The formation of Soviet power. The establishment of Soviet power in the country

2. The formation of Soviet power

2.1 Introduction

The process of creating a new state covered the period from October 1917, the time of the beginning of the October Revolution, to the summer of 1818, when the Soviet statehood was enshrined in the Constitution. The central thesis of the new government was the idea of ​​exporting the world revolution and the creation of a socialist state. As part of this idea, the slogan "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" was put forward. The main task of the Bolsheviks was the issue of power, so the focus was not on socio-economic transformations, but on strengthening the central and regional authorities.

2.2 The highest bodies of Soviet power

On October 25, 1917, the Second Congress of Soviets adopted the Decree on Power, declaring the transfer of all power to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. The arrest of the Provisional Government, the local liquidation of zemstvo and city governments were the first steps towards the destruction of the administration created by the former government. On October 27, 1917, it was decided to form a Soviet government - the Council of People's Commissars (S/W), which should act until the election of the Constituent Assembly. It included 62 Bolsheviks, 29 Left Social Revolutionaries. More than 20 People's Commissariats (People's Commissariats) were created instead of ministries. The Congress of Soviets, headed by Lenin, became the supreme legislative body. Between its meetings, legislative functions were carried out by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), headed by L. Kamenev and M. Sverdlov. To combat counter-revolution and sabotage, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK), headed by F. Dzerzhinsky, was formed. Revolutionary courts were created for the same purpose. These bodies played a big role in establishing Soviet power and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

1.3 Constituent Assembly

In November-December 1917, elections to the Constituent Assembly were held, during which the Social Revolutionaries received 40% of the vote, the Bolsheviks - 24%, the Mensheviks - 2%. Thus, the Bolsheviks did not receive a majority and, realizing the threat to the sole rule, were forced to disperse the Constituent Assembly. On November 28, a blow was dealt to the Cadet Party - members of the Constituent Assembly, who were members of the Central Committee of the Cadet Party, P. Dolgorukov, F. Kokoshkin, V. Stepanov, A. Shingarev and others were arrested. At the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly, which opened on January 5, 1918 In the Taurida Palace, the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs who supported them were in the minority. Most of the delegates refused to recognize the Council of People's Commissars as the government and demanded that all power be transferred to the Constituent Assembly. Therefore, on the night of January 6-7, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee approved a decree dissolving the Constituent Assembly. Demonstrations in his support were dispersed. Thus, the last democratically elected body collapsed. The repressions that began with the Kadets showed that the Bolsheviks were striving for dictatorship and one-man rule. Civil war became inevitable.

The Decree on Peace is the first decree of Soviet power. It was developed by V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin) and unanimously adopted on October 26 (November 8), 1917, at the Second Congress of Soviets of Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Deputies after the Provisional Government of Russia was overthrown as a result of an armed coup.

The main provisions of the decree:

The Soviet Workers' and Peasants' Government proposes that "all belligerent peoples and their governments begin immediately negotiations on a just democratic peace" - namely, on "immediate peace without annexations and indemnities", that is, without seizures of foreign territories and without forcible recovery from the conquered material or monetary refunds. The continuation of the war is seen as "the greatest crime against humanity".

The Soviet government abolishes secret diplomacy, “expressing its firm intention to conduct all negotiations completely openly before the whole people, proceeding immediately to the full publication of secret agreements confirmed or concluded by the government of landowners and capitalists from February to October 25, 1917,” and “declares unconditionally and immediately canceled » the entire content of these secret treaties.

The Soviet government proposes that "all governments and peoples of all belligerent countries immediately conclude an armistice" for peace negotiations and the final approval of peace conditions.

1.5 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

On October 25, 1917, power in Petrograd passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks, who acted under the slogan: "A world without annexations and indemnities!". It was they who proposed to conclude such a peace to all the belligerent powers in the very first decree of the new government - the Decree on Peace. From mid-November, at the suggestion of the Soviet government, a truce was established on the Russian-German front. It was officially signed on December 2.

Bolshevik Konstantin Yeremeev wrote: “The truce at the front made the soldiers’ desire to go home, to the village, irresistible. If after the February Revolution leaving the front was a common occurrence, now 12 million soldiers, the flower of the peasantry, felt superfluous in the army and extremely needed there, at home, where they "divide the earth."

The leakage occurred spontaneously, taking on a variety of forms: many simply went away without permission, leaving their units, most of them capturing rifles and cartridges. Not a smaller number used any legal method - on vacation, on various business trips ... The timing did not matter, since everyone understood that it was only important to get out of military captivity, and there they would hardly be asked to return. "The Russian trenches were rapidly emptying. In some sectors of the front, by January 1918, not a single soldier remained in the trenches, only in some places there were separate military posts.

Going home, the soldiers took away their weapons, and sometimes even sold them to the enemy. On December 9, 1917, peace negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk, where the headquarters of the German command was located. The Soviet delegation tried to defend the idea of ​​a "peace without annexations and indemnities." January 28, 1918 Germany gave Russia an ultimatum. She demanded to sign an agreement under which Russia was losing Poland, Belarus and part of the Baltic States, a total of 150 thousand square kilometers. This placed the Soviet delegation in front of a severe necessity between the proclaimed principles and the demands of life. According to the principles, war should have been waged, and not a shameful peace with Germany. But they didn't have the strength to fight. The head of the Soviet delegation, Leon Trotsky, like other Bolsheviks, painfully tried to resolve this contradiction. Finally, it seemed to him that he had found a brilliant way out of the situation. On January 28, he delivered his famous peace speech at the talks. In short, it came down to the well-known formula: “Do not sign peace, do not wage war, dissolve the army.” Leon Trotsky said: “We are withdrawing our army and our people from the war. Our soldier-plowman must return to his arable land in order to peacefully cultivate the land which the revolution has handed over from the hands of the landlords to the hands of the peasants. We are withdrawing from the war. We refuse to sanction the conditions which German and Austro-Hungarian imperialism writes with a sword on the body of the living peoples. We cannot put the signatures of the Russian revolution under the conditions oppression, grief and misfortune to millions of human beings. The governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary want to own the lands and peoples by the right of military seizure. Let them do their work openly. We cannot consecrate violence. We are withdrawing from the war, but we are forced to refuse to sign peace treaty." After that, he read out the official statement of the Soviet delegation: "Refusing to sign the annexationist treaty, Russia with its side declares the state of war ended. At the same time, the order is given to the Russian troops for complete demobilization along the entire front."
German and Austrian diplomats were at first really shocked by this incredible statement. There was complete silence in the room for several minutes. Then the German General M. Hoffmann exclaimed: "Unheard of!" The head of the German delegation, R. Kuhlmann, immediately concluded: "Consequently, the state of war continues." "Empty threats!" - L. Trotsky said, leaving the meeting room.

However, contrary to the expectations of the Soviet leadership, on February 18, the Austro-Hungarian troops launched an offensive along the entire front. Almost no one opposed them: only bad roads prevented the advance of the armies. On the evening of February 23, they occupied Pskov, on March 3 - Narva. The Red Guard detachment of sailor Pavel Dybenko left this city without a fight. General Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich wrote about him: "Dybenko's detachment did not inspire confidence in me; it was enough to look at this sailor freemen with mother-of-pearl buttons sewn on wide bell-bottoms, with rollicking manners, to understand that they would not be able to fight with regular German units. My fears were justified ... “On February 25, Vladimir Lenin bitterly wrote in the Pravda newspaper: “Painfully shameful reports about the refusal of the regiments to maintain their positions, about the refusal to defend even the Narva line, about the failure to comply with the order to destroy everything and everyone during the retreat; let's not talk about flight, chaos, handlessness, helplessness, slovenliness"

On February 19, the Soviet leadership agreed to accept the German terms of peace. But now Germany has put forward much more difficult conditions, demanding five times as much territory. About 50 million people lived on these lands; more than 70% of iron ore and about 90% of coal in the country were mined here. In addition, Russia had to pay a huge indemnity.
Soviet Russia was forced to accept these difficult conditions. The head of the new Soviet delegation, Grigory Sokolnikov, read out her statement: “Under the circumstances that have arisen, Russia has no choice. By the fact of the demobilization of its troops, the Russian revolution, as it were, has transferred its fate into the hands of the German people. We do not doubt for a minute that this is the triumph of imperialism and militarism over The international proletarian revolution will prove to be only temporary and coming. After these words, General Hoffmann exclaimed indignantly: "Again the same nonsense!". "We are ready," G. Sokolnikov concluded, "to immediately sign a peace treaty, refusing any discussion of it as completely useless under the circumstances."

The victory of the October Revolution led to a sharp change in the alignment of political forces in Russia. The proletariat became the ruling class Bolshevik Party - ruling. The opposition to the new government was made up of the overthrown classes and spokesmen for their interests - monarchist, bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties. The entire spectrum of political forces opposing the Bolsheviks was divided into three camps.

First camp

First camp openly anti-Soviet. It was composed monarchist and bourgeois parties. The party of the liberal bourgeoisie took a tough stance - constitutional democrats. Already on October 26, 1917, its Central Committee, having gathered for a meeting, decided on a merciless struggle against the Bolsheviks. Armed uprisings against the power of the Soviets forced the Soviet government at the end of November 1917 to adopt the "Decree on the arrest of the leaders of the civil war against the revolution."

Second camp

In second camp included Right SRs and Mensheviks who relied on the peasantry, the middle strata of workers and other groups of the population. The political line of the Right Socialist-Revolutionary Party was clearly manifested, aimed at preparing an armed uprising with the aim of overthrowing Soviet power and replacing it with a Constituent Assembly. The Mensheviks did not renounce a parliamentary republic, but they did not reject the violent methods of overthrowing Soviet power either.

The Right Socialist-Revolutionaries assigned the role of the main centers of the struggle against Soviet power to the Volga and Siberia, where they had quite numerous organizations and significant influence among the main peasant mass of the population and part of the workers. It was there, as well as in the North, in the Trans-Caspian region and Turkestan, that the Socialist-Revolutionaries, together with the Mensheviks, led the movement against Soviet power.

Third camp

Third camp were those who, together with the Bolsheviks, took part in the October Revolution. it Left SRs and anarchists. At the same time, we note that the Left SRs went through a complex political evolution from supporting Soviet power to fighting it.

The transition of power in Russia into the hands of the Bolsheviks took place both peacefully and by force of arms. He took a period October 1917 to March 1918

AT Moscow Soviet power was established the 3rd of November after bloody battles. The sailors who arrived from Kronstadt fought with officers and cadets who occupied the Kremlin on the orders of the head of the City Duma, the Social Revolutionary Rudnev and Colonel Ryabtsev, the commander of the Moscow Military District.

October 27 A.F. Kerensky and General P.N. Krasnov organized the offensive of the Cossack detachment (700 people) on Petrograd. The advance was halted. The headquarters of the Supreme High Command in Mogilev was crushed, and in order to block anti-Soviet actions on the fronts, the Council of People's Commissars appointed N.V. Krylenko instead of the displaced N.N. Dukhonin.

The victory of the revolution in Petrograd and Moscow was of decisive importance for the establishment of Soviet power throughout the country. It established itself relatively easily in industrial regions. As a result, towards the end November 1917. Soviet power has won in almost 30 provincial cities of European Russia.

A fierce armed struggle for the establishment of Soviet power took place in the areas where the Cossacks lived - a privileged military class. White officers and generals, leaders of monarchist and bourgeois parties fled from the center of Russia to the Don, the North Caucasus, and the South Urals.

For these and other reasons, the establishment of Soviet power in these areas took place only at the beginning of 1918. Under peculiar conditions, Soviet power was established throughout Siberia and the Far East.

Earlier than in other national regions, the revolution won in the Baltic States and Belarus.

In a more difficult situation, the struggle for the Soviets proceeded in the Ukraine, the Caucasus, Moldavia, Central Asia, and Kazakhstan. The confrontation here dragged on for several months, until the spring of 1918.

Generally, from October 25, 1917 to February - March 1918 Soviet power was established in almost the entire territory of Russia.

Serious political crisis The Soviet government survived in the very first days of its existence, when the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Trade Union of Railway Workers ( Vikzhel) with the support of Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries demanded in an ultimatum form that in order to avoid a civil war, it would recognize as legitimate a socialist government in which all socialist parties from the Bolsheviks to the People's Socialists (SRs) should take part. The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party was forced to negotiate with the Vikzhel. At the talks, the delegation of the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks, contrary to the party decision, supported the ideas of Vikzhel on the creation of a government in which the Bolsheviks were assigned a secondary role.

Disagreements arose among the leadership of the Bolshevik Party. L.B. Kamenev, G.Z. Zinoviev, A.I. Rykov and others left the Central Committee, and part of the people's commissars - from the government. Ya.M. was appointed to the post of chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Sverdlov.

The Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Railway Workers, held in December 1917, spoke in favor of supporting the Soviet government. An agreement was reached on the entry of seven representatives of the left social revolutionaries (SRs) into the Soviet government (Sovnarkom), which accounted for a third of its composition.

constituent Assembly

About 50 political parties of Russia took part in the elections to the Constituent Assembly, held in mid-November 1917; the Bolsheviks received 22.5% of the vote; moderate socialist parties - 60.5% (of which over 55% are socialist-revolutionaries); bourgeois parties - 17%. The results of the elections were explained by the fact that they were held according to the lists compiled by these parties even before the October events. Now the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries have entered into a coalition. Thus, it turned out that the majority of voters voted for a party that no longer existed. This meant that the distribution of seats did not reflect the changes in the alignment of political forces in the country that occurred on the eve and during the October events. However, the idea of ​​convening the Assembly remained popular among the broad masses of the people.

The first and only meeting of the Constituent Assembly elected V. Chernov, leader of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, as chairman; the candidacy of M. Spiridonova, chairman of the Central Committee of the right SRs, supported by the Bolsheviks, was rejected by the meeting.

Constituent Assembly on the day of its opening - January 5, 1918- it was proposed to approve the approved All-Russian Central Executive Committee " Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People". It confirmed the most important legislative acts adopted after the victory of the revolution. However, the majority of the delegates not only refused to accept the Declaration, but also spoke out against Soviet power. Then the Bolshevik faction left the assembly. Left SRs, Muslim nationalists and Ukrainian SRs left after her. On January 6, 1918, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Constituent Assembly was dissolved.

At 4 o'clock in the morning, the head of the guard, sailor A.G. Zheleznyakov, in accordance with the instructions received, demanded that Chernov close the meeting, uttering the famous phrase “The guard is tired.”

A week later, the All-Russian Congress of Workers, Soldiers and Peasants' Deputies was held, at which the "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People" was approved. The congress also approved the law on the socialization of land, proclaimed the federal principle of state structure Russian Federative Socialist Republic.

2. The formation of Soviet power

2.1 Introduction

The process of creating a new state covered the period from October 1917, the time of the beginning of the October Revolution, to the summer of 1818, when the Soviet statehood was enshrined in the Constitution. The central thesis of the new government was the idea of ​​exporting the world revolution and the creation of a socialist state. As part of this idea, the slogan "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" was put forward. The main task of the Bolsheviks was the issue of power, so the focus was not on socio-economic transformations, but on strengthening the central and regional authorities.

2.2 The highest bodies of Soviet power

On October 25, 1917, the Second Congress of Soviets adopted the Decree on Power, declaring the transfer of all power to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. The arrest of the Provisional Government, the local liquidation of zemstvo and city governments were the first steps towards the destruction of the administration created by the former government. On October 27, 1917, it was decided to form a Soviet government - the Council of People's Commissars (S/W), which should act until the election of the Constituent Assembly. It included 62 Bolsheviks, 29 Left Social Revolutionaries. More than 20 People's Commissariats (People's Commissariats) were created instead of ministries. The Congress of Soviets, headed by Lenin, became the supreme legislative body. Between its meetings, legislative functions were carried out by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), headed by L. Kamenev and M. Sverdlov. To combat counter-revolution and sabotage, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK), headed by F. Dzerzhinsky, was formed. Revolutionary courts were created for the same purpose. These bodies played a big role in establishing Soviet power and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

1.3 Constituent Assembly

In November-December 1917, elections to the Constituent Assembly were held, during which the Social Revolutionaries received 40% of the vote, the Bolsheviks - 24%, the Mensheviks - 2%. Thus, the Bolsheviks did not receive a majority and, realizing the threat to the sole rule, were forced to disperse the Constituent Assembly. On November 28, a blow was dealt to the Cadet Party - members of the Constituent Assembly, who were members of the Central Committee of the Cadet Party, P. Dolgorukov, F. Kokoshkin, V. Stepanov, A. Shingarev and others were arrested. At the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly, which opened on January 5, 1918 In the Taurida Palace, the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs who supported them were in the minority. Most of the delegates refused to recognize the Council of People's Commissars as the government and demanded that all power be transferred to the Constituent Assembly. Therefore, on the night of January 6-7, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee approved a decree dissolving the Constituent Assembly. Demonstrations in his support were dispersed. Thus, the last democratically elected body collapsed. The repressions that began with the Kadets showed that the Bolsheviks were striving for dictatorship and one-man rule. Civil war became inevitable.

The Decree on Peace is the first decree of Soviet power. It was developed by V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin) and unanimously adopted on October 26 (November 8), 1917, at the Second Congress of Soviets of Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Deputies after the Provisional Government of Russia was overthrown as a result of an armed coup.

The main provisions of the decree:

The Soviet Workers' and Peasants' Government proposes that "all belligerent peoples and their governments begin immediately negotiations on a just democratic peace" - namely, on "immediate peace without annexations and indemnities", that is, without seizures of foreign territories and without forcible recovery from the conquered material or monetary refunds. The continuation of the war is seen as "the greatest crime against humanity".

The Soviet government abolishes secret diplomacy, “expressing its firm intention to conduct all negotiations completely openly before the whole people, proceeding immediately to the full publication of secret agreements confirmed or concluded by the government of landowners and capitalists from February to October 25, 1917,” and “declares unconditionally and immediately canceled » the entire content of these secret treaties.

The Soviet government proposes that "all governments and peoples of all belligerent countries immediately conclude an armistice" for peace negotiations and the final approval of peace conditions.

1.5 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

On October 25, 1917, power in Petrograd passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks, who acted under the slogan: “A world without annexations and indemnities! ". It was they who proposed to conclude such a peace to all the belligerent powers in the very first decree of the new government - the Decree on Peace. From mid-November, at the suggestion of the Soviet government, a truce was established on the Russian-German front. It was officially signed on December 2.

The Bolshevik Konstantin Yeremeev wrote: “The truce at the front made the soldiers’ desire to go home, to the village, irresistible. If already after the February Revolution, leaving the front was a common occurrence, but now 12 million soldiers, the flower of the peasantry, felt themselves superfluous in army units and extremely needed there, at home, where they “divide the land.”

The leakage occurred spontaneously, taking on a variety of forms: many simply went away without permission, leaving their units, most of them capturing rifles and cartridges. Not a smaller number used any legal method - on vacation, on various business trips ... The timing did not matter, since everyone understood that it was only important to get out of military captivity, and there they would hardly be asked to return. The Russian trenches were rapidly emptying. In some sectors of the front, by January 1918, not a single soldier remained in the trenches, only in some places there were separate military posts.

Going home, the soldiers took away their weapons, and sometimes even sold them to the enemy. On December 9, 1917, peace negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk, where the headquarters of the German command was located. The Soviet delegation tried to defend the idea of ​​"a world without annexations and indemnities." January 28, 1918 Germany gave Russia an ultimatum. She demanded to sign an agreement under which Russia was losing Poland, Belarus and part of the Baltic States, a total of 150 thousand square kilometers. This placed the Soviet delegation in front of a severe necessity between the proclaimed principles and the demands of life. According to the principles, war should have been waged, and not a shameful peace with Germany. But they didn't have the strength to fight. The head of the Soviet delegation, Leon Trotsky, like other Bolsheviks, painfully tried to resolve this contradiction. Finally, it seemed to him that he had found a brilliant way out of the situation. On January 28, he delivered his famous peace speech at the talks. In short, it boiled down to the well-known formula: “Do not sign peace, do not wage war, dissolve the army.” Leon Trotsky declared: “We are withdrawing our army and our people from the war. Our soldier plowman must return to his arable land in order to peacefully till this spring the land which the revolution has handed over from the hands of the landowners to the hands of the peasants. We are leaving the war. We refuse to sanction the conditions which German and Austro-Hungarian imperialism writes with a sword on the body of the living peoples. We cannot put the signatures of the Russian revolution under conditions that bring oppression, grief and misfortune to millions of human beings. The governments of Germany and Austria-Hungary want to own the lands and peoples by the right of military seizure. Let them do their work openly. We cannot consecrate violence. We are withdrawing from the war, but we are forced to refuse to sign a peace treaty. After that, he announced the official statement of the Soviet delegation: “Refusing to sign the annexationist treaty, Russia, for its part, declares the state of war terminated. Russian troops are simultaneously given an order for complete demobilization along the entire front.
German and Austrian diplomats were at first really shocked by this incredible statement. There was complete silence in the room for several minutes. Then the German General M. Hoffmann exclaimed: "Unheard of!". The head of the German delegation, R. Kuhlmann, immediately concluded: "Consequently, the state of war continues." “Empty threats! ”- L. Trotsky said, leaving the meeting room.

However, contrary to the expectations of the Soviet leadership, on February 18, the Austro-Hungarian troops launched an offensive along the entire front. Almost no one opposed them: only bad roads prevented the advance of the armies. On the evening of February 23, they occupied Pskov, on March 3 - Narva. The Red Guard detachment of sailor Pavel Dybenko left this city without a fight. General Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich wrote about him: “The Dybenko detachment did not inspire confidence in me; it was enough to look at this sailor freemen with mother-of-pearl buttons sewn on wide bell-bottoms, with rollicking manners, to understand that they would not be able to fight with regular German units. My fears were justified... “On February 25, Vladimir Lenin bitterly wrote in the Pravda newspaper: “Painfully shameful reports about the refusal of the regiments to maintain their positions, about the refusal to defend even the Narva line, about the failure to comply with the order to destroy everything and everyone during the retreat; let's not talk about flight, chaos, handlessness, helplessness, slovenliness"

On February 19, the Soviet leadership agreed to accept the German terms of peace. But now Germany has put forward much more difficult conditions, demanding five times as much territory. About 50 million people lived on these lands; more than 70% of iron ore and about 90% of coal in the country were mined here. In addition, Russia had to pay a huge indemnity.
Soviet Russia was forced to accept these difficult conditions. The head of the new Soviet delegation, Grigory Sokolnikov, read out her statement: “Under the circumstances, Russia has no choice. By the fact of the demobilization of its troops, the Russian revolution, as it were, handed over its fate into the hands of the German people. We do not doubt for a moment that this triumph of imperialism and militarism over the international proletarian revolution will prove to be only temporary and coming. After these words, General Hoffmann exclaimed indignantly: “Again, the same nonsense! ". “We are ready,” G. Sokolnikov concluded, “to immediately sign a peace treaty, refusing any discussion of it as completely useless under the circumstances.”

March 3 Brest peace treaty was signed. Russia has lost Poland, the Baltic states, Ukraine, part of Belarus... In addition, under the agreement, Russia transferred more than 90 tons of gold to Germany. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk did not last long in November, after the revolution in Germany, Soviet Russia annulled it.

1.6 Policy towards the peasantry

The development of events largely depended on the Bolsheviks' choice of the balance between strategic and tactical tasks. The strategic meaning of the actions of the Bolsheviks was recorded by Lenin in the words about the October Revolution: "We started our business solely counting on the world revolution." At the same time, the slogans of the coup itself were not of a purely socialist nature. The Bolsheviks (despite the fact that in February 1917 their party numbered less than 24 thousand members) managed to take power relatively easily. The liberalism of the Provisional Government was perceived by the masses as something inadequate to the realities of the moment. By the Decree on Peace, the Bolsheviks secured armed support from the capital's garrisons. Trotsky openly admitted that the unwillingness of the rear units to move from the barracks to the trench position was used. The slogans “All power to the Soviets” and “Land to the peasants” were also tactical in nature, corresponded to the mood of the peasantry, which constituted the vast majority of the population. according to the labor norm (the Bolshevik program was aimed at the nationalization of the land and large-scale agricultural production with the displacement of commodity relations from it). The slogan "All power to the Soviets" in the minds of the villagers meant the complete predominance of the communal world, rural assemblies and assemblies in resolving all local issues. Finally, the demand for the immediate convocation of the Constituent Assembly played an important role in carrying out the October Revolution.
With the help of the Left Social Revolutionaries who entered the Council of People's Commissars, the Bolsheviks tried to put the slogans of the October Revolution into practice. In an effort to attract peasants, they did not confine themselves to declarations, transferring to them the landlords, monasteries and office lands, supporting land redistribution on equalizing principles.
It is true that the tactics "groped" by the time of the coup could also contribute to the retention of power. The location on the part of the peasantry provided the Bolsheviks with a relative advantage in the inter-party struggle, and for the time being did not allow the social conflict to develop into a mass slaughter. However, the October tactics of the Bolsheviks inevitably came into conflict with their own strategy - the course towards the world proletarian revolution. Guided by theoretical schemes, the Bolsheviks declared the inevitability of a revolutionary explosion, if not on a world scale, then on a European scale. In Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916) and The State and Revolution (1917), Lenin spoke of socialism as a system naturally arising from imperialism on the basis of a monopolization process: “Socialism is a general state monopoly, but aimed at the good of all."
The second part of Lenin's formula implied the special role of the proletarian revolution, which is designed to deprive private individuals of the right to own a monopoly. At the same time, it was considered quite obvious that the finished monopoly is outside the national-state framework, taking on a planetary scale. From such theoretical constructions followed the conviction of the coming "revolutionary fire" in Europe, for which the October events in Russia serve only as a kind of "fuse".
The strategy of the Bolsheviks reflected the thesis of the dictatorship of the proletariat as a stage of transition to the communist system (that is, one in which there will be no state structures, commodity-money mechanisms, and differences between people will be minimized). The dictatorship of the proletariat was identified with socialism. as a short-term stage in the suppression of all anti-proletarian elements and the destruction of private property. The October tactics, therefore, had nothing in common with the thesis of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The consistent implementation of the tactical slogans "All power to the Soviets" and "Land to the peasants" in practice led to the removal of barriers to the "petty-bourgeois elements", to the triumph of the Socialist-Revolutionary agrarian program, to the isolation of individual rural worlds, since with the omnipotence of local councils in a peasant country, there is no the dictatorship of the proletariat was out of the question. The implementation of the October tactics quickly bogged down.
In essence, the question of the priority of tactics to the detriment of strategy was not raised by the Bolsheviks. They associated the task of holding power not so much with the peasantry as with the revolution they expected a hundred times in the West. Back in September 1917, in the article “The Russian Revolution and the Civil War”, Lenin stated: “Having won power, the proletariat of Russia has every chance to keep it and bring Russia to a victorious revolution in the West.”
The task of retaining power was solved by the dictatorship of the proletariat. The creation of its apparatus included the dispersal of old institutions or their organizational and personnel renewal, but the main thing was the emergence of organs that performed the function of suppression. Since October 1917, revolutionary tribunals functioned - volost, district, provincial. 7 (20) December 191? year the Cheka was created.
In January 1918, the Bolsheviks openly abandoned the October tactics. Not having received the desired majority in the Constituent Assembly, they dispersed it and renounced their promise to transfer power to it. The emotional and psychological "lining" of Bolshevism was an indisputable conviction that the theory adopted was correct, that its implementation guarantees "universal happiness." This conviction forced us to reject compromises with those who are historically doomed. Lenin in his work “The Military Program of the Proletarian Revolution” wrote: “To deny civil wars or forget about them would mean falling into extreme opportunism and renouncing the socialist revolution”,
The policy of suppressing entire estates could not but give rise to resistance. In a large part of society, moreover. elements of Russophobia and Bolshevik ideology caused rejection. The open denial of Russian statehood was opposed by people with a developed patriotic consciousness. Anti-Bolshevik sentiment exploded in society after the "obscene" Brest Peace. However, the tension developed into a phase of active hostilities throughout the country, when the fundamental interests of the bulk of the population - the peasantry - were affected.
The inertia of the October tactics of the Bolsheviks in relation to the peasantry affected until about May 1918, when the surplus appraisal was introduced. Its implementation was accompanied by an ideological attack on the peasantry, criticism of its inertia, unwillingness to understand Marxist schemes, "fit" into revolutionary progress. Lenin declared the peasantry as the bearer of the "petty-bourgeois element" the "main danger" to the socialist revolution. Trotsky "practically" assigned the role of "fertilizer for the world revolution" to the Russian peasantry.
By a decree of June 11, 1918, committees of the poor (combeds) were introduced, which were created as a counterbalance to the village councils. With this decree, Lenin connected the beginning of the class struggle in the countryside (the cry “Death to the kulak” was thrown), emphasizing that from October 1917 until the issuance of the decree on the Kombeds, the Bolsheviks “went along with the entire peasantry. In this sense… the revolution was then bourgeois.” Kombedy participated in the confiscation of grain reserves, in the seizure of land from wealthy peasants. Peasant state farms and communes were forcibly created, a high degree of socialization in which deprived the villagers even of their personal property. Increased pressure on the Cossacks of the Don, Kuban, Terek, Orenburg. Peasant and Cossack uprisings began to flare up.

9) 1 - d, 2 - c, 3 - a, 4 - b

10) 1 - c, 2 - a, 3 - d, 4 - b

Establishment of Soviet power

October Revolution of 1917 in Russia

Great October Socialist Revolution took place October 25-26, 1917 ᴦ.(November 7-8, new style). This is one of the greatest events in the history of Russia, as a result of which there were cardinal changes in the position of all classes of society.

The October Revolution began as a result of a series of weighty reasons:

· In 1914-1918. Russia was involved in the First World War, the situation at the front was not the best, there was no sensible leader, the army suffered heavy losses. In industry, the growth of military products prevailed over consumer products, which led to an increase in prices and caused discontent among the masses. The soldiers and peasants wanted peace, and the bourgeoisie, who profited from the supply of military equipment, longed for the continuation of hostilities.

· National conflicts.

The intensity of the class struggle. The peasants, who for centuries dreamed of getting rid of the oppression of the landowners and kulaks and taking possession of the land, were ready for decisive action.

· The prevalence of socialist ideas in society.

The Bolshevik Party achieved tremendous influence over the masses. In October, there were already 400,000 people on their side. October 16, 1917 ᴦ. The Military Revolutionary Committee was created, which began preparations for an armed uprising. During the revolution by October 25, 1917 ᴦ. all key points in the city were occupied by the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of V.I. Lenin. Οʜᴎ capture the Winter Palace and arrest the provisional government.

On the evening of October 25, at the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, it was announced that power was transferred to the 2nd Congress of Soviets, and in the localities - to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies.

On October 26, the Decree on Peace and Land was adopted. At the congress, a Soviet government was formed, called the ʼʼCouncil of People's Commissarsʼʼ, ĸᴏᴛᴏᴩᴏᴇ included: Lenin himself (chairman), L.D. Trotsky (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs), I.V. Stalin (People's Commissar for National Affairs). The ʼʼDeclaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russiaʼʼ was introduced, which stated that all people have equal rights to freedom and development, there is no longer a nation of masters and a nation of oppressed.

As a result of the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks won, and the dictatorship of the proletariat was established. The class society was liquidated, the landlords' land was transferred into the hands of the peasants, and industrial facilities: factories, factories, mines - into the hands of the workers.

As a result of the October Revolution, the Civil War began, due to which millions of people died, and emigration to other countries began. The Great October Revolution influenced the subsequent course of world history.

From October to February 1917 ᴦ. the establishment of Soviet power on the territory of the former Russian Empire began.

On October 25, the 2nd Congress of Soviets adopted a decree on power, according to which it passed to the soviets of workers', soldiers' and peasants' deputies.

On October 27, a resolution was adopted on the creation of a temporary (until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly) Soviet government - the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), Bolsheviks (62) and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (29) entered ĸᴏᴛᴏᴩᴏᴇ. It was headed by Lenin. People's Commissariats (more than 20) were created in all spheres (economy, culture, education, etc.).

The Congress of Soviets became the supreme legislative body. In between congresses, its functions were performed by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), which was headed by L.B. Kamenev, a. then Ya.M. Sverdlov.

Elections to the Constituent Assembly held in November 1917 ᴦ. showed that 76% of voters did not support the Bolsheviks. Οʜᴎ voted for the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Cadets, who are pursuing a course towards the establishment of bourgeois democracy. At the same time, the Bolsheviks were supported by large cities, industrial centers, as well as soldiers.

In January 1917 ᴦ. The Bolsheviks dispersed the Constituent Assembly, banned the Cadets and the publication of opposition newspapers.

In December 1918 ᴦ. the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK) for the fight against counter-revolution, speculation and sabotage and its local departments in the regions are being created.

The Cheka, headed by F.E. Dzerzhinsky, had unlimited powers (up to execution) and played a huge role in establishing Soviet power and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

In January 1918 ᴦ. ʼʼDecree on the organization of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army and Navyʼʼ was adopted. Created on a voluntary basis from representatives of the working people, the army was intended to defend the gains of the proletariat.

In May 1918 ᴦ. in connection with the danger of intervention, the "Decree on universal conscription" was adopted. By November 1918 ᴦ. L. Trotsky managed to create a regular combat-ready army, and by 1921 ᴦ. its number reached 4 million people.

Using agitational and violent methods (the whole family was taken hostage for refusing to cooperate with the Red Army), the Bolsheviks managed to attract more military specialists from the old tsarist army to their side than the whites.

After the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly and the signing of the shameful Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, the socio-political situation in the country worsened. Protests against the Bolsheviks began: the rebellion of the junkers in Petrograd, the creation of the Volunteer Army on the Don, the beginning of the White movement, the unrest of the peasants in central Russia.

The most acute problem facing the new government was the way out of the war. L. Trotsky disrupted the first negotiations. Taking advantage of this, the German troops launched an offensive along the entire front line and, without meeting resistance, occupied Minsk, Polotsk, Orsha, Tallinn and many other territories. The front collapsed, and the army was unable to resist even the insignificant forces of the Germans.

February 23, 1918 ᴦ. Lenin achieved the acceptance of the German ultimatum, and signed an "obscene" peace with Germany's colossal territorial and material claims.

Having received a respite, having suffered huge losses for the sake of preserving the gains of the revolution, the Soviet Republic began transformations in the economy.

In December 1917 ᴦ. the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh) was organized, the largest banks, enterprises, transport, trade, etc. were nationalized.
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State-owned enterprises became the basis of the socialist structure in the economy.

July 4, 1918 ᴦ. The 5th Congress of Soviets adopted the first Soviet constitution, which proclaimed the creation of a state - the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.

The establishment of Soviet power - the concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Establishment of Soviet power" 2017, 2018.

Having announced the transfer of all power in Russia to the Soviets, the Bolsheviks in the capital itself immediately ran into opposition from their opponents. On the night of October 28, the Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution was created in Petrograd, which included representatives of the City Duma, the Pre-Parliament, the Central Executive Committee of the first convocation, and a number of professional and military organizations. With the help of the cadets of the Petrograd schools, they tried to carry out a counter-coup on October 29, but on the same day the anti-government uprising was suppressed, and the Committee itself then disintegrated. On October 30, near Pulkovo, the Red Guard units stopped the Cossack corps of General P.N. Krasnov, on November 1, the Cossacks capitulated in Gatchina.

The political challenge to the Bolshevik party was thrown by the Socialist Revolutionary-Menshevik leadership of the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Railway Workers' Trade Union (Vikzhel), demanding that a government be created from representatives of all socialist parties. During negotiations with Vikzhel, serious disagreements arose within the Bolshevik Central Committee. Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee L.B. Kamenev, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs A.I. Rykov, People's Commissar for Trade and Industry V.P. Nogin and several other prominent Bolsheviks resigned from the Central Committee of the party and resigned their government posts in protest. However, the crisis of Bolshevik power was quickly overcome. Ya.M. Sverdlov became the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and several consistent Leninists joined the Council of People's Commissars. Then, recognizing the fallacy of their position, a group of opposing Bolsheviks also returned to leading positions in the party and state apparatus.

In the first post-October days, the ruling party faced yet another problem - the civil disobedience of almost 50,000 Petrograd officials. With the help of severe measures up to arrests, bringing to trial, confiscation of property, the sabotage of state employees was broken in the first months of 1918.

Following Petrograd, Soviet power began to assert itself throughout the country. On October 25, upon receiving news from Petrograd, the Moscow Bolsheviks formed the Combat Center, and the City Council formed the Military Revolutionary Committee. Along with the Bolsheviks and left-radical socialists, the Mensheviks entered it. The Military Revolutionary Committee relied on detachments of the Red Guards and a significant part of the soldiers of the garrison.

The forces of the defenders of the Provisional Government also rallied. On October 25, the Moscow Duma elected the Committee of Public Security, led by the mayor, Socialist-Revolutionary V.V. Rudnev and the commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District, Colonel K.I. Ryabtsev. At their disposal were mainly officers of the garrison and junkers. On the evening of October 27, the first bloody clashes took place in Moscow. By November 3, the resistance of the officers and cadets was crushed. Moscow completely came under the control of the Soviets.

In the Central Industrial Region, Soviet power won in November-December 1917 - mostly by peaceful means. This was due to the high concentration of the industrial proletariat here, where the Bolshevik Party had a wide network of its organizations, the presence of branched lines of communication and proximity to the capitals, from where, if necessary, support quickly came.

With the help of weapons, a new government was established in the Cossack regions of the Don, Kuban, and the South Urals. From November 1917 to February 1918, the Bolsheviks continued to fight against anti-Soviet actions on the Don under the leadership of Ataman A.M. Kaledin. The new government managed to form a powerful military fist from the regular units of the Northern Front and the Petrograd garrison loyal to the Soviets, detachments of the Red Guards. With the participation of local residents who were dissatisfied with the Kaledin regime, Rostov and Novocherkassk were recaptured in February 1918. Kaledin shot himself. The remnants of the Kaledinsky troops left for the steppes.

In the Urals during November 1917 - April 1918 there were bloody battles between the Soviet armed units and the detachments of Ataman A.I. Dutov. In his hands were Orenburg, Troitsk, Verkhneuralsk and other areas. As a result of serious defeats in the spring of 1918, Dutov was forced to retreat.

In the North, Siberia, and the Far East, by March 1918, Soviet power was victorious mainly in the large centers, close to the lines of communication with the central regions.

At the beginning of November 1917, at Headquarters, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General N.N. Dukhonin, ordered the concentration of troops in the Luga region for an attack on Petrograd. But soon, by order of the Soviet government, he was removed and then killed by rebellious soldiers. Ensign N.V. Krylenko, sent from Petrograd, took the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

In November 1917, the Bolsheviks asserted their authority over the Northern and Western fronts. A little later, the Sovietization of the Southwestern, Romanian and Caucasian fronts took place. Even before October, the Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet (the highest elected body of the sailor mass) actually completely controlled the situation in the fleet, placing all its power at the disposal of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee. In November 1917, at the First All-Black Sea Congress in Sevastopol, the revolutionary sailors, overcoming the resistance of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, achieved the adoption of a Bolshevik resolution recognizing the Council of People's Commissars. The Sovietization of military fleets in the North and the Far East was not successful for the local Bolsheviks.

In October-November 1917, Soviet power won in Estonia, the unoccupied part of Latvia, in Belarus, and also in Baku (it held out there until August 1918.

In the rest of the territory of Transcaucasia, forces came to power that advocated secession from Russia: in Georgia - the Mensheviks, in Armenia and Azerbaijan - the Dashnaks and Musavatists. In May 1918, through their efforts, sovereign bourgeois-democratic republics were created there.

In December 1917, the First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets took place in Kharkov. He proclaimed Ukraine "a republic of Soviets of workers', soldiers' and peasants' deputies" and appointed a government headed by the Bolshevik F.A. Sergeev (Artem). In January 1918, revolutionary forces overthrew the power of the national-democratic Central Rada, which shortly before declared Ukraine an independent "people's republic." The Rada left Kyiv and found shelter in Zhytomyr, where German troops took care of it. In March 1918, the Crimea and Central Asia (with the exception of Khiva and Bukhara) came under the control of the Soviets.

So, in a short time, from the end of September 1917 to March 1918, Soviet power established itself in the main part of the territory of the former Russian Empire, and in the vast majority of provincial and other large cities (73 out of 91) - peacefully. V.I. Lenin called this process "the triumphal march of Soviet power."

The main reason for this was the mass support of the first Soviet decrees, which were of a general democratic nature. On the national outskirts, the victory of Soviet power was facilitated by the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia, the Appeal to the Working Muslims of the East, which promised the peoples sovereignty, equality, the right to self-determination, and the free development of national cultures and traditions. Together With it is important to emphasize that the broad masses of the people did not link their future fate with the course of the Bolsheviks.

This was shown by the free elections to the Constituent Assembly, which took place in November 1917. About 78% of the voters cast their votes for the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Cadets and other political parties. The RSDLP(b) received 22.5% of the vote in the elections. But this relatively small number of active supporters concentrated in the most advantageous way for the Bolsheviks, in the industrial provinces and on the fronts towards the center (Northern and Western). The anti-Soviet forces were divided and disorganized even in the pre-October period. They quickly lost control of the army and were forced to recruit volunteers for their military units.

The largest of them - Volunteer army in the South of Russia, created by two former Supreme Commanders, Generals M.V. Alekseev and L.G. Kornilov, by March 1918 numbered no more than 4 thousand people, mostly officers, cadets, students. Failed, without meeting the firm support of the population, and the first attempts to use the Cossack units in the fight against the Soviets.