Women's suffrage in Eastern Europe

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On Women's Day in 1911, Krakow suffragettes demonstrated for the right to vote in parliament and communities

The political situation after the First World War and developments in Russia were decisive for women's suffrage in Eastern Europe . There the general active and passive right to vote for women was introduced in 1917 and confirmed in 1918. The right to vote for women was also incorporated into the legal system of partial republics of the Soviet Union such as Ukraine or Moldova as soon as they came under Soviet rule.

Individual states

Belarus / Belarus

After the German army marched into Minsk in early 1918, the nominally independent Belarusian People's Republic existed for a time . This granted women the right to vote in 1918. Under Soviet administration, women received universal active and passive suffrage on February 4, 1919, when Belarus was part of the USSR. Belarusian women were elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR . With independence in 1991, the right to vote was confirmed.

The first election of a woman to the legislative assembly of independent Belarus took place in March 1990, before Belarus became independent on August 25, 1991. It was the elections for the Supreme Soviet of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic . This body became the first legislative assembly after independence.

Bulgaria

On January 18, 1937, a law was passed giving women the right to vote at the local level. But women and men were not treated equally: women were allowed to vote if they were legally married and mothers, and while voting was compulsory for men, voting for women was voluntary. In 1937 married, widowed and divorced women were given the right to vote for members of the National Assembly. So her right to vote was dependent on her status over a man. The women could exercise this right to vote the following year. Unrestricted active and passive women's suffrage was introduced on October 16, 1944. Universal suffrage for men had already been introduced in 1879.

On November 16, 1945 women were elected to the national parliament for the first time. It was the first election under the new state order, the election for the Ordinary National Assembly. Of the 276 elected, 14 were women.

Moldova (Republic of Moldova)

After the First World War, the area largely belonged to Romania: From 1929 women were allowed to vote in local elections, but their right to vote was made dependent on their level of education, social position and special merits towards society.

The 1938 Constitution put men and women on an equal footing in terms of voting rights, and the 1939 Electoral Act stipulated that women and men who could read and write were allowed to vote at the age of 30.

After the occupation by the Soviet Union in 1940, the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic was formed and universal suffrage for women and men was introduced. In 1991 it was first renamed the Republic of Moldova , then the declaration of independence. After the declaration of independence, universal suffrage was confirmed in 1993.

Before independence, women from Moldova were elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Socialist Republic of Moldova and to the Parliament of the Soviet Union. In February 1990, nine women were elected seats in the national parliament. The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova became the first legislative body after the country gained independence in August 1991. The first elections after independence took place in February 1994, when five women out of 104 MPs won a seat.

Poland

In Poland, universal active and passive suffrage for women and men was introduced at the same time. This happened with the decree of November 28, 1918 on the election procedure for the Sejm shortly after the re-establishment of the Polish state.

On January 26, 1919, the first election took place in which women came to the national parliament. Six women received seats.

Romania

From 1929 women were allowed to take part in local elections, but their right to vote was made dependent on their level of education, social status and special merit towards society.

The 1938 Constitution put men and women on an equal footing in terms of voting rights, and the 1939 Electoral Act stipulated that women and men who could read and write were allowed to vote at the age of 30.

In 1946 the education census was abolished and universal suffrage was established for both sexes.

Universal male suffrage had been in place since 1918.

The first election of a woman to the national parliament took place on November 19, 1946; 18 women received seats.

Russian Federation

Maria Spiridonova (before 1906), the first woman to be elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

In 1906 Finland pioneered the question of women's suffrage for both Scandinavia and Europe and served as a model for post-revolutionary Russia. Russia was the first great power to grant women the right to vote.

Women's suffrage was first introduced in 1917. In May 1917, a law was passed giving Russian citizens over 20 the right to elect the Constituent Assembly. July 20, 1917 was celebrated by women as the big day on which the Provisional Government ratified the Constituent Assembly Election Act, which gave gender equality. But this achievement was short-lived: in the November Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks took power and established a communist regime. The post-revolutionary constitution of 1918 confirmed the active and passive right to vote for women.

The first woman to be elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was Maria Alexandrovna Spiridonova in 1922 . After independence in 1990, sixty women were elected to the lower house with 449 seats in December 1993 and 9 women were elected to the upper house with 176 members.

Slovakia / Slovak Republic

In the constitution of Czechoslovakia of February 29, 1920 the general active and passive right to vote for women was introduced. After independence, it was confirmed in 1993.

Fifteen women were elected to the Chamber of Deputies of the National Parliament of Czechoslovakia in April 1920, three women to the Senate in March 1920. The National Council , which was elected before the dissolution of Czechoslovakia , became the first legislative body in Slovakia after independence on January 1, 1993. The independent country's first general election took place in September 1994 when 22 female MPs were elected to the legislative body, which had 150 members. According to another source, fifteen women were elected to parliament in 1994.

Czech Republic / Czech Republic

For the city council elections of June 15, 1919, the same conditions applied to women and men for the first time.

Before the separation of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic , women in Czechoslovakia were granted universal right to vote and stand for election at the national level on February 29, 1920. The election to the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia took place on April 18 and 25, 1920. Fifteen women were elected to the Chamber of Deputies in April 1920 and three women to the Senate in March 1920. Before that, women had been elected to the federal parliament of Czechoslovakia.

After independence in 1992, universal suffrage for women and men was confirmed in 1993.

Hungary

Margit Slachta (photo from 1946), the first woman elected to the Hungarian parliament

After the peaceful civil revolution of 1918, the government of the new republic enacted People's Law Number 1 , which for the first time in Hungarian history guaranteed equal active and passive voting rights for both sexes, exercised through party lists. However, no elections were held on this basis. The conservative wing of the nationalist movement overthrew Prime Minister Mihály Károlyi in a counter-revolution, and women again lost the right to vote.

The post-revolutionary electoral law of November 1919, which was contained in Government Ordinance 5985/1919 / ME, then again guaranteed a gradually expanded right to vote. Women and men over 24 had the right to vote if they had been Hungarian for six years and had lived in Hungary for at least six months. Women's suffrage was limited to women who could read and write. Men were exempt from the age limit if they had served at the front for at least twelve weeks. A serious setback followed in 1922: a reform of the electoral law raised the voting age for women to 30. A certain school education was also a requirement: four years of elementary school for men and six for women (four if they had at least three children or were their own income and head of household) . Margit Slachta was elected to the national parliament in 1920 as the first woman. But the 1920 elections were shaken with intimidation and corruption.

In 1945 unrestricted voting rights were restored. But in 1948 the country was subjected to communism based on the Soviet model. The same right to vote for both sexes has been degraded to a formal right.

Ukraine

The general active and passive right to vote for women existed since March 10, 1919. Ukrainian women were elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine and elected to the Parliament of the Soviet Union. In March 1990, 13 women received seats in the last parliament of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine and remained in office after independence on December 25, 1991.

After independence in 1991 the general active and passive right to vote for women was confirmed. The first parliamentary elections after independence were held in April 1994, seven women were given seats.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 32.
  2. ↑ a b c - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. August 25, 1991, accessed September 30, 2018 .
  3. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 33.
  4. ↑ a b June Hannam, Mitzi Auchterlonie, Katherine Holden: International Encyclopedia of Women's Suffrage. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-57607-064-6 , p. 45.
  5. ↑ Krasimira Daskalova: Women's Suffrage in Bulgaria. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 321-337, pp. 329-330.
  6. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 52.
  7. ↑ a b c Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: Introduction: Transition to Modernity, the Conquest of Female Suffrage and Women's Citizenship. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 1-46, p. 46.
  8. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 54.
  9. ↑ Krasimira Daskalova: Women's Suffrage in Bulgaria. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 321-337, p. 335.
  10. ↑ Jenny Brumme: 'Inginer și femeie de servicu' - The Romanian language between patriarchal tradition and post-communist sexism. In: Wolfgang Dahmen (Hrsg.): Language and gender in Romania. Romance Languages Colloquium X . Volume 417 of the Tübingen Contributions to Linguistics, Gunter Narr Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-8233-5082-X , p. 68.
  11. ↑ a b c American Bar Association : Summary: Rights to Vote in Romania. ( Memento from October 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: impowr.org. April 29, 2013, accessed August 27, 2019.
  12. ^ Text of the constitution , quoted from: American Bar Association : Summary: Rights to Vote in Romania. ( Memento from October 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: impowr.org. April 29, 2013, accessed August 27, 2019.
  13. ↑ Official Gazette of Romania No. 106bis, May 9, 1939, Article 5, quoted from: American Bar Association : Summary: Rights to Vote in Romania. ( Memento from October 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: impowr.org. April 29, 2013, accessed August 27, 2019.
  14. ↑ Women's Equality Day: When did Women Around the World Start Voting? - WPSP. In: 50x50movement.org. August 26, 2017, accessed January 6, 2019 .
  15. ↑ a b c - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. April 15, 1978, accessed October 6, 2018 .
  16. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 260.
  17. ↑ Malgorzata Fuszara: Polish Women's Fight for Suffrage. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 143–157, p. 150.
  18. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 310.
  19. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 311.
  20. ↑ Jenny Brumme: 'Inginer și femeie de servicu' - The Romanian language between patriarchal tradition and post-communist sexism. In: Wolfgang Dahmen (Hrsg.): Language and gender in Romania. Romance Languages Colloquium X . Volume 417 of the Tübingen Contributions to Linguistics, Gunter Narr Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3-8233-5082-X , p. 68.
  21. ↑ Text of the 1938 constitution , quoted from: American Bar Association : Summary: Rights to Vote in Romania. ( Memento from October 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: impowr.org. April 29, 2013, accessed August 27, 2019.
  22. ↑ Official Gazette of Romania No. 106bis, May 9, 1939, Article 5, quoted from: American Bar Association : Summary: Rights to Vote in Romania. ( Memento from October 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: impowr.org. April 29, 2013, accessed August 27, 2019.
  23. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 316.
  24. ^ Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 438.
  25. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 319.
  26. ^ Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 194.
  27. ^ Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen, Klaus Landfried (eds.): The election of parliaments and other state organs. Volume 1: Europe . De Gruyter, Berlin 1969, ISBN 978-3-11-001157-9 , p. 1090.
  28. ↑ Bianka Pietrow-Ennker: Russia's "new people". The development of the women's movement from its beginnings to the October Revolution. Campus Verlag Frankfurt, New York, 1994, ISBN 3-593-36206-6 , S, 350.
  29. ↑ June Hannam, Mitzi Auchterlonie, Katherine Holden: International Encyclopedia of Women's Suffrage. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-57607-064-6 , p. 259.
  30. ↑ a b - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. Retrieved October 6, 2018 .
  31. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 322.
  32. ↑ a b United Nations Development Program: Human Development Report 2007/2008 . New York, 2007, ISBN 978-0-230-54704-9 , p. 343
  33. ↑ a b - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. January 31, 1919, accessed October 6, 2018 .
  34. ↑ Stanislava Luppová: záležitosť Mužská. Takto sa menil podiel žien v slovenskom parlamente. In: slovensko.hnonline.sk. March 24, 2016, accessed December 25, 2018 (Slovak).
  35. ↑ a b Dana Mulilová: Mothers of the Nation: Women's Vote in the Czech Republic. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 207-223, p. 216.
  36. ↑ a b c - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. February 29, 1920, accessed September 30, 2018 .
  37. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 102.
  38. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, pp. 103/104.
  39. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Csilla Kollonay-Lehoczky: Development Defined by Paradoxes: Hungarian Historx and Female Suffrage. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 421–437, pp. 428–429.
  40. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 171.
  41. ↑ a b June Hannam, Mitzi Auchterlonie, Katherine Holden: International Encyclopedia of Women's Suffrage. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-57607-064-6 , p. 123.
  42. ↑ a b Csilla Kollonay-Lehoczky: Development Defined by Paradoxes: Hungarian Historx and Female Suffrage. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 421-437, p. 430.
  43. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 393.
  44. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 394.