Municipal elections in Rostov-on-Don at the end of the 19th century in the mirror of the Don periodical press (using the example of the newspaper “Priazovsky Krai”)

Abstract

Based on the materials of the daily regional newspaper “Priazovsky Krai”, the article examines the problems of local self-government in Rostov-on–Don, in particular, it analyzes the specifics of municipal elections in the city at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, their electoral base as an indicator of the electoral process. Special attention is paid to the coverage in the newspaper “Priazovsky Krai” of the aspirations of various groups of voters, the analysis of the complexity of the structure of active electors and the aggravation of the competition of “parties” on the eve and during the elections in this regard. The author’s close attention is focused on the transformation of election rhetoric and campaigning methods, which are reflected in the pages of the publication. The analysis of the publications makes it possible to identify key issues for the Rostov society of that period, which became the subject of citywide discussion. For the first time in Russian historiography, the role of the editorial office of the newspaper “Priazovsky Krai” in shaping a conscious and responsible attitude of the electorate to the choice of the vowels of the City Duma of Rostov-on-Don during the municipal elections of 1893-1897 is considered. The author comes to the conclusion that the role of the regional newspaper “Priazovsky Krai” in Rostov-on-Don can be traced to the organization of urban voters for conscious participation in municipal elections through the active educational work of the newspaper’s editorial staff, who regularly covered important issues of the current pre-election situation in the city, thus forming, although still weak, but nascent activity among voters.