ABSTRACT
The Revolution of 1905 in Russia replaced a nominally unlimited autocracy with a constitutional monarchy, or, as it was officially expressed with carefully chosen words, “a renewed system.” Vestiges of the age of unlimited autocracy remained in many areas of life, and the Duma period in Russian history was a complicated time of much conflict between old and new. The old and new were also in conflict in the judicial foundations of the renewed system. The court reform of 1864 greatly limited absolutism and created institutions that would allow for a legal structure. Many different and profound changes in the political system and political life occurred in the Russian empire during the Duma era. The Duma exercised its supervisory power by making inquiries to the government regarding unlawful administrative actions. Because of the efforts of the Duma and the zemstvos as mentioned before, expenditures on education grew rapidly during the Duma period.
