The Imperial Surname and the New Basic Laws. Around and Inside the Meeting of the Grand Dukes on April 13, 1906

The main state laws of April 23, 1906 summed up the political reforms carried out by Emperor Nicholas II in 1904—1906 and became the first national constitution in force. However, the history of their preparation is still clearly insufficiently studied, since a number of important episodes of this story remain virtually unknown even to specialists. One of these episodes was a meeting of the Grand Dukes on April 13, 1906 to discuss the procedure for changing the Institution of the Imperial Family. The purpose of the meeting was to coordinate with the creation of the legislative representation of the people, which followed in accordance with the manifestos of October 17, 1905 and February 20, 1906, the two articles of the draft of the new Basic Laws concerning the Imperial Family, which was a key element of the political system of the absolute monarchy that existed in Russia before 1906. The constitutional reform determined the need to determine the status of the Imperial Family in the new political system of the constitutional monarchy, in the conditions of the separation of legislative power between the tsar, the State Duma and the State Council. The problem of the correlation of public and patrimonial elements, which have always been characteristic of the status of the Imperial Family, but which at different times correlated differently, was to be solved. The members of the Meeting were Grand Dukes Vladimir Alexandrovich (Chairman), Alexander Mikhailovich, Andrey Vladimirovich, Konstantin Konstantinovich and Nikolai Nikolaevich, as well as the Minister of the Imperial Court Baron V.B. Fredericks and the Secretary of State Baron Yu.A. Ikskul von Hildenbandt. The meeting designed two articles: 1) on the emperor's ownership of the right to dispose of personal, sovereign and specific property, and the latter were not recognized as private property of the Imperial House, and 2) on the change of the Institution of the Imperial Family by the emperor personally, but only when the proposed changes do not concern general laws and do not entail new government expenses. In the latter case, changes to the Institution could be made only with the participation of the State Duma and the State Council. Thus, the public, and not the patrimonial character of the Imperial family was finally consolidated, which testified to its adaptation to new political realities and the transformation of the Romanov monarchy into a modern state.

Keywords

Basic laws, Imperial surname, Emperor, Grand Dukes, State Duma

Received

25.08.2023

Publication date

15.07.2024

Number of characters

38376

Cite

GOST	Kulikov S. The Imperial Surname and the New Basic Laws. Around and Inside the Meeting of the Grand Dukes on April 13, 1906 // ISTORIYA – 2024. – V. 15. – Issue 5 (139) [Electronic resource]. URL: https://history.jes.su/S207987840027296-4-1 (circulation date: 27.07.2024). DOI: 10.18254/S207987840027296-4
MLA	Kulikov, Sergey "The Imperial Surname and the New Basic Laws. Around and Inside the Meeting of the Grand Dukes on April 13, 1906." ISTORIYA 15.5 (139) (2024) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840027296-4
APA	Kulikov S. (2024). The Imperial Surname and the New Basic Laws. Around and Inside the Meeting of the Grand Dukes on April 13, 1906. ISTORIYA 15(5 (139)) DOI: 10.18254/S207987840027296-4

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