The Creation of the Russian Duma

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Assess the causes for the creation of the duma in 1905 During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the nation of Russia was undergoing a period of turmoil, change, poverty and revolt. The current Tsar, Nicholas II, was a leader put in charge at the wrong time, and coupled with a few bad choices, was falling out of favour with his people. He was losing his grip on the Russian leadership and drastic change was needed to make the people happy, thus the Duma was created. The Duma was an elected parliament for Russia, with the power to make laws, and due to this Nicholas II could no longer be called an autocrat. This allowed freedom of speech in Russia, letting all males in Russia the right to vote. As I previously said, the reign of Nicholas was a time of rapid change and what many people didn’t realise was the fact that Russia was on the brink of revolution. There were many events that lead up to this point, some of these being Bloody Sunday, Severe gaps between the rich and poor, lack of communication, poor living and working conditions and lastly Nicholas himself. At the beginning of Nicholas’ reign, Russia was at peace, was in the first stages of industrialisation and it was an international superpower. It was all set up perfectly, except one major flaw, Nicholas was unfit to lead according to many. In 1932, Trotsky, a key figure in the Russian revolution stated, ‘His ancestors did not pass on to him one quality which would have made him capable of governing and empire.’ It is through primary sources like this we can see how people thought of Nicholas and their opinions on his ability to lead. He was labelled as bored, inept, naïve, ignorant and indecisive. Because of all of these, as his reign lasted longer and longer, his ability to lead began to wane, and slowly his grasp on Russia began to slide. In relation to the leadership of the Tsar,
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