The State Council ( rus, Госуда́рственный сове́т, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj sɐˈvʲet) was the supreme state advisory body to the
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
in
Imperial Russia. From 1906, it was the upper house of the parliament under the
Russian Constitution of 1906.
18th century
Early Tsars' Councils were small and dealt primarily with
external politics.
Peter I of Russia introduced the Secret Council.
Catherine I of Russia
Catherine I ( rus, Екатери́на I Алексе́евна Миха́йлова, Yekaterína I Alekséyevna Mikháylova; born , ; – ) was the second wife and empress consort of Peter the Great, and Empress Regnant of Russia from 1725 u ...
introduced the
Supreme Secret Council. Its role varied during different reigns.
Peter III of Russia created the Imperial Council on 20 May 1762 ("Императорский Совет"), or, formally "The Council at the Highest Court" ("Совет при высочайшем дворе"). It was dismissed shortly after the succession of
Catherine II of Russia
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, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
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, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
.
1810–1906
The State Council was established by
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.
The son o ...
in 1810 as part of
Speransky
Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky (russian: Михаи́л Миха́йлович Спера́нский; 12 January 1772 – 23 February 1839) was a Russian reformist during the reign of Alexander I of Russia, to whom he was a close advisor. ...
's
reforms. Although envisaged by Speransky as the upper chamber of the Russian
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, it was actually an advisory legislative body composed of people whom the tsar could trust. The number of members varied at different periods. Upon its establishment in 1810 there were 35 members; in 1890 there were 60. The main duty of the Council was the preliminary investigation, promulgation and abrogation of laws.
There were four departments of the Council: Legislative; Civil and Ecclesiastical Administration; State Economy; and Industry, Science and Commerce. Each department had its own presiding officer (State Secretary) and met separately to discuss matters assigned to their departments. There were also plenary sessions of the whole Council presided over by the Chairman of the State Council.
The Council as a whole examined projects of law proposed by the ministers who were ex-officio members. The majority of their sessions concerned the budget and state expenditures but they would examine anything submitted to them. They had no authority to propose changes to the law, to examine anything that was not submitted to them for examination or decision-making authority. The Council only made recommendations to the monarch, who could support the majority, a minority, or disregard the Council's recommendations altogether, as he saw fit. According to
Dominic Lieven
Dominic Lieven (born 19 January 1952) is a research professor at Cambridge University (Senior Research Fellow, Trinity College) and a Fellow of the British Academy and of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Education
Lieven was educated at Downside Sch ...
it "played no part in the formulation of foreign policy and its members' access to the Emperor was very limited.
[D.C.B. Lieven (1983) ''Russia and the Origins of the First World War'', p. 76]
1906–1917
During 1906–1917, the status of the State Council was defined by the
Russian Constitution of 1906. Its chairman was appointed by the
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
. Half of its members were appointed by the Tsar from persons distinguished at civil and military service, and half by elections from various categories of society, separately:
* 56 seats from
Zemstvo (1 from each
guberniya),
* 18 seats from
Assemblies of Nobility,
* 6 seats from the
Russian Orthodox Church
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: 3 of them from
white clergy, and 3 from
black clergy,
* 12 seats from stock exchange committees, chambers of commerce and business associations,
* 6 seats from the
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
,
* 2 seats from the
Parliament of Finland
The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...
, which refused to send delegates.
The State Council was the
upper house
An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
of the
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, while the
State Duma of the Russian Empire was the
lower house. Compared to the contemporary British
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...
and
Prussian Herrenhaus, the Russian upper chamber was more democratically constituted, as half of its members were democratically elected from different sections of society, while the Herrenhaus consisted of hereditary peers, and the House of Lords consisted of hereditary peers and clergy from privileged dioceses.
The State Council ceased to exist after the
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and some ...
of 1917. The Soviet Union did not replace this council until 1991 when the
State Council of the Soviet Union
Following the August 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, the State Council of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (russian: Государственный Совет СССР), but also known as the State Soviet, was formed on 5 Septembe ...
was created amid its
imminent breakup. The latter council would be short lived and dissolved by year end.
See also
*
List of Chairmen of the State Council of Imperial Russia
*
State Council of the Soviet Union
Following the August 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, the State Council of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (russian: Государственный Совет СССР), but also known as the State Soviet, was formed on 5 Septembe ...
*
State Council (Russia)
The State Council (russian: Государственный Совет) is an advisory body to the Russian head of state, which deals with issues of the highest importance to the state as a whole. The council was established by a decree of the Pr ...
References
Sources
*''Out of My Past: Memoirs of Count Kokovtsov''; Hoover War Library Publications Number 6, Stanford University Press, 1935
* Lieven Dominic. The Russian ruling elite under Nicholas II
areer patterns In: Cahiers du monde russe et soviétique, vol. 25, n°4, Octobre-Décembre 1984. pp. 429–454. DOI : 10.3406/cmr.1984.202
{{DEFAULTSORT:State Council Of Imperial Russia
1810 establishments in the Russian Empire
1917 disestablishments in Russia
Defunct upper houses
Government of the Russian Empire