Soviet democracy in the context of "Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic"

The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war. It can be seen as the precursor for other revolutions that occurred in the aftermath of World War I, such as the German Revolution of 1918–1919. The Russian Revolution was a key event of the 20th century.

The Russian Revolution was inaugurated with the February Revolution in 1917, in the midst of World War I. With the German Empire inflicting defeats on the front, and increasing logistical problems causing shortages of bread and grain, the Russian Army was losing morale, with large scale mutiny looming. Officials were convinced that if Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, the unrest would subside. Nicholas stepped down on 15 March [O.S. 2 March], ushering in a provisional government led by the Duma (parliament). During the unrest, Soviet councils were formed by locals in Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg) that initially did not oppose the new government; however, the Soviets insisted on their influence in the government and control over militias. By March, Russia had two rival governments. The Provisional Government held state power in military and international affairs, whereas the network of Soviets held domestic power. Critically, the Soviets held the allegiance of the working class, and urban middle class. There were mutinies, protests and strikes. Socialist and other leftist political organizations competed for influence within the Provisional Government and Soviets. Factions included the Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries, Anarchists, and the Bolsheviks, a far-left party led by Vladimir Lenin.

A soviet republic (from Russian: советская республика, romanized: sovetskaya respublika), also called a council republic, conciliar republic or sovietic republic, is a republic in which the government is formed of soviets (workers' councils) and politics are based on soviet democracy. During the Revolutions of 1917–1923, various revolutionary workers' movements across Europe declared independence or otherwise formed governments as soviet republics. Although the term is usually associated with the republics of the Soviet Union, it was not initially used to represent the political organisation of the Soviet Union, but merely a system of government.

The Soviet of Nationalities was the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, elected on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage in accordance with the principles of Soviet democracy. Until democratization in the late-1980s, however, only a single candidate nominated by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was permitted to stand for election in each constituency. It was briefly succeeded by the Soviet of the Republics from October to December 1991. As opposed to the Soviet of the Union, the Soviet of Nationalities was composed of the nationalities of the Soviet Union, which in turn followed administrative division rather than being a representation of ethnic groups.
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The Left Opposition (Russian: Левая оппозиция, romanized: Levaya oppozitsiya) was a faction within the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1923 to 1927 headed by Leon Trotsky, who formed it to mount a struggle against the perceived bureaucratic degeneration within the party leadership headed by Stalin after the death of the Bolshevik founder Lenin in 1924. The Left Opposition advocated for a programme of rapid industrialization, voluntary collectivisation of agriculture, and the expansion of a worker's democracy in a wider framework with the New Economic Policy.

Intellectuals who had previously lived in exile during the Tsarist era would constitute the core of the Left Opposition during the succession period. Members represented the most internationalist elements of the party and held offices at the highest responsibility with Christian Rakovsky, Adolph Joffe, and Nikolay Krestinsky holding ambassadorial posts in London, Paris, Tokyo, and Berlin.