The Union of October 17, the counter-revolutionary party of the big landlords and commercial and industrial bourgeoisie in Russia, represented the right wing of liberalism. The Octobrists were the true masters of the reformed capitalist state.
The first mention of the Union appeared in the press on October 30, 1905: in the article “Union on October 17”, published in the newspaper “Slovo”, it was reported that “under this name, an alliance of political parties is being organized that base their political program on the October 17 manifesto. .. the union will form the core around which the already functioning political club, the party of the right order and a number of other emerging and emerging parties of the center will unite. The initiative to create the "Union" belonged to the leaders of the "minority" of the zemstvo-city congresses A.I. Guchkov and D.N. Shipov.
The appeal of the Union completely ignored the fact that the Manifesto of October 17 had been won back by the revolutionary proletariat, and this act was portrayed as a voluntary gift from the tsar, opening up the possibility of legally defending their interests. The ideal of the Octobrists was a "strong monarchist power", but they also spoke of the need to develop the principles of a constitutional monarchy with popular representation based on general suffrage. The appeal proclaimed the unity and indivisibility of Russia, only Finland was recognized the right to a well-known autonomous device. The need to convene the Constituent Assembly was rejected, since it “contains a complete severance of ties with the past” and “will only put it off; the much-desired hour of calming the country.” At the same time, the Octobrists stood for the "urgency" of convening the State Duma and tried to strengthen the people's faith in the Duma as a guarantee of the country's peaceful development.
The agrarian issue was supposed to be resolved by equalizing the peasants in civil and property rights with other estates, recognizing secular land tenure as an institution of civil law, promoting the resettlement and resettlement of peasants, creating a fund from state and specific lands to meet the land needs of the peasants,
The Octobrists promised to revise, improve and expand labor legislation, to introduce provision for workers and their families in case of illness, disability and death, to provide insurance for workers in all types of work, to limit work time for women and children and in industries that are especially harmful to health. The "Union" recognized the freedom of strikes and unions, but stood for their prohibition at enterprises and institutions on which the life and health of the population depended.
The "Union of October 17" from the very beginning (with a few exceptions) was under the patronage of the tsarist administration: meetings, distribution of party literature, etc. were freely allowed to it. Sometimes the administration itself actively distributed appeals of the "Union of October 17" and other parties of the "center" on volost boards, parish guardianships, etc.
The "Union" had provincial branches, the number of which in the years of the highest upsurge of the movement reached 52. However, many of them were extremely reactionary. According to the Octobrists themselves, the propaganda of the ideas of the "Union" in broad democratic circles (that is, among the common people) was ineffective.
On the outskirts, the Soyuz was joined almost exclusively by Russian officials. So, from Grodno it was reported that out of 158 members of the local branch there were “several people of an unclear profession and 6 bourgeois Catholics”, the rest were officials. The mood of this public was openly Black-Hundred. With good reason, the manufacturer A.M. Nemirovsky in a letter to A.I. Guchkov on February 17, 1906, stated that “in the provinces there are even simply robber committees that are engaged in the persecution of Jews, surpassing the “true” unions in this respect.”
During the years of the first Russian revolution, the liberal bourgeoisie laid claim to national leadership. But because of her class position, she feared revolution more than reaction. During the upsurge of the popular uprisings of the first Russian revolution, the Octobrists rendered essential services to the government, conducted propaganda against the revolutionaries, and persuaded the workers to stop the "fratricidal bloodshed" as soon as possible. The Octobrists unreservedly approved of the suppression of the armed uprising in Moscow by "brute force", believing that an armed uprising could not be suppressed by exhortations and lectures. At the same time, the victory and strengthening of reaction could not but inspire alarm and revive oppositional sentiments among the bourgeoisie. According to P.A. Heiden, the government is dangerous because it is insincere, and therefore it cannot be trusted.
At the beginning of 1906, among the propertied classes, the view was firmly held that only the speediest convocation of the State Duma could "disarm the revolution." Considering the Duma the only means of "calming" the country, the liberal bourgeoisie was alarmed by the desire of the "extreme" parties to prevent its convocation.
The Octobrist faction in the First State Duma had 16 deputies, in the Second - 54. The change in the electoral law on June 3, 1907 gave the Octobrists a sharp increase in electoral seats in the Third State Duma - up to 154 deputies, in the Fourth - 98. Cadets, contributing to the implementation of the reactionary government course.
In December 1913, the Octobrist party split into three factions: the "Left Octobrists" (16 people - I.V. Godnev, S.I. Shidlovsky, Khomyakov, etc.), Zemstvo - Octobrists (57 people - Rodzianko, M.I. Antonov, A.D. Protopopov and others) and right-wing Octobrists (13 people - N.P. Shubinsky, G.V. Skoropadsky and others).
With the declaration of the First World War, the Octobrists issued an appeal to support the government, to participate in zemstvo and city unions and military-industrial committees. When the complete inability of tsarism to govern the country became clear, on August 22, 1915, the Octobrists signed an agreement of 6 factions on the creation of a "Progressive Bloc". After February Revolution one of the leaders of the Octobrists, A.I. Guchkov, was a member of the bourgeois Provisional Government. After the victory of the October Revolution of 1917, the Octobrists fought against the Soviet Republic, holding prominent positions in White Guard organizations and governments.
Union of October 17 ("Octobrists") - right-liberal Political Party officials, landlords and the large commercial industrial bourgeoisie of Russia, which existed in 1905-1917. The party represented the right wing of Russian liberalism, adhering to moderate constitutional views. The name of the party goes back to the Manifesto issued by Nicholas II on October 17, 1905. The party was founded in October 1905; from 1906 it was headed by Alexander Guchkov.
Basic provisions:
limiting the monarch's power
preservation monarchical form board
freedom of speech, assembly, association, movement, conscience and religion
inviolability of person and home
preservation of "united and indivisible" Russia
facilitating the purchase of land by peasants from private owners
creation of a layer of "prosperous peasantry"
normalization of the working day, but due to technical backwardness from Europe, it is not necessary to reduce the working day to 8 hours
denial of the possibility of granting autonomy to certain parts of the empire, except for Finland
The Octobrists, like the Cadets, represented the liberal trend in Russian politics, but their views differed somewhat from those of the Cadets. In particular, while on the question of state structure the Octobrists defended the idea of a hereditary constitutional monarchy, the Cadets demanded the creation of a ministry responsible to the Duma. On the national question, the Octobrists advocated the preservation of a single and indivisible Russian Empire, while the Cadets defended the principle of cultural and national self-determination. On the agrarian question, both parties advocated the preservation of landownership, but the Cadets (unlike the Octobrists) recognized the possibility of partial expropriation of landowners' land for redemption. On the labor question, both parties were in favor of granting the workers freedom of assembly, strikes and unions. However, the Octobrists were against the reduction of the working day for adults, in contrast to the Cadets, who supported the demand for an 8-hour working day. As for tactics, both parties recognized only parliamentary methods of conducting political struggle and were ready, under certain conditions, to enter the tsarist government. This fundamentally distinguished the liberals from the revolutionary democrats.
Among the right-wing parties, the Union of October 17 (Octobrists) played a prominent role in political life country. The Union adopted the name in honor of the tsarist Manifesto of October 17, 1905, which, as the Octobrists believed, marked Russia's entry onto the path of a constitutional monarchy. The organizational design of the party began in October 1905, and ended at its 1st congress, held on February 8-12, 1906 in Moscow.
It was a party of big capital - the top of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie and landowners-entrepreneurs. It was headed by a large Moscow landlord and industrialist Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov, a "born politician", a highly educated brilliant orator and publicist. Among the party members are prominent zemstvo figures - Count P.A. Geiden, M.A. Stakhovich, Prince N.S. Volkonsky, metropolitan professors, lawyers, scientists and cultural figures - L.N. Benois, V.I. Guerrier, F.N. Plevako, V.I. Sergeyevich; publishers and journalists - N.N. Pertsov, A.A. Stolypin, B.A. Suvorin; representatives of the commercial and industrial world and banking circles - N.S. Avdakov, E.L. Nobel, Brothers V.P. and P.P. Ryabushinsky; jeweler K.G. Faberge.
Like the Cadets, there were branches of the Central Committee of the Party in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In addition to the Central Committee, city councils of the "Union of October 17" were created in both capitals, which directed the activities of district party organizations. In this in 1905 - 1907. there were 260 departments of the party, which arose mainly during the elections to the First Duma. In total, in the period 1905-1907. The Union of October 17 had over 30,000 members. Local departments of the Octobrists were passive: they easily fell apart and resumed their activities only during the period of election campaigns. Geographically, the vast majority of local departments of the party arose in the zemstvo provinces of European Russia with developed landownership of the nobility. In the non-zemsky provinces and on the outskirts of Russia, the number of Octobrist organizations was small. The printed organ of the party was the newspaper "Voice of Moscow". In 1906, the Octobrists published up to 50 newspapers in Russian, German and Latvian.
The Octobrists' goal was "to render assistance to the government which is advancing along the path of saving reforms." They advocated a hereditary constitutional monarchy in which the emperor, as the bearer of supreme power, is limited by the provisions of the "Basic Laws". Opposing unlimited autocracy, the Octobrists were also against the establishment of a parliamentary system, as politically and historically unacceptable for Russia. They stood for the preservation of the title of "autocratic" by the constitutional monarch; provided for the introduction of a bicameral "representation of the people" - the State Duma and the State Council, formed on the basis of qualifying direct elections in cities and two-stage elections in countryside. Civil rights in the program of the Octobrists included freedom of conscience and religion, inviolability of the person and home, freedom of speech, assembly, unions, and movement. On the national question, the Octobrists proceeded from the principle of preserving "one and indivisible Russia", opposing any form of "federalism". They made an exception only for Finland, subject to its "state connection with the empire." Allowed cultural autonomy for other peoples of Russia. To resolve the agrarian issue, they provided for the transfer to the peasants through special land committees of empty state, appanage and cabinet lands, as well as facilitating the purchase of land by peasants "from private owners" through the Peasants' Bank, demanded the return to the peasants of the segments produced from their allotments in 1861. The Octobrists allowed and "compulsory alienation" of part of privately owned lands with the obligatory remuneration of the owners at the expense of the treasury. They advocated the regulation of rent, the resettlement of small and landless peasants to "free lands", demanded that the peasants be given equal rights with the rest of the estates, and actively supported the Stolypin agrarian reform. The Octobrists recognized the freedom of workers' organizations, unions, meetings and the right of workers to strike, but only on the basis of economic, professional and cultural needs, while at enterprises "without state importance". They advocated limiting the length of the working day, but not to the detriment of industrialists, the introduction of workers' insurance, demanded a reduction in the taxation of the population. They were supporters of the expansion of public education, declared the need for reform of the court and administrative management. State structure The Octobrists represented it as a constitutional monarchy with a State Duma. They advocated "strong monarchical power", but for the need for reforms that ensured freedom for bourgeois entrepreneurship. Freedom of industry, trade, acquisition of property and its protection by law are the principal programmatic demands of the Octobrists.
The first Russian revolution was the time of both birth and flourishing of the "Union of October 17". During this period, the Octobrist Party functioned as a full-fledged political organization - with a network of local organizations and a certain social base. Later, this base "sailed" to the Cadets, and the party itself actually ceased to exist. In 1907-14. the Octobrist party was consistently moving towards complete collapse, and its activities practically did not go beyond the Duma. At the same time, the Duma faction of the Octobrists did not take into account the decisions of the Octobrist Central Committee at all. It was extremely diverse in its composition. This explained her endless hesitation, frequent revisions of decisions. Centrifugal currents were strong within the Duma faction of the Octobrists. Its number was constantly decreasing - from 154 people at the beginning of the work of the Third Duma to 121 at the end and 98 in the Fourth Duma. The Duma tactics of the Octobrists also ended in complete failure. They accepted P. Stolypin's proposal to create an alliance with the aim of passing through the Third Duma the government's program of reforms. As long as Stolypin maintained at least the semblance of this treaty, the Octobrists played the role of the ruling party in the Duma. As a rule, they formed alliances with the moderate rightists and rejected the Cadets' proposals for the creation of a "constitutional center" for carrying out reforms. However, after a series of crises in relations between the Duma and the government in 1909-11. The Octobrist faction began to cautiously criticize the actions of the government and on a number of issues came out together with the Cadets and Progressives. In November 1913, at a conference of the "Union of October 17," Guchkov openly declared that the Octobrists had gone over to the opposition to the government, which had refused to carry out reforms. However, the right wing of the Union of October 17 and most of its Duma faction did not support Guchkov. As a result, the Octobrist faction in the Duma split into three parts: Zemstvo-Octobrists (65 people), the Union of October 17 itself (22 left-wing Octobrists) and non-party (15 most right-wing Octobrists). By 1913-14 The Octobrist Party itself collapsed completely, and its local departments ceased all activity. This happened due to the fact that the "Union of October 17" lost the positions that it had in the years of the first Russian revolution in the middle class. In fact, the Octobrists sacrificed these positions in favor of the interests of a narrow stratum of large industrialists and landlords in southern Russia, who did not want radical reforms, but an "amicable" agreement with the autocracy.
During the First World War, members of the Duma factions of the Octobrists and Progressives first supported the government and the supreme power, and then took part in the creation of the Progressive Bloc.
The first of the features of this campaign was an attempt to persuade upper bourgeoisie circles that they should take the lead in creating a new liberal movement, not only for their own narrow economic interests, but also because the implementation of the proposed political program - the establishment of the rule of law, the provision of complete freedom words, presses and meetings - coincided with national interests and thus with the interests of the bourgeoisie as the leading "class" of Russian society, whose aspirations could not but reflect the general interests of the country and not coincide with them.
Second characteristic feature was that economic interests Moscow merchants in light industry, the prosperity of which depended on the well-being of the Russian countryside, as well as historical ties with the Old Believers, brought into this campaign motives for the struggle for economic, religious and political freedom. The Moscow "progressives" put forward their candidates for the Fourth State Duma in the Moscow Industrial District, competing with the Cadets in the struggle for the votes of the voters of the first city curia.
In fact, the "Progressives" party was a faction in the Duma, although according to the plan of the leaders, the party was supposed to become a large business party - the party of business. Branches of the Progressive Party were created in a number of cities in Russia, but in fact they only performed the functions of election committees. On the political spectrum, the Progressives were center liberals. They demanded the abolition of the provision on enhanced and emergency protection, the expansion of the rights of the Duma, the reform of the State Council, the implementation of civil liberties, personal immunity, and the abolition of class privileges. Their program spoke of the need for a constitutional-monarchist system with the responsibility of ministers to the representation of the people. In the State Duma, having united with the Octobrists and Cadets in the Progressive Bloc, the Progressives pushed the government along the path of accelerated reforms, the realization of civil liberties, and thereby intended to resist the revolution. The party had 28 deputies in the III Duma and 48 deputies in the IV Duma.
The social base of the Progressives was not much wider than that of the Octobrists, and was reduced mainly to a narrow stratum of the Russian bourgeoisie, weighed down by restrictions from the semi-feudal state.
The beginning of the 20th century was marked for the Russian Empire by a stormy socio-political movement among the masses, among the intelligentsia, even the big magnates were dissatisfied with the current political and economic situation, which was revealed during the revolution of 1905-1907. One of its most important achievements can safely be called. And one of its manifestations was the Octobrist Party.
Even in the period after the liberal reforms of the nineteenth century, movements and political circles of a liberal nature began to appear in Russia, all of them were very diverse and were not systemic. The active development of capitalist relations after 1861 led to a powerful new class manufacturer owners. In the course and reforms to power in almost all European countries came the bourgeoisie. There have been significant changes to the general suffrage, an independent judiciary, different ways political action, which cannot be said about Russia. In fact, the bourgeoisie was deprived of the opportunity to influence political decisions in any way, which, of course, absolutely did not suit the Russian industrialists.
Among the Russian liberals, as noted above, there was no unity, and gradually a disengagement began between them, which aggravated and ended already as a result of the revolutionary events of the beginning of the last century. On October 17, 1905, the emperor signs a manifesto to change political foundations Russian Empire. This is how the Octobrist Party was born. It mainly consisted of large entrepreneurs, merchants, landowners, immediately supported the tsar's manifesto and believed that the revolution had achieved its goals. The Octobrist Party went over to the side of the government camp and no longer supported the revolutionary slogans. The leader of the Octobrist party A.I. Guchkov came from a family of peasants, at the end of the 19th century he took up financial activities and soon his successes allowed him to take the post of a merchant bank in Moscow. His position in the reform of Russian political reality was very moderate and amounted to an evolutionary change in the social system.
The Octobrist Party put forward its own program for the reorganization of Russia. Its main provisions were:
The Russian middle bourgeoisie and the Octobrist Party did not get along at all, this is evidenced by the emergence of a commercial and industrial party, which concentrated the bulk of the middle strata of Russian society in itself. Over the years, an incorrect tactical struggle with opponents, and later sliding in her views towards radical monarchists, did not allow her to take any important positions. This political party (Octobrists) disappears from the political arena in 1917.
- (Octobrists), a right-wing liberal political party, united large landowners and entrepreneurs. The organizational design of the party was completed in 1906. It was named after the Manifesto on 10/17/1905, which, according to the Octobrists, marked ... ... Russian history
- (Octobrists), a political party in Russia. Formed by 1906. Name from the Manifesto on October 17, 1905. She demanded popular representation, democratic freedoms, civil equality, etc. The number, along with those who joined ... ... Modern Encyclopedia
- (Octobrists) right-wing liberal party of officials, landowners and large commercial industrial bourgeoisie of Russia. The organizational design of the party was completed in 1905. The name is in honor of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, according to the Octobrists, the entry ... ... Political science. Dictionary.
"Union 17 October"- SOYUZ OCTOBER 17 (Octobrists), a political party in Russia. Formed by 1906. Name from the Manifesto on October 17, 1905. Demanded popular representation, democratic freedoms, civil equality, etc. The number together ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (Octobrists), the right-liberal party of officials, landlords and the big commercial and industrial bourgeoisie of Russia. The organizational design of the party was completed in 1906. It was named after the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, which, according to the Octobrists, marked ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
- (“Union of October 17”), a counter-revolutionary party that united the tops of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie and the big landowners of Russia. Created in November 1905 after the publication of the tsar's Manifesto on October 17, 1905 (See Manifesto on October 17, 1905). Cm … Great Soviet Encyclopedia
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The Octobrist Party (Union of October 17) arose in November 1905 and adhered to the position of moderately conservative liberalism. Its social basis was made up of the big financial and commercial-industrial bourgeoisie, part of the landowners and business intelligentsia. Leaders: P. A. Geiden, A. I. Guchkov, M. V. Rodzianko, M. A. Stakhovich, N. A. Khomyakov, D. N. Shipov and others. In the summer of 1917, the Octobrist Party ceased to exist.
The highest manifesto of October 17, 1905, which is a further development of the law of August 6, 1905 on the State Duma, draws the Russian people into active participation, in agreement with the Tsar, in state building. To the representatives of the people, firmly based on the broad masses of the people, drawing its strength, the strength of knowledge of the needs of the people and the strength of its authority from the general suffrage, the manifesto represents an outstanding influence in matters of legislation and government of the country. As an indispensable condition for the exercise of these rights of political freedom and for the strengthening of the principles of civil freedom, the inviolability of the person, freedom of conscience, speech, press, assembly and associations are established as the main elements of the legal system. Thus, the manifesto of October 17 marks the greatest upheaval in the fate of our fatherland: from now on, our people will become a politically free people, our state will become a state of law, and a new beginning will be introduced into our political system - the beginning of a constitutional monarchy.
New order calling on all Russian people without distinction of estates, nationalities and religions to a free political life opens up a wide opportunity for them to legally influence the fate of their fatherland and gives them, on the basis of the right to defend their interests, peaceful and open struggle to achieve the triumph of their ideas, their beliefs. At the same time, the new order imposes on everyone who sincerely desires the peaceful renewal of the country and the triumph of order and legality in it, who rejects both stagnation and revolutionary upheavals, a sacred duty at the present moment, experienced by our fatherland, a moment solemn, but complete great danger rally around the principles proclaimed in the manifesto of October 17, insist on the possible early, full and broad implementation of these principles by the government with strong guarantees of their inviolability and assist the government, following the path of salvific reforms aimed at the complete and comprehensive renewal of the state and social order in Russia.
Whatever disagreements divide people in the field of political, social and economic issues, the great danger created by centuries of stagnation in the development of our political forms and threatening not only prosperity, but also the very existence of our fatherland, calls everyone to unity, to active work to create a strong and authoritative government, which will find support in the trust and assistance of the people and which alone is able to bring the country out of the present through peaceful reforms. social chaos and provide her inner world and external security.
To this end, on the basis of the recognition of the principles proclaimed in the Supreme Manifesto, an alliance is being formed, to which both individuals and entire parties are invited to join, the program of which basically coincides with the program of the alliance. This union receives the name "Union of October 17" and proclaims the following main provisions.
1. Preservation of the unity and indivisibility of the Russian state
This position obliges us to recognize that the vital condition for strengthening the external might of Russia and for her internal prosperity is to protect the unity of her political rear, to preserve the historically established unitary character behind her state system. At the same time, this provision obliges to oppose any assumptions directed directly or indirectly to the dismemberment of the Empire and to the replacement of a single state by a union state or a union of states. With the broad development of power self-government throughout the Empire, with firmly established basic elements of civil freedom, with the participation of all Russian citizens without distinction of nationality and religion in the creation of government power, with the recognition by individual nationalities of the widest right to satisfy and protect their cultural needs within allowed by the idea of statehood and the interests of other nationalities, such a provision, which denies the idea of federalism as applied to the Russian state system, fully allows the unification of individual areas of the Empire into regional unions to solve problems that are within the limits of local self-government, and does not in the least interfere with local characteristics and interests of various nationalities to find expression and satisfaction in legislation and administration based on the recognition of unconditional equality in the rights of all Russian citizens. Exclusively for Finland, a special position is recognized, giving her the right to a certain state autonomous device, provided that the state connection with the Empire is maintained.
2. Development and strengthening of the principles of a constitutional monarchy with popular representation based f on general suffrage
This provision obliges to recognize the beginning of general suffrage, which opens up the possibility for all Russian citizens to participate in the exercise of state power. This provision, further, calls for a radical transformation of our political system on a constitutional basis and for a firm consolidation of the rights of active participation granted to it by the manifesto, next to the Monarch, in legislative works and government of the country.
The same provision recognizes and secures a new state-legal character for the monarchical beginning in the changed conditions of the political life of Russia. The former unlimited Autocrat, omnipotent in theory, but bound in reality by all the fetters of the command system, weak due to alienation from the whole people, becomes a constitutional Monarch, who, although he finds the limits of his will in the rights of popular representation, is in the very unity with the people, in alliance with the land, in the new conditions of the state system, he receives new power and a new high task of being the supreme leader of a free people. Being in the minds of the people as before the embodiment of state unity, serving as an inseparable bond of successively changing generations, a sacred banner around which the Russian people gather in a moment of formidable danger, the monarchical beginning now receives a new historical mission of the greatest importance. Rising above innumerable private and local interests, above the one-sided goals of various classes, estates, nationalities, parties, the monarchy, precisely under the present conditions, is called upon to fulfill its destiny - to be a pacifying beginning in that sharp struggle, the political, national and social struggle, for which a wide range of scope for the proclamation of political and civil freedom. Strengthening these principles in Russian political life, counteracting any encroachment, no matter where it comes from, on the rights of the Monarch and on the rights of popular representation, as these rights are defined on the basis of the manifesto of October 17, should be included in the tasks of the "Union". Only in this way, through the unity of the Monarch with the people, can that strong, self-confident government power be created that will be able to restore peace to us.
3. Enforcement of civil rights
In a politically free state, civil freedom must also prevail, creating the only reliable basis for the all-round development of both the spiritual forces of the people and the natural productivity of the country. The October 17 Manifesto puts in the first place the gift of the unshakable foundations of civil freedom. The development and strengthening of these principles in legislation and rights is one of the main tasks of the Union.
This includes above all: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, oral and printed, freedom of assembly and association. This also includes ensuring freedom of movement, choice of place of residence and occupation, ensuring freedom of labor, industry, trade, freedom to acquire property and dispose of it. Civil freedom also implies the inviolability of the person, home, correspondence, property of citizens. All these rights, protected by law, have one natural limit in the rights of other citizens and in the rights of society and the state. No one may be arrested, subjected to any kind of violence, search, deprivation of property, etc., without a decision of the appropriate judicial authority. Every person detained on any charge must, at a precisely specified and the shortest time, for example, in 24 hours in cities, be presented to the judiciary or released. In order to protect all these rights from encroachment, both on the part of private persons and on the part of officials, they must be placed under the protection of criminal laws, and the judicial responsibility of officials, whatever their position, must be established.
4. The urgency of convening the State Duma
The further development of political forms must be in organic connection with the entire previous historical life of Russia. The convening, as some parties demand, of a constituent assembly that determines its own competence by its own power, presupposes, as it were, the absence of any government, contains a complete severance of ties with the past, and will lead to a revision of such principles of our political and social life, which cannot be shaken without severe revolutionary upheaval throughout the country.
The resulting delay in the convocation of the State Duma will postpone indefinitely the restoration of the normal course of state life and legislative work, and at the same time the resolution of certain urgent questions related to the vital interests of the broad masses of the population. In view of this, the Union speaks out against the convocation of a constituent assembly, which will only postpone the much-desired hour of calming the country.
The State Duma of the first call should take upon itself the implementation of the political reforms that are next in line, aimed at improving the representation of the people, such as: revising the regulations on the State Duma, the electoral law, etc. Along with this, it should begin to resolve such pressing issues of economic , social and others, the urgent need to resolve which is put forward by life itself.
Having embarked on organic creative work, the State Duma, in the opinion of the Union, should outline for itself the following issues of paramount state importance for the development and gradual resolution:
a) the peasant question
Of the urgent reforms, the first place must be given to measures to resolutely and irrevocably accustom the peasants to the fullness of civil rights on an equal basis with other citizens. These include: the abolition of exclusive legal provisions that legally degrade taxable estates, the abolition of administrative guardianship, the recognition of secular land tenure as an institution of civil law. In addition to persistent state concerns in raising the productivity of agriculture, measures to improve well-being are: the regulation of small land leases, the transformation of the activities of the peasant land bank, the promotion of resettlement and resettlement, the recognition of state and specific lands, a fund for satisfying the land needs of former peasants and other categories of small landowners, the development of striped peasant and landowner lands with the obligatory alienation of segments that interfere with the economic integrity of possessions, and, finally, if these measures are insufficient, the expropriation of a part of privately owned lands is permissible in cases of national importance on fair conditions of remuneration established by the legislative power;
b) work question
The labor question is at present one of the most acute questions and has every right to special concerns on the part of the State Duma. It cannot, however, be solved satisfactorily in the interests of the worker himself or without the support of industry in general: only a properly developed industry of the country can provide for the worker. The Union believes that the Duma should set itself the general task of revising, improving and expanding legislation on workers in accordance with the local characteristics of individual industries, with the principles adopted in this field in the most enlightened industrial states. This also includes measures to provide for workers and their families in the event of illness, disability and death, measures for the gradual implementation of insurance for workers in all types of work, measures to limit working hours for women and children in industries that are especially harmful to health.
While fully recognizing the freedom of trade unions and the freedom of strikes as a means for the workers to defend their interests, it must, however, be recognized as necessary by legislative means to regulate the conditions of this economic struggle. For this, on the one hand, a number of effective measures should be developed to eliminate cases of violence against a person and encroachment on property, as a way of forcing people to join an alliance or participate in a strike, and on the other hand, such productions should be singled out as a special group. enterprises and institutions on which the life and health of the population, important public and state interests, the security of the state, the interests of defense depend, and the conditions of work and service in such industries, which should be recognized as of national importance, must be subject to special legal, protecting interests workers and employees, but subordinating them to the highest state interest;
c) development and strengthening of the principles of local self-government
A necessary condition for the renewal of the political and social life of Russia and for the full implementation of the principles of freedom proclaimed by the manifesto is the transformation of local zemstvo and city self-government with the expansion of its rights and range of activities, giving it due independence and the abolition of administrative guardianship, with the organization of a small zemstvo unit, with elimination of class. with the spread of the beginning of self-government, if possible, throughout the entire territory of the Empire and with the involvement of the widest possible range of people in self-government. Participation in renewed self-government will be the best school of political freedom for the people;
d) concern for public education
Bearing in mind that only with an increase in the mental level of the people and with the spread of education among them can we expect that it will achieve both political maturity and economic well-being, that the very fate of the political reform now being carried out depends to a large extent on the degree of consciousness with which the population reacts to exercise the rights granted to him. The Union is in favor. that the needs of public education should be brought to the forefront in the legislative work of the Duma, and that the widest possible means be allocated for the satisfaction of these needs. In particular, all measures must be taken so that universal primary education can be practically implemented as soon as possible. Along with this, the number of secondary and higher educational institutions, especially technical ones, must be increased within the limits of real social need, with the widest possible freedom of private and social initiative in opening and maintaining educational institutions. At the same time, the curricula should be reviewed in order to simplify them and bring them closer to the needs of life, and a direct, successive connection should be established between the various levels of schools.
e) judicial and administrative reforms
The ordering of the forms of community life and the strengthening of civil freedom is possible only when the population of the country finds support and protection of all its rights in court and when the activities of the administrative authorities are placed within the boundaries clearly outlined in the law. Based on these provisions, the "Union of October 17" sets itself the task of carrying out such reforms in the State Duma, which are aimed at introducing a classless court guided by laws common to the entire population, introducing an elective principle into local justice, establishing the independence of the court from the influence of the administration and the abolition of judicial and administrative institutions, the protection of the publicity of legal proceedings and the expansion of the competence of the jury. In the sphere of the administrative system, in addition to its general simplification and subordination of its activities to the strict norms of the law, it is necessary to establish an accessible way for everyone to appeal against the orders and actions of the administrative authorities, the procedure for strict criminal and civil liability for violation of established laws and rights of individuals by these authorities, and for; the destruction of red tape, which is burdensome to all, must be established in
by law, the urgency of the work of the administration: e) economic and financial measures
In view of the enormous expenditures to be made in the coming years to the State Treasury for the implementation of urgent and important cultural tasks, as well as in the interests of national defense in the matter of rebuilding our military, land and naval forces, one cannot count on a reduction in the state budget and on easing the general tax burden. But already in the near future it is possible to implement an even more rational and fair tax system and shift the tax burden from weaker shoulders to stronger shoulders. With the aim of raising the people's well-being, increasing state revenues and in the interests of distributing taxed payers in accordance with the payment forces, it is proposed:
1) measures to promote the rise of productive forces, especially in the agricultural industry;
2) organization of agricultural, industrial and commercial credit available to the population;
3) widespread dissemination of technical knowledge in order to raise the productivity of people's labor;
4) measures for the best use of national wealth, and access to the exploitation of forest and mineral wealth belonging to the state should be facilitated;
5) the development of direct taxes, based on progressive income taxation with a gradual decrease in indirect taxation of essential items;
6) development of a network of railways, as well as water, highways and dirt roads.
However, however necessary and effective all these government measures may be, it should be remembered that the rise of the people's well-being is possible only on condition that our national character is restored to those precious qualities that it lost under the influence of the old order based on government supervision. , government guardianship, government assistance. Political and civil freedom, proclaimed by the Manifesto of October 17, should awaken to life the dormant popular forces, evoke a spirit of bold energy and enterprise, a spirit of self-activity and self-help, and thereby create a solid foundation and the best guarantee of moral rebirth.
Signed in Moscow on November 10, 1905: gr. P. A. Geiden, D. N. Shipov, A. I. Guchkov, M. V. Krasovsky, M. A. Stakhovich, Prince. N. S. Volkonsky, S. I. Chetverikov, G. A. Krestovnikov, N. A. Khomyakov, M. V. Rodzianko, S. N. Maslov, N. I. Guchkov. Signed in St. Petersburg on November 14, 1905: Baron P. A. Korf, Count V. V. Gudovich, N. N. Pertsov, A. N. Nikitin, G. G. Lerche, F. E. Enakiev, Baron A. I. Prittvits, N. A. Tarasov, A. Ya. Brafman, Yu. V. A. Tizenhausen, V. S. Lyustikh, A. N. Brusnitsyn, V. P. Markov, Baron I. L. Osten-Saken, Baron P. P. Birderling, N. A. Reztsov
Collection of programs of political parties in Russia. SPb., 1906. Issue. 2. S. 42-56.
