Kadets - Constitutional Democrats (continued)

After news of Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War came through in August 1905 Nicholas tried to get the Kadets on his side by promising an elected assembly that would allow only the very wealthy to vote. But the Kadets rejected this offer. The Kadets were willing to accept the slightly more liberal promises of the October Manifesto but were different from the Octobrists in that they saw the manifesto only as a start. They were still very moderate though in the sense that they did not wish to see an end to tsarism but merely wished that the Tsar should be controlled by laws passed by a parliament. In other words Russia should become a constitutional monarchy. They wanted trade unions officially recognised and to have the right to strike, an end of censorship, abolition of redemption payments for peasants, universal free education and full equal and civil rights such as freedom of speech. They were not revolutionaries though as they were willing to work with the Tsar and within the tsarist system in order to achieve these ends. As a result they were a major force in all four of the Dumas that met between 1906 and 1917.