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The elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly that were organised as a result of events in the Russian Revolution of 1917 were held on November 25, 1917 (although some districts had polling on alternate days).
The result was a clear victory for the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs) who polled far more votes than the Bolsheviks. However, the Bolsheviks had captured power in the October Revolution and they dispersed the Assembly after its first sitting - making the results of the election null and void.
Various academic studies have given alternative results but all clearly indicate that whilst the Bolsheviks were clear winners in Russia's urban centres, as well as taking around two-thirds of the votes of soldiers on the "Western Front", it was the SRs who topped the polls having won the massive support of 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 Cadet 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 |
Percent |
Deputies |
| Socialist-Revolutionary Party (SRs) |
17,100,000 |
41.0 |
380 |
| Bolsheviks |
9,800,000 |
23.5 |
168 |
| Constitutional Democratic Party (Cadets) |
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 |
Results from a webpage published by Bryan Caplan of George Mason University: [1]
| Party |
Votes |
Percent |
| Socialist-Revolutionary Party (SRs) |
17,943,000 |
40.4 |
| Bolsheviks |
10,661,000 |
24.0 |
| Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries |
3,433,000 |
7.7 |
| Constitutional Democratic Party (Cadets) |
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 (Left SRs) |
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 |
[edit] References
