Russian Constituent Assembly election, 1917

Russian Constituent Assembly election, 1917
Russia
November 25, 1917

All 703 seats to the
Russian Constituent Assembly
Turnout 48.44%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Victor Chernov Vladimir Lenin
Party SR Bolshevik
Last election -
Seats won
380 / 703
168 / 703
Popular vote 17,100,000 9,800,000
Percentage 41.0% 23.5%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Julius Martov Pavel Milyukov
Party Menshevik Cadet
Seats won
18 / 703
17 / 703
Popular vote 1,360,000 2,000,000
Percentage 3.3% 4.8%

The elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly that were organized as a result of events in the Russian Revolution of 1917 in the Russian Republic and were held on November 25, 1917 (although some districts had polling on alternate days), around 2 months after they were originally meant to occur. It is generally reckoned as the first truly free election in Russian history.

The Bolsheviks, who had seized power in the October Revolution, believed that it would consolidate their power and prove that they had a clear popular mandate to govern. Instead, the election yielded a clear victory for the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs), who polled almost double the votes of the Bolsheviks. However, the candidate lists had been drawn up before the SR split took place; therefore, right SRs were overwhelmingly overrepresented, leaving out left SRs who were part of the VTsIK coalition government with the Bolsheviks.[1] The Constituent Assembly convened on 18 January 1918. However, the other parties refused to give their support to Bolshevik leader and premier Vladimir Lenin's idea of a soviet republic. The VTsIK dissolved the Assembly the next day, leaving the All-Russian Congress of Soviets as the governing body of Russia.

As it turned out, this would be the last even partially free election held in Russia until the 1990 republic election. While SRs and Mensheviks were allowed to take part in the 1918 elections to local Soviets, the Bolsheviks ejected them and forced numerous reelections until they obtained their desired majorities. By the end of 1918, all opposition parties had been banned, marking the onset of the Bolshevik dictatorship.

Various academic studies have given alternative results. However, all clearly indicate that the Bolsheviks were clear winners in the urban centres, and also took around two-thirds of the votes of soldiers on the "Western Front." Nevertheless, the SRs topped the polls on the strength of support from the country's rural peasantry.

A study by Oliver Henry Radkey found the following breakdown. (Note that the figures for Socialist Revolutionaries includes the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries, while the Kadet figure includes other "rightists" as well. The total number of deputies returned for "Others" includes 39 Left Socialist-Revolutionaries and four Popular Socialists, as well as 77 others from various local groups.)

Party Votes[2] Percent Deputies
Socialist-Revolutionary Party (SRs) 17,100,000 41.0 380
Bolsheviks 9,800,000 23.5 168
Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets) 2,000,000 4.8 17
Mensheviks 1,360,000 3.3 18
Others 11,140,000 26.7 120
Total (turnout 48.44%) 41,700,000 100 703
Party Votes Percent
Socialist-Revolutionary Party (SRs) 17,943,000 40.4
Bolsheviks 10,661,000 24.0
Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary Party 3,433,000 7.7
Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets) 2,088,000 4.7
Georgian Social Democratic (Menshevik) Party 662,000 1.5
Musavat (Azerbaijan) 616,000 1.4
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun) (Armenia) 560,000 1.3
Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (Borotbists) 451,000 1.0
Alash Orda (Kazakhstan) 407,000 0.9
Various liberal parties 1,261,000 2.8
Various national minority parties 407,000 0.9
Various socialists 401,000 0.9
Unaccounted 4,543,000 10.2
Election results[3][4]
Region Bolshevik vote %[5]
Total 23.4
Baltic Fleet 62.6
Black Sea Fleet 20.5
Northern Front 56.1
Western Front 66.9
Southwestern Front 29.8
Romanian Front 14.8
Petrograd 45
Moscow 47.9
Transcaucasia 4.6
Estonia 40.4
Livonia 71.9
Vitebsk 51.2
Minsk 63.1
Smolensk 54.9
Belorussia (previous 3) 57.5
Siberia 9.9
Workers 86.5
Party % Caucasian vote[5]
Mensheviks 30.1
Dashnaks (Armenian nationalists) 18.5
SRs 5.6
Bolsheviks 4.6
Kadets 1.3
Unclassified 39.8

The Mensheviks got just 3.3% of the national vote, but in the Transcaucasus they got 30.2% of the vote. 41.7% of their support came from the Transcaucasus. In Georgia c.75% voted for them.[6]

References

  1. Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution, Oxford: Oxford University Press (2008), p. 66.
  2. Caplan, Bryan. "Lenin and the First Communist Revolutions, IV". George Mason University.
  3. "Constitutional Assembly in the History of Russian Parliament". Echo of Moscow (in Russian). 2008-03-03.
  4. "Electoral System of Russia". Bestreferat.ru (in Russian). 2008-03-03.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Oliver Henry Radkey, The Election to the Russian Constituent Assembly
  6. Oliver Henry Radkey, The Election to the Russian Constituent Assembly, page 79

Further reading