There were four Dumas in total that were voted for by men in a secret ballot. The system of voting was fixed to allow those loyal to the Tsar to take up majority of positions. The aim of the first election was to elect a conservative Duma loyal to Nicholas II.

The Duma was split into two assemblies (houses):

State Council: upper house where over half the members were appointed by the Tsar. The rest were elected by privileged groups. This house had the power to veto the lower house.
State Duma: this was the elected body that had few powers. It needed the Tsar's approval for legislation to be passed.

First Duma (April-June 1906):

Kadets (Liberals) won majority of seats
The Tsar was deeply disappointed
The Kadets called for full control of the tax system; reminding the Tsar of his promise of constitutional governance in the October Manifesto
The Tsar dismissed the Duma and called for another election
Leading figures of the Kadets fled to Vyborg in Finland
The Kadets issued a Manifesto to condemn government action (asked people to refuse to pay taxes and do military service)
The Kadets were barred from the Duma and Peter Stolypin became Prime Minister
He brought in a policy of repression to restore order

Second Duma (February-June 1907):

Stolypin refused to allow some people to stand for election
Anti-Tsarist candidates were sent to prison
Many voters were removed from voting lists
Membership of the Duma became more polarised - Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries were the leading parties
Stolypin wanted to introduce agrarian reforms but the majority opposed him
The Okhrana (secret police) argued they obtained evidence of a Social Democrat plan to assassinate the Tsar
The Tsar ordered the arrest of the Social Democrats for treason; the Duma refused and it was dismissed

Third Duma (1907-1912):

Electoral changes resulted in a right-wing majority in the Duma
1909 - Things started going wrong for Stolypin
- Opponents were jealous of his success
- His repressive policies managed to restore order
- Agrarian reforms appeared to be going well
When in Kiev with the Tsar, Stolypin was assassinated by a revolutionary in September 1911
This led to the eventually collapse of the third Duma

Fourth Duma (1913):

Stolypin's death brought about the abandonment of reform from the government
The Duma was increasingly critical of the government for stopping reform
However, the government ignored the Duma
After 1914, its influence went into decline

Political Stalemate:

The Tsar continued to rule over Russia without ever giving any significant notice to the Duma. The first and second Dumas were critical of the Tsar and lasted short periods of time. In 1907, Nicholas changed voting regulations to prevent opponents form being elected to the Duma.

The third Duma did last for almost five years. Even the fourth Duma, which was 'loyal' to the Tsar was critical of his ministerial appointments and policies. However, the Duma had no power to change the path the Tsar took.

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This study note explores soem of the key factors which led to Tsar Nicholas II's downfall. From the Russo-Japanese war, the 1905 revolution to the establishment of the Duma and how that was controlled, this study note will provide you with commentary on how and why the events unfolded as they did.