Constitutional Democratic Party
political party in the Russian Empire
The Constitutional Democratic Party (Russian: Конституцио́нно-демократи́ческая па́ртия, romanized: Konstitutsionno-demokraticheskaya partiya, K-D), also called Constitutional Democrats and formally the Party of People's Freedom (Russian: Па́ртия Наро́дной Свобо́ды), was a political party in the Russian Empire that promoted Western constitutional monarchy—among other policies—and attracted a base ranging from moderate conservatives to mild socialists. Party members were called Kadets (or Cadets) from the abbreviation K-D of the party name. Konstantin Kavelin's and Boris Chicherin's writings formed the theoretical basis of the party's platform. Historian Pavel Miliukov was the party's leader throughout its existence.
The Kadets' base of support were primarily intellectuals and professionals; university professors and lawyers were particularly prominent within the party. Many Kadet party members were veterans of the zemstvo, local councils. The Constitutional Democratic Party formed from the merger of several liberal groupings, namely the Union of Liberation, the Union of Zemstvo Constitutionalists and the Union of Unions as well as the organization of bourgeois professionals and intellectuals, including teachers, lawyers, writers, physicians and engineers.
The Kadets' liberal economic program favored the workers' right to an eight-hour day and the right to take strike action. The Kadets "were unwaveringly committed to full citizenship for all of Russia's minorities" and supported Jewish emancipation. The party drew significant support from Jews (until 1916) and Volga Germans, and a significant number of each group were active party members.
“Constitutional Democratic Party” enters the record as political party in the Russian Empire. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Constitutional, Democratic and Party can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q155820. VIAF identifies the subject as 147740635. The Library of Congress control number is n80013465. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1916.
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This entry incorporates text from “Constitutional Democratic Party” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.