Livonia electoral district (Russian Constituent Assembly election, 1917)

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Livonia
Former Civilian constituency
for the All-Russian Constituent Assembly
Former constituency
Created1917
Abolished1918
Number of members4
Number of Uyezd Electoral Commissions4
Number of Urban Electoral Commissions1
Number of Parishes207
Sources:[1][2]

The Livonia electoral district (Russian: Лифляндский избирательный округ) was a constituency created for the 1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election. The electoral district covered the Livonia Governorate, as well as the parts of the Courland Governorate not under German occupation.[3]

97,781 votes (72%) were cast for Social-Democracy of the Latvian Territory, the Bolshevik affiliate organization in Latvia.[4] Latvia was a Bolshevik stronghold at the time, as only in Latvia did the Social Democrats continue to function as a political party following the waves of repression 1905–1908.[5] After the February Revolution, the political scene in Riga was similar to that of many other cities in Russia, with Bolsheviks becoming the dominant force in the soviets and competing for power with the moderate socialists and the city duma. By May 1917 the Bolsheviks had emerged as the main political force of Latvian Riflemen's soviet. Gradually the Bolsheviks began to dominate Riga, but on September 3, 1917 German troops seized control of the city.[6] In September 1917 the Bolsheviks had some 12,000 members in Latvia, the Mensheviks had 2,600.[5]

Results[edit]

At the time of the election the city of Riga was under German occupation so no vote took place there. Some 9,000 votes were missing from the accounted vote tally according to U.S. historian Oliver Henry Radkey (whose account forms the basis of the results' table below).[7] Radkey's carries the same totals as a resolution of the District Election Commission adopted November 26, 1917, reported in the Bolshevik organ Cīņa; which noted that all precincts in Kreis Wolmar had reported, the tallies of 4 precincts in Kreis Wenden were missing, 2 precincts in Kreis Walk were missing and 11 out of 16 precincts in Kreis Riga reporting.[8]

Party Kreis Riga &
Kreis Wenden
% Kreis Walk % Kreis Wolmar % Total %
List 3 - Social-Democracy of the Latvian Territory 29,728 67.31 35,487 71.55 32,566 76.96 97,781 71.86
List 1- Lettish Peasants Union 11,791 26.70 11,204 22.59 8,258 19.52 31,253 22.97
List 2 - Mensheviks 2,650 6.00 2,906 5.86 1,490 3.52 7,046 5.18
Total: 44,169 35,487 42,314 136,080

[9][8]

Deputies Elected
Goldmanis Lettish Peasant Union
Berzin SD of Latvian Territory
Peterson SD of Latvian Territory
Rozin SD of Latvian Territory

[8][10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ И. С. Малчевский (1930). Всероссийское учредительное собрание. Гос изд-во. pp. 140–142.
  2. ^ Б. Ф Додонов; Е. Д Гринько; О. В.. Лавинская (2004). Журналы заседаний Временного правительства: Сентябрь-октябрь 1917 года. РОССПЭН. pp. 206–208.
  3. ^ Татьяна Евгеньевна Новицкая (1991). Учредительное собрание: Россия 1918 : стенограмма и другие документы. Недра. p. 13.
  4. ^ Oliver Henry Radkey (1989). Russia goes to the polls: the election to the all-Russian Constituent Assembly, 1917. Cornell University Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-8014-2360-4.
  5. ^ a b Liliana Riga (12 November 2012). The Bolsheviks and the Russian Empire. Cambridge University Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-1-107-01422-0.
  6. ^ Laura Engelstein (2018). Russia in Flames: War, Revolution, Civil War, 1914-1921. Oxford University Press. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-19-979421-8.
  7. ^ Oliver Henry Radkey (1989). Russia goes to the polls: the election to the all-Russian Constituent Assembly, 1917. Cornell University Press. pp. 161–163. ISBN 978-0-8014-2360-4.
  8. ^ a b c Латвияс КП ЦК Партияс вēстурес инститьūц (1963). Коммунистическая партия Латвии в Октябрьской революции 1917: документы и материалы (март 1917 - февраль 1918 г.). Латвийское гос. изд-во. pp. 546–547.
  9. ^ Oliver Henry Radkey (1989). Russia goes to the polls: the election to the all-Russian Constituent Assembly, 1917. Cornell University Press. pp. 148–160. ISBN 978-0-8014-2360-4.
  10. ^ Лев Григорьевич Протасов (2008). Люди Учредительного собрания: портрет в интерьере эпохи. РОССПЭН. ISBN 978-5-8243-0972-0.