In mid-September, Lenin sent two letters from his Finnish refuge to the Party Central Committee ("The Bolsheviks must take power" and "Marxism and uprising"), in which he set the task of immediately overthrowing the government. “Waiting for a formal majority among the Bolsheviks is naive: not a single revolution expects this. History will not forgive if we do not take power now,” the Bolshevik leader concluded.

Lenin encountered the most serious resistance on his path to power not from the “counter-revolutionaries,” but from his associates. The Central Committee did not support Lenin's proposals, remembering the difficult situation in July and fearing the defeat of the Bolshevik conspiracy. The majority in the Central Committee was guided by the fact that the All-Russian Congress of Soviets (and they were now dominated by the Bolsheviks), scheduled for October 25, would take power peacefully.

On September 29, Lenin sent an ultimatum letter to the Bolshevik leadership, in which he threatened, in case of disagreement with his demands, to leave the Central Committee and turn directly to the “lower classes.” On October 10, a meeting of the Central Committee, under enormous pressure from Lenin, makes a fateful decision to carry out an armed uprising. Only G. Zinoviev and L. Kamenev voted against, who, like the Mensheviks, believed that the prerequisites for proletarian power had not yet developed in Russia. In their opinion, as a result of the elections to the Constituent Assembly, a government should have been formed from representatives of all socialist parties. These proposals, which contained a certain version of Russia's development along the path of democracy, were rejected.

The intense struggle within the Bolshevik leadership over the issue of the uprising continued at the meeting of the Central Committee on October 16. The fact that in this situation they still manage to seize power from the Bolsheviks is explained, first of all, by the complete paralysis of the existing regime. On October 18, a letter from Zinoviev and Kamenev protesting against the impending uprising appears in the newspaper Novaya Zhizn, published by M. Gorky. It is characteristic that this issue was debated in the legal press, the whole of Petrograd was filled with rumors about the upcoming Bolshevik uprising, and the government did not take any decisive action. A. Kerensky was confident that the government “had even more strength than necessary.” On the eve of the Bolshevik uprising, he refused to request reinforcements from the front. In turn, the commander of the capital's garrison assured the leader of the democrats of the absolute devotion of the troops to the government.

The legal body for preparing the Bolshevik coup was the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC), created by the Petrograd Soviet on October 9 under the pretext of preparing for defense in the event of a German offensive. There were 20-30 armed people on the side of the Military Revolutionary Committee, and about 6 thousand directly took part in the seizure of power. The bulk of the population, the huge capital garrison, occupied a neutral and wavering position - as often happens at turning points in history, the course of events was determined by an active minority.

The seizure of power, in essence, began on October 21, when the Military Revolutionary Committee issued an order according to which no orders are valid without his sanction, weapons are not issued without his order, and commissars are sent to military units to monitor this decision. A. Kerensky demanded that the Military Revolutionary Committee cancel this order, and the refusal of the leaders of the uprising to obey forced the head of the democratic government to take some measures against the conspirators. On the night of October 24, the government decided to close Bolshevik newspapers and bring the Military Revolutionary Committee to court. On the morning of October 24, cadets tried to seize the printing house where the main Bolshevik newspaper, Rabochy Put, was published.

In contrast, throughout the same day, the Military Revolutionary Committee sends out its commissars and small armed detachments to seize government buildings, bridges, train stations, telegraphs, etc. The situation in the city and the prevailing mood were indicated by the fact that the “creeping” seizure of power took place mainly without armed clashes.

On the morning of October 25, the cruiser Aurora, subordinate to the Military Revolutionary Committee, dropped anchor at the Nikolaevsky Bridge, and a detachment of sailors, having driven away a patrol of government troops, occupied the bridge. The residence of the Provisional Government - the Winter Palace - was isolated from the city.

At 10 a.m. on October 25, the Military Revolutionary Committee addressed an appeal “To the Citizens of Russia,” which stated: “The Provisional Government has been overthrown. The cause for which the people fought is the immediate proposal of a democratic peace, the abolition of landlord ownership of land, workers’ control over production, the creation of a Soviet government, this is guaranteed."

True, the Winter Palace had not yet been taken, but the leader of the revolution definitely wanted to announce victory at the first meeting of the opening Congress of Soviets. And Lenin sends notes to members of the Military Revolutionary Committee, demanding an immediate assault and threatening execution if the order is not followed.

The capture of the Winter Palace is delayed because the “revolutionary” troops have no particular desire to go into battle, especially since the number of its defenders is melting every hour. The rebels, one or two at a time, enter Zimny ​​through the unprotected “back door”. The defenders of the democratic government initially took the Red Guards who entered the palace prisoner. When there were many prisoners, they, in turn, disarmed the cadets. At 2 a.m. on October 26, the Provisional Government was arrested. A few hours before the fall of the Winter Palace, the Second Congress of Soviets opened at 22.40 on October 25. Having condemned the “military conspiracy,” the Mensheviks and Right Socialist Revolutionaries left the meeting. The congress, now consisting of Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, voted for Lenin’s resolution to transfer “all power to the Soviets” and approved a “temporary workers’ and peasants’ government” - the Council of People’s Commissars (it was supposed to work until the convening of the Constituent Assembly). The chairman of the government, which included only Bolsheviks, became V.I. Lenin, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs - L.D. Trotsky, Internal Affairs - A.I. Rykov, Education - A.V. Lunacharsky, Nationalities - I.V. Stalin .

Two hours after the arrest of the Provisional Government, the Congress of Soviets approved two main decrees prepared by Lenin - on peace and on land. The Peace Decree proposed that “all warring peoples and their governments begin immediately negotiations for a just democratic peace.” The Decree on Land contained a mandate developed by the Socialist-Revolutionaries back in August 1917 on the basis of 242 peasant orders (the Socialist-Revolutionaries were indignant that Lenin “stole” their agrarian program). The decree provided for the gratuitous seizure of land from landowners, the liquidation of private ownership of land and its provision for the use of working peasants. The adoption of these decrees initially provided the Bolsheviks with mass support and made it possible to defeat all opponents of the new regime.

In the first days after the coup, attempts were made to provide armed resistance to the Bolsheviks. On the initiative of A. Kerensky, an offensive was launched against Petrograd by a few units of the Third Cavalry Corps under the command of General P. Krasnov, which was soon defeated. As on the eve of the uprising, Lenin still encounters the main opposition among his comrades. When the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Railway Workers' Trade Union (Vikzhel) demanded the creation of a "uniform socialist government" from all Soviet parties, threatening a general railway strike, a split occurred in the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party and in the government. The Central Committee delegation, in the absence of its leader, agreed to Vikzhel’s demand for the creation of a coalition government of 18 members with the participation of the Bolsheviks, but without Lenin and Trotsky.

In response to Lenin’s refusal, a number of Bolshevik leaders (including Zinoviev, Kamenev, Rykov) left the Central Committee and the Council of People’s Commissars, but Lenin’s pressure soon forced them to submit. Once again, the chance, albeit small, for the democratic development of Russia was missed.

The establishment of the new regime occurred without significant resistance in other parts of the country. Only in Moscow did the fighting last for 8 days. As a rule, local garrisons and armed workers' detachments easily coped with attempts to prevent the Bolsheviks from seizing power. Establishing control over the army was important: warrant officer N. Krylenko was appointed commander-in-chief, and the former military leader, General Dukhonin, was killed by soldiers (from that moment on, the expression “to headquarters to Dukhonin” became the first in a long series of Soviet synonyms for the word “murder”). I.S. Kuznetsov, V.A. Isupov. History of Russia from 1917 to the present day. Educational book.-Novosibirsk, 1995.

II All-Russian Congress of Soviets. The first decrees of Soviet power

In the fall of 1917, the crisis in society continued to deepen. In Ukraine, Belarus, and the central provinces of Russia, peasants seized land, robbed and burned landowners' estates, and killed their owners.

Worker discontent grew: real wages continued to fall, there was a shortage of food and basic necessities, and unemployment increased due to mass lockouts. Labor discipline was loosened.

The situation in the country was also destabilized by national movements, against which the government took repressive measures. Thus, the agreement with the Ukrainian Rada was revised, the idea of ​​convening the Constituent Assembly of Ukraine was rejected, supporters of Finland were arrested, and persecution of the Crimean Tatars was intensified.

Under these conditions, Kerensky declared Russia a republic on September 1, 1917 and took measures to strengthen the power of the Provisional Government, whose crisis continued. He attached great importance to the convening of the Democratic Conference, in which the participation of cooperatives, zemstvos, municipalities, political parties and other forces was expected. The meeting was to decide whether representatives of the bourgeoisie could remain in the new coalition government.

The Bolshevik agitation in the first half of September, amid the ongoing crisis of power, was carried out in the spirit of the peaceful development of the revolution. By implementing these tactics, the Bolsheviks sought to win more and more seats at the Democratic Conference and strengthen their positions in the Petrograd Soviet.

On September 14-22, the All-Russian Democratic Conference was held in Petrograd. Its composition was very authoritative and representative. The meeting was called upon to bring “new supports” under the shaky power of the Provisional Government, to keep the revolution within the framework of liberal democracy, activating cooperators, trade unionists, zemstvos, municipalities, and Cossacks for this purpose.

Ultimately, supporters of the coalition with the Cadets won. The majority was in favor of the coalition. The meeting participants formed the All-Russian Democratic Council (Pre-Parliament), called upon to openly oppose the Soviets right up to the Constituent Assembly, ensure the transfer of their functions to dumas, zemstvos, trade unions and other public organizations, and prevent the Bolshevik Party from coming to power. However, due to the deep split in revolutionary democracy, this chance was not realized.

In mid-September, Lenin unexpectedly abandoned the peaceful course of the revolution and sent two letters from Finland to the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b), in which he set the task of practical preparation for the uprising, in them he wrote: “this government must be overthrown.” This caused confusion in the leadership circles of the Bolsheviks, who continued the course planned by Lenin and linked the seizure of power and the formation of a new government with the convening of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. At a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) on September 15, Lenin’s proposal was rejected. Most members of the Central Committee considered it more realistic and less painful to gain power at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, convening it before the Constituent Assembly, elections to which were scheduled for September 12, and the opening on November 28, 1917. Therefore, the Bolsheviks began energetic campaigning for the speedy convocation of the Second Congress of Soviets.

At the beginning of October, Lenin illegally returned to Petrograd and on October 10 convened a meeting of the Central Committee, at which a resolution on an armed uprising was adopted.

Preparations for the uprising were carried out by the Military Organization under the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) and the Military Revolutionary Committee under the Petrograd Soviet.

Kerensky and the headquarters of the Petrograd Military District underestimated the threat posed by the Bolsheviks; they believed that the uprising would be easily suppressed. Kerensky gave the order too late (on the night of October 24-25) to send troops from the front to defend the Provisional Government.

On the evening of October 24, 1917, Red Guard detachments and military units, acting on behalf of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, without encountering resistance, occupied bridges, a post office, a telegraph office, and train stations in the capital. Within a few hours, Petrograd came under the control of the rebels. Only in the Winter Palace did the Provisional Government continue to meet.

On the night of October 25-26, troops of the Military Revolutionary Committee under the command of Antonov-Ovseenko captured the Winter Palace, where the Provisional Government met, its ministers were arrested and transported to the Petrograd Fortress. Kerensky was not among them, since on the morning of October 25 he went to the North-Western Front for help.

When starting to form the bodies of the new government, the Bolsheviks proceeded from the Marxist position on the need to “to the ground” break the old state apparatus - “a weapon of oppression of the working people.” In its place, organs of the dictatorship of the proletariat were to be created. Lenin considered the idea of ​​the dictatorship of the proletariat to be the most important in Marxism and paid great attention to its development in relation to Russia.

It was assumed that the dictatorship of the proletariat should provide broad democracy for workers while limiting the rights of the former “exploiting classes.” But from the very first steps of its activity, the Soviet government introduced significant restrictions on the rights of the working peasantry, establishing unequal representation in government bodies compared to workers. Freedom of the press and speech was also limited. It was recognized as natural that the dictatorship of the proletariat was based on violence against the enemies of the revolution, but it soon spread to the working masses and was justified by “revolutionary expediency.”

Almost immediately it turned out that the dictatorship of the proletariat is, in essence, the dictatorship of the Communist Party, or more precisely, its leadership, which has arrogated to itself the exclusive right to determine the interests of the proletariat and act on its behalf.

Lenin considered the Soviets to be a form of dictatorship of the proletariat in Russia. Their composition after October 1917 was very varied; In addition to the Bolsheviks, other socialist parties were represented in them. After some time, the country's leadership set a course for ousting other parties from the Soviets and establishing the monopoly influence of the Communist Party in them. Wide participation of workers' representatives in government bodies was declared. However, they were under strict party control.

The bodies of the new government were formed at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which opened on October 25, 1917. Of the 1,469 8 Soviets that existed in Russia at that time, only 402 8 were represented at the congress. Of the 518 8 delegates registered by October 25, there were 250 8 Bolsheviks, 159 8 Socialist Revolutionaries, 60 8 Mensheviks and others. Did the majority of the congress delegates support the transfer of all power to the Soviets? – for “the power of democracy.” At the beginning of the congress, a group of Mensheviks, right Socialist Revolutionaries, and Bundists left it as a sign of protest “against the military conspiracy and seizure of power.” At 3 am a message was received about the capture of the Winter Palace and the arrest of the Provisional Government. After this, the congress adopted an appeal written by Lenin, in which it declared the taking of all power into its own hands.

At the second meeting, on October 26, the congress formed the authorities. The highest legislative, administrative and supervisory body in the period between the Congresses of Soviets became the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), which included Bolsheviks, Left Socialist Revolutionaries, Social Democratic Internationalists and representatives of other social parties. Decisions on state issues were first made at meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), and then transferred to the Council of People's Commissars for formalization as decrees of the Soviet government. The powers of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee were limited mainly to the ratification or annulment of laws that had already entered into force.

The new government took care of creating “power structures”. To fight the enemies of the revolution and saboteurs, on December 7, 1917, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK) was created, headed by F. E. Dzerzhinsky. At first, the Cheka used such countermeasures as confiscation of property, deprivation of food cards, publication of lists of enemies of the people, arrests and imprisonment; Later, capital punishment was introduced - execution.

Having come to power, the Bolsheviks abandoned their old program demand - replacing the army with the universal arming of the people - and began to create a revolutionary workers' and peasants' army. The legislative act that proclaimed the organization of the new army was the “Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People” 9 of January 3, 1918. The construction of the new army assumed the use of the following principles: formation on a voluntary basis exclusively from representatives of workers and peasants, attraction of military personnel from the old Russian army , party leadership of military policy.

The program for resolving the national question was formulated in the “Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia” adopted by the Council of People's Commissars on January 2, 1917. It proclaimed the equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia; their right to free self-determination up to and including secession and the formation of independent states; abolition of all national and national-religious privileges and restrictions; free development of national minorities and ethnic groups inhabiting the territory of Russia.

Before the adoption of the constitution, its role was played by the “Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People,” written by Lenin for submission to the Constituent Assembly for approval. Russia was declared a Republic of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies.

Soon after the formation of the Soviet government, a fierce struggle unfolded to expand its composition to include representatives of other socialist parties. The leadership of the influential railway workers' union (Vikzhel), threatening a general railway strike, demanded the creation of a coalition government.

Considering that the Left Socialist Revolutionaries enjoyed the support of the peasantry, the Bolsheviks invited them to join the government and accepted their conditions: the abolition of the press decree that prohibited “bourgeois newspapers”, the inclusion of representatives of other socialist parties in the government, the abolition of the Cheka, the immediate convening of the Constituent Assembly. The closed newspapers resumed their activities. It was announced that the government could be replenished with representatives of parties recognizing the October Revolution; The Left Socialist Revolutionaries were also included in the Cheka.

The adoption of the agrarian program of the Socialist Revolutionaries at the Second All-Russian Congress of Peasant Deputies cemented the alliance of the Bolsheviks with the left Socialist Revolutionaries, which allowed the Bolsheviks to remain in power.

Modern views on the role and significance of the October Revolution in our history:

1) the revolution put an end to dual power;

2) took power into her own hands;

3) put an end to the war, which hindered the development of the state’s economy;

4) gave freedom to the peoples;

5) gave power to the working class of the peasantry;

6) offered the people simple slogans that were understandable to all people (“land to the peasants”, “power to the people”, “end to the war”, “bread”, etc.);

7) ordinary people (workers and peasants) came to leadership;

8) expropriation of plants and factories;

The revolution gave impetus to the beginning of revolutionary liberation movements in other countries.

Russia began to reach the diplomatic level with a new face of the Soviet state.

History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 20th century Nikolaev Igor Mikhailovich

Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917

By the autumn of 1917, a situation had developed where, as some politicians put it, “power was lying on the street.” Indeed, after the failure of General L.G. Kornilov, the popularity of the Provisional Government, which consisted of representatives of liberal circles and socialist parties, fell sharply. Head of Government A.F. Kerensky, who declared Kornilov a rebel, lost all support among the officers. Left forces could not forgive the head of government for the order to transfer L.G. Kornilov in July 1917, the position of Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Disagreements began within the socialist parties themselves. The moderate socialists who joined the government showed that they were unable to change the situation in the country for the better, thereby discrediting themselves in the eyes of the people. The situation both in the rear and at the front became increasingly critical. Desertion acquired threatening proportions, which allowed the Germans to conduct a number of successful military operations. The rear units completely ceased to obey the government. There was a growing movement in the village for the unauthorized redistribution of land. The workers organized their own fighting squads - Red Guard. The slogans adopted by the Bolsheviks: “Land to the peasants!”, “Factories to the workers!”, “Power to the Soviets!”, “Down with the war!”, were increasingly popular.

The Bolshevik leadership, primarily Lenin, considered the moment very opportune to seize power. In early October, after Lenin’s illegal return to Petrograd from Finland, two meetings of the Central Committee were held (10 and 16 October), where a majority vote adopted Lenin’s resolution on the need to “put an armed uprising on the order of the day” and concentrate all efforts on its preparation. The organizers of the uprising were the Military Revolutionary Center (MRC) and the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC). During the discussion about the timing of the seizure of power in the Bolshevik leadership, three positions emerged: 1) Lenin believed that power should be taken in the near future, before the opening of the Second Congress of Soviets on October 20, which, in his opinion, should be confronted with the fact of overthrowing the government. 2) L.D. Trotsky, advocating an uprising, believed that it should begin only after the congress announced the transfer of full power to it, and the Provisional Government organized armed resistance. 3) G.E. Zinoviev and L.B. Kamenev spoke out against the uprising, suggesting that the popularity of Bolshevik slogans would allow the party to gain an advantage in the elections to the Constituent Assembly and thus come to power peacefully.

The Provisional Government itself helped resolve the issue of the timing of the speech by closing the Bolshevik newspaper Rabochy Put on October 24. Government attempts to establish control over key areas of the city October 24–25 led to the opposite results. The forces subordinate to the Military Revolutionary Committee: the Red Guard, the crew of the Baltic Fleet, the garrison of the Peter and Paul Fortress and others - on orders from Smolny, where the headquarters of the uprising was located, knocked out units loyal to the government. By the evening of October 25, bridges, train stations, telegraph offices, and the General Staff building were taken under the control of the Military Revolutionary Committee. Realizing that events were unfolding in their favor, Lenin and Trotsky insisted on the complete capture of Petrograd and the overthrow of the Provisional Government located in the Winter Palace. On the night of October 25-26 After the capture of the Winter Palace, the government was arrested, and the Military Revolutionary Committee transferred power to the Second Congress of Soviets. The congress delegates from the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries regarded this step as “usurpation of power behind the backs of democracy” and demonstratively left the congress meeting. Left without opposition, the Bolsheviks formed their own “Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government” - the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) headed by Lenin. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) was also created there, which included the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries along with the Bolsheviks. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee performed the functions of the highest legislative body between congresses of Soviets. The creation of these structures ended the third Russian revolution, which transferred power into the hands of a radical party whose goal was to build socialism in the country based on the world revolution. Decrees“On Earth” and “On Peace,” adopted at the Second Congress of Soviets, increased the popularity of the Bolsheviks among broad sections of the population, who had long been awaiting a solution to these pressing issues.

OPINIONS OF HISTORIANS

On the nature, driving forces and significance of the October Revolution.

This question, more than others, is ideological in nature. Therefore, in Russian historiography until now, the events of this era are not studied in their entirety, but are subjectively selected by supporters of one or another position to substantiate their case. In general terms, alternative concepts look like this.

“The Great October Socialist Revolution is the first victorious proletarian revolution in world history, carried out by the working class of Russia in alliance with the working peasantry under the leadership of the Communist Party led by V.I. Lenin. As a result of the revolution, the power of the bourgeoisie and landowners was overthrown and the dictatorship of the proletariat was established in the form of a republic of Soviets... The Great October Revolution was a natural consequence of social development, class struggle in the conditions of monopoly capitalism... The October Revolution, proletarian in its content, was at the same time a deeply popular revolution.” (Brief Political Dictionary, M., 1983). The Bolsheviks' coming to power is presented as a result of the unconditional support of their working majority of the Russian people.

Opponents of communist ideology put forward another hypothesis for the development of October events. The transfer of power to the Bolshevik Soviets occurred due to the weakness of the Provisional Government, which did not destroy Bolshevism in the bud. Taking advantage of the government's indecisiveness, the Bolshevik conspirators, using money received from the German General Staff, launched mass propaganda and destructive activities. The Bolsheviks received conditional popular support because they used populist slogans that reflected the aspirations of broad sections of the population, promised an immediate end to the war, land to the peasants, factories and property of the bourgeoisie to the workers, and freedom for national minorities to leave the empire. With the connivance of the Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks managed to create numerous fighting squads, which, by armed means, against the will of the majority of the population, overthrew the legitimate government. The October Revolution was a deeply anti-patriotic act, since it was carried out with German money for the sake of realizing the idea of ​​a world revolution, to which the national interests of Russia were sacrificed.