Lessons From The Liberal Catastrophe Of 1917: The State Council Of The Russian Empire During The First World War

Abstract

The article is based on the transcripts of the meetings of the State Council of the Russian Empire in 1914−1917. Their analysis shows that members of the upper house of the Russian parliament, who, focusing on “public opinion”, on the “progressive public” and pursuing particular interests, created opposition to the government in the State Council and made their own “contribution” to prepare the catastrophe of 1917, when the empire ceased to exist, and the country, undefeated by the enemy on the battlefields, was among the losers of the war. Even in an extreme situation, they continued to formally comply with the requirements of the regulations and refused to discuss pressing political problems. Many of them, having taken the podium, were engaged not in solving state problems, but in self-presentation, flirting with the liberal public, kowtowing before the “public opinion” expressed by it. Thus, particularism, opposition to the government, the formalism of the State Council of the Russian Empire, the lack of a timely response to the current political situation reduced the role of the upper house of the Russian parliament in politics to zero, that led the country to disaster.

References

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