Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly

The Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly(, Komitet chlenov Uchreditelnogo sobraniya, abbreviated Komuch), a Democratic counterrevolutionary government in Russia during the Russian Civil War, formed in Samara on June 8, 1918 after the Czech Legion had occupied the city.

Komuch proclaimed itself the highest authority in Russia, temporarily acting on behalf of the Constituent Assembly on the territory, occupied by the interventionists and the Whites, until the convocation of the new composition of the Assembly. Initially, Komuch consisted of five Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) (V.K.Volsky - chairman, Ivan Brushvit, Prokopiy Klimushkin, Boris Fortunatov, Ivan Nesterov) - members of the Constituent Assembly, which had been dissolved by the Bolsheviks. Two other members, N. Shmelev and V. Abramov, are named in a declaration which the Komuch issued reinstating freedoms and setting forth fundamental principles. The Russian Revolution 1917-1921 by Ronald I. Kowalski, p.116

Subsequently, the Committee grew in size owing to the members of the Constituent Assembly (mainly SRs), who had come to Samara. Thus, by the end of September, Komuch numbered 96 members.

Komuch's executive body was the Council of Department Heads under the lead of Yevgeny Rogovsky. Having seized power with the help of the Czech Legion, Komuch announced "reinstatement" of democratic freedoms: they formally established an 8-hour working day, permitted worker's conferences...
Read More