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 chief minister who had a hard reputation with 2500 executions being carried out on his behalf from 1906 to 1911.
In the second Duma which ran from February to June 1907 the Kadets had lost half of their seats as they had discredited themselves in the first Duma. The main beneficiaries were the Social Democrats (SDs) and Social Revolutionaries (SRs). The right also gained seats which resulted in squabbling within the Duma and between it and the Tsar. Stolypin tried to co-operate with the Duma to pass his land reforms but was bitterly opposed. This was evidence of the Duma not being under control as they rejected plans from a social repressor (Stolypin). The Tsar was incensed by the Duma questioning how the Government ran the army. He claimed that the SDs and SRs were plotting against his life so dissolved the second Duma after five months.
Despite the opposition the Tsar encountered in the first two Duma, he didn’t abolish it as he knew that with the Duma as a statue of democracy, major western powers would be more willing to loan money. The main reason was that Stolypin and his government had tailored the voting system to be more favourable to the Tsar. This took the form of votes by those in accordance with the Tsar to hold significance over regular votes. Now only 1 in 6 males could vote due to the law which basically left voting up to the upper class. The third Duma was heavily dominated by right wing parties that were loyal to the Tsar which explains why it ran from November 1907 to June 1912. The third Duma to its credit still questioned ministers and discussed state finances, introduced a scheme of national insurance for workers and attempted to modernise the armed forces. The Tsar still influenced the Duma and the fact voting had been ‘rigged’ showed the Duma had lost its integrity.
The fourth Duma began in November 1912 still in disarray over the assassination of Stolypin in 1911. Public disorder increased to the levels seen in 1905 and the number or workers strikes surged. The Tsar faced public outrage at the Lena shootings in Siberia, where striking miners were gunned down by troops. The last Duma was said by many to be a puppet body that had no effect. This was due to any law put in motion was put down by the Tsar if it didn’t have his backing. However the Duma started to have courage and stood up to the Tsar, with many speaking out against him. A Duma resolution states that the Ministry of the Interior isn’t moved by public opinion so there is no point in trying to pass new laws and that Russia is heading into danger as the people become more and more dissatisfied with the Tsar, whom they know is trying his utmost to sideline the Duma. The fourth and last Duma ran till August 1914, the outbreak of hostilities with Germany and Austro-Hungary.
Even though the Tsar had tailored the Duma into his liking and it being branded a puppet organisation, as well as a rubber stamp body which basically confirmed anything the Tsar decreed, the Duma still had teeth to bite with and its members often voiced their disapproval of the Tsar. Its criticism of the Government, work in education and state insurance shows that maybe without the Tsar’s restrictions, the Duma could have modernised Russia. It was a puppet body in some ways but did have its own opinion on many things and the Tsar’s decision not to give it any real power was a reason for him being overthrown in the 1917 revolution.
