The Duma As a Puppet Organisation

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The Duma As a Puppet Organisation

One of the main reasons for the 1905 revolution was the people’s

desire for a democratic assembly where they could voice their opinion

through their elected member of parliament. When the Tsar was close

to getting over thrown he eventually decided it was better for there

to be some form of democracy which would please the liberals and so

reduce the opposition. In the October Manifesto the Tsar under

Witte’s advice accepted the creation of a legislative law making body

called the Duma. There were four Duma altogether which we will have to

closely scrutinise to see if the Duma was a puppet organisation. The

meaning of a puppet is something that is controlled by another, how

people may just be figurehead whilst another has the power.

In 1906 the Tsar negotiated a loan with France where by he was

financially safe so now the Duma could not attack him on economic

issues. Since he had money and a loyal army, the Tsar introduced the

Fundamental Laws stating “No law can come into force without the

Sovereign Emperors approval”. Due to these laws, any law the Duma

passes still have to be accepted by the Tsar so any law he disapproves

of is rejected, so the Duma has lost its power already. There was

also a second chamber of unelected council which had the power to veto

the elected lower chamber. This showed the Tsar had no intention of

giving the Duma power and wanted it to be a puppet organisation so to

get foreign loans.

The first Duma met from April to June 1906. The majority of those

elected were Liberals (Kadets) and reformists who were angered by the

Tsar’s back tracking on his promises. They demanded that there power

be increased which the Tsar rejected and dissolved the assembly in

June. This showed the Duma was trying to fight the Tsar and that he

didn’t have control over it so he appointed Peter Stolypin as his

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