1993
On what basis did the Manifesto grant the population “the unshakable foundations of civil freedom”?
What exclusive right did you receive? State Duma in the field of lawmaking?
Why did the emperor decide to publish the Manifesto?
What legal acts were adopted based on the Manifesto?