Участие левых эсеров в избирательных кампаниях в 1917–1918 годах

Новейшая история России. 2025. Т. 15. № 2. С. 320–335.

Концевой И. А.

This research examines the issue of the participation of the Left SRs in election campaigns during 1917 Russian revolution. The separation of the left wing in the Socialist-Revolutionary Party contributed to the formation of an independent political force, which in the conditions of political competition sought to gain support from the Russian population and accumulate its own political capital. In 1917, the Left SRs only participated in some elections as an independent party, expecting to gain control over the entire SR party. The participation of the Left SRs in the election campaign for the Petrograd City Duma showed that the new party had little support among Petrograd voters. For ideological confrontation with the SR leadership, the Left SRs chose a public strategy aimed at creating an image of a member of their party as the sole defender of basic SR principles. Using rhetorical devices in their propaganda texts, the Left SRs sought to present their party as the only political force that advocated “soviet power” and defended the interests of the “working population”. With such slogans they went to all election campaigns in late 1917 and mid-1918. The author concludes that criticism of the Bolsheviks’ policy began to appear in the Left Socialist Revolutionary agitation only by June 1918 and often had a rather restrained character. Some episodes of the pre-election confrontation between the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs included condemnation of the RCP(b) for “agreeing” with Germany in connection with the signing of the Brest Treaty and the fulfillment of its terms.

Keywords: выборы, агитация, большевики, Петроград, Советы, левые эсеры