Democracy in Russia (1900)
There were no prospects for democracy in Russian in 1914. Tsar Nicholas II believed he had the god-given right to rule over his country absolutely. His power to govern was reinforced by the strongest institutions in Russia, The Orthodox Church, The Army, and the peasant class. Even the Tsar's opposition unwittingly aided him in quashing all hope for democracy. While there were some small democratic institutions, they only helped reinforce the Tsar's belief that the people could never govern themselves. Embodied in Stolypin's reform's, these polices helped sustain the Star's rule until its eventual collapse. That couplep with the Tsar's policies of oppression, brutality, censorship, and class separation all helped him further in his goal to hold on to supreme power. The concessions he made to the people only served to further reinforce his right to rule. Nicholas II used repression, propaganda, the Orthodox Church, religion, migration, anti-Semitism, and war to help sustain what he believed to be his divine rule. Nicholas was educated by private tutors and the reactionary Pobyedonostzev. Alexander III gave his son little training in affairs of state, and Nicholas proved to be a charming but ineffective and easily influenced rule
Roberts, Thomas D. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: Chapter 7A. Religion Elibrary 1991 Anweiler,D Pipes, R. eds, The Breakdown of the Tsarist Autocracy- George Keenan Revolutionary Russia Doubleday 1968 By the end of 1905 revolutionary fervor was waning, and opposition to the monarchy was divided between the Bolshevik-led groups that wanted complete overthrow and those less radical factions that were willing to settle for the minimal constitutionalism promised by the tsar. (Roberts, 5) Elections were held in December, and the first Duma convened in St. Petersburg in May 1906. Nicholas, expecting a subservient Duma because of the restrictive election laws, was horrified by the liberal demands of the new legislative body and forthwith dissolved the first Duma by imperial decree. By waiting forty years to establish a Parliament, the Tsar's act only served to unify "the radical-revolutionary movement against the regime and split the conservative and liberal intelligentsia, whose united support was essential if the dynasty was to survive." (Keenan, 8) New elections were held, but a second Duma was heavily socialist in membership and, after meeting for only three months, met the same fate as its predecessor. r. Soon after his accession Nicholas stated that he intended to maintain the autocratic system. Nicholas was "convinced that he had an absolute, God-given right to rule...as he saw fit...he refused to grant democratic right even to the Russian nobility." (Kronnenwetter, 43) The Tsar's belief in his religious right to power was pushed on to the people both by himself and the Orthodox Church, which had been a "creature of the Tsar since Peter the Great." (Moynahan, 30) Hosking, Geoffrey Russia: People and Empire Harvard University Press 1997 Service, Robert A History of Twentieth Century Russia Harvard University Press 1997 After considerable manipulation of the electoral laws, a third Duma met with the tsar's grudging approval and served its full five-year term. The fourth and final Duma sat through the war years until it was abolished by the Bolsheviks, ending Russia's brief experiment with parliamentarianism. Despite the extreme limitations placed on the Duma, it was a rudimentary legislature. Nicholas thought of his powers as God-given and viewed any constitutional limitation as sinful and heretical. He was guided by the idea that the throne of the Romanovs should be passed on to his son as he had received it from his father: absolute and autocratic. (Hosking, 35)
Some common words found in the essay are:
Peter Stolypin, Winter Palace, Holy Synod, Orthodox Church, Bolsheviks Russia's, Parliament Tsar's, Alexander III, Socialist Revolutionaries, St Petersburg, Manchuria Russian, orthodox church, revolution 1905, land private, russian orthodox, soviet socialist republics, soviet socialist, union soviet, st petersburg, republics chapter, socialist republics, roberts thomas, roberts thomas union, union soviet socialist, thomas union soviet, university press 1997,
Approximate Word count = 1844
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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