Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly

The Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly
, a Democratic

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

counterrevolutionary government in Russia during the Russian Civil War

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...

, formed in Samara

Samara, Russia

Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...

on June 8, 1918 after the Czech Legion had occupied the city.

Komuch proclaimed itself the highest authority in Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, temporarily acting on behalf of the Constituent Assembly

Russian Constituent Assembly

The All Russian Constituent Assembly was a constitutional body convened in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. It is generally reckoned as the first democratically elected legislative body of any kind in Russian history. It met for 13 hours, from 4 p.m...

on the territory, occupied by the interventionists and the Whites

White movement

The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...

, until the convocation of the new composition of the Assembly. Initially, Komuch consisted of five Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) (V.K.Volsky - chairman, Ivan Brushvit, Prokopiy Klimushkin, Boris Fortunatov, Ivan Nesterov) - members of the Constituent Assembly, which had been dissolved by the Bolsheviks. Two other members, N. Shmelev and V. Abramov, are named in a declaration which the Komuch issued reinstating freedoms and setting forth fundamental principles.

Subsequently, the Committee grew in size owing to the members of the Constituent Assembly (mainly SRs), who had come to Samara. Thus, by the end of September, Komuch numbered 96 members.

Komuch's executive body was the Council of Department Heads under the lead of Yevgeny Rogovsky. Having seized power with the help of the Czech Legion, Komuch announced "reinstatement" of democratic

Democracy

freedoms

Freedom (political)

Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...

: they formally established an 8-hour working day, permitted worker's conferences and congresses of peasant

Peasant

A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...

s, kept plant and factory committees (fabzavkomy, or fabrichno-zavodskiye komitety) and trade unions. Komuch abrogated the Soviet decrees, returned all the plants, factories and banks to their former owners, declared freedom of private enterprise and reinstated zemstva, city dumas and other establishments. Paying lip service to socialization

Socialization

Socialization is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists and educationalists to refer to the process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs and ideologies...

of land, Komuch, in fact, provided landowners with an opportunity to take away their confiscated lands from the peasants and, also, harvest the winter crops of 1917. Komuch sent punitive expeditions to the rural areas of Russia in order to protect the property of landowners and kulak

Kulak

Kulaks were a category of relatively affluent peasants in the later Russian Empire, Soviet Russia, and early Soviet Union...

s, recruit and later mobilize

Mobilize

Mobilize is an album by punk rock band Anti-Flag. It contains eight new studio tracks, and eight live songs.The album's live tracks were recorded at the Mr...

people for the so-called People's Army.

Owing to the military support from interventionists and kulaks and Red Army

Red Army

The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

's weakness, Komuch's power spread into the provinces of Samara, Simbirsk, Kazan

Kazan

Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...

, Ufa

Ufa

-Demographics:Nationally, dominated by Russian , Bashkirs and Tatars . In addition, numerous are Ukrainians , Chuvash , Mari , Belarusians , Mordovians , Armenian , Germans , Jews , Azeris .-Government and administration:Local...

and Saratov

Saratov

-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...

in June-August 1918. However, by the early November, the peasants became convinced of Komuch's counterrevolutionary nature and grew wary of it, organizing occasional resistance

Resistance movement

A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...

. In September, People Army of Komuch

People Army of Komuch

People Army of the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly - an anti-Bolshevik army during the Russian Civil War, which fought at June-September of 1918 in Volga Region.In May 1918 there was a Revolt of Czechoslovak Legion on Trans-Siberian Railway...

sustained a number of defeats from the Red Army and left a major part of Komuch's territories.

The Komuch participated with the Provisional Siberian Government

Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia

The Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia , was an ephemeral government for Siberia created by the White movement.After the Bolsheviks' seizure of power in Petrograd, All-Siberian Extraordinary Congress of Delegates from Public Organizations, was convened in Tomsk on December 7, 1917...

in the State Conference held in Ufa

Ufa

held between 8–23 September. Some of the 170 delegates also represented other smaller regions. The Komuch suffered two significant defeats while the conference was in progress, losing Kazan on 10 September and Simbirsk two days later. The conference established the short-lived Provisional All-Russian Government

Provisional All-Russian Government

The Provisional All-Russian Government or PA-RG was a short-lived government centred in Omsk during the Russian Civil War.It was principally formed from the Komuch, mainly Socialist-Revolutionary Party and Constitutional Democratic Party members based in Samara, and the Provisional Siberian...

(PA-RG).

After Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak

Aleksandr Kolchak

Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak was a Russian naval commander, polar explorer and later - Supreme ruler . Supreme ruler of Russia , was recognized in this position by all the heads of the White movement, "De jure" - Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, "De facto" - Entente States...

's coup, the Directory and other establishments were dissolved by General Vladimir Kappel

Vladimir Kappel

Vladimir Oskarovich Kappel was a White Russian military leader.During the First World War he was a Chief of the 347th Infantry Regiment's Staff and an officer in the 1st Army's Staff...

in November 1918.

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