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.

 

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.

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.

 

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 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.

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.

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 Bolsheviks Vote for Insurrection

One hundred years ago today, plus two, a quorum of the Bolshevik Central Committee met and took a vote for armed insurrection. Find out who voted for, and who against, and what disguise Lenin wore in order to attend here.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Bolsheviks convene under a cloud

One hundred years ago today, plus two, even though Lenin was in hiding and Trotsky was in prison, the 6^th Congress of the Bolshevik Party convened. What they did put the party on the path to recovery after the reverses it had suffered subsequent to the July Days. Read about it here.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

April Theses

One hundred years ago today, plus two, Lenin delivers his “April Theses,” a plan of action for the furtherance of the February Revolution, at a meeting of Bolsheviks. They are, in a word, stupefied. Find out why Lenin’s plans shocked the party here.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

At the Finland Station

One hundred years ago today, plus two, the train carrying Lenin on the final leg of his route from exile in Switzerland arrived at the Finland Station in Petrograd. 

Find out how he was greeted and what happened next here. Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.