Equality & revolution : women's rights in the Russian Empire, 1905-1917
On July 20, 1917, Russia became the first major power to grant women the right to vote and hold public office. But after the October Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet Union, those who had pioneered the suffragist cause were all but erased from accounts of Russian history. The women's movement, when mentioned at all, was portrayed as rooted in the elitist and bourgeois culture of the tsarist era, meaningless to proletarian and peasant women, and even counter to socialist ideology. Ruthchild reveals that in fact Russian feminists appealed to all classes and were an integral force for revolution and social change. She profiles the individuals and organizations that were vital to the feminist struggle, particularly during the monumental uprisings of 1905-1917, and presents a significant reinterpretation of a decisive period of Russian---and world---history. Derived from jacket
Print Book, English, ©2010
University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., ©2010