I. A. Kontsevoi. Strangers Among Their Own: The Left Socialist Revolutionaries in the Elections
to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 2, 2026, pp. 98–110.

DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2026_2_98

Abstract:

The article examines the issue of a participation of the Left SRs in the elections of deputies to the
All-Russian Constituent Assembly. Based on materials from the periodical press and archival documents, the election campaign of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries is examined and the main goals of the leaders of this political force are determined. The author shows that in Petrograd the tactics of the left wing of the Socialist Revolutionary Party during the elections consisted of agitating voters for the electoral lists of the Socialist Revolutionary party. This tactic allowed as many Left SR candidates as possible to become deputies of the Assembly. However, in some regions of Russia, the Left SRs put forward independent electoral lists or called on their electorate not to support the SR party. Wherever the Left SRs put forward their own lists, they failed to gain the support of a large number of voters. The election results for the Left Socialist Revolutionaries were unsuccessful, since this party was only just forming as an independent force, and in many regions of Russia its organizations were small. The article also analyzes the composition of the Left Socialist Revolutionary faction, which, according to the author’s calculations, was represented by 43 deputies, which amounted to 5.6 % of the total number of members of the Constituent Assembly. All Left SR deputies were elected from single lists of
the SR Party or in coalition with the Ukrainian SRs. For the Left SRs, participation in the elections was an important step towards separating from the SR party and creating their own party identity.

Key words: Left Socialist Revolutionaries, Socialist Revolutionary Party, Ukrainian SRs, Constituent Assembly, elections, election campaign, deputies, faction, revolution of 1917.

Author:

Kontsevoy, Ilya Anatol’evich — PhD in History, Research Fellow, Institute of Regional
Historical Research, Associate Professor, School of Historical Sciences, National Research University “Higher School of Economics” (NRU HSE) (Moscow, Russia).
E-mail: ikontsevoy@hse.ru
ORCID: 0000-0001-7296-6312

References:
Gorodetskii, E. N. Rozhdenie sovetskogo gosudarstva [The Birth of the Soviet State. In Russ.]. Moscow, Nauka publ., 1987, 349 p.

Gusev, K. V., Eritsyan, K. A. Ot soglashatel’stva k kontrrevolyutsii [From Compromise to Counterrevolution. In Russ.]. Moscow, Mysl’ publ., 1968, 447 p.

Petrash, V. V. Vybory v Uchreditel’noe sobranie po Baltiiskomu izbiratel’nomu okrugu [Elections to the Constituent Assembly in the Baltic Electoral District. In Russ.]. In Valk, S. N. (ed.). Gorod Lenina v dni Oktyabrya i Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny 1941–1945 gg. Leningrad, Moscow, Nauka publ., 1964, 208 p.

Protasov, L. G. Lyudi Uchreditel’nogo sobraniya. Portret v inter’ere epokhi [People of the Constituent Assembly. Portrait in the Interior of the Era. In Russ.]. Moscow, ROSSPEN publ., 2008, 463 p.

Protasov, L. G. Vserossiiskoe Uchreditel’noe sobranie. Istoriya rozhdeniya i gibeli [All-Russian Constituent Assembly. History of the Birth and the Downfall. In Russ.]. Moscow, ROSSPEN publ., 1997. 368 p.

Radkey, O. H. Russia Goes to the Polls: The Election to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly. Ithaca; London, Cornell University Press, 1989, 171 p.

Spirin, L. M. Rossiya. 1917 god. K istorii bor’by politicheskikh partii [Russia. 1917. On the History of the Struggle of Political Parties]. Moscow, Nauka publ., 1987, 334 p.

Znamenskii, O. N. Vserossiiskoe Uchreditel’noe sobranie. Istoriya sozyva i politicheskogo krusheniya [Russian Constituent Assembly. History of Convocation and Political Collapse. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Nauka publ., 1976, 364 p.

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