Fundamental Laws and Dumas Flashcards
Who COULD vote in Russia as a result of the October Manifesto?
Who COULDN’T vote?
COULD: all male citizens over 25
COULDN’T: military servicemen, women
What did Nicholas declare at the passing of the Fundamental Laws in 1906?
“The Sovereign Emperor possesses the initiative of all legislative matters. No law can come into force without his approval”
Who had inspired Nicholas II to pass the Fundamental Laws in 1906?
Nicholas I in 1832 - passed his own Fundamental Laws of the Empire
Under the Fundamental Laws, who would appoint the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers?
The Tsar
Who had the final say on laws passed under the Fundamental Laws?
The Tsar
Under the Fundamental Laws, what could the Tsar do when the Duma was not in session?
Rule by emergency decree (Article 87)
The Fundamental Laws made the Duma bi-cameral: what does this mean?
One chamber would be an elected lower house; another would be an upper house (State Council) whose membership would be controlled by the Tsar
As a result of the Fundamental Laws, who boycotted the First Duma?
Left-wing groups
Which party had the most representatives in the First Duma?
Kadets
What did the Chief Minister Ivan Goremykin tell the First Duma?
Their demands were ‘inadmissable’
What did the First Duma debate which angered the government?
Compulsory redistribution of land and the release of political prisoners
What could now happen in Russia for the first time with the formation of the Duma?
Open, legal political debate and disagreement with the Tsar
How many days did it take for Nicholas to dissolve the First Duma?
73 days
How did the Kadets and Labourists respond to the dissolution of the First Duma?
Urged the Russian people to refuse to pay taxes and disobey government orders (Vyborg Appeal)
What happened to the Kadets and Labourists as a result of the Vyborg Appeal?
Those involved were banned from standing for election to the Second Duma
What did Prime Minister Peter Stolypin introduce in Russia as a result of the Vyborg Appeal?
Field courts martial (military courts)
What happened to the number of Kadet representatives in the Duma between the First and Second Dumas?
Cut in half - from 182 to 91
Who took most of the lost Kadet seats in the Second Duma?
The SDs and SRs
Which of Stolypin’s policies was opposed by the Second Duma?
The Wager on the Strong (land reform)
What was Nicholas’s excuse for dissolving the Second Duma after four months?
He accused an SD member of the Duma for attempting to arrange an army mutiny
How did Stolypin and Nicholas change Russian politics on 3 June 1907?
They changed the electoral laws to favour conservative landowners (who had 50% of the vote) at the expense of industrial workers (who had just 2% of the vote)
Apart from the workers, who else lost influence in the Duma between the Second and Third Dumas?
National minorities - number of deputies was cut
Why did Nicholas not want to ban the Duma altogether?
He wanted to show western nations that Russia was a democratic nation
What did left-wing groups label the Third Duma as, and why?
The “Duma of Lords and Lackeys”. It was dominated by right-wing parties, loyal to the Tsar, representing the propertied classes
Give three policies passed by the Third Duma
Any three from:
- Strengthening the army and navy
- Abolition of land captains, replaced by Justices of the Peace
- Universal primary education (1908)
- National insurance schemes for workers in 1912 (including unemployment pay and medical treatment)
How did the Duma strengthen Nicholas’s position?
Political groups could argue amongst each other and become divided (such as on the nationalities question in the Fourth Duma)
How did the Duma weaken Nicholas’s position?
Legal political parties could now voice criticisms of the Tsar, such as the Progressive Bloc in the Fourth Duma
