The beginning of the 20th century turned out to be a rather difficult period for Russia. Bourgeois and socialist revolutions, which entailed a split in society, as well as frequent changes in the political course, gradually weakened the empire. Subsequent events in the country were no exception.
The early dissolution of the Second State Duma, which took place in Russia on June 3, 1907, which was accompanied by a change in the then existing electoral system, went down in history as the Third June Revolution.
Reasons for Dissolution
The reason for the early termination of the powers of the Second Duma was the impossibility of rational and fruitful interaction in the work of the government, headed by Prime Minister Stolypin, and the state self-government body, which at that time consisted mainly of representatives of left-wing parties, such as socialist revolutionaries, social democrats, people's socialists. In addition, the Trudoviks joined them.
The Second Duma, which opened in February 1907, had the same opposition sentiments as the earlier Duma, which had been dissolved earlier. Most of its members were inclined to reject almost all the bills proposed by the government, including budget ones. And vice versa, all the positions put forward by the Duma could not be adopted either by the Council of State or by the emperor.
Contradictions
Thus, the situation was a constitutional crisis. It consisted in the fact that the laws allowed the emperor to dissolve the Duma at any moment. But at the same time, he was obliged to assemble a new one, since without her approval he could not make any changes to the election law. Moreover, there was no certainty that the next convocation would not be as oppositional as the previous one.
Government decision
Stolypin found a way out of this situation. He and his government decided to simultaneously dissolve the Duma and make the necessary amendments to the electoral law from their point of view.
The reason for this was a visit to the deputies of the Social Democratic Party by an entire delegation of soldiers from one of the garrisons of St. Petersburg, who gave them the so-called soldier’s order. Stolypin managed to present such an insignificant event as a glaring episode of a conspiracy against the existing state system. June 1, 1907, he announced this at the next meeting of the Duma. He demanded a decision to remove 55 deputies from the Social Democratic faction from work , as well as remove immunity from some of them.
The Duma was unable to give an immediate answer to the tsarist government and organized a special commission, the decision of which was to be announced on July 4. But, not waiting for the report, Nicholas II, just 2 days after the speech of Stolypin, dismissed the Duma by his decree. In addition, an updated election law was promulgated and the next election was called. The Third Duma was to begin its work on November 1, 1907. Thus, the second convocation lasted only 103 days and ended in dissolution, which went down in history under the name of the Third June coup.
The last day of the First Russian Revolution
The dissolution of the Duma is the right of the emperor. But at the same time, changing the election law itself was a gross violation of article 87 of the collection of Basic State Laws. It stated that only with the consent of the State Council and the Duma can any amendments be made to this document. That is why the events of June 3 were called the Third June Revolution of 1907.
The dissolution of the second Duma came at a time when the strike movement had noticeably weakened and agrarian unrest almost stopped. As a result, relative calm was established in the empire. Therefore, the Third June (1907) coup is also called the last day of the First Russian Revolution.
Changes
How was the electoral law transformed? According to the new edition, the changes affected the electorate directly. This meant that the circle of voters themselves narrowed significantly. Moreover, members of the society, occupying a higher property position, that is, landowners and citizens with good incomes, received the majority of seats in parliament.
The June 3 coup significantly accelerated the elections to the new III Duma, which took place in the fall of that year. They took place in an atmosphere of terror and an unprecedented revelry of reaction. Most of the Social Democrats were arrested.
As a result, the Third June coup led to the fact that the Third Duma turned out to be composed of pro-government factions - nationalist and Octobrist, and there were very few representatives from left parties.
It must be said that the total number of polling places has been preserved, but peasant representation has been halved. The number of deputies from various national suburbs was also significantly reduced. Some regions were completely deprived of representation.
Summary
In the cadet-liberal circles, the June Third coup was briefly described as “shameless”, because it ensured a monarchist-nationalist majority in the new Duma in a rather crude and frank manner. Thus, the tsarist government shamelessly violated the main provision of the manifesto, adopted in October 1905, that no law could be approved without preliminary discussion and approval of it in the Duma.
Oddly enough, the June Third coup in the country was taken calmly. Many politicians were surprised at such indifference on the part of the people. There were no demonstrations or strikes. Even newspapers commented on this event in a rather calm tone. Revolutionary activity and terrorist acts that have been observed up to this time have begun to decline.
The June Third coup was of great importance. The new convocation immediately began fruitful legislative work, in excellent contact with the government. But on the other hand, the significant changes that the electoral law has undergone have destroyed the people's perception that the Duma is standing guard over its interests.