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Užhorod parliamentary by-election, 1924


Elections for deputies to the Czechoslovak parliament from the Užhorod electoral district (i.e. Subcarpathian Rus') were held on March 16, 1924 (to the assembly elected in the Czechoslovak parliamentary election, 1920). Nine members of the Chamber of Deputies and four senators were elected.

As borders in Europe shifted at the end of the First World War, the Ruthenian region of north-eastern Hungary was awarded to the new Czechoslovak Republic. Subcarpathian Rus' (also referred to as Carpathian Ruthenia, Transcarpathian Ruthenia, Transcarpathian Ukraine, etc., today constituting the Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine) hosted about 3.5% of the population of the Czechoslovak Republic. It was the least economically developed part of the Republic.

The concepts of national identity of its Slavic population varied, some saw themselves as Russians, some defined themselves as Ukrainians and some argued that they constituted a separate Ruthenian nation. Some 14% of the population was Jewish.

Elections for representatives to the Czechoslovak parliament from Subcarpathian Rus' had been delayed for some time, as the area had been placed under a joint military-civilian administration. Considering chaotic situation in the area with unstable borders, Romanian occupation until mid-1920 of large parts of the area and the lack of a regional assembly, the Czechoslovak government decided to delay voting for parliamentarians from Subcarpathian Rus'. On September 16, 1923 local elections were held in the area. Transitioning into civilian governance under the Czechoslovak Republic, Dr. Antonín Beskid was appointed governor of Subcarpathian Rus'. On February 23, 1924 the Czechoslovak government reported to the League of Nations was about to be held on March 16 and that the Czechoslovaks would report the results to the League of Nations by June 16 the same year.

Thirteen parties participated in the polls.

The Communist Party had a strong Jewish following in Subcarpathian Rus'. In the September 1923 village council elections in Subcarpathian Rus' the Communist Party had received less than 10% of the vote. For the 1924 by-election Communist Party ran an active campaign in spite of the prevailing repressive climate, with arrests of their agitators and ban on communist meetings. According to government sources the Communist Party held more mass meetings than any of the other parties in the fray.


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