October Revolution
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October Revolution
The proclamation of Soviet power in Russia.
Painting by V. Serov in 1962 The country is the Russian Republic
Date October 25 (November 7), 1917
For the reason, See.
Background of the October Revolution
The main goal is the elimination of capitalism and the implementation of socialist transformations[1]
The result is the victory of the Bolsheviks
The beginning of the Civil War
Creation of the Russian Soviet Republic
Organizers of the RSDLP(b)
The Second All Russian Congress of Soviets
The driving forces are Supporters of the transfer of state power to the Soviets
Opponents Supporters of the Provisional Government of Russia
The Provisional Government of Russia has been arrested
The October Revolution (the full official name in the USSR is the Great October Socialist Revolution, other names: "October Revolution" [2], "October Uprising", "Bolshevik Coup", "Great Russian Revolution" [3]) is one of the largest political events of the XX century that occurred in Russia in October 1917 and influenced the further course of world history.
As a result of the revolution, a Civil War began in Russia, the Provisional Government was overthrown and the government formed by the Second All Russian Congress of Soviets came to power, the absolute majority of whose delegates were the Bolsheviks (RSDLP(b)) and their allies, the Left Srs, supported also by some national organizations, a small part of the Menshevik internationalists, and some anarchists.
there was only one way to stop the demonstration of workers, soldiers and sailors: to promise that the CEC would solve the issue of power [69].
The right — wing socialists did not want to take power into their own hands, and, by agreement with the government, the CEC leadership called reliable troops from the front to restore order in the city[70].
The historian Yu.
Kiriyenko wrote that the beginning of the clash was probably provoked by members of right wing extremist organizations who opened fire from the roofs and windows of houses.
The historian V. Rodionov did not agree with him, who wrote that the clashes were provoked by the Bolsheviks, who planted their shooters on the roofs, who started firing machine guns at the demonstrators, while the greatest damage was inflicted by the Bolshevik machine gunners on both Cossacks and demonstrators[71].
Some historians do not share this opinion.[59]
[72].
The historian of the Russian Revolution and a participant in the anti Bolshevik struggle in exile, S. P. Melgunov, explained the existence of different, sometimes diametrically opposite, assessments of the role of the Bolsheviks in the July events by the fact that, in his opinion, the Bolsheviks organized the uprising on July 3-5, deliberately covered up with mimicry, which they prepared later — in October 1917 — as a way to retreat in case of failure of the adventure: "the Bolsheviks were forced to intervene in the spontaneous movement to give it organized forms"[73].
"Kornilov's speech"[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Kornilov's speech
After the troops entered Petrograd, first the Bolsheviks, and then the interdistricts and left Srs were accused of trying to overthrow the existing government by armed means and collaborating with Germany; arrests and arbitrary street massacres began.
In no case was the accusation proved, not a single accused was brought to trial, although, with the exception of Lenin and Zinoviev, who hid in the underground, all the accused were arrested [59].
Even the moderate socialist, the Minister of Agriculture Viktor Chernov, did not escape the accusation of cooperation with Germany; however, the resolute protest of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, which the government still had to reckon with, quickly turned the Chernov case into a "misunderstanding"[74].
On July 7 (20), the head of the government, Prince Lvov, resigned, and Kerensky became the minister chairman.
The new coalition government formed by him was engaged in disarming the workers and disbanding the regiments that not only participated in the July demonstrations, but also simply expressed their sympathies to the left wing socialists.
Order was restored in Petrograd and its environs; it was more difficult to restore order in the country.
Counter revolutionary armored car "Austin" surrounded by junkers at the Winter.
Summer of 1917
Desertion from the army, which began in 1915 and by 1917 reached, according to official data, 1.5 million, did not stop; tens of thousands of armed people roamed the country.
Due to the fact that the widespread demands of peasant gatherings about the "black redistribution" — the redistribution of land not cultivated by large owners, and the reduction of rent payments did not find an answer, the peasants began to organize themselves, creating land committees on their own initiative, headed by representatives of the rural intelligentsia, close to the social revolutionaries (teachers, priests, agronomists, zemstvo doctors).
Already in May and June 1917, many land committees began seizing agricultural equipment and livestock in landowners 'farms, grazing on landowners' pastures, cutting down in landowners ' forests.
During the summer, the agrarian unrest became more and more violent, which was also explained by the huge number of deserters who poured from the front.
Since the last days of August, arson and looting of landowners ' estates began, accompanied by the expulsion of the owners.
In Ukraine and in Russia — in the Tambov, Penza, Voronezh, Saratov, Orel, Tula, Ryazan provinces — thousands of estates were burned, hundreds of their owners were killed[14].
There was no one to suppress local protests: the soldiers sent to pacify them, most of them peasants, who were just as hungry for land, increasingly switched to the side of the rebels.
If in the first months after the revolution the Soviets could still restore order "with a stroke of the pen" (like the Petrograd Soviet in the days of the April crisis), then by mid summer their authority was undermined.
Confusion was growing in the country[34].
The Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries, having decided to join the Provisional Government in May, on the one hand, could not carry out the promised radical reforms and therefore began to lose their authority among some of the workers and peasants who supported them, and on the other hand, they gave up the "protest field" to the Bolsheviks[14].
The situation at the front also worsened: the German troops successfully continued the offensive launched back in July, and on the night of August 21 (September 3), the 12th Army, risking being surrounded, left Riga and Dvinsk and retreated to Wenden; neither the death penalty imposed by the government on July 12 at the front and the "military revolutionary courts" at the divisions, nor Kornilov's barrage detachments[75] helped.
While the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution were accused of overthrowing the "legitimate" government, the Provisional Government itself was well aware of its illegality.
It was created by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, but no provisions on the Duma gave it the right to form a government, did not provide for the creation of temporary committees with exclusive rights, and the term of office of the IV State Duma, elected in 1912, expired in 1917[76].
The government existed by the grace of the Soviets and depended on them.
But this dependence became more and more painful: intimidated and quiet after the July days, realizing that after the massacre of the left socialists, it would be the turn of the right, the Soviets were more hostile than ever before.
A friend and chief adviser, B. Savinkov, suggested to Kerensky a bizarre way to free himself from this dependence: to rely on the army in the person of General Kornilov, popular in right circles[77], who, however, according to eyewitnesses[78], did not understand from the very beginning why he should serve as Kerensky's support, and believed that "the only outcome... is the establishment of a dictatorship and the declaration of martial law for the whole country"[79].
Kerensky requested fresh troops from the front, a corps of regular cavalry with a liberal general at the head, - Kornilov sent Cossack units of the 3rd Cavalry Corps and a Native ("Wild") division under the command of a completely non liberal Lieutenant General A. M. Krymov to Petrograd [80].
Suspecting something was wrong, Kerensky on August 27 dismissed Kornilov from the post of commander — in chief, ordering him to hand over his powers to the chief of staff Kornilov refused to recognize his resignation; in order No. 897 issued on August 28, Kornilov stated: "Taking into account that further fluctuations are deadly dangerous under the current situation and that it is too late to cancel the previously given orders, I, realizing all responsibility, decided not to hand over the post of Supreme Commander in order to save the Motherland from imminent death, and the Russian people from German slavery"[81].
The decision taken, according to Milyukov, "secretly from persons who had the closest right to participate in it"[82], for many sympathizers, starting with Savinkov, made it impossible to further support Kornilov: "Deciding to " speak openly" to "pressure" the government, Kornilov hardly thought about what this step was called in the language of the law and under what article of the criminal code his act could be summed up"[83].
Even on the eve of the mutiny, on August 26, another government crisis broke out: the Cadet ministers, who sympathized, if not with Kornilov himself, then with his cause, resigned.
The government turned out to have no one to turn to for help, except the Soviets, who perfectly understood that the "irresponsible organizations"constantly mentioned by the general[81], against which energetic measures should be taken, are precisely the Soviets.
But the Soviets themselves were strong only with the support of the Petrograd workers and the Baltic Fleet.
Trotsky tells how on August 28, the sailors of the cruiser Aurora, who were called to guard the Winter Palace (where the government moved after the July days), came to him at Kresty to consult: is it worth protecting the government — isnot it time to arrest it?[84]
Trotsky considered that it was not time, but the Petrograd Soviet, in which the Bolsheviks did not yet have a majority, but had already become a striking force, thanks to its influence among the workers and in Kronstadt, sold its help dearly, demanding the arming of the workers — in case it came to fighting in the city — and the release of the arrested comrades.
The government satisfied the second demand by half, agreeing to release the arrested on bail.
However, with this forced concession, the government actually rehabilitated them: release on bail meant that if the arrested people had committed any crimes, then, in any case, not serious ones.
It did not come to fighting in the city: the troops were stopped on the distant approaches to Petrograd without a single shot being fired.
Subsequently, one of those who was supposed to support Kornilov's speech in Petrograd itself, Colonel Dutov, said about the "armed Bolshevik action": "Between August 28 and September 2, I was supposed to speak under the guise of Bolsheviks...
But I ran to the economic club to call to go out, but no one followed me"[85].
The Kornilov mutiny, more or less openly supported by a significant part of the officers, could not but aggravate the already difficult mutual relations this, in turn, did not contribute to the unity of the army and allowed Germany to successfully develop the offensive[86].
Lev Trotsky, Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet
As a result of the mutiny, the workers disarmed in July were re armed, and Trotsky, released on bail, headed the Petrograd Soviet on September 25.
However, even before the Bolsheviks and the left Social Revolutionaries gained a majority, on August 31 (September 13), the Petrograd Soviet adopted a resolution proposed by the Bolsheviks on the transfer of power to the Soviets: almost all non party deputies voted for it[87].
More than a hundred local councils adopted similar resolutions on the same day or the next, and on September 5 (18), Moscow also spoke in favor of transferring power to the Soviets.
On September 1 (14), Russia was proclaimed a Republic by a special government act signed by Minister Chairman Kerensky and Minister of Justice A. S. Zarudny.
The Provisional government did not have the authority to determine the form of government, the act, instead of enthusiasm, caused confusion and was perceived — equally by both the left and the right — as a bone thrown to the socialist parties, who were at that time clarifying Kerensky's role in the Kornilov rebellion.
Democratic Conference and Pre Parliament[edit / edit wiki text]
Main articles: All Russian Democratic Conference, Provisional Council of the Russian Republic
It was not possible to rely on the army;
The Soviets were leftwing, despite all the repressions against the left socialists, and partly thanks to them, especially noticeably — after Kornilov's speech, and became an unreliable support even for the right socialists.
At the same time, the government (or rather, the Directory that temporarily replaced it) was subjected to harsh criticism from both the left and the right[25]: the socialists could not forgive Kerensky for trying to conspire with Kornilov, the right could not forgive betrayal.
In search of support, the Directory met the initiative of the right — wing socialists members of the CEC, who convened the so called Democratic Meeting.
The initiators invited representatives of political parties, public organizations and institutions by their own choice and least of all observing the principle of proportional representation; such corporate representation, selected from above, even less than the Soviets (elected from below by the overwhelming majority of citizens), could serve as a source of legitimate power[17], but could, as it was supposed, displace the Soviets on the political scene and save the new government from having to apply for approval to the CEC.
Opened on September 14 (27), 1917.
The democratic conference, at which some of the initiators hoped to form a "homogeneous democratic government"[88], and others to create a representative body to which the government would be accountable before the Constituent Assembly, did not solve either task, only exposed the deepest differences in the democratic camp.
The composition of the government was finally left to Kerensky to determine, and the Provisional Council of the Russian Republic (the Pre Parliament), during the discussions, turned from a controlling body into an advisory one; and in composition it turned out to be much to the right of the Democratic Conference.
The results of the Meeting could not satisfy either the left or the right; the weakness of democracy demonstrated at it only added arguments to both Lenin and Milyukov: both the leader of the Bolsheviks and the leader of the Cadets believed that there was no place left for democracy in the country — both because the growing anarchy objectively required a strong government, and because the entire course of the revolution only increased polarization in society (as shown by the municipal elections held in August and September)[89].
The collapse of industry continued, the food crisis worsened; since the beginning of September, the strike movement has been growing; serious "riots" have arisen in one or another region, and soldiers have increasingly become the initiators of riots; the situation at the front has become a source of constant anxiety.
On September 25 (October 8), a new coalition government was formed, and on September 29 (October 12), the German Navy began the Monozund operation, which ended on October 6 (19) with the capture of the Monozund archipelago.
Only the heroic resistance of the Baltic Fleet, which raised red flags on all its ships on September 9, did not allow the Germans to advance further.
The half starved and half dressed army, according to the commander of the Northern Front, General Cheremisov, selflessly endured hardships, but the impending autumn cold threatened to put an end to this long suffering.
The unfounded rumors that the government was going to move to Moscow and surrender Petrograd to the Germans added fuel to the fire.
Red Fiat Izhorsky at Smolny.
Autumn 1917
In this situation, on October 7 (20), the Pre Parliament opened in the Mariinsky Palace.
At the very first meeting, the Bolsheviks, having announced their declaration, defiantly left it.
The main issue that the Pre Parliament had to deal with throughout its short history was the state of the army.
The right wing press claimed that the Bolsheviks were corrupting the army with their agitation, the Pre Parliament said something else: the army is extremely poorly supplied with food, is experiencing an acute shortage of uniforms and shoes, does not understand and has never understood the goals of the war[90]; the program of improving the army, developed even before the Kornilov speech, the Minister of War A. I. Verkhovsky found impracticable, and two weeks later, against the background of new defeats (on the Dvinsky bridgehead and on the Caucasian Front) concluded that the continuation of the war is impossible in principle[91].
P. N. Milyukov testifies that even some leaders of the Constitutional Democrats party shared Verkhovsky's position, but — "the only alternative would be a separate peace... and no one wanted to go to a separate peace then, no matter how clear it was that it would be possible to cut the hopelessly tangled knot only by getting out of the war"[92].
The peace initiatives of the Minister of War ended with his resignation on October 23.
But the main events unfolded far from the Mariinsky Palace, in the Smolny Institute, where the government had evicted the Petrograd Soviet and the Central Election Commission at the end of July.
"The workers," Trotsky wrote in his History, " went on strike layer by layer, despite the warnings of the party, the soviets, and the trade unions.
Only those strata of the working class that were already consciously heading for a coup did not enter into conflicts.
Petrograd, perhaps, remained the calmest of all"[93].
The version of "German financing"[edit / edit wiki text]
Main articles: The sealed car, The question of financing the Bolsheviks by Germany, Parvus, Alexander Lvovich
Ulyanov (Lenin) in a wig and makeup.
The card on the certificate in the name of the worker K. P. Ivanov
Already in 1917, there was an idea that the German government, interested in Russia's withdrawal from the war, purposefully organized the transfer from Switzerland to Russia of representatives of the radical faction of the RSDLP led by Lenin in the so called "sealed car"[94].
In particular, S. P. Melgunov followed by Milyukov argued that the German government through A. L. Parvus financed the Bolsheviks, aimed at undermining the combat capability of the Russian army and the disorganization of the defense industry and transport.
A. F. Kerensky in exile reported that in April 1917 the French Minister of the socialist A. Thomas handed over to the Interim government information about the relationships of the Bolsheviks with the Germans, [59]; the corresponding charge was brought against the Bolsheviks in July 1917[59].
And at present, many domestic and foreign researchers and writers adhere to this version[95].
Some confusion is caused by the idea of L. D. Trotsky as an Anglo American spy[96], and this problem also dates back to the spring of 1917, when reports appeared in the Cadet "Speech" that while in the United States, Trotsky received 10,000 either marks or dollars[97].
This view explains the differences between Lenin and Trotsky over the Brest Peace (the Bolshevik leaders received money from various sources), but leaves open the question: whose action was the October Coup, to which Trotsky, as chairman of the Petrograd Soviet and the actual head of the Military Revolutionary Committee, had the most direct relation?
Historians have other questions about this version[98].
Germany had to close the Eastern front, and her God ordered to maintain Russia's opponents of war, whether follows from this that the opponents of the war were Germany and had no other reason to achieve an end to the "world war"?
The Entente States, for its part, was vitally interested in the preservation and revitalization of the Eastern front and was supported by the Russian supporters of the "war to the bitter end"[99], — following the same logic, why not assume that opponents of the Bolsheviks was inspired by the "gold" in other origin, and not the interests of Russia?
[100].
All parties needed money, all self respecting parties had to spend a lot of money on agitation and propaganda, on election campaigns (there were many elections at various levels in 1917), and so on, and so on — and all the countries involved in the First World War had their own interests in Russia; but the question of the sources of funding for the parties that were defeated is no longer of interest to anyone and remains practically unexplored[100].
In the early 90s, the American historian S. Lyanders discovered documents in the Russian archives, according to confirming that in 1917, members of the Central Committee's Foreign Bureau received monetary subsidies from the Swiss socialist Karl Moore; it later turned out that the Swiss was a German agent.
However, the subsidies amounted to only 113,926 Swiss crowns (or $ 32,837)[101], and even those were used abroad to organize the 3rd Zimmerwald conference[102].
So far, this is the only documentary evidence of the Bolsheviks receiving "German money"[103].
As for A. L. Parvus[104], it is generally difficult to separate German money from non German money on his accounts, since by 1915 he himself was already a millionaire[105]; and if his involvement in the financing of the RSDLP(b) had been proved, it would have had to be specially proved that it was German money that was used, and not Parvus ' personal savings.
Serious historians are more interested in another question: what role could financial assistance (or other patronage) from one side or the other play in the events of 1917?[100][101]
[106].
The cooperation of the Bolsheviks with the German General Staff is intended to prove the "sealed car" in which a group of Bolsheviks led by Lenin passed through Germany.
But a month later, thanks to the mediation of R. Grimm, which Lenin refused, two more "sealed cars" with Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries followed the same route, [107] - but not all parties were helped to win by the Kaiser's alleged patronage.
The complicated financial affairs of the Bolshevik Pravda allow us to assert or assume that interested Germans helped it; but despite all the funding, Pravda remained a "small newspaper" (D. Reed tells how on the night of the coup the Bolsheviks seized the printing house of Russian Will and printed their newspaper in a large format for the first time[108]), which was constantly closed after the July days and forced to change its name; dozens of large newspapers conducted anti Bolshevik propaganda why was the little Pravda stronger?
The same applies to all Bolshevik propaganda, which is supposed to have been financed by the Germans: the Bolsheviks (and their internationalist allies) with their anti war agitation, they broke up the army — but a much larger number of parties with disproportionately greater opportunities and means at that time were agitating for "war to the victorious end", appealed to patriotic feelings, accused the workers of betrayal with their demand for an 8 hour working day — why did the Bolsheviks win such an unequal battle?
A. F. Kerensky insisted on the Bolsheviks ' ties with the German General Staff both in 1917 and decades later; in July 1917, with his participation, a communique was drawn up in which "Lenin and his associates" were accused of creating a special organization "to support the hostile actions of countries at war with Russia"[109]; but on October 24, speaking for the last time in the Pre Parliament and fully aware of his doom, he polemicized in absentia with the Bolsheviks not as German agents, but as proletarian revolutionaries: Russian Russian political party "The organizers of the uprising do not assist the proletariat of Germany, but assist the ruling classes of Germany, open the front of the Russian state to the armored fist of Wilhelm and his friends...
The Provisional Government is indifferent to the motives, it does not matter whether it is consciously or unconsciously, but, in any case, in the consciousness of my responsibility, from this pulpit, I qualify such actions of the Russian political party as betrayal and treason to the Russian state..." [100]
The armed uprising in Petrograd[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: The October Armed Uprising in Petrograd
On October 18, a meeting of representatives of the regiments, at Trotsky's suggestion, adopted a resolution on the insubordination of the garrison to the Provisional Government; only those orders of the military district headquarters that were confirmed by the soldiers ' section of the Petrograd Soviet could be executed.
Even earlier, on October 9 (22), 1917, the right wing socialists submitted to the Petrograd Soviet a proposal to create a Committee of Revolutionary Defense to protect the capital from the dangerously approaching Germans; according to the initiators, the Committee was supposed to attract and organize workers to actively participate in the defense of Petrograd — the Bolsheviks saw in this proposal an opportunity to legalize the workers ' Red Guard and its equally legal weapons and training for the upcoming uprising.
On October 16 (29), the plenum of the Petrograd Soviet approved the creation of this body, but already as a Military Revolutionary Committee.
The most important events of the October revolution
The" course for an armed uprising " was adopted by the Bolsheviks at the Sixth Congress, in early August, but at that time the party, driven underground, could not even prepare for an uprising: the workers who sympathized with the Bolsheviks were disarmed, their military organizations were defeated, the revolutionary regiments of the Petrograd garrison were disbanded.
The opportunity to rearm was presented only in the days of the Kornilov revolt, but after its liquidation it seemed that a new page in the peaceful development of the revolution had opened.
It was only on the 20th of September, after the Bolsheviks had taken over the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets, and after the failure of the Democratic Conference, that Lenin again started talking about the uprising, and only on October 10 (23), the Central Committee adopted a resolution to put the uprising on the agenda.
On October 16 (29), an expanded meeting of the Central Committee, with the participation of representatives of the districts, confirmed the decision.
File:Armed Uprising in Petrograd on October 24-25 (November 6-7), 1917, Schematic map2.svg Armed uprising in Petrograd on October 24-25 (November 6-7), 1917, schematic map
Having obtained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet, the left socialists actually restored the pre — July dual power in the city, and for two weeks the two authorities openly measured forces: the government ordered the regiments to go to the front, — the Council appointed an inspection of the order and, having established that it was dictated not by strategic, but by political motives, ordered the regiments to stay in the city; the commander of the military forbade issuing weapons to workers from the arsenals of Petrograd and the surrounding area, — The Council issued a warrant, and weapons were issued; in response, the government tried to arm its supporters with rifles from the arsenal of the Peter and Paul Fortress, - a representative of the Council appeared, and the issue of weapons stopped;
On October 21, a meeting of representatives of the regiments in the adopted resolution recognized the Petrograd Soviet as the sole authority.
110][111].
Historical photo of P. A. Otsup.
The armored car "Lieutenant Schmidt", captured by the Red Guards from the Junkers.
Petrograd, October 25, 1917
The Military Revolutionary Committee appointed its commissars to all strategically important institutions and actually took them under its control.
Finally, on October 24, Kerensky once again closed the renamed Pravda, not for the first time, and ordered the arrest of the Committee; but the Soviet easily repulsed the printing house of Pravda, and there was no one to execute the arrest order.
A participant in the events of 1917, a member of the Party of People's Socialists, historian S. P. Melgunov believed that in the context of the national situation of the October days, the seizure of power in Russia by the Bolsheviks was not inevitable, it was made inevitable by the specific mistakes of the Government, which had every opportunity to prevent it, but did not do it, being sure that the same fate awaits the Bolsheviks as in the July days.
The opponents of the Bolsheviks right socialists and Cadets- "scheduled" the uprising first for the 17th, then for the 20th, then for October 22 (declared the Day of the Petrograd Soviet), the government tirelessly prepared for it, but the coup that took place on the night of October 24-25 was a surprise for everyone, because they imagined it completely differently: they expected a repeat of the July days, armed demonstrations of the garrison regiments, only this time with the expressed intention to arrest the government and seize power.
But there were no demonstrations, and the garrison was almost not involved; detachments of the workers ' red Guard and sailors of the Baltic Fleet were simply completing the work that the Petrograd Soviet had begun long ago to turn the dual power into the one — power of the Soviet: they brought down the bridges built by Kerensky, disarming the guards posted by the government, took control of the railway stations, the power plant, the telephone station, the telegraph, etc., etc., and all this without a single shot, calmly and methodically — the members of the Provisional Government, who had not slept that night, led by for a long time they could not understand what was happening with Kerensky, they learned about the actions of the VRK by "secondary signs": at some point the phones were turned off in the Winter Palace, then the lights were turned off…
The announcement of the VRK on the deposition of the Provisional Government
An attempt by a small detachment of junkers led by the People's Socialist V. B. Stankevich to recapture the telephone exchange ended in failure, and on the morning of October 25 (November 7), only the Winter Palace, surrounded by Red Guard detachments, remained under the control of the Provisional Government.
The forces of the defenders of the Provisional Government consisted of about 200 shockwomen of the women's death battalion, 2-3 companies of junkers and 40 disabled St. George Cavaliers, led by a captain on prosthetics.
115].
At 10 o'clock in the morning on October 25, the Military Revolutionary Committee issued an appeal "To the citizens of Russia!".
"State power," it was reported, "has passed into the hands of the organ of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, the Military Revolutionary Committee, which stands at the head of the Petrograd proletariat and the garrison.
The cause for which the people fought: the immediate proposal of a democratic peace, the abolition of landowner ownership of land, workers 'control over production, the creation of a Soviet government — this cause is secured"[116].
At 21:00, a blank shot from the Peter and Paul Fortress gave the signal for the beginning of the assault on the Winter Palace.
At 2 a.m. on October 26 (November 8), armed workers, soldiers of the Petrograd garrison and sailors of the Baltic Fleet led by Vladimir Antonov Ovseenko took the Winter Palace and arrested the Provisional Government.
(see also The Storming of the Winter Palace).
Cruiser "Aurora"
II All Russian Congress of Soviets[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: II All Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies
At 22: 40 on October 25 (November 7), the Second All Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies opened in Smolny, at which the Bolsheviks, together with the left Srs, received most of the votes.
The right wing socialists left the congress in protest against the coup, but they could not break the quorum by leaving.
Revolutionary sailors of Kronstadt with the flag "Death to the bourgeoisie"
Relying on the victorious uprising, the Congress proclaimed the transfer of power to the Soviets in the center and on the ground with the appeal "To the Workers, soldiers and Peasants!"
[117].
On the evening of October 26 (November 8), at its second meeting, the Congress adopted a Decree on Peace all belligerent countries and peoples were invited to immediately begin negotiations on concluding a universal democratic peace without annexations and indemnities — as well as a decree on the abolition of the death penalty and a Decree on land, according to which landowners ' land was subject to confiscation, all land, subsoil, forests and water were nationalized, peasants received over 150 million hectares of land.
The Congress elected the highest body of Soviet power — the All Russian Central Executive Committee (VTSIK) (chairman L. B. Kamenev, from November 8 (21) - Ya. M. Sverdlov); at the same time, it decided that the VTSIK should be replenished with representatives of peasant Soviets, army organizations and groups that left the congress on October 25.
Finally, the congress formed a government the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), headed by Lenin.
With the formation of the VTSIK and the SNK, the construction of the highest state authorities of Soviet Russia began.
Formation of the government[edit / edit wiki text]
Main articles: Homogeneous Socialist Government, Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR
The government elected by the Congress of Soviets — the Council of People's Commissars — initially included only representatives of the RSDLP(b): the left srs "temporarily and conditionally"[118] rejected the Bolshevik proposal, wanting to become a bridge between the RSDLP(b) and those socialist parties that did not participate in the uprising, qualified it as a criminal adventure and left the Congress in protest — the Mensheviks and Srs.
The composition of the first Soviet government was as follows:
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) People's Commissar for Internal Affairs A. I. Rykov People's Commissar for Agriculture V. P. Milyutin People's Commissar for Labor A. G. Shlyapnikov People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs committee, consisting of: V. A. Ovseenko (Antonov) (in the text of the Decree on the formation of the SNK — Avseenko), N. V. Krylenko and P. E. Dybenko People's Commissar for Trade and Industry V. P. Nogin People's Commissar for Public Education A.V. Lunacharsky People's Commissar for Finance I. I. Skvortsov (Stepanov) People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L. D. Bronstein (Trotsky) People's Commissar of Justice G. I. Oppokov (Lomov) People's Commissar for Food Affairs I. A. Teodorovich People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs N. P. Avilov (Glebov) People's Commissar for Ethnic Affairs I. V. Dzhugashvili (Stalin)
The post of People's Commissar for Railway Affairs remained temporarily unfilled.
The vacant post of People's Commissar for Railway Affairs was later occupied by M. T. Elizarov.
On November 12, in addition to the Decree on the creation of the SNK, Kollontai, Alexandra Mikhailovna, the first female minister in the world, was appointed People's Commissar of State Charity.
On November 19, Eduard Eduardovich Essen was appointed People's Commissar of the State Control.
On October 29 (November 11), the All Russian Executive Committee of the Railway Trade Union (Vikzhel), under the threat of a strike, demanded the creation of a "homogeneous socialist government"; on the same day, the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) at its meeting recognized it desirable to include representatives of other socialist parties in the Council of People's Commissars (in particular, Lenin was ready to offer V. M. Chernov the portfolio of People's Commissar of Agriculture) and entered into negotiations.
However, extended right wing socialists requirements (among others — exclusion from the government of Lenin and Trotsky as "personal perpetrators of the October revolution"[119] the chairmanship of one of the leaders of the AKP — Chernov V. M. or N. D. avksent'eva, Supplement Tips a number of non political organizations in which right wing socialists still retained the majority) were found to be unacceptable not only the Bolsheviks, and the left SRS: negotiations 2(15) November 1917 was interrupted, and left socialist revolutionaries, some time later, entered the government, leading including the people's Commissariat of agriculture.
The Bolsheviks, on the basis of a "homogeneous socialist government", gained an internal party opposition led by Kamenev, Zinoviev, Rykov and Nogin, which in its statement of November 4 (17), 1917, claimed: "On November 14 (1), the Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolsheviks) adopted a resolution that actually rejected an agreement with the parties that are members of the Soviet of R. and S. Deputies for the formation of a socialist Soviet government"[120].
Resistance[edit / edit wiki text]
See also: The Kerensky — Krasnov campaign against Petrograd, the Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution, and the October Armed Uprising in Moscow in 1917
On the morning of October 25, Kerensky left Petrograd in a car with an American flag[121] and went to the suburbs of Petrograd in search of units loyal to the government coming from the front.
In the evening of October 25, 1917, the Petrograd City Duma organized three delegations to prevent bloodshed — to the cruiser Aurora, to the Smolny headquarters of the Bolsheviks and to the Winter Palace.
But after a couple of hours, all three delegations returned with nothing — they were not missed by the patrols.
Then the members of the Duma went to the Winter Palace, but the Duma procession, along with the crowd of the public that joined it, was also stopped by patrols.
On the night of October 25-26 (November 8), the right wing socialists, in contrast to the Military Revolutionary Committee, created the Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution;
The committee, headed by the right wing socialist Revolutionary A. R. Gotz, distributed anti Bolshevik leaflets, supported the sabotage of officials and Kerensky's attempt to overthrow the government created by the Second All Russian Congress, called for armed resistance of his like minded people in Moscow.
Finding sympathy with P. N. Krasnov and appointing him commander of all the armed forces of the Petrograd Military District, Kerensky and the Cossacks of the 3rd Corps at the end of October undertook a campaign against Petrograd[122] (see Kerensky — Krasnov's Campaign against Petrograd).
In the capital itself, on October 29 (November 11), the Salvation Committee organized an armed uprising of junkers.
The uprising was suppressed on the same day;
On November 1 (14), Kerensky was also defeated.
In Gatchina, having conspired with a detachment of sailors led by P. E. Dybenko, the Cossacks were ready to give them the former Minister of the chairman, and Kerensky had no choice but to disguise himself as a sailor and hastily leave both Gatchina and Russia[123].
Events developed differently in Moscow than in Petrograd.
Educated in the evening of 25 October, the Moscow Soviet of workers 'and soldiers' deputies VRK[124] in accordance with the resolution of the Second Congress on the transfer of power to the Soviets, the night has taken under the control strategically important objects (Arsenal, the Telegraph, the Bank etc.).
In contrast to the RMC was created the Committee of public safety ("the Committee for the salvation of the revolution"), which was headed by the Chairman of the city Council right SR V. V. Rudnev.
The Committee, supported by junkers and Cossacks, headed by the commander of the MVO troops, K. I. Ryabtsev, announced on October 26 that it recognized the decisions of the Congress[125].
However, on October 27 (November 9), having received a message about the beginning of the Kerensky — Krasnov campaign on Petrograd, according to Sukhanov, on the direct instructions of the Petrograd Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution, the MVO headquarters presented an ultimatum to the Council (demanding, in particular, the dissolution of the VRK) and, since the ultimatum was rejected, on the night of October 28, began military operations[126].
On October 27 (November 9), 1917, the All Russian Executive Committee of the Railway Workers ' Trade Union (Vikzhel), declaring itself a neutral organization, demanded "an end to the civil war and the creation of a homogeneous socialist government from the Bolsheviks to the people's Socialists inclusive."
The most compelling arguments were the refusal to transport troops to Moscow, where there were battles, and the threat of organizing a general strike on transport.[127]
The Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) decided to enter into negotiations and seconded the chairman of the VTSIK L. B. Kamenev and a member of the Central Committee G. Ya.
Sokolnikov to them.
However, the negotiations, which lasted several days, ended in nothing.
The fighting in Moscow continued — with a one day truce until November 3 (November 16), when, without waiting for help from troops from the front, the Public Security Committee agreed to lay down its arms.
During these events, several hundred people died, 240 of whom were buried on November 10-17 on Red Square in two mass graves, marking the beginning of the Necropolis near the Kremlin Wall (See also the October Armed Uprising in Moscow (1917)).
Russia is the most anti militaristic country.
December 1917
Most of the civil servants did not recognize the coup that had taken place and responded to it with passive resistance.
Only in Petrograd, about 50 thousand employees of state and commercial structures stopped performing their duties.
It was possible to break this "sabotage" only by the spring of 1918.
The shortage of employees was compensated by sending workers of large St. Petersburg enterprises to Soviet institutions.
In some cases, up to 75 % of the states were completed at their expense.
128]
Strengthening the political base of the Soviet government and the coalition of the Bolsheviks with the left srs[edit / edit wiki text]
On November 11 (24) — November 25 (December 8), 1917, an Extraordinary All Russian Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies was held in Petrograd.
The first meeting was attended by about 260 delegates with a decisive vote, on November 18 (December 1) — 330 delegates (left SRS 195, Bolsheviks 37, SRS of the center and right 65, etc.).
In the following days, the number of delegates increased.
Having approved the policy of the Council of People's Commissars, the delegates of this congress voted by a majority in favor of the participation of left Social Revolutionaries in it.
The Extraordinary Congress decided to convene the Second All Russian Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies, and the temporary Executive Committee of Soviets of Peasant Deputies elected by the Extraordinary Congress merged with the VTSIK.
On November 15 (28), a joint meeting of the Central Executive Committee, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies and the Extraordinary All Russian Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies was held in Smolny, which confirmed the decrees of the 2nd All Russian Congress of Soviets on peace and land and the decree of the Central Executive Committee on Workers ' control of November 14(27), 1917.
The Second All Russian Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies took place in Petrograd on November 26 — December 10 (December 9-23), 1917.
It was attended by 790 delegates, including 305 social revolutionaries of the center and the right, 350 left social revolutionaries, 91 Bolsheviks, etc.
The right wing Social Revolutionaries took the position of defending the Constituent Assembly and considering the "so called" Council of People's Commissars an" illegal power grab".
The other part of the congress supported the Soviet government.
As the contradictions between the supporters and opponents of the Soviet government grew, the congress split roughly in half and the opposing delegates began to sit separately.
The Bolsheviks and the left Social Revolutionaries concluded an agreement on the entry of 108 members of the Executive Committee of the Soviets of Peasant Deputies into the united Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers 'and Peasants' Deputies.[128][129][130]
17 November and 13 December, the representatives of the left socialist revolutionaries became part of the CPC.
A. L. Kolegayev headed the people's Commissariat of agriculture, V. A. Karelin — people's Commissariat of the assets of the Russian Republic, p. p. Proshyan — people's Commissariat of posts and telegraphs, V. E. Trutovsky — people's Commissariat of local government, I. Z. Steinberg — the people's Commissariat of justice; V. A. Alhazov and A. I. Diamond received the status of "'s Ministers without portfolio".
The establishment of Soviet power on the ground[edit / edit wiki text]
See also: The Collapse of Russia in 1915-1922
The positions of the Bolsheviks in the local self government bodies were extremely weak.
In 50 provincial cities, they had 7% of seats, in 413 county — 2 %.
The local self government bodies entered into a struggle with the local Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' deputies.
But only in 15 major cities out of 84 there was an armed confrontation.[131]
Thus, in Kaluga, Soviet power was established with the help of revolutionary detachments from Moscow and Minsk.
In the Central Industrial District (Ivanovo Voznesensk, Kostroma, Tver, Yaroslavl, Ryazan, etc.), many local Soviets of Workers ' deputies actually seized power even before the October revolution, and after it only legalized their position.
In general, Soviet power was established in the Central Industrial District by the end of December 1917.
In the Central Chernozem region and in the Volga region, where the Social Revolutionaries enjoyed great influence, the process of recognizing Soviet power dragged on until the end of January 1918.
Only in January 1918, after fierce resistance, Soviet power was established in Irkutsk.
The People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs pointed out: "With the existence of Soviets, there should be no place for zemstvo and city self governments…
The liquidation of local governments should be carried out gradually, as they master the work that has hitherto lain on the self government bodies."
Even at the beginning of 1918, in many cities, Soviets and city dumas continued to coexist.
In addition, coalition authorities became widespread in the province, which, along with representatives of the Soviets, included figures of local self government (dumas, zemstvos), trade unions and cooperatives.
They were dominated by moderately socialist elements.
Such bodies had various names: the "Committee of People's Power" in Astrakhan, the Military Revolutionary Committee of the "United Democracy" on the Don, the Regional Committee of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers 'and Peasants' Deputies and Local Governments in the Far East, etc.
In the Trans Baikal Region, the "People's Council" on a proportional basis included representatives of the main groups of the rural population (peasants, Cossacks, Buryats), Councils of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, as well as city self government bodies.
In the territories of Estonia and Latvia, which were not occupied by the Germans, as well as in Belarus, the Soviet power was established in October November 1917.
In the active army, the process of recognizing Soviet power took place gradually, from north to south.
On the Western Front, already on October 25, the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Western Region was created, which thwarted the attempt of the front headquarters to defeat the Bolsheviks and removed the front commander.
For refusing to carry out the orders of the SNK, the commander in chief N. N. Dukhonin was removed and replaced by the Bolshevik N. V. Krylenko.
After his arrest on November 20, Dukhonin was killed by soldiers on the same day (see the article Occupation of the Supreme Commander's Headquarters by the Bolsheviks (1917)) right in front of the car of the Soviet commander in chief.
The congress of representatives of the Western Front, held on the same day in Minsk, elected a new commander — the Bolshevik A. F. Myasnikov.
On the Southwestern, Romanian and Caucasian fronts, Soviet power was recognized only in December 1917 January 1918.
All the Cossack regions did not recognize the Soviet government.
Already on October 25, 1917, Ataman A.M. Kaledin introduced martial law in the Don army region and established contacts with the Cossack leadership of Orenburg, Kuban, Astrakhan, and Terek.
Having fifteen thousand troops, he managed to capture Rostov on Don, Taganrog, a significant part of the Donbass.
On December 25, 1917, a Volunteer army was created in Novocherkassk to fight the Bolsheviks.
After receiving a message about the overthrow of the Provisional Government, martial law was also imposed on the entire territory of the Kuban Region from October 26, ataman A. P. Filimonov and the military government called on the population to fight against the Soviet government[132] Martial law in the Terek region was introduced by the ataman of the Terek Cossack Army, M. A. Karaulov.
On October 26, the ataman of the Orenburg Cossack Army, A. I. Dutov, also signed an order on the non recognition of the Bolshevik power on the territory of the Orenburg Cossack Army.
On October 21 (November 3), 1917, the so called "South Eastern Union of Cossack Troops, Mountaineers of the Caucasus and Free Peoples of the Steppes"was established in Vladikavkaz.
In his declaration, he declared: "By guaranteeing its members the full independence of their internal life, the Union undertakes to assist them in preparing their internal structure as independent states of the future Russian Democratic Federal Republic."[133]
On December 18(31), 1917, the SNK recognized the independence of Finland.
Later, on August 29, 1918, the SNK issued a decree that annulled the treaties of tsarist Russia at the end of the XVIII century with Austria and Germany on the partition of Poland and recognized the right of the Polish people to an independent and independent existence.
In Ukraine, on November 7 (20), 1917, the Central Rada proclaimed the formation of the Ukrainian People's Republic, stipulating, however, the intention "not to separate from the Russian Republic", to help it "become a federation of equal, free peoples".
On December 3(16), 1917, the SNK recognized the right of Ukraine to self determination.
But on December 11 (24) in Kharkiv, the Ukrainian Bolsheviks convened the All Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, which "assumed full power in Ukraine" by electing the Ukrainian CEC.
The Bolsheviks hailed the new government as "the true government of the People's Ukrainian Republic".
In Transcaucasia, the reaction to the October revolution was the formation of the "Transcaucasian Commissariat" in Tiflis on November 15 (28), 1917, created by representatives of deputies elected to the Constituent Assembly, as well as figures of leading local parties.
In Turkestan, back in September 1917, the executive committee of the Tashkent Council carried out a coup and overthrew the power of representatives of the Provisional Government.
However, the Muslim population of the region did not support the Soviet government. [128]
In the current situation of anarchy, interethnic conflicts began to arise.
So, in the autumn of 1917, a real battle broke out in Grozny between the fighters of the Chechen Cavalry Regiment of the Caucasian Native Division who had returned from the front and the Terek Cossacks, which turned into a pogrom of the Chechens of Grozny.
In response, the Chechen National Committee was formed, headed by Sheikh Denis Arsanov.
Grozny turned into a besieged fortress, production in the oil fields completely stopped.[134]
Chechens and Ingush began attacking Cossack villages.[135]
Events of the Soviet government in October December 1917[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: The first decrees of the Soviet government
On October 26 (November 8), some opposition newspapers were closed by the resolution of the Central Committee: the Cadet "Speech", the right wing Menshevik" Day"," Stock Exchange Vedomosti " and others.
On October 27 (November 9), a decree on the press was issued, which explained the actions of the VRK and clarified that "only press bodies are subject to closure: 1) calling for open resistance or disobedience to the Workers 'and Peasants' government
2) sowing confusion by clearly slanderous distortion of facts;
3) calling for acts that are clearly criminal, that is, of a criminally punishable nature."
At the same time, the temporary nature of the ban was pointed out: "this provision... will be canceled by a special decree upon the onset of normal conditions of public life"[136].
On October 29 (November 11), the SNK adopted a decree on an eight hour working day.[137]
On November 14 (27), 1917, the Central Executive Committee approved the regulation "On Labor Control", which introduced labor control at all enterprises that had hired workers or gave work at home.
The owners of enterprises were obliged to comply with the instructions of the working control bodies.[138]
On November 2 (15), 1917, the Soviet government published the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia, which proclaimed the equality and sovereignty of all the peoples of the country, their right to free self determination, up to the separation and formation of independent states, the abolition of national and religious privileges and restrictions, the free development of national minorities and ethnic groups.
On November 20 (December 3), in an address "To all working Muslims of Russia and the East", the SNK declared national and cultural institutions, customs and beliefs of Muslims free and inviolable, guaranteeing them complete freedom to organize their lives.[139]
On November 23 (December 10), the Central Executive Committee issued a "decree on the destruction of estates and civil ranks"[140], proclaiming the legal equality of all Russian citizens.
On November 24 (December 6), the SNK issued Decree No. 1 on the court, which provided for the replacement of existing judicial institutions with new ones and canceled the old laws if they contradicted the "revolutionary legal consciousness".
On November 25 (December 8), the SNK issued a resolution "On the monopoly disposal of agricultural machinery and implements by the state".[141]
By the decree of the Central Executive Committee of December 5 (18), the Supreme Council of the National Economy was established, which was granted the right to confiscate, requisition, sequester, and forced syndication of various industries and trade.[142]
On December 7 (20), 1917, the All Russian Emergency Commission for Combating Counterrevolution, Speculation and Crimes in Office was established by the decree of the SNK.
On December 14 (27), 1917, the Central Executive Committee issued a decree "On the nationalization of banks".[143]
On the same day, the Central Executive Committee issued a decree "On the audit of steel boxes in banks", according to which gold in coins and bullion, which was in the bank safes of private individuals, was subject to confiscation and transfer to the national gold fund.[144]
On December 16 (29), the SNK issued a decree "On equalization of the rights of all military personnel", according to which all ranks and ranks in the army, starting with the corporal and ending with the general, were abolished and it was proclaimed that "the army of the Russian Republic henceforth consists of free and equal citizens bearing the honorary title of soldiers of the revolutionary army".[145]
The Constituent Assembly: elections and dissolution[edit / edit wiki text]
Main articles: All Russian Constituent Assembly, Elections to the All Russian Constituent Assembly
V. M. Chernov (1873-1952)
Less than 50% of voters took part in the elections of the long awaited Constituent Assembly on November 12 (24), 1917; explanation[who?
such disinterest can be found in the fact that the Second All — Russian Congress of Soviets had already adopted the most important decrees, had already proclaimed the power of the Soviets in these conditions, the appointment of the Constituent Assembly was incomprehensible to many.
The Bolsheviks received only about a quarter of the votes, losing to the Social Revolutionaries.
Subsequently, they claimed that the left Social Revolutionaries (who received only 40 mandates) took away the victory from themselves and from the RSDLP (b), without separating in a timely manner into an independent party.
While the influence of the right wing social Revolutionaries led by Avksentiev and Gotz and the centrists led by Chernov fell after July, the popularity (and number) of the left, on the contrary, grew.
In the Socialist Revolutionary faction of the Second Congress of Soviets, the majority belonged to the left[146]; later, the PLSR also supported the majority of the Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies held on November 10-25 (November 23 — December 8), 1917 — which, in fact, allowed the two CEC to unite.
How did it happen that the left Social Revolutionaries turned out to be only a small group in the Constituent Assembly?
And for the Bolsheviks, and for the left social revolutionaries[what?
the answer was obvious: it was all the fault of the unified electoral lists.
Having already diverged far from the majority of the AKP in the spring of 1917, the left SRS nevertheless did not dare to form their own party for a long time until on October 27 (November 9), 1917, the Central Committee of the AKP adopted a resolution on the exclusion from the party "all those who took part in the Bolshevik adventure and did not leave the Congress of Soviets"[147].
But the voting was carried out according to the old lists drawn up long before the October Revolution, common to the right and left social revolutionaries.
Immediately after the coup, Lenin proposed to postpone the elections to the Constituent Assembly, including so that the left srs could draw up separate lists[148].
But the Bolsheviks accused the Provisional Government of deliberately postponing the elections so many times that the majority did not consider it possible to be like their opponents in this matter.
Therefore, no one really knows — and will never know again how many votes were cast in the elections for the left SRS and how many for the right and centrists, who were meant by the voters who voted for the lists of socialist revolutionaries: who were located at the top (since right and centrists prevailed in all the leading bodies of the AKP in the center and on the ground at that time) Chernov, Avksentiev, Gotz, Tchaikovsky, etc. — or those who closed the lists to Spiridonov, Natanson, Kamkov, Karelin, etc.
On December 13 (December 26), V. I. Lenin's" Theses on the Constituent Assembly "were published in Pravda without a signature[149]:
...
The proportional system of elections gives a true expression of the will of the people only when the party lists correspond to the real division of the people really into those party groupings that are reflected in these lists.
As you know, the party that had the most supporters among the people and especially among the peasantry from May to October, the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries, gave unified lists to the Constituent Assembly in the middle of October 1917, but split after the elections to the Constituent Assembly, before its convocation.
Because of this, there is not and cannot be even a formal correspondence between the will of the voters in their mass and the composition of those elected to the Constituent Assembly.
On November 15 (28), 1917, 60 elected deputies, mostly right — wing social revolutionaries, gathered in Petrograd, who tried to start the work of the Assembly.
On the same day, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree "On the arrest of the leaders of the civil war against the Revolution", which banned the Cadet party as "the party of enemies of the people".[150]
The leaders of the Cadets A. Shingarev and F. Kokoshkin were arrested.
On November 29, the Council of People's Commissars banned "private meetings" of delegates of the Constituent Assembly.
At the same time, the right wing Social Revolutionaries created the "Union for the Protection of the Constituent Assembly".
On December 20, the Council of People's Commissars decided to open the Meeting on January 5.
On December 22, the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars was approved by the VTSIK.
On December 23, martial law was imposed in Petrograd.
At the meeting of the Central Committee of the AKP, held on January 3, 1918, the armed speech on the opening day of the Constituent Assembly, proposed by the military commission of the party, was rejected "as an untimely and unreliable act".[151]
On January 5 (18), Pravda published a resolution signed by a member of the Cheka board, since March the head of the Petrograd Cheka, M. S. Uritsky, who banned all rallies and demonstrations in Petrograd in the areas adjacent to the Tauride Palace.
It was proclaimed that they would be suppressed by military force.
At the same time, Bolshevik agitators at the most important factories (Obukhov, Baltiysky, etc.) tried to enlist the support of the workers, but they were not successful.
Together with the rear units of the Latvian Riflemen and the Lithuanian Life Guards regiment, the Bolsheviks surrounded the approaches to the Tauride Palace.
Supporters of the Assembly responded with demonstrations of support; according to various sources, from 10 to 100 thousand people participated in the demonstrations.
The supporters of the Assembly did not dare to use weapons in defense of their interests; according to Trotsky's sarcastic expression, they came to the Tauride Palace with candles in case the Bolsheviks turned off the lights, and with sandwiches in case they were deprived of food, but they did not take rifles with them.
On January 5, 1918, as part of columns of demonstrators, workers, employees, intellectuals moved to the Tavrichesky and were shot with machine guns.
In the photo: a demonstration in support of the Constituent Assembly in Petrograd on January 5, 1918
The Constituent Assembly opened in Petrograd, in the Tauride Palace, on January 5 (18), 1918).
The Chairman of the VTSIK Ya.
M. Sverdlov proposed to the Assembly to approve the decrees adopted by the II All Russian Congress of Soviets, adopting the draft "Declaration of the Rights of the working and Exploited People"written by V. I. Lenin.
However, V. M. Chernov, who was elected chairman, proposed to work out the agenda first; in the discussion on this issue, which lasted for many hours, the Bolsheviks and the left Srs saw the reluctance of the majority to discuss the Declaration, the unwillingness to recognize the power of the Soviets and the desire to turn the Constituent Assembly into a legislative one — as opposed to the Soviets.
Having read out their declarations, the Bolsheviks and the left Srs, together with several small factions, left the meeting room.
The remaining deputies continued their work and declared the Russian state a democratic fed the federal republic.
The meeting lasted until the morning, at 5 o'clock the security of the meeting room, led by the anarchist Sailor Zheleznyak, demanded to stop the meeting, as "The guard was tired".
In the evening of the same day, the Central Executive Committee issued a decree on the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, confirmed later by the III All Russian Congress of Soviets.
The decree, in particular, stated[152]:
The Constituent Assembly, opened on January 5, gave, due to circumstances known to everyone, the majority of the party of the right Social Revolutionaries, the party of Kerensky, Avksentiev and Chernov.
Naturally, this party refused to accept for discussion an absolutely precise, clear, and not allowing for any misinterpretations, the proposal of the supreme organ of Soviet power, the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets, to recognize the program of Soviet power, to recognize the "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People", to recognize the October Revolution and the Soviet power.
Thus, the Constituent Assembly severed all ties between itself and the Soviet Republic of Russia.
The withdrawal from such a Constituent Assembly of the Bolshevik and left Socialist Revolutionary factions, which now constitute an obviously huge majority in the Soviets and enjoy the confidence of the workers and the majority of the peasants, was inevitable.
Russia's exit from the war[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: The Brest World
On December 2 (15), 1917, the SNK of the RSFSR signed an agreement on the temporary cessation of hostilities with Germany and on December 9(22) began negotiations, during which Germany, Turkey, Bulgaria and Austria Hungary presented very difficult peace conditions to Soviet Russia.
On January 28, 1918, Trotsky informed Germany that Soviet Russia would not sign a peace treaty, would stop the war, and would demobilize the army.
In response, the Soviet delegation was told that if the peace was not signed, the armistice agreement would lose its force and Germany would resume military operations.
On January 29, the Supreme Commander in Chief N. V. Krylenko informed the command of the fronts about the end of the war, demobilization and "withdrawal of troops from the front line".[128]
After that, Germany launched an offensive along the entire front and occupied a significant territory.
In Soviet Russia, the proclamation "The Socialist Fatherland is in danger!"was issued.
In March 1918, after the military defeat at Pskov and Narva, the SNK was forced to sign a separate Brest Peace Treaty with Germany, ensuring the rights of a number of nations to self determination, with which the SNK agreed, but containing extremely difficult conditions for Russia (for example, the transfer of Russian naval forces on the Black Sea to Turkey, Austria Hungary, Bulgaria and Germany).
About 1 million square kilometers were torn away from the country.
Consequences[edit / edit wiki text]
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Main articles: The Civil War in Russia, the Brest Peace
The Soviet government formed at the 2nd All Russian Congress of Soviets under the leadership of Lenin led the liquidation of the old state apparatus and the construction, relying on the Soviets, of the organs of the Soviet state.
The decree of January 15 (28), 1918 marked the beginning of the creation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (Red Army), and the decree of January 29 (February 11), 1918 the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Fleet.
Free education and medical care, an 8 hour working day were introduced, a decree was issued on the insurance of workers and employees; estates, ranks and ranks were eliminated, a common name was established — " citizens of Russia
