The Bloc was formed when the
Duma was recalled to session during
World War I, one response of
Nicholas II of Russia to mounting social tensions. On the instigation of
Pavel Milyukov, the
Progressist Party combined with the
Kadet Party, left
Octobrists, and progressive nationalists and individual politicians such as
Vasily Shulgin to form a political front in the Duma that called for a "government of confidence". According to the
Bolsheviks, the political front supported a
social-chauvinist stance on the continuation of World War I. The program content was determined by the desire to find common ground for an agreement with the government on the basis of a minimum of liberal reforms. The Imperial Duma was sent into recess by the Tsar and did not reconvene again until February 1916. By the beginning of 1916,
Alexei Khvostov came to a compromise with the Progressive Bloc. The Duma gathered on 9 February after the 76-year-old
Ivan Goremykin, opposed to the convening of the Duma, had been dismissed and replaced by
Boris Stürmer as prime minister. However, the deputies were disappointed by Stürmer's speech. Because of the war, he said, it was not the time for constitutional reforms. For the first time in his life, the Tsar made a visit to the
Taurida Palace. In October 1916, the opposition parties decided to attack Stürmer, his government and the "Dark forces". For the Octobrists and the Kadets, the liberals in the parliament,
Grigori Rasputin, who believed in autocracy and
absolute monarchy, was one of the main obstacles. On 1 November (O.S.) the Stürmer government was attacked by Milyukov. The Progressist Party left the Bloc after demanding a
responsible government. Stürmer and
Alexander Protopopov (his unexpected appointment was seen as a provocation designed to split the Bloc) asked in vain for the dissolution of the Duma.
Alexander Guchkov reported that five members of the Progressive Bloc, including
Alexander Kerensky,
Aleksandr Konovalov,
Nikolai Vissarionovich Nekrasov and
Mikhail Tereschenko would consider a
coup d'etat, but did not proceed. Grand Duke Nikolai refused to cooperate, saying that the army would not support a coup. The Progressive Bloc supported a resolution that the Tsar was to be replaced by his son
Tsarevich Alexei. ==References==