Russia, as a country with a traditional patriarchal structure of society, for a long time managed without a legislative body - the Parliament. The first State Duma was convened only in 1906, by decree of Nicholas II. Such a decision was necessary, but rather belated, especially if we take into account the years of the appearance of its analogues in other states. In England, for example, Parliament appeared even in the late Middle Ages, in France at that time. The United States, which was formed in 1776, created a similar authority almost immediately.
But what about Russia? Our country has always adhered to the position of a strong centralized power of the tsar-father, who himself had to think over all the laws proposed by the ministers. Thanks to this, the First State Duma did not appear either after the Time of Troubles, or during the reign of Peter I, or even under Catherine II, who planned to convene a body similar in function to the Parliament. Only collegiums were set up.
Throughout the nineteenth century, supporters of the constitutional monarchy (and in Russia there were a dime a dozen) spoke out for the parliamentary system. According to her, the emperor or ministers had to develop bills, the Duma would discuss them, make amendments and send the documents she accepted for signature to the tsar.
However, due to the policies of some sovereigns, in particular Nicholas I, the 1 State Duma did not appear in Russia in the 19th century. From the point of view of the ruling elite, this was a good sign, because it was absolutely necessary not to worry about self-will in passing laws - the king held all the threads in his hands.
And only the growth of protest moods in society made Emperor Nicholas II sign the manifesto on the establishment of the Duma.
The first State Duma opened in April 1906 and became an excellent portrait of the political situation in Russia of that historical period. Deputies from peasants, landowners, merchants, and workers got into it. In terms of national composition, the Duma was also heterogeneous. There were Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians, Georgians, Poles, Jews and representatives of other ethnic groups. In general, it was the First State Duma of 1906 that became the real standard of political correctness, which could be envied even today in the USA.
Sad, however, is the fact that the First Duma turned out to be a completely incapable political monster. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the Duma of the first convocation did not become a legislative body, but a kind of political victim of the era. The second reason is the boycott of the Duma by the left forces.
Because of these two factors, the First State Duma "in July of the same year" rolled "to dissolution. Many were dissatisfied with this; rumors from the realm of fantasy about the final abolition of the Duma, which, by the way, were not confirmed, were circulated in society. Soon the Second Duma was convened, which turned out to be somewhat more productive than the First, but more on that in another article.
The Duma of the first convocation became for Russian history a kind of starting point for democratic transformations. Although it was organized late, the First Duma played its role in the development of parliamentarism.