Dumas Flashcards
“A constitution is given, but the autocracy
remains. Everything is given, and nothing is given.’ Leon Trotsky
How did Alan Wood describe Russia’s political system between 1906 and 1917?
“A period of uneasy and ambiguous experimentation with quasi-constitutional politics.”
What was abolished on 24 November 1905?
Censorship
When did all men over the age of 25 become eligible for voting indirectly?
11 December 1905
How much of the urban working population was ineligible to vote?
Over 60%
When did Sergei Witte resign from his post and who replaced him?
22 April 1906, Ivan Goremykin
When were the Fundamental Laws of 1906 passed?
23 April 1906, to reiterate the Tsar’s power
What was contained in article 87 of the Fundamental Laws?
When the duma was not in session or under ‘exceptional circumstances’ the tsar held the power to legislate on his own providing the decision received approval from the duma within two months.
How did the Tsar transform the legislative body of Russia?
Upgraded the State Council of Imperial Russian to work in conjunction with Duma, created a 198 member upper chamber (one half appointed by the tsar) a largely conservative body.
“I created the Duma,
not to be directed by it, but to be advised.” Tsar Nicholas II
When did the first elections for the Duma begin?
February 1906
How did the law change on 4 March 1906?
Unions and political parties are made legal
When did the First Duma open and when did it end?
27 April 1906 - July 1906
Who was the largest political party in the First Duma?
Kadets (37% of seats)
Who did the Kadets in the first Duma make a coalition with and what were their aims?
Peasants. Freedom to strike, abolition of capital punishment, ministerial responsibility handed to the duma, universal and direct voting, free universal education, land redistribution for peasants and reorganisation of the tax system.
How did the Kadets towards the end of the Duma provoke violence? How did the government respond?
200 deputies staged an appeal to encourage people from paying taxes, and refusing orders to enlist. Violence broke out, the government appointed Pyotr Stolypin as prime minister.
When was the Second Duma?
February - June 1907
How was the Second Duma politically different from the first and what consequences did this have?
More radical as SRs and SDs participated in the elections. More ideologically divided with monarchists and SRs.
Why did the Tsar want to dissolve the Second Duma and how did he achieve this?
Duma criticised the administration of the military, would not support Stolypin’s land reforms. A Social Democratic was arrested on the charge of wanting to overthrow the regime, which led to the dissolution of the duma in 3 June 1907.
When was the Third Duma?
November 1907 - June 1912
What did Stolypin do on 3 June 1907?
Changed the electoral system so that voting was suspended in poorer districts; violated the constitution.
How many people were eligible to vote in the elections after Stolypin’s reform?
1 in 6 males
How was the Third Duma politically different to the others?
More conservative and the first to serve a full five year term.
When was the Fourth Duma?
November 1912 - August 1914
How was the Fourth Duma characterised politically?
Most conservative duma, responded to radical protests with repression.
What occurred in the Lena Goldfields in Siberia in 1912?
Miners demanded better pay + condition and were killed by government workers (symbolic of the tsars increasingly reactionary methods). 500 miners were killed.
What was the result of the Lena Goldfields massacre?
Three million workers staged 9000 strikes in the year following the massacre.
Why did the Fourth Duma end?
Outbreak of WWII
How do Soviet and Western historians disagree on the Dumas?
History of the CPSU: Dumas are nothing more than ‘an impotent appendage of stardom.’
Western historians: Dumas provoked debate, reform, awakening political consciousness.
What was Pyotr Stolypin’s guiding principle?
Suppression first and then, and only then, reform
What were the reforms Stolypin issued in November 1906 when the Duma was out of session?
Land reforms to transform peasants into a class of independent conservative land owners. Replaced village communes with private ownership.
When were land taxes halted by Stolypin?
1 January 1907
What was a negative effect of Stolypins land reforms? What was a positive impact?
Increased the amount of peasants moving to the city for work. For those who the reforms benefitted, they were pacified and their living standards were raised.
What were military tribunals and when were they introduced by Stolypin?
Processed cases without investigation or delay; introduced in 1906.
How many people were executed by military tribunals and ordinary courts between August 1906 and April 1907?
1144 people by military tribunals.
2000 by ordinary courts
How did Stolypin enrage liberals and radials alike?
Censorship of the press, conducting searches + arrests surveillance of universities and liberal activists. Dismissed the Second Duma and revised th electoral system.
Which moderate groups supported Stolypin?
Octobrists and Union of Russian people
When was Stolypin assassinated?
1 September 1911
What does Figes say of the view that Stolypin’s reforms could have stopped revolution breaking out?
“This optimistic view rests on two assumptions: that Stolypin’s reforms were succeeding in their aims; and that they are capable of stabilising Russia’s social system after the crisis of 1905. Both assumptions are patently false.”
What did Trotsky say of Stolypin’s reforms?
“Intensified the campaign of bloody reprisals against the workers and peasants. Thousands of revolutionary workers were shot by punitive expeditions, or hanged…revolutionaries were tortured mentally and physically. Particularly savage was the persecution of the working-class organisations, especially the Bolsheviks. “
