I'm going to go. He's a sures, yes,

a ras, it yes shawras.

We're hush a hush. Welcome to the Russian rulers podcast, episode 65, the beginning of the end for Nicholas II.

Last episode, we had Nicholas II barely surviving the revolution of 1905, which allowed the monarchy to turn into a

constitutional one but quickly came to resent the decision and he went back on

his promise to allow for real power to be given to the newly formed Duma.

Now, not intent with dissolving the first two Dumas.

In 1907, Nicholas unilaterally decided to change the electoral laws.

He basically fixed the next election by saying whose vote counted the most and whose

counted the least. The lay out of who elected the

representatives was as follows. The vote of one landlord was equivalent to four

members of the upper bourgeoisie, 65 middle class people, 260

peasants or 540 workers. And they wondered why the workers made up the most

radical wing of the Russian people.

Of the 442 members of the third Duma, 310 were sympathetic to the

left only had 120 seats of which 54 were held by the moderate cadets.

The social revolutionaries decided that it was useless to participate in this election. The Octoberists were now the representatives of the Gentry and businessmen.

While not conservative, they were certainly not left-wing, they were certainly not left-wing.

They held 150 seats during the five-year term this Duma would hold from 1907 to 1912.

Now, with a more docile and controllable Duma in place, Prime Minister Piotr Stolleepin began to exert his power.

Stolleepin has been viewed simultaneously as the last steady hand guiding Russia to a man that

pushed Russia to the brink of disaster.

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