Stolypin+and+Duma's

Stolypin

 * __1. Europe 1870-1991__** by Terry Morris, Derrick Murphy (Ania Jedrzejczyk)
 * After the 1905 revolution the Romanov dynasty faced the greatest domestic opposition yet, people’s discontent was mounting up and tsar Nicholas has recognized the need for reforms therefore he appointed Pyotr Stolypin as the chief minister in the hopes of winning back the support of ‘moderate’ opponents (not completely against the policies of the tsar) and to create a conservative base of support for the monarchy.


 * Stolypin’s **agrarian reforms** were meant to give the peasants which made up most of the Russian population at the time a more prosperous work and therefore they would become more content and support the tsar.


 * It is often said that Stolypin’s experiment was a failure however there is a lot of historical evidence which suggests that the Tsar wanted this to be a temporary action to calm down the peasants which were the most immediate threat to autocracy.
 * Stolypin was known as a ruthless governor of the Saratov province and was the second man after Siergei Witte who was known for his ability to save the tsarist regime. His plans for restoring the tsarist spirit in Russia were based on counter-terror and reforms. He started a war against violent political opposition in 1906.
 * 600 unions closed between 1906-1912 and 1,000 newspapers ceased to publish at the same time period. His policies seemed to be successful as the number of political assassinations dropped to 365 by 1908.
 * . Alexander Guchkov paid Stolypin the following compliment; “If we are now witnessing the last convulsions of the revolution, and it is undoubtedly coming to an end, then it is this man that we owe it.”

> __**2. Lynch Book**__- "Reaction and Revolution: Russia 1894-1924"
 * Counter-terror was not enough to stabilize the Tsarist regime, reforms were useful too. While Witte started to modernize the Russian industry, Stolypin became his successor and paid attention to the problem of the Russian peasantry.
 * His **agrarian policy** was based on his belief that the surest basis for the regime was the support of a ‘prosperous and contented peasantry’. He wanted to free the peasants from the dues which were created for them post the 1861 emancipation in order to achieve that.
 * He created a law; whereby any peasant had the right to withdraw himself and his land from the commune. Also a large amount of land was transferred to the Peasants Bank (September 1906) in order to satisfy the ‘land hunger’.
 * From 20% of peasants who owned their land in 1905 the percentage rose to 50% in 1915.
 * 3.5 million peasants migrated to Siberia between 1905-1915
 * However the weakness of Stolypin’s reforms was that like Witte’s they did not have the support of the Tsar.

o Russia’s population had increased dramatically o Bad harvests à famines o Post-emancipation government policies didn’t help serfs o Land prices (and heavy mortages) impoverished peasants o Peasants joined 1905 revolution b/c of fear that government would seize land of those who were behind on their payments o Result: government announced that overdue payments would be cancelled—
 * President of Council of Ministers in 1906
 * (Politically) conservative and was devoted to **preserving Tsardom**
 * Used reform in order to reduce the social bitterness
 * Witte’s policies -->
 * Stolypin --> **solving Russia’s agricultural problems**
 * There was a ‘rural crisis’: land shortage and over-population in countryside
 * “**De-revolutionising**” peasantry:
 * Stolypin’s reforms aimed to:
 * **Create a layer of prosperous, productive peasants**, who would support the Tsarist system.
 * Restore sense of security of peasants
 * Reforms included:
 * Encouraged changing farming system to make it more efficient
 * Land Bank provided loans to peasants who wanted to buy land.
 * Voluntary resettlement of peasants
 * Witte & Stolypin:
 * complementary work: developing industry and agriculture
 * Both tried to **preserve autocratic power**
 * Reforms were quite successful - Stolypin is often credited with preserving system for longer
 * However: S said that he needs at least "20 years of peace" in order to successfully reform the countryside
 * Was assassinated in 1911
 * Nutshell:
 * Stolypin's reforms were aimed to solving Russia's agricultural problem (which weren't addressed by Witte)
 * Hoped to create a layer of wealthy peasants who would support the Tsar by:
 * 'de-revolutionizing' the peasants (giving them a sense of security, getting rid of redemption dues etc)
 * reforming land policies so that farming systems become more efficient and farmers could buy land more easily to expand
 * Big debate whether or not as to how successful his reforms were and whether he could have saved the system if WWI hadn't occurred


 * || Success of his reforms ||
 * One school of thought ||  ||
 * Other school of thought ||  ||

- Kulaks (rich peasants with animals and hired labour) were mainly targeted to improve their production efficiency. - Allowed to buy land from poorer peasants and gather lands to form one holding. - As a result, production went up. - Urbanization resulted for peasants to have jobs in factories.
 * __3.Communist Russia Under Lenin and Stalin__** (Rachel Goodman)
 * Nicholas II also went through Economic and Social Change in the country:
 * Stolypin was the chief minister, established land reforms to increase production.
 * However, these reforms had not progressed substantially in 1914 for there to say that a solution to agricultural problems was found.
 * Negative point of reforms: increased number of poor peasants excluded from these sectors.

Duma's

 * __1. Europe 1870-1991__** by Terry Morris, Derrick Murphy (Ania Jedrzejczyk)
 * This was followed by constitutional reforms which resulted in the most important establishment- the **Duma** (parliament).
 * The creation of the Duma gave educated classes hope that they would get involved with the process of the government and therefore drift away from autocracy and slowly towards the **Western** constitutional monarchies rather than absolute monarchy.
 * The Duma was elective however it has a set of limitations upon its powers. For example it had no control over military expenditure or over the Tsar’s household finances.
 * The tsar was financially independent. The Duma didn’t even have any means of controlling or censuring ministers, the Tsar was left with the power to govern whenever the assembly was not in session.
 * The decisions of the Duma were further limited by all major left-wing groups.
 * The first two Duma's were against and openly spoke about the opposition to the Tsarist government.
 * The third and fourth Duma's were less extreme and continued to question ministers however to a much smaller extent.

__**2. Lynch Book**__ 'Reaction and Revolution: Russia 1894-1924' (Maria)
 * A parliament (very //liberal, western// idea).
 * Outlined in the October Manifesto – to appease the liberal opposition.
 * Between 1905-1914: four dumas.
 * Duma’s power was limited from start by **Fundamental Laws**
 * Tsar retained supreme autocratic power.
 * Duma was __bi-cameral__.
 * The second chamber members were appointed by the Tsar and could __veto__ decisions made by the first chamber
 * Theory vs Practice:
 * Theory: creation of a Duma -- a big change (possibly towards a constitutional monarchy)
 * Practice: Duma had no real power. Couldn't pass any laws without Tsar's approval-- Tsarist regime not making any real concessions
 * 1 st and 2nd Duma very critical and outspoken against the Tsarist government
 * New laws on voting were introduced by Stolypin, restricting vote to [|propertied] classes
 * 3rd and 4th Duma’s less critical
 * However: 3rd Duma à continued to question ministers and discuss state finances
 * Approved social-reform measures (setting up schools for children of poor and national insurance for industrial workers)
 * 4th Duma à typically dismissed as mere ‘rubber stamp’
 * however: still voiced criticism of Tsar
 * continued work for providing state welfare

- One of the promises was the creation of Duma. - Duma could not make laws, control finance and ministers were still working mainly for the Tsar instead of the Duma. - Duma favored higher class and not the working class and peasants. - Progressive Bloc from Liberals party in Duma wanted Tsar to change government to constitutional monarchy. The Liberals’ beliefs were in the Duma. - However, only Kadets (the middle-class, intelligentsia) were supportive of the Duma. - Initially part of Duma but they boycotted it later.
 * __3.Communist Russia Under Lenin and Stalin__** (Rachel Goodman)
 * As Tsar lost control of country, he made concessions through October Manifesto:
 * Nicholas II made changes for a better Russia as Tsar was losing control
 * **Political Changes:**
 * Tsar created the Duma to represent the people and their rights. However, there were limitations in the Duma's power.
 * However, revolutionary parties boycotted Duma since no desired changes were allowed to be made.
 * Duma had made some efficient work but Tsar did not agree to change country system to constitutional government.
 * Duma was on Tsar’s side during the war. Russia could have changed to constitutional monarchy in order to alleviate Tsar’s pressures.
 * 1905- Kadets (members of Liberal parties which were major political opposition parties before and during 1905) were important members of Duma.
 * 1901- SR (Socialist Revolutionary) party consisted of variety of views and loose system and organization.
 * Peasasnts were represented in the Duma by the Trudovitki labour group. Led by Alexander Kerensky.