THE DUMA

Apuntes

THE DUMA The few Bolsheviks were not much noticed. Instead, the Liberals were much more popular and favored, especially among educated Russians. One small success they achieved was the creation of The Duma, in 1905. The Duma, the first elected parliament in the Russian Empire as a result of the revolution. The reason the Tsar agreed to create it was because after Russia lost heavily in a war against Japan. The defeat led to strikes and demonstrations in the Russian city including the famous Bloody Sunday massacre, where peaceful protesters were shot by the Tsar’s troops. The Tsar feared losing the control of his country. To calm the situation he issued the October manifesto promising civil liberties and he offered to call a Duma with free elections. Some of his opponents accepted but the protests died down. When the Duma met, it began to criticise the Tsar and demand more changes (including limits on his power, land redistribution, and better rights for workers and peasants.). Nicholas did not like it so the Duma was shut down. In the following elections he controlled who got elected making sure the Duma wouldn’t oppose him again. Because of that, the Duma soon became weak ...