developments in central administration Flashcards
areas of continuity in central administration across the period:
- hierarchial
- organs of gov answerable to the leaders, not the people
- democracy never fully implemented - CA under PG closest it ever got
- numerous bodies performing specific roles
pre-1905: tsarist structure of government
Tsar (autocrat at the top)
Council of Ministers (discuss and draft legislation - abandoned by A3)
- Imperial Council of State (advised the Tsar on legal and financial matters)
- Committee of Minsters (establish 1861, administration of Russian Affairs, contained Minister of the Interior, Wat Minister etc)
- The Senate (Supreme Court, final court of appeal on laws)
post-1905: tsarist structure of government
- Tsar - remained autocratic control which was protected by the Fundamental Laws
- Council of Ministers (law-making and administrative body, Fundamental Laws (Article 87) allowed ministers to report directly to Tsar when the two houses were in recess - allowing bypassing of Duma to undo/pass legislation
- State Council (UC) - check on the activity of the Dumas
- The Duma (elected LC) - franchise became limited after Electoral Laws 1906
- The Senate
Dates and nicknames of the Dumas
1906, 1906-07, 07-12, 12-17
Duma of national hope, Duma of national anger, Duma of the Lords and Lackeys
State the reasons why each Duma was dissolved
1ST - Radical, October Manifest not be adhered to and Vyborg Manifesto
2ND - Even more radical than the last – asking for greenhouses, Stolypin used Article 87 to introduce electoral laws, Fundamental laws
4TH - coincided with disorder e.g Lena Goldfields 1917, put pressure on the Tsar to abdicate, carried on but was largely ineffective due to WW1
Which of the Dumas were the most successful?
Third Duma - Fairly successful, passed 2,200 reforms out of 2,500
though unrepresentative - strengthened army and navy, judicial system improved with the reinstatement of justices of the peace
How were the powers of the Duma limited?
Fundamental Laws APRIL 1906, Electoral Laws DEC 1905, could only control 1/3 of gov expenditure, article 87, Tsar appointed and could dismiss the Duma
When and why was a Progressive Bloc formed?
- N2 - complaints about leadership – recalled July 1915 – still refused to accept a limited constitutional monarchy
- N2 left ‘German Woman’ in charge after he became Commander in Chief in July 1915 - Zemgor
- July 1915 – Progressive Bloc – 1916 Milyunkov (Kadet leader) says he will fight gov
Key events of the Feb 1917 Revolution (turning point for changes in Cent Gov)
18th Feb - Putilov Steel Works Strike
23rd Feb - Women’s Day March - workers joined to protest about poor conditions
2rd March - N2 abdicates - PG takes over and marks a move towards a greater democracy
When did the Bolsheviks overthrow the PG?
- Storming of Winter Palace - 26th Oct
- introduced the new constitution July 1918 (consolidating power was required first)
Was Bolshevik gov that different from the Tsarist one?
- should have been a major break from Tsarist past, more freedoms but in reality gov structure and policies similar to Tsarists era
1917: Bolshevik structure of government
- All-Russian Congress of Soviets (main law-making body)
- Central Executive Committee (Sovnarkrom) - People’s Commissars were elected by soviets (dominated by the Bolshevik party - representatives and political workshops to encourage grass-root support)
- Cent Executive Committee - Pollituro (elite group in charge of policy), Orgburo (organising Party Affairs), Ogburo (law and order)
- Sovnarkrom (ministers in charge of departments)
How did the Bolshevik’s justify their structure of government? In reality, how was it just a Bolshevik dominated leadership?
- promoted the party as a unit pushing for an egalitarian society based on democratic centralism
- all key gov posts were held by senior Bolsheviks (e.g Lenin Chairman, Trotsky foreign affairs, Stalin nationalities), opposition put down by the Cheka (CA - Nov 1917 – only won 24% - Jan 1918 after 1 day with dissolved at gun point )
- Nomeklatura - approved officers and ministers who had expertise in a certain background - limited franchise/increasing nepotistic structure
What was the Lenin enrollment?
1923
- tried to address the limited franchise by launching a recruitment campaign - had minimal effect
Stalin’s 1936 Constitution
- more freedoms and universal suffrage
- altered the structure of gov (Supreme Soviet, Soviet of the Union and Soviet of Nationalities)
- Article 126 - limited changes as it ensured the Supreme Party was the Communist Party’s puppet - as the party was the ‘nucleus’ of society
