ABSTRACT
[The first serious blow, as I have shown, to Stolypin’s position resulted from the conflict over the Naval General Staff bill. The second, and final, blow came from the turmoil arising from the issue of how the southwestern and northwestern provinces should be represented. 1 The turmoil began when] in May 1909, my old acquaintance Pikhno, 2 about whom I have spoken earlier, was able to collect enough signatures to permit him to introduce a bill in the State Council to change the system of electing members to that body from these western provinces. The background of Pikhno’s effort is as follows.
