ELECTIONS TO THE KYIV CITY COUNCIL IN 1906: BASED ON PERIODICALS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the elections to the Kyiv City Council in 1906, which unfolded on the backdrop of revolutionary events and were characterized by a fierce struggle between two political projects — the “New Duma” and “Old Duma” parties. Particular attention is paid to the main stages of elections’ conduct and violation of electoral law by the race participants. On the background of the revolutionary events, the citizens formed a request for “new faces” and fundamental changes in management methods. The expression of dreams of the residents of Kyiv was the “New Duma Party”, which positioned itself as a team of executives who understand the needs of the city. During the elections, significant violations of the current legislation were registered that did not allow to form the fully the all members of the Kyiv City Council. In the course of the research, it is found that the most informative materials, in terms of Kyiv City Council elections, were the materials of the newspapers “Gromadska Dumka” and “Kievlianin”. These periodicals, while supporting the ideologically opposed political forces, covered the race in detail. Newspapers’ editorial staff paid particular attention to sensational materials related to electoral law violations, which were of most interest to readers. If the “Gromadska Dumka” tried to cover the race objectively, “Kievlianin” published not only facts, but also insults and campaign materials, retranslating the ideologues of Russian nationalists.