The Tsarist Regime
(1906-1914)…read more

The Fundamental Laws
· The Tsar possesses supreme administrative power
· Is supreme leader of all foreign relations
· Has supreme command over all land and sea forces of
the Russian state
· Has the sole power to appoint and dismiss government
ministers
· Has the sole power to declare war, conclude peace and
negotiate treaties with foreign states
· Has the right to overturn verdicts and sentences given
in a court of law…read more

The First Duma
· April ­ July 1906
· The Duma of the People's Hope
· Majority ­ the Kadets
· The Social Revolutionaries weren't part of it as they were busy planning
assassinations
· The Bolsheviks weren't involved
· It was mainly people with liberal/socialist views
· Middle classes hoped it would bring civil liberties, further reform and greater
freedom
· Workers hoped it would bring better conditions and legal and effective trade
unions
· Peasants hoped it would give them more land
· The Kadets felt cheated as they didn't get what they were promised. They
demanded changes to the Fundamental Laws but the Tsar dissolves the Duma
· The Kadets go to Finland and issue the Vyborg Manifesto telling people not to pay
taxes or answer conscription until the Duma is reformed
· There were strikes, murders and naval mutiny in Russia
· The Kadets were arrested on return to Russia
· IT WAS A FAILURE…read more

The Second Duma
· February-June 1907
· The Duma of the People's Anger
· Trudoviks had majority
· About a year after first Duma dissolved. Stolypin
governed the country during this time through
article 87
· There were too many extreme parties in the
Duma who wanted an end to Tsarism
· The Tsar dissolved the Duma
· IT WAS A FAILURE…read more

The Third Duma
· November 1907-June 1912
· The Duma of the Lord's Priests and Lackeys
· The Octobrists had the majority
· During the gap between the 2nd and 3rd Duma, the electoral laws
were changed
· It was dominated by middle class
· They were quite active and voted on 2 ½ thousand laws and
approved 2,200 of them
· Dozens of commissions set up investigating conditions, further
reform etc
· It lasted the full 5 years but none of the ministers will join the
cabinet as the Tsar won't give them full power and they could be
assassinated by the Social Revolutionaries so they refuse
· IT WAS A SUCCESS…read more

The Fourth Duma
· November 1912-1917
· The Rightists had the majority
· It was involved in the war and set up the War
Industries Committee in 1914 (which organised war
credits)
· Took control of government spending
· Some people form a Progressive Block and ask for a
law-making Duma but the Tsar refuses and the Duma is
disbanded
· The Duma continued to meet unti Jan 1917 when the
Tsar abdicated and left the Progressive Block in charge
of running the government…read more