The History of Liberalism in Russia

Chapter 26

311 The Second Duma was just as reluctant as the First Duma to work with the government. There was, however, a significant difference between it and its predecessor, which should not be overlooked. A purely Kadet majority had been possible in the First Duma, but in the Second Duma, the socialist Left was strengthened on the one hand, and on the other, a right-wing block, which did not exist in the First Duma, established itself. The Kadet Party could no longer single-handedly ensure a moderate course for the Duma, even if it wanted to. It was no longer in any position to determine the political course of the Duma on its own, but neither was it possible for the Kadets in the Second Duma to form a genuine coalition with the parties of the Left or the Right. Since the dissolution of the First Duma, the gulf between the Kadets and the socialist parties had widened . The Kadets now wanted to avoid the dissolution of the Duma and through it to achieve whatever was possible. This signaled a clear retreat from the revolutionary tactics to which the left-wing parties still held fast. These tactics, however, had only exposed the weakness of the revolution and provoked the rise in the country of the reactionary Right. Perhaps there was even more to it—namely, the increasing awareness of the dangers that lay in the revolution for freedom and for Russia’s transformation into a state governed according to the rule of law. Berdyaev was one of the first to warn of this danger. One should not forget that he was not from the world of the zemstvos, but an intellectual and one of the foundchapter 26 The Second duma The parties in the Second duma—Stolypin’s government policy declaration to the duma— Reaction of the parties to this liberal declaration— inevitable dissolution of the duma 312 • the second duma ers of the Union of Liberation. Berdyaev spoke of “the plan to control literature through the police proposed by that most modern of inquisitors—Lenin” and was concerned that intolerance and cowardly thinking prevailed everywhere and that people kowtowed obsequiously to new watchwords like “the proletariat,” “the people,” “the revolution,” and “the uprising.”1 Relations between the Kadets and the Right are exemplified by the following : when the issue of providing aid to destitute regions was debated, which the Kadets now wanted to deal with in a purely matter-of-fact manner, it so happened that not just the Octobrists but also the whole of the Right voted as a block for the Kadets’ proposals. The government too accepted this proposal as the basis for further measures.2 Maklakov apparently believed a firmer majority of the Right and the center Left could have emerged in this way, with the Kadet Party taking the lead.3 In Maklakov’s view, in fact, many of the reforms proposed by the government in its declaration were acceptable to the moderate Right as well as the Kadets, and there was thus the basis for an alliance. Furthermore, in his opinion, if it had come to an agreement between the moderate Right and the Kadets, the far Right would have had to join this center-right block, if only to avoid voting with the socialists or opposing his Imperial Majesty’s government, which would have certainly cooperated with this block. It is hard, however, to attach much credence to any of this. The mutual antipathy between the Right and the Kadets was too strong, while to a certain extent real ideological differences also lay between them. In the view of the Right, the left-wing deputies were not the “best men,” as the tsar had publicly called them in his speech from the throne, but rather a gang that should have best been banished to Siberia or at least dispersed as quickly as possible. Even if the Kadets did not belong directly in this “company,” they considered the latter respectable enough to maintain relations with them. Furthermore, the Kadets’ indifference to the old traditions of the state, even the monarchy, and their republican outlook, so to speak, made them abhorrent to right-wing deputies . Those on the far Right were convinced that only turning back to unfettered autocracy could save Russia from catastrophe, while the moderate Right saw the monarchy as the cornerstone of constitutional government. For their part, the Kadets (with very few exceptions) regarded the government, and all who supported it, as...