Last week, I alluded to Nicholas II’s unwillingness to give up absolute power in a time of growing unrest in his country. Of the failed ploys by Russian monarchists to appease revolutionary forces, none were on such a large scale as the creation of the Imperial Duma, Russia’s first elected assembly.

In early 1905, Russian cities were engulfed by a series of labor strikes, backed by various Marxist, socialist, and worker’s rights groups.

Starting mostly in the rail yards of cities like Saint Petersburg and Moscow, the uprisings turned into general strikes, and, by October, over two million workers were keeping the economy at a standstill.

Prime minister Sergei Witte, himself a proponent of constitutional monarchy stressed the need for popular representation as the primary cause of the strikes. Nicholas II resisted, responding with extremely weak, one-sided compromises. An example can be seen in one New York Times article from 1905, where the proposed legislature had almost no real power, with the tsar and Imperial Council having numerous checks over it.

After a series of events, including the assassination of his uncle, Nicholas finally agreed to Witte’s October Manifesto, making strong concessions which included allowing universal suffrage and legalizing political parties. Satisfied, laborers gradually returned to work; the streets grew quieter as the rioting stopped.

While the people rejoiced, however, Nicholas was fuming. Immediately regretting the changes he instituted, he renegged, calling for the writing of a new constitution which would again secure him as an absolute monarch. The Russian Constitution of 1906 rendered the newly established Duma almost completely useless.

Harkening back to his earlier proposals, Nicholas substantially weakened the new legislative body by requiring monarchical approval of all laws passed by the body. Additionally, half of the Duma would be appointed by none other than the tsar himself.

Another article, this one from 1909, provides a good look at how little power the people actually had. A cabinet minister, censured by the Duma, was simply able to disregard the vote.

While support for revolutionary movements waned after the tsar’s agreeing to establish a legislative body, it wasn’t long before the Russian populace took their leader to task, angered by what they saw as false promises.