Constitutional Democratic Party: the lessons of history

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

The Constitutional Democratic Party of Russia was born in October 1905. A little more than nine months had passed since Bloody Sunday, and a little more than one and a half remained before the Moscow uprising. The country was seething, discussing the manifesto of Nicholas II of October 17, in which the autocrat most mercifully presented the people with the first representative body in modern history - the State Duma.

The Constitutional Democratic Party, which united in its ranks the European-oriented intelligentsia, the petty and middle bourgeoisie and some landowners, was determined to develop civil liberties in the empire, winning at first the sympathy and votes of even part of the proletariat. In the first State Duma, constitutional democrats, using the sympathies of a significant part of the population, managed to win one hundred and seventy-six seats out of four hundred and ninety-nine - that's thirty-five percent!The success was overwhelming. It was the largest faction.

To simplify the hard-to-pronounce "constitutional democratic party", it was decided to be called more simply - the Cadets Party. But the "optimization of the name" did not help the party to retain the sympathy of voters. After the defeat of the revolution, the Cadets positioned themselves as a party of constructive opposition, seeking to achieve the implementation of their plans by legal methods.

That's true - they are terribly far from the people. The people wanted everything at once, but it was impossible to get everything legally at once, so the Cadets party began to lose supporters, primarily from among the workers. And the Bolsheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, who preached exclusively illegal, underground work, received an influx of new members into their ranks.

With each new election to the State Duma, the Constitutional Democratic Party lost the sympathy of the population and, accordingly, its place in the legislative body. By 1917, only fifteen of the seven hundred and sixty-seven members of the Constituent Assembly were Cadets-only two percent! It was possible to put an end to the party. True, later, in exile, the Cadets still tried to imitate violent activity, but to no avail.

The head of the party, Pavel Milyukov, even during his "Duma sitting" was presented with claims - accusations of links with European Freemasonry, which did not contribute to the popularity of the Cadets. Whether he really was a member of the "Grand Lodge of France" is unknown. There are no documents confirming or refuting his Freemasonry, for obvious reasons. But by his actions one could judge that he was really trying to pursue a policy of “supranational power” in Russia.

Modern Russian politicians certainly study the experience of their predecessors. With low financial, administrative and organizational resources, it is possible to win the hearts of the "electorate" only with the help of populism. This was brilliantly confirmed in practice by the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. Short, biting slogans, radical statements - and here we have another fighter for the happiness of the people. The impracticability or feasibility of promises is of no interest to anyone. If it didn’t work out, it means in spite of it; if it worked out, it means thanks. The presence of a charismatic leader in this case is a prerequisite for success. True, in terms of people's sympathies the Liberal Democratic Party is following in the footsteps of the Cadets. The percentages, of course, vary a little, but the trend is the same - initial success and a subsequent drop in the number of supporters. They are terribly far from the people…