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Legislative elections were held in the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
from 26 March to 20 April 1906. At stake were the 497 seats in the
State Duma of the Russian Empire The State Duma, also known as the Imperial Duma, was the lower house of the Governing Senate in the Russian Empire, while the upper house was the State Council. It held its meetings in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg. It convened four times ...
, the legislative assembly. Election for the First State Duma, which only ran from 27 April to 8 July (O.S.) 1906, returned a significant bloc of moderate socialists and two liberal parties which demanded further reforms. For this reason, it is sometimes called the Duma of Public Anger (Дума народного гнева).


Background

The State Duma was created in a wave of violent attacks against imperial officials and public upheaval, which culminated in a national strike in October 1905 known as
Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
, paving the way for Russia's first parliament. With the nation's infrastructure all but paralyzed, Tsar Nicholas II signed a historic
manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
of 17 October 1905, promising civil rights to the population and creating Russia's first parliament.


Electoral legislation

The electoral laws were promulgated in December 1905 and introduced franchise to male citizens over 25 years of age, and electing through four electoral colleges. The elections were therefore not universal as they excluded women, soldiers, and officers. Nor were they equal since the constituencies differed greatly in size. The general elections to the State Duma took place in March 1906 and were boycotted by the some socialist groups and the Bolsheviks. Among the political parties formed were the peasant leaders' Labour Group (
Trudoviks The Trudoviks (russian: Трудова́я гру́ппа, translit=Trudovaya gruppa, lit=Labour Group) were a social-democratic political party of Russia in early 20th century. History The Trudoviks were a breakaway of the Socialist Revolut ...
), liberal-intelligentsia
Constitutional Democratic party ) , newspaper = ''Rech'' , ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchismLiberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism , position = Centre to centre-left , international = , colours ...
(the Kadets), the less liberal Union of October 17 (the
Octobrist The Union of 17 October (russian: Союз 17 Октября, ''Soyuz 17 Oktyabrya''), commonly known as the Octobrist Party (Russian: Октябристы, ''Oktyabristy''), was a liberal-reformist constitutional monarchist political party in la ...
s), and the positively reactionary Union of Land-Owners.


Results

As official records are vague about the party composition of the Duma, these figures must be understood as educated guesswork. Among the Leftists, it was alleged by the Kadets that 2 members belonged to the
Social-Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...
and 17 were
Socialist Revolutionaries The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...
. Out of the 36 Duma members from the Congress Kingdom, 34 were Poles who subsequently joined the Polish Club. Another 19 Polish Duma members were elected in Belarus and Ukraine. There were twelve Jewish deputies in the First Duma, falling to three in the Second Duma (February 1907 to June 1907), two in the Third Duma (1907-1912) and again three in the fourth, elected in 1912. At the 1906 elections, the
Jewish Labour Bund The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia ( yi, ‏אַלגעמײנער ייִדישער אַרבעטער־בונד אין ליטע, פּױלן און רוסלאַנד , translit=Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter-bund in Lite, Poy ...
had made an electoral agreement with the Lithuanian Labourers' Party (''
Trudoviks The Trudoviks (russian: Трудова́я гру́ппа, translit=Trudovaya gruppa, lit=Labour Group) were a social-democratic political party of Russia in early 20th century. History The Trudoviks were a breakaway of the Socialist Revolut ...
''), which resulted in the election to the Duma of two (non-Bundist) candidates in the
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n provinces: Dr.
Shmaryahu Levin Shmaryahu Levin (russian: Шмарьяху Левин; born 1867 in Svislach, Minsk Governorate; died 9 June 1935, Haifa), was a Jewish Zionist activist. He was a member of the first elected Russian Parliament for the Constitutional Democratic ...
for the
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
province and
Leon Bramson Leon Bramson (born 1869 in Kaunas, then Russian Empire, d. March 2, 1941 in Marseille, France), was a Jewish activist, member of the first elected Russian Parliament in 1906-1907, then a leader and organizer of the World ORT. Attorney and member ...
for the
Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...
province. Among the other Jewish deputies were
Maxim Vinaver Maxim Moisseyevitsch Vinaver (russian: Макси́м Моисе́евич Вина́вер; 30 November Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._18_November.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style ...
, chairman of the League for the Attainment of Equal Rights for the Jewish People in Russia (''
Folksgrupe ''Folksgrupe'' ( yi, פאלקסגרופע, 'People's Group' in English) was a Jewish Anti-Zionist political organization in Russia, founded at a meeting in Vilna in March 1905. The organization proclaimed to work for establishing 'civil, political ...
'') and cofounder of the Constitutional Democratic Party (''Kadets''), Dr.
Nissan Katzenelson Dr. Nissan Katzenelson (1862, Babruysk – 1925), was a Russian Jewish activist, member of the First State Duma of the Russian Empire in 1906-1907. This Libau banker, son of Yosef Katzenelson and Feye Breyne Katzenelson, took part in the Third ...
(
Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...
province, Zionist, ''Kadet''), Dr. Moisei Yakovlevich Ostrogorsky (Grodno province, ''Kadet''), attorney
Simon Yakovlevich Rosenbaum Simon Yakovlevich Rosenbaum (1860 in Pinsk, Russian Empire – 1934 in Tel Aviv, Palestine), was a Jewish activist and attorney, member of the First State Duma of the Russian Empire in 1906–1907, Lithuanian Minister for Jewish Affairs from J ...
(
Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
province, Zionist, ''Kadet''),
Mikhail Isaakovich Sheftel Mikhail Isaakovich Sheftel (1862–1919) was a Russian Jewish lawyer, member of the First Duma of the Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large par ...
(
Ekaterinoslav Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...
province, ''Kadet''), Dr. Bruk, Dr. Victor Jacobson. Three of the Jewish deputies joined the Labour faction, the nine other joined the Kadet fraction. According to Rufus Learsi, five of them were Zionists, including Dr.
Shmaryahu Levin Shmaryahu Levin (russian: Шмарьяху Левин; born 1867 in Svislach, Minsk Governorate; died 9 June 1935, Haifa), was a Jewish Zionist activist. He was a member of the first elected Russian Parliament for the Constitutional Democratic ...
, Dr. Victor Jacobson and
Simon Yakovlevich Rosenbaum Simon Yakovlevich Rosenbaum (1860 in Pinsk, Russian Empire – 1934 in Tel Aviv, Palestine), was a Jewish activist and attorney, member of the First State Duma of the Russian Empire in 1906–1907, Lithuanian Minister for Jewish Affairs from J ...
. Two out of twelve, Grigori Borisovich Iollos (
Poltava Poltava (, ; uk, Полтава ) is a city located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the capital city of the Poltava Oblast (province) and of the surrounding Poltava Raion (district) of the oblast. Poltava is administratively ...
province) and
Mikhail Herzenstein Mikhail Yakovlevich Herzenstein (, Voznesensk, Russian Empire — , Terijoki, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire) was a Russian-Jewish scientist and politician who converted to Christianity, elected for the Constitutional Democratic Party t ...
, both from the Constitutional Democratic Party, were assassinated by the
Black Hundreds The Black Hundred (russian: Чёрная сотня, translit=Chornaya sotnya), also known as the black-hundredists (russian: черносотенцы; chernosotentsy), was a reactionary, monarchist and ultra-nationalist movement in Russia in t ...
antisemite terrorist group.


Members of the First Duma

File:First Duma 1.jpg, Constitutional Democrats. File:First Duma 2.jpg, Constitutional Democrats. File:First Duma 3.jpg, Constitutional Democrats. File:First Duma 4.jpg, Democratic Reform Party/Labour Group. File:First Duma 5.jpg, Labour Group. File:First Duma 6.jpg, Labour Group/Social Democrats. File:First Duma 7.jpg, Social Democrats.


Aftermath


Basic Law

In April 1906, only weeks after the election, the
Sergei Witte's Cabinet Cabinet of Sergei Witte – composition of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire, under the leadership of Sergei Witte, worked from November 6, 1905 to May 5, 1906. Cabinet of Sergei Witte was the first Cabinet in Russian history. Despi ...
issued the Basic Law of 1906, setting the limits of this new political order. The Tsar was confirmed as absolute leader, with complete control of the executive, foreign policy, church, and the armed forces. The State Duma was shifted, becoming a lower chamber below the reformed
State Council of Imperial Russia The State Council ( rus, Госуда́рственный сове́т, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj sɐˈvʲet) was the supreme state advisory body to the Tsar in Imperial Russia. From 1906, it was the upper house of the parliament under the ...
, which had been the Russian legislative body since 1810. Legislation had to be approved by the Duma, the Council and the Emperor to become law - and in "exceptional conditions" the government could bypass the Duma. The Basic Law introduced a special provision, ''Article 87'', which allowed the government to ''
ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
'' issue new legislation during breaks between sessions of the State Duma. Later on, Tsar Nicholas II would frequently use this provision in order to carry out the laws that had not been supported by the State Duma.


Session

The State Duma (and the State Council - the upper house) convened for the first time on 27 April 1906. On 10 May
Sergey Muromtsev Sergey Andreevich Muromtsev (russian: Серге́й Андре́евич Му́ромцев) (October 5, Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._23_September.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/> O.S._23_September">O ...
, a Law Professor at the
Saint Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...
, was elected President of the Duma. Professor Muromtsev, a leading figure of the liberal
Kadet ) , newspaper = ''Rech'' , ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchismLiberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism , position = Centre to centre-left , international = , colours ...
party, tried to maintain some degree of order and dignity in this difficult assembly. He was much praised for the way he chaired the debates, always keeping to the strictest legality, but always pursuing a constitutional and anti-
autocratic Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perh ...
agenda. The anti-autocracy was evident from the first days of the First Duma. In response to the Tsar's opening speech on 5 May, the assembly called for amnesty for political prisoners, real political freedom and equality. Eight days later, the chairman of the
Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Ivan Goremykin Ivan Logginovich Goremykin (russian: Ива́н Лóггинович Горемы́кин, Iván Lógginovich Goremýkin) (8 November 183924 December 1917) was a Russian politician who served as the prime minister of the Russian Empire in 1906 a ...
, rejected all these claims. The State Duma in turn adopted a resolution of non confidence of the government and demanded Prime Minister Goremykin's resignation. During the 72-day session of the First Duma, a total of 391 requests about illegal actions of the government were filed. Only two laws were passed: a ban on capital punishment and measures to help provinces that had been hit by a famine.


Dissolution

Due to the growing tensions between the State Duma and Tsar Nicholas II's Council of Ministers, prominently Prime Minister Goremykin, the assembly was dismissed by Imperial
ukase In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz (russian: указ ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader ( patriarch) that had the force of law. " Edict" and "decree" are adequate translations using the terminology and concep ...
after only 10 weeks, on 21 July 1906. The Tsar said that instead of drawing up laws, the deputies were investigating the authorities and thereby intruding on his authority. In a sign of frustration, members of the liberal Cadets party wanted the elected Duma to continue its work and proposed that it should retreat to
Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus ne ...
,
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. Despite the hopes of the Kadets and the fears of the government, there was no widespread popular reaction. However, an assassination attempt on
Pyotr Stolypin Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin ( rus, Пётр Арка́дьевич Столы́пин, p=pʲɵtr ɐrˈkadʲjɪvʲɪtɕ stɐˈlɨpʲɪn; – ) was a Russian politician and statesman. He served as the third prime minister and the interior minist ...
led to the establishment of field trials for terrorists. For signing this ''Vyborg Appeal'', the Cadets (including Duma President Muromtsev) were arrested and imprisoned for some months - and consequently excluded from future Duma elections. This paved the way for an alternative makeup for the Second Duma of 1907.


See also

*
State Duma of the Russian Empire The State Duma, also known as the Imperial Duma, was the lower house of the Governing Senate in the Russian Empire, while the upper house was the State Council. It held its meetings in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg. It convened four times ...
*
State Council of Imperial Russia The State Council ( rus, Госуда́рственный сове́т, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj sɐˈvʲet) was the supreme state advisory body to the Tsar in Imperial Russia. From 1906, it was the upper house of the parliament under the ...
*
Russian Council of Ministers The Russian Council of Ministers is an executive governmental council that brings together the principal officers of the Executive Branch of the Russian government. This includes the chairman of the government and ministers of federal government de ...
*
Russian Constitution of 1906 The Russian Constitution of 1906 refers to a major revision of the 1832 Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire, which transformed the formerly absolutist state into one in which the emperor agreed for the first time to share his autocratic powe ...
* Sergey Witte


References

*russian
State Duma of the Russian Federation
Official site *russian

(Sergey Andreyevich Muromtsev)


External links

* {{Russian elections Legislative elections in Russia
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Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...