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| In the ] (the first fully democratic national election in Russian history), Lenin's Bolsheviks received only 24% of the vote while the ] received 40%. The Constituent Assembly met only once, 4 pm - 6 am, January 5-6, 1918. A peaceful demonstration in support of the assembly was shot at and dispersed by troops loyal to Bolsheviks. A motion by the Bolsheviks that should have made the assembly powerless was voted down. | In the ] (the first fully democratic national election in Russian history), Lenin's Bolsheviks received only 24% of the vote while the ] received 40%. The Constituent Assembly met only once, 4 pm - 6 am, January 5-6, 1918. A peaceful demonstration in support of the assembly was shot at and dispersed by troops loyal to Bolsheviks. A motion by the Bolsheviks that should have made the assembly powerless was voted down. | ||
| According to a 1975 book, ''Leninism under Lenin'', the Bolsheviks and their allies then walked out and the next day declared the Constitution Assembly dissolved. They proceeded to form a government from the Soviets in which they had already won an overwhelming majority in elections. The Bolsheviks remained in coalition government with a fraction from the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, the ], until the latter part left the coalition later in 1918, over their opposition to the ]. | According to a 1975 book, ''Leninism under Lenin'', the Bolsheviks and their allies then walked out and the next day declared the Constitution Assembly dissolved. They proceeded to form a government from the Soviets in which they had already won an overwhelming majority in elections. The disparity in the results was due to the Soviet electoral system. Each urban Soviet could send one delegate per 25,000 voters, while each rural Soviet could only send one delegate per 125,000 voters. The Bolsheviks remained in coalition government with a fraction from the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, the ], until the latter part left the coalition later in 1918, over their opposition to the ]. The Bolsheviks justified this by pointing out that the election did not take into account the split in the SR Party. A few weeks later the Left SR and Right SR got roughly equal votes in the Peasant Soviets. Critics counter-point that the Bolsheviks could have held new elections to the Assembly, allowing people a choice between the Left and Right SR. | ||
| Two more recent book using material from the opened Soviet achieves, ''The Russian Revolution 1899-1919'' and ''A People's Tragedy'', instead |
Two more recent book using material from the opened Soviet achieves, ''The Russian Revolution 1899-1919'' and ''A People's Tragedy'', instead states that the Bolsheviks then before the next meeting declared the Constitution Assembly dissolved and instead created a counter-assembly two days later, the Third Congress of Soviets. They gave themselves and the ] 94% of the seats. Richard Pipes in "The Russian Revolution 1899-1919" is under the impression that the Soviets were elected on the basis of one-man, one-vote. | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 17:30, 1 October 2005
The Russian Constituent Assembly (Всероссийское Учредительное Собрание, Vserossiyskoye Uchreditelnoye Sobranie) was a democratic representative constitutional body envisaged in Russia after the February_Revolution in 1917. It was to be a democratically elected Constituent Assembly to which elections would be held at the end of 1917.
The Russian Provisional Government was so titled as its members intended only to hold power until a permanent form of government was established by the Constituent Assembly. The Provisional Government's policy of leaving so many questions to be settled by the democratic process undermined its own authority and weakened its will to remain in power in the face of challenges from Bolsheviks.
On 25 October 1917 (7 November 1917, new style), the Bolsheviks initiated the overthrow of the Provisional Government (known as the October Revolution) through the medium of the Petrograd Soviet's Military Committee. The Bolsheviks took the position that the workers' councils (known in Russian as soviets) were the only legitimate form of government (The Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin's slogan prior to the revolution was "All Power to the Soviets!"), and while they permitted elections to continue they did not accept the ultimate authority of the Constituent Assembly to decide on any alternative form of government to that of the soviets.
In the election to the Constituent Assembly (the first fully democratic national election in Russian history), Lenin's Bolsheviks received only 24% of the vote while the Socialist-Revolutionary Party received 40%. The Constituent Assembly met only once, 4 pm - 6 am, January 5-6, 1918. A peaceful demonstration in support of the assembly was shot at and dispersed by troops loyal to Bolsheviks. A motion by the Bolsheviks that should have made the assembly powerless was voted down.
According to a 1975 book, Leninism under Lenin, the Bolsheviks and their allies then walked out and the next day declared the Constitution Assembly dissolved. They proceeded to form a government from the Soviets in which they had already won an overwhelming majority in elections. The disparity in the results was due to the Soviet electoral system. Each urban Soviet could send one delegate per 25,000 voters, while each rural Soviet could only send one delegate per 125,000 voters. The Bolsheviks remained in coalition government with a fraction from the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, until the latter part left the coalition later in 1918, over their opposition to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The Bolsheviks justified this by pointing out that the election did not take into account the split in the SR Party. A few weeks later the Left SR and Right SR got roughly equal votes in the Peasant Soviets. Critics counter-point that the Bolsheviks could have held new elections to the Assembly, allowing people a choice between the Left and Right SR.
Two more recent book using material from the opened Soviet achieves, The Russian Revolution 1899-1919 and A People's Tragedy, instead states that the Bolsheviks then before the next meeting declared the Constitution Assembly dissolved and instead created a counter-assembly two days later, the Third Congress of Soviets. They gave themselves and the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries 94% of the seats. Richard Pipes in "The Russian Revolution 1899-1919" is under the impression that the Soviets were elected on the basis of one-man, one-vote.
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