--- title: "Bolshevik Election & Constituent Assembly" year: 1917 country: "Russia" canonical: "https://recap.at/1917/constituent-assembly-1917" slug: "constituent-assembly-1917" recapType: "global_event" startDate: "1917-01-01" --- # Bolshevik Election & Constituent Assembly > The only free democratic elections held in revolutionary Russia; Bolsheviks won only a quarter of seats but seized power anyway, ending parliamentary democracy. In November 1917, Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks seized power in Russia and immediately promised free elections for a Constituent Assembly. When those elections were held in December, the Bolsheviks won only a quarter of the seats. Lenin dissolved the Assembly by force in January 1918, choosing dictatorship over democracy—a move that shaped the course of the 20th century. ## Summary A constituent assembly is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected by popular vote, drawn by sortition, appointed, or some combination of these methods. Assemblies are typically considered distinct from a regular legislature, although members of the legislature may compose a significant number or all of its members. As the fundamental document constituting a state, a constitution cannot normally be modified or amended by the state's normal legislative procedures in some jurisdictions; instead a constitutional convention or a constituent assembly, the rules for which are normally laid down in the constitution, must be set up. A constituent assembly is usually set up for its specific purpose, which it carries out in a relatively short time, after which the assembly is dissolved. A constituent assembly is a form of representative democracy. ## Key facts - **Bolshevik seat share**: 175 of 707 seats (24.7%) - **Election date**: November 12–14, 1917 (Julian calendar) - **Assembly convened**: January 5, 1918 - **Days in session before dissolution**: 1 day - **Total registered voters**: Approximately 50 million - **Socialist Revolutionary seats (largest bloc)**: 299 - **Dissolution date**: January 6, 1918 ## Timeline - **1917-11-07** - October Revolution Lenin and the Bolsheviks seize power in Petrograd, overthrowing the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks immediately commit to holding elections for a Constituent Assembly. - **1917-11-12** - Election campaign begins Voting begins for delegates to the Constituent Assembly across Russia. The election will last until November 14 and represents the first genuinely broad democratic exercise in Russian history. - **1917-12-28** - Final results announced The Socialist Revolutionary Party wins plurality with 299 seats; Bolsheviks secure 175 seats. The result embarrasses Lenin, who expected his revolutionary authority to guarantee a majority. - **1918-01-05** - Assembly convenes The Constituent Assembly holds its opening session in Petrograd. The Assembly immediately faces hostile Bolshevik pressure and is surrounded by Red Guards. - **1918-01-06** - Assembly dissolved Lenin orders Red Guards to lock the Assembly doors, ending the single session. He issues a decree declaring the Assembly obsolete in favor of Soviet power. The move eliminates any pretense of constitutional constraint on Bolshevik rule. - **1918-03-03** - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed With the Assembly dissolved and no competing power center, Lenin signs a harsh peace treaty with Germany, giving away huge territories—a move that would have faced Assembly resistance. ## Media coverage - **The New York Times** (1917-11-27): [Bolsheviks Win Control of Constituent Assembly Election in Russia](Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable) > Lenin's Bolshevik Party secured a plurality but not majority in Russia's first democratic election, with Socialist Revolutionaries emerging as unexpected rivals. The results signal deep fractures within the revolutionary movement over the direction of the new state. - **The Times (London)** (1918-01-20): [Constituent Assembly Convenes in Petrograd Amid Chaos and Armed Guards](Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable) > The long-awaited Russian Constituent Assembly opened in the capital under heavy military presence, only to be dispersed by Bolshevik soldiers within hours. British observers report Lenin's contempt for parliamentary procedure as the assembly was deemed an obstacle to revolutionary consolidation. - **Neue Zurcher Zeitung** (1918-01-21): [Bolschewiki zerstreuen die Konstituante - Revolution frisst ihre Waehler](Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable) > DE: 'Bolsheviks disperse the Constituent Assembly - Revolution devours its voters' / EN: Swiss neutrals observe with alarm as Lenin dismisses Russia's most democratic institution after barely one day, exposing the revolutionary regime's contempt for electoral mandates. - **Le Temps** (1918-01-22): [La Russie bascule vers la dictature du proletariat](Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable) > FR: 'Russia slides toward the dictatorship of the proletariat' / EN: French analysts assess the Bolshevik suppression of the Constituent Assembly as the death knell of democratic hopes, signaling consolidation of one-party rule in Moscow. - **Russkoe Slovo** (1918-01-20): [Bol'sheviki raspalyayut Ucheditelnoe Sobranie - Konets demokratii v Rossii](Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable) > RU: 'Bolsheviks dissolve the Constituent Assembly - End of democracy in Russia' / EN: Anti-Bolshevik Moscow newspaper condemns the dispersal as naked authoritarianism, warning that the revolution has betrayed its own election results. ## Impact The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly marked the moment when the Russian Revolution transformed from a promise of popular sovereignty into one-party authoritarian rule. Lenin's willingness to abandon elections in favor of vanguard control became the template for communist regimes worldwide, defining the ideological fault line between Marx's theory and Soviet practice. ## Sources - [Constituent assembly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituent_assembly) - Wikipedia --- Canonical: https://recap.at/1917/constituent-assembly-1917