LEFT-WING DEPUTIES OF THE II STATE DUMA FROM KOSTROMA AND YAROSLAVL PROVINCES

The article deals with the influence of the left-wing sentiments among the electorate of the Kostroma andYaroslavl provinces on the election campaign and the activities of the deputies of the State Duma of the second convo-cation. The relevance of the research is determined by the need to study the eventful history of the State Duma with itsextensive experience and traditions for better understanding of the modern Russian Parliament’s work. The role of theprovincial authorities during the elections is characterized, and an attempt is made to identify how the socio-politicalsituation, economic situation, and living conditions in the said provinces influenced the preferences of the Kostromaand Yaroslavl public. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the issue in question has never been specificallystudied before, while provincial context and the activities of the Kostroma and Yaroslavl deputes are poorly covered inhistorical literature. The author seeks to identify to what extent the people’s deputies expressed the left-wing interestsof their voters in the Parliament. It is concluded that in 1907 the representatives of the left parties – Cadets, People’sSocialists and Social Democrats – were elected to the II Duma from the Kostroma and Yaroslavl provinces. And al-though the provincial tsarist authorities tried to prevent this outcome of the elections, the local population consciouslyvoted for the left. The most valuable sources for the research were the provincial newspapers containing interesting and contradictory information, various points of view, and rich factual material about the deputies’ election campaign andthe parliamentary work

II State Duma, elections, province, Kostroma Province, factory workers, Yaroslavl Province, agrarian issue, left-wing sentiments, cadets, Social Democrats