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Section 3. History
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20534/ESR-17-3.4-10-12
Suleimanova Rima Nugamanovna, Institute of history, language and literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ufa Scientific Centre doctor of historical sciences, assistant professor, head of department of the recent history of Bashkortostan E-mail: [email protected]
«Politics is a dirty work, it is not for the refined female nature...»: how in 1917, Russian women were granted the suffrage
Abstract: One of the important achievements of the struggle of women and the Russian women's movement at the beginning of the crucial XXth century was the granting of universal suffrage to Russian women of all ages, nationalities and religions. This happened in 1917, after the February events, which can be called a significant historical event. This article will focus on the consideration of this important scientific and socially important problems. Keywords: the February revolution of 1917, Russia, woman-suffrage, women.
The problem of women's political rights is one of those issues, ceived from the total an equal share" [3, 47]. Women's property rights
the solution of which in Russia is more than a century old. Under present conditions, this problem is less relevant and linked to the taking place in the country of radical changes in the legal status of women in society.
Half ofhumanity, which for centuries was not recognized as a subject of history, resolutely declare all of their rights to equal place with men in all spheres of socio-political and socio-economic life ofthe state, and more significant is their role in making important decisions.
In Russia, the attitude of society and government to the status of women began to change during the revolutions of 1917 and in subsequent periods. Just then, they have been the object of confrontation between different political forces, which was reflected in the consciousness and behavior of Russian women. In this regard, a special place was occupied by the revolutionary events ofFebruary 1917, which played a major role in the destiny of the peoples of the country, including women.
Prior to the twentieth century in Russia infringed the rights and freedoms of the individual. Men and women did not have electoral rights, take no part in the formation of state run public authorities. In accordance with Russian legislation, women were restricted in their rights to a greater extent than men. This is especially manifested in matters of inheritance and division of property. So, the daughter in the family, where there were sons, received 1/14 of the total immovable property, and 1/8 of the movable property. In the side lines women in the presence of men did not receive anything. After her husband's death the wife inherited, with children and without them 1/7 of 1/4 of the real and movable property [1, 66, 70]. Dowry and paraphernal property not included in this part.
Muslim women were also not in the best position. According to the Koran and Sharia, the woman was not equal to the man in the property and legal relations [2]. Their inheritance rights after the death of husband determined Shariah and Russian legislation. All wives of the deceased husband, received in aggregate of the entire property, "if children were - 1/8 part, if there are no children than all the wives get 1/4 part, and the remainder is given to other heirs". In the Russian legislation stipulated that — "each wife separately re-
were also infringed upon after the divorce. They are almost nowhere, not in the Koran, nor in the Russian legislation were clearly defined In fact, in the division offamily property, a divorced wife completely depended on her ex-husband [4, 208]. The woman's degraded position was legally fixed and sanctified by religious canons: the wife is obliged to obey her husband as head of the family, "to remain in love, reverence and unlimited obedience, to render him every kind of pleasure and affection as the mistress of the house" [1, 59].
But most of all women were infringed in political rights, and, above all, in the elective franchise. Russian legislation classified them as incompetent citizens who did not have a direct passive, the more active elective franchise. Although only a certain group of Russians women, who owned significant immovable and movable property, was granted the censorship right to participate in noble assemblies, communal and zemstvo elections [1, 135].
What was the basis of Russian legislation that determined the legal status of women? His moral support, as well as state policy in this matter, were religious dogmas about the relations between the gender, according to which the wife was created after her husband, was created for her husband, etc. In the domestic social and scientific thought, were widely disseminated traditional ideas about the natural preconditions for the inferiority of women, their secondary place in society and a family like "a woman, like a child, can not be anything but an object of influence". All these representations, of course, manifested themselves in laws relating to women, and fully corresponded to the state policy regarding them. After all, the legislation of the Russian Empire, which defined the status of women, was based on patriarchal and patriarchy views on their mission, according to which women's lack of rights is in the interests of women themselves, as well as the interests of the state and society as a whole.
Low legal status, weak mental consciousness, illiteracy, in this regard, the unclaimed ofwomen, representing more than half of the population, acted as a kind of inhibitory factor in the development of the country, which caused the need to review legislation on the women's issue, the equation of women's rights with men.
«Politics is a dirty work, it is not for the refined female nature...»: how in 1917, Russian women were granted the suffrage
Published in one of the domestic periodical in the early XX century an article on this issue caused a great public response. Its author was a famous public figure A. Kiesewetter. Drawing attention to the status of a Russian woman, he wrote: "Old Russia, paying tribute to the fascination with ascetic femininity, recognized the woman as a social activist within the family house-building.The new Russia, having deprived the family meaning of the state organ, took away the position of a public activist from the woman. The Modern Russia will have to solve these centuries-old wavering. The family will remain a family, and the woman will keep her place ofhonor in her. However, it will perform and is performing on the arena of this public activity is not in the old, and in the modern sense of the meaning" [5, 1].
During this period, works began to appear on the topical issue of that time — the reform of the electoral system of Russia. In one of them it was said about the need to give Russian women a suffrage: "one of the first cases of reformed management should be to grant Russian women political rights equal with men" [6, 2].
The beginning of the XXth century was an important stage in the struggle for the political rights of women. During this period, according to the royal manifesto of October 17, 1905, democratic measures were promulgated, such as freedom of speech, of the press, of meetings, of religions and etc. However, after that came out the law on the procedure for elections to the State Duma of December 11, which gave voting rights only to men [7, 12]. The actual author of the manifesto is Count S.Yu. Witte, who on the appeal of the women's society to give an explanation replied, that during the preparation of this issue was not discussed. So, the legal capacity of women was not recognized and they were equated "to persons underage, mentally deficient and under court". Opponents of political equality of women proceeded from the following arguments: when entering the path of social activity, a woman ceases to be a mother; few women aspire to political activity; the struggle for political rights has a great effect on the psyche, and therefore will negatively affect the family atmosphere; politics is a dirty job, not for refined female natures, and therefore the creative activity of the mother may be diminished and the quality of the race may deteriorate; he provision of electoral rights to women is premature, and others [8, 16].
During this period, the women's organizations operating in Russia noticeably stepped up their activities. From the very beginning of the creation of the parliament, they made repeated attempts to use it in solving the women's issue: they addressed the deputies, sent delegates to the commission, petitioned, etc. The editorship of one of the domestic women's editions appealed to Russian women to appeal to the State Duma with a protest against their lack of rights and demanding political and civil equality with men [9, 33-34]. Russian women's society, under a petition to the Duma for several months across the country, collected more than 5 thousand signatures, in which it expressed regret that among the people's representatives there is not women and no representative elected directly by the women themselves, so it puts before the Duma the issue On the political equality of women [8, 17]. All this affected the activity of the Duma and session were held on this issue more than once. However, it was not possible to achieve its solution. Despite the efforts of women's organizations, quite progressive positions of some factions and deputies, the State Duma did not take measures to equalize women's rights with men.
In the process of the necessary change in the self-awareness of women in accordance with the requirements of the modern time, intervened objective factors in particular, the First World War. It affected the involvement of women in production, previously inaccessible to them works, as well as the activation of their role in public
life. The usual phenomenon were the women's gatherings and meetings. Acting and emerging women's organizations have expanded their activities. This was mainly due to the provision of assistance to soldiers who were at the front and rear in hospitals, as well as to «war victims» — refugees, orphans, invalids, families of mobilized people, etc. Therefore, in the conditions of war the urgency of the decision of a female question decreases. Despite this, it does not fall out of the center of public attention. This is indicated by the increase in articles in the periodical press and the publication of prominent public figures and politicians. They were united by one idea — the need to provide women with political rights "at a crucial time for Russia". In one of the works it was stated: "... if in peacetime the work ofwomen in public organizations and in all other areas of Russian public life spoke for the need to give women full equality with men, but now, after the brilliant activity of women to help warriors and victims of war, new evidence of the need for equality" [10, 51]. However, there were other opinions: the authors were only partial advancement of women and the question did not see in the change of the existing system, but only in the gradual settlement of the current legislation. In one published in 1917 work, the author stated: "the State can be completely free and democratic only when it is not disenfranchised and deprived of the right to vote. All objections to the political rights of women are — ... a legacy of the time when the woman herself was so little developed that she did not raise the question of her participation in the political life of the country. Since the time when this question was raised, it could not have been given a different answer by the country, as positive" [11, 21].
After the fall of the autocracy in Russia, the pressing question of women's equality became more relevant and triggered a struggle of opinion in society. Different political forces had their own understanding of his decision. In their programs there were different demands for women's equality, as the revolutionary situation developed and deepened, various ways of achieving it were put forward. The observed increase in the share of women in production played a significant role in their involvement in the sphere of political struggle. Workers woman, representatives of a certain part of the intelligentsia, peasant women participated in strikes and peasants' actions against war, high prices, exorbitant exploitation. Along with general political demands, they put forward their demands, like the right to vote, equal pay, maternity protection, etc.
The intensification of women's participation in numerous political actions aroused genuine interest of the active political parties interested in attracting them to their side. This led to a noticeable increase in their environment of political agitation, especially among women workers. Women's organizations did not lag behind them, organizing meetings, rallies, lecturing on women's rights, their role in the current situation. Some of these political forces urged Russian women to support the war to a victorious end and the Provisional Government, others suggested together with the workers to demand the transfer of full authority to the Soviets and immediately stop the bloody war. However, the issue of enfranchisement of women remained acute. However, in their first declarations, the Provisional Government, while proclaiming universal suffrage without any censorship, religious or other restrictions, completely ignored the sign of gender. Another position in this issue was held by the Petrograd Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, claiming that women were granted suffrage. Despite the measures taken and the very favorable conditions for the final resolution of this issue, it was postponed among other urgent issues until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. The government promised to allow women to participate in elections to the Constituent Assembly, but
without the right to be elected to its composition. This caused discontent on the part of the female society. In Petrograd on March 19, the League for the Equal Rights of Women organized a mass demonstration with the participation of about 40,000 women, demanding that they be given voting right. After lengthy negotiations, the chairman of the Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, N. S. Chkheidze, chairman of the State Duma, M. V. Rodzianko, Prime Minister G. E. Lvov gave explanations to the expecting demonstrators that the government under the «universal» suffrage understands its provision for people of both sexes. A. V. Tyrkova, one of the pioneers of the domestic women's movement, writes how one of the activists approached the demonstrators and declared to them: ... "Congratulations, citizens. We, Russian women get the rights" [12, 15]. This became a fact of their recognition as equal citizens. The next day the meeting of the League of Equality adopted a corresponding resolution [13, 1].
However, the question of the participation of Russian women in the elections to the Constituent Assembly on a par with men, was not yet fully clarified. In publications, the authors called on the public and, above all, the women themselves to clarify and finalize it. One of them said: "Women should not be satisfied with promises. They should ensure that the item on the distribution of suffrage to women is actually included in the draft law on elections to the Constituent Assembly currently being drafted. The participation of women in the Constituent Assembly, which must establish a new state system of free Russia, is especially necessary. All laws of the future Russian Republic concern not only men, but also women" [14, 14]. The next step was the meeting of the delegation ofwomen
with the Prime Minister G. E. Lvov, where they handed their statement. The government returned to this issue in the course of discussion of the issue of drafting a law on elections to the Constituent Assembly. And after lengthy discussions on July 20, the government ratified the decision to grant all women who had reached the age of 21 the voting rights [14, 17]. This, of course, was an achievement of historical significance.
In such difficult conditions, Russian women sought electoral right and the right to participate in public and political life on a par with men. Russia was the fifth country in the world to secure the right to vote for women in the article "Provisions on Elections to the Constituent Assembly" dated September 11, receiving it later for 12 years after the men to whom it was provided by the "Regulations on Elections to the State Duma" of 1905 [15, 7]. Such a democratism in the policy of the Provisional Government, which so dramatically changed in such a short period, is explained by the fact that this question was resolved in the conditions of deepening the bourgeois-democratic revolution. It was to provide some thaw sing in the field of democracy in order to prevent the impending revolution. After all, the issue of the proclaimed equality of women did not affect the foundations of the existing system. And, agreeing to resolve the issue, many political forces counted on the support of women. However, in the summer of 1917 the first elections to municipality of domicile under the new rules showed all the formality of the rights granted to women, to which neither the parties nor the population themselves were ready. In the course of the events that took place in the autumn, there was a different situation in the socio-political life of the country, where Russian women had a completely different role.
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