The Dumas Flashcards
What was ‘The Vyborg Manifesto’?
200 Duma Deputies (mostly from The Kadet and Trudovik party) signed The Vyborg Manifesto in response to Nicolas II’s dissolution of the 1st Duma after just 73 days. It called for widespread resistance to The Tsar through non-payment of taxes.
The signatories were then consequently banned from The Duma.
Fill in the blanks “_____ of The ______Laws allowed The Tsar to ______ therefore retaining ultimate power.”
Article 87 of The Fundamental Laws allowed The Tsar to govern by decree, therefore retaining ultimate power.
Why was the 2nd Duma dissolved?
The Duma was composed of radical parties and opponents of The Tsar. The Tsar accused the Duma Deputies of encouraging mutinies as a pretext to dissolve The Duma.
Why were there no SR or Bolshevik delegates in the 1st Duma?
They boycotted the elections as they wanted more comprehensive change and reform from The Tsar.
Describe the difference between the October Manifesto and The Fundamental Laws.
The 1905 October Manifesto was written to placate the revolutionaries during the 1905 revolution. It was just 350 words long, and as such, was a broad statement of intent rather than a dedicated programme of reform.
It was later, in April 1906 that the The Tsar published The Fundamental Laws. Much had chasen in the sixth month gap between the publication of the October manifesto and the fundamental laws. Order had mostly been restored and the regime was back in control, which meant that Nicholas II felt he was in a strong enough position to renege on the promises made to the revolutionaries.
When were The Fundamental Laws passed?
April 1906.
Identify 6 factors contained within The Fudamental Laws which allowed the Tsar to retain ultimate power.
- Article 4 declared that ‘Supreme autocratic power belongs to the Tsar’.
- Article 87 allowed The Tsar to govern by decree when the Dumas were not in session. Laws passed in this fashion still had to be ratified by The Duma, but not until many years later.
- The Tsar appointed his own ministers and advisors without the need for Duma approval.
- The Tsar could arbitrarily dissolve The Dumas at will.
- Important areas of policy such as defence and foreign affairs were solely the preserve of The Tsar alone.
- The counterbalancing presence of The Council of State meant that The State Duma could not pass laws unless they were approved by The Council of State, which was a staunchly conservative and unelected body.
Describe how The Council of State was made up.
It was 50% elected from a pool of representatives from Conservative institutions like The Zemstvo and Orthodox Church , and 50% of it was appointed by The Tsar from a pool of his supporters and friends.
Name the 2 houses of The Russian Parliament.
The State Duma (The Lower House, equivalent to The British House of Commons)
The Council of State (The Upper House, equivalent to The British House of Lords)
Describe Stolypin’s changes to The Dumas franchise in mid-1907
Stolypin used article 87 of The Fundamental Law to radically change the way that the Dumas were elected, to ensure that future Dumas would have an inbuilt Conservative majority.
He did this by altering the altering the electoral arrangements to the different electoral ‘colleges’; meaning that The Nobility (under 1% of the population) elected more than half the Duma, whereas The Peasantry (over 80% of the population) elected just 1/5th of it.
Which group in society were denied the vote in Duma elections?
Urban workers.
In what way did The Dumas help the radical opposition parties?
The Duma debates were reported in national newspapers, so the radical parties had the platform to legitimately influence public opinion, whereas before, radical newspapers had been censored.
Identify 4 positive pieces of legislation passed by the Dumas.
- Land captains were replaced with more effective ‘justices of the peace’.
- Health and accident insurance for industrial workers was introduced.
- A plan for universal primary education was put in motion.
- Army and navy reforms were passed.
