Issue ? 43. April 2014

The Bill of the Zemstvo in the Western Provinces and the Government Crisis According to 'The Times'

Postgraduate student, Moscow State Regional Socio-Humanitarian Institute.
E-mail: lovyagin@yandex.ru

The article discusses materials of the newspaper “The Times”, which reflect the events of the governmental crisis in 1911. This crisis was caused by disputes over the introduction of the Zemstvo law in the South-western provinces with division of voters on a national basis. The bill passed the Duma, but it was rejected by the Council of the Empire. As a result, the Prime Minister Stolypin decided to pass the bill by Article 87 of the Imperial Laws, which included the adoption of any law during the Duma’s holidays; he dismissed it for a few days, which led to strong criticism not only from political opponents, but from his former supporters as well.

Evaluating the role of Stolypin in the development of the crisis, the author emphasizes that his goal was to build a bridge between the government and society.

Keywords

Zemstvo, The South-western provinces, Zemstvo bill, governmental crisis 1911, Stolypin, “The Times”.