Tsarist Rule in Russia, 1905-14 » The Dumas and the Growth of Opposition Groups

The Fundamental Laws, May 1906

Nicholas had promised a Duma only because the 1905 Revolution forced him to. He still believed that God had chosen him to rule alone. Once the army had crushed the revolution, he felt safe enough to take back much of what he had given.

In May 1906, just days before the first Duma met, he issued the Fundamental Laws. These were the rules for how Russia would now be governed. They stated that the Tsar still held 'supreme autocratic power'. Under them:

• the Tsar chose the ministers and could sack them. They answered to him, not to the Duma
• the Tsar could dissolve the Duma whenever he wished
• no law could pass without the Tsar's agreement. It also needed the agreement of the State Council
• under Article 87, the Tsar could make laws by decree when the Duma was not sitting
• the Tsar alone controlled the army, the navy and dealings with other countries

So the Duma could discuss laws and vote on them, but it could not control the government. The promise in the October Manifesto had been badly weakened before the Duma had even met.

Key terms:

• Fundamental Laws: the rules issued by Nicholas in 1906 that set out how Russia was to be governed
• Dissolve: to close a parliament, so that a new one has to be elected
• Decree: a law made by a ruler alone, without a vote in parliament
• State Council: the upper house of the Russian parliament. Half of its members were chosen by the Tsar
• Boycott: to refuse to take part in something as a protest
• Marxist: a follower of the ideas of Karl Marx

The first four dumas, 1906-14

• First Duma (May to July 1906): the revolutionary parties boycotted the election, so the largest party was the Kadets, with around 180 of the roughly 500 seats. The deputies were bitter about the Fundamental Laws. They demanded that land from the big estates be given to the peasants, that ministers answer to the Duma and that political prisoners be freed. Nicholas refused every demand and dissolved the Duma after just over two months. About 200 deputies, mostly Kadets, went to Vyborg in Finland. There they called on Russians to stop paying taxes and to refuse army service. Hardly anyone listened. The deputies were banned from standing for the Duma again.
• Second Duma (March to June 1907): this time the revolutionary parties took part, and left-wing parties won over 200 seats. The Kadets fell to about 100. This Duma was even more hostile to the government. Nicholas dissolved it after about three months, and some of its socialist deputies were arrested.
• The new voting law, June 1907: the government then changed the voting system so that the votes of landowners and the wealthy counted for far more. Peasants, workers and national minorities were given far fewer seats. Nicholas did this without the Duma's agreement, which broke his own Fundamental Laws.
• Third Duma (1907 to 1912): the new law worked. The Duma was now filled with landowners and conservatives. The largest party was the Octobrists, who took their name from the October Manifesto and were happy with what it had given. Because this Duma mostly worked with the government, it was allowed to last its full five years. It passed some useful laws: more money for primary schools, a stronger army and navy, and in 1912 insurance for workers against accidents and sickness.
• Fourth Duma (1912 to 1917): this Duma had a similar make-up. It was more willing to criticise the Tsar's ministers, but it had no power to remove them, and Nicholas took little notice of it.

The attitude of Nicholas to the dumas

This mattered. Moderate people who had hoped to reform Russia peacefully through the Duma were let down, and many lost faith in the Tsar. Still, the Duma did survive. Parties were legal, deputies could criticise ministers, and their speeches were printed in the newspapers. Russia in 1914 was not quite the same as Russia in 1904.

The growth of opposition groups

The 1905 Revolution allowed political parties to work in the open for the first time. Three main groups opposed the way the Tsar ruled.

In 1903 the Social Democrats split in two over how the party should be run.

In 1912 the Bolsheviks became a fully separate party and started their own newspaper, Pravda ('Truth').

How strong was the opposition by 1914?

The opposition had grown. Parties now had members, newspapers and Duma deputies, which was unthinkable before 1905. But it was not yet a real danger to Nicholas.

• It was divided. Liberals wanted reform, while the revolutionaries wanted to sweep the whole system away. The revolutionaries also argued bitterly with each other.
• The Kadets were weakened by the failure at Vyborg and by the 1907 voting law.
• The revolutionaries were hunted by the Okhrana, which placed spies inside their parties. Many leaders were in prison, in Siberia or abroad. Lenin spent most of these years in exile abroad.

Exam-style question

Describe TWO features of EITHER the Fundamental Laws (1906) OR the Bolsheviks in the years 1903-14. [6 marks]