The Constitutional-Democratic Party and the Union of October 17

At the zemstvo congresses of November 1904 and November 1905, there was a distinct minority group alongside the radical majority, except that the minority at the 1905 congress was different from that in 1904. In 1904, the minority came out against constitutional government, while being in favor of it in 1905. This group was composed partly of old constitutionalists like Guchkov, partly also of men like Shipov from the 1904 congress minority, who had been against the constitution at the time but who now accepted it, once it had become a reality.¹ One should not forget, as has been shown