Early Morning November 9 – October 27, 1917: A New Government

The Bolsheviks do not propose a constitution to the Congress of Soviets; that is a matter for the Constituent Assembly, then set to meet in December. Instead they put forward a brief statement or abstract of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government for the consideration of the Congress.

Kamenev took the floor and read the draft. Under this proposal, the functions of government were allocated to departments, and the departments were placed under committees. The soviets, local and provincial, of workers, soldiers, and peasants, would closely advise and work with the committees. The heads of the committees would be commissars, and have seats in the Soviet of People’s Commissars.

So far, the American journalist Reed says, silence. Now Kamenev read the names of the commissars. I’ll only provide the names with which the readers of these posts will be familiar; visit Wikipedia for the whole list. The names on it are all given names, not the well-known noms de guerre:

·         Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), as head of government, without portfolio

·         Antonov, Dybenko, and Krylenko, as a triumvirate for the military and navy

·         A.V. Lunacharsky, as commissar for Education

·         L.D. Bronstein (Trotsky), as commissar for Foreign Affairs

·         I.V. Djugashvili (Stalin), as commissar for Nationalities

Fifteen commissars in all were named. Applause greeted the new commissars, especially Lenin and Trotsky, but also Lunacharsky, a well-known agitator. Kamenev became president of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets, and Zinoviev was made publisher of the official organ of the government.

Avilov, one of the right socialists who’d stayed behind when the others left, renewed his role as a gadfly. The new government must face all the old questions. Bread is hard to find; peace may be even harder. It was a lengthy speech, at first met with hostility, finally raising doubts. Both Avilov and the left Social Revolutionary who spoke next called for a government of the “entire democracy,” including the parties and persons who had walked out of the Congress the day before. Avilov even advocated joining with the city duma in its Committee on Public Safety.

Trotsky, a superb debater, again gave the answer for his party. First of all, the insurrection was a success; it was virtually bloodless. The Bolsheviks alone had judged the correlation of forces realistically and correctly. Moreover, and now especially with the Decrees on Peace and Land, the party represented the meeting point of all the revolutionary masses, workers, soldiers, and peasants. So the party already has a coalition. Is Avilov proposing a “’coalition of newspapers’” instead? Further, bread doesn’t come from coalitions; the right socialist walkouts offer nothing more for the solution of that problem.

The insurrection destroyed the Provisional Government, Trotsky continued, and handed the power to the Congress of Soviets. No thanks to the walkouts! They refused the gift. “’They are traitors to the revolution with whom we will never unite!’”

Neither would a coalition do anything for peace. The diplomats of the Entente laughed the Menshevik Skobelev out of court when he presented them the Pre-Parliament’s peace proposals. The Decree on Peace is not all that different, but it is addressed to the peoples as well as the governments. “’We rest all our hope on the possibility that our revolution will unleash the European revolution.’” For otherwise, ‘”…the capitalists of all countries will crush our revolution.’” The party is not an isolated Russian faction, but a champion of the oppressed everywhere. The Congress, says Reed, accepted Trotsky’s speech in that spirit.

Before a vote to confirm the Soviet of Peoples’ Commissars could be taken, the praesidium acceded to the demand of another gadfly to speak. This was a representative of the railroad workers union, called the Vikzhel. The union had already adhered to the Committee of Public Safety; now it wanted to threaten the Bolsheviks and the Congress. The union did not recognize the authority of the Congress. Unless the Congress includes the walkout socialists in the government, the union will not transport troops of the Military Revolutionary Committee. If the government tries to repress the union, it will not transport food into the capital either.

This troubled the praesidium for a moment. But really the Vikzhel overestimated their influence; the tail was wagging the dog. Delegates to the Congress who were themselves railway workers pointed out that the Vikzehl represented clerks, not workers. The workers had already endorsed the transfer of power to the Congress, as well as the actions the Congress had taken and was about to take. In the end, Kamenev dismissed the claims as out of order: “’There can be no questioning the legal rights of this congress.’”

Now the vote could be taken. The Congress elected the slate of Bolshevik commissars by a large majority, but by no means unanimously. Sukhanov estimates Avilov’s resolution calling for a coalition with the walkout socialists got 150 votes; Trotsky thinks this is too many. On the other hand, the new Central Executive Committee of 62 Bolsheviks and 29 left Social Revolutionaries was confirmed without dissent.

The agenda was complete. Kamenev closed the Congress at 5:15 a.m. Now the October Revolution must be spread to the cities and provinces of Russia and announced to the world….