Abstract: This article discusses the a memorandum of the member of the Control and Audit Committee under the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs – Efim Grigorievich Gerasimov (Gerasin). Having supported the socialist movement and subsequently the February and October Revolutions of 1917 since his youth years, the author of the document has analyzed the system of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers 'and Peasants' Deputies that established on the local level in late 1917 – early 1918 and gradually replaced the county self-government. The value of the source lies in the fact that the author of self-censorship revealed the flaws of the new local government, having expressed the concern that they may lead to a civil war in the country. E. G. Gerasimov (Gerasin) dedicated particular attention to the problem of dialogue between the Soviet deputies and central government, and proposed to institute the post of special emergency mediators for controlling the execution of all provisions and “encourage” the representatives of the Soviets. The conclusion is made that the elimination of the existing flaws required the so-called “democratic centralism” in Russia, which suggested the combination of electivity of local administration along with the governing and supervisory power of the central administration. In this regard, the content of the document allows taking a look at the Soviets of Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers’ Deputies through the prism of a person who worked in that system, without idealization or “touchup”.

Abstract: This article explores the establishment of civil society in Vladimir Governorate between the February and October Revolutions of 1917. Women for the first time became legally its full-fledged subject. Based on the documents preserved in the State Archive of Vladimir Region, State Archive of the Russian Federation, press materials (newspapers “Staryi Vladimirets”, “Vladimirskaya Zhizn”, "Svobodny Muromsky Golos”), the author examines the perception of the political events of that time by women of the governorate; outlines the urgent problems that women were concerned with; describes attitude towards the received suffrage and areas of manifestation of their social activity; as well as perception of the new in women’s rights by male part of the population. After the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia, the important steps were taken towards establishment of civil society with women being its full-fledged subject. Among the residents were not engaged in the revolutionary movement, most activity demonstrated the townswomen. They supported the implementation of universal suffrage, created women's communities, and participated in the discussion of urgent problems. Peasant women were mainly concerned with survivability of their families during difficult times. They were not familiar with the political life of the country and governorate, and unaffected by electoral campaigns into the district self-governance. This was justified by their tough financial situation, patriarchal structure in families, and lack of education.