The Congress of Soviets

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, as of this past weekend, the Congress of Soviets took up the reins of government the insurrection had just taken away from Kerensky’s last coalition. This will be the last post for the 103^rd anniversary of the Russian Revolution; if there continues to be interest, I will begin the postings for the 104^th anniversary next February.

The Congress of Soviets lasted little more than two days. Several posts describing their doings are combined in this one.

Overnight November 7-8 – October 25-26, 1917: Congress of Soviets in Session. When the Congress of Soviets convened, the Provisional Government – Kerensky’s last coalition – was still holding out in the Winter Palace, though Kerensky had found a pretext to absent himself. Then, as Kamenev called the Congress into session, the naval and artillery bombardment of the palace competed with the gavel and the voices from the podium. Some delegates argued for negotiations with the government…but this was mooted when, after midnight, came news of the taking of the palace and the arrest of the ministers. By then, many right-socialists, excepting a number of left-leaning social revolutionaries, had walked out, leaving the Bolsheviks in control.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter Red October: The Winter Palace here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Overnight November 8-9 – October 26-27, 1917: Decrees on Peace and Land. The agenda of the Congress of Soviets was peace for the soldiers, land for the peasants, and a new government based on the soviets of the workers. When Lenin took the podium, according to the American journalist Reed, “…he said simply, ‘We shall now proceed to construct the socialist order.’” And when the decree he proposed on peace had been adopted, the congress, with deep emotion, sang the Internationale. Then followed Lenin’s reading, and the adoption, of the decree on land.

Read about it here and here. Or read the whole chapter on the Congress of Soviets here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Early Morning November 9 – October 27, 1917: A New Government. The last item on the agenda for the Congress of Soviets was to name commissars for the new government. Lenin became head of government, and Trotsky was made commissar for foreign affairs. Fifteen commissars in all were named. After some debate, having concluded its business, the Congress adjourned, and word of its actions spread to the fighting front, the provinces, and the world.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the Congress of Soviets here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Red October

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the October Revolution began in Petrograd. Readers of these posts will understand that, because Russia was then using the old-style Julian calendar, it was still October there. Today there will be one entry for several events of the Red October insurrection.

November 6 – October 24, 1917: The Revolution in Readiness. The Bolsheviks and the Red Guard were not entirely ready for their insurrection, but they were more ready than the officers of the Petrograd garrison, the ministers of Kerensky’s Provisional Government, or the right-socialist Central Executive Committee of the national soviets. Meanwhile the national Congress of Soviets was still assembling, and about to be met with a fait accompli.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter On the Brink here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

November 7 – October 25, 1917: Petrograd Taken. The Prime Minister and his government having seriously underestimated the capabilities of the insurrectionary forces, and overestimated those of the (loyal part of the) garrison and the police, the Red Guard, with the support of left-socialist elements of the military, gained control of the capital in a day. Starting with the bridges over the Neva River, and continuing with the communications systems, power plants, banks, and other vital points of infrastructure, the insurrection took over, so far bloodlessly.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter Red October: The Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

November 7 – October 25, 1917: The Winter Palace Encircled. Meanwhile, the ministers of the Provisional Government were holed up in the Winter Palace of the Romanov Czars, from which Kerensky took an early opportunity to absent himself, saying he would  speed reinforcements on  their way. The Red Guards and their Bolshevik leaders had difficulty executing their plan of encirclement and “bombardment.” Infiltration proved finally to be the successful tactic; both sides took casualties, but not many. Meanwhile the Congress of Soviets went into session in another palace of the city, and wondered about the meaning of all the racket.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter Red October: The Winter Palace here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

On the Brink of Red October

 

One hundred years ago this week, plus three, it was still October in Russia, because they were still using the old-style Julian calendar. Today there will be one entry for the whole eventful week that led up to Red October.

The Week beginning October 31 – October 18, 1917: “Vigorous Preparations.” With intensified Bolshevik agitation, led by Trotsky, in the background, forces aligned with that party vigorously gathered the political and physical resources that would be necessary for a successful insurrection, the date of which had not and could not yet be fixed. When Trotsky refused to answer a question in the Petrograd Soviet (where rumors were flying) about the date, Kamenev’s comment made it seem like the Bolsheviks thought an insurrection might not even be necessary. But this of course was not the case; it was Kamenev’s opinion. Kamenev well knew how the votes in the Bolshevik Central Committee had gone. Read about it here and here.

November 2 – October 20, 1917: Kamenev Resigns. Hearing of this, Lenin denounced it as a ”trick.” Accordingly Kamenev offered to resign from the Bolshevik Central Committee. The offer was accepted, and Kamenev was further admonished to remain silent on the issue. Under the pressure of events, cracks were appearing in the wall of party solidarity! Read about it here.

November 3 – October 21, 1917: Resolution of the Garrison Conference. The Garrison Conference accepted three proposals made by Trotsky: that the garrison would support the Military Revolutionary Committee, that the garrison would take part in the review of forces planned for the following day, and that the Congress of Soviets should “take the power in its hands.” Even the Cossack regiments agreed. These proposals were of course consistent with and essential to the overall plan of insurrection. Read about it here. 

November 4 – October 22, 1917: The Day of the Petrograd Soviet. As the delegates to the Congress of Soviets began to assemble, the Petrograd Soviet held a review of its revolutionary forces, now to include those of garrison who had agreed to take part the day before. There were meetings in the public halls and squares. One audience would assemble, listen to the speeches, then depart. Then another audience would file in. Read about it here.

November 5 – October 23, 1917: The Peter and Paul Comes Over. The Garrison Conference having definitely broken the chain of command that led back to the Coalition Government, the Bolsheviks began to appoint commissars who sought to fill the power vacuum thus created. When the commissar sent to the Peter and Paul fortress and prison in the middle of the Neva River was resisted by the officer in command, Trotsky went over to talk to the soldiers themselves. In the result, the fortress, its artillery, and 100,000 rifles for the Red Guards came over to the insurrection. Read about it here.

You can read the whole chapter on the Day of the Petrograd Soviet here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Red October Approaches

 

One hundred years ago this week, plus three, the pace of events leading up to the October Revolution picked up, so much so that I will post weekly instead of day-by-day during this time.

October 25 – October 12, 1917: Regulations for Insurrection. Draft regulations from the newly formed Military Revolutionary Committee, useful for an insurrection but with ample precedents since the February Revolution, were approved by the Petrograd Soviet. Read  about it here.

October 28 – October 15, 1917: Reed’s Interviews at Smolny. The American journalist John Reed, author of Ten Days That Shook the World, interviewed Kamenev and Volodarsky, members of the Bolshevik Central Committee, among other things about the coming Congress of Soviets. They did discuss the transfer of state power to the soviets, but not, of course, the manner in which it actually was to come about. Read about it here.

October 29 – October 16, 1917: Why the Delay? Lenin, in exile and therefore not fully informed about the state of things in the capital, called a meeting of the Bolshevik Central Committee and ventured into the suburbs of Petrograd to attend it. Having received assurances that things were moving with such speed and force that the insurrection could hardly be stopped, he moved a resolution of “vigorous preparations.” It prevailed, again, with only Kamenev and Zinoviev dissenting. Read about it here.

October 30 – October 17, 1917: Congress Postponed. Right-socialists on the Central Executive Committee of the soviets put off the planned national Congress of Soviets by five days, hoping to increase their share of the vote during the interim. The tactic backfired: the Bolsheviks were the gainers by it. Read about it here.

October 31 – October 18, 1917: The Garrison Conference. In a development that would prove to be decisive, the units of the Petrograd garrison nearly unanimously adopted the policy that orders not countersigned by the Petrograd Soviet would not be obeyed. This of course left the right-socialists of the Central Executive Committee of the soviets out of the loop. For the Petrograd Soviet was dominated by the Bolsheviks. Read about it here.

You can read the whole chapter on the Correlation of Forces here, and the chapter on the Day of the Petrograd Soviet here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Zinoviev and Kamenev Dissent

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev, the two members who opposed the Bolshevik Central Committee vote for insurrection, published a pamphlet stating their views of the matter – though of course remaining silent on the actual  Bolshevik vote. Lenin called them “deserters,” but they recovered his good graces and were made members of the Politburo after the revolution.

 

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Lenin’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link. 

  

Vote for Insurrection

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, and a day after the Petrograd Soviet had proposed to create a Military Revolutionary Committee for the defense of the capital and thus of the revolution itself, the Bolshevik Central Committee met in a suburban apartment. Lenin, who attended in disguise, moved a vote for armed insurrection, which prevailed 10 votes to 2.

We’ll see about the dissenting votes in another post. Meanwhile, read about the Military Revolutionary Committee here, and the vote for insurrection here. Or read the whole chapter on Lenin’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Council of the Republic

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Prime Minister Kerensky addressed the Council of the Republic, or Pre-Parliament, projected some two weeks before by the Democratic Conference of the soviets. Kerensky made it clear that the Pre-Parliament would have no authority of any kind, elective, legislative, or executive, over the Coalition Government he had in the meanwhile assembled.

On the same day, Lenin published “The Crisis Is Ripe” in Rabochy Put, making some of the same arguments for insurrection he would soon be making to the Bolshevik Central Committee.

Read about the Pre-Parliament here, and Lenin’s article here. Or read the whole chapter on Lenin’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Lenin “posts” from exile

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, responding to claims in the bourgeois and right-socialist press that the Bolsheviks would fail if they were given the chance to govern, Lenin caused his pamphlet “Can the Bolsheviks Retain State Power?” to be published while he was in exile. A fuller treatment of this subject may be found in his work The State and Revolution, which can still easily be found in print.

 

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Lenin’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Last Coalition vs. September Theses

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, on the day after Kerensky announced another coalition government, destined to be his last, Lenin published the “Tasks of the Revolution,“ a kind of September version of the April Theses, in Rabochy Put. So while Kerensky was assigning ministries to bourgeois-liberal Cadets and right-socialists, that is, moving to the right, Lenin was reassessing Bolshevik strategy and tactics in light of recent developments, especially in the Petrograd Soviet, of which Trotsky had just been named president, and moving the revolution to the left.

 

Read about it here and here. Or read the whole chapter on Lenin’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Result of the Democratic Conference

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the right-socialist dominated Democratic Conference adjourned, but not without leaving doors open, if not making outright concessions, to Kerensky and the bourgeois liberal Cadets. The conference’s final act, the creation of a Council of the Republic, “Pre-Parliament” for short, did nothing to forestall Kerensky’s next move.

 

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the Democratic Conference here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

  

Democratic Conference of the Soviets

One hundred years ago yesterday, plus three, the right-socialists who had associated themselves with Prime Minister Kerensky’s directory convened a national “Democratic Conference” of the soviets. They hoped to recover what they were losing in the local Petrograd Soviet, which earlier that week had voted to confirm the Bolshevik resolution calling for a government of the soviets, that is, not of Kerensky, the bourgeois-liberal Cadets, and the right-socialist compromisers.

 Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the Democratic Conference here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Trotsky Makes Bail

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, political considerations compelled Kerensky’s Directory to permit Trotsky, imprisoned since the July Days, to post bail, which the trade unions had promptly raised. Meanwhile the day before, Lenin, still in exile, published a proposal to reject coalition with the bourgeois Cadets. The Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks would instead run the government on behalf of the soviets. This compromise got nowhere; it was effectively the last the Bolsheviks were to propose.

 

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the Democratic Conference here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

The Bolsheviks Carry a Resolution

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, a day after the Executive Committee of the (national) soviets conceded Prime Minister Kerensky’s plan for a directorate, that is, a narrower government concentrating more authority in himself, the Petrograd (local) soviet overwhelmingly approved a Bolshevik resolution calling for a government of the workers’ and peasants’ soviets.

 

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the Democratic Conference here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Kornilov’s Insurrection Collapses

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, General’s Kornilov’s attempt at insurrection had fallen completely apart. His soldiers had no stomach for an attack on the revolutionary soldiers  and workers in the capital, and the general in direct command of those troops had shot himself dead after an interview with Prime Minister Kerensky. Soon Kornilov himself would be locked up.

 Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kornilov’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Kornilov Stalls

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, only two days after it had started, General Kornilov’s advance on the capital began to peter out. Then socialist agitators went to work – they even brought some of the Cossacks over to the revolution!

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kornilov’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Kornilov Advances

 

One hundred years ago yesterday, plus three, General Kornilov’s troops continued their advance on the capital. Or tried to. They wanted to go by rail, but the railroads were controlled by workers sympathetic to the socialist revolution. Soon things were not going smoothly at all.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kornilov’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Kornilov’s Manifesto

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, plus two days (September 9, new style), General Kornilov issued a manifesto of accusations against the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks that was the signal for a counter-revolutionary insurrection. Then, contrary to his fellow plotter Prime Minister Kerensky’s wishes, he ordered troops he had previously placed in position to move towards Petrograd.

 Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kornilov’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

A Plot Hatched

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Kerensky’s emissary to Kornilov returned from headquarters to Petrograd with an agreed upon scheme for overthrowing the Provisional Government under the guise of suppressing the Bolsheviks. The only open question: who was double-crossing whom.

 

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kornilov’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Fall of Riga

One hundred years ago today, plus three, while the commander-in-chief General Kornilov was busy arranging his forces to pose a threat to the coalition government – and revolution – in Petrograd, a German counterattack took Riga, the capital of Latvia.

 Actually this suited the general perfectly well. Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kornilov’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Kornilov Makes a Move

One hundred years ago today, plus three, General Lavr Kornilov, recently made commander-in-chief of the Russian armed forces facing the Germans and Austrians, ordered movements apparently unconnected with the conduct of that war. He put Cossack cavalry nearer to Petrograd on the north and south; the southern force was joined by a division of mountain troops from the Caucasus.

 

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kornilov’s Insurrection here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Kerensky’s State Conference

One hundred years ago today, plus three years, minus a week (that is, on August 25^th, new style), Prime Minister Kerensky stage-managed a “State Conference” in Moscow at which, by alternating speakers from the left and right, he endeavored to depict himself as the indispensable man in the middle, the only one capable of governing amid the revolutionary and counter-revolutionary tendencies of the time. One of the speakers from the right, General Kornilov, would soon make his own play for control of those tendencies.

 Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the State Conference here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Bolshevik Central Committee

 

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the Sixth Congress of the Bolshevik party, having been in session for more than a week, proceeded to the last item on its agenda. They elected the Central Committee, with Lenin at its head, that would vote for insurrection come October.

 

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kerensky’s Government here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

 

Bolsheviks Convene

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the Bolsheviks convened a party congress at a time when the party itself was barely legal. They passed a resolution to say Lenin, then in hiding, ought not to turn himself in; and welcomed the Trotskyites, up to then a separate party, into the Bolshevik fold. Meanwhile Kerensky, apparently satisfied that both the right socialists and the bourgeois Cadets considered him “indispensable,” had agreed two days before to form as prime minister the government that became the Second Coalition.

 Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kerensky’s Government here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

  

Kerensky Resigns

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Prime Minister Kerensky, possibly annoyed that the right-socialist ministers in his cabinet were not willing to go as far right as he in order to meet the demands of the bourgeois-liberal Cadets, resigned. It’s also possible he was only trying to strengthen his hand against both left and right, and thought resignation was the best way to do it.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kerensky’s Government here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

The State Duma Speaks

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the State Duma, a political relic that the tsar had permitted to exist because it had no real power, denounced Kerensky’s government, which had been styling itself the “Government of Salvation.” This was enough to cause all the ministers to hand in their portfolios, which in turn caused Kerensky to lurch further to the right, opening cabinet negotiations with the Cadets.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kerensky’s Government here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Bolsheviks Unseated

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the post-July Days reaction against the Bolsheviks got the length of booting party members off the Executive Committee of the Soviets.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kerensky’s Government here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Kerensky Prime Minister

One hundred years ago today, plus three, a cabinet reshuffle having been made necessary by the resignation of the bourgeois liberal Cadet ministers some days before, Alexander Kerensky was given another promotion, this time to Prime Minister. He also retained his post as War Minister. A crackdown on the Bolsheviks was part of the program of the new government; Lenin took Stalin’s advice and went into hiding.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on Kerensky’s Government here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

July Days Suppressed

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the largely spontaneous July Days demonstrations were met by an armed reaction the Provisional Government had managed to cobble together. Soon the reaction targeted the Bolshevik party apparatus as well.

Read about it here. Or read the whole second chapter on the July Days here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

The July Days

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the bourgeois-liberal Cadet ministers having resigned their posts in the Coalition Government the day before, the remaining right socialist ministers found the problems caused by the resignations compounded by demonstrations in the capital, Petrograd. Worse still, some of the demonstrators were soldiers of the garrison.

Read about it here. Or read the first chapter on the July Days here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Summer Offensive?

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the Second Russian Army had captured the German lines in their immediate front. But that was about as far as they were willing to go. And the other Russian armies hadn’t even got started yet

Read about it here. Or read the first chapter on the July Days here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

June Demonstration

One hundred years ago today, plus three, it was still June in Russia, as they were on the old-style calendar. The Congress of Soviets had called for a demonstration, but the Bolsheviks managed to turn it into a protest of Kerensky’s summer offensive, slated to start that day.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the June Demonstration here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Kerensky Orders an Offensive

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Alexander Kerensky, Social Revolutionary and Minister of War in the Coalition Government, ordered the Russian Army, whose private soldiers were largely conscripted peasants, to undertake an offensive all along the front against the armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary. He and his bourgeois friends in the cabinet were about the only people who thought this was a good idea.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the June Demonstration here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Pravda Calls for Protest

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Pravda, the Bolshevik party newspaper, marked the party’s place to the left of the other socialist parties by calling for demonstrations against the Coalition Government, in which those other parties happened to be participating.

See what success the Bolsheviks had here. Or read the whole chapter on the June Demonstration here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Congress of Soviets

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the All-Russia Congress of Soviets, first of its kind in the aftermath of the February Revolution, convened in Petrograd. People should understand that a soviet was not based on a geographic unit or a subdivision of the state, but rather, in good socialist form, on an economic unit such as a factory, industry, or agricultural region. And that the members were chosen democratically.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the June Demonstration here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

The Root Mission

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the United States having added itself to the line-up of countries involved in the clash of imperialists on the previous April 7, the mission of Elihu Root from President Woodrow Wilson to the Provisional Government of Russia was in Petrograd. Root promised American loans, but only if Russia stayed in the fight against Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the coalition government here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Coalition Government

One hundred years ago today, plus three, some but not all of the socialist parties were invited, and were willing, to join the coalition government being formed after a couple bourgeois liberal Cadet ministers resigned from the provisional government. Alexander Kerensky, a Social Revolutionary, got promoted to the War Ministry. The Bolsheviks had opposed this compromise in the Executive Committee of the Soviet.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the coalition government here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Trotsky Arrives

One hundred years ago today, plus three, after a sea voyage of about three weeks from Canada, Leon Trotsky arrived in Petrograd and raised his voice against socialist participation in the provisional government. Ironically, the former Foreign Minister Miliukov had requested his release from British detention, losing his post as the new government formed.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the coalition government here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Miliukov Resigns

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Pavel Miliukov, a leader of the bourgeois liberal Cadet party, responded to the outcry about his war policy favoring annexations by resigning his post as Foreign Minister in the Provisional Government. Among other things, this opened the door to increased participation of the socialist parties in a true coalition government.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the coalition government here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

The Bolsheviks Confer

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the Bolsheviks kicked off an all-Russia party conference. See what Lenin had to say and find a link to one of the resolutions adopted by the conference here.

Read the whole chapter on the April Theses here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Divided Government

One hundred years ago today, plus three, as the demonstrations of the April Days continued and counter-demonstrations grew up, the Executive Committee of the Soviet met with the ministers of the Provisional Government to try to figure out what to do. Turns out, divided government was no more effective then than it is now.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the April Theses here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

April Days in May

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the Julian calendar still prevailing in Petrograd, Foreign Minister Miliukov’s luck began to turn when his note to the British and French demanding the annexation of the Dardanelles (then as now part of Turkey on the geographical boundary between Europe and Asia) turned up in print. For the next three days, tens of thousands of soldiers and workers demonstrated against Miliukov and his policy of annexation.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the April Theses here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

May Day in April

One hundred years ago today, plus three, it was still April 18 in Russia, because Russia was still on the Julian (old style) calendar. The soviets celebrated May Day, International Socialist Labor Day, along with the rest of the world anyway. 

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Miliukov, of the bourgeois Cadet party, was pursuing a plot that, when they found out about it, the people didn’t like.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the April Theses here. Or read the story from the beginning by following this link.

Lenin’s April Theses

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Lenin read out his April Theses to dumbstruck audiences at party headquarters. Even the Bolsheviks were dumbstruck at the steps Lenin proposed to turn the bourgeois February Revolution into a socialist one.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the April Theses here. Or read the story from the beginning by following this link.

At the Finland Station

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Lenin is greeted with flowers when his train arrives at the Finland Station in a western suburb of Petrograd. His remarks on this occasion surprised even the Bolsheviks.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the April Theses here.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link. Or finally, for the whole intellectual history of historical thinking that culminates with Lenin putting the theory of dialectical materialism into action beginning on this day, read To the Finland Station by Edmund Wilson.

Lenin Entrains

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Lenin addressed an interesting problem: how to pass from Switzerland through the lands of one combatant, Germany, to those of its enemy, Russia. The solution was not free from controversy.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the Dual Power here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

The Menshevik Tseretilli

One hundred years ago today, plus three, a week after Stalin, the Menshevik Irakli Tseretilli arrived in Petrograd out of exile. He was to become influential in both the Soviet and the Provisional Government.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the Dual Power here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Stalin in Petrograd

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the capital of Petrograd had become open to socialists who had been imprisoned or in exile. Josef Stalin was among the first to arrive.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the Dual Power here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Under House Arrest

One hundred years ago today, plus three, Tsar Nicolas, having abdicated the week before, was placed under house arrest and held with his family in the Winter Palace. This rendered the February Revolution virtually complete, but left the power largely in the hands of the big bourgeoisie.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the February Revolution here.

Pravda in Publication

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the Executive Committee of the Soviet having given its approval, Pravda, the news organ of the Bolshevik party, publishes its first number of the February Revolution. Vyacheslav Molotov was among its first editors.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the February Revolution here.

Provisional Committee

One hundred years ago today, plus three, after the unrest spread from the workers to the soldiers of the Petrograd garrison, things began to look more like a revolution. The bourgeois liberal parties, sensing an opportunity, formed a provisional “committee” – not quite a government yet – that would operate alongside the soviet of the workers.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the February Revolution here.

General Strike

One hundred years ago today, plus three, the strike in Petrograd that the women had started becomes general. Hungry and frustrated with the war, a quarter of a million proletarians walk off the job.

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the February Revolution here.

International Women’s Day: 1917

One hundred years ago today, plus three, female textile workers in Petrograd celebrated International Women’s Day by going on strike. Their action set off a chain of events that led to the formation of a provisional government and the abdication of the tsar – in other words, to the February Revolution. 

Read about it here. Or read the whole chapter on the February Revolution here.