The Congress of Soviets

November 8 – October 26, 1917: A New Day. The morning papers draw a blank on the events of the previous thirty-six hours. They reported the taking of the Winter Palace and arrest of the ministry, but weren’t sure what that meant or what kind of difference it would make. By orders from Smolny, the streets, tramcars, shops, and restaurants opened and functioned normally. So people went out or went to work and shared the rumors they’d heard or speculations they’d made up. Trotsky says “…the seismograph of the Stock Exchange describes a convulsive curve.” Apparently he means stocks fell – at least they could still make trades.

The American journalist Reed picked up whatever papers he could find through the course of the day. Reed’s clippings from the compromisist papers predicted the failure of the Bolshevik revolution, denounced the party program – peace, land, and bread – as lies and false promises, and condemned the Congress of Soviets as illegal and without authority. Trotsky says some of the bourgeois and compromisist press were reviving the old slander of the German connection. Reed observes that the few Cadet papers to be found took a “detached, ironical” attitude. A few of the more destructive papers were suppressed.

So not everything was new that day. But the Bolshevik paper, lately published under title of Rabochy Put, now reappeared as Pravda.

November 8 – October 26, 1917: The Central Committee Forms a State. All that day, the Military Revolutionary Committee is still issuing orders from Smolny. Word came that Kornilov had escaped his “prison” in Bykhov. He and Kerensky were to be arrested; assisting Kerensky will be considered a state crime. Agitators and organizers were being recruited and sent to the front and to the provinces. Units at the front were invited to elect new soldiers committees. Measures were initiated to deal with recalcitrant railway, telegraph, and postal unions.

These were among, Trotsky says, “thousands and myriads of orders” issued “by word of mouth, by pencil, by typewriter, by wire….” It was not just another day’s work.

While the city duma met and issued proclamations in the name of the Committee of Salvation, the Bolshevik Central Committee met to decide the structure and contents of the new government. There were two issues: whether to form the government in coalition with the other socialist parties, and what to call the departmental executives. The latter was easy to solve. “Ministers” had a bad smell to it. So they would be “commissars” of the Soviet of Peoples Commissars.

As to the first issue, the left Social Revolutionaries were the only faction of any size that had stayed in the Congress of Soviets with the Bolsheviks the night before. They caucused and negotiated, but found they could not agree to a Bolshevik program that had hardly changed since Lenin’s April Theses, and was the foundation of the October Revolution. Lenin and Trotsky would not compromise the program, says the American journalist Reed, even though Kamenev and Riazanov, among others, urged accommodation in order to give the government a broader base. By about 7:00 p.m. that evening, the left Social Revolutionaries decided they would not join the government on the Bolsheviks’ terms, but would nevertheless remain on the Military Revolutionary Committee. It turned out they did not want, by joining the government, to leave behind their fellow Social Revolutionaries on the right entirely. The result was an all-Bolshevik government.

The Central Committee had a visitor that afternoon. The Menshevik Martov interceded on behalf of the imprisoned socialist ministers. The committee, seemingly via Kamenev, confirmed Trotsky’s offer of house arrest. Trotsky cannot be sure whether the ministers accepted the offer, or preferred to remain imprisoned in solidarity with their bourgeois colleagues.

Meanwhile, representatives of the railway, telegraphers, and postal unions adhered to the Committee of Salvation, creating practical if not political obstacles to the progress of the government of soviets. Even the stenographers, employees of the old Central Executive Committee, would absent themselves from the Congress of Soviets, and so the record of the proceedings is scant. Trotsky calls this the first act in a “campaign of sabotage” by the ex-Compromisers.

Overnight November 8-9 – October 26-27, 1917: Decree on Peace. At about 8:40 p.m., Lenin enters the hall where the Congress of Soviets has assembled; the delegates greet him, Reed says, with a “thundering wave of cheers.” The agenda is still peace, land, and a government of the soviets. Kamenev read the report of the praesidium’s actions of the day: abolish the death penalty at the front, freedom of agitation there, release for soldiers and land committee members held as political prisoners, orders to arrest Kerensky, Kornilov, and their abettors. All were ratified by the Congress.

Sukhanov was in the galleries, this time as a spectator. A couple of right-socialist speakers argued uselessly against the incoming tide. Then a coal miner from the Don basin urged the Congress to take measures against Kaledin and his Cossacks lest they interrupt supplies of coal and grain. Trotsky has to admit that such measures were then beyond the revolution’s powers.

Now Lenin rose to speak. The American journalist Reed says the welcoming ovation “lasted several minutes. When it finished, he said simply, ‘We shall now proceed to construct the socialist order.’” Again “that overwhelming human roar.”

With little in the way of preliminaries, and nothing in flourishes, Lenin read the party’s proclamation on peace:

·         Immediate negotiations between the belligerent peoples and governments

·         Peace without annexations or indemnities

·         Neither conquered territories nor smaller, weaker states or nationalities to be annexed

·         No secret treaties; existing treaties to be published; provisions for the benefit of imperialist capital to be annulled

·         Immediate armistice for three months

The “offer of peace” is addressed to the belligerent governments and peoples, but in particular to the proletariat of England, France, and Germany, where Marx and Engels had spent virtually all their working lives, and where socialist political consciousness was then most advanced.

Note that, by calling for immediate armistice and negotiations, the proclamation addresses the first concern of the peasant soldiery. The provision on annexation addresses the nationalities question directly and comprehensively, but by its terms also rules out imperialist colonialism. And by calling on the workers of England, France, and Germany, the proclamation emphasizes the international character of the proletarian revolution. In brief comments, Lenin pointed out that, in order for negotiations to begin immediately, governments would have to be consulted – but not to the exclusion of the peoples. Further that the proclamation was not an ultimatum; even exceptions to the policies on annexations and indemnities would be considered. But “’Consider does not mean we will accept it.’” Finally, Lenin asserted that if Russia had thrown off the “’government of the bankers,’” so could the other peoples of Europe. And this would be the basis of lasting peace.

Find the whole text here.

The left Social Revolutionaries were joined by speakers for other, smaller factions in voicing support, sometimes qualified, for the proclamation. Lenin strongly rejected the argument made by a fellow Bolshevik, that, rather than a proclamation, the Congress should issue an ultimatum. The governments, Lenin argued, would spin an ultimatum, hiding from their peoples the real meaning of the Soviet’s offer of peace.

And so Kamenev, in the chair, at 10:35 p.m. according to Reed, put the matter to a vote. He called on the delegates in favor to raise their credentials. This they all did. One who lifted his hand against was shamed, and brought it back down.

This was an historic moment. Not in the way our politicians toss the word around. It was the act of a whole people, manifesting their power to themselves and to the world. Like the Declaration of Independence. Or the Emancipation Proclamation. But not quite. The people, the masses, were all present there in Smolny through delegates they themselves elected in the soviets. The delegates had grasped the power they were given and used it for the people and the world. With that realization, everyone began to sing the Internationale. From the praesidium to the back rows, eyes that were not weeping were shining.

Afterwards someone called out – Long live Lenin! Cheers! Caps flung in the air! Then, remembering the war and the struggle for the revolutions, they sang the Russian Funeral March for their dead. Trotsky and Reed were both there; both capture the living scene in their books. Sukhanov, the Menshevik and Compromiser, was there too, but he couldn’t sing along.

Word went out to the front and to the provinces….

Find the lyrics to the Internationale here, and the sheet music here. Many versions, in many languages, can be found on Wikipedia.

Overnight November 8-9 – October 26-27, 1917: Decree on Land. Lenin again takes the stand at the Congress of Soviets, bringing another proclamation, this one for resolving the long-festering agrarian question. The Social Revolutionaries had dominated the peasants soviets since the February Revolution. When they were drawn into the coalition governments with the bourgeois parties representing, among others, large landowners, they found it impossible to implement the policies their peasant constituency wanted. So they, and in particular Kerensky and his Ministers of Agriculture, had no answer to the agrarian question.

The Bolsheviks now gave the answer – essentially the same one given in Lenin’s April Theses. Lenin held the only draft; it had not been possible to reproduce it for distribution. It was also apparently written in another hand. He stumbled as he read it, and had to stop for a moment. Someone on the dais, maybe the person who wrote it, offered to help and read the proclamation through.

The proclamation, Trotsky says, “smashes the Gordian knot with a hammer”:

·         Landlord property, including that of the crown, the churches, and the monasteries, annulled without compensation

·         Confiscated lands, including livestock and implements, to be held as national property

·         This property to be administered, and the use of it distributed, by the local peasants soviets and land committees

·         The lands of the small peasants and Cossacks serving in the army not subject to confiscation

The Social Revolutionaries had managed to draft and publish, in the peasants’ Izvestia on August 19 (September 1, new style), a set of guidelines for the redistribution of land. It remained a dead letter until now, when the Bolsheviks appended it to the proclamation as instructions for carrying the latter out. Find the text of the Decree on Land here.

Note that the proclamation recognizes private property in the lands of small holders, and permits the soviets and land committees to redistribute confiscated land roughly equally into private parcels. Rosa Luxemburg had remarked that this is not socialism. But Lenin in the war on capital, like Lincoln in the war against slavery, knew when to take a step and how far the step ought to go. The peasants were already in revolt. The Decree on Land bound them to the workers just as the Decree on Peace had bound the soldiers.

Lenin then made a few points in support of the proclamation. Before the applause died down, a right Social Revolutionary representing the Executive Committee of the Peasants Soviets pushed forward and angrily renewed the demand for the release of the socialist ministers – including, a little ironically, the Minister of Agriculture.

Trotsky answered that the compomisist Central Executive Committee had already furnished a precedent for house arrest: when Kollontai was released from prison under doctor’s orders, her house was guarded by police formerly employed under the tsar. A peasant delegate from Tver, “with long hair and a big sheepskin coat,” says Trotsky, got up from his seat, made his bows, and invited the praesidium to arrest the Executive Committee of the Peasants Soviets instead. “’Those are not peasants’ deputies, but Cadets…. Their place is in prison.’” This met with vocal approval from the Congress, and the first speaker beat his retreat.

Some of the left Social Revolutionaries wanted to caucus before giving their votes. One of the furthest left of them called for an immediate vote instead. Lenin, wanting the proclamation to make the morning papers, nevertheless permitted a short intermission: “’No filibustering!” he said.

After this interim, which lasted two and half hours, until 1:00 a.m. October 26 (November 8, new style) instead of the allotted thirty minutes, the Congress received reports of the adherence to the Military Revolutionary Committee of units from Macedonia to the outskirts of Petrograd – another bicycle battalion sent there by the government. They heard, Reed says, announcements asking for agitators to go to the front. They passed, “unanimously and without debate,” a resolution advising the local soviets, on their honor, to prevent pogroms against the Jews or any other national or ethnic group.

Now, at about 2:00 a.m., Kamenev called the vote: the whole Congress, less one vote and eight abstentions, supported the decree, and, says Trotsky, ”…therewith the revolution of the proletariat acquires a mighty basis.”

Reed says a soldier-delegate rose to make a special plea: land for deserters? This was ruled out by the Social Revolutionaries’ guidelines. But was it fair? Over shouted objections, the speaker won the ears of the Congress. Some deserters were shirkers or cowards, others were brutalized, starved, and in despair. Kamenev, having one final item on his agenda, proposed to reserve the matter to the government for decision.

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….