Russian socialists and their relationship to the war played
a key role in setting the stage for revolution in Russia. Lenin,
the leader of the radical Bolsheviks, was an outlaw and actually
lived in Galicia and Switzerland at the beginning of World War
I. He carried on a lively debate with the more moderate wing of
the Russian Social Democrats called Mensheviks. The key issue
was the relationship of revolution to war. Unlike the other socialist,
Lenin actually was in favor of war at this time, because he thought
it would weaken capitalism and prepare the ground for revolution.
But in two key votes on this issue within the party he lost.
At Zimmerwald in September 1915 the decision against Lenin was
23 to 7 within the leadership. Lenin denounced the victors as
"social patriots" and "social pacifists" -
terms which today have none of the derogatory ring of the time.
At Kienthal in April 1916 the decision was much the same. Most
of the European workers disavowed Lenin and socialist leaders
said he was fanatical, romantic, and sectarian. Lenin, in turn
called the socialists hopelessly bourgeois.
The Bolshevik Duma deputies, meanwhile, are arrested and indicted
for treason. They are then sent off to Siberia, including Sverdlov,
Ordjonikidze, and Stalin. In 1913 Stalin had been arrested for
the sixth time - so this was the seventh time for him. The Central
Committee of the Bolsheviks in St. Petersburg was disbanded by
the police in 1912. It reorganized itself in the summer of 1916
under the leadership of Shliapnikov, assisted by Molotov and Stalin.
Lenin, still in Switzerland, writes Imperialism, The Highest Stage
of Capitalism. In this opus he extends the exploitation of class
to that of an entire people. Yet, despite all this, Lenin is very
skeptical about revolutionary situation in the early years of
the war.#As far as tsarist Russia and the War is concerned, the
outcome of two early battles tells the whole story. The Battle
of Tannenberg and the Battle of Masurian Lakes ends Russian enthusiasm
for war and conquest. The collapse of the Russian front weakened
the whole political structure beyond repair The Brusilov Offensive
during the summer of 1916 ends up being a Pyrrhic victory. By
November 1916 the Duma is ready to accuse the government of "high
treason." But the tsar refused to yield to the liberals and
thus sealed his fate.
Demonstrations in St. Petersburg soon broke out and started
the slide to revolution. St. Petersburg garrison troops proved
to be unreliable in quelling these demonstrations. The other important
factor was the Duma, Russia's parliament. On March 11 the Duma
ignored the tsar's order to dissolve itself, while fires in the
city broke out that very night. Meanwhile, the men of the Volhynian
guard regiment, elite oft he elite, proceeded to murder their
officers. The Duma, meeting in the Taurida Palace, made it clear
that they represented the people of Russia whole will was being
ignored.
On March 12 the Duma elected an Executive Committee which assumed
dictatorial powers on behalf of the Duma - something like that.
Most of its members were from the Progressive block. So it is
clear that the revolution, now in full gear, was made by the parliament.
Also on March 12 the revolutionary instinct of the mob was released.
Prisons were opened and the prisoners mingled with the demonstrators.
Street fights developed with the troops and the police sent in
to suppress them. Members of the cabinet were "arrested"
by the insurgents.
Also on the same day, the third force in this game, the Executive
Committee of Soldiers and Workers Deputies is founded. It is modeled
on the one created in the Revolution of 1905 by Leon Trotsky.
The Executive Committee was led by Chkheidze, a Menshevik. This
Committee literally occupied the Duma and presumed to address
the Russian people from that vantage point. But the Duma's own
Executive Committee still retained the political initiative. The
Left in the Duma Committee at this time was represented by Chkheidze
and Alexander Kerensky.
Only two days later, on March 14, the Czarist Regime is overthrown
in St. Petersburg while an uprising in Moscow is also successful.
The Duma Committee then sent a delegation to see the tsar in Pskov
and force him to abdicate - which he does on the following day,
March 15. Grand duke Michael had refused the crown unless the
will of a constituent assembly was heard. This, in effect, sealed
the fate of the House of Romanov. On March 22, 1917, Nicholas
II was arrested at army headquarters and imprisoned at Tsarkoe
Selo, the famous royal palace in the countryside. He and his whole
family were killed at Ekaterinenburg in the Urals in July 1918
The Provisional Government which replaced the tsar grew out
of the Executive Committee of the Duma. Thus Russia became a de
facto Republic. A partial cabinet was created with Prince Lvov
as Prime Minister. Paul Miliukov became Foreign Minister and Alexander
Kerensky the Minister of Justice, representing left- wing liberals.
The general aim of this government is clear enough: to make a
political revolution, not a social revolution. Yet social reform
if not social revolution was necessary in the existing conditions
of agrarian unrest and dissatisfaction of the industrial proletariat.
On March 15 civil liberties are proclaimed and the promise of
convening a constituent assembly is made. Political prisoners
are amnestied and returned from Siberia. The police is replaced
with a people's militia. Elections are postponed until the Constituent
Assembly can meet. Its meeting is postponed until the fall. This
is a tragic mistake. The authority of the government is severely
limited by the Soviet, which is in direct competition with he
government.
If there was any doubt about this, it soon vanished when the Soviet
issued the famous "Order No. 1." This was a clarion
call for soldiers councils to be established in every military
unit and for the election of officers by the troops. All of this
resulted in catastrophic confusion within the army, since armies
in general can hardly function as democratic institutions especially
in times of war.
At this time the Social Revolutionaries dominated the Soviet since
they represent the peasants, Russia's clear majority. Next in
importance are the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks, in that order.
Members had been elected in factories, workshops, and military
barracks. There were a total of 2,500 representatives: one worker
for each 1000 workers and one soldier for each company. Soviets
on this pattern were soon formed in many cities and rural areas.
The nobility, upper middle class and the educated classes were
deliberately excluded. No time limit was set on the soviets jurisdiction,
although they had a lot of moral authority since they were associated
with being close to the electorate and because the executive and
legislative functions had been blurred. This gave them unusual
power.
In St. Petersburg a Central Executive Committee of the Soviets
was formed. It contained mostly leaders of socialist parties headed
by a presidium.
The big problem for the Provisional Government was the war.
In the Provisional Government the moderates wanted a continuation
of the war. The Bolsheviks, outside the Provisional Government,
called for immediate peace "without annexations and reparations."
The Soviets were uncertain what policy to adopt: they realized
that the people were tired of war but did not want to risk a complete
military collapse.
The Allies, of course, were are sympathetic to the Provisional
Government, largely because of its stand on continuation of the
war. The U.S.A. was the first government to recognize the Provisional
Government on March 22, 1917. The English, French and Italians
soon followed suit. The Allies clearly see the necessity of tying
down as many German divisions in the East as possible, so this
is a strategic move. But they also suggest the broadening of the
Lvov government.
Meanwhile, controversy between the Provisional Government and
the Leftists soon comes into the open. On March 31 Miliukov promised
that Russia would fight on. On April 9 the Soviets once more call
for peace. The Provisional Government, somewhat belatedly on April
21, responds to charges of pursuing a "militaristic and imperialistic"
foreign policy by also declaring itself in favor of peace without
annexations and reparations.
Miliukov was thus discredited, since he continued to call for
continuation of war and when he sent a note to the Allies on May
1 to this effect a storm broke loose. There soon were demonstrations
demanding the resignation of Miliukov. So, the Provisional Government
was forced to reorganizes on May 18. The Foreign Minister Miliukov
and War Minister Guchkov both were forced to resign.
Prince Lvov's second government included, for the first time,
Alexander Kerensky as Minister of War and the Navy and it also
included other socialists. The Miliukov note of May to the Allies
is withdrawn, but the government supported the demand for peace
without annexations and reparations and also called for self-determination
of nations. It was quite logical, therefore that the treaties
of 1914 and 1915, which made demands for the annexation of territories,
were canceled as well as Russia's demand for the straits.
Quickly emerging as the new leader, Alexander Kerensky's announced
two goals: offensive against the Central Powers and democratic
reorganization of the military command. Kerensky's "Declaration
of Soldiers Rights" on May 22 included the appointment of
commissars in the army to handle soldiers councils, but the councils
issued orders contradicting the commanders and thus undermined
the officer corps. Defeatist literature was distributed on a massive
scale by radical socialists and Bolshevik agents and fraternization
with the enemy hit the military ranks hard.
Kerensky then visited the front and tried to rouse the soldiers
to fight on, actually launching an offensive in July 1917. A breach
in the Austrian lines is actually made to everyone's surprise,
but the Germans launched a counter-offensive which stopped the
Russians cold. Now whole Russian regiments begin to mutiny. General
Kornilov, coming out of nowhere, demanded harsh military discipline.
In desperation he was made commander-in-chief on July 30, but
it was too late - the people turned their eyes on the Bolsheviks
now.
Since March confusion reigned in the Bolshevik Party. Party
policy was directed by a temporary bureau of the Central Committee
composed of Molotov, Shliapnikov and Zalutsky, all of whom were
self-educated workers. All three were surprised by the March revolution.
So the party has split into a Left wing and a Right wing. The
temporary bureau belonged to the Left wing but was ineffective.
Pravda, the party newspaper, meanwhile carried on active propaganda
against the extension of the war, attacked the Mensheviks as traitors,
and called for "resignation of the provisional government
and all power to the soviets." The Right wing led by Kamenev
supported the government of Prince Lvov and wanted to heal the
split with the Mensheviks.
Joseph Stalin, who with Kamenev returned from exile on March 25,
was a senior member of the Central Committee founded in 1912.
Without asking anyone's permission, he went into action by closing
down the temporary bureau and taking control of Pravda, which
had been more conciliatory to the Provisional Government. Lenin,
from exile in Switzerland, sent a letter criticizing this particular
action by Stalin. A Party Conference was then held on April 10
to straighten things out. The assumption was that they should
be satisfied with the democratic results of the liberal revolution
and postpone the socialist demands until later.
The moderate Bolsheviks at this time supported the Provisional
Government while radical Bolsheviks insisted that the revolution
must be anti-capitalist and not only anti-feudal. Stalin maneuvered
between the two groups trying to prevent an open split. At this
crucial moment, on April 16 Lenin returned from Switzerland in
a sealed train as a hostage of the German High Command. This changed
everything.
Lenin received a triumphal welcome at the Finland Station, although
we know since the downfall of Communism that this welcome was
artificially manufactured at the last moment. Chkheidze welcomed
him in the name of the Soviets, but Lenin ignored him and addressed
the people assembled to meet him. There were cheers not so much
for the triumphant Russian revolution but the coming world revolution
- or so at least official propaganda would have it.
On April 17 there was a Joint Meeting of the Bolsheviks and the
Mensheviks at the Taurida Palace. Lenin announced his so-called
April Thesis. This includes demands for a breach with the Provisional
Government; the refusal to cooperate with the moderate socialists;
an attack on Pravda and its current line defined by Stalin; and
a demand that they win over the masses and work for a majority
in the Soviets. The Soviets were then completely dominated by
the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionary Party.
But the heart of Lenin's April Thesis was extremely revolutionary:
He demanded the liquidation of the standing army; liquidation
of the police; liquidation of the bureaucracy; socialization of
the banks; control by the workers of production and distribution
of goods; and finally the division of the land among the peasants.
In the context of Russia this last one was clearly the most revolutionary.
An one observer, Sukhanov, said: "I shall never forget the
speech...which broke like lightening over the assembly and shook
and confused not only me...it seemed as if all the elements had
been let loose, as if the demon of destruction was rising from
his depth."
But Lenin had a hard time convincing his party comrades to accept
his thesis. The St. Petersburg party conference gave him only
a majority of 20 out of 35 votes. At the All Russian Party Conference
in May there were excited debates: Lenin proposed to break with
the International Workers Movement and found a new international.
It was turned down. He also proposed to rename the party as the
Communist Party of Russia. This was also turned down. But the
conference did support his stand on the right of self-determination,
even the right to secede. There was a compromise on cooperation
with the other leftist parties and the relationship to the Soviets.
By the time it was all over, the majority of the Party was in
Lenin's hand. Only Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Bukharin oppose him
consistently. On the final resolutions he got 71 votes for, 39
against and 8 abstentions.
It is clear that Lenin knew how to arouse the anarchistic instincts
of the masses, how to mobilize the masses. The momentum was to
be continued until the world revolution came. But the masses needed
the direction and guardianship of an elite party. This was the
view which Lenin imposed on the party and eventually saddled on
Russia for 75 years.
The Bolsheviks soon elected a new Central Committee. The party
now had 76,000 members, double what it in February. Stalin wrote
a little pamphlet called "Land for the Peasants". This
in essence told the peasants to "form a committee and take
the land!" Trotsky returned a month after Lenin did and seeing
how the wind was blowing joined the Bolshevik party.
A new coalition government was formed which included Mensheviks
and Social Revolutionaries. So the battle with the soviets came
to an end. The soviets had lost ground among the urban masses
in any case. Lenin continued to cry for "All power to the
Soviets!" This, however, in the new situation, became a risky
ploy.
At the All Russian Congress of Soviets on June 16 the breakdown
of delegates had ominous signs for Lenin. The Social Revolutionaries
produced 285 delegates; the Mensheviks 248 delegates; and the
Bolsheviks merely 105 delegates. Yet during street demonstrations
most of the placards carried Bolshevik slogans. So, go figure!
Lenin must have believed that in time he would conquer the soviets
from within.
This was one of Lenin major miscalculations. He thought the time
was ripe for a Bolshevik coup. But the masses were not yet ready
for anything as radical as he had to offer. The uprising only
brought out a few radicals besides the active Bolsheviks. It was
easily crushed by the forces of the Provisional Government. Kerensky
still had the muscle. Several Bolsheviks were arrested and Lenin
went into temporary hiding to bide his time and recalculate the
possibilities of the situation. It was not easy for him to get
out of town. He had to hide and masquerade as a peasant to get
across the border into Finland.
The general situation was quickly deteriorating. Peasants,
notorious for their lethargic impassivity, became strangely impatient.
It appeared that they had been affected by the propaganda of the
Social Revolutionaries and the Bolsheviks. In retrospect it is
easy to say that he failure to find an immediate answer to the
land hunger of the peasants was the Provisional Government's biggest
mistake. In industry too the Provisional Government had no constructive
program to determine action. Production dropped to 30-49% of the
pre-revolutionary level. A suggestion was made to turn the factories
over to government control. Instead what actually happened was
that the workers took over most of the factories themselves, but
did not have the managerial skills to run them effectively.
Prices rose and the currency became devalued. Then emergency currency
was issued, known derisively as the "Kerensky bills".
This meant that the government had embarked on a path of deliberate
inflation. Kerensky then called for a National Political Conference
to jack up his tottering prestige. A certain General Kornilov
was applauded at the conference and this led him to think he had
real power. So the naive general laid down the conditions for
his support of the Provisional Government: no interference in
military questions and re-establishment of military discipline.
The question in most peoples' minds was: "What does Kornilov's
really want?" Even now the details of Kornilov's coup attempt
are difficult to interpret, but it is certain that Kerensky wanted
to settle accounts with the Bolsheviks. To do this he asked Kornilov
to send troops to the capital. Kornilov thought together with
Kerensky he could re-establish order. That much we can safely
assume. But did he seek military dictatorship? Probably not. He
wanted to make the government more independent of the Soviets
and more amenable to influence by the military.
Kornilov was led to believe Kerensky wanted him to establish a
temporary dictatorship with Kerensky given a prominent place in
the new government. When Kerensky discovered Kornilov's misconceptions
he asked Kornilov to resign and come to St. Petersburg immediately.
Kornilov then decided to act and began to move his Third Cavalry
Division on the capital. Kerensky replied by a levee en masse
in the capital. All the left-wing parties and factions cooperated,
including the notorious Kronstadt sailors.
Most important, the key railroad unions cooperated with Kerensky
by pulling up tracks re-directing trains. Thus the attack is stopped.
Kornilov and his staff were summarily arrested. It is clear that
Kornilov was obviously not a born dictator. Kerensky now felt
that he was the victor. In this he was gravely mistaken - as events
would demonstrate. Lenin was in exile and Kornilov was in jail,
however, and so Kerensky officially declared Russia to be a republic.
It was a serious self-deception: the Bolsheviks alone profited
from the situation. The Allies at this point grew impatient with
Kerensky.
The liberals loose confidence in Kerensky after the Kornilov
coup attempt as well. So Kerensky drew closer to the radicals
but the rest of his cabinet turned to the right. The Bolsheviks
cried conspiracy to establish monarchist dictatorship, but it
was not true. Yet, the Bolsheviks did get a majority in the soviet
for the first time - more than 50% in the September elections.
They had had only 10% in July. Strangely enough, Trotsky was released
from jail at this time only to become president of St. Petersburg
Soviet. He was supported by the Bolsheviks and the left wing of
the Social Revolutionary party.
"All power to Soviets" had a totally different meaning
now. So Trotsky's efforts are aimed at a new revolution hidden
in the slogan. Lenin wanted to make revolution NOW. Trotsky wanted
to couple it with the meeting of the All Russian Soviet. Under
the lawful cloak of a broadly elected, popular-representative
body, the Soviets, the conspiracy could be planned and prepared
with a degree of carefulness which made Lenin's plan for a spontaneous
coup by the Party appear to be an irresponsible adventure.
Trotsky knew how to maneuver in the complicated alignment of power
in the triangle of Provisional Government, Soviets, and Bolshevik
Party. The Soviets assumed the right to decide on troop movement
in St. Petersburg area without anyone being able to challenge
their illegal actions. On October 26 the Soviets established a
Military Revolutionary Committee with Leon Trotsky as chairman.
Thus Trotsky became the chief of the general staff of the Bolshevik
insurrection. All threads of the conspiracy were now in Trotsky's
hand. The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party still debated
fundamental questions endlessly while Trotsky took concrete action.
Lenin tried to persuade Kamenev and Zenoviev who wanted to wait
until the meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place. Ominously,
on October 20 Trotsky and the Bolsheviks left Kerensky's Preliminary
Parliament. The new Bolshevik slogans were "Petrograd is
in danger", "Revolution is in danger", "People
are in danger"!
On October 21 Lenin returned secretly to the city to participate
in the Central Committee meeting of October 23. This was a historic
meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party. Only
12 people were present and accounted for. Ten of them voted for
immediate revolution, thus completely isolating the two democratic
holdouts, Kamenev and Zenoviev. A new Politburo is elected, including
Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Sokolnikov, Bubnov, Kamenev, Zenoviev.
(Kamenev and Zenoviev resign a few days later).
The All Russian Soviet Congress was supposed to meet on November
2, but the Menshevik majority decided to postpone to November
7, which enormously helped the Bolsheviks. They had a week to
prepare the insurrection. The Insurrection proper took place on
the evening of November 6. St. Petersburg regiments voted to take
orders only from Trotsky as the representative of the Military
Revolutionary Committee (November 3). This is the first step in
the mutiny. On November 5 the Military Revolutionary Committee
appointed commissars for all military units around St. Petersburg.
The government delivered a counter-stroke on November 6 by occupying
the newspaper offices of the Bolsheviks, but this merely gave
Trotsky a pretext to strike the first blow. The revolution began
without a shot. Insurgent troops occupied all bridges, railroad
stations, post offices and other public buildings. The Winter
Palace, seat of the Provisional Government, was taken without
much trouble. The cruiser Aurora in Neva river simply bombarded
the Winter Palace, as the insurgents fought against a few ensigns
and a battalion of women. This was all the government could get
to defend itself. During the night of November 7-8 the government
capitulated.
Late in the evening of November 6 the Soviet Congress met as planned.
Though the Bolsheviks did not have a absolute majority, they could
rely on the support of the left wing Social Revolutionaries. The
sessions had hardly begun when the right wing Social Revolutionaries
and the Mensheviks declared that the Congress could not continue
to meet under the threat of arms which the bombardment of the
Winter Palace had just signaled. As a protest against the insurrection
they left the hall. In so doing they surrendered the field to
the Bolsheviks.
With triumphant scorn Trotsky could now reject all cooperation
with the moderate Socialists; "Your role is played out,"
he shouted. "Go where you belong from now on--into the rubbish-can
of history." At this point the left wing Mensheviks under
Martov had no choice but to leave the Congress too. The Bolsheviks
now had an absolute majority and could sanction what had happened.
The rising in St. Petersburg had succeeded. The Bolsheviks were
in power.