In the spring of 1917, all citizens of the Russian state received political rights; women, along with men, could take part in the elections to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, which were the first general elections in the state. While in the capital, which was the epicenter of the main events, women had a certain degree of political literacy, the residents of the province in a short time had to accept and understand their new position in society. The article undertook an analysis of the activities of women in the Kaluga province during the preparation and holding of elections to the Constituent Assembly. Elections in the Kaluga province were
held on November 12—14, 1917. This was preceded by a preparatory stage of several months. On the basis of the published materials of the periodical press and archival data, several forms of participation of women of the province in the elections were identified: pre-election educational work with the population, fulfilment of secretarial duties at polling stations, participation in voting as voters. The author uses the historical and genetic method to display the activities of women in the Kaluga province during the preparation and conduct of voting as well as quantitative methods for calculating the share of women who lived in the province and took part in the elections during the period under study. The author concludes that residents of the Kaluga province sought to take an active part in the preparation and elections to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, but the traditional idea of provincial society about the place of women had a significant impact on the situation of women.
For citation: Mukhina M.V. “You, peasant women, must vote for list No. 2…”: women's participation in the elections to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly in 1917 (based on materials from the Kaluga province), Bulletin of Ivanovo State University. Series: Humanities, 2024, no. 4. pp. 127—133.