DOI

The Kuban Extraordinary Regional Rada, elected in the fall of 1918, played a significant role in the Civil War in South Russia, but neither the election campaign nor the social and political composition of the Kuban parliament had previously been studied. The source base of the study includes unpublished documents from GARF, GAKK, the Bakhmeteff Archive, press materials, and memoirs of contemporaries. The article discusses various aspects of the election to the Kuban Extraordinary Regional Rada – legislation, turnout, specificity of election in stanitsas and cities, social and party composition of the deputy corps. The author concludes that the Rada elections did not meet democratic standards, since most of the nonresident population was deprived of voting rights. Parties had some influence on elections only in cities, while almost all deputies from stanitsas were non-partisan. Despite the historical division into “Black Sea Cossacks” and “Line Cossacks”, most of the deputies were elected under the common Cossack slogans and joined one of the groups – separatists, federalists, autonomists, or monarchists – already during the work of the Rada. Since there were no full-fledged party factions, the deputies, belonging to the “swamp”, leaned to one side or another. It is concluded that the format of elections and the Rada composition brought about constant governmental changes and political crises that noticeably affected the rear of the White armies. © 2023 Association 'Rus'. All rights reserved.
Original languageRussian
Pages (from-to)198-215
Number of pages18
JournalRusin
Volume74
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

ID: 117488570