ABSTRACT
Russia’s First State Duma, elected in spring 1906, reflected the voters’ craving for an end to the revolutionary turmoil and for rapid improvement in their conditions, as well as their deep hatred of the tsarist regime. Overwhelmingly oppositional in its composition, it was immediately nicknamed the ‘Duma of the People’s Wrath’ (Duma narodnogo gneva). Its lifespan was brief: it opened on 27 April 1906 and was dissolved on 9 July 1906.1
The elections to the Duma were multi-stage and, since balloting was not conducted simultaneously throughout the Empire, slightly less then 450 deputies were present at its opening. The number grew to about 500 on the eve of dissolution, but this was still short of the statutory complement of 524 members.2
