Russian Constituent Assembly

All-Russian Constituent Assembly

Всероссийское Учредительное собрание
Coat of arms or logo
The double-headed eagle, which remained the de jure coat of arms of Russia until 10 July 1918. Never formally used prior to the dissolution of the Assembly.
Type
Type
History
Established1917
Disbanded1918
Preceded byCouncil of the Russian Republic
Succeeded byVTsIK
All-Russian Congress of Soviets
Provisional All-Russian Government Both VTsIK and Congress had also governed Russia since the October Revolution
Leadership
Chairman of the Constituent Assembly
Structure
Seats767
Composition of the All Russian Constituent Assembly
Political groups
  Bolsheviks: 183 seats
  Mensheviks: 18 seats
  Kadets: 16 seats
  Alash Orda: 15 seats
  Musavat Party: 10 seats
  Cossacks: 17 seats
  Others: 64 seats
Elections
Direct multi-party elections via the proportional representation system (D'Hondt method was used to allocate seats in 81 multi-member districts)
Last election
25 November 1917
Meeting place
Tauride Palace
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The All Russian Constituent Assembly[a] (Russian: Всероссийское учредительное собрание, romanizedVserossiyskoye uchreditelnoye sobraniye) was a constituent assembly convened in Russia after the February Revolution of 1917. It met for 13 hours, from 4 p.m. to 5 a.m., 18–19 January [O.S. 5–6 January] 1918, whereupon it was dissolved by the Bolshevik-led All-Russian Central Executive Committee,[2][3][4][5] proclaiming the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets the new governing body of Russia.[6][7][8]

The 1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election did not produce a democratically elected government, as the Bolsheviks, who were in power since the October Revolution which occurred prior to the election, subsequently disbanded the Constituent Assembly and proceeded to rule the country as a one-party state with all opposition parties outlawed.[9][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Some scholars have had a differing view and attributed the establishment of the one-party system in the Soviet Union to the wartime conditions imposed on the Bolshevik government[10] and others have highlighted the initial attempts to form a coalition government with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries.[11]

  1. ^ (Russian) Всероссийское Учредительное собрание в документах и материалах[dead link]
  2. ^ a b The Bolsheviks: the intellectual and political history of the triumph of communism in Russia : with a new preface. Adam Bruno Ulam. Harvard University Press. p. 397.
  3. ^ a b The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union. Richard Sakwa. p. 73
  4. ^ a b Russia in War and Revolution: General William V. Judson's Accounts from Petrograd, 1917-1918. William Voorhees Judson. Kent State University Press. p. 229
  5. ^ a b How the Soviet Union is Governed. Jerry F. Hough. p. 80
  6. ^ a b Russia in the Twentieth Century: The Quest for Stability. David R. Marples. p. 38
  7. ^ a b How the Soviet Union is Governed. Jerry F. Hough. p. 81
  8. ^ a b The Life and Times of Soviet Socialism. Alex F. Dowlah, John E. Elliott. p. 18
  9. ^ Концепция социалистической демократии: опыт реализации в СССР и современные перспективы в СНГ
  10. ^ Rogovin, Vadim Zakharovich (2021). Was There an Alternative? Trotskyism: a Look Back Through the Years. Mehring Books. pp. 13–14. ISBN 978-1-893638-97-6.
  11. ^ Carr, Edward Hallett (1977). The Bolshevik revolution 1917 - 1923. Vol. 1 (Reprinted ed.). Penguin books. pp. 111–112. ISBN 978-0-14-020749-1.


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