October Manifesto
The October Manifesto (officially "Manifesto on the improvement of public order"; Russian Высочайший Манифест Об усовершенствовании государственного порядка , Wyssotschaischi manifesto Whether ussowerschenstwowanii gossudarstwennowo porjadka ) of 17 October jul. / October 30, 1905 greg. , drawn up by Sergei Witte , was Tsar Nicholas II's response to the ongoing unrest and strikes during the 1905 Russian Revolution .
content
The manifesto allowed the introduction of a bicameral parliament , consisting of the State Council (Reichsrat) and the newly formed Duma , without whose consent no law should come into force. For this was universal suffrage provided for male citizens in view. The manifesto also granted basic civil rights : personal rights , freedom of conscience , freedom of expression , freedom of assembly and freedom of association . It was thus the forerunner of the first Russian constitution .
Effects
In fact, the manifesto didn't change much. The tsar continued to have great power over the Duma and blocked it in many ways with his veto. It was also dissolved several times by him, which resulted in new elections. According to the manifesto, the group of Octobrists named themselves constitutional monarchists , who largely stood up for its provisions, while the Bolsheviks rejected the manifesto from the beginning as "fraud" and "unsatisfactory".
literature
- Philipp Amendt: The October Manifesto of 1905 - A serious modernization or the act of an autocracy without options? In: Riccardo Altieri, Frank Jacob (ed.): The history of the Russian revolutions. Hoped for change, experienced disappointment, forced adaptation. minifanal, Bonn 2015, pp. 122–155, ISBN 3-95421-092-4 .
- Sidney Harcave (Ed.): The Memoirs of Count Witte . ME Sharpe Verlag, 1990, ISBN 0-87332-571-0 . (engl.)