On the question of the voting rights of women in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the XX century

In this article, the author analyses several archive materials that still remain little known to a wide scientific audience. These documents concern the question of a women’s legal status in the Russian Empire and their struggle for civil rights and liberties and voting right in particular, equally to men. Study of women’s history as a whole is one of the important directions of the modern science of history. One of the urgent questions in studying of women’s history in the Ukrainian historiography is the legal status of a woman and her obtaining of civil rights and liberties equally to men. In the article, the author pays her attention to the fact that Ukrainian researchers created groundwork and theoretical base for solving such problems as formation and development of women’s movement in Ukraine and participation of Ukrainian women in the struggle for the voting right. The author examines the main stages which the European women went through in their struggle for empowerment. Certainly, women’s movements in every country had their own specifics, but the common thing in their programmes was that that they were struggling for the right to vote and to be elected. As exemplified by the archive materials, containing information about elections to the State Duma as of 1905, the author examines how women’s struggle for the right to participate in the elections took place in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century. Thus, State Archives of Sumy Region contains women’s applications to take part in the elections with the statement of persons to whom they granted the right to use their property qualification, as well as the report “On the Women’s Equality” discussed on the 27th of November, 1905 on the regular Sumy Povit Land Assembly. This report contains information that gives an idea of the women’s position in the Russian Empire and their legal status. The author concludes that suggestions made in the resolution were not executed. Subscription of this document did not change the situation with the women’s rights in society, and they were considered unworthy to rule the country as before.

Source: Lobko N.V. (2016) On the question of the voting rights of women in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the XX century. Ancient Sumy Land. № XLIХ: 43-49

Source web-site: https://starovyna.sumdu.edu.ua/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/3-%D0%9B%D0%BE%D0%B1%D0%BA%D0%BE-1.pdf