The Constitutional Democratic Party, the second name is the "Party of People's Freedom", represented the left flank of Russian political liberalism of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
History
The creation of the party was the result of the merger in 1905 of two illegal organizations - the "Union of Zemstvo-Constitutionalists" and the "Union of Liberation". The cadet party included aristocrats, nobles with progressive views and simply the most highly educated and intelligent people of their time. The party leaders included Prince Shakhovskaya and the Princes Dolgorukov brothers, representatives of the tsarist dynasty by genealogy and one of the largest landowners in Russia. The history of the creation of the party is inextricably linked with the name of its leader P.N. Milyukov - a prominent public figure, who later became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Provisional Government of Kerensky.
The process of combining the erudite liberal Zemstvo landowners and passionate left-wing intelligentsia was extremely difficult. The figure of Milyukov, who went through political emigration, was almost the only one that suited representatives of both unions. According to eyewitnesses, Milyukov had a unique gift of persuasion and was able to accurately find a compromise in disputes. The supreme party body of the party was the Central Committee, whose members were elected at congresses. The Central Committee consisted of Moscow and St. Petersburg departments. At the same time, the St. Petersburg branch was responsible for developing the party program and bills. The Moscow department was in charge of publishing and the organization of campaign work.
