Progressive Bloc (Russia)

State Duma

.

The Progressive Bloc was an alliance of political forces in the Russian Empire and occupied 236 of the 442 seats in the Imperial Duma.

It was formed when the

stance towards the continuation of World War I.

The program content was determined by the desire to find common ground for an agreement with the government on the basis of a minimum of liberal reforms. "The Progressive Bloc's program included demands for political and religious amnesty, the abolition of restrictions on nationalities and faiths (Poles, Jews, etc.), and the freedom of trade unions. The Bloc's main demand was the formation of a “ministry of confidence.” A meeting took place on 9 September 1915 between the Bloc's representatives and ministers, where the deputies not only demanded the fulfillment of the Bloc's program, but also the resignation of the ministers themselves. The negotiations resulted in the government advocating for the Duma's suspension, which took place on 16 September 1915."^[1] The Imperial Duma was sent into recess by the Tsar and would not gather again until February 1916.

By the beginning of 1916,

, which made it practically impossible to hiss at the new prime minister Stürmer.

In October 1916 the opposition parties decided to attack Stürmer, his government and the "Dark forces".

offered to satisfy some of the Bloc's demands.

In the lead up to the February revolution 1917, it is often argued to play a crucial role in the uprising's success through the suggestion to Tsar Nicholas II that he should establish a 'government of public confidence'. The Tsar instead made little attempt to make political reform or slip into a constitutional monarch that, potentially, could have saved the Romanov dynasty.[3]

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