3 State Duma main decisions. IV State Duma

When comparing the new Election Regulations with the old ones, it is striking that the new Regulations are much more specific. If the law of 1905 included 62 articles (divided into chapters), then the June Third law already consisted of 147 articles (five chapters). The increase in the number of articles was aimed primarily at reducing the electorate and restructuring it in a direction favorable to the authorities. The State Duma now numbered 442 deputies, while previously there were 524. The decrease was mainly due to the fact that representation from the national outskirts was reduced.

First of all, the norms of representation from various classes of the population were significantly changed in order to provide the overwhelming majority of seats in the State Duma to the propertied classes. The number of electors from the landowners was increased to 51%, the peasantry could elect only 22% of the electors and send 53 of their deputies to the Duma (one from each province of the European part of Russia), the working class was granted voting rights in only 42 out of 53 provinces, but the election Deputies for the workers' curia were provided only in 6 provinces (St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kostroma, Vladimir, Kharkov and Yekaterinoslav). According to the new Regulations, one elector was now elected by landowners from 230 voters (previously - from 2 thousand), by the big bourgeoisie - from 1 thousand voters (previously - from 4 thousand), by the petty bourgeoisie, bureaucrats, intelligentsia - from 15 thousand, peasants - from 60 thousand (previously – from 30 thousand) and workers – from 125 thousand (previously – from 90 thousand). The voting rights of the national outskirts were significantly curtailed. In those territories (Central Asia, Transcaucasia, Poland) where, according to Nicholas II, “the population has not achieved sufficient development of citizenship,” elections to the Duma were temporarily suspended, or the number of mandates was significantly (by two-thirds) reduced. For example, only 12 deputies could be elected from Poland instead of 29, and 10 deputies from the Caucasus instead of 29.

The procedure for electing deputies to the Duma was also changed. Elections were held not in the corresponding curiae, but at provincial election meetings, where the landowners set the tone. This made it possible to appoint the most “reliable” peasants to the Duma in the peasant curia.

In addition, the law of June 3 gave the Minister of Internal Affairs the right to change the boundaries of electoral districts and divide electoral assemblies at all stages of elections into departments that received the right to independently elect electors on the most arbitrary grounds: property, class, nationality. This gave the government the opportunity to send only deputies it liked to the Duma.

The III State Duma in its composition turned out to be significantly more to the right than the previous two, for example, “242 deputies (about 60% of its composition) were landowners and only 16 deputies were from artisans and workers. According to the party composition, the deputies were distributed as follows: extreme right - 50 deputies, moderate right and nationalists - 97, Octobrists and those affiliated with them - 154, progressives - 28, Cadets - 54, Muslim group - 8, Lithuanian group - 7, Polish group - 11, Trudoviks – 13, Social Democrats – 19.”

So the distribution political forces was as follows: “32% - “right-wing deputies” - supporting the government, 33% - Octobrists - supporting entrepreneurs (large industrialists, financial bourgeoisie, liberal landowners, wealthy intelligentsia). They formed the center. 12% are Cadets, 3% Trudoviks, 4.2% Social Democrats and 6% from national parties, they took the “left” flank.” The voting results depended on where the “center” would swing. If to the right, then a “right-Octobrist” majority (300 votes) supporting the government was formed. If to the left, then a “Cadet-Octobrist” majority was created (approximately 260 votes), ready for liberal-democratic reforms. This is how a parliamentary pendulum developed, allowing the Stolypin government to pursue the line it wanted, maneuvering between the “right” and the Cadets, now intensifying repression, now carrying out reforms.

The presence of these two majorities determined the nature of the activity III Duma, ensuring its “operability”. During the five years of its work (until June 9, 1912), it held 611 meetings, considered 2,572 bills, of which
of which the vast majority were introduced by the government (deputies introduced a total of 205 bills). The Duma rejected 76 draft laws (in addition, some draft laws were withdrawn by ministers). Of the bills adopted by the Duma, 31 were rejected by the State Council. In addition to legislation, the Duma also dealt with requests, most of which were put forward by left factions and, as a rule, ended in nothing.

The Octobrist N.A. Khomyakov was elected Chairman of the Third Duma, who was replaced in March 1910 by the large merchant and industrialist Octobrist A.I. Guchkov, and in 1911 by M.V. Rodzianko. The III State Duma began its work on November 1, 1907 and operated until June 9, 1912, that is, almost the entire term of its powers. In relation to this period, we can talk about a relatively stable and orderly mechanism for the functioning of the legislative chamber.

Interesting experience was accumulated in the Duma during the discussion of various bills.

In total, there were about 30 commissions in the Duma, eight of which were permanent: budgetary, financial, execution public policy in the field of income and expenses, editorial, inquiries, library, personnel, administrative. Large commissions, such as the budget commission, consisted of several dozen people.

Elections of commission members were carried out at a general meeting of the Duma with the preliminary approval of candidates in the factions. In most commissions, all factions had their representatives.

All bills submitted to the Duma were first of all considered by the Duma meeting, consisting of the Chairman of the Duma, his comrades, the Secretary of the Duma and his comrade. The meeting drew up a preliminary conclusion on sending the bill to one of the commissions, which was then approved by the Duma.

According to the accepted procedure, each project was considered by the Duma in three readings. In the first, which began with a speech by the speaker, there was a general discussion of the bill. At the end of the debate, the chairman made a proposal to move to article-by-article reading. After the second reading, the chairman and secretary of the Duma made a summary of all the resolutions adopted on the bill. At the same time, but no later than a certain period, it was allowed to propose new amendments. The third reading was essentially a second article-by-article reading. Its purpose was to neutralize those amendments that could pass in the second reading with the help of a random majority and did not suit influential factions. At the end of the third reading, the presiding officer put the bill as a whole with the adopted amendments to a vote.

The Duma's own legislative initiative was limited by the requirement that each proposal come from at least 30 deputies.

Main content activities III The State Duma continued to address the agrarian question. Having achieved social support in the person of this collegial body, the government finally began its
use in the legislative process. On June 14, 1910 it was published
approved by the Duma and the State Council and approved by the Emperor
agrarian law, which was based on the Stolypin decree of 9
November 1906 with changes and additions introduced by the right-wing Octobrist majority in the Duma. In fact, this law was the first fact of participation of the State Duma in the legislative process in the entire history of its existence. Budgetary issues occupied a large place in the activities of the Third Duma. However, the Duma’s attempt to intervene in the process of considering the budget ended in failure - on August 24, 1909, Nicholas II adopted the rules “On the procedure for applying Article 96 of the Basic State Laws,” according to which the issue of military and naval states was generally removed from the competence of the Duma.

Blocking with the right-wing deputies of the Duma, the government passed in June 1910 the law “On the procedure for issuing laws and regulations of national importance concerning Finland,” which opens up wide opportunities for interference in Finnish internal affairs. In 1912, the Duma passed a law separating the new Kholm province from Poland (in which, along with the Polish population, the majority of Russians lived), which also increased Russian interference in Polish affairs. A negative attitude was caused by Stolypin’s provision on the introduction of zemstvos in the western provinces, which also had a strong national overtones.

On the nature of legislative activity of the III State Duma
can be judged by the list of laws it adopted: “On strengthening credit for
prison construction needs”, “On the release of funds for the provision of benefits to the ranks of the general police and the gendarme corps”, “On the distribution between the treasury and Cossack troops expenses for the prison part in the Kuban and Tver regions”, “On the procedure for heating and lighting places of detention and the release of necessary materials for these needs”, “On police supervision in the Belagach steppe”, “On the approval of prisons in the cities of Merv and Krasnoyarsk, the Trans-Caspian region and Aktyubinsk, Turgai region”, “On the approval of a women’s prison in the city of St. Petersburg”, etc. The content of the listed regulations is evidence not only of the reactionary nature of the Duma, but also of the often secondary importance of the issues it considers, although strikes continue in the country and dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs is growing . However, it should be noted that the Government largely resisted the adoption of certain laws expected by society. For example, the State Council did not support another, no less important bill on the introduction of universal primary education in the empire. The bill was presented to the Duma already during the first session, on January 8, 1908, the bill was adopted by the State Duma on March 19, 1911. However, the State Council did not agree with the above estimates, and the issue of financing parochial schools also caused fundamental disagreement. The created conciliation commission did not come to a consensus, and the Duma did not accept the changes of the State Council, and the latter, in retaliation, rejected the entire bill on June 5, 1912.

Meanwhile, the State Duma was faced with another important social problem- development and adoption of laws that improve the situation of the working class.

Back in 1906, a Special Meeting was created under the chairmanship of the Minister of Trade and Industry D.A. Filosofov, designed to develop bills to resolve the “work issue.” The meeting proposed ten bills: “1) health insurance, 2) accident insurance, 3) disability insurance, 4) provision savings banks, 5) rules on hiring workers, 6) work time, 7) medical assistance, 8) measures to encourage the construction of healthy and cheap housing, 9) industrial courts, 10) factory inspection and factory presence." The laws were intended to be submitted to the Second State Duma, but due to the events described earlier, this was postponed. Only in In June 1908, insurance bills were submitted to the Third Duma, the working commission began to consider them a year later, and only in April 1910 did they appear on the Duma agenda. A heated debate ensued in the Duma. Social Democrats sharply criticized the bills being discussed But the majority of deputies, naturally, did not listen to the arguments of the Social Democrats and adopted bills according to which: 1) insurance covered only accidents and illnesses; 2) the amount of remuneration for complete injury was only ⅔ of earnings; 3) insurance covered only a sixth of of the total number of workers (entire regions, for example, Siberia and the Caucasus, and entire categories of workers, for example, agricultural, construction, railway, postal and telegraph workers, were left out of insurance). These bills could not please the working class and relieve tension in society. On June 23, 1912, the bills approved by the Tsar came into force.

The III State Duma worked for its required five years and was dissolved by imperial decree of June 8, 1912.

There were also failures in the functioning mechanism of the Duma (during the constitutional crisis of 1911, the Duma and the State Council were dissolved for 3 days). If we characterize the Third Duma “personally”, without connection with subsequent events, and in connection with them, then it can be called “insufficient sufficiency”. This definition is appropriate because it most fully reflects the role and significance of the Third Duma in Russian history. It was “sufficient” in the sense that its composition and activities were sufficient to “serve”, unlike all other Dumas, its entire term of office. At first glance, the Third Duma is the most prosperous of all four Dumas: if the first two suddenly “died” by order of the tsar, then the Third Duma acted “from bell to bell” - all the five years allotted to it by law and caused not only critical statements from contemporaries addressed to you, but also words of approval. And yet, fate did not spoil this Duma: the peaceful evolutionary development of the country was no less problematic at the end of its activity than at the beginning. “Continuation of the course of the Third Duma in subsequent Dumas with external and inner peace Russia, removed revolution from the “agenda”. Not only Stolypin and his supporters, but also their opponents and many modern publicists judged this quite sensibly.” But still, this total “sufficiency” turned out to be insufficient for the Third Duma to extinguish the revolutionary opposition movement, which in extreme conditions could get out of control, which is what happened during the IV Duma.

During the period of work of the IV State Duma from November 15, 1912 to February 25, 1917, five sessions were held: two of them occurred in the pre-war period and three during the First World War.
From the first days of its work, the government overwhelmed the Duma with “legislative noodles.” During the first two sessions, over 2,000 small bills were introduced into the Duma. Duma deputy cadet A.I.Shingaryov in one of his public speaking spoke about the first session as follows: “Boredom in the Fourth Duma resembles the state of passengers on a train stuck at a remote station.” In the early days of the work of the new Duma, the word “boredom” became synonymous with futility and deadlock, the inability of deputies to introduce new ideas into Duma strategy and tactics. The low efficiency of work was reinforced by the “extra-Duma” legislation practiced.
Thus, the discussion of a very important bill on the budget for 1914, about which much was said from the rostrum of the Duma, ended with the budget being approved by the government and published not as a law “approved by the State Duma and the State Council” (the usual formulation in such cases), but as a document signed by the Tsar and drawn up only “in accordance with the resolutions” of the State Duma and the Senate.
An emergency extraordinary meeting was convened by decree of Emperor Nicholas II on July 26, 1914 in connection with Russia's entry into the war. The decree of Nicholas II to the Governing Senate on the opening of the State Duma and the “Highest Manifesto” regarding Russia’s entry into the war was met with thunderous applause. Following the speeches of ministers calling for “unanimity” and “unity,” speeches from deputies from the rostrum of the Duma followed with a call to “rally around the sovereign leader” in the name of victory over the enemy. The leaders of the main political parties of the bourgeoisie (Octobrists and Cadets) approved the imperialist foreign policy government and demonstrated their loyalty to him and the emperor, hoping for reforms after a victorious war.

Four meetings of the third session of the IV Duma were held in discussions of supplies to the front and the participation of “public circles” in this. During the war years, general meetings of the Duma were held irregularly: the main legislation in connection with the wartime situation was then carried out apart from the State Duma.
On July 19, 1915, the fourth session of the State Duma opened. Wanting to drown out the murmur of discontent, the government replaced a number of ministers, including War Minister Sukhomlinov, hated by the bourgeoisie. The session was held under the traditional motto “War to Victory,” although new notes appeared in the speeches of the deputies: the bourgeoisie for the first time formed, albeit on paper, its own government (“defense cabinet”) with the inclusion of deputies M.V. Rodzianko, A.I. .Konovalov, P.N.Milyukova, V.A.Maklakova, A.I.Shingareva. On August 9, 1915, a “progressive bloc” was formed in the Duma, uniting the Octobrists, Cadets, the center faction, progressives, some nationalists, as well as some members of the “upper house” of parliament - the State Council. The Cadets took the leading place in the “progressive bloc”. Only the right and left remained outside the bloc, although the Mensheviks and Trudoviks supported the political line of the bloc. On September 3, 1915, the Tsar interrupted the work of the fourth session of the Duma, issuing a decree on its temporary dissolution. Only five months later, from February 9, 1916, the fourth session was able to continue its work and ended on June 20, 1916. This was the longest session of the IV State Duma, which lasted almost a year, meeting 134 times.
The last, fifth session of the IV State Duma opened on November 1, 1916 and ended its work on February 25, 1917. The fifth session is characterized by the fact that during the work of the deputies it became clear that the role of the State Duma and parliamentarism in Russia is strengthening, the role of the Duma in public political life countries. This is explained by the turning point in the course of the protracted war, economic devastation, and the growing national crisis in the country during the war, which brought the country to the brink of hunger and economic exhaustion, causing anti-war sentiment among the broad masses.
During this period, Duma deputies discuss problems related to the catastrophic food situation in the country. The budget commission's statement on the need to introduce fixed purchase prices for bread and the possible introduction of a card system for the distribution of bread and other food products is being discussed, and the government is unable to lead the country out of the economic and political impasse and ensure social world in the country and victory in the war. The aggravation of the contradictions between tsarism and the bourgeoisie was caused not only by the defeat of the Russian armies, but also by the growing desire in the palace environment for a separate peace with Germany. "What is this - stupidity or treason?" - asked P.N. Milyukov in a speech on November 1, 1916 from the rostrum of the Duma, addressing the government.

The deputies demanded the removal from the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs B.V. Sturmer (the minister was dismissed, he was replaced by A.F. Trepov, who was also removed from his post), the “Rasputin clique”, influential at the royal court. The repressive measures of military censorship and its removal of sharp political statements by deputies caused a new flurry of criticism of the government, exacerbating the already difficult political situation in the country.
The most important issues, which worried society at the turn of 1917, were problems of war and peace, infringement of the activities of bourgeois and workers' organizations, illegal actions of censorship and the police, the need to urgently carry out volost reform in the countryside, the catastrophic situation in the country with food and fuel, even the front needed bread . It was these issues that were discussed at the meetings of the fifth session of the IV Duma.
Criticism of the government by deputies reached its climax on December 16, 1916. On the same day, the Duma was dissolved by the emperor's decree for the "Christmas holidays." On that day, P.N. Milyukov gave a long speech in the Duma. The transcript of his speech shows that his words turned out to be prophetic. “We are experiencing a terrible moment,” he said. “Before our eyes, the social struggle is emerging from the framework of strict legality, the forms of appearance of 1905 are being revived... The atmosphere is saturated with electricity. You can feel the approach of a thunderstorm in the air...”
On the day of the resumption of the fifth session, February 14, 1917, a demonstration of workers came to the Tauride Palace, which frightened the deputies. At the meetings on February 14-25, the speeches of the deputies were mostly restrained, although the topic itself (the abolition of fixed prices for bread) did not encourage this.
Discussion of this problem in an atmosphere of uncertainty, confusion and division met the Duma with stormy workers' demonstrations on the streets of Petrograd on February 23-24, the beginning of the revolution in the country.
On February 25, 1917, by decree of Nicholas II, meetings of the State Duma were terminated. Deputies of the State Duma (cadets and Octobrists) took charge in February 1917. The Provisional Committee of the State Duma, and later joined the Provisional Government: M.V. Rodzianko, P.N. Milyukov, N.V. Nekrasov, S.I. Shidlovsky, V.A. Rzhevsky, V.V. Shulgin, A. F.Kerensky, N.S.Chkheidze, A.I.Konovalov, A.I.Shingarev, I.V.Godnev, M.I.Skobelev, I.N.Efremov.
After February Revolution The State Duma in Russia no longer met, although formally it continued to exist and even tried to exert a certain influence on the development of events in the country under the guise of “private meetings.” On October 6, 1917, the Provisional Government issued a decree dissolving the State Duma in connection with the elections to the Constituent Assembly. The State Duma was finally liquidated by decree of the Council people's commissars December 18, 1917.

Formally, the IV State Duma existed for the entire prescribed period - until October 6, 1917, but in fact its role was reduced to nothing after its dissolution by the Tsar on February 25, 1917 during the February Revolution.

Five sessions: sessions: 1st - November 15, 1912 - June 25, 1913; 2nd - October 15, 1913 - June 14, 1914; emergency - July 26, 1914; 3rd - January 27-29, 1915; 4th - July 19, 1915 - June 20, 1916; 5th - November 1, 1916 - February 25, 1917.

Elections took place in September - October 1912.

In June 1912, the powers of the deputies of the Third Duma expired, and in the fall of that year elections were held to the Fourth State Duma. Despite government pressure, the elections reflected political revival: the social democrats gained points in the Second City Curia at the expense of the Cadets (in the workers' curia the Bolsheviks prevailed over the Mensheviks), the Octobrists were often defeated in their fiefdom, the First City Curia. But in general, the IV Duma did not differ too much from the III Duma in terms of party composition.

Composition of the Fourth State Duma. In the Duma of the fourth convocation, among its 442 members by the end of the first session there were 224 deputies with higher education (114 - legal and historical-philological), secondary - 112, lower - 82, home - 15, unknown (primary or home) - two deputies.

Of these, 299 deputies (68% of general composition) worked in the lower house for the first time, 8 people had experience working in the Dumas of all previous convocations.

By the end of the second session (May 12, 1914), the faction of Russian nationalists and moderate rightists numbered 86 members, Zemstvo-Octobrists - 66, rightists - 60, "people's freedom" - 48 members and 7 affiliated, the progressive faction - 33 members and 8 affiliated, center group - 36 members, "Union of October 17" group - 20, independent group - 13, labor group - 10, Polish group - 9, social democratic faction - 7, Muslim group and Belarusian-Lithuanian-Polish group - 6 each, Russian Social Democratic Labor Faction - 5, Right Octobrists - 5; there were two progressives and two leftists.

In 1915, a group of progressive nationalists (about 30 deputies) emerged from the faction of Russian nationalists and moderate rightists. In 1916, a group of independent rightists (32 deputies) emerged from the right faction. The number of other factions changed slightly.

The Octobrists retained the role of the center (the so-called “center group” was blocked with the nationalists), but the faction, having decreased in number, updated its composition by 1/4 compared to the 3rd State Duma. Characteristic of the 4th State Duma was the growth of a progressive faction intermediate between the Octobrists and Cadets.

Activities of the Fourth State Duma. On December 5, 1912, V.N. made a government declaration. Kokovtsov, who highly appreciated the activities of the 3rd State Duma. The government took the path of introducing minor bills into the State Duma (in 1912-1914, over 2 thousand - the so-called “legislative vermicelli”), while at the same time widely practicing extra-Duma legislation.

The budget for 1914 was actually approved by the government and published not as a law “approved by the State Duma and the State Council” (the usual formula in such cases), but as a document signed by the emperor and drawn up “in accordance with the resolutions of the State Duma and the State Council.”

In the 4th State Duma, an Octobrist-Cadet majority was formed more often than in the 3rd. It manifested itself both in voting in opposition to the government and in attempts at independent legislative initiative.

In response to the government’s declaration, it adopted a formula inviting the government to take the path of implementing the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, and in 1913-1914 it supported the Cadet bills on freedom of the press, assembly, unions, etc.

However practical significance this did not matter: bills were either stuck in commissions or blocked by the State Council.

With the outbreak of World War I, sessions of the State Duma were convened irregularly; basic legislation was carried out by the government in addition to the Duma.

At the emergency session of 1914, all factions except the Social Democrats voted for war loans. The 3rd session was convened to adopt the budget.

The defeats of Russian troops in the spring and autumn of 1915 caused sharp criticism of government policy from the State Duma.

At the beginning of the 4th session (July 19, 1915), I.L., who made a government declaration. Goremykin, instead of assessing the political situation (which the State Duma demanded), proposed that the State Duma discuss 3 minor bills. The far right supported the government, but other factions from cadets to nationalists criticized the government, demanding the creation of a cabinet that enjoys the “confidence of the country” (i.e., the State Duma).

The majority of factions in the State Duma and some groups in the State Council united around this slogan. Negotiations between them led to the signing on August 22, 1915 of an agreement on the creation of the "Progressive Bloc", which included 236 deputies of the State Duma ("progressive nationalists", the center group, Zemstvo-Octobrists, Octobrists, Progressives, Cadets) and 3 groups of the State Council (academic, center and non-party). Right-wingers and nationalists remained outside the bloc; Trudoviks and Mensheviks were not part of the bloc, but actually supported it.

The bloc's program boiled down to demands for the creation of a "government of trust", a partial amnesty for political and religious crimes, the abolition of a number of restrictions on the rights of national minorities (primarily Jews), the restoration of the activities of trade unions, etc.

The program could not satisfy the government, and on September 3, 1915, the State Duma was dissolved for vacation.

The Duma opposition took a wait-and-see approach, counting on a compromise with the government. Members of the State Duma actively collaborated with the government, taking part in the work of “special meetings.”

On February 9, 1916, the State Duma resumed its sessions. Although the government declaration did not meet the demands of the Progressive Bloc, the State Duma began discussing the budget.

At the 5th session, the State Duma entered into direct conflict with the government, abandoning “business work”, and began discussing general position in the country. The "Progressive Bloc" demanded the resignation of B.V. Sturmer and A.D. Protopopov, accusing them of sympathizing with Germany. On November 10, 1916, Stürmer received his resignation.

The new head of government A.F. Trepov proposed several bills to the State Duma concerning education and local self-government. In response, the Duma expressed no confidence in the government (it was joined by the State Council). On December 16, 1916, the State Duma was again dissolved for vacation.

On the day of the resumption of its meetings, February 14, 1917, representatives of the bourgeois parties, with the help of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, tried to organize a demonstration at the Tauride Palace under the slogan of trust in the State Duma. However, the demonstrations and strikes of Petrograd workers were revolutionary in nature.

In total, 2,625 bills were introduced into the Duma of the fourth convocation (by December 9, 1916), but only 1,239 were considered.

By Tsar's decree of February 26, 1917, the activities of the State Duma as an official body state power was temporarily suspended.

On February 27, 1917, a private meeting of Duma members created the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, which on the night of February 28, 1917 decided to “take into its own hands the restoration of state and public order.” As a result, on March 2 (15), as a result of negotiations with the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet (Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks), the committee formed the Provisional Government.

The provisional government did not cancel the order on the temporary suspension of activities, but did not dissolve the Duma. From that time on, it existed as a “private institution,” and deputies continued to receive state salaries.

After the creation of the Provisional Government, the role of the State Duma was limited to the activities of the Provisional Committee and private meetings of Duma members, at which the political situation in the country was discussed: the financial situation, the future of the Kingdom of Poland, the establishment of a grain monopoly, the activities of posts and telegraphs, etc.

The “private meetings” of the Duma were most active during the first composition of the Provisional Government, when they met four times. The deputies of these and subsequent meetings demonstrated every possible support for the Provisional Government.

The most significant action in this regard was the “private meeting” former deputies State Duma of all four convocations, held on April 27, 1917. The meeting participants spoke about the need to establish autocracy in the country and provide the Provisional Government (“its own people's power") - “possible assistance”, since it corresponds to “the ideals that the people have set for themselves.”.

• On October 6 (19), 1917, the State Duma of the fourth convocation was dissolved by the Provisional Government in connection with the appointment of elections to the Constituent Assembly on November 12 and the start of the election campaign.
• On December 18 (31), 1917, by decree of the Council of People's Commissars, the offices of the State Duma and the Provisional Committee were abolished.

Chairman - M.V. Rodzianko (Octobrist; 1912-1917).

Chairman's comrades: D.D. Urusov (progressive; 1912-1913); V.M. Volkonsky (non-party; 1912-1913); N.N. Lvov (progressive; 1913); A.I. Konovalov (progressive; 1913-1914); S.T. Varun-Sekret (Octobrist; 1913-1916); HELL. Protopopov (Octobrist; 1914-1916); N.V. Nekrasov (cadet; 1916--1917); V.A. Bobrinsky (nationalist; 1916-1917).

Secretary - I.I. Dmitryukov (Octobrist; 1912-1917).

Opened on April 27, 1906 The State Duma- the first meeting of people's representatives in the history of Russia with legislative rights.

The first elections to the State Duma were held in an atmosphere of ongoing revolutionary upsurge and high civic activity of the population. For the first time in Russian history, legal political parties, open political campaigning began. These elections brought a convincing victory to the Cadets - the People's Freedom Party, the most organized and included in its composition the color Russian intelligentsia. Extreme left parties (Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries) boycotted the elections. Some peasant deputies and radical intellectuals formed a “labor group” in the Duma. Moderate deputies formed the “peaceful renewal” faction, but their number was not much more than 5% of the total composition of the Duma. The right found itself in the minority in the First Duma.
The State Duma opened on April 27, 1906. S.A. Muromtsev, a professor, prominent lawyer, and representative of the Kadet Party, was almost unanimously elected Chairman of the Duma.

The composition of the Duma was determined to be 524 members. The elections were neither universal nor equal. Voting rights were available to Russian male subjects who had reached the age of 25 and met a number of class and property requirements. Students, military personnel and persons on trial or convicted were not allowed to participate in the elections.
Elections were carried out in several stages, according to curiae formed according to the class and property principle: landowners, peasants and city curia. Electors from the curiae formed provincial assemblies, which elected deputies. Most big cities had a separate representative office. Elections on the outskirts of the empire were carried out in curiae, formed mainly on the religious and national principle with the provision of advantages to the Russian population. The so-called “wandering foreigners” were generally deprived of the right to vote. In addition, the representation of the outskirts was reduced. A separate workers' curia was also formed, which elected 14 Duma deputies. In 1906, there was one elector for every 2 thousand landowners (mostly landowners), 4 thousand city dwellers, 30 thousand peasants and 90 thousand workers.
The State Duma was elected for a five-year term, but even before the expiration of this term it could be dissolved at any time by decree of the emperor. At the same time, the emperor was obliged by law to simultaneously call new elections to the Duma and the date for its convening. Meetings of the Duma could also be interrupted at any time by imperial decree. The duration of the annual sessions of the State Duma and the timing of breaks during the year were determined by the decrees of the emperor.

The main competence of the State Duma was budgetary. The state list of income and expenses, together with the financial estimates of ministries and main departments, was subject to consideration and approval by the Duma, with the exception of: loans for expenses of the Ministry of the Imperial Household and the institutions under its jurisdiction in amounts not exceeding the list of 1905, and changes in these loans due to “ Institution on the Imperial Family"; loans for expenses not provided for in estimates for “emergency needs during the year” (in an amount not exceeding the 1905 list); payments on government debts and other government obligations; income and expenses included in the painting project on the basis of existing laws, regulations, states, schedules and imperial orders given in the manner of supreme administration.

The I and II Dumas were dissolved before their deadline, the sessions of the IV Duma were interrupted by a decree on February 25, 1917. Only the III Duma worked for a full term.

I State Duma(April-July 1906) – lasted 72 days. The Duma is predominantly cadet. The first meeting opened on April 27, 1906. Distribution of seats in the Duma: Octobrists - 16, Cadets 179, Trudoviks 97, non-party 105, representatives of the national outskirts 63, Social Democrats 18. The workers, at the call of the RSDLP and the Socialist Revolutionaries, mostly boycotted the elections to the Duma. 57% of the agrarian commission were cadets. They introduced an agrarian bill into the Duma, which dealt with the forced alienation, for a fair remuneration, of that part of the landowners' lands that were cultivated on the basis of a semi-serf labor system or were leased to peasants in bondage. In addition, state, office and monastic lands were alienated. All land will be transferred to the state land fund, from which peasants will be allocated it as private property. As a result of the discussion, the commission recognized the principle of forced alienation of land. In May 1906, the head of government, Goremykin, issued a declaration in which he denied the Duma the right to resolve the agrarian question in a similar way, as well as the expansion of voting rights, a ministry responsible to the Duma, the abolition of the State Council, and political amnesty. The Duma expressed no confidence in the government, but the latter could not resign (since it was responsible to the tsar). A Duma crisis arose in the country. Some ministers spoke in favor of the Cadets joining the government. Miliukov raised the question of a purely Cadet government, a general political amnesty, the abolition death penalty, liquidation of the State Council, universal suffrage, forced alienation of landowners' lands. Goremykin signed a decree dissolving the Duma. In response, about 200 deputies signed an appeal to the people in Vyborg, where they called on them to passive resistance.

II State Duma(February-June 1907) - opened on February 20, 1907 and operated for 103 days. 65 Social Democrats, 104 Trudoviks, 37 Socialist Revolutionaries entered the Duma. There were 222 people in total. The peasant question remained central. Trudoviks proposed 3 bills, the essence of which was to develop free farm on free land. On June 1, 1907, Stolypin, using a fake, decided to get rid of the strong left wing and accused 55 Social Democrats of conspiring to establish a republic. The Duma created a commission to investigate the circumstances. The commission came to the conclusion that the accusation was a complete forgery. On June 3, 1907, the Tsar signed a manifesto dissolving the Duma and changing the electoral law. The coup d'état of June 3, 1907 meant the end of the revolution.

III State Duma(1907-1912) - 442 deputies.

Activities of the III Duma:

06/03/1907 - change in the electoral law.

The majority in the Duma was made up of the right-wing Octobrist and Octobrist-Cadet bloc. Party composition: Octobrists, Black Hundreds, Cadets, Progressives, Peaceful Renovationists, Social Democrats, Trudoviks, non-party members, Muslim group, deputies from Poland. Largest quantity The Octobrist party had deputies (125 people). Over 5 years of work, 2197 bills were approved

Main questions:

1) worker: 4 bills were considered by the commission min. Finnish Kokovtsev (on insurance, on conflict commissions, on reducing the working day, on the elimination of the law punishing participation in strikes). They were adopted in 1912 in a limited form.

2) national question : about zemstvos in the western provinces (the question of creating electoral curiae for nationality; the law was adopted in relation to 6 out of 9 provinces); Finnish question (an attempt by political forces to achieve independence from Russia, a law was passed on equalizing the rights of Russian citizens with Finnish ones, a law on the payment of 20 million marks by Finland in exchange for military service, a law on limiting the rights of the Finnish Sejm).

3) agrarian question: associated with the Stolypin reform.

Conclusion: The June Third system is the second step towards transforming the autocracy into a bourgeois monarchy.

Elections: multi-stage (occurred in 4 unequal curiae: landowner, urban, workers, peasants). Half of the population (women, students, military personnel) were deprived of the right to vote.

IV State Duma(1912-1917) - Chairman Rodzianko. The Duma was dissolved by the provisional government with the start of elections to the Constituent Assembly.

Introduction - 3

1. Third State Duma (1907–1912): general characteristics and features of activity - 5

2. State Duma of the third convocation in the estimates of deputies - 10

Conclusion - 17

List of used literature - 20

Introduction

The experience of the first two legislative assemblies was assessed by the tsar and his entourage as unsuccessful. In this situation, the June 3 manifesto was published, in which dissatisfaction with the work of the Duma was attributed to the imperfection of the election legislation:

All these changes in the election procedure cannot be carried out in the usual legislative way through the State Duma, the composition of which We have recognized as unsatisfactory, due to the imperfection of the very method of electing its Members. Only the Authority that granted the first electoral law, the historical Authority of the Russian Tsar, has the right to repeal it and replace it with a new one.

The electoral law of June 3, 1907 may have seemed to those around the Tsar a good find, but the State Duma, formed in accordance with it, reflected the balance of power in the country so one-sidedly that it could not even adequately outline the range of problems the solution of which could prevent the country's slide towards disaster. As a result, replacing the first Duma with the second, the tsarist government wanted the best, but it turned out as always. The First Duma was a Duma of hope for a peaceful evolutionary process in a country tired of revolution. The Second Duma turned out to be a Duma of intense struggle between deputies among themselves (even to the point of fights) and an irreconcilable struggle, including in an offensive form, between the left part of the deputies and the authorities.

Having the experience of dispersing the previous Duma, the most prepared for parliamentary activities, the most intellectual faction of the Cadets tried to bring both the right and left parties into at least some framework of decency. But the intrinsic value of the sprouts of parliamentarism in autocratic Russia was of little interest to the right, and the left did not care at all about the evolutionary development of democracy in Russia. On the night of June 3, 1907, members of the Social Democratic faction were arrested. At the same time, the government announced the dissolution of the Duma. A new, incomparably more stringent restrictive electoral law was issued. Thus, tsarism deeply violated one of the main provisions of the manifesto of October 17, 1905: no law can be adopted without the approval of the Duma.

The further course of political life demonstrated with terrifying clarity the fallacy and ineffectiveness of forceful palliatives in solving fundamental problems of relations between various branches of government. But before Nicholas II and his family and millions of innocent people who fell into the millstones of the revolution and civil war, there were the third and fourth Dumas.

As a result of the June 3rd 1907 Black Hundred coup d'etat The electoral law of December 11, 1905 was replaced by a new one, which in the Cadet-liberal environment was called nothing less than “shameless”: so openly and crudely did it ensure the strengthening of the far-right monarchist-nationalist wing in the Third Duma.

Only 15% of subjects Russian Empire received the right to participate in elections. The peoples of Central Asia were completely deprived of voting rights, and representation from other national regions was limited. New law almost doubled the number of peasant electors. The formerly single city curia was divided into two: the first included only owners of large property, who received significant advantages over the petty bourgeoisie and intelligentsia, who made up the bulk of the voters of the second city curia, i.e. the main voters of the Cadets-liberals. The workers could actually appoint their deputies only in six provinces, where separate workers' curiae remained. As a result, the landed gentry and big bourgeoisie accounted for 75% of the total number of electors. At the same time, tsarism showed itself to be a consistent supporter of the conservation of the feudal-landowner status quo, and not of accelerating the development of bourgeois-capitalist relations in general, not to mention bourgeois-democratic tendencies. The rate of representation from landowners was more than four times higher than the rate of representation from the big bourgeoisie. The Third State Duma, unlike the first two, lasted for a set period (01.11.1907-09.06.1912). Processes of positioning and interaction of political forces in the Third Duma Tsarist Russia strikingly reminiscent of what happens in 2000-2005 in the Duma of democratic Russia, when political expediency based on unprincipledness is put at the forefront.

The purpose of this work is to study the features of the third State Duma of the Russian Empire.

1. Third State Duma (1907–1912): general characteristics and features of activities

The Third State Duma of the Russian Empire operated for a full term of office from November 1, 1907 to June 9, 1912 and turned out to be the most politically durable of the first four state dumas. She was elected according to Manifesto on the dissolution of the State Duma, on the time of convening a new Duma and on changing the procedure for elections to the State Duma And Regulations on elections to the State Duma dated June 3, 1907, which were published by Emperor Nicholas II simultaneously with the dissolution of the Second State Duma.

The new electoral law significantly limited the voting rights of peasants and workers. The total number of electors for the peasant curia was reduced by 2 times. The peasant curia, therefore, had only 22% of the total number of electors (versus 41.4% under suffrage Regulations on elections to the State Duma 1905). The number of workers' electors accounted for 2.3% of the total number of electors. Significant changes were made to the election procedure for the City Curia, which was divided into 2 categories: the first congress of urban voters (big bourgeoisie) received 15% of all electors and the second congress of urban voters (petty bourgeoisie) received only 11%. The First Curia (congress of farmers) received 49% of the electors (versus 34% in 1905). Workers of the majority of Russian provinces (with the exception of 6) could participate in elections only through the second city curia - as tenants or in accordance with the property qualification. The law of June 3, 1907 gave the Minister of the Interior the right to change the boundaries of electoral districts and at all stages of elections to divide electoral assemblies into independent branches. Representation from the national outskirts has sharply decreased. For example, previously 37 deputies were elected from Poland, but now there are 14, from the Caucasus there used to be 29, but now only 10. The Muslim population of Kazakhstan and Central Asia was generally deprived of representation.

The total number of Duma deputies was reduced from 524 to 442.

Only 3,500,000 people took part in the elections to the Third Duma. 44% of the deputies were noble landowners. The legal parties after 1906 remained: “Union of the Russian People”, “Union of October 17” and the Peaceful Renewal Party. They formed the backbone of the Third Duma. The opposition was weakened and did not prevent P. Stolypin from carrying out reforms. In the Third Duma, elected under the new electoral law, the number of opposition-minded deputies significantly decreased, and on the contrary, the number of deputies supporting the government and the tsarist administration increased.

In the third Duma there were 50 far-right deputies, moderate right and nationalists - 97. Groups appeared: Muslim - 8 deputies, Lithuanian-Belarusian - 7, Polish - 11. The Third Duma, the only one of the four, worked all the time required by the law on elections to the Duma five-year term, five sessions held.

An extreme right-wing deputy group arose led by V.M. Purishkevich. At Stolypin’s suggestion and with government money, a new faction, the “Union of Nationalists,” was created with its own club. She competed with the Black Hundred faction " Russian collection" These two groups constituted the “legislative center” of the Duma. Statements by their leaders were often overtly xenophobic and anti-Semitic.

At the very first meetings of the Third Duma , which opened its work on November 1, 1907, a right-wing Octobrist majority was formed, which amounted to almost 2/3, or 300 members. Since the Black Hundreds were against the Manifesto of October 17, differences arose between them and the Octobrists on a number of issues, and then the Octobrists found support from the progressives and the much improved Cadets. This is how the second Duma majority was formed, the Octobrist-Cadet majority, which made up about 3/5 of the Duma (262 members).

The presence of this majority determined the nature of the activities of the Third Duma and ensured its efficiency. Formed special group progressives (initially 24 deputies, then the number of the group reached 36, later on the basis of the group the Progressive Party arose (1912–1917), which occupied an intermediate position between the Cadets and the Octobrists. The leaders of the progressives were V.P. and P.P. Ryabushinsky. Radical-minded factions - 14 Trudoviks and 15 Social Democrats - stood apart, but they could not seriously influence the course of Duma activity.

Number of factions in the Third State Duma (1907–1912)

The position of each of the three main groups - right, left and center - was determined at the very first meetings of the Third Duma. The Black Hundreds, who did not approve of Stolypin’s reform plans, unconditionally supported all his measures to combat his opponents existing system. Liberals tried to resist the reaction, but in some cases Stolypin could count on their relatively friendly attitude towards the reforms proposed by the government. At the same time, none of the groups could either fail or approve this or that bill when voting alone. In such a situation, everything was decided by the position of the center - the Octobrists. Although it did not constitute a majority in the Duma, the outcome of the vote depended on it: if the Octobrists voted together with other right-wing factions, then a right-wing Octobrist majority (about 300 people) was created, if together with the Cadets, then an Octobrist-Cadet majority (about 250 people) . These two blocs in the Duma allowed the government to maneuver and carry out both conservative and liberal reforms. Thus, the Octobrist faction played the role of a kind of “pendulum” in the Duma.