Lev Viktorovich Kromer,
The Specialized Educational Scientific Center on Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology of Novosibirsk State University (SESC NSU), Novosibirsk, Russia, е‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Participation of the Komsomol in Elections to Village Councils in Siberia in the 1920s
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2024-1-2
The article examines the participation of the Komsomol in elections to rural councils of Siberia in the 1920s. The task of participating in the elections of councils was set before the Komsomol party during the Civil War. And although in words this task was given high political significance, in the early 1920s. it was not actually implemented – the presence of Komsomol members in village councils, apparently, was insignificant. Even without elections, Komsomol cells are “accustomed” to feeling like the authorities in the villages. In the election campaign of 1924, in which the Komsomol for the first time took part en masse as an organization, this circumstance played a cruel joke on it. Komsomol cells, as a rule, did not know how to interact with the population: nominate authoritative candidates, justify the need for their election to the peasants, instead preferring to put pressure on the voter. The peasants protested against turning the elections into a farce. The party leadership discovered that the recently announced policy of “revitalizing the soviets” was not being implemented, and took the unprecedented step of recognizing the need to hold new elections and condemning the Komsomol cells for attempting to impose their will on the citizens. The election campaign of 1925 showed that Komsomol cells were not as authoritative in the eyes of the population as they would like to think. The Komsomol had to learn to participate in elections, carry out preliminary work both within the cell related to the selection of worthy candidates, and mobilize the electorate for their support. Judging by the increase in the proportion of Komsomol members in village councils after the campaigns of 1926 and 1927, the cells had some success in this matter. In the election campaign of 1929, the Komsomol again increased its representation in village councils, not only actively campaigning for its candidates, but also putting pressure on them (as in 1924). Increasing the proportion of Komsomol members among those elected to the village council served as the only measure of success and an end in itself for the leadership of the youth union. As a rule, the elected Komsomol members did not receive any leadership from their cells and did not cope effectively with their responsibilities. Thus, they lost the chance to be re-elected by the population after completing their term of office.
Publishing: 28/02/2024
The article has been received by the editor on 25/10/2023
How to cite: Kromer L.V. Participation of the Komsomol in Elections to Village Councils in Siberia in the 1920s // Historical Courier, 2024, No. 1 (33), pp. 25–35. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2024/ISTKURIER-2024-1-02.pdf]
Links: Issue 1 2024
Keywords: village soviets; peasants; elections; electoral process; Komsomol; Communist party; Siberia