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diff --git a/3076-0.txt b/3076-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e98cdf7 --- /dev/null +++ b/3076-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15813 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ten Days That Shook the World, by John Reed + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Ten Days That Shook the World + +Author: John Reed + +Release Date: December 16, 2000 [eBook #3076] +[Most recently updated: March 3, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: Norman Wolcott, with corrections by Andrew Sly and Stefan Malte Schumacher + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEN DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD *** + + + + +[Redactor’s Note: The book is composed of text, footnotes, and appendices. The +footnotes are included at the end of each chapter, while the Appendix No. and +Section are referred to in the text in parentheses, the Appendices following +the book text. There are 17 graphic figures in the text. These are indicated by +a reference to the page number in the original book.] + + + + +Ten Days That Shook the World + +by John Reed + + +Contents + + Preface + Notes and Explanations + Chapter 1. Background + Chapter 2. The Coming Storm + Chapter 3. On the Eve + Chapter 4. The Fall of the Provisional Government + Chapter 5. Plunging Ahead + Chapter 6. The Committee for Salvation + Chapter 7. The Revolutionary Front + Chapter 8. Counter-Revolution + Chapter 9. Victory + Chapter 10. Moscow + Chapter 11. The Conquest of Power + Chapter 12. The Peasants’ Congress + Appendices I - XII + + + + +Preface + + +This book is a slice of intensified history—history as I saw it. It +does not pretend to be anything but a detailed account of the November +Revolution, when the Bolsheviki, at the head of the workers and +soldiers, seized the state power of Russia and placed it in the hands +of the Soviets. + +Naturally most of it deals with “Red Petrograd,” the capital and heart +of the insurrection. But the reader must realize that what took place +in Petrograd was almost exactly duplicated, with greater or lesser +intensity, at different intervals of time, all over Russia. + +In this book, the first of several which I am writing, I must confine +myself to a chronicle of those events which I myself observed and +experienced, and those supported by reliable evidence; preceded by two +chapters briefly outlining the background and causes of the November +Revolution. I am aware that these two chapters make difficult reading, +but they are essential to an understanding of what follows. + +Many questions will suggest themselves to the mind of the reader. What +is Bolshevism? What kind of a governmental structure did the Bolsheviki +set up? If the Bolsheviki championed the Constituent Assembly before +the November Revolution, why did they disperse it by force of arms +afterward? And if the bourgeoisie opposed the Constituent Assembly +until the danger of Bolshevism became apparent, why did they champion +it afterward? + +These and many other questions cannot be answered here. In another +volume, “Kornilov to Brest-Litovsk,” I trace the course of the +Revolution up to and including the German peace. There I explain the +origin and functions of the Revolutionary organisations, the evolution +of popular sentiment, the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, the +structure of the Soviet state, and the course and outcome of the +Brest-Litovsk negotiations…. + +In considering the rise of the Bolsheviki it is necessary to understand +that Russian economic life and the Russian army were not disorganised +on November 7th, 1917, but many months before, as the logical result of +a process which began as far back as 1915. The corrupt reactionaries in +control of the Tsar’s Court deliberately undertook to wreck Russia in +order to make a separate peace with Germany. The lack of arms on the +front, which had caused the great retreat of the summer of 1915, the +lack of food in the army and in the great cities, the break-down of +manufactures and transportation in 1916—all these we know now were part +of a gigantic campaign of sabotage. This was halted just in time by the +March Revolution. + +For the first few months of the new régime, in spite of the confusion +incident upon a great Revolution, when one hundred and sixty millions +of the world’s most oppressed peoples suddenly achieved liberty, both +the internal situation and the combative power of the army actually +improved. + +But the “honeymoon” was short. The propertied classes wanted merely a +political revolution, which would take the power from the Tsar and give +it to them. They wanted Russia to be a constitutional Republic, like +France or the United States; or a constitutional Monarchy, like +England. On the other hand, the masses of the people wanted real +industrial and agrarian democracy. + +William English Walling, in his book, “Russia’s Message,” an account of +the Revolution of 1905, describes very well the state of mind of the +Russian workers, who were later to support Bolshevism almost +unanimously: + +They (the working people) saw it was possible that even under a free +Government, if it fell into the hands of other social classes, they +might still continue to starve…. + +The Russian workman is revolutionary, but he is neither violent, +dogmatic, nor unintelligent. He is ready for barricades, but he has +studied them, and alone of the workers of the world he has learned +about them from actual experience. He is ready and willing to fight his +oppressor, the capitalist class, to a finish. But he does not ignore +the existence of other classes. He merely asks that the other classes +take one side or the other in the bitter conflict that draws near…. + +They (the workers) were all agreed that our (American) political +institutions were preferable to their own, but they were not very +anxious to exchange one despot for another (i.e., the capitalist +class)…. + +The workingmen of Russia did not have themselves shot down, executed by +hundreds in Moscow, Riga and Odessa, imprisoned by thousands in every +Russian jail, and exiled to the deserts and the arctic regions, in +exchange for the doubtful privileges of the workingmen of Goldfields +and Cripple Creek…. + +And so developed in Russia, in the midst of a foreign war, the Social +Revolution on top of the Political Revolution, culminating in the +triumph of Bolshevism. + +Mr. A. J. Sack, director in this country of the Russian Information +Bureau, which opposes the Soviet Government, has this to say in his +book, “The Birth of the Russian Democracy”: The Bolsheviks organised +their own cabinet, with Nicholas Lenine as Premier and Leon +Trotsky—Minister of Foreign Affairs. The inevitability of their coming +into power became evident almost immediately after the March +Revolution. The history of the Bolsheviki, after the Revolution, is a +history of their steady growth…. + +Foreigners, and Americans especially, frequently emphasise the +“ignorance” of the Russian workers. It is true they lacked the +political experience of the peoples of the West, but they were very +well trained in voluntary organisation. In 1917 there were more than +twelve million members of the Russian consumers’ Cooperative societies; +and the Soviets themselves are a wonderful demonstration of their +organising genius. Moreover, there is probably not a people in the +world so well educated in Socialist theory and its practical +application. + +William English Walling thus characterises them: + +The Russian working people are for the most part able to read and +write. For many years the country has been in such a disturbed +condition that they have had the advantage of leadership not only of +intelligent individuals in their midst, but of a large part of the +equally revolutionary educated class, who have turned to the working +people with their ideas for the political and social regeneration of +Russia…. + +Many writers explain their hostility to the Soviet Government by +arguing that the last phase of the Russian Revolution was simply a +struggle of the “respectable” elements against the brutal attacks of +Bolshevism. However, it was the propertied classes, who, when they +realised the growth in power of the popular revolutionary +organisations, undertook to destroy them and to halt the Revolution. To +this end the propertied classes finally resorted to desperate measures. +In order to wreck the Kerensky Ministry and the Soviets, transportation +was disorganised and internal troubles provoked; to crush the +Factory-Shop Committees, plants were shut down, and fuel and raw +materials diverted; to break the Army Committees at the front, capital +punishment was restored and military defeat connived at. + +This was all excellent fuel for the Bolshevik fire. The Bolsheviki +retorted by preaching the class war, and by asserting the supremacy of +the Soviets. + +Between these two extremes, with the other factions which +whole-heartedly or half-heartedly supported them, were the so-called +“moderate” Socialists, the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries, +and several smaller parties. These groups were also attacked by the +propertied classes, but their power of resistance was crippled by their +theories. + +Roughly, the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries believed that +Russia was not economically ripe for a social revolution—that only a +_political_ revolution was possible. According to their interpretation, +the Russian masses were not educated enough to take over the power; any +attempt to do so would inevitably bring on a reaction, by means of +which some ruthless opportunist might restore the old régime. And so it +followed that when the “moderate” Socialists were forced to assume the +power, they were afraid to use it. + +They believed that Russia must pass through the stages of political and +economic development known to Western Europe, and emerge at last, with +the rest of the world, into full-fledged Socialism. Naturally, +therefore, they agreed with the propertied classes that Russia must +first be a parliamentary state—though with some improvements on the +Western democracies. As a consequence, they insisted upon the +collaboration of the propertied classes in the Government. + +From this it was an easy step to supporting them. The “moderate” +Socialists needed the bourgeoisie. But the bourgeoisie did not need the +“moderate” Socialists. So it resulted in the Socialist Ministers being +obliged to give way, little by little, on their entire program, while +the propertied classes grew more and more insistent. + +And at the end, when the Bolsheviki upset the whole hollow compromise, +the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries found themselves fighting +on the side of the propertied classes…. In almost every country in the +world to-day the same phenomenon is visible. + +Instead of being a destructive force, it seems to me that the +Bolsheviki were the only party in Russia with a constructive program +and the power to impose it on the country. If they had not succeeded to +the Government when they did, there is little doubt in my mind that the +armies of Imperial Germany would have been in Petrograd and Moscow in +December, and Russia would again be ridden by a Tsar…. + +It is still fashionable, after a whole year of the Soviet Government, +to speak of the Bolshevik insurrection as an “adventure.” Adventure it +was, and one of the most marvellous mankind ever embarked upon, +sweeping into history at the head of the toiling masses, and staking +everything on their vast and simple desires. Already the machinery had +been set up by which the land of the great estates could be distributed +among the peasants. The Factory-Shop Committees and the Trade Unions +were there to put into operation workers’ control of industry. In every +village, town, city, district and province there were Soviets of +Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies, prepared to assume the task +of local administration. + +No matter what one thinks of Bolshevism, it is undeniable that the +Russian Revolution is one of the great events of human history, and the +rise of the Bolsheviki a phenomenon of world-wide importance. Just as +historians search the records for the minutest details of the story of +the Paris Commune, so they will want to know what happened in Petrograd +in November, 1917, the spirit which animated the people, and how the +leaders looked, talked and acted. It is with this in view that I have +written this book. + +In the struggle my sympathies were not neutral. But in telling the +story of those great days I have tried to see events with the eye of a +conscientious reporter, interested in setting down the truth. + +J. R. + + +New York, January 1st 1919. + + + +Notes and Explanations + + +To the average reader the multiplicity of Russian +organisations—political groups, Committees and Central Committees, +Soviets, Dumas and Unions—will prove extremely confusing. For this +reason I am giving here a few brief definitions and explanations. + +Political Parties + +In the elections to the Constituent Assembly, there were seventeen +tickets in Petrograd, and in some of the provincial towns as many as +forty; but the following summary of the aims and composition of +political parties is limited to the groups and factions mentioned in +this book. Only the essence of their programmes and the general +character of their constituencies can be noticed…. + +1. _Monarchists,_ of various shades, _Octobrists,_ etc. These +once-powerful factions no longer existed openly; they either worked +underground, or their members joined the _Cadets,_ as the _Cadets_ came +by degrees to stand for their political programme. Representatives in +this book, Rodzianko, Shulgin. + +2. _Cadets._ So-called from the initials of its name, Constitutional +Democrats. Its official name is “Party of the People’s Freedom.” Under +the Tsar composed of Liberals from the propertied classes, the _Cadets_ +were the great party of _political_ reform, roughly corresponding to +the Progressive Party in America. When the Revolution broke out in +March, 1917, the _Cadets_ formed the first Provisional Government. The +_Cadet_ Ministry was overthrown in April because it declared itself in +favour of Allied imperialistic aims, including the imperialistic aims +of the Tsar’s Government. As the Revolution became more and more a +_social economic_ Revolution, the _Cadets_ grew more and more +conservative. Its representatives in this book are: Miliukov, Vinaver, +Shatsky. + +2a. _Group of Public Men._ After the _Cadets_ had become unpopular +through their relations with the Kornilov counter-revolution, the +_Group of Public Men_ was formed in Moscow. Delegates from the _Group +of Public Men_ were given portfolios in the last Kerensky Cabinet. The +_Group_ declared itself non-partisan, although its intellectual leaders +were men like Rodzianko and Shulgin. It was composed of the more +“modern” bankers, merchants and manufacturers, who were intelligent +enough to realise that the Soviets must be fought by their own +weapon—economic organisation. Typical of the _Group:_ Lianozov, +Konovalov. + +3. _Populist Socialists,_ or _Trudoviki_ (Labour Group). Numerically a +small party, composed of cautious intellectuals, the leaders of the +Cooperative societies, and conservative peasants. Professing to be +Socialists, the _Populists_ really supported the interests of the petty +bourgeoisie—clerks, shopkeepers, etc. By direct descent, inheritors of +the compromising tradition of the Labour Group in the Fourth Imperial +Duma, which was composed largely of peasant representatives. Kerensky +was the leader of the _Trudoviki_ in the Imperial Duma when the +Revolution of March, 1917, broke out. The _Populist Socialists_ are a +nationalistic party. Their representatives in this book are: +Peshekhanov, Tchaikovsky. + +4. _Russian Social Democratic Labour Party._ Originally Marxian +Socialists. At a party congress held in 1903, the party split, on the +question of tactics, into two factions—the Majority (Bolshinstvo), and +the Minority (Menshinstvo). From this sprang the names “Bolsheviki” and +“Mensheviki”—“members of the majority” and “members of the minority.” +These two wings became two separate parties, both calling themselves +“Russian Social Democratic Labour Party,” and both professing to be +Marxians. Since the Revolution of 1905 the Bolsheviki were really the +minority, becoming again the majority in September, 1917. + +a. _Mensheviki._ This party includes all shades of Socialists who +believe that society must progress by natural evolution toward +Socialism, and that the working-class must conquer political power +first. Also a nationalistic party. This was the party of the Socialist +intellectuals, which means: all the means of education having been in +the hands of the propertied classes, the intellectuals instinctively +reacted to their training, and took the side of the propertied classes. +Among their representatives in this book are: Dan, Lieber, Tseretelli. + +b. _Mensheviki Internationalists._ The radical wing of the +_Mensheviki,_ internationalists and opposed to all coalition with the +propertied classes; yet unwilling to break loose from the conservative +Mensheviki, and opposed to the dictatorship of the working-class +advocated by the Bolsheviki. Trotzky was long a member of this group. +Among their leaders: Martov, Martinov. + +c. _Bolsheviki._ Now call themselves the _Communist Party,_ in order to +emphasise their complete separation from the tradition of “moderate” or +“parliamentary” Socialism, which dominates the Mensheviki and the +so-called Majority Socialists in all countries. The _Bolsheviki_ +proposed immediate proletarian insurrection, and seizure of the reins +of Government, in order to hasten the coming of Socialism by forcibly +taking over industry, land, natural resources and financial +institutions. This party expresses the desires chiefly of the factory +workers, but also of a large section of the poor peasants. The name +“Bolshevik” can _not_ be translated by “Maximalist.” The Maximalists +are a separate group. (See paragraph 5b). Among the leaders: Lenin, +Trotzky, Lunatcharsky. + +d. _United Social Democrats Internationalists._ Also called the _Novaya +Zhizn_ (New Life) group, from the name of the very influential +newspaper which was its organ. A little group of intellectuals with a +very small following among the working-class, except the personal +following of Maxim Gorky, its leader. Intellectuals, with almost the +same programme as the _Mensheviki Internationalists,_ except that the +_Novaya Zhizn_ group refused to be tied to either of the two great +factions. Opposed the Bolshevik tactics, but remained in the Soviet +Government. Other representatives in this book: Avilov, Kramarov. + +e. _Yedinstvo._ A very small and dwindling group, composed almost +entirely of the personal following of Plekhanov, one of the pioneers of +the Russian Social Democratic movement in the 80’s, and its greatest +theoretician. Now an old man, Plekhanov was extremely patriotic, too +conservative even for the Mensheviki. After the Bolshevik _coup d’etat, +Yedinstvo_ disappeared. + +5. _Socialist Revolutionary party._ Called _Essaires_ from the initials +of their name. Originally the revolutionary party of the peasants, the +party of the Fighting Organisations—the Terrorists. After the March +Revolution, it was joined by many who had never been Socialists. At +that time it stood for the abolition of private property in land only, +the owners to be compensated in some fashion. Finally the increasing +revolutionary feeling of peasants forced the _Essaires_ to abandon the +“compensation” clause, and led to the younger and more fiery +intellectuals breaking off from the main party in the fall of 1917 and +forming a new party, the _Left Socialist Revolutionary party._ The +_Essaires,_ who were afterward always called by the radical groups +_“Right Socialist Revolutionaries,”_ adopted the political attitude of +the Mensheviki, and worked together with them. They finally came to +represent the wealthier peasants, the intellectuals, and the +politically uneducated populations of remote rural districts. Among +them there was, however, a wider difference of shades of political and +economic opinion than among the Mensheviki. Among their leaders +mentioned in these pages: Avksentiev, Gotz, Kerensky, Tchernov, +“Babuschka” Breshkovskaya. + +a. _Left Socialist Revolutionaries._ Although theoretically sharing the +Bolshevik programme of dictatorship of the working-class, at first were +reluctant to follow the ruthless Bolshevik tactics. However, the _Left +Socialist Revolutionaries_ remained in the Soviet Government, sharing +the Cabinet portfolios, especially that of Agriculture. They withdrew +from the Government several times, but always returned. As the peasants +left the ranks of the _Essaires_ in increasing numbers, they joined the +_Left Socialist Revolutionary party,_ which became the great peasant +party supporting the Soviet Government, standing for confiscation +without compensation of the great landed estates, and their disposition +by the peasants themselves. Among the leaders: Spiridonova, Karelin, +Kamkov, Kalagayev. + +b. _Maximalists._ An off-shoot of the _Socialist Revolutionary party_ +in the Revolution of 1905, when it was a powerful peasant movement, +demanding the immediate application of the maximum Socialist programme. +Now an insignificant group of peasant anarchists. + +Parliamentary Procedure + +Russian meetings and conventions are organised after the continental +model rather than our own. The first action is usually the election of +officers and the _presidium._ + +The _presidium_ is a presiding committee, composed of representatives +of the groups and political factions represented in the assembly, in +proportion to their numbers. The _presidium_ arranges the Order of +Business, and its members can be called upon by the President to take +the chair _pro tem._ + +Each question (_vopros_) is stated in a general way and then debated, +and at the close of the debate resolutions are submitted by the +different factions, and each one voted on separately. The Order of +Business can be, and usually is, smashed to pieces in the first half +hour. On the plea of “emergency,” which the crowd almost always grants, +anybody from the floor can get up and say anything on any subject. The +crowd controls the meeting, practically the only functions of the +speaker being to keep order by ringing a little bell, and to recognise +speakers. Almost all the real work of the session is done in caucuses +of the different groups and political factions, which almost always +cast their votes in a body and are represented by floor-leaders. The +result is, however, that at every important new point, or vote, the +session takes a recess to enable the different groups and political +factions to hold a caucus. + +The crowd is extremely noisy, cheering or heckling speakers, +over-riding the plans of the _presidium._ Among the customary cries +are: _“Prosim!_ Please! Go on!” _“Pravilno!”_ or _“Eto vierno!_ That’s +true! Right!” _“Do volno!_ Enough!” _“Doloi!_ Down with him!” _“Posor!_ +Shame!” and _“Teesche!_ Silence! Not so noisy!” + +Popular Organisations + +1. _Soviet._ The word _soviet_ means “council.” Under the Tsar the +Imperial Council of State was called _Gosudarstvennyi Soviet._ Since +the Revolution, however, the term _Soviet_ has come to be associated +with a certain type of parliament elected by members of working-class +economic organisations—the Soviet of Workers’, of Soldiers’, or of +Peasants’ Deputies. I have therefore limited the word to these bodies, +and wherever else it occurs I have translated it “Council.” + +Besides the local _Soviets,_ elected in every city, town and village of +Russia—and in large cities, also Ward _(Raionny) Soviets_—there are +also the _oblastne_ or _gubiernsky_ (district or provincial) _Soviets,_ +and the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian _Soviets_ in the +capital, called from its initials _Tsay-ee-kah._ (See below, “Central +Committees”). + +Almost everywhere the _Soviets_ of Workers’ and of Soldiers’ Deputies +combined very soon after the March Revolution. In special matters +concerning their peculiar interests, however, the Workers’ and the +Soldiers’ Sections continued to meet separately. The _Soviets_ of +Peasants’ Deputies did not join the other two until after the Bolshevik +_coup d’etat._ They, too, were organised like the workers and soldiers, +with an Executive Committee of the All-Russian Peasants’ _Soviets_ in +the capital. + +2. _Trade Unions._ Although mostly industrial in form, the Russian +labour unions were still called Trade Unions, and at the time of the +Bolshevik Revolution had from three to four million members. These +Unions were also organised in an All-Russian body, a sort of Russian +Federation of Labour, which had its Central Executive Committee in the +capital. + +3. _Factory-Shop Committees._ These were spontaneous organisations +created in the factories by the workers in their attempt to control +industry, taking advantage of the administrative break-down incident +upon the Revolution. Their function was by revolutionary action to take +over and run the factories. The _Factory-Shop Committees_ also had +their All-Russian organisation, with a Central Committee at Petrograd, +which co-operated with the Trade Unions. + +4. _Dumas._ The word _duma_ means roughly “deliberative body.” The old +Imperial Duma, which persisted six months after the Revolution, in a +democratised form, died a natural death in September, 1917. The _City +Duma_ referred to in this book was the reorganised Municipal Council, +often called “Municipal Self-Government.” It was elected by direct and +secret ballot, and its only reason for failure to hold the masses +during the Bolshevik Revolution was the general decline in influence of +all purely _political_ representation in the fact of the growing power +of organisations based on _economic_ groups. + +5. _Zemstvos._ May be roughly translated “county councils.” Under the +Tsar semi-political, semi-social bodies with very little administrative +power, developed and controlled largely by intellectual Liberals among +the land-owning classes. Their most important function was education +and social service among the peasants. During the war the _Zemstvos_ +gradually took over the entire feeding and clothing of the Russian +Army, as well as the buying from foreign countries, and work among the +soldiers generally corresponding to the work of the American Y. M. C. +A. at the Front. After the March Revolution the _Zemstvos_ were +democratized, with a view to making them the organs of local government +in the rural districts. But like the _City Dumas,_ they could not +compete with the _Soviets._ + +6. _Cooperatives._ These were the workers’ and peasants’ Consumers’ +Cooperative societies, which had several million members all over +Russia before the Revolution. Founded by Liberals and “moderate” +Socialists, the Cooperative movement was not supported by the +revolutionary Socialist groups, because it was a substitute for the +complete transference of means of production and distribution into the +hands of the workers. After the March Revolution the _Cooperatives_ +spread rapidly, and were dominated by Populist Socialists, Mensheviki +and Socialist Revolutionaries, and acted as a conservative political +force until the Bolshevik Revolution. However, it was the +_Cooperatives_ which fed Russia when the old structure of commerce and +transportation collapsed. + +7. _Army Committees._ The _Army Committees_ were formed by the soldiers +at the front to combat the reactionary influence of the old regime +officers. Every company, regiment, brigade, division and corps had its +committee, over all of which was elected the _Army Committee._ The +_Central Army Committee_ cooperated with the General Staff. The +administrative break-down in the army incident upon the Revolution +threw upon the shoulders of the _Army Committees_ most of the work of +the Quartermaster’s Department, and in some cases, even the command of +troops. + +8. _Fleet Committees._ The corresponding organisations in the Navy. + +Central Committees + +In the spring and summer of 1917, All-Russian conventions of every sort +of organisation were held at Petrograd. There were national congresses +of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Soviets, Trade Unions, +Factory-Shop Committees, Army and Fleet Committees—besides every branch +of the military and naval service, Cooperatives, Nationalities, etc. +Each of these conventions elected a Central Committee, or a Central +Executive Committee, to guard its particular interests at the seat of +Government. As the Provisional Government grew weaker, these Central +Committees were forced to assume more and more administrative powers. + +The most important Central Committees mentioned in this book are: + +_Union of Unions._ During the Revolution of 1905, Professor Miliukov +and other Liberals established unions of professional men—doctors, +lawyers, physicians, etc. These were united under one central +organisation, the _Union of Unions._ In 1905 the _Union of Unions_ +acted with the revolutionary democracy; in 1917, however, the _Union of +Unions_ opposed the Bolshevik uprising, and united the Government +employees who went on strike against the authority of the Soviets. + +_Tsay-ee-kah._ All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets +of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. So called from the initials of its +name. + +_Tsentroflot._ “Centre-Fleet”—the Central Fleet Committee. + +_Vikzhel._ All-Russian Central Committee of the Railway Workers’ Union. +So called from the initials of its name. + +Other Organisations + +_Red Guards._ The armed factory workers of Russia. The _Red Guards_ +were first formed during the Revolution of 1905, and sprang into +existence again in the days of March, 1917, when a force was needed to +keep order in the city. At that time they were armed, and all efforts +of the Provisional Government to disarm them were more or less +unsuccessful. At every great crisis in the Revolution the _Red Guards_ +appeared on the streets, untrained and undisciplined, but full of +Revolutionary zeal. + +_White Guards._ Bourgeois volunteers, who emerged in the last stages of +the Revolution, to defend private property from the Bolshevik attempt +to abolish it. A great many of them were University students. + +_Tekhintsi._ The so-called “Savage Division” in the army, made up of +Mohametan tribesmen from Central Asia, and personally devoted to +General Kornilov. The _Tekhintsi_ were noted for their blind obedience +and their savage cruelty in warfare. + +_Death Battalions._ Or _Shock Battalions._ The Women’s Battalion is +known to the world as the _Death Battalion,_ but there were many _Death +Battalions_ composed of men. These were formed in the summer of 1917 by +Kerensky, for the purpose of strengthening the discipline and combative +fire of the army by heroic example. The _Death Battalions_ were +composed mostly of intense young patriots. These came for the most part +from among the sons of the propertied classes. + +_Union of Officers._ An organisation formed among the reactionary +officers in the army to combat politically the growing power of the +Army Committees. + +_Knights of St. George._ The Cross of St. George was awarded for +distinguished action in battle. Its holder automatically became a +_“Knight of St. George.”_ The predominant influence in the organisation +was that of the supporters of the military idea. + +_Peasants’ Union._ In 1905, the _Peasants’ Union_ was a revolutionary +peasants’ organisation. In 1917, however, it had become the political +expression of the more prosperous peasants, to fight the growing power +and revolutionary aims of the Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies. + +Chronology and Spelling + +I have adopted in this book our Calendar throughout, instead of the +former Russian Calendar, which was thirteen days earlier. + +In the spelling of Russian names and words, I have made no attempt to +follow any scientific rules for transliteration, but have tried to give +the spelling which would lead the English-speaking reader to the +simplest approximation of their pronunciation. + +Sources + +Much of the material in this book is from my own notes. I have also +relied, however, upon a heterogeneous file of several hundred assorted +Russian newspapers, covering almost every day of the time described, of +files of the English paper, the _Russian Daily News,_ and of the two +French papers, _Journal de Russie_ and _Entente._ But far more valuable +than these is the _Bulletin de la Presse_ issued daily by the French +Information Bureau in Petrograd, which reports all important +happenings, speeches and the comment of the Russian press. Of this I +have an almost complete file from the spring of 1917 to the end of +January, 1918. + +Besides the foregoing, I have in my possession almost every +proclamation, decree and announcement posted on the walls of Petrograd +from the middle of September, 1917, to the end of January, 1918. Also +the official publication of all Government decrees and orders, and the +official Government publication of the secret treaties and other +documents discovered in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when the +Bolsheviki took it over. + +Ten Days That Shook The World + + + + +Chapter I +Background + + +Toward the end of September, 1917, an alien Professor of Sociology +visiting Russia came to see me in Petrograd. He had been informed by +business men and intellectuals that the Revolution was slowing down. +The Professor wrote an article about it, and then travelled around the +country, visiting factory towns and peasant communities—where, to his +astonishment, the Revolution seemed to be speeding up. Among the +wage-earners and the land-working people it was common to hear talk of +“all land to the peasants, all factories to the workers.” If the +Professor had visited the front, he would have heard the whole Army +talking Peace…. + +The Professor was puzzled, but he need not have been; both observations +were correct. The property-owning classes were becoming more +conservative, the masses of the people more radical. + +There was a feeling among business men and the _intelligentzia_ +generally that the Revolution had gone quite far enough, and lasted too +long; that things should settle down. This sentiment was shared by the +dominant “moderate” Socialist groups, the _oborontsi_ (See App. I, +Sect. 1) Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries, who supported the +Provisional Government of Kerensky. + +On October 14th the official organ of the “moderate” Socialists said: + +The drama of Revolution has two acts; the destruction of the old régime +and the creation of the new one. The first act has lasted long enough. +Now it is time to go on to the second, and to play it as rapidly as +possible. As a great revolutionist put it, “Let us hasten, friends, to +terminate the Revolution. He who makes it last too long will not gather +the fruits….” + + +Among the worker, soldier and peasant masses, however, there was a +stubborn feeling that the “first act” was not yet played out. On the +front the Army Committees were always running foul of officers who +could not get used to treating their men like human beings; in the rear +the Land Committees elected by the peasants were being jailed for +trying to carry out Government regulations concerning the land; and the +workmen (See App. I, Sect. 2) in the factories were fighting +black-lists and lockouts. Nay, furthermore, returning political exiles +were being excluded from the country as “undesirable” citizens; and in +some cases, men who returned from abroad to their villages were +prosecuted and imprisoned for revolutionary acts committed in 1905. + +To the multiform discontent of the people the “moderate” Socialists had +one answer: Wait for the Constituent Assembly, which is to meet in +December. But the masses were not satisfied with that. The Constituent +Assembly was all well and good; but there were certain definite things +for which the Russian Revolution had been made, and for which the +revolutionary martyrs rotted in their stark Brotherhood Grave on Mars +Field, that must be achieved Constituent Assembly or no Constituent +Assembly: Peace, Land, and Workers’ Control of Industry. The +Constituent Assembly had been postponed and postponed—would probably be +postponed again, until the people were calm enough—perhaps to modify +their demands! At any rate, here were eight months of the Revolution +gone, and little enough to show for it…. + +Meanwhile the soldiers began to solve the peace question by simply +deserting, the peasants burned manor-houses and took over the great +estates, the workers sabotaged and struck…. Of course, as was natural, +the manufacturers, land-owners and army officers exerted all their +influence against any democratic compromise…. + +The policy of the Provisional Government alternated between ineffective +reforms and stern repressive measures. An edict from the Socialist +Minister of Labour ordered all the Workers’ Committees henceforth to +meet only after working hours. Among the troops at the front, +“agitators” of opposition political parties were arrested, radical +newspapers closed down, and capital punishment applied—to revolutionary +propagandists. Attempts were made to disarm the Red Guard. Cossacks +were sent to keep order in the provinces…. + +These measures were supported by the “moderate” Socialists and their +leaders in the Ministry, who considered it necessary to cooperate with +the propertied classes. The people rapidly deserted them, and went over +to the Bolsheviki, who stood for Peace, Land, and Workers’ Control of +Industry, and a Government of the working-class. In September, 1917, +matters reached a crisis. Against the overwhelming sentiment of the +country, Kerensky and the “moderate” Socialists succeeded in +establishing a Government of Coalition with the propertied classes; and +as a result, the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries lost the +confidence of the people forever. + +An article in _Rabotchi Put_ (Workers’ Way) about the middle of +October, entitled “The Socialist Ministers,” expressed the feeling of +the masses of the people against the “moderate” Socialists: + +Here is a list of their services.(See App. I, Sect. 3) + +Tseretelli: disarmed the workmen with the assistance of General +Polovtsev, checkmated the revolutionary soldiers, and approved of +capital punishment in the army. + +Skobeliev: commenced by trying to tax the capitalists 100% of their +profits, and finished—and finished by an attempt to dissolve the +Workers’ Committees in the shops and factories. + +Avksentiev: put several hundred peasants in prison, members of the Land +Committees, and suppressed dozens of workers’ and soldiers’ newspapers. + +Tchernov: signed the “Imperial” manifest, ordering the dissolution of +the Finnish Diet. + +Savinkov: concluded an open alliance with General Kornilov. If this +saviour of the country was not able to betray Petrograd, it was due to +reasons over which he had no control. + +Zarudny: with the sanction of Alexinsky and Kerensky, put some of the +best workers of the Revolution, soldiers and sailors, in prison. + +Nikitin: acted as a vulgar policeman against the Railway Workers. + +Kerensky: it is better not to say anything about him. The list of his +services is too long…. + +A Congress of delegates of the Baltic Fleet, at Helsingfors, passed a +resolution which began as follows: + +We demand the immediate removal from the ranks of the Provisional +Government of the “Socialist,” the political adventurer—Kerensky, as +one who is scandalising and ruining the great Revolution, and with it +the revolutionary masses, by his shameless political blackmail on +behalf of the bourgeoisie…. + + +The direct result of all this was the rise of the Bolsheviki…. + +Since March, 1917, when the roaring torrents of workmen and soldiers +beating upon the Tauride Palace compelled the reluctant Imperial Duma +to assume the supreme power in Russia, it was the masses of the people, +workers, soldiers and peasants, which forced every change in the course +of the Revolution. They hurled the Miliukov Ministry down; it was their +Soviet which proclaimed to the world the Russian peace terms—“No +annexations, no indemnities, and the right of self-determination of +peoples”; and again, in July, it was the spontaneous rising of the +unorganised proletariat which once more stormed the Tauride Palace, to +demand that the Soviets take over the Government of Russia. + +The Bolsheviki, then a small political sect, put themselves at the head +of the movement. As a result of the disastrous failure of the rising, +public opinion turned against them, and their leaderless hordes slunk +back into the Viborg Quarter, which is Petrograd’s _St. Antoine._ Then +followed a savage hunt of the Bolsheviki; hundreds were imprisoned, +among them Trotzky, Madame Kollontai and Kameniev; Lenin and Zinoviev +went into hiding, fugitives from justice; the Bolshevik papers were +suppressed. Provocators and reactionaries raised the cry that the +Bolsheviki were German agents, until people all over the world believed +it. + +But the Provisional Government found itself unable to substantiate its +accusations; the documents proving pro-German conspiracy were +discovered to be forgeries;[1] and one by one the Bolsheviki were +released from prison without trial, on nominal or no bail-until only +six remained. The impotence and indecision of the ever-changing +Provisional Government was an argument nobody could refute. The +Bolsheviki raised again the slogan so dear to the masses, “All Power to +the Soviets!”—and they were not merely self-seeking, for at that time +the majority of the Soviets was “moderate” Socialist, their bitter +enemy. + +[1] Part of the famous “Sisson Documents”. + +But more potent still, they took the crude, simple desires of the +workers, soldiers and peasants, and from them built their immediate +programme. And so, while the _oborontsi_ Mensheviki and Socialist +Revolutionaries involved themselves in compromise with the bourgeoisie, +the Bolsheviki rapidly captured the Russian masses. In July they were +hunted and despised; by September the metropolitan workmen, the sailors +of the Baltic Fleet, and the soldiers, had been won almost entirely to +their cause. The September municipal elections in the large cities (See +App. I, Sect. 4) were significant; only 18 per cent of the returns were +Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionary, against more than 70 per cent in +June…. + +There remains a phenomenon which puzzled foreign observers: the fact +that the Central Executive Committees of the Soviets, the Central Army +and Fleet Committees,[2] and the Central Committees of some of the +Unions—notably, the Post and Telegraph Workers and the Railway +Workers—opposed the Bolsheviki with the utmost violence. These Central +Committees had all been elected in the middle of the summer, or even +before, when the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries had an +enormous following; and they delayed or prevented any new elections. +Thus, according to the constitution of the Soviets of Workers’ and +Soldiers’ Deputies, the All-Russian Congress _should have been called +in September;_ but the _Tsay-ee-kah_[2] would not call the meeting, on +the ground that the Constituent Assembly was only two months away, at +which time, they hinted, the Soviets would abdicate. Meanwhile, one by +one, the Bolsheviki were winning in the local Soviets all over the +country, in the Union branches and the ranks of the soldiers and +sailors. The Peasants’ Soviets remained still conservative, because in +the sluggish rural districts political consciousness developed slowly, +and the Socialist Revolutionary party had been for a generation the +party which had agitated among the peasants…. But even among the +peasants a revolutionary wing was forming. It showed itself clearly in +October, when the left wing of the Socialist Revolutionaries split off, +and formed a new political faction, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. + +[2] See Notes and Explanations. + +At the same time there were signs everywhere that the forces of +reaction were gaining confidence.(See App. I, Sect. 5) At the Troitsky +Farce theatre in Petrograd, for example, a burlesque called _Sins of +the Tsar_ was interrupted by a group of Monarchists, who threatened to +lynch the actors for “insulting the Emperor.” Certain newspapers began +to sigh for a “Russian Napoleon.” It was the usual thing among +bourgeois _intelligentzia_ to refer to the Soviets of Workers’ Deputies +(Rabotchikh Deputatov) as _Sabatchikh_ Deputatov—Dogs’ Deputies. + +On October 15th I had a conversation with a great Russian capitalist, +Stepan Georgevitch Lianozov, known as the “Russian Rockefeller”—a Cadet +by political faith. + +“Revolution,” he said, “is a sickness. Sooner or later the foreign +powers must intervene here—as one would intervene to cure a sick child, +and teach it how to walk. Of course it would be more or less improper, +but the nations must realise the danger of Bolshevism in their own +countries—such contagious ideas as ‘proletarian dictatorship,’ and +‘world social revolution’… There is a chance that this intervention may +not be necessary. Transportation is demoralised, the factories are +closing down, and the Germans are advancing. Starvation and defeat may +bring the Russian people to their senses….” + +Mr. Lianozov was emphatic in his opinion that whatever happened, it +would be impossible for merchants and manufacturers to permit the +existence of the workers’ Shop Committees, or to allow the workers any +share in the management of industry. + +“As for the Bolsheviki, they will be done away with by one of two +methods. The Government can evacuate Petrograd, then a state of siege +declared, and the military commander of the district can deal with +these gentlemen without legal formalities…. _Or if, for example, the +Constituent Assembly manifests any Utopian tendencies, it can be +dispersed by force of arms….”_ + +Winter was coming on—the terrible Russian winter. I heard business men +speak of it so: “Winter was always Russia’s best friend. Perhaps now it +will rid us of Revolution.” On the freezing front miserable armies +continued to starve and die, without enthusiasm. The railways were +breaking down, food lessening, factories closing. The desperate masses +cried out that the bourgeoisie was sabotaging the life of the people, +causing defeat on the Front. Riga had been surrendered just after +General Kornilov said publicly, “Must we pay with Riga the price of +bringing the country to a sense of its duty?”[3] + +[3] See “Kornilov to Brest-Litovsk” by John Reed. Boni and Liveright +N.Y., 1919. + +To Americans it is incredible that the class war should develop to such +a pitch. But I have personally met officers on the Northern Front who +frankly preferred military disaster to cooperation with the Soldiers’ +Committees. The secretary of the Petrograd branch of the Cadet party +told me that the break-down of the country’s economic life was part of +a campaign to discredit the Revolution. An Allied diplomat, whose name +I promised not to mention, confirmed this from his own knowledge. I +know of certain coal-mines near Kharkov which were fired and flooded by +their owners, of textile factories at Moscow whose engineers put the +machinery out of order when they left, of railroad officials caught by +the workers in the act of crippling locomotives…. + +A large section of the propertied classes preferred the Germans to the +Revolution—even to the Provisional Government—and didn’t hesitate to +say so. In the Russian household where I lived, the subject of +conversation at the dinner table was almost invariably the coming of +the Germans, bringing “law and order.”… One evening I spent at the +house of a Moscow merchant; during tea we asked the eleven people at +the table whether they preferred “Wilhelm or the Bolsheviki.” The vote +was ten to one for Wilhelm… + +The speculators took advantage of the universal disorganisation to pile +up fortunes, and to spend them in fantastic revelry or the corruption +of Government officials. Foodstuffs and fuel were hoarded, or secretly +sent out of the country to Sweden. In the first four months of the +Revolution, for example, the reserve food-supplies were almost openly +looted from the great Municipal warehouses of Petrograd, until the +two-years’ provision of grain had fallen to less than enough to feed +the city for one month…. According to the official report of the last +Minister of Supplies in the Provisional Government, coffee was bought +wholesale in Vladivostok for two rubles a pound, and the consumer in +Petrograd paid thirteen. In all the stores of the large cities were +tons of food and clothing; but only the rich could buy them. + +In a provincial town I knew a merchant family turned +speculator—_maradior_ (bandit, ghoul) the Russians call it. The three +sons had bribed their way out of military service. One gambled in +foodstuffs. Another sold illegal gold from the Lena mines to mysterious +parties in Finland. The third owned a controlling interest in a +chocolate factory, which supplied the local Cooperative societies—on +condition that the Cooperatives furnished him everything he needed. And +so, while the masses of the people got a quarter pound of black bread +on their bread cards, he had an abundance of white bread, sugar, tea, +candy, cake and butter…. Yet when the soldiers at the front could no +longer fight from cold, hunger and exhaustion, how indignantly did this +family scream “Cowards!”—how “ashamed” they were “to be Russians”… When +finally the Bolsheviki found and requisitioned vast hoarded stores of +provisions, what “Robbers” they were. + +Beneath all this external rottenness moved the old-time Dark Forces, +unchanged since the fall of Nicholas the Second, secret still and very +active. The agents of the notorious _Okhrana_ still functioned, for and +against the Tsar, for and against Kerensky—whoever would pay…. In the +darkness, underground organisations of all sorts, such as the Black +Hundreds, were busy attempting to restore reaction in some form or +other. + +In this atmosphere of corruption, of monstrous half-truths, one clear +note sounded day after day, the deepening chorus of the Bolsheviki, +“All Power to the Soviets! All power to the direct representatives of +millions on millions of common workers, soldiers, peasants. Land, +bread, an end to the senseless war, an end to secret diplomacy, +speculation, treachery…. The Revolution is in danger, and with it the +cause of the people all over the world!” + +The struggle between the proletariat and the middle class, between the +Soviets and the Government, which had begun in the first March days, +was about to culminate. Having at one bound leaped from the Middle Ages +into the twentieth century, Russia showed the startled world two +systems of Revolution—the political and the social—in mortal combat. + +What a revelation of the vitality of the Russian Revolution, after all +these months of starvation and disillusionment! The bourgeoisie should +have better known its Russia. Not for a long time in Russia will the +“sickness” of Revolution have run its course…. + +Looking back, Russia before the November insurrection seems of another +age, almost incredibly conservative. So quickly did we adapt ourselves +to the newer, swifter life; just as Russian politics swung bodily to +the Left—until the Cadets were outlawed as “enemies of the people,” +Kerensky became a “counter-revolutionist,” the “middle” Socialist +leaders, Tseretelli, Dan, Lieber, Gotz and Avksentiev, were too +reactionary for their following, and men like Victor Tchernov, and even +Maxim Gorky, belonged to the Right Wing…. + +About the middle of December, 1917, a group of Socialist Revolutionary +leaders paid a private visit to Sir George Buchanan, the British +Ambassador, and implored him not to mention the fact that they had been +there, because they were “considered too far Right.” + +“And to think,” said Sir George. “One year ago my Government instructed +me not to receive Miliukov, because he was so dangerously Left!” + +September and October are the worst months of the Russian +year—especially the Petrograd year. Under dull grey skies, in the +shortening days, the rain fell drenching, incessant. The mud underfoot +was deep, slippery and clinging, tracked everywhere by heavy boots, and +worse than usual because of the complete break-down of the Municipal +administration. Bitter damp winds rushed in from the Gulf of Finland, +and the chill fog rolled through the streets. At night, for motives of +economy as well as fear of Zeppelins, the street-lights were few and +far between; in private dwellings and apartment-houses the electricity +was turned on from six o’clock until midnight, with candles forty cents +apiece and little kerosene to be had. It was dark from three in the +afternoon to ten in the morning. Robberies and housebreakings +increased. In apartment houses the men took turns at all-night guard +duty, armed with loaded rifles. This was under the Provisional +Government. + +Week by week food became scarcer. The daily allowance of bread fell +from a pound and a half to a pound, then three quarters, half, and a +quarter-pound. Toward the end there was a week without any bread at +all. Sugar one was entitled to at the rate of two pounds a month—if one +could get it at all, which was seldom. A bar of chocolate or a pound of +tasteless candy cost anywhere from seven to ten rubles—at least a +dollar. There was milk for about half the babies in the city; most +hotels and private houses never saw it for months. In the fruit season +apples and pears sold for a little less than a ruble apiece on the +street-corner…. + +For milk and bread and sugar and tobacco one had to stand in _queue_ +long hours in the chill rain. Coming home from an all-night meeting I +have seen the _kvost_ (tail) beginning to form before dawn, mostly +women, some with babies in their arms…. Carlyle, in his _French +Revolution,_ has described the French people as distinguished above all +others by their faculty of standing in _queue._ Russia had accustomed +herself to the practice, begun in the reign of Nicholas the Blessed as +long ago as 1915, and from then continued intermittently until the +summer of 1917, when it settled down as the regular order of things. +Think of the poorly-clad people standing on the iron-white streets of +Petrograd whole days in the Russian winter! I have listened in the +bread-lines, hearing the bitter, acrid note of discontent which from +time to time burst up through the miraculous goodnature of the Russian +crowd…. + +Of course all the theatres were going every night, including Sundays. +Karsavina appeared in a new Ballet at the Marinsky, all dance-loving +Russia coming to see her. Shaliapin was singing. At the Alexandrinsky +they were reviving Meyerhold’s production of Tolstoy’s “Death of Ivan +the Terrible”; and at that performance I remember noticing a student of +the Imperial School of Pages, in his dress uniform, who stood up +correctly between the acts and faced the empty Imperial box, with its +eagles all erased…. The _Krivoye Zerkalo_ staged a sumptuous version of +Schnitzler’s “Reigen.” + +Although the Hermitage and other picture galleries had been evacuated +to Moscow, there were weekly exhibitions of paintings. Hordes of the +female _intelligentzia_ went to hear lectures on Art, Literature and +the Easy Philosophies. It was a particularly active season for +Theosophists. And the Salvation Army, admitted to Russia for the first +time in history, plastered the walls with announcements of gospel +meetings, which amused and astounded Russian audiences…. + +As in all such times, the petty conventional life of the city went on, +ignoring the Revolution as much as possible. The poets made verses—but +not about the Revolution. The realistic painters painted scenes from +mediæval Russian history—anything but the Revolution. Young ladies from +the provinces came up to the capital to learn French and cultivate +their voices, and the gay young beautiful officers wore their +gold-trimmed crimson _bashliki_ and their elaborate Caucasian swords +around the hotel lobbies. The ladies of the minor bureaucratic set took +tea with each other in the afternoon, carrying each her little gold or +silver or jewelled sugar-box, and half a loaf of bread in her muff, and +wished that the Tsar were back, or that the Germans would come, or +anything that would solve the servant problem…. The daughter of a +friend of mine came home one afternoon in hysterics because the woman +street-car conductor had called her “Comrade!” + +All around them great Russia was in travail, bearing a new world. The +servants one used to treat like animals and pay next to nothing, were +getting independent. A pair of shoes cost more than a hundred rubles, +and as wages averaged about thirty-five rubles a month the servants +refused to stand in _queue_ and wear out their shoes. But more than +that. In the new Russia every man and woman could vote; there were +working-class newspapers, saying new and startling things; there were +the Soviets; and there were the Unions. The _izvoshtchiki_ +(cab-drivers) had a Union; they were also represented in the Petrograd +Soviet. The waiters and hotel servants were organised, and refused +tips. On the walls of restaurants they put up signs which read, “No +tips taken here—” or, “Just because a man has to make his living +waiting on table is no reason to insult him by offering him a tip!” + +At the Front the soldiers fought out their fight with the officers, and +learned self-government through their committees. In the factories +those unique Russian organisations, the Factory-Shop Committees,[4] +gained experience and strength and a realisation of their historical +mission by combat with the old order. All Russia was learning to read, +and _reading_—politics, economics, history—because the people wanted to +_know…._ In every city, in most towns, along the Front, each political +faction had its newspaper—sometimes several. Hundreds of thousands of +pamphlets were distributed by thousands of organisations, and poured +into the armies, the villages, the factories, the streets. The thirst +for education, so long thwarted, burst with the Revolution into a +frenzy of expression. From Smolny Institute alone, the first six +months, went out every day tons, car-loads, train-loads of literature, +saturating the land. Russia absorbed reading matter like hot sand +drinks water, insatiable. And it was not fables, falsified history, +diluted religion, and the cheap fiction that corrupts—but social and +economic theories, philosophy, the works of Tolstoy, Gogol, and Gorky…. + +[4] See Notes and Explanations. + +Then the Talk, beside which Carlyle’s “flood of French speech” was a +mere trickle. Lectures, debates, speeches—in theatres, circuses, +school-houses, clubs, Soviet meeting-rooms, Union headquarters, +barracks…. Meetings in the trenches at the Front, in village squares, +factories…. What a marvellous sight to see Putilovsky Zavod (the +Putilov factory) pour out its forty thousand to listen to Social +Democrats, Socialist Revolutionaries, Anarchists, anybody, whatever +they had to say, as long as they would talk! For months in Petrograd, +and all over Russia, every street-corner was a public tribune. In +railway trains, street-cars, always the spurting up of impromptu +debate, everywhere…. + +And the All-Russian Conferences and Congresses, drawing together the +men of two continents—conventions of Soviets, of Cooperatives, +Zemstvos,[5] nationalities, priests, peasants, political parties; the +Democratic Conference, the Moscow Conference, the Council of the +Russian Republic. There were always three or four conventions going on +in Petrograd. At every meeting, attempts to limit the time of speakers +voted down, and every man free to express the thought that was in him…. + +[5] See Notes and Explanations. + +We came down to the front of the Twelfth Army, back of Riga, where +gaunt and bootless men sickened in the mud of desperate trenches; and +when they saw us they started up, with their pinched faces and the +flesh showing blue through their torn clothing, demanding eagerly, “Did +you bring anything to _read?”_ + +What though the outward and visible signs of change were many, what +though the statue of Catharine the Great before the Alexandrinsky +Theatre bore a little red flag in its hand, and others—somewhat +faded—floated from all public buildings; and the Imperial monograms and +eagles were either torn down or covered up; and in place of the fierce +_gorodovoye_ (city police) a mild-mannered and unarmed citizen militia +patrolled the streets—still, there were many quaint anachronisms. + +For example, Peter the Great’s _Tabel o Rangov—_Table of Ranks—which he +rivetted upon Russia with an iron hand, still held sway. Almost +everybody from the school-boy up wore his prescribed uniform, with the +insignia of the Emperor on button and shoulder-strap. Along about five +o’clock in the afternoon the streets were full of subdued old gentlemen +in uniform, with portfolios, going home from work in the huge, +barrack-like Ministries or Government institutions, calculating perhaps +how great a mortality among their superiors would advance them to the +coveted _tchin_ (rank) of Collegiate Assessor, or Privy Councillor, +with the prospect of retirement on a comfortable pension, and possibly +the Cross of St. Anne…. + +There is the story of Senator Sokolov, who in full tide of Revolution +came to a meeting of the Senate one day in civilian clothes, and was +not admitted because he did not wear the prescribed livery of the +Tsar’s service! + +It was against this background of a whole nation in ferment and +disintegration that the pageant of the Rising of the Russian Masses +unrolled…. + + + + +Chapter II +The Coming Storm + + +In September General Kornilov marched on Petrograd to make himself +military dictator of Russia. Behind him was suddenly revealed the +mailed fist of the bourgeoisie, boldly attempting to crush the +Revolution. Some of the Socialist Ministers were implicated; even +Kerensky was under suspicion. (See App. II, Sect. 1) Savinkov, summoned +to explain to the Central Committee of his party, the Socialist +Revolutionaries, refused and was expelled. Kornilov was arrested by the +Soldiers’ Committees. Generals were dismissed, Ministers suspended from +their functions, and the Cabinet fell. + +Kerensky tried to form a new Government, including the Cadets, party of +the bourgeoisie. His party, the Socialist Revolutionaries, ordered him +to exclude the Cadets. Kerensky declined to obey, and threatened to +resign from the Cabinet if the Socialists insisted. However, popular +feeling ran so high that for the moment he did not dare oppose it, and +a temporary Directorate of Five of the old Ministers, with Kerensky at +the head, assumed the power until the question should be settled. + +The Kornilov affair drew together all the Socialist groups—“moderates” +as well as revolutionists—in a passionate impulse of self-defence. +There must be no more Kornilovs. A new Government must be created, +responsible to the elements supporting the Revolution. So the +_Tsay-ee-kah_ invited the popular organisations to send delegates to a +Democratic Conference, which should meet at Petrograd in September. + +In the _Tsay-ee-kah_ three factions immediately appeared. The +Bolsheviki demanded that the All-Russian Congress of Soviets be +summoned, and that they take over the power. The “centre” Socialist +Revolutionaries, led by Tchernov, joined with the Left Socialist +Revolutionaries, led by Kamkov and Spiridonova, the Mensheviki +Internationalists under Martov, and the “centre” Mensheviki,[6] +represented by Bogdanov and Skobeliev, in demanding a purely Socialist +Government. Tseretelli, Dan and Lieber, at the head of the right wing +Mensheviki, and the right Socialist Revolutionaries under Avksentiev +and Gotz, insisted that the propertied classes must be represented in +the new Government. + +[6] See Notes and Explanations. + +Almost immediately the Bolsheviki won a majority in the Petrograd +Soviet, and the Soviets of Moscow, Kiev, Odessa and other cities +followed suit. + +Alarmed, the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries in control of the +_Tsay-ee-kah_ decided that after all they feared the danger of Kornilov +less than the danger of Lenin. They revised the plan of representation +in the Democratic Conference, (See App. II, Sect. 2) admitting more +delegates from the Cooperative Societies and other conservative bodies. +Even this packed assembly at first voted for a _Coalition Government +without the Cadets._ Only Kerensky’s open threat of resignation, and +the alarming cries of the “moderate” Socialists that “the Republic is +in danger” persuaded the Conference, by a small majority, to declare in +favour of the principle of coalition with the bourgeoisie, and to +sanction the establishment of a sort of consultative Parliament, +without any legislative power, called the Provisional Council of the +Russian Republic. In the new Ministry the propertied classes +practically controlled, and in the Council of the Russian Republic they +occupied a disproportionate number of seats. + +The fact is that the _Tsay-ee-kah_ no longer represented the rank and +file of the Soviets, and had illegally refused to call another +All-Russian Congress of Soviets, due in September. It had no intention +of calling this Congress or of allowing it to be called. Its official +organ, _Izviestia_ (News), began to hint that the function of the +Soviets was nearly at an end, (See App. II, Sect. 3) and that they +might soon be dissolved… At this time, too, the new Government +announced as part of its policy the liquidation of “irresponsible +organisations”—i.e. the Soviets. + +The Bolsheviki responded by summoning the All-Russian Soviets to meet +at Petrograd on November 2, and take over the Government of Russia. At +the same time they withdrew from the Council of the Russian Republic, +stating that they would not participate in a “Government of Treason to +the People.” (See App. II, Sect. 4) + +The withdrawal of the Bolsheviki, however, did not bring tranquillity +to the ill-fated Council. The propertied classes, now in a position of +power, became arrogant. The Cadets declared that the Government had no +legal right to declare Russia a republic. They demanded stern measures +in the Army and Navy to destroy the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Committees, +and denounced the Soviets. On the other side of the chamber the +Mensheviki Internationalists and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries +advocated immediate peace, land to the peasants, and workers’ control +of industry—practically the Bolshevik programme. + +I heard Martov’s speech in answer to the Cadets. Stooped over the desk +of the tribune like the mortally sick man he was, and speaking in a +voice so hoarse it could hardly be heard, he shook his finger toward +the right benches: + +“You call us defeatists; but the real defeatists are those who wait for +a more propitious moment to conclude peace, insist upon postponing +peace until later, until nothing is left of the Russian army, until +Russia becomes the subject of bargaining between the different +imperialist groups…. You are trying to impose upon the Russian people a +policy dictated by the interests of the bourgeoisie. The question of +peace should be raised without delay…. You will see then that not in +vain has been the work of those whom you call German agents, of those +Zimmerwaldists[7] who in all the lands have prepared the awakening of +the conscience of the democratic masses….” + +[7] Members of the revoloutionary internationalist wing of the +Socialists of Europe, so-called because of their participation in the +International Conference held at Zimmerwald, Switzerland, in 1915. + +Between these two groups the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries +wavered, irresistibly forced to the left by the pressure of the rising +dissatisfaction of the masses. Deep hostility divided the chamber into +irreconcilable groups. + +This was the situation when the long-awaited announcement of the Allied +Conference in Paris brought up the burning question of foreign policy…. + +Theoretically all Socialist parties in Russia were in favour of the +earliest possible peace on democratic terms. As long ago as May, 1917, +the Petrograd Soviet, then under control of the Mensheviki and +Socialist Revolutionaries, had proclaimed the famous Russian +peace-conditions. They had demanded that the Allies hold a conference +to discuss war-aims. This conference had been promised for August; then +postponed until September; then until October; and now it was fixed for +November 10th. + +The Provisional Government suggested two representatives—General +Alexeyev, reactionary military man, and Terestchenko, Minister of +Foreign Affairs. The Soviets chose Skobeliev to speak for them and drew +up a manifesto, the famous _nakaz_—(See App. II, Sect. 5) instructions. +The Provisional Government objected to Skobeliev and his _nakaz;_ the +Allied ambassadors protested and finally Bonar Law in the British House +of Commons, in answer to a question, responded coldly, “As far as I +know the Paris Conference will not discuss the aims of the war at all, +but only the methods of conducting it….” + +At this the conservative Russian press was jubilant, and the Bolsheviki +cried, “See where the compromising tactics of the Mensheviki and +Socialist Revolutionaries have led them!” + +Along a thousand miles of front the millions of men in Russia’s armies +stirred like the sea rising, pouring into the capital their hundreds +upon hundreds of delegations, crying “Peace! Peace!” + +I went across the river to the Cirque Moderne, to one of the great +popular meetings which occurred all over the city, more numerous night +after night. The bare, gloomy amphitheatre, lit by five tiny lights +hanging from a thin wire, was packed from the ring up the steep sweep +of grimy benches to the very roof—soldiers, sailors, workmen, women, +all listening as if their lives depended upon it. A soldier was +speaking—from the Five Hundred and Forty-eight Division, wherever and +whatever that was: + +“Comrades,” he cried, and there was real anguish in his drawn face and +despairing gestures. “The people at the top are always calling upon us +to sacrifice more, sacrifice more, while those who have everything are +left unmolested. + +“We are at war with Germany. Would we invite German generals to serve +on our Staff? Well we’re at war with the capitalists too, and yet we +invite them into our Government…. + +“The soldier says, ‘Show me what I am fighting for. Is it +Constantinople, or is it free Russia? Is it the democracy, or is it the +capitalist plunderers? If you can prove to me that I am defending the +Revolution then I’ll go out and fight without capital punishment to +force me.’ + +“When the land belongs to the peasants, and the factories to the +workers, and the power to the Soviets, then we’ll know we have +something to fight for, and we’ll fight for it!” + +In the barracks, the factories, on the street-corners, end less soldier +speakers, all clamouring for an end to the war, declaring that if the +Government did not make an energetic effort to get peace, the army +would leave the trenches and go home. + +The spokesman for the Eighth Army: + +“We are weak, we have only a few men left in each company. They must +give us food and boots and reinforcements, or soon there will be left +only empty trenches. Peace or supplies… either let the Government end +the war or support the Army….” + +For the Forty-sixth Siberian Artillery: + +“The officers will not work with our Committees, they betray us to the +enemy, they apply the death penalty to our agitators; and the +counter-revolutionary Government supports them. We thought that the +Revolution would bring peace. But now the Government forbids us even to +talk of such things, and at the same time doesn’t give us enough food +to live on, or enough ammunition to fight with….” + +From Europe came rumours of peace at the expense of Russia. (See App. +II, Sect. 6)… + +News of the treatment of Russian troops in France added to the +discontent. The First Brigade had tried to replace its officers with +Soldiers’ Committees, like their comrades at home, and had refused an +order to go to Salonika, demanding to be sent to Russia. They had been +surrounded and starved, and then fired on by artillery, and many +killed. (See App. II, Sect. 7)… + +On October 29th I went to the white-marble and crimson hall of the +Marinsky palace, where the Council of the Republic sat, to hear +Terestchenko’s declaration of the Government’s foreign policy, awaited +with such terrible anxiety by all the peace-thirsty and exhausted land. + +A tall, impeccably-dressed young man with a smooth face and high +cheek-bones, suavely reading his careful, non-committal speech. (See +App. II, Sect. 8) Nothing…. Only the same platitudes about crushing +German militarism with the help of the Allies—about the “state +interests” of Russia, about the “embarrassment” caused by Skobeliev’s +_nakaz._ He ended with the key-note: + +“Russia is a great power. Russia will remain a great power, whatever +happens. We must all defend her, we must show that we are defenders of +a great ideal, and children of a great power.” + +Nobody was satisfied. The reactionaries wanted a “strong” imperialist +policy; the democratic parties wanted an assurance that the Government +would press for peace…. I reproduce an editorial in _Rabotchi i Soldat_ +(Worker and Soldier), organ of the Bolshevik Petrograd Soviet: + +THE GOVERNMENT’S ANSWER TO THE TRENCHES + + +The most taciturn of our Ministers, Mr. Terestchenko, has actually told +the trenches the following: + +1. We are closely united with our Allies. (Not with the peoples, but +with the Governments.) + +2. There is no use for the democracy to discuss the possibility or +impossibility of a winter campaign. That will be decided by the +Governments of our Allies. + +3. The 1st of July offensive was beneficial and a very happy affair. +(He did not mention the consequences.) + +4. It is not true that our Allies do not care about us. The Minister +has in his possession very important declarations. (Declarations? What +about deeds? What about the behaviour of the British fleet? (See App. +II, Sect. 9) The parleying of the British king with exiled +counter-revolutionary General Gurko? The Minister did not mention all +this.) + +5. The _nakaz_ to Skobeliev is bad; the Allies don’t like it and the +Russian diplomats don’t like it. In the Allied Conference we must all +‘speak one language.’ + +And is that all? That is all. What is the way out? The solution is, +faith in the Allies and in Terestchenko. When will peace come? When the +Allies permit. + +That is how the Government replied to the trenches about peace! + +Now in the background of Russian politics began to form the vague +outlines of a sinister power—the Cossacks. _Novaya Zhizn_ (New Life), +Gorky’s paper, called attention to their activities: + +At the beginning of the Revolution the Cossacks refused to shoot down +the people. When Kornilov marched on Petrograd they refused to follow +him. From passive loyalty to the Revolution the Cossacks have passed to +an active political offensive (against it). From the back-ground of the +Revolution they have suddenly advanced to the front of the stage…. + + +Kaledin, _ataman_ of the Don Cossacks, had been dismissed by the +Provisional Government for his complicity in the Kornilov affair. He +flatly refused to resign, and surrounded by three immense Cossack +armies lay at Novotcherkask, plotting and menacing. So great was his +power that the Government was forced to ignore his insubordination. +More than that, it was compelled formally to recognise the Council of +the Union of Cossack Armies, and to declare illegal the newly-formed +Cossack Section of the Soviets…. + +In the first part of October a Cossack delegation called upon Kerensky, +arrogantly insisting that the charges against Kaledin be dropped, and +reproaching the Minister-President for yielding to the Soviets. +Kerensky agreed to let Kaledin alone, and then is reported to have +said, “In the eyes of the Soviet leaders I am a despot and a tyrant…. +As for the Provisional Government, not only does it not depend upon the +Soviets, but it considers it regrettable that they exist at all.” + +At the same time another Cossack mission called upon the British +ambassador, treating with him boldly as representatives of “the free +Cossack people.” + +In the Don something very like a Cossack Republic had been established. +The Kuban declared itself an independent Cossack State. The Soviets of +Rostov-on-Don and Yekaterinburg were dispersed by armed Cossacks, and +the headquarters of the Coal Miners’ Union at Kharkov raided. In all +its manifestations the Cossack movement was anti-Socialist and +militaristic. Its leaders were nobles and great land-owners, like +Kaledin, Kornilov, Generals Dutov, Karaulov and Bardizhe, and it was +backed by the powerful merchants and bankers of Moscow…. + +Old Russia was rapidly breaking up. In Ukraine, in Finland, Poland, +White Russia, the nationalist movements gathered strength and became +bolder. The local Governments, controlled by the propertied classes, +claimed autonomy, refusing to obey orders from Petrograd. At +Helsingfors the Finnish Senate declined to loan money to the +Provisional Government, declared Finland autonomous, and demanded the +withdrawal of Russian troops. The bourgeois Rada at Kiev extended the +boundaries of Ukraine until they included all the richest agricultural +lands of South Russia, as far east as the Urals, and began the +formation of a national army. Premier Vinnitchenko hinted at a separate +peace with Germany—and the Provisional Government was helpless. +Siberia, the Caucasus, demanded separate Constituent Assemblies. And in +all these countries there was the beginning of a bitter struggle +between the authorities and the local Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ +Deputies…. + +Conditions were daily more chaotic. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers +were deserting the front and beginning to move in vast, aimless tides +over the face of the land. The peasants of Tambov and Tver Governments, +tired of waiting for the land, exasperated by the repressive measures +of the Government, were burning manor-houses and massacring +land-owners. Immense strikes and lock-outs convulsed Moscow, Odessa and +the coal-mines of the Don. Transportation was paralysed; the army was +starving and in the big cities there was no bread. + +The Government, torn between the democratic and reactionary factions, +could do nothing: when forced to act it always supported the interests +of the propertied classes. Cossacks were sent to restore order among +the peasants, to break the strikes. In Tashkent, Government authorities +suppressed the Soviet. In Petrograd the Economic Council, established +to rebuild the shattered economic life of the country, came to a +deadlock between the opposing forces of capital and labour, and was +dissolved by Kerensky. The old régime military men, backed by Cadets, +demanded that harsh measures be adopted to restore discipline in the +Army and the Navy. In vain Admiral Verderevsky, the venerable Minister +of Marine, and General Verkhovsky, Minister of War, insisted that only +a new, voluntary, democratic discipline, based on cooperation with the +soldiers’ and sailors’ Committees, could save the army and navy. Their +recommendations were ignored. + +The reactionaries seemed determined to provoke popular anger. The trial +of Kornilov was coming on. More and more openly the bourgeois press +defended him, speaking of him as “the great Russian patriot.” Burtzev’s +paper, _Obshtchee Dielo_ (Common Cause), called for a dictatorship of +Kornilov, Kaledin and Kerensky! + +I had a talk with Burtzev one day in the press gallery of the Council +of the Republic. A small, stooped figure with a wrinkled face, eyes +near-sighted behind thick glasses, untidy hair and beard streaked with +grey. + +“Mark my words, young man! What Russia needs is a Strong Man. We should +get our minds off the Revolution now and concentrate on the Germans. +Bunglers, bunglers, to defeat Kornilov; and back of the bunglers are +the German agents. Kornilov should have won….” + +On the extreme right the organs of the scarcely-veiled Monarchists, +Purishkevitch’s _Narodny Tribun_ (People’s Tribune), _Novaya Rus_ (New +Russia), and _Zhivoye Slovo_ (Living Word), openly advocated the +extermination of the revolutionary democracy…. + +On the 23rd of October occurred the naval battle with a German squadron +in the Gulf of Riga. On the pretext that Petrograd was in danger, the +Provisional Government drew up plans for evacuating the capital. First +the great munitions works were to go, distributed widely throughout +Russia; and then the Government itself was to move to Moscow. Instantly +the Bolsheviki began to cry out that the Government was abandoning the +Red Capital in order to weaken the Revolution. Riga had been sold to +the Germans; now Petrograd was being betrayed! + +The bourgeois press was joyful. “At Moscow,” said the Cadet paper +_Ryetch_ (Speech), “the Government can pursue its work in a tranquil +atmosphere, without being interfered with by anarchists.” Rodzianko, +leader of the right wing of the Cadet party, declared in _Utro Rossii_ +(The Morning of Russia) that the taking of Petrograd by the Germans +would be a blessing, because it would destroy the Soviets and get rid +of the revolutionary Baltic Fleet: + +Petrograd is in danger (he wrote). I say to myself, “Let God take care +of Petrograd.” They fear that if Petrograd is lost the central +revolutionary organisations will be destroyed. To that I answer that I +rejoice if all these organisations are destroyed; for they will bring +nothing but disaster upon Russia…. + With the taking of Petrograd the Baltic Fleet will also be + destroyed…. But there will be nothing to regret; most of the + battleships are completely demoralised…. + + +In the face of a storm of popular disapproval the plan of evacuation +was repudiated. + +Meanwhile the Congress of Soviets loomed over Russia like a +thunder-cloud, shot through with lightnings. It was opposed, not only +by the Government but by all the “moderate” Socialists. The Central +Army and Fleet Committees, the Central Committees of some of the Trade +Unions, the Peasants’ Soviets, but most of all the _Tsay-ee-kah_ +itself, spared no pains to prevent the meeting. _Izviestia_ and _Golos +Soldata_ (Voice of the Soldier), newspapers founded by the Petrograd +Soviet but now in the hands of the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ fiercely assailed it, +as did the entire artillery of the Socialist Revolutionary party press, +_Dielo Naroda_ (People’s Cause) and _Volia Naroda_ (People’s Will). + +Delegates were sent through the country, messages flashed by wire to +committees in charge of local Soviets, to Army Committees, instructing +them to halt or delay elections to the Congress. Solemn public +resolutions against the Congress, declarations that the democracy was +opposed to the meeting so near the date of the Constituent Assembly, +representatives from the Front, from the Union of Zemstvos, the +Peasants’ Union, Union of Cossack Armies, Union of Officers, Knights of +St. George, Death Battalions,[8] protesting…. The Council of the +Russian Republic was one chorus of disapproval. The entire machinery +set up by the Russian Revolution of March functioned to block the +Congress of Soviets…. + +[8] See Notes and Explanations. + +On the other hand was the shapeless will of the proletariat—the +workmen, common soldiers and poor peasants. Many local Soviets were +already Bolshevik; then there were the organisations of the industrial +workers, the _Fabritchno-Zavodskiye Comitieti_—Factory-Shop Committees; +and the insurgent Army and Fleet organisations. In some places the +people, prevented from electing their regular Soviet delegates, held +rump meetings and chose one of their number to go to Petrograd. In +others they smashed the old obstructionist committees and formed new +ones. A ground-swell of revolt heaved and cracked the crust which had +been slowly hardening on the surface of revolutionary fires dormant all +those months. Only an spontaneous mass-movement could bring about the +All-Russian Congress of Soviets…. + +Day after day the Bolshevik orators toured the barracks and factories, +violently denouncing “this Government of civil war.” One Sunday we +went, on a top-heavy steam tram that lumbered through oceans of mud, +between stark factories and immense churches, to _Obukhovsky Zavod,_ a +Government munitions-plant out on the Schlüsselburg Prospekt. + +The meeting took place between the gaunt brick walls of a huge +unfinished building, ten thousand black-clothed men and women packed +around a scaffolding draped in red, people heaped on piles of lumber +and bricks, perched high upon shadowy girders, intent and +thunder-voiced. Through the dull, heavy sky now and again burst the +sun, flooding reddish light through the skeleton windows upon the mass +of simple faces upturned to us. + +Lunatcharsky, a slight, student-like figure with the sensitive face of +an artist, was telling why the power must be taken by the Soviets. +Nothing else could guarantee the Revolution against its enemies, who +were deliberately ruining the country, ruining the army, creating +opportunities for a new Konilov. + +A soldier from the Rumanian front, thin, tragical and fierce, cried, +“Comrades! We are starving at the front, we are stiff with cold. We are +dying for no reason. I ask the American comrades to carry word to +America, that the Russians will never give up their Revolution until +they die. We will hold the fort with all our strength until the peoples +of the world rise and help us! Tell the American workers to rise and +fight for the Social Revolution!” + +Then came Petrovsky, slight, slow-voiced, implacable: “Now is the time +for deeds, not words. The economic situation is bad, but we must get +used to it. They are trying to starve us and freeze us. They are trying +to provoke us. But let them know that they can go too far—that if they +dare to lay their hands upon the organisations of the proletariat we +will sweep them away like scum from the face of the earth!” + +The Bolshevik press suddenly expanded. Besides the two party papers, +_Rabotchi Put_ and _Soldat_ (Soldier), there appeared a new paper for +the peasants, _Derevenskaya Byednota_ (Village Poorest), poured out in +a daily half-million edition; and on October 17th, _Rabotchi i Soldat._ +Its leading article summed up the Bolshevik point of view: + +The fourth year’s campaign will mean the annihilation of the army and +the country…. There is danger for the safety of Petrograd…. +Counter-revolutionists rejoice in the people’s misfortunes…. The +peasants brought to desperation come out in open rebellion; the +landlords and Government authorities massacre them with punitive +expeditions; factories and mines are closing down, workmen are +threatened with starvation…. The bourgeoisie and its Generals want to +restore a blind discipline in the army…. Supported by the bourgeoisie, +the Kornilovtsi are openly getting ready to break up the meeting of the +Constituent Assembly…. + + +The Kerensky Government is against the people. He will destroy the +country…. This paper stands for the people and by the people—the poor +classes, workers, soldiers and peasants. The people can only be saved +by the completion of the Revolution… and for this purpose the full +power must be in the hands of the Soviets…. + +This paper advocates the following: All power to the Soviets—both in +the capital and in the provinces. + +Immediate truce on all fronts. An honest peace between peoples. + +Landlord estates—without compensation—to the peasants. + +Workers’ control over industrial production. + +A faithfully and honestly elected Constituent Assembly. + +It is interesting to reproduce here a passage from that same paper—the +organ of those Bolsheviki so well known to the world as German agents: + +The German kaiser, covered with the blood of millions of dead people, +wants to push his army against Petrograd. Let us call to the German +workmen, soldiers and peasants, who want peace not less than we do, to… +stand up against this damned war! + +This can be done only by a revolutionary Government, which would speak +really for the workmen, soldiers and peasants of Russia, and would +appeal over the heads of the diplomats directly to the German troops, +fill the German trenches with proclamations in the German language…. +Our airmen would spread these proclamations all over Germany…. + +In the Council of the Republic the gulf between the two sides of the +chamber deepened day by day. + +“The propertied classes,” cried Karelin, for the Left Socialist +Revolutionaries, “want to exploit the revolutionary machine of the +State to bind Russia to the war-chariot of the Allies! The +revolutionary parties are absolutely against this policy….” + +Old Nicholas Tchaikovsky, representing the Populist Socialists, spoke +against giving the land to the peasants, and took the side of the +Cadets: “We must have immediately strong discipline in the army…. Since +the beginning of the war I have not ceased to insist that it is a crime +to undertake social and economic reforms in war-time. We are committing +that crime, and yet I am not the enemy of these reforms, because I am a +Socialist.” + +Cries from the Left, “We don’t believe you!” Mighty applause from the +Right…. + +Adzhemov, for the Cadets, declared that there was no necessity to tell +the army what it was fighting for, since every soldier ought to realise +that the first task was to drive the enemy from Russian territory. + +Kerensky himself came twice, to plead passionately for national unity, +once bursting into tears at the end. The assembly heard him coldly, +interrupting with ironical remarks. + +Smolny Institute, headquarters of the _Tsay-ee-kah_ and of the +Petrograd Soviet, lay miles out on the edge of the city, beside the +wide Neva. I went there on a street-car, moving snail-like with a +groaning noise through the cobbled, muddy streets, and jammed with +people. At the end of the line rose the graceful smoke-blue cupolas of +Smolny Convent outlined in dull gold, beautiful; and beside it the +great barracks like façade of Smolny Institute, two hundred yards long +and three lofty stories high, the Imperial arms carved hugely in stone +still insolent over the entrance…. + +Under the old régime a famous convent-school for the daughters of the +Russian nobility, patronised by the Tsarina herself, the Institute had +been taken over by the revolutionary organisations of workers and +soldiers. Within were more than a hundred huge rooms, white and bare, +on their doors enamelled plaques still informing the passerby that +within was “Ladies’ Class-room Number 4” or “Teachers’ Bureau”; but +over these hung crudely-lettered signs, evidence of the vitality of the +new order: “Central Committee of the Petrograd Soviet” and +_“Tsay-ee-kah”_ and “Bureau of Foreign Affairs”; “Union of Socialist +Soldiers,” “Central Committee of the All-Russian Trade Unions,” +“Factory-Shop Committees,” “Central Army Committee”; and the central +offices and caucus-rooms of the political parties…. + +The long, vaulted corridors, lit by rare electric lights, were thronged +with hurrying shapes of soldiers and workmen, some bent under the +weight of huge bundles of newspapers, proclamations, printed propaganda +of all sorts. The sound of their heavy boots made a deep and incessant +thunder on the wooden floor…. Signs were posted up everywhere: +“Comrades! For the sake of your health, preserve cleanliness!” Long +tables stood at the head of the stairs on every floor, and on the +landings, heaped with pamphlets and the literature of the different +political parties, for sale…. + +The spacious, low-ceilinged refectory downstairs was still a +dining-room. For two rubles I bought a ticket entitling me to dinner, +and stood in line with a thousand others, waiting to get to the long +serving-tables, where twenty men and women were ladling from immense +cauldrons cabbage soup, hunks of meat and piles of _kasha,_ slabs of +black bread. Five kopeks paid for tea in a tin cup. From a basket one +grabbed a greasy wooden spoon…. The benches along the wooden tables +were packed with hungry proletarians, wolfing their food, plotting, +shouting rough jokes across the room…. + +[Graphic, page 33: text of placard in russian, translation follows] + +COMRADES FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR HEALTH, PRESERVE CLEANLINESS. + + +Upstairs was another eating-place, reserved for the _Tsay-ee-kah—_ +though every one went there. Here could be had bread thickly buttered +and endless glasses of tea…. + +In the south wing on the second floor was the great hall of meetings, +the former ball-room of the Institute. A lofty white room lighted by +glazed-white chandeliers holding hundreds of ornate electric bulbs, and +divided by two rows of massive columns; at one end a dais, flanked with +two tall many-branched light standards, and a gold frame behind, from +which the Imperial portrait had been cut. Here on festal occasions had +been banked brilliant military and ecclesiastical uniforms, a setting +for Grand Duchesses…. + +Just across the hall outside was the office of the Credentials +Committee for the Congress of Soviets. I stood there watching the new +delegates come in—burly, bearded soldiers, workmen in black blouses, a +few long-haired peasants. The girl in charge—a member of Plekhanov’s +_Yedinstvo_[9] group—smiled contemptuously. “These are very different +people from the delegates to the first _Siezd_ (Congress),” she +remarked. “See how rough and ignorant they look! The Dark People….” It +was true; the depths of Russia had been stirred, and it was the bottom +which came uppermost now. The Credentials Committee, appointed by the +old _Tsay-ee-kah,_ was challenging delegate after delegate, on the +ground that they had been illegally elected. Karakhan, member of the +Bolshevik Central Committee, simply grinned. “Never mind,” he said, +“When the time comes we’ll see that you get your seats….” + +[9] See Notes and Explanations. + +_Rabotchi i Soldat_ said: + +The attention of delegates to the new All-Russian Congress is called to +attempts of certain members of the Organising Committee to break up the +Congress, by asserting that it will not take place, and that delegates +had better leave Petrograd…. Pay no attention to these lies…. Great +days are coming…. + +It was evident that a quorum would not come together by November 2, so +the opening of the Congress was postponed to the 7th. But the whole +country was now aroused; and the Mensheviki and Socialist +Revolutionaries, realising that they were defeated, suddenly changed +their tactics and began to wire frantically to their provincial +organisations to elect as many “moderate” Socialist delegates as +possible. At the same time the Executive Committee of the Peasants’ +Soviets issued an emergency call for a Peasants’ Congress, to meet +December 13th and offset whatever action the workers and soldiers might +take… + +What would the Bolsheviki do? Rumours ran through the city that there +would be an armed “demonstration,” a _vystuplennie_—“coming out” of the +workers and soldiers. The bourgeois and reactionary press prophesied +insurrection, and urged the Government to arrest the Petrograd Soviet, +or at least to prevent the meeting of the Congress. Such sheets as +_Novaya Rus_ advocated a general Bolshevik massacre. + +Gorky’s paper, _Novaya Zhizn,_ agreed with the Bolsheviki that the +reactionaries were attempting to destroy the Revolution, and that if +necessary they must be resisted by force of arms; but all the parties +of the revolutionary democracy must present a united front. + +As long as the democracy has not organised its principal forces, so +long as the resistance to its influence is still strong, there is no +advantage in passing to the attack. But if the hostile elements appeal +to force, then the revolutionary democracy should enter the battle to +seize the power, and it will be sustained by the most profound strata +of the people…. + +Gorky pointed out that both reactionary and Government newspapers were +inciting the Bolsheviki to violence. An insurrection, however, would +prepare the way for a new Kornilov. He urged the Bolsheviki to deny the +rumours. Potressov, in the Menshevik _Dien_ (Day), published a +sensational story, accompanied by a map, which professed to reveal the +secret Bolshevik plan of campaign. + +As if by magic, the walls were covered with warnings, (See App. II, +Sect. 10) proclamations, appeals, from the Central Committees of the +“moderate” and conservative factions and the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ denouncing +any “demonstrations,” imploring the workers and soldiers not to listen +to agitators. For instance, this from the Military Section of the +Socialist Revolutionary party: + +Again rumours are spreading around the town of an intended +_vystuplennie._ What is the source of these rumours? What organisation +authorises these agitators who preach insurrection? The Bolsheviki, to +a question addressed to them in the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ denied that they +have anything to do with it…. But these rumours themselves carry with +them a great danger. It may easily happen that, not taking into +consideration the state of mind of the majority of the workers, +soldiers and peasants, individual hot-heads will call out part of the +workers and soldiers on the streets, inciting them to an uprising…. In +this fearful time through which revolutionary Russia is passing, any +insurrection can easily turn into civil war, and there can result from +it the destruction of all organisations of the proletariat, built up +with so much labour…. The counter-revolutionary plotters are planning +to take advantage of this insurrection to destroy the Revolution, open +the front to Wilhelm, and wreck the Constituent Assembly…. Stick +stubbornly to your posts! Do not come out! + +On October 28th, in the corridors of Smolny, I spoke with Kameniev, a +little man with a reddish pointed beard and Gallic gestures. He was not +at all sure that enough delegates would come. “If there _is_ a +Congress,” he said, “it will represent the overwhelming sentiment of +the people. If the majority is Bolshevik, as I think it will be, we +shall demand that the power be given to the Soviets, and the +Provisional Government must resign….” + +Volodarsky, a tall, pale youth with glasses and a bad complexion, was +more definite. “The ‘Lieber-Dans’ and the other compromisers are +sabotaging the Congress. If they succeed in preventing its +meeting,—well, then we are realists enough not to depend on _that!_” + +Under date of October 29th I find entered in my notebook the following +items culled from the newspapers of the day: + +Moghilev (General Staff Headquarters). Concentration here of loyal +Guard Regiments, the Savage Division, Cossacks and Death Battalions. + +The _yunkers_ of the Officers’ Schools of Pavlovsk, Tsarskoye Selo and +Peterhof ordered by the Government to be ready to come to Petrograd. +Oranienbaum _yunkers_ arrive in the city. + +Part of the Armoured Car Division of the Petrograd garrism stationed in +the Winter Palace. + + +Upon orders signed by Trotzky, several thousand rifles delivered by the +Government Arms Factory at Sestroretzk to delegates of the Petrograd +workmen. + +At a meeting of the City Militia of the Lower Liteiny Quarter, a +resolution demanding that all power be given to the Soviets. + +This is just a sample of the confused events of those feverish days, +when everybody knew that something was going to happen, but nobody knew +just what. + +At a meeting of the Petrograd Soviet in Smolny, the night of October +30th, Trotzky branded the assertions of the bourgeois press that the +Soviet contemplated armed insurention as “an attempt of the +reactionaries to discredit and wreck the Congress of Soviets…. The +Petrograd Soviet,” he declared, “had not ordered any _uystuplennie._ If +it is necessary we shall do so, and we will be supported by the +Petrogruad garrison…. They (the Government) are preparing a +counter-revolution; and we shall answer with an offensive which will be +merciless and decisive.” + +It is true that the Petrograd Soviet had not ordered a demonstration, +but the Central Committee of the Bolshevik party was considering the +question of insurrection. All night long the 23d they met. There were +present all the party intellectuals, the leaders—and delegates of the +Petrograd workers and garrison. Alone of the intellectuals Lenin and +Trotzky stood for insurrection. Even the military men opposed it. A +vote was taken. Insurrection was defeated! + +Then arose a rough workman, his face convulsed with rage. “I speak for +the Petrograd proletariat,” he said, harshly. “We are in favour of +insurrection. Have it your own way, but I tell you now that if you +allow the Soviets to be destroyed, _we’re through with you!_” Some +soldiers joined him…. And after that they voted again—insurrection +won…. + +However, the right wing of the Bolsheviki, led by Riazanov, Kameniev +and Zinoviev, continued to campaign against an armed rising. On the +morning of October 31st appeared in _Rabotchi Put_ the first instalment +of Lenin’s “Letter to the Comrades,” (See App. II, Sect. 11) one of the +most audacious pieces of political propaganda the world has ever seen. +In it Lenin seriously presented the arguments in favour of +insurrection, taking as text the objections of Kameniev and Riazonov. + +“Either we must abandon our slogan, ‘All Power to the Soviets,’” he +wrote, “or else we must make an insurrection. There is no middle +course….” + +That same afternoon Paul Miliukov, leader of the Cadets, made a +brilliant, bitter speech (See App. II, Sect. 12) in the Council of the +Republic, branding the Skobeliev _nakaz_ as pro-German, declaring that +the “revolutionary democracy” was destroying Russia, sneering at +Terestchenko, and openly declaring that he preferred German diplomacy +to Russian…. The Left benches were one roaring tumult all through…. + +On its part the Government could not ignore the significance of the +success of the Bolshevik propaganda. On the 29th joint commission of +the Government and the Council of the Republic hastily drew up two +laws, one for giving the land temporarily to the peasants, and the +other for pushing an energetic foreign policy of peace. The next day +Kerensky suspended capital punishment in the army. That same afternoon +was opened with great ceremony the first session of the new “Commission +for Strengthening the Republican Régime and Fighting Against Anarchy +and Counter-Revolution”—of which history shows not the slightest +further trace…. The following morning with two other correspondents I +interviewed Kerensky (See App. II, Sect. 13)—the last time he received +journalists. + +“The Russian people,” he said, bitterly, “are suffering from economic +fatigue—and from disillusionment with the Allies! The world thinks that +the Russian Revolution is at an end. Do not be mistaken. The Russian +Revolution is just beginning….” Words more prophetic, perhaps, than he +knew. + +Stormy was the all-night meeting of the Petrograd Soviet the 30th of +October, at which I was present. The “moderate” Socialist +intellectuals, officers, members of Army Committees, the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ +were there in force. Against them rose up workmen, peasants and common +soldiers, passionate and simple. + +A peasant told of the disorders in Tver, which he said were caused by +the arrest of the Land Committees. “This Kerensky is nothing but a +shield to the _pomieshtchiki_ (landowners),” he cried. “They know that +at the Constituent Assembly we will take the land anyway, so they are +trying to destroy the Constituent Assembly!” + +A machinist from the Putilov works described how the superintendents +were closing down the departments one by one on the pretext that there +was no fuel or raw materials. The Factory-Shop Committee, he declared, +had discovered huge hidden supplies. + +“It is a _provocatzia,”_ said he. “They want to starve us—or drive us +to violence!” + +Among the soldiers one began, “Comrades! I bring you greetings from the +place where men are digging their graves and call them trenches!” + +Then arose a tall, gaunt young soldier, with flashing eyes, met with a +roar of welcome. It was Tchudnovsky, reported killed in the July +fighting, and now risen from the dead. + +“The soldier masses no longer trust their officers. Even the Army +Committees, who refused to call a meeting of our Soviet, betrayed us…. +The masses of the soldiers want the Constituent Assembly to be held +exactly when it was called for, and those who dare to postpone it will +be cursed—and not only platonic curses either, for the Army has guns +too….” + +He told of the electoral campaign for the Constituent now raging in the +Fifth Army. “The officers, and especially the Mensheviki and the +Socialist Revolutionaries, are trying deliberately to cripple the +Bolsheviki. Our papers are not allowed to circulate in the trenches. +Our speakers are arrested—” + +“Why don’t you speak about the lack of bread?” shouted another soldier. + +“Man shall not live by bread alone,” answered Tchudnovsky, sternly…. + +Followed him an officer, delegate from the Vitebsk Soviet, a Menshevik +_oboronetz._ “It isn’t the question of who has the power. The trouble +is not with the Government, but with the war…. and the war must be won +before any change—” At this, hoots and ironical cheers. “These +Bolshevik agitators are demagogues!” The hall rocked with laughter. +“Let us for a moment forget the class struggle—” But he got no farther. +A voice yelled, “Don’t you wish we would!” + +Petrograd presented a curious spectacle in those days. In the factories +the committee-rooms were filled with stacks of rifles, couriers came +and went, the Red Guard[10] drilled…. In all the barracks meetings +every night, and all day long interminable hot arguments. On the +streets the crowds thickened toward gloomy evening, pouring in slow +voluble tides up and down the Nevsky, fighting for the newspapers…. +Hold-ups increased to such an extent that it was dangerous to walk down +side streets…. On the Sadovaya one afternoon I saw a crowd of several +hundred people beat and trample to death a soldier caught stealing…. +Mysterious individuals circulated around the shivering women who waited +in _queue_ long cold hours for bread and milk, whispering that the Jews +had cornered the food supply—and that while the people starved, the +Soviet members lived luxuriously…. + +[10] See Notes and Explanations. + +At Smolny there were strict guards at the door and the outer gates, +demanding everybody’s pass. The committee-rooms buzzed and hummed all +day and all night, hundreds of soldiers and workmen slept on the floor, +wherever they could find room. Upstairs in the great hall a thousand +people crowded to the uproarious sessions of the Petrograd Soviet…. + +Gambling clubs functioned hectically from dusk to dawn, with champagne +flowing and stakes of twenty thousand rubles. In the centre of the city +at night prostitutes in jewels and expensive furs walked up and down, +crowded the cafés…. + +Monarchist plots, German spies, smugglers hatching schemes…. + +And in the rain, the bitter chill, the great throbbing city under grey +skies rushing faster and faster toward—what? + + + + +Chapter III +On the Eve + + +In the relations of a weak Government and a rebellious people there +comes a time when every act of the authorities exasperates the masses, +and every refusal to act excites their contempt…. + +The proposal to abandon Petrograd raised a hurricane; Kerensky’s public +denial that the Government had any such intention was met with hoots of +derision. + +Pinned to the wall by the pressure of the Revolution (cried _Rabotchi +Put),_ the Government of “provisional” bourgeois tries to get free by +giving out lying assurances that it never thought of fleeing from +Petrograd, and that it didn’t wish to surrender the capital…. + +In Kharkov thirty thousand coal miners organised, adopting the preamble +of the I. W. W. constitution: “The working class and the employing +class have nothing in common.” Dispersed by Cossacks, some were locked +out by the mine-owners, and the rest declared a general strike. +Minister of Commerce and Industry Konovalov appointed his assistant, +Orlov, with plenary powers, to settle the trouble. Orlov was hated by +the miners. But the _Tsay-ee-kah_ not only supported his appointment, +but refused to demand that the Cossacks be recalled from the Don +Basin…. + +This was followed by the dispersal of the Soviet at Kaluga. The +Bolsheviki, having secured a majority in the Soviet, set free some +political prisoners. With the sanction of the Government Commissar the +Municipal Duma called in troops from Minsk, and bombarded the Soviet +headquarters with artillery. The Bolsheviki yielded, but as they left +the building Cossacks attacked them, crying, “This is what we’ll do to +all the other Bolshevik Soviets, including those of Moscow and +Petrograd!” This incident sent a wave of panic rage throughout Russia…. + +In Petrograd was ending a regional Congress of Soviets of the North, +presided over by the Bolshevik Krylenko. By an immense majority it +resolved that all power should be assumed by the All-Russian Congress; +and concluded by greeting the Bolsheviki in prison, bidding them +rejoice, for the hour of their liberation was at hand. At the same time +the first All-Russian Conference of Factory-Shop Committees (See App. +III, Sect. 1) declared emphatically for the Soviets, and continued +significantly, + +After liberating themselves politically from Tsardom, the working-class +wants to see the democratic régime triumphant in the sphere of its +productive activity. This is best expressed by Workers’ Control over +industrial production, which naturally arose in the atmosphere of +economic decomposition created by the criminal policy of the dominating +classes…. + +The Union of Railwaymen was demanding the resignation of Liverovsky, +Minister of Ways and Communications…. + +In the name of the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ Skobeliev insisted that the _nakaz_ +be presented at the Allied Conference, and formally protested against +the sending of Terestchenko to Paris. Terestchenko offered to resign…. + +General Verkhovsky, unable to accomplish his reorganisation of the +army, only came to Cabinet meetings at long intervals…. + +On November 3d Burtzev’s _Obshtchee Dielo_ came out with great +headlines: + +Citizens! Save the fatherland! + +I have just learned that yesterday, at a meeting of the Commission for +National Defence, Minister of War General Verkhovsky, one of the +principal persons responsible for the fall of Kornilov, proposed to +sign a separate peace, independently of the Allies. + +That is treason to Russia! + +Terestchenko declared that the Provisional Government had not even +examined Verkhovsky’s proposition. + +“You might think,” said Terestchenko, “that we were in a madhouse!” + +The members of the Commission were astounded at the General’s words. + +General Alexeyev wept. + +No! It is not madness! It is worse. It is direct treason to Russia! + +Kerensky, Terestchenko and Nekrassov must immediately answer us +concerning the words of Verkhovsky. + +Citizens, arise! + +Russia is being sold! + +Save her! + +What Verkhovsky really said was that the Allies must be pressed to +offer peace, because the Russian army could fight no longer…. + +Both in Russia and abroad the sensation was tremendous. Verkhovsky was +given “indefinite leave of absence for ill-health,” and left the +Government. _Obshtchee Dielo_ was suppressed…. + +Sunday, November 4th, was designated as the Day of the Petrograd +Soviet, with immense meetings planned all over the city, ostensibly to +raise money for the organisation and the press; really, to make a +demonstration of strength. Suddenly it was announced that on the same +day the Cossacks would hold a _Krestny Khod_—Procession of the Cross—in +honour of the Ikon of 1612, through whose miraculous intervention +Napoleon had been driven from Moscow. The atmosphere was electric; a +spark might kindle civil war. The Petrograd Soviet issued a manifesto, +headed “Brothers—Cossacks!” + +You, Cossacks, are being incited against us, workers and soldiers. This +plan of Cain is being put into operation by our common enemies, the +oppressors, the privileged classes—generals, bankers, landlords, former +officials, former servants of the Tsar…. We are hated by all grafters, +rich men, princes, nobles, generals, including your Cossack generals. +They are ready at any moment to destroy the Petrograd Soviet and crush +the Revolution…. + +On the 4th of November somebody is organising a Cossack religious +procession. It is a question of the free consciousness of every +individual whether he will or will not take part in this procession. We +do not interfere in this matter, nor do we obstruct anybody…. However, +we warn you, Cossacks! Look out and see to it that under the pretext of +a _Krestni Khod,_ your Kaledins do not instigate you against workmen, +against soldiers…. + +The procession was hastily called off…. + +In the barracks and the working-class quarters of the town the +Bolsheviki were preaching, “All Power to the Soviets!” and agents of +the Dark Forces were urging the people to rise and slaughter the Jews, +shop-keepers, Socialist leaders…. + +On one side the Monarchist press, inciting to bloody repression—on the +other Lenin’s great voice roaring, “Insurrection!…. We cannot wait any +longer!” + +Even the bourgeois press was uneasy. (See App. III, Sect. 2) _Birjevya +Viedomosti_ (Exchange Gazette) called the Bolshevik propaganda an +attack on “the most elementary principles of society—personal security +and the respect for private property.” + +[Graphic, page 46: Appeal of the Petrograd Soviet] + +Appeal of the Petrograd Soviet to the Cosacks to call off their +_Krestny Khod_—the religious procession planned for November 4th (our +calendar). “Brothers—Cossacks!” it begins. “The Petrograd Soviet of +Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies addresses you.” + +But it was the “moderate” Socialist journals which were the most +hostile. (See App. III, Sect. 3) “The Bolsheviki are the most dangerous +enemies of the Revolution,” declared _Dielo Naroda._ Said the Menshevik +_Dien,_ “The Government ought to defend itself and defend us.” +Plekhanov’s paper, _Yedinstvo_ (Unity) (See App. III, Sect. 4), called +the attention of the Government to the fact that the Petrograd workers +were being armed, and demanded stern measures against the Bolsheviki. + +Daily the Government seemed to become more helpless. Even the Municipal +administration broke down. The columns of the morning papers were +filled with accounts of the most audacious robberies and murders, and +the criminals were unmolested. + +On the other hand armed workers patrolled the streets at night, doing +battle with marauders and requisitioning arms wherever they found them. + +On the first of November Colonel Polkovnikov, Military Commander of +Petrograd, issued a proclamation: + +Despite the difficult days through which the country is passing, +irresponsible appeals to armed demonstrations and massacres are still +being spread around Petrograd, and from day to day robbery and disorder +increase. + +This state of things is disorganising the life of the citizens, and +hinders the systematic work of the Government and the Municipal +Institutions. + +In full consciousness of my responsibility and my duty before my +country, I command: + +1. Every military unit, in accordance with special instructions and +within the territory of its garrison, to afford every assistance to the +Municipality, to the Commissars, and to the militia, in the guarding of +Government institutions. + +2. The organisation of patrols, in co-operation with the District +Commander and the representatives of the city militia, and the taking +of measures for the arrest of criminals and deserters. + +3. The arrest of all persons entering barracks and inciting to armed +demonstrations and massacres, and their delivery to the headquarters of +the Second Commander of the city. + +4. To suppress any armed demonstration or riot at its start, with all +armed forces at hand. + +5. To afford assistance to the Commissars in preventing unwarranted +searches in houses and unwarranted arrests. + +6. To report immediately all that happens in the district under charge +to the Staff of the Petrograd Military District. + +I call upon all Army Committees and organisations to afford their help +to the commanders in fulfilment of the duties with which they are +charged. + +In the Council of the Republic Kerensky declared that the Government +was fully aware of the Bolshevik preparations, and had sufficient force +to cope with any demonstration. (See App. III, Sect. 5) He accused +_Novaya Rus_ and _Robotchi Put_ of both doing the same kind of +subversive work. “But owing to the absolute freedom of the press,” he +added, “the Government is not in a position to combat printed +lies.[11]….” Declaring that these were two aspects of the same +propaganda, which had for its object the counter-revolution, so +ardently desired by the Dark Forces, he went on: + +“I am a doomed man, it doesn’t matter what happens to me, and I have +the audacity to say that the other enigmatic part is that of the +unbelievable provocation created in the city by the Bolsheviki!” + +[11] This was not quite candid. The Provisional Government had +suppressed Bolshevik papers before, in July, and was planning to do so +again. + +On November 2d only fifteen delegates to the Congress of Soviets had +arrived. Next day there were a hundred, and the morning after that a +hundred and seventy-five, of whom one hundred and three were +Bolsheviki…. Four hundred constituted a quorum, and the Congress was +only three days off…. + +I spent a great deal of time at Smolny. It was no longer easy to get +in. Double rows of sentries guarded the outer gates, and once inside +the front door there was a long line of people waiting to be let in, +four at a time, to be questioned as to their identity and their +business. Passes were given out, and the pass system was changed every +few hours; for spies continually sneaked through…. + +[Graphic, page 49: Russian Pass to Reed, translation follows] + +Pass to Smolny Institute, issued by the Military Revolutionary +Committee, giving me the right of entry at any time. (Translation) + + Military Revolutionary Committee + attached to the + Petrograd Soviet of W. & S. D. + Commandant’s office + 16th November, 1917 + No. 955 + Smolny Institute + +PASS + + +Is given by the present to John Reed, correspondent of the American +Socialist press, until December 1, the right of free entry into Smolny +Institute. Commandant Adjutant + +One day as I came up to the outer gate I saw Trotzky and his wife just +ahead of me. They were halted by a soldier. Trotzky searched through +his pockets, but could find no pass. + +“Never mind,” he said finally. “You know me. My name is Trotzky.” + +“You haven’t got a pass,” answered the soldier stubbornly. + +“You cannot go in. Names don’t mean anything to me.” + +“But I am the president of the Petrograd Soviet.” + +“Well,” replied the soldier, “if you’re as important a fellow as that +you must at least have one little paper.” + +Trotzky was very patient. “Let me see the Commandant,” he said. The +soldier hesitated, grumbling something about not wanting to disturb the +Commandant for every devil that came along. He beckoned finally to the +soldier in command of the guard. Trotzky explained matters to him. “My +name is Trotzky,” he repeated. + +“Trotzky?” The other soldier scratched his head. “I’ve heard the name +somewhere,” he said at length. “I guess it’s all right. You can go on +in, comrade….” + +In the corridor I met Karakhan, member of the Bolshevik Central +Committee, who explained to me what the new Government would be like. + +“A loose organisation, sensitive to the popular will as expressed +through the Soviets, allowing local forces full play. At present the +Provisional Government obstructs the action of the local democratic +will, just as the Tsar’s Government did. The initiative of the new +society shall come from below…. The form of the Government will be +modelled on the Constitution of the Russian Social Democratic Labour +Party. The new _Tsay-ee-kah,_ responsible to frequent meetings of the +All-Russian Congress of Soviets, will be the parliament; the various +Ministries will be headed by _collegia_—committees—instead of by +Ministers, and will be directly responsible to the Soviets….” + +On October 30th, by appointment, I went up to a small, bare room in the +attic of Smolny, to talk with Trotzky. In the middle of the room he sat +on a rough chair at a bare table. Few questions from me were necessary; +he talked rapidly and steadily, for more than an hour. The substance of +his talk, in his own words, I give here: + +“The Provisional Government is absolutely powerless. The bourgeoisie is +in control, but this control is masked by a fictitious coalition with +the _oborontsi_ parties. Now, during the Revolution, one sees revolts +of peasants who are tired of waiting for their promised land; and all +over the country, in all the toiling classes, the same disgust is +evident. This domination by the bourgeoisie is only possible by means +of civil war. The Kornilov method is the only way by which the +bourgeoisie can control. But it is force which the bourgeoisie lacks…. +The Army is with us. The conciliators and pacifists, Socialist +Revolutionaries and Mensheviki, have lost all authority—because the +struggle between the peasants and the landlords, between the workers +and the employers, between the soldiers and the officers, has become +more bitter, more irreconcilable than ever. Only by the concerted +action of the popular mass, only by the victory of proletarian +dictatorship, can the Revolution be achieved and the people saved…. + +“The Soviets are the most perfect representatives of the people—perfect +in their revolutionary experience, in their ideas and objects. Based +directly upon the army in the trenches, the workers in the factories, +and the peasants in the fields, they are the backbone of the +Revolution. + +“There has been an attempt to create a power without the Soviets—and +only powerlessness has been created. Counter-revolutionary schemes of +all sorts are now being hatched in the corridors of the Council of the +Russian Republic. The Cadet party represents the counter-revolution +militant. On the other side, the Soviets represent the cause of the +people. Between the two camps there are no groups of serious +importance…. It is the _lutte finale._ The bourgeois counter-revolution +organises all its forces and waits for the moment to attack us. Our +answer will be decisive. We will complete the work scarcely begun in +March, and advanced during the Kornilov affair….” + +He went on to speak of the new Government’s foreign policy: + +“Our first act will be to call for an immediate armistice on all +fronts, and a conference of peoples to discuss democratic peace terms. +The quantity of democracy we get in the peace settlement depends on the +quantity of revolutionary response there is in Europe. If we create +here a Government of the Soviets, that will be a powerful factor for +immediate peace in Europe; for this Government will address itself +directly and immediately to all peoples, over the heads of their +Governments, proposing an armistice. At the moment of the conclusion of +peace the pressure of the Russian Revolution will be in the direction +of ‘no annexations, no indemnities, the right of self-determination of +peoples,’ and a _Federated Republic of Europe._… + +“At the end of this war I see Europe recreated, not by the diplomats, +but by the proletariat. The Federated Republic of Europe—the United +States of Europe—that is what must be. National autonomy no longer +suffices. Economic evolution demands the abolition of national +frontiers. If Europe is to remain split into national groups, then +Imperialism will recommence its work. Only a Federated Republic of +Europe can give peace to the world.” He smiled—that fine, faintly +ironical smile of his. “But without the action of the European masses, +these ends cannot be realised—now….” + +Now while everybody was waiting for the Bolsheviki to appear suddenly +on the streets one morning and begin to shoot down people with white +collars on, the real insurrection took its way quite naturally and +openly. + +The Provisional Government planned to send the Petrograd garrison to +the front. + +The Petrograd garrison numbered about sixty thousand men, who had taken +a prominent part in the Revolution. It was they who had turned the tide +in the great days of March, created the Soviets of Soldiers’ Deputies, +and hurled back Kornilov from the gates of Petrograd. + +Now a large part of them were Bolsheviki. When the Provisional +Government talked of evacuating the city, it was the Petrograd garrison +which answered, “If you are not capable of defending the capital, +conclude peace; if you cannot conclude peace, go away and make room for +a People’s Government which can do both….” + +It was evident that any attempt at insurrection depended upon the +attitude of the Petrograd garrison. The Government’s plan was to +replace the garrison regiments with “dependable” troops—Cossacks, Death +Battalions. The Army Committees, the “moderate” Socialists and the +_Tsay-ee-kah_ supported the Government. A wide-spread agitation was +carried on at the Front and in Petrograd, emphasizing the fact that for +eight months the Petrograd garrison had been leading an easy life in +the barracks of the capital, while their exhausted comrades in the +trenches starved and died. + +Naturally there was some truth in the accusation that the garrison +regiments were reluctant to exchange their comparative comfort for the +hardships of a winter campaign. But there were other reasons why they +refused to go. The Petrograd Soviet feared the Government’s intentions, +and from the Front came hundreds of delegates, chosen by the common +soldiers, crying, “It is true we need reinforcements, but more +important, we must know that Petrograd and the Revolution are +well-guarded…. Do you hold the rear, comrades, and we will hold the +front!” + +On October 25th, behind closed doors, the Central Committee of the +Petrograd Soviet discussed the formation of a special Military +Committee to decide the whole question. The next day a meeting of the +Soldiers’ Section of the Petrograd Soviet elected a Committee, which +immediately proclaimed a boycott of the bourgeois newspapers, and +condemned the _Tsay-ee-kah_ for opposing the Congress of Soviets. On +the 29th, in open session of the Petrograd Soviet, Trotzky proposed +that the Soviet formally sanction the Military Revolutionary Committee. +“We ought,” he said, “to create our special organisation to march to +battle, and if necessary to die….” It was decided to send to the front +two delegations, one from the Soviet and one from the garrison, to +confer with the Soldiers’ Committees and the General Staff. + +At Pskov, the Soviet delegates were met by General Tcheremissov, +commander of the Northern Front, with the curt declaration that he had +ordered the Petrograd garrison to the trenches, and that was all. The +garrison committee was not allowed to leave Petrograd…. + +A delegation of the Soldiers’ Section of the Petrograd Soviet asked +that a representative be admitted to the Staff of the Petrograd +District. Refused. The Petrograd Soviet demanded that no orders be +issued without the approval of the Soldiers’ Section. Refused. The +delegates were roughly told, “We only recognise the _Tsay-ee-kah._ We +do not recognise you; if you break any laws, we shall arrest you.” + +On the 30th a meeting of representatives of all the Petrograd regiments +passed a resolution: _“The Petrograd garrison no longer recognises the +Provisional Government. The Petrograd Soviet is our Government. We will +obey only the orders of the Petrograd Soviet, through the Military +Revolutionary Committee.”_ The local military units were ordered to +wait for instructions from the Soldiers’ Section of the Petrograd +Soviet. + +Next day the _Tsay-ee-kah_ summoned its own meeting, composed largely +of officers, formed a Committee to cooperate with the Staff, and +detailed Commissars in all quarters of the city. + +A great soldier meeting at Smolny on the 3d resolved: + +Saluting the creation of the Military Revolutionary Committee, the +Petrograd garrison promises it complete support in all its actions, to +unite more closely the front and the rear in the interests of the +Revolution. + +The garrison moreover declares that with the revolutionary proletariat +it assures the maintenance of revolutionary order in Petrograd. Every +attempt at provocation on the part of the Kornilovtsi or the +bourgeoisie will be met with merciless resistance. + +Now conscious of its power, the Military Revolutionary Committee +peremptorily summoned the Petrograd Staff to submit to its control. To +all printing plants it gave orders not to publish any appeals or +proclamations without the Committee’s authorisation. Armed Commissars +visited the Kronversk arsenal and seized great quantities of arms and +ammunition, halting a shipment of ten thousand bayonets which was being +sent to Novotcherkask, headquarters of Kaledin…. + +Suddenly awake to the danger, the Government offered immunity if the +Committee would disband. Too late. At midnight November 5th Kerensky +himself sent Malevsky to offer the Petrograd Soviet representation on +the Staff. The Military Revolutionary Committee accepted. An hour later +General Manikovsky, acting Minister of war, countermanded the offer…. + +Tuesday morning, November 6th, the city was thrown into excitement by +the appearance of a placard signed, “Military Revolutionary Committee +attached to the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies.” + +To the Population of Petrograd. Citizens! + +Counter-revolution has raised its criminal head. The Kornilovtsi are +mobilising their forces in order to crush the All-Russian Congress of +Soviets and break the Constituent Assembly. At the same time the +_pogromists_ may attempt to call upon the people of Petrograd for +trouble and bloodshed. The Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ +Deputies takes upon itself the guarding of revolutionary order in the +city against counter-revolutionary and _pogrom_ attempts. + +The Petrograd garrison will not allow any violence or disorders. The +population is invited to arrest hooligans and Black Hundred agitators +and take them to the Soviet Commissars at the nearest barracks. At the +first attempt of the Dark Forces to make trouble on the streets of +Petrograd, whether robbery or fighting, the criminals will be wiped off +the face of the earth! + +Citizens! We call upon you to maintain complete quiet and +self-possession. The cause of order and Revolution is in strong hands. + +List of regiments where there are Commissars of the Military +Revolutionary Committee…. + +On the 3rd the leaders of the Bolsheviki had another historic meeting +behind closed doors. Notified by Zalkind, I waited in the corridor +outside the door; and Volodarsky as he came out told me what was going +on. + +Lenin spoke: “November 6th will be too early. We must have an +all-Russian basis for the rising; and on the 6th all the delegates to +the Congress will not have arrived…. On the other hand, November 8th +will be too late. By that time the Congress will be organised, and it +is difficult for a large organised body of people to take swift, +decisive action. We must act on the 7th, the day the Congress meets, so +that we may say to it, ‘Here is the power! What are you going to do +with it?’” + +In a certain upstairs room sat a thin-faced, long-haired individual, +once an officer in the armies of the Tsar, then revolutionist and +exile, a certain Avseenko, called Antonov, mathematician and +chess-player; he was drawing careful plans for the seizure of the +capital. + +On its side the Government was preparing. Inconspicuously certain of +the most loyal regiments, from widely-separated divisions, were ordered +to Petrograd. The _yunker_ artillery was drawn into the Winter Palace. +Patrols of Cossacks made their appearance in the streets, for the first +time since the July days. Polkovnikov issued order after order, +threatening to repress all insubordination with the “utmost energy.” +Kishkin, Minister of Public Instruction, the worst-hated member of the +Cabinet, was appointed Special Commissar to keep order in Petrograd; he +named as assistants two men no less unpopular, Rutenburg and +Paltchinsky. Petrograd, Cronstadt and Finland were declared in a state +of siege—upon which the bourgeois _Novoye Vremya_ (New Times) remarked +ironically: + +Why the state of siege? The Government is no longer a power. It has no +moral authority and it does not possess the necessary apparatus to use +force…. In the most favourable circumstances it can only negotiate with +any one who consents to parley. Its authority goes no farther…. + +Monday morning, the 5th, I dropped in at the Marinsky Palace, to see +what was happening in the Council of the Russian Republic. Bitter +debate on Terestchenko’s foreign policy. Echoes of the +Burtzev-Verkhovski affair. All the diplomats present except the Italian +ambassador, who everybody said was prostrated by the Carso disaster…. + +As I came in, the Left Socialist Revolutionary Karelin was reading +aloud an editorial from the London _Times_ which said, “The remedy for +Bolshevism is bullets!” Turning to the Cadets he cried, “That’s what +_you_ think, too!” + +Voices from the Right, “Yes! Yes!” + +“Yes, I know you think so,” answered Karelin, hotly. “But you haven’t +the courage to try it!” + +Then Skobeliev, looking like a matinée idol with his soft blond beard +and wavy yellow hair, rather apologetically defending the Soviet +_nakaz._ Terestchenko followed, assailed from the Left by cries of +“Resignation! Resignation!” He insisted that the delegates of the +Government and of the _Tsay-ee-kah_ to Paris should have a common point +of view—his own. A few words about the restoration of discipline in the +army, about war to victory…. Tumult, and over the stubborn opposition +of the truculent Left, the Council of the Republic passed to the simple +order of the day. + +There stretched the rows of Bolshevik seats—empty since that first day +when they left the Council, carrying with them so much life. As I went +down the stairs it seemed to me that in spite of the bitter wrangling, +no real voice from the rough world outside could penetrate this high, +cold hall, and that the Provisional Government was wrecked—on the same +rock of War and Peace that had wrecked the Miliukov Ministry…. The +doorman grumbled as he put on my coat, “I don’t know what is becoming +of poor Russia. All these Mensheviki and Bolsheviki and Trudoviki…. +This Ukraine and this Finland and the German imperialists and the +English imperialists. I am forty-five years old, and in all my life I +never heard so many words as in this place….” + +In the corridor I met Professor Shatsky, a rat-faced individual in a +dapper frock-coat, very influential in the councils of the Cadet party. +I asked him what he thought of the much-talked-of Bolshevik +_vystuplennie._ He shrugged, sneering. + +“They are cattle—_canaille,”_ he answered. “They will not dare, or if +they dare they will soon be sent flying. From our point of view it will +not be bad, for then they will ruin themselves and have no power in the +Constituent Assembly…. + +“But, my dear sir, allow me to outline to you my plan for a form of +Government to be submitted to the Constituent Assembly. You see, I am +chairman of a commission appointed from this body, in conjunction with +the Provisional Government, to work out a constitutional project…. We +will have a legislative assembly of two chambers, such as you have in +the United States. In the lower chamber will be territorial +representatives; in the upper, representatives of the liberal +professions, zemstvos, Cooperatives—and Trade Unions….” + +Outside a chill, damp wind came from the west, and the cold mud +underfoot soaked through my shoes. Two companies of _yunkers_ passed +swinging up the Morskaya, tramping stiffly in their long coats and +singing an oldtime crashing chorus, such as the soldiers used to sing +under the Tsar…. At the first cross-street I noticed that the City +Militiamen were mounted, and armed with revolvers in bright new +holsters; a little group of people stood silently staring at them. At +the corner of the Nevsky I bought a pamphlet by Lenin, “Will the +Bolsheviki be Able to Hold the Power?” paying for it with one of the +stamps which did duty for small change. The usual street-cars crawled +past, citizens and soldiers clinging to the outside in a way to make +Theodore P. Shonts green with envy…. Along the sidewalk a row of +deserters in uniform sold cigarettes and sunflower seeds…. + +Up the Nevsky in the sour twilight crowds were battling for the latest +papers, and knots of people were trying to make out the multitudes of +appeals (See App. III, Sect. 6) and proclamations pasted in every flat +place; from the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ the Peasants’ Soviets, the “moderate” +Socialist parties, the Army Committees—threatening, cursing, beseeching +the workers and soldiers to stay home, to support the Government…. + +An armoured automobile went slowly up and down, siren screaming. On +every corner, in every open space, thick groups were clustered; arguing +soldiers and students. Night came swiftly down, the wide-spaced +street-lights flickered on, the tides of people flowed endlessly…. It +is always like that in Petrograd just before trouble…. + +The city was nervous, starting at every sharp sound. But still no sign +from the Bolsheviki; the soldiers stayed in the barracks, the workmen +in the factories…. We went to a moving picture show near the Kazan +Cathedral—a bloody Italian film of passion and intrigue. Down front +were some soldiers and sailors, staring at the screen in childlike +wonder, totally unable to comprehend why there should be so much +violent running about, and so much homicide…. + +From there I hurried to Smolny. In room 10 on the top floor, the +Military Revolutionary Committee sat in continuous session, under the +chairmanship of a tow-headed, eighteen-year-old boy named Lazimir. He +stopped, as he passed, to shake hands rather bashfully. + +“Peter-Paul Fortress has just come over to us,” said he, with a pleased +grin. “A minute ago we got word from a regiment that was ordered by the +Government to come to Petrograd. The men were suspicious, so they +stopped the train at Gatchina and sent a delegation to us. ‘What’s the +matter?’ they asked. ‘What have you got to say? We have just passed a +resolution, “All Power to the Soviets.”’… The Military Revolutionary +Committee sent back word, ‘Brothers! We greet you in the name of the +Revolution. Stay where you are until further instructions!’” + +All telephones, he said, were cut off: but communication with the +factories and barracks was established by means of military +telephonograph apparatus…. + +A steady stream of couriers and Commissars came and went. Outside the +door waited a dozen volunteers, ready to carry word to the farthest +quarters of the city. One of them, a gypsy-faced man in the uniform of +a lieutenant, said in French, “Everything is ready to move at the push +of a button….” + +There passed Podvoisky, the thin, bearded civillian whose brain +conceived the strategy of insurrection; Antonov, unshaven, his collar +filthy, drunk with loss of sleep; Krylenko, the squat, wide-faced +soldier, always smiling, with his violent gestures and tumbling speech; +and Dybenko, the giant bearded sailor with the placid face. These were +the men of the hour—and of other hours to come. + +Downstairs in the office of the Factory-Shop Committees sat Seratov, +signing orders on the Government Arsenal for arms—one hundred and fifty +rifles for each factory…. Delegates waited in line, forty of them…. + +In the hall I ran into some of the minor Bolshevik leaders. One showed +me a revolver. “The game is on,” he said, and his face was pale. +“Whether we move or not the other side knows it must finish us or be +finished….” + +The Petrograd Soviet was meeting day and night. As I came into the +great hall Trotzky was just finishing. + +“We are asked,” he said, “if we intend to have a _vystuplennie._ I can +give a clear answer to that question. The Petrograd Soviet feels that +at last the moment has arrived when the power must fall into the hands +of the Soviets. This transfer of government will be accomplished by the +All-Russian Congress. Whether an armed demonstration is necessary will +depend on… those who wish to interfere with the All-Russian Congress…. + +“We feel that our Government, entrusted to the personnel of the +Provisional Cabinet, is a pitiful and helpless Government, which only +awaits the sweep of the broom of History to give way to a really +popular Government. But we are trying to avoid a conflict, even now, +to-day. We hope that the All-Russian Congress will take… into its hands +that power and authority which rests upon the organised freedom of the +people. If, however, the Government wants to utilise the short period +it is expected to live—twenty-four, forty-eight, or seventy-two +hours—to attack us, then we shall answer with counter-attacks, blow for +blow, steel for iron!” + +Amid cheers he announced that the Left Socialist Revolutionaries had +agreed to send representatives into the Military Revolutionary +Committee…. + +As I left Smolny, at three o’clock in the morning, I noticed that two +rapid-firing guns had been mounted, one on each side of the door, and +that strong patrols of soldiers guarded the gates and the near-by +street-corners. Bill Shatov[12] came bounding up the steps. “Well,” he +cried, “We’re off! Kerensky sent the _yunkers_ to close down our +papers, _Soldat_ and _Rabotchi Put._ But our troops went down and +smashed the Government seals, and now we’re sending detachments to +seize the bourgeois newspaper offices!” Exultantly he slapped me on the +shoulder, and ran in…. + +[12] Well known in the American labor movement. + +On the morning of the 6th I had business with the censor, whose office +was in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Everywhere, on all the walls, +hysterical appeals to the people to remain “calm.” Polkovnikov emitted +_prikaz_ after _prikaz:_ + +I order all military units and detachments to remain in their barracks +until further orders from the Staff of the Military District…. All +officers who act without orders from their superiors will be +court-martialled for mutiny. I forbid absolutely any execution by +soldiers of instructions from other organisations…. + +The morning papers announced that the Government had suppressed the +papers _Novaya Rus, Zhivoye Slovo, Rabotchi Put_ and _Soldat,_ and +decreed the arrest of the leaders of the Petrograd Soviet and the +members of the Military Revolutionary Committee…. + +As I crossed the Palace Square several batteries of _yunker_ artillery +came through the Red Arch at a jingling trot, and drew up before the +Palace. The great red building of the General Staff was unusually +animated, several armoured automobiles ranked before the door, and +motors full of officers were coming and going…. The censor was very +much excited, like a small boy at a circus. Kerensky, he said, had just +gone to the Council of the Republic to offer his resignation. I hurried +down to the Marinsky Palace, arriving at the end of that passionate and +almost incoherent speech of Kerensky’s, full of self-justification and +bitter denunciation of his enemies. + +“I will cite here the most characteristic passage from a whole series +of articles published in _Rabotchi Put_ by Ulianov-Lenin, a state +criminal who is in hiding and whom we are trying to find…. This state +criminal has invited the proletariat and the Petrograd garrison to +repeat the experience of the 16th-18th of July, and insists upon the +immediate necessity for an armed rising…. Moreover, other Bolshevik +leaders have taken the floor in a series of meetings, and also made an +appeal to immediate insurrection. Particularly should be noticed the +activity of the present president of the Petrograd Soviet, +Bronstein-Trotzky…. + +“I ought to bring to your notice… that the expressions and the style of +a whole series of articles in _Rabotchi Put_ and _Soldat_ resemble +absolutely those of _Novaya Rus…._ We have to do not so much with the +movement of such and such political party, as with the exploitation of +the political ignorance and criminal instincts of a part of the +population, a sort of organisation whose object it is to provoke in +Russia, cost what it may, an inconscient movement of destruction and +pillage; for given the state of mind of the masses, any movement at +Petrograd will be followed by the most terrible massacres, which will +cover with eternal shame the name of free Russia…. + +“… By the admission of Ulianov-Lenin himself, the situation of the +extreme left wing of the Social Democrats in Russia is very +favourable.” (Here Kerensky read the following quotation from Lenin’s +article.): + +Think of it!… The German comrades have only one Liebknecht, without +newspapers, without freedom of meeting, without a Soviet…. They are +opposed by the incredible hostility of all classes of society—and yet +the German comrades try to act; while we, having dozens of newspapers, +freedom of meeting, the majority of the Soviets, we, the best-placed +international proletarians of the entire world, can we refuse to +support the German revolutionists and insurrectionary organisations?… + +Kerensky then continued: + +“The organisers of rebellion recognise thus implicitly that the most +perfect conditions for the free action of a political party obtain now +in Russia, administered by a Provisional Government at the head of +which is, in the eyes of this party, ‘a usurper and a man who has sold +himself to the bourgeoisie, the Minister-President Kerensky….’ + +“… The organisers of the insurrection do not come to the aid of the +German proletariat, but of the German governing classes, and they open +the Russian front to the iron fists of Wilhelm and his friends…. Little +matter to the Provisional Government the motives of these people, +little matter if they act consciously or unconsciously; but in any +case, from this tribune, in full consciousness of my responsibility, I +quality such acts of a Russian political party as acts of treason to +Russia! + +“… I place myself at the point of view of the Right, and I propose +immediately to proceed to an investigation and make the necessary +arrests.” (Uproar from the Left.) “Listen to me!” he cried in a +powerful voice. “At the moment when the state is in danger, because of +conscious or unconscious treason, the Provisional Government, and +myself among others, prefer to be killed rather than betray the life, +the honour and the independence of Russia….” + +At this moment a paper was handed to Kerensky. + +“I have just received the proclamation which they are distributing to +the regiments. Here is the contents.” Reading: _“‘The Petrograd Soviet +of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies is menaced. We order immediately the +regiments to mobilise on a war footing and to await new orders. All +delay or non-execution of this order will be considered as an act of +treason to the Revolution. The Military Revolutionary Committee. For +the President, Podvoisky. The Secretary, Antonov.’_ + +“In reality, this is an attempt to raise the populace against the +existing order of things, to break the Constituent and to open the +front to the regiments of the iron fist of Wilhelm…. + +“I say ‘populace’ intentionally, because the conscious democracy and +its _Tsay-ee-kah,_ all the Army organisations, all that free Russia +glorifies, the good sense, the honour and the conscience of the great +Russian democracy, protests against these things…. + +“I have not come here with a prayer, but to state my firm conviction +that the Provisional Government, which defends at this moment our new +liberty—that the new Russian state, destined to a brilliant future, +will find unanimous support except among those who have never dared to +face the truth…. + +“… The Provisional Government has never violated the liberty of all +citizens of the State to use their political rights…. But now the +Provisional Government…. declares: in this moment those elements of the +Russian nation, those groups and parties who have dared to lift their +hands against the free will of the Russian people, at the same time +threatening to open the front to Germany, must be liquidated with +decision!… + +“Let the population of Petrograd understand that it will encounter a +firm power, and perhaps at the last moment good sense, conscience and +honour will triumph in the hearts of those who still possess them….” + +All through this speech, the hall rang with deafening clamour. When the +Minister-President had stepped down, pale-faced and wet with +perspiration, and strode out with his suite of officers, speaker after +speaker from the Left and Centre attacked the Right, all one angry +roaring. Even the Socialist Revolutionaries, through Gotz: + +“The policy of the Bolsheviki is demagogic and criminal, in their +exploitation of the popular discontent. But there is a whole series of +popular demands which have received no satisfaction up to now…. The +questions of peace, land and the democratization of the army ought to +be stated in such a fashion that no soldier, peasant or worker would +have the least doubt that our Government is attempting, firmly and +infallibly, to solve them…. + +“We Mensheviki do not wish to provoke a Cabinet crisis, and we are +ready to defend the Provisional Government with all our energy, to the +last drop of our blood—if only the Provisional Government, on all these +burning questions, will speak the clear and precise words awaited by +the people with such impatience….” + +Then Martov, furious: + +“The words of the Minister-President, who allowed himself to speak of +‘populace’ when it is question of the movement of important sections of +the proletariat and the army—although led in the wrong direction—are +nothing but an incitement to civil war.” + +The order of the day proposed by the Left was voted. It amounted +practically to a vote of lack of confidence. + +1. The armed demonstration which has been preparing for some days past +has for its object a _coup d’etat,_ threatens to provoke civil war, +creates conditions favourable to _pogroms_ and counterrevolution, the +mobilization of counter-revolutionary forces, such as the Black +Hundreds, which will inevitably bring about the impossibility of +convoking the Constituent, will cause a military catastrophe, the death +of the Revolution, paralyse the economic life of the country and +destroy Russia; + +2. The conditions favourable to this agitation have been created by +delay in passing urgent measures, as well as objective conditions +caused by the war and the general disorder. It is necessary before +everything to promulgate at once a decree transmitting the land to the +peasants’ Land Committees, and to adopt an energetic course of action +abroad in proposing to the Allies to proclaim their peace terms and to +begin peace-parleys; + +3. To cope with Monarchist manifestations and _pogromist_ movements, it +is indispensable to take immediate measures to suppress these +movements, and for this purpose to create at Petrograd a Committee of +Public Safety, composed of representatives of the Municipality and the +organs of the revolutionary democracy, acting in contact with the +Provisional Government…. + +It is interesting to note that the Mensheviki and Socialist +Revolutionaries all rallied to this resolution…. When Kerensky saw it, +however, he summoned Avksentiev to the Winter Palace to explain. If it +expressed a lack of confidence in the Provisional Government, he begged +Avksentiev to form a new Cabinet. Dan, Gotz and Avksentiev, the leaders +of the “compromisers,” performed their last compromise…. They explained +to Kerensky that it was not meant as a criticism of the Government! + +At the corner of the Morskaya and the Nevsky, squads of soldiers with +fixed bayonets were stopping all private automobiles, turning out the +occupants, and ordering them toward the Winter Palace. A large crowd +had gathered to watch them. Nobody knew whether the soldiers belonged +to the Government or the Military Revolutionary Committee. Up in front +of the Kazan Cathedral the same thing was happening, machines being +directed back up the Nevsky. Five or six sailors with rifles came +along, laughing excitedly, and fell into conversation with two of the +soldiers. On the sailors’ hat bands were _Avrora_ and _Zaria +Svobody,_—the names of the leading Bolshevik cruisers of the Baltic +Fleet. One of them said, “Cronstadt is coming!”… It was as if, in 1792, +on the streets of Paris, some one had said: “The Marseillais are +coming!” For at Cronstadt were twenty-five thousand sailors, convinced +Bolsheviki and not afraid to die…. + +_Rabotchi i Soldat_ was just out, all its front page one huge +proclamation: SOLDIERS! WORKERS! CITIZENS! + +The enemies of the people passed last night to the offensive. The +Kornilovists of the Staff are trying to draw in from the suburbs +_yunkers_ and volunteer battalions. The Oranienbaum _yunkers_ and the +Tsarskoye Selo volunteers refused to come out. A stroke of high treason +is being contemplated against the Petrograd Soviet…. The campaign of +the counter-revolutionists is being directed against the All-Russian +Congress of Soviets on the eve of its opening, against the Constituent +Assembly, against the people. The Petrograd Soviet is guarding the +Revolution. The Military Revolutionary Committee is directing the +repulse of the conspirators’ attack. The entire garrison and +proletariat of Petrograd are ready to deal the enemy of the people a +crushing blow. + +The Military Revolutionary Committee decrees: + +1. All regimental, division and battle-ship Committees, together with +the Soviet Commissars, and all revolutionary organisations, shall meet +in continuous session, concentrating in their hands all information +about the plans of the conspirators. + +2. Not one soldier shall leave his division without permission of the +Committee. + +3. To send to Smolny at once two delegates from each military unit and +five from each Ward Soviet. + +4. All members of the Petrograd Soviet and all delegates to the +All-Russian Congress are invited immediately to Smolny for an +extraordinary meeting. + +Counter-revolution has raised its criminal head. + +A great danger threatens all the conquests and hopes of the soldiers +and workers. + +But the forces of the Revolution by far exceed those of its enemies. + +The cause of the People is in strong hands. The conspirators will be +crushed. + +No hesitation or doubts! Firmness, steadfastness, discipline, +determination! + +Long live the Revolution! + +_The Military Revolutionary Committee._ + +The Petrograd Soviet was meeting continuously at Smolny, a centre of +storm, delegates falling down asleep on the floor and rising again to +take part in the debate, Trotzky, Kameniev, Volodarsky speaking six, +eight, twelve hours a day…. + +I went down to room 18 on the first floor where the Bolshevik delegates +were holding caucus, a harsh voice steadily booming, the speaker hidden +by the crowd: “The compromisers say that we are isolated. Pay no +attention to them. Once it begins they must be dragged along with us, +or else lose their following….” + +Here he held up a piece of paper. “We are dragging them! A message has +just come from the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries! They say +that they condemn our action, but that if the Government attacks us +they will not oppose the cause of the proletariat!” Exultant shouting…. + +As night fell the great hall filled with soldiers and workmen, a +monstrous dun mass, deep-humming in a blue haze of smoke. The old +_Tsay-ee-kah_ had finally decided to welcome the delegates to that new +Congress which would mean its own ruin—and perhaps the ruin of the +revolutionary order it had built. At this meeting, however, only +members of the _Tsay-ee-kah_ could vote…. + +It was after midnight when Gotz took the chair and Dan rose to speak, +in a tense silence, which seemed to me almost menacing. + +“The hours in which we live appear in the most tragic colours,” he +said. “The enemy is at the gates of Petrograd, the forces of the +democracy are trying to organise to resist him, and yet we await +bloodshed in the streets of the capital, and famine threatens to +destroy, not only our homogeneous Government, but the Revolution +itself…. + +“The masses are sick and exhausted. They have no interest in the +Revolution. If the Bolsheviki start anything, that will be the end of +the Revolution…” (Cries, “That’s a lie!)” “The counter-revolutionists +are waiting with the Bolsheviki to begin riots and massacres…. If there +is any _vystuplennie,_ there will be no Constituent Assembly….” (Cries, +“Lie! Shame!”) + +“It is inadmissible that in the zone of military operations the +Petrograd garrison shall not submit to the orders of the Staff…. You +must obey the orders of the Staff and of the _Tsay-ee-kah_ elected by +you. All Power to the Soviets—that means death! Robbers and thieves are +waiting for the moment to loot and burn…. When you have such slogans +put before you, ‘Enter the houses, take away the shoes and clothes from +the bourgeoisie—’” (Tumult. Cries, “No such slogan! A lie! A lie!”) +“Well, it may start differently, but it will end that way! + +“The _Tsay-ee-kah_ has full power to act, and must be obeyed…. We are +not afraid of bayonets…. The _Tsay-ee-kah_ will defend the Revolution +with its body….” (Cries, “It was a dead body long ago!”) + +Immense continued uproar, in which his voice could be heard screaming, +as he pounded the desk, “Those who are urging this are committing a +crime!” + +Voice: “You committed a crime long ago, when you captured the power and +turned it over to the bourgeoisie!” + +Gotz, ringing the chairman’s bell: “Silence, or I’ll have you put out!” + +Voice: “Try it!” (Cheers and whistling.) + +“Now concerning our policy about peace.” (Laughter.) “Unfortunately +Russia can no longer support the continuation of the war. There is +going to be peace, but not permanent peace—not a democratic peace…. +To-day, at the Council of the Republic, in order to avoid bloodshed, we +passed an order of the day demanding the surrender of the land to the +Land Committees and immediate peace negotiations….” (Laughter, and +cries, “Too late!”) + +Then for the Bolsheviki, Trotzky mounted the tribune, borne on a wave +of roaring applause that burst into cheers and a rising house, +thunderous. His thin, pointed face was positively Mephistophelian in +its expression of malicious irony. + +“Dan’s tactics prove that the masses—the great, dull, indifferent +masses—are absolutely with him!” (Titantic mirth.) He turned toward the +chairman, dramatically. “When we spoke of giving the land to the +peasants, you were against it. We told the peasants, ‘If they don’t +give it to you, take it yourselves!’ and the peasants followed our +advice. And now you advocate what we did six months ago…. + +“I don’t think Kerensky’s order to suspend the death penalty in the +army was dictated by his ideals. I think Kerensky was persuaded by the +Petrograd garrison, which refused to obey him…. + +“To-day Dan is accused of having made a speech in the Council of the +Republic which proves him to be a secret Bolshevik…. The time may come +when Dan will say that the flower of the Revolution participated in the +rising of July 16th and 18th…. In Dan’s resolution to-day at the +Council of the Republic there was no mention of enforcing discipline in +the army, although that is urged in the propaganda of his party…. + +“No. The history of the last seven months shows that the masses have +left the Mensheviki. The Mensheviki and the Socialist Revolutionaries +conquered the Cadets, and then when they got the power, they gave it to +the Cadets…. + +“Dan tells you that you have no right to make an insurrection. +Insurrection is the right of all revolutionists! When the down-trodden +masses revolt, it is their right….” + +Then the long-faced, cruel-tongued Lieber, greeted with groans and +laughter. + +“Engels and Marx said that the proletariat had no right to take power +until it was ready for it. In a bourgeois revolution like this…. the +seizure of power by the masses means the tragic end of the Revolution…. +Trotzky, as a Social Democratic theorist, is himself opposed to what he +is now advocating….” (Cries, “Enough! Down with him!”) + +Martov, constantly interrupted: “The Internationalists are not opposed +to the transmission of power to the democracy, but they disapprove of +the methods of the Bolsheviki. This is not the moment to seize the +power….” + +Again Dan took the floor, violently protesting against the action of +the Military Revolutionary Committee, which had sent a Commissar to +seize the office of _Izviestia_ and censor the paper. The wildest +uproar followed. Martov tried to speak, but could not be heard. +Delegates of the Army and the Baltic Fleet stood up all over the hall, +shouting that the Soviet was _their_ Government…. + +Amid the wildest confusion Ehrlich offered a resolution, appealing to +the workers and soldiers to remain calm and not to respond to +provocations to demonstrate, recognising the necessity of immediately +creating a Committee of Public Safety, and asking the Provisional +Government at once to pass decrees transferring the land to the +peasants and beginning peace negotiations…. + +Then up leaped Volodarsky, shouting harshly that the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ on +the eve of the Congress, had no right to assume the functions of the +Congress. The _Tsay-ee-kah_ was practically dead, he said, and the +resolution was simply a trick to bolster up its waning power…. + +“As for us, Bolsheviki, we will not vote on this resolution!” Whereupon +all the Bolsheviki left the hall and the resolution was passed…. + +Toward four in the morning I met Zorin in the outer hall, a rifle slung +from his shoulder. + +“We’re moving!” (See App. III, Sect. 7) said he, calmly but with +satisfaction. “We pinched the Assistant Minister of Justice and the +Minister of Religions. They’re down cellar now. One regiment is on the +march to capture the Telephone Exchange, another the Telegraph Agency, +another the State Bank. The Red Guard is out….” + +On the steps of Smolny, in the chill dark, we first saw the Red Guard—a +huddled group of boys in workmen’s clothes, carrying guns with +bayonets, talking nervously together. + +Far over the still roofs westward came the sound of scattered rifle +fire, where the _yunkers_ were trying to open the bridges over the +Neva, to prevent the factory workers and soldiers of the Viborg quarter +from joining the Soviet forces in the centre of the city; and the +Cronstadt sailors were closing them again…. + +Behind us great Smolny, bright with lights, hummed like a gigantic +hive…. + + + + +Chapter IV +The Fall of the Provisional Government + + +Wednesday, November 7th, I rose very late. The noon cannon boomed from +Peter-Paul as I went down the Nevsky. It was a raw, chill day. In front +of the State Bank some soldiers with fixed bayonets were standing at +the closed gates. + +“What side do you belong to?” I asked. “The Government?” + +“No more Government,” one answered with a grin, “_Slava Bogu!_ Glory to +God!” That was all I could get out of him…. + +The street-cars were running on the Nevsky, men, women and small boys +hanging on every projection. Shops were open, and there seemed even +less uneasiness among the street crowds than there had been the day +before. A whole crop of new appeals against insurrection had blossomed +out on the walls during the night—to the peasants, to the soldiers at +the front, to the workmen of Petrograd. One read: + +FROM THE PETROGRAD MUNICIPAL DUMA: + + +The Municipal Duma informs the citizens that in the extraordinary +meeting of November 6th the Duma formed a Committee of Public Safety, +composed of members of the Central and Ward Dumas, and representatives +of the following revolutionary democratic organizations: The +_Tsay-ee-kah,_ the All-Russian Executive Committee of Peasant Deputies, +the Army organisations, the _Tsentroflot,_ the Petrograd Soviet of +Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies (!), the Council of Trade Unions, and +others. + +Members of the Committee of Public Safety will be on duty in the +building of the Municipal Duma. Telephones No. 15-40, 223-77, 138-36. + +November 7th, 1917. + +Though I didn’t realize it then, this was the Duma’s declaration of war +against the Bolsheviki. + +I bought a copy of _Rabotchi Put,_ the only newspaper which seemed on +sale, and a little later paid a soldier fifty kopeks for a second-hand +copy of _Dien._ The Bolshevik paper, printed on large-sized sheets in +the conquered office of the _Russkaya Volia,_ had huge headlines: “ALL +POWER—TO THE SOVIETS OF WORKERS, SOLDIERS AND PEASANTS! PEACE! BREAD! +LAND!” The leading article was signed “Zinoviev,”—Lenin’s companion in +hiding. It began: + +Every soldier, every worker, every real Socialist, every honest +democrat realises that there are only two alternatives to the present +situation. + +Either—the power will remain in the hands of the bourgeois-landlord +crew, and this will mean every kind of repression for the workers, +soldiers and peasants, continuation of the war, inevitable hunger and +death…. + +Or—the power will be transferred to the hands of the revolutionary +workers, soldiers and peasants; and in that case it will mean a +complete abolition of landlord tyranny, immediate check of the +capitalists, immediate proposal of a just peace. Then the land is +assured to the peasants, then control of industry is assured to the +workers, then bread is assured to the hungry, then the end of this +nonsensical war!… + +_Dien_ contained fragmentary news of the agitated night. Bolsheviki +capture of the Telephone Exchange, the Baltic station, the Telegraph +Agency; the Peterhof _yunkers_ unable to reach Petrograd; the Cossacks +undecided; arrest of some of the Ministers; shooting of Chief of the +City Militia Meyer; arrests, counter-arrests, skirmishes between +clashing patrols of soldiers, _yunkers_ and Red Guards. (See App. IV, +Sect. 1) + +On the corner of the Morskaya I ran into Captain Gomberg, Menshevik +_oboronetz,_ secretary of the Military Section of his party. When I +asked him if the insurrection had really happened he shrugged his +shoulders in a tired manner and replied, “_Tchort znayet!_ The devil +knows! Well, perhaps the Bolsheviki can seize the power, but they won’t +be able to hold it more than three days. They haven’t the men to run a +government. Perhaps it’s a good thing to let them try—that will furnish +them….” + +The Military Hotel at the corner of St. Isaac’s Square was picketed by +armed sailors. In the lobby were many of the smart young officers, +walking up and down or muttering together; the sailors wouldn’t let +them leave…. + +Suddenly came the sharp crack of a rifle outside, followed by a +scattered burst of firing. I ran out. Something unusual was going on +around the Marinsky Palace, where the Council of the Russian Republic +met. Diagonally across the wide square was drawn a line of soldiers, +rifles ready, staring at the hotel roof. + +“_Provacatzia!_ Shot at us!” snapped one, while another went running +toward the door. + +At the western corner of the Palace lay a big armoured car with a red +flag flying from it, newly lettered in red paint: “S.R.S.D.” (_Soviet +Rabotchikh Soldatskikh Deputatov_); all the guns trained toward St. +Isaac’s. A barricade had been heaped up across the mouth of Novaya +Ulitza—boxes, barrels, an old bed-spring, a wagon. A pile of lumber +barred the end of the Moika quay. Short logs from a neighbouring +wood-pile were being built up along the front of the building to form +breastworks…. + +“Is there going to be any fighting?” I asked. + +“Soon, soon,” answered a soldier, nervously. “Go away, comrade, you’ll +get hurt. They will come from that direction,” pointing toward the +Admiralty. + +“Who will?” + +“That I couldn’t tell you, brother,” he answered, and spat. + +Before the door of the Palace was a crowd of soldiers and sailors. A +sailor was telling of the end of the Council of the Russian Republic. +“We walked in there,” he said, “and filled all the doors with comrades. +I went up to the counter-revolutionist Kornilovitz who sat in the +president’s chair. ‘No more Council,’ I says. ‘Run along home now!’” + +There was laughter. By waving assorted papers I managed to get around +to the door of the press gallery. There an enormous smiling sailor +stopped me, and when I showed my pass, just said, “If you were Saint +Michael himself, comrade, you couldn’t pass here!” Through the glass of +the door I made out the distorted face and gesticulating arms of a +French correspondent, locked in…. + +Around in front stood a little, grey-moustached man in the uniform of a +general, the centre of a knot of soldiers. He was very red in the face. + +“I am General Alexeyev,” he cried. “As your superior officer and as a +member of the Council of the Republic I demand to be allowed to pass!” +The guard scratched his head, looking uneasily out of the corner of his +eye; he beckoned to an approaching officer, who grew very agitated when +he saw who it was and saluted before he realised what he was doing. + +“_Vashe Vuisokoprevoskhoditelstvo_—your High Excellency—” he stammered, +in the manner of the old régime, “Access to the Palace is strictly +forbidden—I have no right—” + +An automobile came by, and I saw Gotz sitting inside, laughing +apparently with great amusement. A few minutes later another, with +armed soldiers on the front seat, full of arrested members of the +Provisional Government. Peters, Lettish member of the Military +Revolutionary Committee, came hurrying across the Square. + +“I thought you bagged all those gentlemen last night,” said I, pointing +to them. + +“Oh,” he answered, with the expression of a disappointed small boy. +“The damn fools let most of them go again before we made up our +minds….” + +Down the Voskressensky Prospect a great mass of sailors were drawn up, +and behind them came marching soldiers, as far as the eye could reach. + +We went toward the Winter Palace by way of the Admiralteisky. All the +entrances to the Palace Square were closed by sentries, and a cordon of +troops stretched clear across the western end, besieged by an uneasy +throng of citizens. Except for far-away soldiers who seemed to be +carrying wood out of the Palace courtyard and piling it in front of the +main gateway, everything was quiet. + +We couldn’t make out whether the sentries were pro-Government or +pro-Soviet. Our papers from Smolny had no effect, however, so we +approached another part of the line with an important air and showed +our American passports, saying “Official business!” and shouldered +through. At the door of the Palace the same old _shveitzari,_ in their +brass-buttoned blue uniforms with the red-and-gold collars, politely +took our coats and hats, and we went up-stairs. In the dark, gloomy +corridor, stripped of its tapestries, a few old attendants were +lounging about, and in front of Kerensky’s door a young officer paced +up and down, gnawing his moustache. We asked if we could interview the +Minister-president. He bowed and clicked his heels. + +“No, I am sorry,” he replied in French. “Alexander Feodorvitch is +extremely occupied just now….” He looked at us for a moment. “In fact, +he is not here….” + +“Where is he?” + +“He has gone to the Front. (See App. IV, Sect. 2) And do you know, +there wasn’t enough gasoline for his automobile. We had to send to the +English Hospital and borrow some.” + +“Are the Ministers here?” + +“They are meeting in some room—I don’t know where.’ + +“Are the Bolsheviki coming?” + +“Of course. Certainly, they are coming. I expect a telephone call every +minute to say that they are coming. But we are ready. We have _yunkers_ +in the front of the Palace. Through that door there.” + +“Can we go in there?” + +“No. Certainly not. It is not permitted.” Abruptly he shook hands all +around and walked away. We turned to the forbidden door, set in a +temporary partition dividing the hall and locked on the outside. On the +other side were voices, and somebody laughing. Except for that the vast +spaces of the old Palace were silent as the grave. An old _shveitzar_ +ran up. “No, _barin,_ you must not go in there.” + +“Why is the door locked?” + +“To keep the soldiers in,” he answered. After a few minutes he said +something about having a glass of tea and went back up the hall. We +unlocked the door. + +Just inside a couple of soldiers stood on guard, but they said nothing. +At the end of the corridor was a large, ornate room with gilded +cornices and enormous crystal lustres, and beyond it several smaller +ones, wainscoted with dark wood. On both sides of the parquetted floor +lay rows of dirty mattresses and blankets, upon which occasional +soldiers were stretched out; everywhere was a litter of +cigarette-butts, bits of bread, cloth, and empty bottles with expensive +French labels. More and more soldiers, with the red shoulder-straps of +the _yunker_-schools, moved about in a stale atmosphere of +tobacco-smoke and unwashed humanity. One had a bottle of white +Burgundy, evidently filched from the cellars of the Palace. They looked +at us with astonishment as we marched past, through room after room, +until at last we came out into a series of great state-salons, fronting +their long and dirty windows on the Square. The walls were covered with +huge canvases in massive gilt frames—historical battle-scenes…. “12 +October 1812” and “6 November 1812” and “16/28 August 1813.” … One had +a gash across the upper right hand corner. + +The place was all a huge barrack, and evidently had been for weeks, +from the look of the floor and walls. Machine guns were mounted on +window-sills, rifles stacked between the mattresses. + +As we were looking at the pictures an alcoholic breath assailed me from +the region of my left ear, and a voice said in thick but fluent French, +“I see, by the way you admire the paintings, that you are foreigners.” +He was a short, puffy man with a baldish head as he removed his cap. + +“Americans? Enchanted. I am Stabs—Capitan Vladimir Artzibashev, +absolutely at your service.” It did not seem to occur to him that there +was anything unusual in four strangers, one a woman, wandering through +the defences of an army awaiting attack. He began to complain of the +state of Russia. + +“Not only these Bolsheviki,” he said, “but the fine traditions of the +Russian army are broken down. Look around you. These are all students +in the officers’ training schools. But are they gentlemen? Kerensky +opened the officers’ schools to the ranks, to any soldier who could +pass an examination. Naturally there are many, many who are +contaminated by the Revolution….” + +Without consequence he changed the subject. “I am very anxious to go +away from Russia. I have made up my mind to join the American army. +Will you please go to your Consul and make arrangements? I will give +you my address.” In spite of our protestations he wrote it on a piece +of paper, and seemed to feel better at once. I have it +still—“_Oranien-baumskaya Shkola Praporshtchikov 2nd, Staraya +Peterhof._” + +“We had a review this morning early,” he went on, as he guided us +through the rooms and explained everything. “The Women’s Battalion +decided to remain loyal to the Government.” + +“Are the women soldiers in the Palace?” + +“Yes, they are in the back rooms, where they won’t be hurt if any +trouble comes.” He sighed. “It is a great responsibility,” said he. + +For a while we stood at the window, looking down on the Square before +the Palace, where three companies of long-coated _yunkers_ were drawn +up under arms, being harangued by a tall, energetic-looking officer I +recognised as Stankievitch, chief Military Commissar of the Provisional +Government. After a few minutes two of the companies shouldered arms +with a clash, barked three sharp shouts, and went swinging off across +the Square, disappearing through the Red Arch into the quiet city. + +“They are going to capture the Telephone Exchange,” said some one. +Three cadets stood by us, and we fell into conversation. They said they +had entered the schools from the ranks, and gave their names—Robert +Olev, Alexei Vasilienko and Erni Sachs, an Esthonian. But now they +didn’t want to be officers any more, because officers were very +unpopular. They didn’t seem to know what to do, as a matter of fact, +and it was plain that they were not happy. + +But soon they began to boast. “If the Bolsheviki come we shall show +them how to fight. They do not dare to fight, they are cowards. But if +we should be overpowered, well, every man keeps one bullet for +himself….” + +At this point there was a burst of rifle-fire not far off. Out on the +Square all the people began to run, falling flat on their faces, and +the _izvoshtchiki,_ standing on the corners, galloped in every +direction. Inside all was uproar, soldiers running here and there, +grabbing up guns, rifle-belts and shouting, “Here they come! Here they +come!” … But in a few minutes it quieted down again. The _izvoshtchiki_ +came back, the people lying down stood up. Through the Red Arch +appeared the _yunkers,_ marching a little out of step, one of them +supported by two comrades. + +It was getting late when we left the Palace. The sentries in the Square +had all disappeared. The great semi-circle of Government buildings +seemed deserted. We went into the Hotel France for dinner, and right in +the middle of soup the waiter, very pale in the face, came up and +insisted that we move to the main dining-room at the back of the house, +because they were going to put out the lights in the café. “There will +be much shooting,” he said. + +When we came out on the Morskaya again it was quite dark, except for +one flickering street-light on the corner of the Nevsky. Under this +stood a big armored automobile, with racing engine and oil-smoke +pouring out of it. A small boy had climbed up the side of the thing and +was looking down the barrel of a machine gun. Soldiers and sailors +stood around, evidently waiting for something. We walked back up to the +Red Arch, where a knot of soldiers was gathered staring at the +brightly-lighted Winter Palace and talking in loud tones. + +“No, comrades,” one was saying. “How can we shoot at them? The Women’s +Battalion is in there—they will say we have fired on Russian women.” + +As we reached the Nevsky again another armoured car came around the +corner, and a man poked his head out of the turret-top. + +“Come on!” he yelled. “Let’s go on through and attack!” + +The driver of the other car came over, and shouted so as to be heard +above the roaring engine. “The Committee says to wait. They have got +artillery behind the wood-piles in there….” + +Here the street-cars had stopped running, few people passed, and there +were no lights; but a few blocks away we could see the trams, the +crowds, the lighted shop-windows and the electric signs of the +moving-picture shows—life going on as usual. We had tickets to the +Ballet at the Marinsky Theatre—all theatres were open—but it was too +exciting out of doors…. + +In the darkness we stumbled over lumber-piles barricading the Police +Bridge, and before the Stroganov Palace made out some soldiers wheeling +into position a three-inch field-gun. Men in various uniforms were +coming and going in an aimless way, and doing a great deal of talking…. + +Up the Nevsky the whole city seemed to be out promenading. On every +corner immense crowds were massed around a core of hot discussion. +Pickets of a dozen soldiers with fixed bayonets lounged at the +street-crossings, red-faced old men in rich fur coats shook their fists +at them, smartly-dressed women screamed epithets; the soldiers argued +feebly, with embarrassed grins…. Armoured cars went up and down the +street, named after the first Tsars—Oleg, Rurik, Svietoslav—and daubed +with huge red letters, “R. S. D. R. P.” _(Rossiskaya Partia_)[13]. At +the Mikhailovsky a man appeared with an armful of newspapers, and was +immediately stormed by frantic people, offering a rouble, five roubles, +ten roubles, tearing at each other like animals. It was _Rabotchi i +Soldat,_ announcing the victory of the Proletarian Revolution, the +liberation of the Bolsheviki still in prison, calling upon the Army +front and rear for support… a feverish little sheet of four pages, +running to enormous type, containing no news…. + +[13] (Russian Social Democratic Labor Party). + +On the corner of the Sadovaya about two thousand citizens had gathered, +staring up at the roof of a tall building, where a tiny red spark +glowed and waned. + +“See!” said a tall peasant, pointing to it. “It is a provocator. +Presently he will fire on the people….” Apparently no one thought of +going to investigate. + +The massive façade of Smolny blazed with lights as we drove up, and +from every street converged upon it streams of hurrying shapes dim in +the gloom. Automobiles and motorcycles came and went; an enormous +elephant-coloured armoured automobile, with two red flags flying from +the turret, lumbered out with screaming siren. It was cold, and at the +outer gate the Red Guards had built themselves a bon-fire. At the inner +gate, too, there was a blaze, by the light of which the sentries slowly +spelled out our passes and looked us up and down. The canvas covers had +been taken off the four rapid-fire guns on each side of the doorway, +and the ammunition-belts hung snakelike from their breeches. A dun herd +of armoured cars stood under the trees in the court-yard, engines +going. The long, bare, dimly-illuminated halls roared with the thunder +of feet, calling, shouting…. There was an atmosphere of recklessness. A +crowd came pouring down the staircase, workers in black blouses and +round black fur hats, many of them with guns slung over their +shoulders, soldiers in rough dirt-coloured coats and grey fur _shapki_ +pinched flat, a leader or so—Lunatcharsky, Kameniev—hurrying along in +the centre of a group all talking at once, with harassed anxious faces, +and bulging portfolios under their arms. The extraordinary meeting of +the Petrograd Soviet was over. I stopped Kameniev—a quick moving little +man, with a wide, vivacious face set close to his shoulders. Without +preface he read in rapid French a copy of the resolution just passed: + +The Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, saluting the +victorious Revolution of the Petrograd proletariat and garrison, +particularly emphasises the unity, organisation, discipline, and +complete cooperation shown by the masses in this rising; rarely has +less blood been spilled, and rarely has an insurrection succeeded so +well. + +The Soviet expresses its firm conviction that the Workers’ and +Peasants’ Government which, as the government of the Soviets, will be +created by the Revolution, and which will assure the industrial +proletariat of the support of the entire mass of poor peasants, will +march firmly toward Socialism, the only means by which the country can +be spared the miseries and unheard-of horrors of war. + +The new Workers’ and Peasants’ Government will propose immediately a +just and democratic peace to all the belligerent countries. + +It will suppress immediately the great landed property, and transfer +the land to the peasants. It will establish workmen’s control over +production and distribution of manufactured products, and will set up a +general control over the banks, which it will transform into a state +monopoly. + +The Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies calls upon the +workers and the peasants of Russia to support with all their energy and +all their devotion the Proletarian Revolution. The Soviet expresses its +conviction that the city workers, allies of the poor peasants, will +assure complete revolutionary order, indispensable to the victory of +Socialism. The Soviet is convinced that the proletariat of the +countries of Western Europe will aid us in conducting the cause of +Socialism to a real and lasting victory. + +“You consider it won then?” + +He lifted his shoulders. “There is much to do. Horribly much. It is +just beginning….” + +On the landing I met Riazanov, vice-president of the Trade Unions, +looking black and biting his grey beard. “It’s insane! Insane!” he +shouted. “The European working-class won’t move! All Russia—” He waved +his hand distractedly and ran off. Riazanov and Kameniev had both +opposed the insurrection, and felt the lash of Lenin’s terrible +tongue…. + +It had been a momentous session. In the name of the Military +Revolutionary Committee Trotzky had declared that the Provisional +Government no longer existed. + +“The characteristic of bourgeois governments,” he said, “is to deceive +the people. We, the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ +Deputies, are going to try an experiment unique in history; we are +going to found a power which will have no other aim but to satisfy the +needs of the soldiers, workers, and peasants.” + +Lenin had appeared, welcomed with a mighty ovation, prophesying +world-wide Social Revolution…. And Zinoviev, crying, “This day we have +paid our debt to the international proletariat, and struck a terrible +blow at the war, a terrible body-blow at all the imperialists and +particularly at Wilhelm the Executioner….” + +Then Trotzky, that telegrams had been sent to the front announcing the +victorious insurrection, but no reply had come. Troops were said to be +marching against Petrograd—a delegation must be sent to tell them the +truth. + +Cries, “You are anticipating the will of the All-Russian Congress of +Soviets!” + +Trotzky, coldly, “The will of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets has +been anticipated by the rising of the Petrograd workers and soldiers!” + +So we came into the great meeting-hall, pushing through the clamorous +mob at the door. In the rows of seats, under the white chandeliers, +packed immovably in the aisles and on the sides, perched on every +window-sill, and even the edge of the platform, the representatives of +the workers and soldiers of all Russia waited in anxious silence or +wild exultation the ringing of the chairman’s bell. There was no heat +in the hall but the stifling heat of unwashed human bodies. A foul blue +cloud of cigarette smoke rose from the mass and hung in the thick air. +Occasionally some one in authority mounted the tribune and asked the +comrades not to smoke; then everybody, smokers and all, took up the cry +“Don’t smoke, comrades!” and went on smoking. Petrovsky, Anarchist +delegate from the Obukhov factory, made a seat for me beside him. +Unshaven and filthy, he was reeling from three nights’ sleepless work +on the Military Revolutionary Committee. + +On the platform sat the leaders of the old _Tsay-ee-kah_—for the last +time dominating the turbulent Soviets, which they had ruled from the +first days, and which were now risen against them. It was the end of +the first period of the Russian revolution, which these men had +attempted to guide in careful ways…. The three greatest of them were +not there: Kerensky, flying to the front through country towns all +doubtfully heaving up; Tcheidze, the old eagle, who had contemptuously +retired to his own Georgian mountains, there to sicken with +consumption; and the high-souled Tseretelli, also mortally stricken, +who, nevertheless, would return and pour out his beautiful eloquence +for a lost cause. Gotz sat there, Dan, Lieber, Bogdanov, Broido, +Fillipovsky,—white-faced, hollow-eyed and indignant. Below them the +second _siezd_ of the All-Russian Soviets boiled and swirled, and over +their heads the Military Revolutionary Committee functioned white-hot, +holding in its hands the threads of insurrection and striking with a +long arm…. It was 10.40 P. M. + +Dan, a mild-faced, baldish figure in a shapeless military surgeon’s +uniform, was ringing the bell. Silence fell sharply, intense, broken by +the scuffling and disputing of the people at the door…. + +“We have the power in our hands,” he began sadly, stopped for a moment, +and then went on in a low voice. “Comrades! The Congress of Soviets in +meeting in such unusual circumstances and in such an extraordinary +moment that you will understand why the _Tsay-ee-kah_ considers it +unnecessary to address you with a political speech. This will become +much clearer to you if you will recollect that I am a member of the +_Tsay-ee-kah,_ and that at this very moment our party comrades are in +the Winter Palace under bombardment, sacrificing themselves to execute +the duty put on them by the _Tsay-ee-kah.”_ (Confused uproar.) + +“I declare the first session of the Second Congress of Soviets of +Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies open!” + +The election of the presidium took place amid stir and moving about. +Avanessov announced that by agreement of the Bolsheviki, Left Socialist +Revolutionaries and Mensheviki Internationalists, it was decided to +base the presidium upon proportionality. Several Mensheviki leaped to +their feet protesting. A bearded soldier shouted at them, “Remember +what you did to us Bolsheviki when _we_ were the minority!” Result—14 +Bolsheviki, 7 Socialist Revolutionaries, 3 Mensheviki and 1 +Internationalist (Gorky’s group). Hendelmann, for the right and centre +Socialist Revolutionaries, said that they refused to take part in the +presidium; the same from Kintchuk, for the Mensheviki; and from the +Mensheviki Internationalists, that until the verification of certain +circumstances, they too could not enter the presidium. Scattering +applause and hoots. One voice, “Renegades, you call yourselves +Socialists!” A representative of the Ukrainean delegates demanded, and +received, a place. Then the old _Tsay-ee-kah_ stepped down, and in +their places appeared Trotzky, Kameniev, Lunatcharsky, Madame +Kollentai, Nogin…. The hall rose, thundering. How far they had soared, +these Bolsheviki, from a despised and hunted sect less than four months +ago, to this supreme place, the helm of great Russia in full tide of +insurrection! + +The order of the day, said Kameniev, was first, Organisation of Power; +second, War and Peace; and third, the Constituent Assembly. Lozovsky, +rising, announced that upon agreement of the bureau of all factions, it +was proposed to hear and discuss the report of the Petrograd Soviet, +then to give the floor to members of the _Tsay-ee-kah_ and the +different parties, and finally to pass to the order of the day. + +But suddenly a new sound made itself heard, deeper than the tumult of +the crowd, persistent, disquieting,—the dull shock of guns. People +looked anxiously toward the clouded windows, and a sort of fever came +over them. Martov, demanding the floor, croaked hoarsely, “The civil +war is beginning, comrades! The first question must be a peaceful +settlement of the crisis. On principle and from a political standpoint +we must urgently discuss a means of averting civil war. Our brothers +are being shot down in the streets! At this moment, when before the +opening of the Congress of Soviets the question of Power is being +settled by means of a military plot organised by one of the +revolutionary parties—” for a moment he could not make himself heard +above the noise, “All of the revolutionary parties must face the fact! +The first _vopros_ (question) before the Congress is the question of +Power, and this question is already being settled by force of arms in +the streets!… We must create a power which will be recognised by the +whole democracy. If the Congress wishes to be the voice of the +revolutionary democracy it must not sit with folded hands before the +developing civil war, the result of which may be a dangerous outburst +of counter-revolution…. The possibility of a peaceful outcome lies in +the formation of a united democratic authority…. We must elect a +delegation to negotiate with the other Socialist parties and +organisation….” + +Always the methodical muffled boom of cannon through the windows, and +the delegates, screaming at each other…. So, with the crash of +artillery, in the dark, with hatred, and fear, and reckless daring, new +Russia was being born. + +The Left Socialist Revolutionaries and the United Social Democrats +supported Martov’s proposition. It was accepted. A soldier announced +that the All-Russian Peasants’ Soviets had refused to send delegates to +the Congress; he proposed that a committee be sent with a formal +invitation. “Some delegates are present,” he said. “I move that they be +given votes.” Accepted. + +Kharash, wearing the epaulets of a captain, passionately demanded the +floor. “The political hypocrites who control this Congress,” he +shouted, “told us we were to settle the question of Power—and it is +being settled behind our backs, before the Congress opens! Blows are +being struck against the Winter Palace, and it is by such blows that +the nails are being driven into the coffin of the political party which +has risked such an adventure!” Uproar. Followed him Gharra: “While we +are here discussing propositions of peace, there is a battle on in the +streets…. The Socialist Revolutionaries and the Mensheviki refuse to be +involved in what is happening, and call upon all public forces to +resist the attempt to capture the power….” Kutchin, delegate of the +12th Army and representative of the Troudoviki: “I was sent here only +for information, and I am returning at once to the Front, where all the +Army Committees consider that the taking of power by the Soviets, only +three weeks before the Constituent Assembly, is a stab in the back of +the Army and a crime against the people—!” Shouts of “Lie! You lie!”… +When he could be heard again, “Let’s make an end of this adventure in +Petrograd! I call upon all delegates to leave this hall in order to +save the country and the Revolution!” As he went down the aisle in the +midst of a deafening noise, people surged in upon him, threatening…. +Then Khintchuk, an officer with a long brown goatee, speaking suavely +and persuasively: “I speak for the delegates from the Front. The Army +is imperfectly represented in this Congress, and furthermore, the Army +does not consider the Congress of Soviets necessary at this time, only +three weeks before the opening of the Constituent—” shouts and +stamping, always growing more violent. “The Army does not consider that +the Congress of Soviets has the necessary authority—” Soldiers began to +stand up all over the hall. + +“Who are you speaking for? What do you represent?” they cried. + +“The Central Executive Committee of the Soviet of the Fifth Army, the +Second F— regiment, the First N— Regiment, the Third S— Rifles….” + +“When were you elected? You represent the officers, not the soldiers! +What do the soldiers say about it?” Jeers and hoots. + +“We, the Front group, disclaim all responsibility for what has happened +and is happening, and we consider it necessary to mobilise all +self-conscious revolutionary forces for the salvation of the +Revolution! The Front group will leave the Congress…. The place to +fight is out on the streets!” + +Immense bawling outcry. “You speak for the Staff—not for the Army!” + +“I appeal to all reasonable soldiers to leave this Congress!” + +“Kornilovitz! Counter-revolutionist! Provocator!” were hurled at him. + +On behalf of the Mensheviki, Khintchuk then announced that the only +possibility of a peaceful solution was to begin negotiations with the +Provisional Government for the formation of a new Cabinet, which would +find support in all strata of society. He could not proceed for several +minutes. Raising his voice to a shout he read the Menshevik +declaration: + +“Because the Bolsheviki have made a military conspiracy with the aid of +the Petrograd Soviet, without consulting the other factions and +parties, we find it impossible to remain in the Congress, and therefore +withdraw, inviting the other groups to follow us and to meet for +discussion of the situation!” + +“Deserter!” At intervals in the almost continuous disturbance +Hendelman, for the Socialist Revolutionaries, could be heard protesting +against the bombardment of the Winter Palace…. “We are opposed to this +kind of anarchy….” + +Scarcely had he stepped down than a young, lean-faced soldier, with +flashing eyes, leaped to the platform, and dramatically lifted his +hand: + +“Comrades!” he cried and there was a hush. “My _familia_ (name) is +Peterson—I speak for the Second Lettish Rifles. You have heard the +statements of two representatives of the Army committees; these +statements would have some value _if their authors had been +representatives of the Army_—” Wild applause. _“But they do not +represent the soldiers!”_ Shaking his fist. “The Twelfth Army has been +insisting for a long time upon the re-election of the Great Soviet and +the Army Committee, but just as your own _Tsay-ee-kah,_ our Committee +refused to call a meeting of the representatives of the masses until +the end of September, so that the reactionaries could elect their own +false delegates to this Congress. I tell you now, the Lettish soldiers +have many times said, ‘No more resolutions! No more talk! We want +deeds—the Power must be in our hands!’ Let these impostor delegates +leave the Congress! The Army is not with them!” + +The hall rocked with cheering. In the first moments of the session, +stunned by the rapidity of events, startled by the sound of cannon, the +delegates had hesitated. For an hour hammer-blow after hammer-blow had +fallen from that tribune, welding them together but beating them down. +Did they stand then alone? Was Russia rising against them? Was it true +that the Army was marching on Petrograd? Then this clear-eyed young +soldier had spoken, and in a flash they knew it for the truth…. _This_ +was the voice of the soldiers—the stirring millions of uniformed +workers and peasants were men like them, and their thoughts and +feelings were the same… + +More soldiers … Gzhelshakh; for the Front delegates, announcing that +they had only decided to leave the Congress by a small majority, and +that _the Bolshevik members had not even taken part in the vote,_ as +they stood for division according to political parties, and not groups. +“Hundreds of delegates from the Front,” he said, “are being elected +without the participation of the soldiers because the Army Committees +are no longer the real representatives of the rank and file….” +Lukianov, crying that officers like Kharash and Khintchuk could not +represent the Army in this congress,—but only the high command. “The +real inhabitants of the trenches want with all their hearts the +transfer of Power into the hands of the Soviets, and they expect very +much from it!”… The tide was turning. + +Then came Abramovitch, for the _Bund,_ the organ of the Jewish Social +Democrats—his eyes snapping behind thick glasses, trembling with rage. + +“What is taking place now in Petrograd is a monstrous calamity! The +_Bund_ group joins with the declaration of the Mensheviki and Socialist +Revolutionaries and will leave the Congress!” He raised his voice and +hand. “Our duty to the Russian proletariat doesn’t permit us to remain +here and be responsible for these crimes. Because the firing on the +Winter Palace doesn’t cease, the Municipal Duma together with the +Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries, and the Executive Committee +of the Peasants’ Soviet, has decided to perish with the Provisional +Government, and we are going with them! Unarmed we will expose our +breasts to the machine guns of the Terrorists…. We invite all delegates +to this Congress—” The rest was lost in a storm of hoots, menaces and +curses which rose to a hellish pitch as fifty delegates got up and +pushed their way out…. + +Kameniev jangled the bell, shouting, “Keep your seats and we’ll go on +with our business!” And Trotzky, standing up with a pale, cruel face, +letting out his rich voice in cool contempt, “All these so-called +Socialist compromisers, these frightened Mensheviki, Socialist +Revolutionaries, _Bund_—let them go! They are just so much refuse which +will be swept into the garbage-heap of history!” + +Riazanov, for the Bolsheviki, stated that at the request of the City +Duma the Military Revolutionary Committee had sent a delegation to +offer negotiations to the Winter Palace. “In this way we have done +everything possible to avoid blood-shed….” + +We hurried from the place, stopping for a moment at the room where the +Military Revolutionary Committee worked at furious speed, engulfing and +spitting out panting couriers, despatching Commissars armed with power +of life and death to all the corners of the city, amid the buzz of the +telephonographs. The door opened, a blast of stale air and cigarette +smoke rushed out, we caught a glimpse of dishevelled men bending over a +map under the glare of a shaded electric-light…. Comrade +Josephov-Dukhvinski, a smiling youth with a mop of pale yellow hair, +made out passes for us. + +When we came into the chill night, all the front of Smolny was one huge +park of arriving and departing automobiles, above the sound of which +could be heard the far-off slow beat of the cannon. A great motor-truck +stood there, shaking to the roar of its engine. Men were tossing +bundles into it, and others receiving them, with guns beside them. + +“Where are you going?” I shouted. + +“Down-town—all over—everywhere!” answered a little workman, grinning, +with a large exultant gesture. + +We showed our passes. “Come along!” they invited. “But there’ll +probably be shooting—” We climbed in; the clutch slid home with a +raking jar, the great car jerked forward, we all toppled backward on +top of those who were climbing in; past the huge fire by the gate, and +then the fire by the outer gate, glowing red on the faces of the +workmen with rifles who squatted around it, and went bumping at top +speed down the Suvorovsky Prospect, swaying from side to side…. One man +tore the wrapping from a bundle and began to hurl handfuls of papers +into the air. We imitated him, plunging down through the dark street +with a tail of white papers floating and eddying out behind. The late +passerby stooped to pick them up; the patrols around bonfires on the +corners ran out with uplifted arms to catch them. Sometimes armed men +loomed up ahead, crying “_Shtoi!_” and raising their guns, but our +chauffeur only yelled something unintelligible and we hurtled on…. + +I picked up a copy of the paper, and under a fleeting street-light +read: + +TO THE CITIZENS OF RUSSIA! + + +The Provisional Government is deposed. The State Power has passed into +the hands of the organ of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and +Soldiers’ Deputies, the Military Revolutionary Committee, which stands +at the head of the Petrograd proletariat and garrison. + +The cause for which the people were fighting: immediate proposal of a +democratic peace, abolition of landlord property-rights over the land, +labor control over production, creation of a Soviet Government—that +cause is securely achieved. + +LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION OF WORKMEN, SOLDIERS AND PEASANTS! + + +_Military Revolutionary Committee_ + +_Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies._ + +[Graphic, page 96: Proclamation in Russian, title follows] + +Proclamation of the Fall of the Provisional Government issued by the +Military Revolutionary Committee on the night of November 7th (our +calendar), which we helped to distribute from a motor-truck just after +the surrender of the Winter Palace. + +A slant-eyed, Mongolian-faced man who sat beside me, dressed in a +goat-skin Caucasian cape, snapped, “Look out! Here the provocators +always shoot from the windows!” We turned into Znamensky Square, dark +and almost deserted, careened around Trubetskoy’s brutal statue and +swung down the wide Nevsky, three men standing up with rifles ready, +peering at the windows. Behind us the street was alive with people +running and stooping. We could no longer hear the cannon, and the +nearer we drew to the Winter Palace end of the city the quieter and +more deserted were the streets. The City Duma was all brightly lighted. +Beyond that we made out a dark mass of people, and a line of sailors, +who yelled furiously at us to stop. The machine slowed down, and we +climbed out. + +It was an astonishing scene. Just at the corner of the Ekaterina Canal, +under an arc-light, a cordon of armed sailors was drawn across the +Nevsky, blocking the way to a crowd of people in column of fours. There +were about three or four hundred of them, men in frock coats, +well-dressed women, officers—all sorts and conditions of people. Among +them we recognised many of the delegates from the Congress, leaders of +the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries; Avksentiev, the lean, +red-bearded president of the Peasants’ Soviets, Sarokin, Kerensky’s +spokesman, Khintchuk, Abramovitch; and at the head white-bearded old +Schreider, Mayor of Petrograd, and Prokopovitch, Minister of Supplies +in the Provisional Government, arrested that morning and released. I +caught sight of Malkin, reporter for the _Russian Daily News._ “Going +to die in the Winter Palace,” he shouted cheerfully. The procession +stood still, but from the front of it came loud argument. Schreider and +Prokopovitch were bellowing at the big sailor who seemed in command. + +“We demand to pass!” they cried. “See, these comrades come from the +Congress of Soviets! Look at their tickets! We are going to the Winter +Palace!” + +The sailor was plainly puzzled. He scratched his head with an enormous +hand, frowning. “I have orders from the Committee not to let anybody go +to the Winter Palace,” he grumbled. “But I will send a comrade to +telephone to Smolny….” + +“We Insist upon passing! We are unarmed! We will march on whether you +permit us or not!” cried old Schreider, very much excited. + +“I have orders—” repeated the sailor sullenly. + +“Shoot us if you want to! We will pass! Forward!” came from all sides. +“We are ready to die, if you have the heart to fire on Russians and +comrades! We bare our breasts to your guns!” + +“No,” said the sailor, looking stubborn, “I can’t allow you to pass.” + +“What will you do if we go forward? Will you shoot?” + +“No, I’m not going to shoot people who haven’t any guns. We won’t shoot +unarmed Russian people….” + +“We will go forward! What can you do?” + +“We will do something,” replied the sailor, evidently at a loss. “We +can’t let you pass. We will do something.” + +“What will you do? What will you do?” + +Another sailor came up, very much irritated. “We will spank you!” he +cried, energetically. “And if necessary we will shoot you too. Go home +now, and leave us in peace!” + +At this there was a great clamour of anger and resentment, Prokopovitch +had mounted some sort of box, and, waving his umbrella, he made a +speech: + +“Comrades and citizens!” he said. “Force is being used against us! We +cannot have our innocent blood upon the hands of these ignorant men! It +is beneath our dignity to be shot down here in the street by +switchmen—” (What he meant by “switchmen” I never discovered.) “Let us +return to the Duma and discuss the best means of saving the country and +the Revolution!” + +Whereupon, in dignified silence, the procession marched around and back +up the Nevsky, always in column of fours. And taking advantage of the +diversion we slipped past the guards and set off in the direction of +the Winter Palace. + +Here it was absolutely dark, and nothing moved but pickets of soldiers +and Red Guards grimly intent. In front of the Kazan Cathedral a +three-inch field-gun lay in the middle of the street, slewed sideways +from the recoil of its last shot over the roofs. Soldiers were standing +in every doorway talking in low tones and peering down toward the +Police Bridge. I heard one voice saying: “It is possible that we have +done wrong….” At the corners patrols stopped all passersby—and the +composition of these patrols was interesting, for in command of the +regular troops was invariably a Red Guard…. The shooting had ceased. + +Just as we came to the Morskaya somebody was shouting: “The _yunkers_ +have sent word they want us to go and get them out!” Voices began to +give commands, and in the thick gloom we made out a dark mass moving +forward, silent but for the shuffle of feet and the clinking of arms. +We fell in with the first ranks. + +Like a black river, filling all the street, without song or cheer we +poured through the Red Arch, where the man just ahead of me said in a +low voice: “Look out, comrades! Don’t trust them. They will fire, +surely!” In the open we began to run, stooping low and bunching +together, and jammed up suddenly behind the pedestal of the Alexander +Column. + +“How many of you did they kill?” I asked. + +“I don’t know. About ten….” + +After a few minutes huddling there, some hundreds of men, the army +seemed reassured and without any orders suddenly began again to flow +forward. By this time, in the light that streamed out of all the Winter +Palace windows, I could see that the first two or three hundred men +were Red Guards, with only a few scattered soldiers. Over the barricade +of firewood we clambered, and leaping down inside gave a triumphant +shout as we stumbled on a heap of rifles thrown down by the _yunkers_ +who had stood there. On both sides of the main gateway the doors stood +wide open, light streamed out, and from the huge pile came not the +slightest sound. + +Carried along by the eager wave of men we were swept into the right +hand entrance, opening into a great bare vaulted room, the cellar of +the East wing, from which issued a maze of corridors and stair-cases. A +number of huge packing cases stood about, and upon these the Red Guards +and soldiers fell furiously, battering them open with the butts of +their rifles, and pulling out carpets, curtains, linen, porcelain +plates, glassware…. One man went strutting around with a bronze clock +perched on his shoulder; another found a plume of ostrich feathers, +which he stuck in his hat. The looting was just beginning when somebody +cried, “Comrades! Don’t touch anything! Don’t take anything! This is +the property of the People!” Immediately twenty voices were crying, +“Stop! Put everything back! Don’t take anything! Property of the +People!” Many hands dragged the spoilers down. Damask and tapestry were +snatched from the arms of those who had them; two men took away the +bronze clock. Roughly and hastily the things were crammed back in their +cases, and self-appointed sentinels stood guard. It was all utterly +spontaneous. Through corridors and up stair-cases the cry could be +heard growing fainter and fainter in the distance, “Revolutionary +discipline! Property of the People….” + +We crossed back over to the left entrance, in the West wing. There +order was also being established. “Clear the Palace!” bawled a Red +Guard, sticking his head through an inner door. “Come, comrades, let’s +show that we’re not thieves and bandits. Everybody out of the Palace +except the Commissars, until we get sentries posted.” + +Two Red Guards, a soldier and an officer, stood with revolvers in their +hands. Another soldier sat at a table behind them, with pen and paper. +Shouts of “All out! All out!” were heard far and near within, and the +Army began to pour through the door, jostling, expostulating, arguing. +As each man appeared he was seized by the self-appointed committee, who +went through his pockets and looked under his coat. Everything that was +plainly not his property was taken away, the man at the table noted it +on his paper, and it was carried into a little room. The most amazing +assortment of objects were thus confiscated; statuettes, bottles of +ink, bed-spreads worked with the Imperial monogram, candles, a small +oil-painting, desk blotters, gold-handled swords, cakes of soap, +clothes of every description, blankets. One Red Guard carried three +rifles, two of which he had taken away from _yunkers;_ another had four +portfolios bulging with written documents. The culprits either sullenly +surrendered or pleaded like children. All talking at once the committee +explained that stealing was not worthy of the people’s champions; often +those who had been caught turned around and began to help go through +the rest of the comrades. (See App. IV, Sect. 3) + +_Yunkers_ came out, in bunches of three or four. The committee seized +upon them with an excess of zeal, accompanying the search with remarks +like, “Ah, Provocators! Kornilovists! Counter-revolutionists! Murderers +of the People!” But there was no violence done, although the _yunkers_ +were terrified. They too had their pockets full of small plunder. It +was carefully noted down by the scribe, and piled in the little room…. +The _yunkers_ were disarmed. “Now, will you take up arms against the +People any more?” demanded clamouring voices. + +“No,” answered the _yunkers,_ one by one. Whereupon they were allowed +to go free. + +We asked if we might go inside. The committee was doubtful, but the big +Red Guard answered firmly that it was forbidden. “Who are you anyway?” +he asked. “How do I know that you are not all Kerenskys? (There were +five of us, two women.) + +“_Pazhal’st’, touarishtchi!_ Way, Comrades!” A soldier and a Red Guard +appeared in the door, waving the crowd aside, and other guards with +fixed bayonets. After them followed single file half a dozen men in +civilian dress—the members of the Provisional Government. First came +Kishkin, his face drawn and pale, then Rutenberg, looking sullenly at +the floor; Terestchenko was next, glancing sharply around; he stared at +us with cold fixity…. They passed in silence; the victorious +insurrectionists crowded to see, but there were only a few angry +mutterings. It was only later that we learned how the people in the +street wanted to lynch them, and shots were fired—but the sailors +brought them safely to Peter-Paul…. + +In the meanwhile unrebuked we walked into the Palace. There was still a +great deal of coming and going, of exploring new-found apartments in +the vast edifice, of searching for hidden garrisons of _yunkers_ which +did not exist. We went upstairs and wandered through room after room. +This part of the Palace had been entered also by other detachments from +the side of the Neva. The paintings, statues, tapestries and rugs of +the great state apartments were unharmed; in the offices, however, +every desk and cabinet had been ransacked, the papers scattered over +the floor, and in the living rooms beds had been stripped of their +coverings and ward-robes wrenched open. The most highly prized loot was +clothing, which the working people needed. In a room where furniture +was stored we came upon two soldiers ripping the elaborate Spanish +leather upholstery from chairs. They explained it was to make boots +with…. + +The old Palace servants in their blue and red and gold uniforms stood +nervously about, from force of habit repeating, “You can’t go in there, +_barin!_ It is forbidden—” We penetrated at length to the gold and +malachite chamber with crimson brocade hangings where the Ministers had +been in session all that day and night, and where the _shveitzari_ had +betrayed them to the Red Guards. The long table covered with green +baize was just as they had left it, under arrest. Before each empty +seat was pen and ink and paper; the papers were scribbled over with +beginnings of plans of action, rough drafts of proclamations and +manifestos. Most of these were scratched out, as their futility became +evident, and the rest of the sheet covered with absent-minded +geometrical designs, as the writers sat despondently listening while +Minister after Minister proposed chimerical schemes. I took one of +these scribbled pages, in the hand writing of Konovalov, which read, +“The Provisional Government appeals to all classes to support the +Provisional Government—” + +All this time, it must be remembered, although the Winter Palace was +surrounded, the Government was in constant communication with the Front +and with provincial Russia. The Bolsheviki had captured the Ministry of +War early in the morning, but they did not know of the military +telegraph office in the attic, nor of the private telephone line +connecting it with the Winter Palace. In that attic a young officer sat +all day, pouring out over the country a flood of appeals and +proclamations; and when he heard that the Palace had fallen, put on his +hat and walked calmly out of the building…. + +Interested as we were, for a considerable time we didn’t notice a +change in the attitude of the soldiers and Red Guards around us. As we +strolled from room to room a small group followed us, until by the time +we reached the great picture-gallery where we had spent the afternoon +with the _yunkers,_ about a hundred men surged in after us. One giant +of a soldier stood in our path, his face dark with sullen suspicion. + +[Graphic, page 104: Doodling by Konavalov, title follows] + +Facsimile of the beginning of a proclamation, written in pencil by A.I. +Konovalov, Minister of Commerce and Industry in he Provisional +Government, and then scratched out as the hopelessness of the situation +became more and more evident. The geometrical figure beneath was +probably idly drawn while the Ministers were waiting for the end. + +“Who are you?” he growled. “What are you doing here?” The others massed +slowly around, staring and beginning to mutter. _“Provocatori!”_ I +heard somebody say. “Looters!” I produced our passes from the Military +Revolutionary Committee. The soldier took them gingerly, turned them +upside down and looked at them without comprehension. Evidently he +could not read. He handed them back and spat on the floor. _“Bumagi!_ +Papers!” said he with contempt. The mass slowly began to close in, like +wild cattle around a cowpuncher on foot. Over their heads I caught +sight of an officer, looking helpless, and shouted to him. He made for +us, shouldering his way through. + +“I’m the Commissar,” he said to me. “Who are you? What is it?” The +others held back, waiting. I produced the papers. + +“You are foreigners?” he rapidly asked in French. “It is very +dangerous….” Then he turned to the mob, holding up our documents. +“Comrades!” he cried. “These people are foreign comrades—from America. +They have come here to be able to tell their countrymen about the +bravery and the revolutionary discipline of the proletarian army!” + +“How do you know that?” replied the big soldier. “I tell you they are +provocators! They say they came here to observe the revolutionary +discipline of the proletarian army, but they have been wandering freely +through the Palace, and how do we know they haven’t got their pockets +full of loot?” + +_“Pravilno!”_ snarled the others, pressing forward. + +“Comrades! Comrades!” appealed the officer, sweat standing out on his +forehead. “I am Commissar of the Military Revolutionary Committee. Do +you trust me? Well, I tell you that these passes are signed with the +same names that are signed to my pass!” + +He led us down through the Palace and out through a door opening onto +the Neva quay, before which stood the usual committee going through +pockets… “You have narrowly escaped,” he kept muttering, wiping his +face. + +“What happened to the Women’s Battalion?” we asked. + +“Oh—the women!” He laughed. “They were all huddled up in a back room. +We had a terrible time deciding what to do with them—many were in +hysterics, and so on. So finally we marched them up to the Finland +Station and put them on a train for Levashovo, where they have a camp. +(See App. IV, Sect. 4)….” + +We came out into the cold, nervous night, murmurous with obscure armies +on the move, electric with patrols. From across the river, where loomed +the darker mass of Peter-Paul, came a hoarse shout…. Underfoot the +sidewalk was littered with broken stucco, from the cornice of the +Palace where two shells from the battleship _Avrora_ had struck; that +was the only damage done by the bombardment…. + +It was now after three in the morning. On the Nevsky all the +street-lights were again shining, the cannon gone, and the only signs +of war were Red Guards and soldiers squatting around fires. The city +was quiet—probably never so quiet in its history; on that night not a +single hold-up occurred, not a single robbery. + +But the City Duma Building was all illuminated. We mounted to the +galleried Alexander Hall, hung with its great, gold-framed, +red-shrouded Imperial portraits. About a hundred people were grouped +around the platform, where Skobeliev was speaking. He urged that the +Committee of Public Safety be expanded, so as to unite all the +anti-Bolshevik elements in one huge organisation, to be called the +Committee for Salvation of Country and Revolution. And as we looked on, +the Committee for Salvation was formed—that Committee which was to +develop into the most powerful enemy of the Bolsheviki, appearing, in +the next week, sometimes under its own partisan name, and sometimes as +the strictly non-partisan Committee of Public Safety…. + +Dan, Gotz, Avkesntiev were there, some of the insurgent Soviet +delegates, members of the Executive Committee of the Peasants’ Soviets, +old Prokopovitch, and even members of the Council of the Republic—among +whom Vinaver and other Cadets. Lieber cried that the convention of +Soviets was not a legal convention, that the old _Tsay-ee-kah_ was +still in office…. An appeal to the country was drafted. + +We hailed a cab. “Where to?” But when we said “Smolny,” the +_izvoshtchik_ shook his head. _“Niet!”_ said he, “there are devils….” +It was only after weary wandering that we found a driver willing to +take us—and he wanted thirty rubles, and stopped two blocks away. + +The windows of Smolny were still ablaze, motors came and went, and +around the still-leaping fires the sentries huddled close, eagerly +asking everybody the latest news. The corridors were full of hurrying +men, hollow-eyed and dirty. In some of the committee-rooms people lay +sleeping on the floor, their guns beside them. In spite of the seceding +delegates, the hall of meetings was crowded with people, roaring like +the sea. As we came in, Kameniev was reading the list of arrested +Ministers. The name of Terestchenko was greeted with thunderous +applause, shouts of satisfaction, laughter; Rutenburg came in for less; +and at the mention of Paltchinsky, a storm of hoots, angry cries, +cheers burst forth…. It was announced that Tchudnovsky had been +appointed Commissar of the Winter Palace. + +Now occurred a dramatic interruption. A big peasant, his bearded face +convulsed with rage, mounted the platform and pounded with his fist on +the presidium table. + +“We, Socialist Revolutionaries, insist upon the immediate release of +the Socialist Ministers arrested in the Winter Palace! Comrades! Do you +know that four comrades who risked their lives and their freedom +fighting against tyranny of the Tsar, have been flung into Peter-Paul +prison—the historical tomb of Liberty?” In the uproar he pounded and +yelled. Another delegate climbed up beside him, and pointed at the +presidium. + +“Are the representatives of the revolutionary masses going to sit +quietly here while the _Okhrana_ of the Bolsheviki tortures their +leaders?” + +Trotzky was gesturing for silence. “These ‘comrades’ who are now caught +plotting the crushing of the Soviets with the adventurer Kerensky—is +there any reason to handle them with gloves? After July 16th and 18th +they didn’t use much ceremony with us!” With a triumphant ring in his +voice he cried, “Now that the _oborontsi_ and the faint-hearted have +gone, and the whole task of defending and saving the Revolution rests +on our shoulders, it is particularly necessary to work—work—work! We +have decided to die rather than give up!” + +Followed him a Commissar from Tsarskoye Selo, panting and covered with +the mud of his ride. “The garrison of Tsarskoye Selo is on guard at the +gates of Petrograd, ready to defend the Soviets and the Military +Revolutionary Committee!” Wild cheers. “The Cycle Corps sent from the +front has arrived at Tsarskoye, and the soldiers are now with us; they +recognise the power of the Soviets, the necessity of immediate transfer +of land to the peasants and industrial control to the workers. The +Fifth Battalion of Cyclists, stationed at Tsarskoye, is ours….” + +Then the delegate of the Third Cycle Battalion. In the midst of +delirious enthusiasm he told how the cycle corps had been ordered +_three days before_ from the South-west front to the “defence of +Petrograd.” They suspected, however, the meaning of the order; and at +the station of Peredolsk were met by representatives of the Fifth +Battalion from Tsarskoye. A joint meeting was held, and it was +discovered that “among the cyclists not a single man was found willing +to shed the blood of his brothers, or to support a Government of +bourgeois and land-owners!” + +Kapelinski, for the Mensheviki Internationalists, proposed to elect a +special committee to find a peaceful solution to the civil war. “There +isn’t any peaceful solution!” bellowed the crowed. “Victory is the only +solution!” The vote was overwhelmingly against, and the Mensheviki +Internationalists left the Congress in a Whirlwind of Jocular insults. +There was no longer any panic fear…. Kameniev from the platform shouted +after them, “The Mensheviki Internationalists claimed ‘emergency’ for +the question of a ‘peaceful solution,’ but they always voted for +suspension of the order of the day in favour of declarations of +factions which wanted to leave the Congress. It is evident,” finished +Kameniev, “that the withdrawal of all these renegades was decided upon +beforehand!” + +The assembly decided to ignore the withdrawal of the factions, and +proceed to the appeal to the workers, soldiers and peasants of all +Russia: + +TO WORKERS, SOLDIERS AND PEASANTS + + +The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ +Deputies has opened. It represents the great majority of the Soviets. +There are also a number of Peasant deputies. Based upon the will of the +great majority of the workers’, soldiers and peasants, based upon the +triumphant uprising of the Petrograd workmen and soldiers, the Congress +assumes the Power. + +The Provisional Government is deposed. Most of the members of the +Provisional Government are already arrested. + +The Soviet authority will at once propose an immediate democratic peace +to all nations, and an immediate truce on all fronts. It will assure +the free transfer of landlord, crown and monastery lands to the Land +Committees, defend the soldiers rights, enforcing a complete +democratisation of the Army, establish workers’ control over +production, ensure the convocation of the Constituent Assembly at the +proper date, take means to supply bread to the cities and articles of +first necessity to the villages, and secure to all nationalities living +in Russia a real right to independent existence. + +The Congress resolves: that all local power shall be transferred to the +Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies, which must +enforce revolutionary order. + +The Congress calls upon the soldiers in the trenches to be watchful and +steadfast. The Congress of Soviets is sure that the revolutionary Army +will know how to defend the Revolution against all attacks of +Imperialism, until the new Government shall have brought about the +conclusion of the democratic peace which it will directly propose to +all nations. The new Government will take all necessary steps to secure +everything needful to the revolutionary Army, by means of a determined +policy of requisition and taxation of the propertied classes, and also +to improve the situation of soldiers’ families. + +The Kornilovitz-Kerensky, Kaledin and others, are endeavouring to lead +troops against Petrograd. Several regiments, deceived by Kerensky, have +sided with the insurgent People. + +Soldiers! Make active resistance to the Kornilovitz-Kerensky! Be on +guard! + +Railway men! Stop all troop-trains being sent by Kerensky against +Petrograd! + +Soldiers, Workers, Clerical employees! The destiny of the Revolution +and democratic peace is in your hands! + +Long live the Revolution! + +_The All-Russian Congress of Soviets of_ _Workers’ and Soldiers’ +Deputies._ _Delegates from the Peasants’ Soviets._ + +It was exactly 5:17 A.M. when Krylenko, staggering with fatigue, +climbed to the tribune with a telegram in his hand. + +“Comrades! From the Northern Front. The Twelfth Army sends greetings to +the Congress of Soviets, announcing the formation of a Military +Revolutionary Committee which has taken over the command of the +Northern Front!” Pandemonium, men weeping, embracing each other. +“General Tchermissov has recognised the Committee-Commissar of the +Provisional Government Voitinsky has resigned!” + +So. Lenin and the Petrograd workers had decided on insurrection, the +Petrograd Soviet had overthrown the Provisional Government, and thrust +the _coup d’etat_ upon the Congress of Soviets. Now there was all great +Russia to win—and then the world! Would Russia follow and rise? And the +world—what of it? Would the peoples answer and rise, a red world-tide? + +Although it was six in the morning, night was yet heavy and chill. +There was only a faint unearthly pallor stealing over the silent +streets, dimming the watch-fires, the shadow of a terrible dawn +grey-rising over Russia…. + + + + +Chapter V +Plunging Ahead + + +Thursday, November 8th. Day broke on a city in the wildest excitement +and confusion, a whole nation heaving up in long hissing swells of +storm. Superficially all was quiet; hundreds of thousands of people +retired at a prudent hour, got up early, and went to work. In Petrograd +the street-cars were running, the stores and restaurants open, theatres +going, an exhibition of paintings advertised…. All the complex routine +of common life—humdrum even in war-time—proceeded as usual. Nothing is +so astounding as the vitality of the social organism—how it persists, +feeding itself, clothing itself, amusing itself, in the face of the +worst calamities…. + +The air was full of rumours about Kerensky, who was said to have raised +the Front, and to be leading a great army against the capital. _Volia +Naroda_ published a _prikaz_ launched by him at Pskov: + +The disorders caused by the insane attempt of the Bolsheviki place the +country on the verge of a precipice, and demand the effort of our +entire will, our courage and the devotion of every one of us, to win +through the terrible trial which the fatherland is undergoing…. + +Until the declaration of the composition of the new Government—if one +is formed—every one ought to remain at his post and fulfil his duty +toward bleeding Russia. It must be remembered that the least +interference with existing Army organisations can bring on irreparable +misfortunes, by opening the Front to the enemy. Therefore it is +indispensable to preserve at any price the morale of the troops, by +assuring complete order and the preservation of the Army from new +shocks, and by maintaining absolute confidence between officers and +their subordinates. I order all the chiefs and Commissars, in the name +of the safety of the country, to stay at their posts, as I myself +retain the post of Supreme Commander, until the Provisional Government +of the Republic shall declare its will…. + +In answer, this placard on all the walls: + +FROM THE ALL-RUSSIAN CONGRESS OF SOVIETS + + +“The ex-Ministers Konovalov, Kishkin, Terestchenko, Maliantovitch, +Nikitin and others have been arrested by the Military Revolutionary +Committee. Kerensky has fled. All Army organisations are ordered to +take every measure for the immediate arrest of Kerensky and his +conveyance to Petrograd. + +“All assistance given to Kerensky will be punished as a serious crime +against the state.” + +With brakes released the Military Revolutionary Committee whirled, +throwing off orders, appeals, decrees, like sparks. (See App. V, Sect. +1)… Kornilov was ordered brought to Petrograd. Members of the Peasant +Land Committees imprisoned by the Provisional Government were declared +free. Capital punishment in the army was abolished. Government +employees were ordered to continue their work, and threatened with +severe penalties if they refused. All pillage, disorder and speculation +were forbidden under pain of death. Temporary Commissars were appointed +to the various Ministries: Foreign Affairs, Vuritsky and Trotzky; +Interior and Justice, Rykov; Labor, Shliapnikov; Finance, Menzhinsky; +Public Welfare, Madame Kollontai; Commerce, Ways and Communications, +Riazanov; Navy, the sailor Korbir; Posts and Telegraphs, Spiro; +Theatres, Muraviov; State Printing Office, Gherbychev; for the City of +Petrograd, Lieutenant Nesterov; for the Northern Front, Pozern…. + +To the Army, appeal to set up Military Revolutionary Committees. To the +railway workers, to maintain order, especially not to delay the +transport of food to the cities and the front…. In return, they were +promised representation in the Ministry of Ways and Communications. + +Cossack brothers! (said one proclamation). You are being led against +Petrograd. They want to force you into battle with the revolutionary +workers and soldiers of the capital. Do not believe a word that is said +by our common enemies, the land-owners and the capitalists. + +At our Congress are represented all the conscious organisations of +workers, soldiers and peasants of Russia. The Congress wishes also to +welcome into its midst the worker-Cossacks. The Generals of the Black +Band, henchmen of the land-owners, of Nicolai the Cruel, are our +enemies. + +They tell you that the Soviets wish to confiscate the lands of the +Cossacks. This is a lie. It is only from the great Cossack landlords +that the Revolution will confiscate the land to give it to the people. + +Organise Soviets of Cossacks’ Deputies! Join with the Soviets of +Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies! + +Show the Black Band that you are not traitors to the People, and that +you do not wish to be cursed by the whole of revolutionary Russia!… + +Cossack brothers, execute no orders of the enemies of the people. Send +your delegates to Petrograd to talk it over with us…. The Cossacks of +the Petrograd garrison, to their honour, have not justified the hope of +the People’s enemies…. + +Cossack brothers! The All-Russian Congress of Soviets extends to you a +fraternal hand. Long live the brotherhood of the Cossacks with the +soldiers, workers and peasants of all Russia! + +On the other side, what a storm of proclamations posted up, hand-bills +scattered everywhere, newspapers—screaming and cursing and prophesying +evil. Now raged the battle of the printing press—all other weapons +being in the hands of the Soviets. + +First, the appeal of the Committee for Salvation of Country and +Revolution, flung broadcast over Russia and Europe: + +TO THE CITIZENS OF THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC! + + +Contrary to the will of the revolutionary masses, on November 7th the +Bolsheviki of Petrograd criminally arrested part of the Provisional +Government, dispersed the Council of the Republic, and proclaimed an +illegal power. Such violence committed against the Government of +revolutionary Russia at the moment of its greatest external danger, is +an indescribable crime against the fatherland. + +The insurrection of the Bolsheviki deals a mortal blow to the cause of +national defence, and postpones immeasurably the moment of peace so +greatly desired. + +Civil war, begun by the Bolsheviki, threatens to deliver the country to +the horrors of anarchy and counter-revolution, and cause the failure of +the Constituent Assembly, which must affirm the republican régime and +transmit to the People forever their right to the land. + +Preserving the continuity of the only legal Governmental power, the +Committee for Salvation of Country and Revolution, established on the +night of November 7th, takes the initiative in forming a new +Provisional Government; which, basing itself on the forces of +democracy, will conduct the country to the Constituent Assembly and +save it from anarchy and counter-revolution. The Committee for +Salvation summons you, citizens, to refuse to recognise the power of +violence. Do not obey its orders! + +Rise for the defence of the country and Revolution! + +Support the Committee for Salvation! + +Signed by the Council of the Russian Republic, the Municipal Duma of +Petrograd, the _Tsay-ee-kah (First Congress),_ the Executive Committee +of the Peasants’ Soviets, and from the Congress itself the Front group, +the factions of Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviki, Populist +Socialists, Unified Social Democrats, and the group “Yedinstvo.” + +Then posters from the Socialist Revolutionary party, the Mensheviki +_oborontsi,_ Peasants’ Soviets again; from the Central Army Committee, +the _Tsentroflot_…. + +… Famine will crush Petrograd! (they cried). The German armies will +trample on our liberty. Black Hundred _pogroms_ will spread over +Russia, if we all—conscious workers, soldiers, citizens—do not unite…. + +Do not trust the promises of the Bolsheviki! The promise of immediate +peace—is a lie! The promise of bread—a hoax! The promise of land—a +fairy tale!… + +They were all in this manner. + +Comrades! You have been basely and cruelly deceived! The seizure of +power has been accomplished by the Bolsheviki alone…. They concealed +their plot from the other Socialist parties composing the Soviet…. + +You have been promised land and freedom, but the counter-revolution +will profit by the anarchy called forth by the Bolsheviki, and will +deprive you of land and freedom…. + +The newspapers were as violent. + +Our duty (said the _Dielo Naroda_) is to unmask these traitors to the +working-class. Our duty is to mobilise all our forces and mount guard +over the cause of the Revolution!… + +_Izviestia,_ for the last time speaking in the name of the old +_Tsay-ee-kah,_ threatened awful retribution. + +As for the Congress of Soviets, we affirm that there has been no +Congress of Soviets! We affirm that it was merely a private conference +of the Bolshevik faction! And in that case, they have no right to +cancel the powers of the _Tsay-ee-kah_…. + +_Novaya Zhizn,_ while pleading for a new Government that should unite +all the Socialist parties, criticised severely the action of the +Socialist Revolutionaries and the Mensheviki in quitting the Congress, +and pointed out that the Bolshevik insurrection meant one thing very +clearly: that all illusions about coalition with the bourgeoisie were +henceforth demonstrated vain… + +_Rabotchi Put_ blossomed out as _Pravda,_ Lenin’s newspaper which had +been suppressed in July. It crowed, bristling: + +Workers, soldiers, peasants! In March you struck down the tyranny of +the clique of nobles. Yesterday you struck down the tyranny of the +bourgeois gang…. + +The first task now is to guard the approaches to Petrograd. + +The second is definitely to disarm the counter-revolutionary elements +of Petrograd. + +The third is definitely to organise the revolutionary power and assure +the realisation of the popular programme… + +What few Cadet organs appeared, and the bourgeoisie generally, adopted +a detached, ironical attitude toward the whole business, a sort of +contemptuous “I—told—you—so” to the other parties. Influential Cadets +were to be seen hovering around the Municipal Duma, and on the +outskirts of the Committee for Salvation. Other than that, the +bourgeoisie lay low, biding its hour—which could not far off. That the +Bolsheviki would remain in power longer than three days never occurred +to anybody—except perhaps to Lenin, Trotzky, the Petrograd workers and +the simpler soldiers…. + +In the high, amphitheatrical Nicolai Hall that afternoon I saw the Duma +sitting in _permanence,_ tempestuous, grouping around it all the forces +of opposition. The old Mayer, Schreider, majestic with his white hair +and beard, was describing his visit to Smolny the night before, to +protest in the name of the Municipal Self-Government. “The Duma, being +the only existing legal Government in the city, elected by equal, +direct and secret suffrage, would not recognise the new power,” he had +told Trotzky. And Trotzky had answered, “There is a constitutional +remedy for that. The Duma can be dissolved and re-elected….” At this +report there was a furious outcry. + +“If one recognises a Government by bayonet,” continued the old man, +addressing the Duma, “well, we have one; but I consider legitimate only +a Government recognised by the majority, and not one created by the +usurpation of a minority!” Wild applause on all benches except those of +the Bolsheviki. Amid renewed tumult the Mayor announced that the +Bolsheviki already were violating Municipal autonomy by appointing +Commissars in many departments. + +The Bolshevik speaker shouted, trying to make himself heard, that the +decision of the Congress of Soviets meant that all Russia backed up the +action of the Bolsheviki. + +“You!” he cried. “You are not the real representative of the people of +Petrograd!” Shrieks of “Insult! Insult!” The old Mayor, with dignity, +reminded him that the Duma was elected by the freest possible popular +vote. “Yes,” he answered, “but that was a long time ago—like the +_Tsay-ee-kah_—like the Army Committee.” + +“There has been no new Congress of Soviets!” they yelled at him. + +“The Bolshevik faction refuses to remain any longer in this nest of +counter-revolution—” Uproar. “—and we demand a re-election of the +Duma….” Whereupon the Bolsheviki left the chamber, followed by cries of +“German agents! Down with the traitors!” + +Shingariov, Cadet, then demanded that all Municipal functionaries who +had consented to be Commissars of the Military Revolutionary Committee +be discharged from their position and indicted. Schreider was on his +feet, putting a motion to the effect that the Duma protested against +the menace of the Bolsheviki to dissolve it, and as the legal +representative of the population, it would refuse to leave its post. + +Outside, the Alexander Hall was crowded for the meeting of the +Committee for Salvation, and Skobeliev was again speaking. “Never yet,” +he said, “was the fate of the Revolution so acute, never yet did the +question of the existence of the Russian state excite so much anxiety, +never yet did history put so harshly and categorically the question—is +Russia to be or not to be! The great hour for the salvation of the +Revolution has arrived, and in consciousness thereof we observe the +close union of the live forces of the revolutionary democracy, by whose +organised will a centre for the salvation of the country and the +Revolution has already been created….” And much of the same sort. “We +shall die sooner than surrender our post!” + +Amid violent applause it was announced that the Union of Railway +Workers had joined the Committee for Salvation. A few moments later the +Post and Telegraph Employees came in; then some Mensheviki +Internationalists entered the hall, to cheers. The Railway men said +they did not recognise the Bolsheviki and had taken the entire railroad +apparatus into their own hands, refusing to entrust it to any +usurpatory power. The Telegraphers’ delegate declared that the +operators had flatly refused to work their instruments as long as the +Bolshevik Commissar was in the office. The Postmen would not deliver or +accept mail at Smolny…. All the Smolny telephones were cut off. With +great glee it was reported how Uritzky had gone to the Ministry of +Foreign Affairs to demand the secret treaties, and how Neratov had put +him out. The Government employees were all stopping work…. + +It was war—war deliberately planned, Russian fashion; war by strike and +sabotage. As we sat there the chairman read a list of names and +assignments; so-and-so was to make the round of the Ministries; another +was to visit the banks; some ten or twelve were to work the barracks +and persuade the soldiers to remain neutral—“Russian soldiers, do not +shed the blood of your brothers!”; a committee was to go and confer +with Kerensky; still others were despatched to provincial cities, to +form branches of the Committee for Salvation, and link together the +anti-Bolshevik elements. + +The crowd was in high spirits. “These Bolsheviki _will_ try to dictate +to the _intelligentzia?_ We’ll show them!”… Nothing could be more +striking than the contrast between this assemblage and the Congress of +Soviets. There, great masses of shabby soldiers, grimy workmen, +peasants—poor men, bent and scarred in the brute struggle for +existence; here the Menshevik and Social Revolutionary +leaders—Avksentievs, Dans, Liebers,—the former Socialist +Ministers—Skobelievs, Tchernovs,—rubbed shoulders with Cadets like oily +Shatsky, sleek Vinaver; with journalists, students, intellectuals of +almost all camps. This Duma crowd was well-fed, well-dressed; I did not +see more than three proletarians among them all…. + +News came. Kornilov’s faithful _Tekhintsi_[14] had slaughtered his +guards at Bykhov, and he had escaped. Kaledin was marching north…. The +Soviet of Moscow had set up a Military Revolutionary Committee, and was +negotiating with the commandant of the city for possession of the +arsenal, so that the workers might be armed. + +[14] See Notes and Explanations. + +With these facts was mixed an astounding jumble of rumours, +distortions, and plain lies. For instance, an intelligent young Cadet, +formerly private secretary to Miliukov and then to Terestchenko, drew +us aside and told us all about the taking of the Winter Palace. + +“The Bolsheviki were led by German and Austrian officers,” he affirmed. + +“Is that so?” we replied, politely. “How do you know?” + +“A friend of mine was there and saw them.” + +“How could he tell they were German officers?” + +“Oh, because they wore German uniforms!” + +There were hundreds of such absurd tales, and they were not only +solemnly published by the anti-Bolshevik press, but believed by the +most unlikely persons—Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviki who had +always been distinguished by their sober devotion to facts…. + +But more serious were the stories of Bolshevik violence and terrorism. +For example, it was said printed that the Red Guards had not only +thoroughly looted the Winter Palace, but that they had massacred the +_yunkers_ after disarming them, had killed some of the Ministers in +cold blood; and as for the woman soldiers, most of them had been +violated, and many had committed suicide because of the tortures they +had gone through…. All these stories were swallowed whole by the crowd +in the Duma. And worse still, the mothers and fathers of the students +and of the women read these frightful details, _often accompanied by +lists of names,_ and toward nightfall the Duma began to be besieged by +frantic citizens…. + +A typical case is that of Prince Tumanov, whose body, it was announced +in many newspapers, had been found floating in the Moika Canal. A few +hours later this was denied by the Prince’s family, who added that the +Prince was under arrest so the press identified the dead man as General +Demissov. The General having also come to life, we investigated, and +could find no trace of any body found whatever…. + +As we left the Duma building two boy scouts were distributing +hand-bills (See App. V, Sect. 2) to the enormous crowd which blocked +the Nevsky in front of the door—a crowd composed almost entirely of +business men, shop-keepers, _tchinouniki,_ clerks. One read! + +FROM THE MUNICIPAL DUMA + + +The Municipal Duma in its meeting of October 26th, in view of the +events of the day decrees: To announce the inviolability of private +dwellings. Through the House Committees it calls upon the population of +the town of Petrograd to meet with decisive repulse all attempts to +enter by force private apartments, not stopping at the use of arms, in +the interests of the self-defence of citizens. + +Up on the corner of the Liteiny, five or six Red Guards and a couple of +sailors had surrounded a news-dealer and were demanding that he hand +over his copies of the Menshevik _Rabot-chaya Gazeta_ (Workers’ +Gazette). Angrily he shouted at them, shaking his fist, as one of the +sailors tore the papers from his stand. An ugly crowd had gathered +around, abusing the patrol. One little workman kept explaining doggedly +to the people and the news-dealer, over and over again, “It has +Kerensky’s proclamation in it. It says we killed Russian people. It +will make bloodshed….” + +Smolny was tenser than ever, if that were possible. The same running +men in the dark corridors, squads of workers with rifles, leaders with +bulging portfolios arguing, explaining, giving orders as they hurried +anxiously along, surrounded by friends and lieutenants. Men literally +out of themselves, living prodigies of sleeplessness and work-men +unshaven, filthy, with burning eyes, who drove upon their fixed purpose +full speed on engines of exaltation. So much they had to do, so much! +Take over the Government, organise the City, keep the garrison loyal, +fight the Duma and the Committee for Salvation, keep out the Germans, +prepare to do battle with Kerensky, inform the provinces what had +happened, Propagandise from Archangel to Vladivostok…. Government and +Municipal employees refusing to obey their Commissars, post and +telegraph refusing them communication, railroads stonily ignoring their +appeals for trains, Kerensky coming, the garrison not altogether to be +trusted, the Cossacks waiting to come out…. Against them not only the +organised bourgeoisie, but all the other Socialist parties except the +Left Socialist Revolutionaries, a few Mensheviki Internationalists and +the Social Democrat Internationalists, and even they undecided whether +to stand by or not. With them, it is true, the workers and the +soldier-masses—the peasants an unknown quantity—but after all the +Bolsheviki were a political faction not rich in trained and educated +men…. + +Riazanov was coming up the front steps, explaining in a sort of +humorous panic that he, Commissar of Commerce, knew nothing whatever of +business. In the upstairs cafe sat a man all by himself in the corner, +in a goat-skin cape and clothes which had been—I was going to say +“slept in,” but of course he hadn’t slept—and a three days’ growth of +beard. He was anxiously figuring on a dirty envelope, and biting his +pencil meanwhile. This was Menzhinsky, Commissar of Finance, whose +qualifications were that he had once been clerk in a French bank…. And +these four half-running down the hall from the office of the Military +Revolutionary Committee, and scribbling on bits of paper as they +run—these were Commissars despatched to the four corners of Russia to +carry the news, argue, or fight—with whatever arguments or weapons came +to hand…. + +The Congress was to meet at one o’clock, and long since the great +meeting-hall had filled, but by seven there was yet no sign of the +presidium…. The Bolshevik and Left Social Revolutionary factions were +in session in their own rooms. All the livelong afternoon Lenin and +Trotzky had fought against compromise. A considerable part of the +Bolsheviki were in favour of giving way so far as to create a joint +all-Socialist government. “We can’t hold on!” they cried. + +“Too much is against us. We haven’t got the men. We will be isolated, +and the whole thing will fall.” So Kameniev, Riazanov and others. + +But Lenin, with Trotzky beside him, stood firm as a rock. “Let the +compromisers accept our programme and they can come in! We won’t give +way an inch. If there are comrades here who haven’t the courage and the +will to dare what we dare, let them leave with the rest of the cowards +and conciliators! Backed by the workers and soldiers we shall go on.” + +At five minutes past seven came word from the left Socialist +Revolutionaries to say that they would remain in the Military +Revolutionary Committee. + +“See!” said Lenin. “They are following!” + +A little later, as we sat at the press table in the big hall, an +Anarchist who was writing for the bourgeois papers proposed to me that +we go and find out what had become of the presidium. There was nobody +in the _Tsay-ee-kah_ office, nor in the bureau of the Petrograd Soviet. +From room to room we wandered, through vast Smolny. Nobody seemed to +have the slightest idea where to find the governing body of the +Congress. As we went my companion described his ancient revolutionary +activities, his long and pleasant exile in France…. As for the +Bolsheviki, he confided to me that they were common, rude, ignorant +persons, without aesthetic sensibilities. He was a real specimen of the +Russian _intelligentzia_…. So he came at last to Room 17, office of the +Military Revolutionary Committee, and stood there in the midst of all +the furious coming and going. The door opened, and out shot a squat, +flat-faced man in a uniform without insignia, who seemed to be +smiling—which smile, after a minute, one saw to be the fixed grin of +extreme fatigue. It was Krylenko. + +My friend, who was a dapper, civilized-looking young man, gave a cry of +pleasure and stepped forward. + +“Nicolai Vasilievitch!” he said, holding out his hand. “Don’t you +remember me, comrade? We were in prison together.” + +Krylenko made an effort and concentrated his mind and sight. “Why yes,” +he answered finally, looking the other up and down with an expression +of great friendliness. “You are S—. _Zdra’stvuitye!_” They kissed. +“What are you doing in all this?” He waved his arm around. + +“Oh, I’am just looking on…. You seem very successful.” + +“Yes,” replied Krylenko, with a sort of doggedness, “The proletarian +Revolution is a great success.” He laughed. “Perhaps—perhaps, however, +we’ll meet in prison again!” + +When we got out into the corridor again my friend went on with his +explanations. “You see, I’m a follower of Kropotkin. To us the +Revolution is a great failure; it has not aroused the patriotism of the +masses. Of course that only proves that the people are not ready for +Revolution….” + +It was just 8.40 when a thundering wave of cheers announced the +entrance of the presidium, with Lenin—great Lenin—among them. A short, +stocky figure, with a big head set down in his shoulders, bald and +bulging. Little eyes, a snubbish nose, wide, generous mouth, and heavy +chin; clean-shaven now, but already beginning to bristle with the +well-known beard of his past and future. Dressed in shabby clothes, his +trousers much too long for him. Unimpressive, to be the idol of a mob, +loved and revered as perhaps few leaders in history have been. A +strange popular leader—a leader purely by virtue of intellect; +colourless, humourless, uncompromising and detached, without +picturesque idiosyncrasies—but with the power of explaining profound +ideas in simple terms, of analysing a concrete situation. And combined +with shrewdness, the greatest intellectual audacity. + +Kameniev was reading the report of the actions of the Military +Revolutionary Committee; abolition of capital punishment in the Army, +restoration of the free right of propaganda, release of officers and +soldiers arrested for political crimes, orders to arrest Kerensky and +confiscation of food supplies in private store-houses…. Tremendous +applause. + +Again the representative of the _Bund._ The uncompromising attitude of +the Bolsheviki would mean the crushing of the Revolution; therefore, +the _Bund_ delegates must refuse any longer to sit in the Congress. +Cries from the audience, “We thought you walked out last night! How +many times are you going to walk out?” + +Then the representative of the Mensheviki Internationalists. Shouts, +“What! You here still?” The speaker explained that only part of the +Mensheviki Internationalists left the Congress; the rest were going +to stay— + +“We consider it dangerous and perhaps even mortal for the Revolution to +transfer the power to the Soviets”—Interruptions—“but we feel it our +duty to remain in the Congress and vote against the transfer here!” + +Other speakers followed, apparently without any order. A delegate of +the coal-miners of the Don Basin called upon the Congress to take +measures against Kaledin, who might cut off coal and food from the +capital. Several soldiers just arrived from the Front brought the +enthusiastic greetings of their regiments…. Now Lenin, gripping the +edge of the reading stand, letting his little winking eyes travel over +the crowd as he stood there waiting, apparently oblivious to the +long-rolling ovation, which lasted several minutes. When it finished, +he said simply, “We shall now proceed to construct the Socialist +order!” Again that overwhelming human roar. + +“The first thing is the adoption of practical measures to realise +peace…. We shall offer peace to the peoples of all the belligerent +countries upon the basis of the Soviet terms—no annexations, no +indemnities, and the right of self-determination of peoples. At the +same time, according to our promise, we shall publish and repudiate the +secret treaties…. The question of War and Peace is so clear that I +think that I may, without preamble, read the project of a Proclamation +to the Peoples of All the Belligerent Countries….” + +His great mouth, seeming to smile, opened wide as he spoke; his voice +was hoarse—not unpleasantly so, but as if it had hardened that way +after years and years of speaking—and went on monotonously, with the +effect of being able to go on forever…. For emphasis he bent forward +slightly. No gestures. And before him, a thousand simple faces looking +up in intent adoration. + +PROCLAMATION TO THE PEOPLES AND GOVERNMENTS OF ALL THE BELLIGERENT +NATIONS. + + +The Workers’ and Peasants’ Government, created by the revolution of +November 6th and 7th and based on the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ +and Peasants’ Deputies, proposes to all the belligerent peoples and to +their Governments to begin immediately negotiations for a just and +democratic peace. + +The Government means by a just and democratic peace, which is desired +by the immense majority of the workers and the labouring classes, +exhausted and depleted by the war—that peace which the Russian workers +and peasants, after having struck down the Tsarist monarchy, have not +ceased to demand categorically—immediate peace without annexations +(that is to say, without conquest of foreign territory, without +forcible annexation of other nationalities), and without indemnities. + +The Government of Russia Proposes to all the belligerent peoples +immediately to conclude such a peace, by showing themselves willing to +enter upon the decisive steps of negotiations aiming at such a peace, +at once, without the slightest delay, before the definitive +ratification of all the conditions of such a peace by the authorised +assemblies of the people of all countries and of all nationalities. + +By annexation or conquest of foreign territory, the Government +means—conformably to the conception of democratic rights in general, +and the rights of the working-class in particular—all union to a great +and strong State of a small or weak nationality, without the voluntary, +clear and precise expression of its consent and desire; whatever be the +moment when such an annexation by force was accomplished, whatever be +the degree civilisation of the nation annexed by force or maintained +outside the frontiers of another State, no matter if that nation be in +Europe or in the far countries across the sea. + +If any nation is retained by force within the limits of another State; +if, in spite of the desire expressed by it, (it matters little if that +desire be expressed by the press, by popular meetings, decisions of +political parties, or by disorders and riots against national +oppression), that nation is not given the right of deciding by free +vote—without the slightest constraint, after the complete departure of +the armed forces of the nation which has annexed it or wishes to annex +it or is stronger in general—the form of its national and political +organisation, such a union constitutes an annexation—that is to say, +conquest and an act of violence. + +To continue this war in order to permit the strong and rich nations to +divide among themselves the weak and conquered nationalities is +considered by the Government the greatest possible crime against +humanity; and the Government solemnly proclaims its decision to sign a +treaty of peace which will put an end to this war upon the above +conditions, equally fair for all nationalities without exception. + +The Government abolishes secret diplomacy, expressing before the whole +country its firm decision to conduct all the negotiations in the light +of day before the people, and will proceed immediately to the full +publication of all secret treaties confirmed or concluded by the +Government of land-owners and capitalists, from March until November +7th, 1917. All the clauses of the secret treaties which, as occur in a +majority of cases, have for their object to procure advantages and +privileges for Russian capitalists, to maintain or augment the +annexations of the Russian imperialists, are denounced by the +Government immediately and without discussion. + +In proposing to all Governments and all peoples to engage in public +negotiations for peace, the Government declares itself ready to carry +on these negotiations by telegraph, by post, or by pourparlers between +the representatives of the different countries, or at a conference of +these representatives. To facilitate these pourparlers, the Government +appoints its authorised representatives in the neutral countries. + +The Government proposes to all the governments and to the peoples of +all the belligerent countries to conclude an immediate armistice, at +the same time suggesting that the armistice ought to last three months, +during which time it is perfectly possible, not only to hold the +necessary pourparlers between the representatives of all the nations +and nationalities without exception drawn into the war or forced to +take part in it, but also to convoke authorised assemblies of +representatives of the people of all countries, for the purpose of the +definite acceptance of the conditions of peace. + +In addressing this offer of peace to the Governments and to the peoples +of all the belligerent countries, the Provisional Workers’ and +Peasants’ Government of Russia addresses equally and in particular the +conscious workers of the three nations most devoted to humanity and the +three most important nations among those taking part in the present +war—England, France, and Germany. The workers of these countries have +rendered the greatest services to the cause of progress and of +Socialism. The splendid examples of the Chartist movement in England, +the series of revolutions, of world-wide historical significance, +accomplished by the French proletariat—and finally, in Germany, the +historic struggle against the Laws of Exception, an example for the +workers of the whole world of prolonged and stubborn action, and the +creation of the formidable organisations of German proletarians—all +these models of proletarian heroism, these monuments of history, are +for us a sure guarantee that the workers of these countries will +understand the duty imposed upon them to liberate humanity from the +horrors and consequences of war; and that these workers, by decisive, +energetic and continued action, will help us to bring to a successful +conclusion the cause of peace—and at the same time, the cause of the +liberation of the exploited working masses from all slavery and all +exploitation. + +When the grave thunder of applause had died away, Lenin spoke again: + +“We propose to the Congress to ratify this declaration. We address +ourselves to the Governments as well as to the peoples, for a +declaration which would be addressed only to the peoples of the +belligerent countries might delay the conclusion of peace. The +conditions of peace, drawn up during the armistice, will be ratified by +the Constituent Assembly. In fixing the duration of the armistice at +three months, we desire to give to the peoples as long a rest as +possible after this bloody extermination, and ample time for them to +elect their representatives. This proposal of peace will meet with +resistance on the part of the imperialist governments—we don’t fool +ourselves on that score. But we hope that revolution will soon break +out in all the belligerent countries; that is why we address ourselves +especially to the workers of France, England and Germany…. + +“The revolution of November 6th and 7th,” he ended, “has opened the era +of the Social Revolution…. The labour movement, in the name of peace +and Socialism, shall win, and fulfil its destiny….” + +There was something quiet and powerful in all this, which stirred the +souls of men. It was understandable why people believed when Lenin +spoke…. + +By crowd vote it was quickly decided that only representatives of +political factions should be allowed to speak on the motion and that +speakers should be limited to fifteen minutes. + +First Karelin for the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. “Our faction had +no opportunity to propose amendments to the text of the proclamation; +it is a private document of the Bolsheviki. But we will vote for it +because we agree with its spirit….” + +For the Social Democrats Internationalists Kramarov, long, +stoop-shouldered and near-sighted—destined to achieve some notoriety as +the Clown of the Opposition. Only a Government composed of all the +Socialist parties, he said, could possess the authority to take such +important action. If a Socialist coalition were formed, his faction +would support the entire programme; if not, only part of it. As for the +proclamation, the Internationalists were in thorough accord with its +main points…. + +Then one after another, amid rising enthusiasm; Ukrainean Social +Democracy, support; Lithuanian Social Democracy, support; Populist +Socialists, support; Polish Social Democracy, support; Polish +Socialists support—but would prefer a Socialist coalition; Lettish +Social Democracy, support…. Something was kindled in these men. One +spoke of the “coming World-Revolution, of which we are the +advance-guard”; another of “the new age of brotherhood, when all the +peoples will become one great family….” An individual member claimed +the floor. “There is contradiction here,” he said. “First you offer +peace without annexations and indemnities, and then you say you will +consider all peace offers. To consider means to accept….” + +Lenin was on his feet. “We want a just peace, but we are not afraid of +a revolutionary war…. Probably the imperialist Governments will not +answer our appeal—but we shall not issue an ultimatum to which it will +be easy to say no…. If the German proletariat realises that we are +ready to consider all offers of peace, that will perhaps be the last +drop which overflows the bowl—revolution will break out in Germany…. + +“We consent to examine all conditions of peace, but that doesn’t mean +that we shall accept them…. For some of our terms we shall fight to the +end—but possibly for others will find it impossible to continue the +war…. Above all, we want to finish the war….” + +It was exactly 10:35 when Kameniev asked all in favour of the +proclamation to hold up their cards. One delegate dared to raise his +hand against, but the sudden sharp outburst around him brought it +swiftly down…. Unanimous. + +Suddenly, by common impulse, we found ourselves on our feet, mumbling +together into the smooth lifting unison of the _Internationale._ A +grizzled old soldier was sobbing like a child. Alexandra Kollontai +rapidly winked the tears back. The immense sound rolled through the +hall, burst windows and doors and seared into the quiet sky. “The war +is ended! The war is ended!” said a young workman near me, his face +shining. And when it was over, as we stood there in a kind of awkward +hush, some one in the back of the room shouted, “Comrades! Let us +remember those who have died for liberty!” So we began to sing the +Funeral March, that slow, melancholy and yet triumphant chant, so +Russian and so moving. The _Internationale_ is an alien air, after all. +The Funeral March seemed the very soul of those dark masses whose +delegates sat in this hall, building from their obscure visions a new +Russia—and perhaps more. + +You fell in the fatal fight + +For the liberty of the people, for the honour of the people…. + +You gave up your lives and everything dear to you, + +You suffered in horrible prisons, + +You went to exile in chains…. + +Without a word you carried your chains because you could not ignore +your suffering brothers, + +Because you believed that justice is stronger than the sword…. + +The time will come when your surrendered life will count + +That time is near; when tyranny falls the people will rise, great and +free! + +Farewell, brothers, you chose a noble path, + +You are followed by the new and fresh army ready to die and to suffer…. + +Farewell, brothers, you chose a noble path, + +At your grave we swear to fight, to work for freedom and the people’s +happiness…. + +For this did they lie there, the martyrs of March, in their cold +Brotherhood Grave on Mars Field; for this thousands and tens of +thousands had died in the prisons, in exile, in Siberian mines. It had +not come as they expected it would come, nor as the _intelligentzia_ +desired it; but it had come—rough, strong, impatient of formulas, +contemptuous of sentimentalism; real…. + +Lenin was reading the Decree on Land: + +(1.) All private ownership of land is abolished immediately without +compensation. + +(2.) All land-owners’ estates, and all lands belonging to the Crown, to +monasteries, church lands with all their live stock and inventoried +property, buildings and all appurtenances, are transferred to the +disposition of the township Land Committees and the district Soviets of +Peasants’ Deputies until the Constituent Assembly meets. + +(3.) Any damage whatever done to the confiscated property which from +now on belongs to the whole People, is regarded as a serious crime, +punishable by the revolutionary tribunals. The district Soviets of +Peasants’ Deputies shall take all necessary measures for the observance +of the strictest order during the taking over of the land-owners’ +estates, for the determination of the dimensions of the plots of land +and which of them are subject to confiscation, for the drawing up of an +inventory of the entire confiscated property, and for the strictest +revolutionary protection of all the farming property on the land, with +all buildings, implements, cattle, supplies of products, etc., passing +into the hands of the People. + +(4.) For guidance during the realisation of the great land reforms +until their final resolution by the Constituent Assembly, shall serve +the following peasant _nakaz_ (See App. V, Sect. 3) (instructions), +drawn up on the basis of 242 local peasant _nakazi_ by the editorial +board of the “_Izviestia_ of the All-Russian Soviet of Peasants’ +Deputies,” and published in No.88 of said _“Izviestia”_ (Petrograd, +No.88, August 19th, 1917). + +The lands of peasants and of Cossacks serving in the Army shall not be +confiscated. + +“This is not,” explained Lenin, “the project of former Minister +Tchernov, who spoke of ‘erecting a frame-work’ and tried to realise +reforms from above. From below, on the spot, will be decided the +questions of division of the land. The amount of land received by each +peasant will vary according to the locality…. + +“Under the Provisional Government, the _pomieshtchiki_ flatly refused +to obey the orders of the Land Committees—those Land Committees +projected by Lvov, brought into existence by Shingariov, and +administered by Kerensky!” + +Before the debates could begin a man forced his way violently through +the crowd in the aisle and climbed upon the platform. It was Pianikh, +member of the Executive Committee of the Peasants’ Soviets, and he was +mad clean through. + +“The Executive Committee of the All-Russian Soviets of Peasants’ +Deputies protests against the arrest of our comrades, the Ministers +Salazkin and Mazlov!” he flung harshly in the faces of the crowd, “We +demand their instant release! They are now in Peter-Paul fortress. We +must have immediate action! There is not a moment to lose!” + +Another followed him, a soldier with disordered beard and flaming eyes. +“You sit here and talk about giving the land to the peasants, and you +commit an act of tyrants and usurpers against the peasants’ chosen +representatives! I tell you—” he raised his fist, “If one hair of their +heads is harmed, you’ll have a revolt on your hands!” The crowd stirred +confusedly. + +Then up rose Trotzky, calm and venomous, conscious of power, greeted +with a roar. “Yesterday the Military Revolutionary Committee decided to +release the Socialist Revolutionary and Menshevik Ministers, Mazlov, +Salazkin, Gvozdov and Maliantovitch—on principle. That they are still +in Peter-Paul is only because we have had so much to do…. They will, +however, be detained at their homes under arrest until we have +investigated their complicity in the treacherous acts of Kerensky +during the Kornilov affair!” + +“Never,” shouted Pianikh, “in any revolution have such things been seen +as go on here!” + +“You are mistaken,” responded Trotzky. “Such things have been seen even +in this revolution. Hundreds of our comrades were arrested in the July +days…. When Comrade Kollontai was released from prison by the doctor’s +orders, Avksentiev placed at her door two former agents of the Tsar’s +secret police!” The peasants withdrew, muttering, followed by ironical +hoots. + +The representative of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries spoke on the +Land Decree. While agreeing in principle, his faction could not vote on +the question until after discussion. The Peasants’ Soviets should be +consulted…. + +The Mensheviki Internationalists, too, insisted on a party caucus. + +Then the leader of the Maximalists, the Anarchist wing of the peasants: +“We must do honour to a political party which puts such an act into +effect the first day, without jawing about it!” + +A typical peasant was in the tribune, long hair, boots and sheep-skin +coat, bowing to all corners of the hall. “I wish you well, comrades and +citizens,” he said. “There are some Cadets walking around outside. You +arrested our Socialist peasants—why not arrest them?” + +This was the signal for a debate of excited peasants. It was precisely +like the debate of soldiers of the night before. Here were the real +proletarians of the land…. + +“Those members of our Executive Committee, Avksentiev and the rest, +whom we thought were the peasants’ protectors—they are only Cadets too! +Arrest them! Arrest them!” + +Another, “Who are these Pianikhs, these Avksentievs? They are not +peasants at all! They only wag their tails!” + +How the crowd rose to them, recognising brothers! + +The Left Socialist Revolutionaries proposed a half-hour intermission. +As the delegates streamed out, Lenin stood up in his place. + +“We must not lose time, comrades! News all-important to Russia must be +on the press to-morrow morning. No delay!” + +And above the hot discussion, argument, shuffling of feet could be +heard the voice of an emissary of the Military Revolutionary Committee, +crying, “Fifteen agitators wanted in room 17 at once! To go to the +Front!”… + +It was almost two hours and a half later that the delegates came +straggling back, the presidium mounted the platform, and the session +recommenced by the reading of telegrams from regiment after regiment, +announcing their adhesion to the Military Revolutionary Committee. + +In leisurely manner the meeting gathered momentum. A delegate from the +Russian troops on the Macedonian front spoke bitterly of their +situation. “We suffer there more from the friendship of our ‘Allies’ +than from the enemy,” he said. Representatives of the Tenth and Twelfth +Armies, just arrived in hot haste, reported, “We support you with all +our strength!” A peasant-soldier protested against the release of “the +traitor Socialists, Mazlov and Salazkin”; as for the Executive +Committee of the Peasants’ Soviets, it should be arrested _en +masse!_Here was real revolutionary talk…. A deputy from the Russian +Army in Persia declared he was instructed to demand all power to the +Soviets…. A Ukrainean officer, speaking in his native tongue: “There is +no nationalism in this crisis…. _Da zdravstvuyet_ the proletarian +dictatorship of all lands!” Such a deluge of high and hot thoughts that +surely Russia would never again be dumb! + +Kameniev remarked that the anti-Bolshevik forces were trying to stir up +disorders everywhere, and read an appeal of the Congress to all the +Soviets of Russia: + +The All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, +including some Peasants’ Deputies, calls upon the local Soviets to take +immediate energetic measures to oppose all counter-revolutionary +anti-Jewish action and all _pogroms,_ whatever they may be. The honour +of the Workers’, Peasants’ and Soldiers’ Revolution demands that no +_pogrom_ be tolerated. + +The Red Guard of Petrograd, the revolutionary garrison and the sailors +have maintained complete order in the capital. + +Workers, soldiers and peasants, you should follow everywhere the +example of the workers and soldiers of Petrograd. + +Comrade soldiers and Cossacks, on us falls the duty of assuring real +revolutionary order. + +All revolutionary Russia and the entire world have their eyes on us…. + +At two o’clock the Land Decree was put to vote, with only one against +and the peasant delegates wild with joy…. So plunged the Bolsheviki +ahead, irresistible, over-riding hesitation and opposition—the only +people in Russia who had a definite programme of action while the +others talked for eight long months. + +Now arose a soldier, gaunt, ragged and eloquent, to protest against the +clause of the _nakaz_ tending to deprive military deserters from a +share in village land allotments. Bawled at and hissed at first, his +simple, moving speech finally made silence. “Forced against his will +into the butchery of the trenches,” he cried, “which you yourselves, in +the Peace decree, have voted senseless as well as horrible, he greeted +the Revolution with hope of peace and freedom. Peace? The Government of +Kerensky forced him again to go forward into Galicia to slaughter and +be slaughtered; to his pleas for peace, Terestchenko simply laughed…. +Freedom? Under Kerensky he found his Committees suppressed, his +newspapers cut off, his party speakers put in prison…. At home in his +village, the landlords were defying his Land Committees, jailing his +comrades…. In Petrograd the bourgeoisie, in alliance with the Germans, +were sabotaging the food and ammunition for the Army…. He was without +boots, or clothes…. Who forced him to desert? The Government of +Kerensky, which you have overthrown!” At the end there was applause. + +But another soldier hotly denounced it: “The Government of Kerensky is +not a screen behind which can be hidden dirty work like desertion! +Deserters are scoundrels, who run away home and leave their comrades to +die in the trenches alone! Every deserter is a traitor, and should be +punished….” Uproar, shouts of _“Do volno! Teesche!”_ Kameniev hastily +proposed to leave the matter to the Government for decision. (See App. +V, Sect. 4) + +At 2.30 A. M. fell a tense hush. Kameniev was reading the decree of the +Constitution of Power: + +Until the meeting of the Constituent Assembly, a provisional Workers’ +and Peasants’ Government is formed, which shall be named the Council of +People’s Commissars. (See App. V, Sect. 5) + +The administration of the different branches of state activity shall be +intrusted to commissions, whose composition shall be regulated to +ensure the carrying out of the programme of the Congress, in close +union with the mass-organisations of working-men, working-women, +sailors, soldiers, peasants and clerical employees. The governmental +power is vested in a _collegium_ made up of the chairmen of these +commissions, that is to say, the Council of People’s Commissars. + +Control over the activities of the People’s Commissars, and the right +to replace them, shall belong to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets of +Workers’, Peasants’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, and its Central Executive +Committee. + +Still silence; as he read the list of Commissars, bursts of applause +after each name, Lenin’s and Trotzky’s especially. + +_President of the Council:_ Vladimir Ulianov _(Lenin)_ + +_Interior:_ A. E. Rykov + +_Agriculture:_ V. P. Miliutin + +_Labour:_ A. G. Shliapnikov + +_Military and Naval Affairs_—a committee composed of V. A. + +_Avseenko (Antonov),_ N. V. Krylenko, and F. M. Dybenko. + +_Commerce and Industry:_ V. P. Nogin + +_Popular Education:_ A. V. Lunatcharsky + +_Finance:_ E. E. Skvortsov _(Stepanov)_ + +_Foreign Affairs:_ L. D. Bronstein _(Trotzky)_ + +_Justice:_ G. E. Oppokov _(Lomov)_ + +_Supplies:_ E. A. Teodorovitch + +_Post and Telegraph:_ N. P. Avilov _(Gliebov)_ + +_Chairman for Nationalities:_ I. V. Djougashvili _(Stalin)_ + +_Railroads:_ To be filled later. + +There were bayonets at the edges of the room, bayonets pricking up +among the delegates; the Military Revolutionary Committee was arming +everybody, Bolshevism was arming for the decisive battle with Kerensky, +the sound of whose trumpets came up the south-west wind…. In the +meanwhile nobody went home; on the contrary hundreds of newcomers +filtered in, filling the great room solid with stern-faced soldiers and +workmen who stood for hours and hours, indefatigably intent. The air +was thick with cigarette smoke, and human breathing, and the smell of +coarse clothes and sweat. + +Avilov of the staff of _Novaya Zhizn_ was speaking in the name of the +Social Democrat Internationalists and the remnant of the Mensheviki +Internationalists; Avilov, with his young, intelligent face, looking +out of place in his smart frock-coat. + +“We must ask ourselves where we are going…. The ease with which the +Coalition Government was upset cannot be explained by the strength of +the left wing of the democracy, but only by the incapacity of the +Government to give the people peace and bread. And the left wing cannot +maintain itself in power unless it can solve these questions…. + +“Can it give bread to the people? Grain is scarce. The majority of the +peasants will not be with you, for you cannot give them the machinery +they need. Fuel and other primary necessities are almost impossible to +procure…. + +“As for peace, that will be even more difficult. The allies refused to +talk with Skobeliev. They will never accept the proposition of a peace +conference from _you._ You will not be recognised either in London and +Paris, or in Berlin…. + +“You cannot count on the effective help of the proletariat of the +Allied countries, because in most countries it is very far from the +revolutionary struggle; remember, the Allied democracy was unable even +to convoke the Stockholm Conference. Concerning the German Social +Democrats, I have just talked with Comrade Goldenberg, one of our +delegates to Stockholm; he was told by the representatives of the +Extreme Left that revolution in Germany was impossible during the +war….” Here interruptions began to come thick and fast, but Avilov kept +on. + +“The isolation of Russia will fatally result either in the defeat of +the Russian Army by the Germans, and the patching up of a peace between +the Austro-German coalition and the Franco-British coalition _at the +expense of Russia_—or in a separate peace with Germany. + +“I have just learned that the Allied ambassadors are preparing to +leave, and that Committees for Salvation of Country and Revolution are +forming in all the cities of Russia…. + +“No one party can conquer these enormous difficulties. The majority of +the people, supporting a government of Socialist coalition, can alone +accomplish the Revolution…. + +“He then read the resolution of the two factions: + +Recognising that for the salvation of the conquests of the Revolution +it is indispensable immediately to constitute a government based on the +revolutionary democracy organised in the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ +and Peasants’ Deputies, recognising moreover that the task of this +government is the quickest possible attainment of peace, the transfer +of the land into the hands of the agrarian committees, the organisation +of control over industrial production, and the convocation of the +Constituent Assembly on the date decided, the Congress appoints an +executive committee to constitute such a government after an agreement +with the groups of the democracy which are taking part in the Congress. + +In spite of the revolutionary exaltation of the triumphant crowd, +Avilov’s cool tolerant reasoning had shaken them. Toward the end, the +cries and hisses died away, and when he finished there was even some +clapping. + +Karelin followed him—also young, fearless, whose sincerity no one +doubted—for the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, the party of Maria +Spiridonova, the party which almost alone followed the Bolsheviki, and +which represented the revolutionary peasants. + +“Our party has refused to enter the Council of People’s Commissars +because we do not wish forever to separate ourselves from the part of +the revolutionary army which left the Congress, a separation which +would make it impossible for us to serve as intermediaries between the +Bolsheviki and the other groups of the democracy…. And that is our +principal duty at this moment. We cannot sustain any government except +a government of Socialist coalition…. + +“We protest, moreover, against the tyrannical conduct of the +Bolsheviki. Our Commissars have been driven from their posts. Our only +organ, _Znamia Truda_ (Banner of Labour), was forbidden to appear +yesterday…. + +“The Central Duma is forming a powerful Committee for Salvation of +Country and Revolution, to fight you. Already you are isolated, and +your Government is without the support of a single other democratic +group…. + +And now Trotzky stood upon the raised tribune, confident and +dominating, with that sarcastic expression about his mouth which was +almost a sneer. He spoke, in a ringing voice, and the great crowd rose +to him. + +“These considerations on the dangers of isolation of our party are not +new. On the eve of insurrection our fatal defeat was also predicted. +Everybody was against us; only a faction of the Socialist +Revolutionaries of the left was with us in the Military Revolutionary +Committee. How is it that we were able to overturn the Government +almost without bloodshed?…. That fact is the most striking proof that +we _were not isolated._ In reality the Provisional Government was +isolated; the democratic parties which march against us were isolated, +are isolated, and forever cut off from the proletariat! + +“They speak of the necessity for a coalition. There is only one +coalition possible—the coalition of the workers, soldiers and poorest +peasants; and it is our party’s honour to have realised that +coalition…. What sort of coalition did Avilov mean? A coalition with +those who supported the Government of Treason to the People? Coalition +doesn’t always add to strength. For example, could we have organised +the insurrection with Dan and Avksentiev in our ranks?” Roars of +laughter. + +“Avksentiev gave little bread. Will a coalition with the _oborontsi_ +furnish more? Between the peasants and Avksentiev, who ordered the +arrest of the Land Committees, we choose the peasants! Our Revolution +will remain the classic revolution of history…. + +“They accuse us of repelling an agreement with the other democratic +parties. But is it we who are to blame? Or must we, as Karelin put it, +blame it on a ‘misunderstanding’? No, comrades. When a party in full +tide of revolution, still wreathed in powder-smoke, comes to say, ‘Here +is the Power—take it!’—and when those to whom it is offered go over to +the enemy, that is not a misunderstanding…. that is a declaration of +pitiless war. And it isn’t we who have declared war…. + +“Avilov menaces us with failure of our peace efforts—if we remain +‘isolated.’ I repeat, I don’t see how a coalition with Skobeliev, or +even Terestchenko, can help us to get peace! Avilov tries to frighten +us by the threat of a peace at our expense. And I answer that in any +case, if Europe continues to be ruled by the imperialist bourgeoisie, +revolutionary Russia will inevitably be lost…. + +“There are only two alternatives; either the Russian Revolution will +create a revolutionary movement in Europe, or the European powers will +destroy the Russian Revolution!” + +They greeted him with an immense crusading acclaim, kindling to the +daring of it, with the thought of championing mankind. And from that +moment there was something conscious and decided about the +insurrectionary masses, in all their actions, which never left them. + +But on the other side, too, battle was taking form. Kameniev recognised +a delegate from the Union of Railway Workers, a hardfaced, stocky man +with an attitude of implacable hostility. He threw a bombshell. + +“In the name of the strongest organisation in Russia I demand the right +to speak, and I say to you: the _Vikzhel_ charges me to make known the +decision of the Union concerning the constitution of Power. The Central +Committee refuses absolutely to support the Bolsheviki if they persist +in isolating themselves from the whole democracy of Russia!” Immense +tumult all over the hall. + +“In 1905, and in the Kornilov days, the Railway Workers were the best +defenders of the Revolution. But you did not invite us to your +Congress—” Cries, “It was the old _Tsay-ee-kah_ which did not invite +you!” The orator paid no attention. “We do not recognise the legality +of this Congress; since the departure of the Mensheviki and Socialist +Revolutionaries there is not a legal quorum…. The Union supports the +old _Tsay-ee-Kah,_ and declares that the Congress has no right to elect +a new Committee…. + +“The Power should be a Socialist and revolutionary Power, responsible +before the authorised organs of the entire revolutionary democracy. +Until the constitution of such a power, the Union of Railway Workers, +which refuses to transport counter-revolutionary troops to Petrograd, +at the same time forbids the execution of any order whatever without +the consent of the _Vikzhel._ The _Vikzhel_ also takes into its hands +the entire administration of the railroads of Russia.” + +At the end he could hardly be heard for the furious storm of abuse +which beat upon him. But it was a heavy blow—that could be seen in the +concern on the faces of the presidium. Kameniev, however, merely +answered that there could be no doubt of the legality of the Congress, +as even the quorum established by the old _Tsay-ee-Kah_ was exceeded—in +spite of the secession of the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolution +arises…. + +Then came the vote on the Constitution of Power, which carried the +Council of People’s Commissars into office by an enormous majority…. + +The election of the new _Tsay-ee-kah,_ the new parliament of the +Russian Republic, took barely fifteen minutes. Trotzky announced its +composition: 100 members, of which 70 Bolsheviki…. As for the peasants, +and the seceding factions, places were to be reserved for them. “We +welcome into the Government all parties and groups which will adopt our +programme,” ended Trotzky. + +And thereupon the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets was dissolved, +so that the members might hurry to their homes in the four corners of +Russia and tell of the great happenings…. + +It was almost seven when we woke the sleeping conductors and motor-men +of the street-cars which the Street-Railway Workers’ Union always kept +waiting at Smolny to take the Soviet delegates to their homes. In the +crowded car there was less happy hilarity than the night before, I +thought. Many looked anxious; perhaps they were saying to themselves, +“Now we are masters, how can we do our will?” + +At our apartment-house we were held up in the dark by an armed patrol +of citizens and carefully examined. The Duma’s proclamation was doing +its work…. + +The landlady heard us come in, and stumbled out in a pink silk wrapper. + +The House Committee has again asked that you take your turn on +guard-duty with the rest of the men,” she said. + +“What’s the reason for this guard-duty?” + +“To protect the house and the women and children.” + +“Who from?” + +“Robbers and murderers.” + +“But suppose there came a Commissar from the Military Revolutionary +Committee to search for arms?” + +“Oh, that’s what they’ll _say_ they are…. And besides, what’s the +difference?” + +I solemnly affirmed that the Consul had forbidden all American citizens +to carry arms—especially in the neighbourhood of the Russian +_intelligentzia_…. + + + + +Chapter VI +The Committee for Salvation + + +Friday, November 9th…. + +Novotcherkask, November 8th. + +In view of the revolt of the Bolsheviki, and their attempt to depose +the Provisional Government and to seize the power in Petrograd… the +Cossack Government declares that it considers these acts criminal and +absolutely inadmissible. In consequence, the Cossacks will lend all +their support to the Provisional Government, which is a government of +coalition. Because of these circumstances, and until the return of the +Provisional Government to power, and the restoration of order in +Russia, I take upon myself, beginning November 7th, all the power in +that which concerns the region of the Don. + +Signed: ATAMAN KALEDIN + +_President of the Government of the Cossack Troops._ + +_Prikaz_ of the Minister-President Kerensky, dated at Gatchina: + +I, Minister-President of the Provisional Government, and Supreme +Commander of all the armed forces of the Russian Republic, declare that +I am at the head of regiments from the Front who have remained faithful +to the fatherland. + +I order all the troops of the Military District of Petrograd, who +through mistake or folly have answered the appeal of the traitors to +the country and the Revolution, to return to their duty without delay. + +This order shall be read in all regiments, battalions and squadrons. + +Signed: _Minister-President of the Provisional_ +_Government and Supreme Commander_ +A. F. KERENSKY. + + +Telegram from Kerensky to the General in Command of the Northern Front: + +The town of Gatchina has been taken by the loyal regiments without +bloodshed. Detachments of Cronstadt sailors, and of the Semionovsky and +Ismailovsky regiments, gave up their arms without resistance and joined +the Government troops. + +I order all the designated units to advance as quickly as possible. The +Military Revolutionary Committee has ordered its troops to retreat…. + +Gatchina, about thirty kilometers south-west, had fallen during the +night. Detachments of the two regiments mentioned—not the sailors—while +wandering captainless in the neighbourhood, had indeed been surrounded +by Cossacks and given up their arms; but it was not true that they had +joined the Government troops. At this very moment crowds of them, +bewildered and ashamed, were up at Smolny trying to explain. They did +not think the Cossacks were so near…. They had tried to argue with the +Cossacks…. + +Apparently the greatest confusion prevailed along the revolutionary +front. The garrisons of all the little towns southward had split +hopelessly, bitterly into two factions—or three: the high command being +on the side of Kerensky, in default of anything stronger, the majority +of the rank and file with the Soviets, and the rest unhappily wavering. + +Hastily the Military Revolutionary Committee appointed to command the +defence of Petrograd an ambitious regular Army Captain, Muraviov, the +same Muraviov who had organised the Death Battalions during the summer, +and had once been heard to advise the Government that “it was too +lenient with the Bolsheviki; they must be wiped out.” A man of military +mind, who admired power and audacity, perhaps sincerely…. + +Beside my door when I came down in the morning were posted two new +orders of the Military Revolutionary Committee, directing that all +shops and stores should open as usual, and that all empty rooms and +apartments should be put at the disposal of the Committee…. + +For thirty-six hours now the Bolsheviki had been cut off from +provincial Russia and the outside world. The railway men and +telegraphers refused to transmit their despatches, the postmen would +not handle their mail. Only the Government wireless at Tsarskoye Selo +launched half-hourly bulletins and manifestoes to the four corners of +heaven; the Commissars of Smolny raced the Commissars of the City Duma +on speeding trains half across the earth; and two aeroplanes, laden +with propaganda, fled high up toward the Front…. + +But the eddies of insurrection were spreading through Russia with a +swiftness surpassing any human agency. Helsingfors Soviet passed +resolutions of support; Kiev Bolsheviki captured the arsenal and the +telegraph station, only to be driven out by delegates to the Congress +of Cossacks, which happened to be meeting there; in Kazan, a Military +Revolutionary Committee arrested the local garrison staff and the +Commissar of the Provisional Government; from far Krasnoyarsk, in +Siberia, came news that the Soviets were in control of the Municipal +institutions; at Moscow, where the situation was aggravated by a great +strike of leather-workers on one side, and a threat of general lock-out +on the other, the Soviets had voted overwhelmingly to support the +action of the Bolsheviki in Petrograd…. Already a Military +Revolutionary Committee was functioning. + +Everywhere the same thing happened. The common soldiers and the +industrial workers supported the Soviets by a vast majority; the +officers, _yunkers_ and middle class generally were on the side of the +Government—as were the bourgeois Cadets and the “moderate” Socialist +parties. In all these towns sprang up Committees for Salvation of +Country and Revolution, arming for civil war…. + +Vast Russia was in a state of solution. As long ago as 1905 the process +had begun; the March Revolution had merely hastened it, and giving +birth to a sort of forecast of the new order, had ended by merely +perpetuating the hollow structure of the old regime. Now, however, the +Bolsheviki, in one night, had dissipated it, as one blows away smoke. +Old Russia was no more; human society flowed molten in primal heat, and +from the tossing sea of flame was emerging the class struggle, stark +and pitiless—and the fragile, slowly-cooling crust of new planets…. + +In Petrograd sixteen Ministries were on strike, led by the Ministries +of Labour and of Supplies—the only two created by the all-Socialist +Government of August. + +If ever men stood alone the “handful of Bolsheviki” apparently stood +alone that grey chill morning, with all storms towering over them. (See +App. VI, Sect. 1) Back against the wall, the Military Revolutionary +Committee struck—for its life. “_De l’audace, encore de l’audace, et +toujours de l’audace_….” At five in the morning the Red Guards entered +the printing office of the City Government, confiscated thousands of +copies of the Appeal-Protest of the Duma, and suppressed the official +Municipal organ—the _Viestnik Gorodskovo Samoupravleniya_ (Bulletin of +the Municipal Self-Government). All the bourgeois newspapers were torn +from the presses, even the _Golos Soldata,_ journal of the old +_Tsay-ee-kah_—which, however, changing its name to _Soldatski Golos,_ +appeared in an edition of a hundred thousand copies, bellowing rage and +defiance: + +The men who began their stroke of treachery in the night, who have +suppressed the newspapers, will not keep the country in ignorance long. +The country will know the truth! It will appreciate you, Messrs. the +Bolsheviki! We shall see!… + +As we came down the Nevsky a little after midday the whole street +before the Duma building was crowded with people. Here and there stood +Red Guards and sailors, with bayonetted rifles, each one surrounded by +about a hundred men and women—clerks, students, shopkeepers, +_tchinovniki_—shaking their fists and bawling insults and menaces. On +the steps stood boy-scouts and officers, distributing copies of the +_Soldatski Golos._ A workman with a red band around his arm and a +revolver in his hand stood trembling with rage and nervousness in the +middle of a hostile throng at the foot of the stairs, demanding the +surrender of the papers…. Nothing like this, I imagine, ever occurred +in history. On one side a handful of workmen and common soldiers, with +arms in their hands, representing a victorious insurrection—and +perfectly miserable; on the other a frantic mob made up of the kind of +people that crowd the sidewalks of Fifth Avenue at noon-time, sneering, +abusing, shouting, “Traitors! Provocators! _Opritchniki!_”[15] + +[15] Savage body-guards if Ivan the Terrible, 17th century. + +The doors were guarded by students and officers with white arm-bands +lettered in red, “Militia of the Committee of Public Safety,” and half +a dozen boy-scouts came and went. Upstairs the place was all commotion. +Captain Gomberg was coming down the stairs. “They’re going to dissolve +the Duma,” he said. “The Bolshevik Commissar is with the Mayor now.” As +we reached the top Riazanov came hurrying out. He had been to demand +that the Duma recognise the Council of peoples’ Commissars, and the +Mayor had given him a flat refusal. + +In the offices a great babbling crowd, hurrying, shouting, +gesticulating—Government officials, intellectuals, journalists, foreign +correspondents, French and British officers…. “The City Engineer +pointed to them triumphantly. “The Embassies recognise the Duma as the +only power now,” he explained. “For these Bolshevik murderers and +robbers it is only a question of hours. All Russia is rallying to us…. + +In the Alexander Hall a monster meeting of the Committee for Salvation. +Fillipovsky in the chair and Skobeliev again in the tribune, reporting, +to immense applause, new adhesions to the Committee; Executive +Committee of Peasants’ Soviets, old _Tsay-ee-kah,_ Central Army +Committee, _Tsentroflot,_ Menshevik, Socialist Revolutionary and Front +group delegates from the Congress of Soviets, Central Committees of the +Menshevik, Socialist Revolutionary, Populist Socialist parties. +“Yedinstvo” group, Peasants’ Union, Cooperatives, Zemstvos, +Municipalities, Post and Telegraph Unions, _Vikzhel,_ Council of the +Russian Republic, Union of Unions,[16] Merchants’ and Manufacturers’ +Association…. + +[16] See Notes and Explanations. + +“…. The power of the Soviets is not democratic power, but a +dictatorship—and not the dictatorship of the proletariat, but _against_ +the proletariat. All those who have felt or know how to feel +revolutionary enthusiasm must join now for the defence of the +Revolution…. + +“The problem of the day is not only to render harmless irresponsible +demagogues, but to fight against the counter-revolution…. If rumours +are true that certain generals in the provinces are attempting to +profit by events in order to march on Petrograd with other designs, it +is only one more proof that we must establish a solid base of +democratic government. Otherwise, troubles with the Right will follow +troubles from the Left…. + +“The garrison of Petrograd cannot remain indifferent when citizens +buying the _Golos Soldata_ and newsboys selling the _Rabotchaya Gazeta_ +are arrested in the streets…. + +“The hour of resolutions has passed…. Let those who have no longer +faith in the Revolution retire…. To establish a united power, we must +again restore the prestige of the Revolution…. + +“Let us swear that either the Revolution shall be saved—or we shall +perish!” + +The hall rose, cheering, with kindling eyes. There was not a single +proletarian anywhere in sight…. + +Then Weinstein: + +“We must remain calm, and not act until public opinion is firmly +grouped in support of the Committee for Salvation—then we can pass from +the defensive to action!” + +The _Vikzhel_ representative announced that his organisation was taking +the initiative in forming the new Government, and its delegates were +now discussing the matter with Smolny…. Followed a hot discussion: were +the Bolsheviki to be admitted to the new Government? Martov pleaded for +their admission; after all, he said, they represented an important +political party. Opinions were very much divided upon this, the right +wing Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries, as well as the Populist +Socialists, the Cooperatives and the bourgeois elements being bitterly +against…. + +“They have betrayed Russia,” one speaker said. “They have started civil +war and opened the front to the Germans. The Bolsheviki must be +mercilessly crushed….” + +Skobeliev was in favor of excluding both the Bolsheviki and the Cadets. + +We got into conversation with a young Socialist Revolutionary, who had +walked out of the Democratic Conference together with the Bolsheviki, +that night when Tseretelli and the “compromisers” forced Coalition upon +the democracy of Russia. + +“You here?” I asked him. + +His eyes flashed fire. “Yes!” he cried. “I left the Congress with my +party Wednesday night. I have not risked my life for twenty years and +more to submit now to the tyranny of the Dark People. Their methods are +intolerable. But they have not counted on the peasants…. When the +peasants begin to act, then it is a question of minutes before they are +done for.” + +“But the peasants—will they act? Doesn’t the Land decree settle the +peasants? What more do they want?” + +“Ah, the Land decree!” he said furiously. “Yes, do you know what that +Land decree is? It is _our_ decree—it is the Socialist Revolutionary +programme, intact! My party framed that policy, after the most careful +compilation of the wishes of the peasants themselves. It is an +outrage….” + +“But if it is your own policy, why do you object? If it is the +peasants’ wishes, why will they oppose it?” + +“You don’t understand! Don’t you see that the peasants will immediately +realise that it is all a trick—that these usurpers have stolen the +Socialist Revolutionary programme?” + +I asked if it were true that Kaledin was marching north. + +He nodded, and rubbed his hands with a sort of bitter satisfaction. +“Yes. Now you see what these Bolsheviki have done. They have raised the +counter-revolution against us. The Revolution is lost. The Revolution +is lost.” + +“But won’t you defend the Revolution?” + +“Of course we will defend it—to the last drop of our blood. But we +won’t cooperate with the Bolsheviki in any way….” + +“But if Kaledin comes to Petrograd, and the Bolsheviki defend the city. +Won’t you join with them?” + +“Of course not. We will defend the city also, but we won’t support the +Bolsheviki. Kaledin is the enemy of the Revolution, but the Bolsheviki +are equally enemies of the Revolution.” + +“Which do you prefer—Kaledin or the Bolsheviki?” + +“It is not a question to be discussed!” he burst out impatiently. “I +tell you, the Revolution is lost. And it is the Bolsheviki who are to +blame. But listen—why should we talk of such things? Kerensky is +coming…. Day after to-morrow we shall pass to the offensive…. Already +Smolny has sent delegates inviting us to form a new Government. But we +have them now—they are absolutely impotent…. We shall not cooperate….” + +Outside there was a shot. We ran to the windows. A Red Guard, finally +exasperated by the taunts of the crowd, had shot into it, wounding a +young girl in the arm. We could see her being lifted into a cab, +surrounded by an excited throng, the clamour of whose voices floated up +to us. As we looked, suddenly an armoured automobile appeared around +the corner of the Mikhailovsky, its guns sluing this way and that. +Immediately the crowd began to run, as Petrograd crowds do, falling +down and lying still in the street, piled in the gutters, heaped up +behind telephone-poles. The car lumbered up to the steps of the Duma +and a man stuck his head out of the turret, demanding the surrender of +the _Soldatski Golos._ The boy-scouts jeered and scuttled into the +building. After a moment the automobile wheeled undecidedly around and +went off up the Nevsky, while some hundreds of men and women picked +themselves up and began to dust their clothes…. + +Inside was a prodigious running-about of people with armfuls of +_Soldatski Golos,_ looking for places to hide them…. + +A journalist came running into the room, waving a paper. + +“Here’s a proclamation from Krasnov!” he cried. Everybody crowded +around. “Get it printed—get it printed quick, and around to the +barracks!” + +By the order of the Supreme Commander I am appointed commandant of the +troops concentrated under Petrograd. + +Citizens, soldiers, valorous Cossacks of the Don, of the Kuban, of the +Transbaikal, of the Amur, of the Yenissei, to all you who have remained +faithful to your oath I appeal; to you who have sworn to guard +inviolable your oath of Cossack—I call upon you to save Petrograd from +anarchy, from famine, from tyranny, and to save Russia from the +indelible shame to which a handful of ignorant men, bought by the gold +of Wilhelm, are trying to submit her. + +The Provisional Government, to which you swore fidelity in the great +days of March, is not overthrown, but by violence expelled from the +edifice in which it held its meetings. However the Government, with the +help of the Front armies, faithful to their duty, with the help of the +Council of Cossacks, which has united under its command all the +Cossacks and which, strong with the morale which reigns in its ranks, +and acting in accordance with the will of the Russian people, has sworn +to serve the country as its ancestors served it in the Troublous Times +of 1612, when the Cossacks of the Don delivered Moscow, menaced by the +Swedes, the Poles, and the Lithuanians. Your Government still exists…. + +The active army considers these criminals with horror and contempt. +Their acts of vandalism and pillage, their crimes, the German mentality +with which they regard Russia—stricken down but not yet +surrendered—have alienated from them the entire people. + +Citizens, soldiers, valorous Cossacks of the garrison of Petrograd; +send me your delegates so that I may know who are traitors to their +country and who are not, that there may be avoided an effusion of +innocent blood. + +Almost the same moment word ran from group to group that the building +was surrounded by Red Guards. An officer strode in, a red band around +his arm, demanding the Mayor. A few minutes later he left and old +Schreider came out of his office, red and pale by turns. + +“A special meeting of the Duma!” he cried. “Immediately!” + +In the big hall proceedings were halted. “All members of the Duma for a +special meeting!” + +“What’s the matter?” + +“I don’t know—going to arrest us—going to dissolve the Duma—arresting +members at the door—” so ran the excited comments. + +In the Nicolai Hall there was barely room to stand. The Mayor announced +that troops were stationed at all the doors, prohibiting all exit and +entrance, and that a Commissar had threatened arrest and the dispersal +of the Municipal Duma. A flood of impassioned speeches from members, +and even from the galleries, responded. The freely-elected City +Government could not be dissolved by _any_ power; the Mayor’s person +and that of all the members were inviolable; the tyrants, the +provocators, the German agents should never be recognised; as for these +threats to dissolve us, let them try—only over our dead bodies shall +they seize this chamber, where like the Roman senators of old we await +with dignity the coming of the Goths…. + +Resolution, to inform the Dumas and Zemstvos of all Russia by +telegraph. Resolution, that it was impossible for the Mayor or the +Chairman of the Duma to enter into any relations whatever with +representatives of the Military Revolutionary Committee or with the +so-called Council of People’s Commissars. Resolution, to address +another appeal to the population of Petrograd to stand up for the +defence of their elected town government. Resolution, to remain in +permanent session…. + +In the meanwhile one member arrived with the information that he had +telephoned to Smolny, and that the Military Revolutionary Committee +said that no orders had been given to surround the Duma, that the +troops would be withdrawn…. + +As we went downstairs Riazanov burst in through the front door, very +agitated. + +“Are you going to dissolve the Duma?” I asked. + +“My God, no!” he answered. “It is all a mistake. I told the Mayor this +morning that the Duma would be left alone….” + +Out on the Nevsky, in the deepening dusk, a long double file of +cyclists came riding, guns slung on their shoulders. They halted, and +the crowd pressed in and deluged them with questions. + +“Who are you? Where do you come from?” asked a fat old man with a cigar +in his mouth. + +“Twelfth Army. From the front. We came to support the Soviets against +the damn’ bourgeoisie!” + +“Ah!” were furious cries. “Bolshevik gendarmes! Bolshevik Cossacks!” + +A little officer in a leather coat came running down the steps. “The +garrison is turning!” he muttered in my ear. “It’s the beginning of the +end of the Bolsheviki. Do you want to see the turn of the tide? Come +on!” He started at a half-trot up the Mikhailovsky, and we followed. + +“What regiment is it?” + +“The _brunnoviki_….” Here was indeed serious trouble. The _brunnoviki_ +were the Armoured Car troops, the key to the situation; whoever +controlled the _brunnoviki_ controlled the city. “The Commissars of the +Committee for Salvation and the Duma have been talking to them. There’s +a meeting on to decide…. + +“Decide what? Which side they’ll fight on?” + +“Oh, no. That’s not the way to do it. They’ll never fight against the +Bolsheviki. They will vote to remain neutral—and then the _yunkers_ and +Cossacks—” + +The door of the great Mikhailovsky Riding-School yawned blackly. Two +sentinels tried to stop us, but we brushed by hurriedly, deaf to their +indignant expostulations. Inside only a single arc-light burned dimly, +high up near the roof of the enormous hall, whose lofty pilasters and +rows of windows vanished in the gloom. Around dimly squatted the +monstrous shapes of the armoured cars. One stood alone in the centre of +the place, under the light, and round it were gathered some two +thousand dun-colored soldiers, almost lost in the immensity of that +imperial building. A dozen men, officers, chairmen of the Soldiers’ +Committees and speakers, were perched on top of the car, and from the +central turret a soldier was speaking. This was Khanjunov, who had been +president of last summer’s all-Russian Congress of _Brunnoviki._ A +lithe, handsome figure in his leather coat with lieutenant’s +shoulder-straps, he stood pleading eloquently for neutrality. + +“It is an awful thing,” he said, “for Russians to kill their Russian +brothers. There must not be civil war between soldiers who stood +shoulder to shoulder against the Tsar, and conquered the foreign enemy +in battles which will go down in history! What have we, soldiers, got +to do with these squabbles of political parties? I will not say to you +that the Provisional Government was a democratic Government; we want no +coalition with the bourgeoisie—no. But we must have a Government of the +united democracy, or Russia is lost! With such a Government there will +be no need for civil war, and the killing of brother by brother!” + +This sounded reasonable—the great hall echoed to the crash of hands and +voices. + +A soldier climbed up, his face white and strained, “Comrades!” he +cried, “I came from the Rumanian front, to urgently tell you all: there +must be peace! Peace at once! Whoever can give us peace, whether it be +the Bolsheviki or this new Government, we will follow. Peace! We at the +front cannot fight any longer. We cannot fight either Germans or +Russians—” With that he leaped down, and a sort of confused agonised +sound rose up from all that surging mass, which burst into something +like anger when the next speaker, a Menshevik _oboronetz,_ tried to say +that the war must go on until the Allies were victorious. + +“You talk like Kerensky!” shouted a rough voice. + +A Duma delegate, pleading for neutrality. Him they listened to, +muttering uneasily, feeling him not one of them. Never have I seen men +trying so hard to understand, to decide. They never moved, stood +staring with a sort of terrible intentness at the speaker, their brows +wrinkled with the effort of thought, sweat standing out on their +foreheads; great giants of men with the innocent clear eyes of children +and the faces of epic warriors…. + +Now a Bolshevik was speaking, one of their own men, violently, full of +hate. They liked him no more than the other. It was not their mood. For +the moment they were lifted out of the ordinary run of common thoughts, +thinking in terms of Russia, of Socialism, the world, as if it depended +on them whether the Revolution were to live or die…. + +Speaker succeeded speaker, debating amid tense silence, roars of +approval, or anger: should we come out or not? Khanjunov returned, +persuasive and sympathetic. But wasn’t he an officer, and an +_oboronotz,_ however much he talked of peace? Then a workman from +Vasili Ostrov, but him they greeted with, “And are _you_ going to give +us peace, working-man?” Near us some men, many of them officers, formed +a sort of _claque_ to cheer the advocates of Neutrality. They kept +shouting, “Khanjunov! Khanjunov!” and whistled insultingly when the +Bolsheviki tried to speak. + +Suddenly the committeemen and officers on top of the automobile began +to discuss something with great heat and much gesticulation. The +audience shouted to know what was the matter, and all the great mass +tossed and stirred. A soldier, held back by one of the officers, +wrenched himself loose and held up his hand. + +“Comrades!” he cried, “Comrade Krylenko is here and wants to speak to +us.” An outburst of cheers, whistlings, yells of _“Prosim! Prosim! +Dolby!_ Go ahead! Go ahead! Down with him!” in the midst of which the +People’s Commissar for Military Affairs clambered up the side of the +car, helped by hands before and behind, pushed and pulled from below +and above. Rising he stood for a moment, and then walked out on the +radiator, put his hands on his hips and looked around smiling, a squat, +short-legged figure, bare-headed, without insignia on his uniform. + +The _claque_ near me kept up a fearful shouting, “Khanjunov! We want +Khanjunov! Down with him! Shut up! Down with the traitor!” The whole +place seethed and roared. Then it began to move, like an avalanche +bearing down upon us, great black-browed men forcing their way through. + +“Who is breaking up our meeting?” they shouted. “Who is whistling +here?” The _claque,_ rudely burst asunder, went flying—nor did it +gather again…. + +“Comrade soldiers!” began Krylenko, in a voice husky with fatigue. “I +cannot speak well to you; I am sorry; but I have not had any sleep for +four nights…. + +“I don’t need to tell you that I am a soldier. I don’t need to tell you +that I want peace. What I must say is that the Bolshevik party, +successful in the Workers’ and Soldiers’ Revolution, by the help of you +and of all the rest of the brave comrades who have hurled down forever +the power of the blood-thirsty bourgeoisie, promised to offer peace to +all the peoples, and that has already been done—to-day!” Tumultuous +applause. + +“You are asked to remain neutral—to remain neutral while the _yunkers_ +and the Death Battalions, who are _never_ neutral, shoot us down in the +streets and bring back to Petrograd Kerensky—or perhaps some other of +the gang. Kaledin is marching from the Don. Kerensky is coming from the +front. Kornilov is raising the _Tekhintsi_ to repeat his attempt of +August. All these Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries who call +upon you now to prevent civil war—how have they retained the power +except by civil war, that civil war which has endured ever since last +July, and in which they constantly stood on the side of the +bourgeoisie, as they do now? + +“How can I persuade you, if you have made up your minds? The question +is very plain. On one side are Kerensky, Kaledin, Kornilov, the +Mensheviki, Socialist Revolutionaries, Cadets, Dumas, officers…. They +tell us that their objects are good. On the other side are the workers, +the soldiers and sailors, the poorest peasants. The Government is in +your hands. You are the masters. Great Russia belongs to you. Will you +give it back?” + +While he spoke, he kept himself up by sheer evident effort of will, and +as he went on the deep sincere feeling back of his words broke through +the tired voice. At the end he totered, almost falling; a hundred hands +reached up to help him down, and the great dim spaces of the hall gave +back the surf of sound that beat upon him. + +Khanjunov tried to speak again, but “Vote! Vote! Vote!” they cried. At +length, giving in, he read the resolution: that the _brunnoviki_ +withdraw their representative from the Military Revolutionary +Committee, and declare their neutrality in the present civil war. All +those in favour should go to the right; those opposed, to the left. +There was a moment of hesitation, a still expectancy, and then the +crowd began to surge faster and faster, stumbling over one another, to +the left, hundreds of big soldiers in a solid mass rushing across the +dirt floor in the faint light…. Near us about fifty men were left +stranded, stubbornly in favour, and even as the high roof shook under +the shock of victorious roaring, they turned and rapidly walked out of +the building—and, some of them, out of the Revolution…. + +Imagine this struggle being repeated in every barracks of the city, the +district, the whole front, all Russia. Imagine the sleepless Krylenkos, +watching the regiments, hurrying from place to place, arguing, +threatening, entreating. And then imaging the same in all the locals of +every labour union, in the factories, the villages, on the battle-ships +of the far-flung Russian fleets; think of the hundreds of thousands of +Russian men staring up at speakers all over the vast country, workmen, +peasants, soldiers, sailors, trying so hard to understand and to +choose, thinking so intensely—and deciding so unanimously at the end. +So was the Russian Revolution…. + +Up at Smolny the new Council of People’s Commissars was not idle. +Already the first decree was on the presses, to be circulated in +thousands through the city streets that night, and shipped in bales by +every train southward and east: + +In the name of the Government of the Russian Republic, chosen by the +All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies with +participation of peasant deputies, the Council of People’s Commissars +decrees: + +1. The elections for the Constituent Assembly shall take place at the +date determined upon—November 12. + +2. All electoral commissions, organs of local self-government, Soviets +of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies, and soldiers’ +organisations on the front should make every effort to assure free and +regular elections at the date determined upon. + +In the name of the Government of the Russian Republic, _The President +of the Council of People’s Commissars_, + +VLADIMIR ULIANOV-LENIN. + + +In the Municipal building the Duma was in full blast. A member of the +Council of the Republic was talking as we came in. The Council, he +said, did not consider itself dissolved at all, but merely unable to +continue its labours until it secured a new meeting-place. In the +meanwhile, its Committee of Elders had determined to enter _en masse_ +the Committee for Salvation…. This, I may remark parenthetically, is +the last time history mentions the Council of the Russian Republic…. + +Then followed the customary string of delegates from the Ministries, +the _Vikzhel,_ the Union of Posts and Telegraphs, for the hundredth +time reiterating their determination not to work for the Bolshevik +usurpers. A _yunker_ who had been in the Winter Palace told a +highly-coloured tale of the heroism of himself and his comrades, and +disgraceful conduct of the Red Guards—all of which was devoutly +believed. Somebody read aloud an account in the Socialist Revolutionary +paper _Narod,_ which stated that five hundred million rubles’ worth of +damage had been done in the Winter Palace, and describing in great +detail the loot and breakage. + +From time to time couriers came from the telephone with news. The four +Socialist Ministers had been released from prison. Krylenko had gone to +Peter-Paul to tell Admiral Verderevsky that the Ministry of Marine was +deserted, and to beg him, for the sake of Russia, to take charge under +the authority of the Council of People’s Commissars; and the old seaman +had consented…. Kerensky was advancing north from Gatchina, the +Bolshevik garrisons falling back before him. Smolny had issued another +decree, enlarging the powers of the City Dumas to deal with food +supplies. + +This last piece of insolence caused an outburst of fury. He, Lenin, the +usurper, the tyrant, whose Commissars had seized the Municipal garage, +entered the Municipal ware houses, were interfering with the Supply +Committees and the distribution of food—he presumed to define the +limits of power of the free, independent, autonomous City Government! +One member, shaking his fist, moved to cut off the food of the city if +the Bolsheviki dared to interfere with the Supply Committees…. Another, +representative of the Special Supply Committee, reported that the food +situation was very grave, and asked that emissaries be sent out to +hasten food trains. + +Diedonenko announced dramatically that the garrison was wavering. The +Semionovsky regiment had already decided to submit to the orders of the +Socialist Revolutionary party; the crews of the torpedo-boats on the +Neva were shaky. Seven members were at once appointed to continue the +propaganda…. + +Then the old Mayor stepped into the tribune: “Comrades and citizens! I +have just learned that the prisoners in Peter Paul are in danger. +Fourteen _yunkers_ of the Pavlovsk school have been stripped and +tortured by the Bolshevik guards. One has gone mad. They are +threatening to lynch the Ministers!” There was a whirlwind of +indignation and horror, which only grew more violent when a stocky +little woman dressed in grey demanded the floor, and lifted up her +hard, metallic voice. This was Vera Slutskaya, veteran revolutionist +and Bolshevik member of the Duma. + +“That is a lie and a provocation!” she said, unmoved at the torrent of +abuse. “The Workers’ and Peasants’ Government, which has abolished the +death penalty, cannot permit such deeds. We demand that this story be +investigated, at once; if there is any truth in it, the Government will +take energetic measures!” + +A commission composed of members of all parties was immediately +appointed, and with the Mayor, sent to Peter Paul to investigate. As we +followed them out, the Duma was appointing another commission to meet +Kerensky—to try and avoid bloodshed when he entered the capital…. + +It was midnight when we bluffed our past the guards at the gate of the +fortress, and went forward under the faint glimmer of rare electric +lights along the side of the church where lie the tombs of the Tsars, +beneath the slender golden spire and the chimes, which, for months, +continued to play _Bozhe Tsaria Khrani_[17] every day at noon…. The +place was deserted; in most of the windows there were not even lights. +Occasionally we bumped into a burly figure stumbling along in the dark, +who answered questions with the usual, _“Ya nieznayu.”_ + +[17] “God Save the Tsar.” + +[Graphic, page 166: Pass to Reed from Department of Prisons translation +follows] + +Pass from the Department of Prisons of the Soviet Government to visit +freely all prisons of Petrograd and Cronstadt. (Translation) + + Commissar + Chief Bureau of Prisons + 6th of November, 1917. + No. 213 + Petrograd, Smolny + Institute, room No. 56— + +PASS To the representative of the American Socialist press, JOHN REED, +to visit all places of confinement in the cities of Petrograd and +Cronstadt, for the purpose of generally investigating the condition of +the prisoners, and for thorough social information for the purpose of +stopping the flood of newspaper lies against demorcracy. Chief +Commissar Secretary + +On the left loomed the low dark outline of Trubetskoi Bastion, that +living grave in which so many martyrs of liberty had lost their lives +or their reason in the days of the Tsar, where the Provisional +Government had in turn shut up the Ministers of the Tsar, and now the +Bolsheviki had shut up the Ministers of the Provisional Government. + +A friendly sailor led us to the office of the commandant, in a little +house near the Mint. Half a dozen Red Guards, sailors and soldiers were +sitting around a hot room full of smoke, in which a samovar steamed +cheerfully. They welcomed us with great cordiality, offering tea. The +commandant was not in; he was escorting a commission of +_“sabotazhniki”_ (sabotageurs) from the City Duma, who insisted that +the _yunkers_ were all being murdered. This seemed to amuse them very +much. At one side of the room sat a bald-headed, dissipated-looking +little man in a frock-coat and a rich fur coat, biting his moustache +and staring around him like a cornered rat. He had just been arrested. +Somebody said, glancing carelessly at him, that he was a Minister or +something…. The little man didn’t seem to hear it; he was evidently +terrified, although the occupants of the room showed no animosity +whatever toward him. + +I went across and spoke to him in French. “Count Tolstoy,” he answered, +bowing stiffly. “I do not understand why I was arrested. I was crossing +the Troitsky Bridge on my way home when two of these—of these—persons +held me up. I was a Commissar of the Provisional Government attached to +the General Staff, but in no sense a member of the Government…” + +“Let him go,” said a sailor. “He’s harmless….” + +“No,” responded the soldier who had brought the prisoner. “We must ask +the commandant.” + +“Oh, the commandant!” sneered the sailor. “What did you make a +revolution for? To go on obeying officers?” + +A _praporshtchik_ of the Pavlovsky regiment was telling us how the +insurrection started. “The _polk_ (regiment) was on duty at the General +Staff the night of the 6th. Some of my comrades and I were standing +guard; Ivan Pavlovitch and another man—I don’t remember his name—well, +they hid behind the window-curtains in the room where the Staff was +having a meeting, and they heard a great many things. For example, they +heard orders to bring the Gatchina _yunkers_ to Petrograd by night, and +an order for the Cossacks to be ready to march in the morning…. The +principal points in the city were to be occupied before dawn. Then +there was the business of opening the bridges. But when they began to +talk about surrounding Smolny, then Ivan Pavlovitch couldn’t stand it +any longer. That minute there was a good deal of coming and going, so +he slipped out and came down to the guard-room, leaving the other +comrade to pick up what he could. + +“I was already suspicious that something was going on. Automobiles full +of officers kept coming, and all the Ministers were there. Ivan +Pavlovitch told me what he had heard. It was half-past two in the +morning. The secretary of the regimental Committee was there, so we +told him and asked what to do. + +“‘Arrest everybody coming and going!’ he says. So we began to do it. In +an hour we had some officers and a couple of Ministers, whom we sent up +to Smolny right away. But the Military Revolutionary Committee wasn’t +ready; they didn’t know what to do; and pretty soon back came the order +to let everybody go and not arrest anybody else. Well, we ran all the +way to Smolny, and I guess we talked for an hour before they finally +saw that it was war. It was five o’clock when we got back to the Staff, +and by that time most of them were gone. But we got a few, and the +garrison was all on the march….” + +A Red Guard from Vasili Ostrov described in great detail what had +happened in his district on the great day of the rising. “We didn’t +have any machine-guns over there,” he said, laughing, “and we couldn’t +get any from Smolny. Comrade Zalking, who was a member of the _Uprava_ +(Central Bureau) of the Ward Duma, remembered all at once that there +was lying in the meeting-room of the _Uprava_ a machinegun which had +been captured from the Germans. So he and I and another comrade went +there. The Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries were having a +meeting. Well, we opened the door and walked right in on them, as they +sat around the table—twelve or fifteen of them, three of us. When they +saw us they stopped talking and just stared. We walked right across the +room, uncoupled the machine-gun; Comrade Zalkind picked up one part, I +the other, we put them on our shoulders and walked out—and not a single +man said a word!” + +“Do you know how the Winter Palace was captured?” asked a third man, a +sailor. “Along about eleven o’clock we found out there weren’t any more +_yunkers_ on the Neva side. So we broke in the doors and filtered up +the different stairways one by one, or in little bunches. When we got +to the top of the stairs the _yunkers_ held us up and took away our +guns. Still our fellows kept coming up, little by little, until we had +a majority. Then we turned around and took away the _yunkers’_ guns….” + +Just then the commandant entered—a merry-looking young non-commissioned +officer with his arm in a sling, and deep circles of sleeplessness +under his eyes. His eye fell first on the prisoner, who at once began +to explain. + +“Oh, yes,” interrupted the other. “You were one of the committee who +refused to surrender the Staff Wednesday afternoon. However, we don’t +want you, citizen. Apologies—” He opened the door and waved his arm for +Count Tolstoy to leave. Several of the others, especially the Red +Guards, grumbled protests, and the sailor remarked triumphantly, +_“Vot!_ There! Didn’t I say so?” + +Two soldiers now engaged his attention. They had been elected a +committee of the fortress garrison to protest. The prisoners, they +said, were getting the same food as the guards, when there wasn’t even +enough to keep a man from being hungry. “Why should the +counter-revolutionists be treated so well?” + +“We are revolutionists, comrades, not bandits,” answered the +commandant. He turned to us. We explained that rumours were going about +that the _yunkers_ were being tortured, and the lives of the Ministers +threatened. Could we perhaps see the prisoners, so as to be able to +prove to the world—?” + +“No,” said the young soldier, irritably. “I am not going to disturb the +prisoners again. I have just been compelled to wake them up—they were +sure we were going to massacre them…. Most of the _yunkers_ have been +released anyway, and the rest will go out to-morrow.” He turned +abruptly away. + +“Could we talk to the Duma commission, then?” + +The Commandant, who was pouring himself a glass of tea, nodded. “They +are still out in the hall,” he said carelessly. + +Indeed they stood there just outside the door, in the feeble light of +an oil lamp, grouped around the Mayor and talking excitedly. + +“Mr. Mayor,” I said, “we are American correspondents. Will you please +tell us officially the result of your investigations?” + +He turned to us his face of venerable dignity. + +“There is no truth in the reports,” he said slowly. “Except for the +incidents which occurred as the Ministers were being brought here, they +have been treated with every consideration. As for the _yunkers,_ not +one has received the slightest injury….” + +Up the Nevsky, in the empty after-midnight gloom, an interminable +column of soldiers shuffled in silence—to battle with Kerensky. In dim +back streets automobiles without lights flitted to and fro, and there +was furtive activity in Fontanka 6, headquarters of the Peasants’ +Soviet, in a certain apartment of a huge building on the Nevsky, and in +the _Injinierny Zamok_ (School of Engineers); the Duma was +illuminated…. + +In Smolny Institute the Military Revolutionary Committee flashed +baleful fire, pounding like an over-loaded dynamo…. + + + + +Chapter VII +The Revolutionary Front + + +Saturday, November 10th…. + +Citizens! + +The Military Revolutionary Committee declares that it will not tolerate +any violation of revolutionary order…. + +Theft, brigandage, assaults and attempts at massacre will be severely +punished…. + +Following the example of the Paris Commune, the Committee will destroy +without mercy any looter or instigator of disorder…. + +Quiet lay the city. Not a hold-up, not a robbery, not even a drunken +fight. By night armed patrols went through the silent streets, and on +the corners soldiers and Red Guards squatted around little fires, +laughing and singing. In the daytime great crowds gathered on the +sidewalks listening to interminable hot debates between students and +soldiers, business men and workmen. + +Citizens stopped each other on the street. + +“The Cossacks are coming?” + +“No….” + +“What’s the latest?” + +“I don’t know anything. Where’s Kerensky?” + +“They say only eight versts from Petrograd…. Is it true that the +Bolsheviki have fled to the battleship _Avrora?”_ + +“They say so….” + +Only the walls screamed, and the few newspapers; denunciation, appeal, +decree…. + +An enormous poster carried the hysterical manifesto of the Executive +Committee of the Peasants’ Soviets: + +….They (the Bolsheviki) dare to say that they are supported by the +Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies, and that they are speaking on behalf of +the Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies…. + +Let all working-class Russia know that this is a LIE, AND THAT ALL THE +WORKING PEASANTS—in the person of—the EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE +ALL-RUSSIAN SOVIETS OF PEASANTS’ DEPUTIES—refutes with indignation all +participation of the organised peasantry in this criminal violation of +the will of the working-classes…. + +From the Soldier Section of the Socialist Revolutionary party: + +The insane attempt of the Bolsheviki is on the eve of collapse. The +garrison is divided…. The Ministries are on strike and bread is getting +scarcer. All factions except the few Bolsheviki have left the Congress. +The Bolsheviki are alone…. + +We call upon all sane elements to group themselves around the Committee +for Salvation of Country and Revolution, and to prepare themselves +seriously to be ready at the first call of the Central Committee…. + +In a hand-bill the Council of the Republic recited its wrongs: + +Ceding to the force of bayonets, the Council of the Republic has been +obliged to separate, and temporarily to interrupt its meetings. + +The usurpers, with the words “Liberty and Socialism” on their lips, +have set up a rule of arbitrary violence. They have arrested the +members of the Provisional Government, closed the newspapers, seized +the printing-shops….This power must be considered the enemy of the +people and the Revolution; it is necessary to do battle with it, and to +pull it down…. + +The Council of the Republic, until the resumption of its labours, +invites the citizens of the Russian Republic to group themselves around +the….local Committees for Salvation of Country and Revolution, which +are organising the overthrow of the Bolsheviki and the creation of a +Government capable of leading the country to the Constituent Assembly. + +_Dielo Naroda_ said: + +A revolution is a rising of all the people…. But here what have we? +Nothing but a handful of poor fools deceived by Lenin and Trotzky…. +Their decrees and their appeals will simply add to the museum of +historical curiosities…. + +And _Narodnoye Slovo_(People’s Word-Populist Socialist): + +“Workers’ and Peasants’ Government?” That is only a pipedream; nobody, +either in Russia or in the countries of our Allies, will recognise this +“Government”—or even in the enemy countries…. + +The bourgeois press had temporarily disappeared…._Pravada_ had an +account of the first meeting of the new _Tsay-ee-kah,_ now the +parliament of the Russian Soviet Republic. Miliutin, Commissar of +Agriculture, remarked that the Peasants’ Executive Committee had called +an All-Russian Peasant Congress for December 13th. + +“But we cannot wait,” he said. “We must have the backing of the +peasants. I propose that _we_ call the Congress of Peasants, and do it +immediately….” The Left Socialist Revolutionaries agreed. An Appeal to +the Peasants of Russia was hastily drafted, and a committee of five +elected to carry out the project. + +The question of detailed plans for distributing the land, and the +question of Workers’ Control of Industry, were postponed until the +experts working on them should submit a report. + +Three decrees (See App. VII, Sect. 1) were read and approved: first, +Lenin’s “General Rules For the Press,” ordering the suppression of all +newspapers inciting to resistance and disobedience to the new +Government, inciting to criminal acts, or deliberately perverting the +news; the Decree of Moratorium for House-rents; and the Decree +Establishing a Workers’ Militia. Also orders, one giving the Municipal +Duma power to requisition empty apartments and houses, the other +directing the unloading of freight cars in the railroad terminals, to +hasten the distribution of necessities and to free the badly-needed +rolling-stock…. + +Two hours later the Executive Committee of the Peasants’ Soviets was +sending broadcast over Russia the following telegram: + +The arbitrary organisation of the Bolsheviki, which is called “Bureau +of Organisation for the National Congress of Peasants,” is inviting all +the Peasants’ Soviets to send delegates to the Congress at Petrograd…. + +The Executive Committee of the Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies declares +that it considers, now as well as before, that it would be dangerous to +take away from the provinces at this moment the forces necessary to +prepare for elections to the Constituent Assembly, which is the only +salvation of the working-class and the country. We confirm the date of +the Congress of Peasants, _December 13th._ + +At the Duma all was excitement, officers coming and going, the Mayor in +conference with the leaders of the Committee for Salvation. A +Councillor ran in with a copy of Kerensky’s proclamation, dropped by +hundreds from an aeroplane low flying down the Nevsky, which threatened +terrible vengeance on all who did not submit, and ordered soldiers to +lay down their arms and assemble immediately in Mars Field. + +The Minister-President had taken Tsarskoye Selo, we were told, and was +already in the Petrograd campagna, five miles away. He would enter the +city to-morrow—in a few hours. The Soviet troops in contact with his +Cossacks were said to be going over to the Provisional Government. +Tchernov was somewhere in between, trying to organise the “neutral” +troops into a force to halt the civil war. + +In the city the garrison regiments were leaving the Bolsheviki, they +said. Smolny was already abandoned…. All the Governmental machinery had +stopped functioning. The employees of the State Bank had refused to +work under Commissars from Smolny, refused to pay out money to them. +All the private banks were closed. The Ministries were on strike. Even +now a committee from the Duma was making the rounds of business houses, +collecting a fund to pay the salaries of the strikers…. + +Trotzky had gone to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ordered the +clerks to translate the Decree on Peace into foreign languages; six +hundred functionaries had hurled their resignations in his face…. +Shliapnikov, Commissar of Labour, had commanded all the employees of +his Ministry to return to their places within twenty-four hours, or +lose their places and their pension-rights; only the door-servants had +responded…. Some of the branches of the Special Food Supply Committee +had suspended work rather than submit to the Bolsheviki…. In spite of +lavish promises of high wages and better conditions, the operators at +the Telephone Exchange would not connect Soviet headquarters…. + +The Socialist Revolutionary Party had voted to expel all members who +had remained in the Congress of Soviets, and all who were taking part +in the insurrection…. + +News from the provinces. Moghilev had declared against the Bolsheviki. +At Kiev the Cossacks had overthrown the Soviets and arrested all the +insurrectionary leaders. The Soviet and garrison of Luga, thirty +thousand strong, affirmed its loyalty to the Provisional Government, +and appealed to all Russia to rally around it. Kaledin had dispersed +all Soviets and Unions in the Don Basin, and his forces were moving +north…. + +Said a representative of the Railway Workers: “Yesterday we sent a +telegram all over Russia demanding that war between the political +parties cease at once, and insisting on the formation of a coalition +Socialist Government. Otherwise we shall call a strike to-morrow +night…. In the morning there will be a meeting of all factions to +consider the question. The Bolsheviki seem anxious for an agreement….” + +“If they last that long!” laughed the City Engineer, a stout, ruddy +man…. + +As we came up to Smolny—not abandoned, but busier than ever, throngs of +workers and soldiers running in and out, and doubled guards +everywhere—we met the reporters for the bourgeois and “moderate” +Socialist papers. + +“Threw us out!” cried one, from _Volia Naroda._ “Bonch-Bruevitch came +down to the Press Bureau and told us to leave! Said we were spies!” +They all began to talk at once: “Insult! Outrage! Freedom of the +press!” + +In the lobby were great tables heaped with stacks of appeals, +proclamations and orders of the Military Revolutionary Committee. +Workmen and soldiers staggered past, carrying them to waiting +automobiles. + +One began: + +TO THE PILLORY! + + +In this tragic moment through which the Russian masses are living, the +Mensheviki and their followers and the Right Socialist Revolutionaries +have betrayed the working-class. They have enlisted on the side of +Kornilov, Kerensky and Savinkov…. + +They are printing orders of the traitor Kerensky and creating a panic +in the city, spreading the most ridiculous rumours of mythical +victories by that renegade…. + +Citizens! Don’t believe these false rumours. No power can defeat the +People’s Revolution…. Premier Kerensky and his followers await speedy +and well-deserved punishment…. + +We are putting them in the Pillory. We are abandoning them to the +enmity of all workers, soldiers, sailors and peasants, on whom they are +trying to rivet the ancient chains. They will never be able to wash +from their bodies the stain of the people’s hatred and contempt. + +Shame and curses to the traitors of the People!… + +The Military Revolutionary Committee had moved into larger quarters, +room 17 on the top floor. Red Guards were at the door. Inside, the +narrow space in front of the railing was crowded with well-dressed +persons, outwardly respectful but inwardly full of murder—bourgeois who +wanted permits for their automobiles, or passports to leave the city, +among them many foreigners…. Bill Shatov and Peters were on duty. They +suspended all other business to read us the latest bulletins. + +The One Hundred Seventy-ninth Reserve Regiment offers its unanimous +support. Five thousand stevedores at the Putilov wharves greet the new +Government. Central Committee of the Trade Unions—enthusiastic support. +The garrison and squadron at Reval elect Military Revolutionary +Committees to cooperate, and despatch troops. Military Revolutionary +Committees control in Pskov and Minsk. Greetings from the Soviets of +Tsaritzin, Rovensky-on-Don, Tchernogorsk, Sevastopol…. The Finland +Division, the new Committees of the Fifth and Twelfth Armies, offer +allegiance…. + +From Moscow the news is uncertain. Troops of the Military Revolutionary +Committee occupy the strategic points of the city; two companies on +duty in the Kremlin have gone over to the Soviets, but the Arsenal is +in the hands of Colonel Diabtsev and his _yunkers._ The Revolutionary +Committee demanded arms for the workers, and Riabtsev parleyed with +them until this morning, when suddenly he sent an ultimatum to the +Committee, ordering Soviet troops to surrender and the Committee to +disband. Fighting has begun…. + +In Petrograd the Staff submitted to Smolny’s Commissars at once. The +_Tsentroflot,_ refusing, was stormed by Dybenko and a company of +Cronstadt sailors, and a new _Tsentroflot_ set up, supported by the +Baltic and the Black Sea battleships…. + +But beneath all the breezy assurance there was a chill premonition, a +feeling of uneasiness in the air. Kerensky’s Cossacks were coming fast; +they had artillery. Skripnik, Secretary of the Factory-Shop Committees, +his face drawn and yellow, assured me that there was a whole army corps +of them, but he added, fiercely, “They’ll never take us alive!” +Petrovsky laughed weariedly, “To-morrow maybe we’ll get a sleep—a long +one….” Lozovsky, with his emaciated, red-bearded face, said, “What +chance have we? All alone…. A mob against trained soldiers!” + +South and south-west the Soviets had fled before Kerensky, and the +garrisons of Gatchina, Pavlovsk, Tsarskoye Selo were divided—half +voting to remain neutral, the rest, without officers, falling back on +the capital in the wildest disorder. + +In the halls they were pasting up bulletins: + +FROM KRASNOYE SELO, NOVEMBER 10TH, 8 A.M. + + +_To be communicated to all Commanders of Staffs, Commanders in Chief, +Commanders, everywhere and to all, all, all._ + +The ex-Minister Kerensky has sent a deliberately false telegram to +every one everywhere to the effect that the troops of revolutionary +Petrograd have voluntarily surrendered their arms and joined the armies +of the former Government, the Government of Treason, and that the +soldiers have been ordered by the Military Revolutionary Committee to +retreat. The troops of a free people do not retreat nor do they +surrender. + +Our troops have left Gatchina in order to avoid bloodshed between +themselves and their mistaken brother-Cossacks, and in order to take a +more convenient position, which is at present so strong that if +Kerensky and his companions in arms should even increase their forces +ten times, still there would be no cause for anxiety. The spirit of our +troops is excellent. + +In Petrograd all is quiet. + +_Chief of the Defence of Petrograd and the Petrograd District,_ + +Lieutenant-Colonel Muraviov. + +As we left the Military Revolutionary Committee Antonov entered, a +paper in his hand, looking like a corpse. + +“Send this,” said he. + +TO ALL DISTRICT SOVIETS OF WORKERS’ DEPUTIES AND FACTORYSHOP COMMITTEES + + +The Kornilovist bands of Kerensky are threatening the approaches to the +capital. All the necessary orders have been given to crush mercilessly +the counter-revolutionary attempt against the people and its conquests. + +The Army and the Red Guard of the Revolution are in need of the +immediate support of the workers. + +WE ORDER THE WARD SOVIETS AND FACTORY-SHOP COMMITTEES: + + +1. To move out the greatest possible number of workers for the digging +of trenches, the erection of barricades and reinforcing of wire +entanglements. + +2. Wherever it shall be necessary for this purpose to stop work at the +factories this shall be done immediately. + +3. All common and barbed wire available must be assembled, and also all +implements for the digging of trenches and the erection of barricades. + +4. All available arms must be taken. + +5. THE STRICTEST DISCIPLINE IS TO BE OBSERVED, AND EVERY ONE MUST BE +READY TO SUPPORT THE ARMY OF THE REVOLUTION BY ALL MEANS. + + +_Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet of Worker’s and Soldiers’ Deputies,_ + +People’s Commissar LEON TROTZKY. + +_Chairman of the Military Revolutionary Committee,_ + +Commander in Chief PODVOISKY. + +As we came out into the dark and gloomy day all around the grey horizon +factory whistles were blowing, a hoarse and nervous sound, full of +foreboding. By tens of thousands the working-people poured out, men and +women; by tens of thousands the humming slums belched out their dun and +miserable hordes. Red Petrograd was in danger! Cossacks! South and +southwest they poured through the shabby streets toward the Moskovsky +Gate, men, women and children, with rifles, picks, spades, rolls of +wire, cartridge-belts over their working clothes…. Such an immense, +spontaneous outpouring of a city never was seen! They rolled along +torrent-like, companies of soldiers borne with them, guns, +motor-trucks, wagons—the revolutionary proletariat defending with its +breast the capital of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Republic! + +Before the door of Smolny was an automobile. A slight man with thick +glasses magnifying his red-rimmed eyes, his speech a painful effort, +stood leaning against a mud-guard with his hands in the pockets of a +shabby raglan. A great bearded sailor, with the clear eyes of youth, +prowled restlessly about, absently toying with an enormous blue-steel +revolver, which never left his hand. These were Antonov and Dybenko. + +Some soldiers were trying to fasten two military bicycles on the +running-board. The chauffeur violently protested; the enamel would get +scratched, he said. True, he was a Bolshevik, and the automobile was +commandeered from a bourgeois; true, the bicycles were for the use of +orderlies. But the chauffeur’s professional pride was revolted…. So the +bicycles were abandoned…. + +The People’s Commissars for War and Marine were going to inspect the +revolutionary front—wherever that was. Could we go with them? Certainly +not. The automobile only held five—the two Commissars, two orderlies +and the chauffeur. However, a Russian acquaintance of mine, whom I will +call Trusishka, calmly got in and sat down, nor could any argument +dislodge him…. + +I see no reason to doubt Trusishka’s story of the journey. As they went +down the Suvorovsky Prospect some one mentioned food. They might be out +three or four days, in a country indifferently well provisioned. They +stopped the car. Money? The Commissar of War looked through his +pockets—he hadn’t a kopek. The Commissar of Marine was broke. So was +the chauffeur. Trusishka bought the provisions…. + +Just as they turned into the Nevsky a tire blew out. + +“What shall we do?” asked Antonov. + +“Commandeer another machine!” suggested Dybenko, waving his revolver. +Antonov stood in the middle of the street and signalled a passing +machine, driven by a soldier. + +“I want that machine,” said Antonov. + +“You won’t get it,” responded the soldier. + +“Do you know who I am?” Antonov produced a paper upon which was written +that he had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of all the armies of the +Russian Republic, and that every one should obey him without question. + +“I don’t care if you’re the devil himself,” said the soldier, hotly. +“This machine belongs to the First Machine-Gun Regiment, and we’re +carrying ammunition in it, and you can’t have it….” + +The difficulty, however, was solved by the appearance of an old +battered taxi-cab, flying the Italian flag. (In time of trouble private +cars were registered in the name of foreign consulates, so as to be +safe from requisition.) From the interior of this was dislodged a fat +citizen in an expensive fur coat, and the party continued on its way. + +Arrived at Narvskaya Zastava, about ten miles out, Antonov called for +the commandant of the Red Guard. He was led to the edge of the town, +where some few hundred workmen had dug trenches and were waiting for +the Cossacks. + +“Everything all right here, comrade?” asked Antonov. + +“Everything perfect, comrade,” answered the commandant. + +“The troops are in excellent spirits…. Only one thing—we have no +ammunition….” + +“In Smolny there are two billion rounds,” Antonov told him. “I will +give you an order.” He felt in his pockets. “Has any one a piece of +paper?” + +Dybenko had none—nor the couriers. Trusishka had to offer his +note-book…. + +“Devil! I have no pencil!” cried Antonov. “Who’s got a pencil?” +Needless to say, Trusishka had the only pencil in the crowd…. + +We who were left behind made for the Tsarskoye Selo station. Up the +Nevsky, as we passed, Red Guards were marching, all armed, some with +bayonets and some without. The early twilight of winter was falling. +Heads up they tramped in the chill mud, irregular lines of four, +without music, without drums. A red flag crudely lettered in gold, +“Peace! Land!” floated over them. They were very young. The expression +on their faces was that of who know they are going to die…. +Half-fearful, half-contemptuous, the crowds on the sidewalk watched +them pass, in hateful silence…. + +[Graphic, page 184: Pass to the Northern Front] + +This pass was issued upon the recommendation of Trotzky three days +after the Bolshevik Revolution. It gives me the right of free travel to +the Northern front—and an added note on the back extends the permission +to all fronts. It will be noticed that the speaks of the _Petersburg_, +instead of the _Petrograd_ Soviet; it was the fashion among +thorough-going internationalists to abolish all names which smacked of +“patriotism”; but at the same time, it would not do to restore the +“Saint.”… + (Translation) + Executive Committee + Petrograd Soviet of + Workers’ and Soldiers’ + Deputies + Military Section + 28th October, 1917 + No. 1435 + CERTIFICATE + +The present certificate is given to the representative of the American +Social Democracy, the internationalist comrade JOHN REED. The Military +Revolutionary Committee of the Petersburg Soviet of Workers’ and +Soldiers’ Deputies gives him the right of free travel through the +entire Northern front, for the purpose of reporting to our American +comrades—internationalists concerning events in Russia. + For the President + For the Secretary + +At the railroad station nobody knew just where Kerensky was, or where +the front lay. Trains went no further, however, than Tsarskoye…. + +Our car was full of commuters and country people going home, laden with +bundles and evening papers. The talk was all of the Bolshevik rising. +Outside of that, however, one would never have realised that civil war +was rending mighty Russia in two, and that the train was headed into +the zone of battle. Through the window we could see, in the +swiftly-deepening darkness, masses of soldiers going along the muddy +road toward the city, flinging out their arms in argument. A +freight-train, swarming with troops and lit up by huge bonfires, was +halted on a siding. That was all. Back along the flat horizon the glow +of the city’s lights faded down the night. A street-car crawled +distantly along a far-flung suburb…. + +Tsarskoye Selo station was quiet, but knots of soldiers stood here and +there talking in low tones and looking uneasily down the empty track in +the direction of Gatchina. I asked some of them which side they were +on. “Well,” said one, “we don’t exactly know the rights of the matter…. +There is no doubt that Kerensky is a provocator, but we do not consider +it right for Russian men to be shooting Russian men.” + +In the station commandant’s office was a big, jovial, bearded common +soldier, wearing the red arm-band of a regimental committee. Our +credentials from Smolny commanded immediate respect. He was plainly for +the Soviets, but bewildered. + +“The Red Guards were here two hours ago, but they went away again. A +Commissar came this morning, but he returned to Petrograd when the +Cossacks arrived.” + +“The Cossacks are here then?” + +He nodded, gloomily. “There has been a battle. The Cossacks came early +in the morning. They captured two or three hundred of our men, and +killed about twenty-five.” + +“Where are the Cossacks?” + +“Well, they didn’t get this far. I don’t know just where they are. Off +that way….” He waved his arm vaguely westward. + +We had dinner—an excellent dinner, better and cheaper than could be got +in Petrograd—in the station restaurant. Nearby sat a French officer who +had just come on foot from Gatchina. All was quiet there, he said. +Kerensky held the town. “Ah, these Russians,” he went on, “they are +original! What a civil war! Everything except the fighting!” + +We sallied out into the town. Just at the door of the station stood two +soldiers with rifles and bayonets fixed. They were surrounded by about +a hundred business men, Government officials and students, who attacked +them with passionate argument and epithet. The soldiers were +uncomfortable and hurt, like children unjustly scolded. + +A tall young man with a supercilious expression, dressed in the uniform +of a student, was leading the attack. + +“You realise, I presume,” he said insolently, “that by taking up arms +against your brothers you are making yourselves the tools of murderers +and traitors?” + +“Now brother,” answered the soldier earnestly, “you don’t understand. +There are two classes, don’t you see, the proletariat and the +bourgeoisie. We—” + +“Oh, I know that silly talk!” broke in the student rudely. “A bunch of +ignorant peasants like you hear somebody bawling a few catch-words. You +don’t understand what they mean. You just echo them like a lot of +parrots.” The crowd laughed. “I’m a Marxian student. And I tell you +that this isn’t Socialism you are fighting for. It’s just plain +pro-German anarchy!” + +“Oh, yes, I know,” answered the soldier, with sweat dripping from his +brow. “You are an educated man, that is easy to see, and I am only a +simple man. But it seems to me—” + +“I suppose,” interrupted the other contemptuously, “that you believe +Lenin is a real friend of the proletariat?” + +“Yes, I do,” answered the soldier, suffering. + +“Well, my friend, do you know that Lenin was sent through Germany in a +closed car? Do you know that Lenin took money from the Germans?” + +“Well, I don’t know much about that,” answered the soldier stubbornly, +“but it seems to me that what he says is what I want to hear, and all +the simple men like me. Now there are two classes, the bourgeoisie and +the proletariat—” + +“You are a fool! Why, my friend, I spent two years in Schlüsselburg for +revolutionary activity, when you were still shooting down +revolutionists and singing ‘God Save the Tsar!’ My name is Vasili +Georgevitch Panyin. Didn’t you ever hear of me?” + +“I’m sorry to say I never did,” answered the soldier with humility. +“But then, I am not an educated man. You are probably a great hero.” + +“I am,” said the student with conviction. “And I am opposed to the +Bolsheviki, who are destroying our Russia, our free Revolution. Now how +do you account for that?” + +The soldier scratched his head. “I can’t account for it at all,” he +said, grimacing with the pain of his intellectual processes. “To me it +seems perfectly simple—but then, I’m not well educated. It seems like +there are only two classes, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie—” + +“There you go again with your silly formula!” cried the student. + +“—only two classes,” went on the soldier, doggedly. + +“And whoever isn’t on one side is on the other…” + +We wandered on up the street, where the lights were few and far +between, and where people rarely passed. A threatening silence hung +over the place—as of a sort of purgatory between heaven and hell, a +political No Man’s Land. Only the barber shops were all brilliantly +lighted and crowded, and a line formed at the doors of the public bath; +for it was Saturday night, when all Russia bathes and perfumes itself. +I haven’t the slightest doubt that Soviet troops and Cossacks mingled +in the places where these ceremonies were performed. + +The nearer we came to the Imperial Park, the more deserted were the +streets. A frightened priest pointed out the headquarters of the +Soviet, and hurried on. It was in the wing of one of the Grand Ducal +palaces, fronting the Park. The windows were dark, the door locked. A +soldier, lounging about with his hands in the top of his trousers, +looked us up and down with gloomy suspicion. “The Soviet went away two +days ago,” said he. “Where?” A shrug. _“Nie znayu._ I don’t know.” + +A little further along was a large building, brightly illuminated. From +within came a sound of hammering. While we were hesitating, a soldier +and a sailor came down the street, hand in hand. I showed them my pass +from Smolny. “Are you for the Soviets?” I asked. They did not answer, +but looked at each other in a frightened way. + +“What is going on in there?” asked the sailor, pointing to the +building. + +“I don’t know.” + +Timidly the soldier put out his hand and opened the door a crack. +Inside a great hall hung with bunting and evergreens, rows of chairs, a +stage being built. + +A stout woman with a hammer in her hand and her mouth full of tacks +came out. “What do you want?” she asked. + +“Is there a performance to-night?” said the sailor, nervously. + +“There will be private theatricals Sunday night,” she answered +severely. “Go away.” + +We tried to engage the soldier and sailor in conversation, but they +seemed frightened and unhappy, and drew off into the darkness. + +We strolled toward the Imperial Palaces, along the edge of the vast, +dark gardens, their fantastic pavilions and ornamental bridges looming +uncertainly in the night, and soft water splashing from the fountains. +At one place, where a ridiculous iron swan spat unceasingly from an +artificial grotto, we were suddenly aware of observation, and looked up +to encounter the sullen, suspicious gaze of half a dozen gigantic armed +soldiers, who stared moodily down from a grassy terrace. I climbed up +to them. “Who are you?” I asked. + +“We are the guard,” answered one. They all looked very depressed, as +undoubtedly they were, from weeks and weeks of all-day all-night +argument and debate. + +“Are you Kerensky’s troops, or the Soviets’?” + +There was silence for a moment, as they looked uneasily at each other. +Then, “We are neutral,” said he. + +We went on through the arch of the huge Ekaterina Palace, into the +Palace enclosure itself, asking for headquarters. A sentry outside a +door in a curving white wing of the Palace said that the commandant was +inside. + +In a graceful, white, Georgian room, divided into unequal parts by a +two-sided fire-place, a group of officers stood anxiously talking. They +were pale and distracted, and evidently hadn’t slept. To one, an oldish +man with a white beard, his uniform studded with decorations, who was +pointed out as the Colonel, we showed our Bolshevik papers. + +He seemed surprised. “How did you get here without being killed?” he +asked politely. “It is very dangerous in the streets just now. +Political passion is running very high in Tsarskoye Selo. There was a +battle this morning, and there will be another to-morrow morning. +Kerensky is to enter the town at eight o’clock.” + +“Where are the Cossacks?” + +“About a mile over that way.” He waved his arm. + +“And you will defend the city against them?” + +“Oh dear no.” He smiled. “We are holding the city for Kerensky.” Our +hearts sank, for our passes stated that we were revolutionary to the +core. The Colonel cleared his throat. “About those passes of yours,” he +went on. “Your lives will be in danger if you are captured. Therefore, +if you want to see the battle, I will give you an order for rooms in +the officers’ hotel, and if you will come back here at seven o’clock in +the morning, I will give you new passes.” + +“So you are for Kerensky?” we said. + +“Well, not exactly _for_ Kerensky.” The Colonel hesitated. “You see, +most of the soldiers in the garrison are Bolsheviki, and to-day, after +the battle, they all went away in the direction of Petrograd, taking +the artillery with them. You might say that none of the _soldiers_ are +for Kerensky; but some of them just don’t want to fight at all. The +_officers_ have almost all gone over to Kerensky’s forces, or simply +gone away. We are—ahem—in a most difficult position, as you see….” + +We did not believe that there would be any battle…. The Colonel +courteously sent his orderly to escort us to the railroad station. He +was from the South, born of French immigrant parents in Bessarabia. +“Ah,” he kept saying, “it is not the danger or the hardships I mind, +but being so long, three years, away from my mother….” + +Looking out of the window of the train as we sped through the cold dark +toward Petrograd, I caught glimpses of clumps of soldiers gesticulating +in the light of fires, and of clusters of armoured cars halted together +at cross-roads, the chauffeurs hanging out of the turrets and shouting +to each other…. + +All the troubled night over the bleakflats leaderless bands of soldiers +and Red Guards wandered, clashing and confused, and the Commissars of +the Military Revolutionary Committee hurried from one group to another, +trying to organise a defence…. + +Back in town excited throngs were moving in tides up and down the +Nevsky. Something was in the air. From the Warsaw Railway station could +be heard far-off cannonade. In the _yunker_ schools there was feverish +activity. Duma members went from barracks to barracks, arguing and +pleading, narrating fearful stories of Bolshevik violence—massacre of +the _yunkers_ in the Winter Palace, rape of the women soldiers, the +shooting of the girl before the Duma, the murder of Prince Tumanov…. In +the Alexander Hall of the Duma building the Committee for Salvation was +in special session; Commissars came and went, running…. All the +journalists expelled from Smolny were there, in high spirits. They did +not believe our report of conditions in Tsarskoye. Why, everybody knew +that Tsarskoye was in Kerensky’s hands, and that the Cossacks were now +at Pulkovo. A committee was being elected to meet Kerensky at the +railway station in the morning…. + +One confided to me, in strictest secrecy, that the counter-revolution +would begin at midnight. He showed me two proclamations, one signed by +Gotz and Polkovnikov, ordering the _yunker_ schools, soldier +convalescents in the hospitals, and the Knights of St. George to +mobilise on a war footing and wait for orders from the Committee for +Salvation; the other from the Committee for Salvation itself, which +read as follows: + +To the Population of Petrograd! + +Comrades, workers, soldiers and citizens of revolutionary Petrograd! + +The Bolsheviki, while appealing for peace at the front, are inciting to +civil war in the rear. + +Do not dig their provocatory appeals! + +Do not dig trenches! + +Down with the traitorous barricades! + +Lay down your arms! + +Soldiers, return to your barracks! + +The war begun in Petrograd—is the death of the Revolution! + +In the name of liberty, land, and peace, unite around the Committee for +Salvation of Country and Revolution! + +As we left the Duma a company of Red Guards, stern-faced and desperate, +came marching down the dark, deserted street with a dozen +prisoners—members of the local branch of the Council of Cossacks, +caught red-handed plotting counter-revolution in their headquarters…. + +A soldier, accompanied by a small boy with a pail of paste, was +sticking up great flaring notices: + +By virtue of the present, the city of Petrograd and its suburbs are +declared in a state of siege. All assemblies or meetings in the +streets, and generally in the open air, are forbidden until further +orders. + +N. PODVOISKY, President of the Military + +Revolutionary Committee. + +As we went home the air was full of confused sound—automobile horns, +shouts, distant shots. The city stirred uneasily, wakeful. + +In the small hours of the morning a company of _yunkers,_ disguised as +soldiers of the Semionovsky Regiment, presented themselves at the +Telephone Exchange just before the hour of changing guard. They had the +Bolshevik password, and took charge without arousing suspicion. A few +minutes later Antonov appeared, making a round of inspection. Him they +captured and locked in a small room. When the relief came it was met by +a blast of rifle-fire, several being killed. + +Counter-revolution had begun… + + + + +Chapter VIII +Counter-Revolution + + +Next morning, Sunday the 11th, the Cossacks entered Tsarskoye Selo, +Kerensky (See App. VIII, Sect. 1) himself riding a white horse and all +the church-bells clamouring. From the top of a little hill outside the +town could be seen the golden spires and many-coloured cupolas, the +sprawling grey immensity of the capital spread along the dreary plain, +and beyond, the steely Gulf of Finland. + +There was no battle. But Kerensky made a fatal blunder. At seven in the +morning he sent word to the Second Tsarskoye Selo Rifles to lay down +their arms. The soldiers replied that they would remain neutral, but +would not disarm. Kerensky gave them ten minutes in which to obey. This +angered the soldiers; for eight months they had been governing +themselves by committee, and this smacked of the old régime…. A few +minutes later Cossack artillery opened fire on the barracks, killing +eight men. From that moment there were no more “neutral” soldiers in +Tsarskoye…. + +Petrograd woke to bursts of rifle-fire, and the tramping thunder of men +marching. Under the high dark sky a cold wind smelt of snow. At dawn +the Military Hotel and the Telegraph Agency had been taken by large +forces of _yunkers,_ and bloodily recaptured. The Telephone Station was +besieged by sailors, who lay behind barricades of barrels, boxes and +tin sheets in the middle of the Morskaya, or sheltered themselves at +the corner of the Gorokhovaya and of St. Isaac’s Square, shooting at +anything that moved. Occasionally an automobile passed in and out, +flying the Red Cross flag. The sailors let it pass…. + +Albert Rhys Williams was in the Telephone Exchange. He went out with +the Red Cross automobile, which was ostensibly full of wounded. After +circulating about the city, the car went by devious ways to the +Mikhailovsky _yunker_ school, headquarters of the counter-revolution. A +French officer, in the court-yard, seemed to be in command…. By this +means ammunition and supplies were conveyed to the Telephone Exchange. +Scores of these pretended ambulances acted as couriers and ammunition +trains for the _yunkers._ + +Five or six armoured cars, belonging to the disbanded British Armoured +Car Division, were in their hands. As Louise Bryant was going along St. +Isaac’s Square one came rolling up from the Admiralty, on its way to +the Telephone Exchange. At the corner of the Gogolia, right in front of +her, the engine stalled. Some sailors ambushed behind wood-piles began +shooting. The machine-gun in the turret of the thing slewed around and +spat a hail of bullets indiscriminately into the wood-piles and the +crowd. In the archway where Miss Bryant stood seven people were shot +dead, among them two little boys. Suddenly, with a shout, the sailors +leaped up and rushed into the flaming open; closing around the monster, +they thrust their bayonets into the loop-holes, again and again, +yelling… The chauffeur pretended to be wounded, and they let him go +free—to run to the Duma and swell the tale of Bolshevik +atrocities….Among the dead was a British Officer…. + +Later the newspapers told of another French officer, captured in a +_yunker_ armoured car and sent to Peter-Paul. The French Embassy +promptly denied this, but one of the City Councillors told me that he +himself had procured the officer’s release from prison…. + +Whatever the official attitude of the Allied Embassies, individual +French and British officers were active these days, even to the extent +of giving advice at executive sessions of the Committee for Salvation. + +All day long in every quarter of the city there were skirmishes between +_yunkers_ and Red Guards, battles between armoured cars…. Volleys, +single shots and the shrill chatter of machine-guns could be heard, far +and near. The iron shutters of the shops were drawn, but business still +went on. Even the moving-picture shows, all outside lights dark, played +to crowded houses. The street-cars ran. The telephones were all +working; when you called Central, shooting could be plainly heard over +the wire…. Smolny was cut off, but the Duma and the Committee for +Salvation were in constant communication with all the _yunker_ schools +and with Kerensky at Tsarskoye. + +At seven in the morning the Vladimir _yunker_ school was visited by a +patrol of soldiers, sailors and Red Guards, who gave the _yunkers_ +twenty minutes to lay down their arms. The ultimatum was rejected. An +hour later the _yunkers_ got ready to march, but were driven back by a +violent fusillade from the corner of the Grebetskaya and the Bolshoy +Prospekt. Soviet troops surrounded the building and opened fire, two +armoured cars cruising back and forth with machine guns raking it. The +_yunkers_ telephoned for help. The Cossacks replied that they dare not +come, because a large body of sailors with two cannon commanded their +barracks. The Pavlovsk school was surrounded. Most of the Mikhailov +_yunkers_ were fighting in the streets…. + +At half-past eleven three field-pieces arrived. Another demand to +surrender was met by the _yunkers_ shooting down two of the Soviet +delegates under the white flag. Now began a real bombardment. Great +holes were torn in the walls of the school. The _yunkers_ defended +themselves desperately; shouting waves of Red Guards, assaulting, +crumpled under the withering blast…. Kerensky telephoned from Tsarskoye +to refuse all parley with the Military Revolutionary Committee. + +Frenzied by defeat and their heaps of dead, the Soviet troops opened a +tornado of steel and flame against the battered building. Their own +officers could not stop the terrible bombardment. A Commissar from +Smolny named Kirilov tried to halt it; he was threatened with lynching. +The Red Guards’ blood was up. + +At half-past two the _yunkers_ hoisted a white flag; they would +surrender if they were guaranteed protection. This was promised. With a +rush and a shout thousands of soldiers and Red Guards poured through +windows, doors and holes in the wall. Before it could be stopped five +_yunkers_ were beaten and stabbed to death. The rest, about two +hundred, were taken to Peter-Paul under escort, in small groups so as +to avoid notice. On the way a mob set upon one party, killing eight +more _yunkers_…. More than a hundred Red Guards and soldiers had +fallen…. + +Two hours later the Duma got a telephone message that the victors were +marching toward the _Injinierny Zamok_—the Engineers’ school. A dozen +members immediately set out to distribute among them armfuls of the +latest proclamation of the Committee for Salvation. Several did not +come back…. All the other schools surrendered without resistance, and +the _yunkers_ were sent unharmed to Peter-Paul and Cronstadt…. + +The Telephone Exchange held out until afternoon, when a Bolshevik +armoured car appeared, and the sailors stormed the place. Shrieking, +the frightened telephone girls ran to and fro; the _yunkers_ tore from +their uniforms all distinguishing marks, and one offered Williams +_anything_ for the loan of his overcoat, as a disguise…. “They will +massacre us! They will massacre us!” they cried, for many of them had +given their word at the Winter Palace not to take up arms against the +People. Williams offered to mediate if Antonov were released. This was +immediately done; Antonov and Williams made speeches to the victorious +sailors, inflamed by their many dead—and once more the _yunkers_ went +free…. All but a few, who in their panic tried to flee over the roofs, +or to hide in the attic, and were found and hurled into the street. + +Tired, bloody, triumphant, the sailors and workers swarmed into the +switchboard room, and finding so many pretty girls, fell back in an +embarrassed way and fumbled with awkward feet. Not a girl was injured, +not one insulted. Frightened, they huddled in the corners, and then, +finding themselves safe, gave vent to their spite. “Ugh! The dirty, +ignorant people! The fools!”… The sailors and Red Guards were +embarrassed. “Brutes! Pigs!” shrilled the girls, indignantly putting on +their coats and hats. Romantic had been their experience passing up +cartridges and dressing the wounds of their dashing young defenders, +the _yunkers,_ many of them members of noble families, fighting to +restore their beloved Tsar! These were just common workmen, peasants, +“Dark People.”… + +The Commissar of the Military Revolutionary Committee, little Vishniak, +tried to persuade the girls to remain. He was effusively polite. “You +have been badly treated,” he said. “The telephone system is controlled +by the Municipal Duma. You are paid sixty rubles a month, and have to +work ten hours and more…. From now on all that will be changed. The +Government intends to put the telephones under control of the Ministry +of Posts and Telegraphs. Your wages will be immediately raised to one +hundred and fifty rubles, and your working-hours reduced. As members of +the working-class you should be happy—” + +Members of the _working-class_ indeed! Did he mean to infer that there +was anything in common between these—these animals—and _us?_ Remain? +Not if they offered a thousand rubles!… Haughty and spiteful the girls +left the place…. + +The employees of the building, the line-men and labourers—they stayed. +But the switch-boards must be operated—the telephone was vital…. Only +half a dozen trained operators were available. Volunteers were called +for; a hundred responded, sailors, soldiers, workers. The six girls +scurried backward and forward, instructing, helping, scolding…. So, +crippled, halting, but _going,_ the wires slowly began to hum. The +first thing was to connect Smolny with the barracks and the factories; +the second, to cut off the Duma and the _yunker_ schools…. Late in the +afternoon word of it spread through the city, and hundreds of bourgeois +called up to scream, “Fools! Devils! How long do you think you will +last? Wait till the Cossacks come!” + +Dusk was already falling. On the almost deserted Nevsky, swept by a +bitter wind, a crowd had gathered before the Kazan Cathedral, +continuing the endless debate; a few workmen, some soldiers and the +rest shop-keepers, clerks and the like. + +“But Lenin won’t get Germany to make peace!” cried one. + +A violent young soldier replied. “And whose fault is it? Your damn +Kerensky, dirty bourgeois! To hell with Kerensky! We don’t want him! We +want Lenin….” + +Outside the Duma an officer with a white arm-band was tearing down +posters from the wall, swearing loudly. One read: + +To the Population of Petrograd! + +At this dangerous hour, when the Municipal Duma ought to use every +means to calm the population, to assure it bread and other necessities, +the Right Socialist Revolutionaries and the Cadets, forgetting their +duty, have turned the Duma into a counter-revolutionary meeting, trying +to raise part of the population against the rest, so as to facilitate +the victory of Kornilov-Kerensky. Instead of doing their duty, the +Right Socialist Revolutionaries and the Cadets have transformed the +Duma into an arena of political attack upon the Soviets of Workers’, +Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies, against the revolutionary Government +of peace, bread and liberty. + +Citizens of Petrograd, we, the Bolshevik Municipal Councillors elected +by you—we want you to know that the Right Socialist Revolutionaries and +the Cadets are engaged in counter-revolutionary action, have forgotten +their duty, and are leading the population to famine, to civil war. We, +elected by 183,000 votes, consider it our duty to bring to the +attention of our constituents what is going on in the Duma, and declare +that we disclaim all responsibility for the terrible but inevitable +consequences…. + +Far away still sounded occasional shots, but the city lay quiet, cold, +as if exhausted by the violent spasms which had torn it. + +In the Nicolai Hall the Duma session was coming to an end. Even the +truculent Duma seemed a little stunned. One after another the +Commissars reported—capture of the Telephone Exchange, street-fighting, +the taking of the Vladimir school…. “The Duma,” said Trupp, “is on the +side of the democracy in its struggle against arbitrary violence; but +in any case, whichever side wins, the Duma will always be against +lynchings and torture….” + +Konovski, Cadet, a tall old man with a cruel face: “When the troops of +the legal Government arrive in Petrograd, they will shoot down these +insurgents, and that will not be lynching!” Protests all over the hall, +even from his own party. + +Here there was doubt and depression. The counter-revolution was being +put down. The Central Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary party +had voted lack of confidence in its officers; the left wing was in +control; Avksentiev had resigned. A courier reported that the Committee +of Welcome sent to meet Kerensky at the railway station had been +arrested. In the streets could be heard the dull rumble of distant +cannonading, south and southwest. Still Kerensky did not come… + +Only three newspapers were out—_Pravda, Dielo Naroda_ and _Novaya +Zhizn._ All of them devoted much space to the new “coalition” +Government. The Socialist Revolutionary paper demanded a Cabinet +without either Cadets or Bolsheviki. Gorky was hopeful; Smolny had made +concessions. A purely Socialist Government was taking shape—all +elements except the bourgeoisie. As for _Pravda,_ it sneered: + +We ridicule these coalitions with political parties whose most +prominent members are petty journalists of doubtful reputation; our +“coalition” is that of the proletariat and the revolutionary Army with +the poor peasants… + +On the walls a vainglorious announcement of the _Vikzhel,_ threatening +to strike if both sides did not compromise: + +The conquerors of these riots, the saviours of the wreck of our +country, these will be neither the Bolsheviki, nor the Committee for +Salvation, nor the troops of Kerensky—but we, the Union of Railwaymen… + +Red Guards are incapable of handling a complicated business like the +railways; as for the Provisional Government, it has shown itself +incapable of holding the power… + +We refuse to lend our services to any party which does not act by +authority of … a Government based on the confidence of all the +democracy…. + +Smolny thrilled with the boundless vitality of inexhaustible humanity +in action. + +In Trade Union headquarters Lozovsky introduced me to a delegate of the +Railway Workers of the Nicolai line, who said that the men were holding +huge mass-meetings, condemning the action of their leaders. + +“All power to the Soviets!” he cried, pounding on the table. “The +_oborontsi_ in the Central Committee are playing Kornilov’s game. They +tried to send a mission to the Stavka, but we arrested them at Minsk…. +Our branch has demanded an All-Russian Convention, and they refuse to +call it….” + +The same situation as in the Soviets, the Army Committees. One after +another the various democratic organisations, all over Russia, were +cracking and changing. The Cooperatives were torn by internal +struggles; the meetings of the Peasants’ Executive broke up in stormy +wrangling; even among the Cossacks there was trouble…. + +On the top floor the Military Revolutionary Committee was in full +blast, striking and slacking not. Men went in, fresh and vigorous; +night and day and night and day they threw themselves into the terrible +machine; and came out limp, blind with fatigue, hoarse and filthy, to +fall on the floor and sleep…. The Committee for Salvation had been +outlawed. Great piles of new proclamations (See App. VIII, Sect. 2) +littered the floor: + +… The conspirators, who have no support among the garrison or the +working-class, above all counted on the suddenness of their attack. +Their plan was discovered in time by Sub-Lieutenant Blagonravov, thanks +to the revolutionary vigilance of a soldier of the Red Guard, whose +name shall be made public. At the centre of the plot was the Committee +for Salvation. Colonel Polkovnikov was in command of their forces, and +the orders were signed by Gotz, former member of the Provisional +Government, allowed at liberty on his word of honour…. + +Bringing these facts to the attention of the Petrograd population, the +Military Revolutionary Committee orders the arrest of all concerned in +the conspiracy, who shall be tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal…. + +From Moscow, word that the _yunkers_ and Cossacks had surrounded the +Kremlin and ordered the Soviet troops to lay down their arms. The +Soviet forces complied, and as they were leaving the Kremlin, were set +upon and shot down. Small forces of Bolsheviki had been driven from the +Telephone and Telegraph offices; the _yunkers_ now held the centre of +the city. … But all around them the Soviet troops were mustering. +Street-fighting was slowly gathering way; all attempts at compromise +had failed…. On the side of the Soviet, ten thousand garrison soldiers +and a few Red Guards; on the side of the Government, six thousand +_yunkers,_ twenty-five hundred Cossacks and two thousand White Guards. + +The Petrograd Soviet was meeting, and next door the new _Tsay-ee-kah,_ +acting on the decrees and orders (See App. VIII, Sect. 3) which came +down in a steady stream from the Council of People’s Commissars in +session upstairs; on the Order in Which Laws Are to be Ratified and +Published, Establishing an Eight hour Days for Workers, and +Lunatcharsky’s “Basis for a System of Popular Education.” Only a few +hundred people were present at the two meetings, most of them armed. +Smolny was almost deserted, except for the guards, who were busy at the +hall windows, setting up machine-guns to command the flanks of the +building. + +In the _Tsay-ee-kah_ a delegate of the _Vikzhel_ was speaking: “We +refuse to transport the troops of either party…. We have sent a +committee to Kerensky to say that if he continues to march on Petrograd +we will break his lines of communication….” + +He made the usual plea for a conference of all the Socialist parties to +form a new Government…. + +Kameniev answered discreetly. The Bolsheviki would be very glad to +attend the conference. The centre of gravity, however, lay not in +composition of such a Government, but in its acceptance of the +programme of the Congress of Soviets. + +… The _Tsay-ee-kah_ had deliberated on the declaration made by the Left +Socialist Revolutionaries and the Social Democrats Internationalists, +and had accepted the proposition of proportional representation at the +conference, even including delegates from the Army Committees and the +Peasants’ Soviets…. + +In the great hall, Trotzky recounted the events of the day. + +“We offered the Vladimir _yunkers_ a chance to surrender,” he said. “We +wanted to settle matters without bloodshed. But now that blood has been +spilled there is only one way—pitiless struggle. It would be childish +to think we can win by any other means…. The moment is decisive. +Everybody must cooperate with the Military Revolutionary Committee, +report where there are stores of barbed wire, benzine, guns…. We’ve won +the power; now we must keep it!” + +The Menshevik Yoffe tried to read his party’s declaration, but Trotzky +refused to allow “a debate about principle.” + +“Our debates are now in the streets,” he cried. “The decisive step has +been taken. We all, and I in particular, take the responsibility for +what is happening….” + +Soldiers from the front, from Gatchina, told their stories. One from +the Death Battalion, Four Hundred Eighty-first Artillery: “When the +trenches hear of this, they will cry, ‘This is _our_ Government!’” A +_yunker_ from Peterhof said that he and two others had refused to march +against the Soviets; and when his comrades had returned from the +defence of the Winter Palace they appointed him their Commissar, to go +to Smolny and offer their services to the _real_ Revolution…. + +Then Trotzky again, fiery, indefatigable, giving orders, answering +questions. + +“The petty bourgeoisie, in order to defeat the workers, soldiers and +peasants, would combine with the devil himself!” he said once. Many +cases of drunkenness had been remarked the last two days. “No drinking, +comrades! No one must be on the streets after eight in the evening, +except the regular guards. All places suspected of having stores of +liquor should be searched, and the liquor destroyed. (See App. VIII, +Sect. 4) No mercy to the sellers of liquor….” + +The Military Revolutionary Committee sent for the delegation from the +Viborg section; then for the members from Putilov. They clumped out +hurriedly. + +“For each revolutionist killed,” said Trotzky, “we shall kill five +counter-revolutionists!” + +Down-town again. The Duma brilliantly illuminated and great crowds +pouring in. In the lower hall wailing and cries of grief; the throng +surged back and forth before the bulletin board, where was posted a +list of _yunkers_ killed in the day’s fighting—or supposed to be +killed, for most of the dead afterward turned up safe and sound…. Up in +the Alexander Hall the Committee for Salvation held forth. The gold and +red epaulettes of officers were conspicuous, the familiar faces of the +Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionary intellectuals, the hard eyes and +bulky magnificence of bankers and diplomats, officials of the old +régime, and well-dressed women…. + +The telephone girls were testifying. Girl after girl came to the +tribune—over-dressed, fashion-aping little girls, with pinched faces +and leaky shoes. Girl after girl, flushing with pleasure at the +applause of the “nice” people of Petrograd, of the officers, the rich, +the great names of politics—girl after girl, to narrate her sufferings +at the hands of the proletariat, and proclaim her loyalty to all that +was old, established and powerful…. + +The Duma was again in session in the Nicolai Hall. The Mayor said +hopefully that the Petrograd regiments were ashamed of their actions; +propaganda was making headway. + +[Graphic, page 205: Proclamation for “wine pogroms”] + +Revolutionary law and order. A proclamation of the Finland Regiment, in +December, 1917, announcing desperate remedies for “wine pogroms.” For +translation see Appendix 5. + +… Emissaries came and went, reporting horrible deeds by the Bolsheviki, +interceding to save the _yunkers,_ busily investigating…. + +“The Bolsheviki,” said Trupp, “will be conquered by moral force, and +not by bayonets…..” + +Meanwhile all was not well on the revolutionary front. The enemy had +brought up armoured trains, mounted with cannon. The Soviet forces, +mostly raw Red Guards, were without officers and without a definite +plan. Only five thousand regular soldiers had joined them; the rest of +the garrison was either busy suppressing the _yunker_ revolt, guarding +the city, or undecided what to do. At ten in the evening Lenin +addressed a meeting of delegates from the city regiments, who voted +overwhelmingly to fight. A Committee of five soldiers was elected to +serve as General Staff, and in the small hours of the morning the +regiments left their barracks in full battle array…. Going home I saw +them pass, swinging along with the regular tread of veterans, bayonets +in perfect alignment, through the deserted streets of the conquered +city…. + +At the same time, in the headquarters of the _Vikzhel_ down on the +Sadovaya, the conference of all the Socialist parties to form a new +Government was under way. Abramovitch, for the centre Mensheviki, said +that there should be neither conquerors nor conquered—that bygones +should be bygones. …In this were agreed all the left wing parties. Dan, +speaking in the name of the right Mensheviki, proposed to the +Bolsheviki the following conditions for a truce: The Red Guard to be +disarmed, and the Petrograd garrison to be placed at the orders of the +Duma; the troops of Kerensky not to fire a single shot or arrest a +single man; a Ministry of all the Socialist parties _except the +Bolsheviki._ For Smolny Riazanov and Kameniev declared that a coalition +ministry of all parties was acceptable, but protested at Dan’s +proposals. The Socialist Revolutionaries were divided; but the +Executive Committee of the Peasants’s Soviets and the Populist +Socialists flatly refused to admit the Bolsheviki…. After bitter +quarrelling a commission was elected to draw up a workable plan…. + +All that night the commission wrangled, and all the next day, and the +next night. Once before, on the 9th of November, there had been a +similar effort at conciliation, led by Martov and Gorky; but at the +approach of Kerensky and the activity of the Committee for Salvation, +the right wing of the Mensheviki, Socialist Revolutionaries and +Populist Socialists suddenly withdrew. Now they were awed by the +crushing of the _yunker_ rebellion… + +Monday the 12th was a day of suspense. The eyes of all Russia were +fixed on the grey plain beyond the gates of Petrograd, where all the +available strength of the old order faced the unorganised power of the +new, the unknown. In Moscow a truce had been declared; both sides +parleyed, awaiting the result in the capital. Now the delegates to the +Congress of Soviets, hurrying on speeding trains to the farthest +reaches of Asia, were coming to their homes, carrying the fiery cross. +In wide-spreading ripples news of the miracle spread over the face of +the land, and in its wake towns, cities and far villages stirred and +broke, Soviets and Military Revolutionary Committees against Dumas, +Zemstvos and Government Commissars—Red Guards against White—street +fighting and passionate speech…. The result waited on the word from +Petrograd…. + +Smolny was almost empty, but the Duma was thronged and noisy. The old +Mayor, in his dignified way, was protesting against the Appeal of the +Bolshevik Councillors. + +“The Duma is not a centre of counter-revolution,” he said, warmly. “The +Duma takes no part in the present struggle between the parties. But at +a time when there is no legal power in the land, the only centre of +order is the Municipal Self-Government. The peaceful population +recognises this fact; the foreign Embassies recognise only such +documents as are signed by the Mayor of the town. The mind of a +European does not admit of any other situation, as the Municipal +self-government is the only organ which is capable of protecting the +interests of the citizens. The City is bound to show hospitality, to +all organisations which desire to profit by such hospitality, and +therefore the Duma cannot prevent the distribution of any newspapers +whatever within the Duma building. The sphere of our work is +increasing, and we must be given full liberty of action, and our rights +must be respected by both parties…. + +“We are perfectly neutral. When the Telephone Exchange was occupied by +the _yunkers_ Colonel Polkovnikov ordered the telephones to Smolny +disconnected, but I protested, and the telephones were kept going….” + +At this there was ironic laughter from the Bolshevik benches, and +imprecations from the right. + +“And yet,” went on Schreider, “they look upon us as +counter-revolutionaries and report us to the population. They deprive +us of our means of transport by taking away our last motor-cars. It +will not be our fault if there is famine in the town. Protests are of +no use….” + +Kobozev, Bolshevik member of the Town Board, was doubtful whether the +Military Revolutionary Committee had requisitioned the Municipal +automobiles. Even granting the fact, it was probably done by some +unauthorised individual, in the emergency. + +“The Mayor,” he continued, “tells us that we must not make political +meetings out of the Duma. But every Menshevik and Socialist +Revolutionary here talks nothing but party propaganda, and at the door +they distribute their illegal newspapers, _Iskri_ (Sparks), _Soldatski +Golos_ and _Rabotchaya Gazeta,_ inciting to insurrection. What if we +Bolsheviki should also begin to distribute our papers here? But this +shall not be, for we respect the Duma. We have not attacked the +Municipal Self-Government, and we shall not do so. But you have +addressed an Appeal to the population, and we are entitled also to do +so….” + +Followed him Shingariov, Cadet, who said that there could be no common +language with those who were liable to be brought before the Attorney +General for indictment, and who must be tried on the charge of +treason…. He proposed again that all Bolshevik members should be +expelled from the Duma. This was tabled, however, for there were no +personal charges against the members, and they were active in the +Municipal administration. + +Then two Mensheviki Internationalists, declaring that the Appeal of the +Bolshevik Councillors was a direct incitement to massacre. “If +everything that is against the Bolsheviki is counter-revolutionary,” +said Pinkevitch, “then I do not know the difference between revolution +and anarchy…. The Bolsheviki are depending upon the passions of the +unbridled masses; we have nothing but moral force. We will protest +against massacres and violence from both sides, as our task is to find +a peaceful issue.” + +“The notice posted in the streets under the heading ‘To the Pillory,’ +which calls upon the people to destroy the Mensheviki and Socialist +Revolutionaries,” said Nazariev, “is a crime which you, Bolsheviki, +will not be able to wash away. Yesterday’s horrors are but a preface to +what you are preparing by such a proclamation…. I have always tried to +reconcile you with the other parties, but at present I feel for you +nothing but contempt!” + +The Bolshevik Councillors were on their feet, shouting angrily, +assailed by hoarse, hateful voices and waving arms…. + +Outside the hall I ran into the City Engineer, the Menshevik Gomberg +and three or four reporters. They were all in high spirits. + +“See!” they said. “The cowards are afraid of us. They don’t dare arrest +the Duma! Their Military Revolutionary Committee doesn’t dare to send a +Commissar into this building. Why, on the corner of the Sadovaya +to-day, I saw a Red Guard try to stop a boy selling _Soldatski Golos_…. +The boy just laughed at him, and a crowd of people wanted to lynch the +bandit. It’s only a few hours more, now. Even if Kerensky wouldn’t come +they haven’t the men to run a Government. Absurd! I understand they’re +even fighting among themselves at Smolny!” + +A Socialist Revolutionary friend of mine drew me aside. “I know where +the Committee for Salvation is hiding,” he said. “Do you want to go and +talk with them?” + +By this time it was dusk. The city had again settled down to +normal—shop-shutters up, lights shining, and on the streets great +crowds of people slowly moving up and down and arguing…. + +At Number 86 Nevsky we went through a passage into a courtyard, +surrounded by tall apartment buildings. At the door of apartment 229 my +friend knocked in a peculiar way. There was a sound of scuffling; an +inside door slammed; then the front door opened a crack and a woman’s +face appeared. After a minute’s observation she led us in—a +placid-looking, middle-aged lady who at once cried, “Kyril, it’s all +right!” In the dining-room, where a samovar steamed on the table and +there were plates full of bread and raw fish, a man in uniform emerged +from behind the window-curtains, and another, dressed like a workman, +from a closet. They were delighted to meet an American reporter. With a +certain amount of gusto both said that they would certainly be shot if +the Bolsheviki caught them. They would not give me their names, but +both were Socialist Revolutionaries…. + +“Why,” I asked, “do you publish such lies in your newspapers?” + +Without taking offence the officer replied, “Yes, I know; but what can +we do?” He shrugged. “You must admit that it is necessary for us to +create a certain frame of mind in the people….” + +The other man interrupted. “This is merely an adventure on the part of +the Bolsheviki. They have no intellectuals…. The Ministries won’t +work…. Russia is not a city, but a whole country…. Realising that they +can only last a few days, we have decided to come to the aid of the +strongest force opposed to them—Kerensky—and help to restore order.” + +“That is all very well,” I said. “But why do you combine with the +Cadets?” + +The pseudo-workman smiled frankly. “To tell you the truth, at this +moment the masses of the people are following the Bolsheviki. We have +no following—now. We can’t mobilise a handful of soldiers. There are no +arms available…. The Bolsheviki are right to a certain extent; there +are at this moment in Russia only two parties with any force—the +Bolsheviki and the reactionaries, who are all hiding under the +coat-tails of the Cadets. The Cadets think they are using us; but it is +really we who are using the Cadets. When we smash the Bolsheviki we +shall turn against the Cadets….” + +“Will the Bolsheviki be admitted into the new Government?” + +He scratched his head. “That’s a problem,” he admitted. “Of course if +they are not admitted, they’ll probably do this all over again. At any +rate, they will have a chance to hold the balance of power in the +Constituent—that is, if there _is_ a Constituent.” + +“And then, too,” said the officer, “that brings up the question of +admitting the Cadets into the new Government—and for the same reasons. +You know the Cadets do not really want the Constituent Assembly—not if +the Bolsheviki can be destroyed now.” He shook his head. “It is not +easy for us Russians, politics. You Americans are born politicians; you +have had politics all your lives. But for us—well, it has only been a +year, you know!” + +“What do you think of Kerensky?” I asked. + +“Oh, Kerensky is guilty of the sins of the Provisional Government,” +answered the other man. “Kerensky himself forced us to accept coalition +with the bourgeoisie. If he had resigned, as he threatened, it would +have meant a new Cabinet crisis only sixteen weeks before the +Constituent Assembly, and that we wanted to avoid.” + +“But didn’t it amount to that anyway?” + +“Yes, but how were we to know? They tricked us—the Kerenskys and +Avksentievs. Gotz is a little more radical. I stand with Tchernov, who +is a real revolutionist…. Why, only to-day Lenin sent word that he +would not object to Tchernov entering the Government. + +“We wanted to get rid of the Kerensky Government too, but we thought it +better to wait for the Constituent…. At the beginning of this affair I +was with the Bolsheviki, but the Central Committee of my party voted +unanimously against it—and what could I do? It was a matter of party +discipline…. + +“In a week the Bolshevik Government will go to pieces; if the Socialist +Revolutionaries could only stand aside and wait, the Government would +fall into their hands. But if we wait a week the country will be so +disorganised that the German imperialists will be victorious. That is +why we began our revolt with only two regiments of soldiers promising +to support us—and they turned against us…. That left only the +_yunkers_….” + +“How about the Cossacks?” + +The officer sighed. “They did not move. At first they said they would +come out if they had infantry support. They said moreover that they had +their men with Kerensky, and that they were doing their part…. Then, +too, they said that the Cossacks were always accused of being the +hereditary enemies of democracy…. And finally, ‘The Bolsheviki promise +that they will not take away our land. There is no danger to us. We +remain neutral.’” + +During this talk people were constantly entering and leaving—most of +them officers, their shoulder-straps torn off. We could see them in the +hall, and hear their low, vehement voices. Occasionally, through the +half-drawn portières, we caught a glimpse of a door opening into a +bath-room, where a heavily-built officer in a colonel’s uniform sat on +the toilet, writing something on a pad held in his lap. I recognised +Colonel Polkovnikov, former commandant of Petrograd, for whose arrest +the Military Revolutionary Committee would have paid a fortune. + +“Our programme?” said the officer. “This is it. Land to be turned over +to the Land Committees. Workmen to have full representation in the +control of industry. An energetic peace programme, but not an ultimatum +to the world such as the Bolsheviki issued. The Bolsheviki cannot keep +their promises to the masses, even in the country itself. We won’t let +them…. They stole our land programme in order to get the support of the +peasants. That is dishonest. If they had waited for the Constituent +Assembly—” + +“It doesn’t matter about the Constituent Assembly!” broke in the +officer. “If the Bolsheviki want to establish a Socialist state here, +we cannot work with them in any event! Kerensky made the great mistake. +He let the Bolsheviki know what he was going to do by announcing in the +Council of the Republic that he had ordered their arrest…. + +“But what,” I said, “do you intend to do now?” + +The two men looked at one another. “You will see in a few days. If +there are enough troops from the front on our side, we shall not +compromise with the Bolsheviki. If not, perhaps we shall be forced +to….” + +Out again on the Nevsky we swung on the step of a streetcar bulging +with people, its platforms bent down from the weight and scraping along +the ground, which crawled with agonising slowness the long miles to +Smolny. + +Meshkovsky, a neat, frail little man, was coming down the hall, looking +worried. The strikes in the Ministries, he told us, were having their +effect. For instance, the Council of People’s Commissars had promised +to publish the Secret Treaties; but Neratov, the functionary in charge, +had disappeared, taking the documents with him. They were supposed to +be hidden in the British Embassy…. + +Worst of all, however, was the strike in the banks. “Without money,” +said Menzhinsky, “we are helpless. The wages of the railroad men, of +the postal and telegraph employees, must be paid…. The banks are +closed; and the key to the situation, the State Bank, is also shut. All +the bank-clerks in Russia have been bribed to stop work…. + +“But Lenin has issued an order to dynamite the State Bank vaults, and +there is a Decree just out, ordering the private banks to open +to-morrow, or we will open them ourselves!” + +The Petrograd Soviet was in full swing, thronged with armed men, +Trotzky reporting: + +“The Cossacks are falling back from Krasnoye Selo.” (Sharp, exultant +cheering.) “But the battle is only beginning. At Pulkovo heavy fighting +is going on. All available forces must be hurried there…. + +“From Moscow, bad news. The Kremlin is in the hands of the _yunkers,_ +and the workers have only a few arms. The result depends upon +Petrograd. + +“At the front, the decrees on Peace and Land are provoking great +enthusiasm. Kerensky is flooding the trenches with tales of Petrograd +burning and bloody, of women and children massacred by the Bolsheviki. +But no one believes him…. + +“The cruisers _Oleg, Avrora_ and _Respublica_ are anchored in the Neva, +their guns trained on the approaches to the city….” + +“Why aren’t you out there with the Red Guards?” shouted a rough voice. + +“I’m going now!” answered Trotzky, and left the platform. His face a +little paler than usual, he passed down the side of the room, +surrounded by eager friends, and hurried out to the waiting automobile. + +Kameniev now spoke, describing the proceedings of the reconciliation +conference. The armistice conditions proposed by the Mensheviki, he +said, had been contemptuously rejected. Even the branches of the +Railwaymen’s Union had voted against such a proposition…. + +“Now that we’ve won the power and are sweeping all Russia,” he +declared, “all they ask of us are three little things: 1. To surrender +the power. 2. To make the soldiers continue the war. 3. To make the +peasants forget about the land….” + +Lenin appeared for a moment, to answer the accusations of the Socialist +Revolutionaries: + +“They charge us with stealing their land programme…. If that is so, we +bow to them. It is good enough for us….” + +So the meeting roared on, leader after leader explaining, exhorting, +arguing, soldier after soldier, workman after workman, standing up to +speak his mind and his heart…. The audience flowed, changing and +renewed continually. From time to time men came in, yelling for the +members of such and such a detachment, to go to the front; others, +relieved, wounded, or coming to Smolny for arms and equipment, poured +in…. + +It was almost three o’clock in the morning when, as we left the hall, +Holtzman, of the Military Revolutionary Committee, came running down +the hall with a transfigured face. + +“It’s all right!” he shouted, grabbing my hands. “Telegram from the +front. Kerensky is smashed! Look at this!” + +He held out a sheet of paper, scribbled hurriedly in pencil, and then, +seeing we couldn’t read it, he declaimed aloud: + +Pulkovo. Staff. 2.10 A.M. + +The night of October 30th to 31st will go down in history. The attempt +of Kerensky to move counter-revolutionary troops against the capital of +the Revolution has been decisively repulsed. Kerensky is retreating, we +are advancing. The soldiers, sailors and workers of Petrograd have +shown that they can and will with arms in their hands enforce the will +and authority of the democracy. The bourgeoisie tried to isolate the +revolutionary army. Kerensky attempted to break it by the force of the +Cossacks. Both plans met a pitiful defeat. + +The grand idea of the domination of the worker and peasant democracy +closed the ranks of the army and hardened its will. All the country +from now on will be convinced that the Power of the Soviets is no +ephemeral thing, but an invincible fact…. The repulse of Kerensky is +the repulse of the land-owners, the bourgeoisie and the Kornilovists in +general. The repulse of Kerensky is the confirmation of the right of +the people to a peaceful free life, to land, bread and power. The +Pulkovo detachment by its valorous blow has strengthened the cause of +the Workers’ and Peasants’s Revolution. There is no return to the past. +Before us are struggles, obstacles and sacrifices. But the road is +clear and victory is certain. + +Revolutionary Russia and the Soviet Power can be proud of their Pulkovo +detachment, acting under the command of Colonel Walden. Eternal memory +to those who fell! Glory to the warriors of the Revolution, the +soldiers and the officers who were faithful to the People! + +Long live revolutionary, popular, Socialist Russia! + +In the name of the Council, + +L. TROTZKY, People’s Commissar…. + +Driving home across Znamensky Square, we made out an unusual crowd in +front of the Nicolai Railway Station. Several thousand sailors were +massed there, bristling with rifles. + +Standing on the steps, a member of the _Vikzhel_ was pleading with +them. + +“Comrades, we cannot carry you to Moscow. We are neutral. We do not +carry troops for either side. We cannot take you to Moscow, where +already there is terrible civil war….” + +All the seething Square roared at him; the sailors began to surge +forward. Suddenly another door was flung wide; in it stood two or three +brakeman, a fireman or so. + +“This way, comrades!” cried one. “We will take you to Moscow—or +Vladivostok, if you like! Long live the Revolution!” + + + + +Chapter IX +Victory + + +_Order Number I_ + +To the Troops of the Pulkovo Detachment. + +November 13, 1917. 38 minutes past 9 a. m. + +After a cruel fight the troops of the Pulkovo detachment completely +routed the counter-revolutionary forces, who retreated from their +positions in disorder, and under cover of Tsarskoye Selo fell back +toward Pavlovsk II and Gatchina. + +Our advanced units occupied the northeastern extremity of Tsarskoye +Selo and the station Alexandrovskaya. The Colpinno detachment was on +our left, the Krasnoye Selo detachment to our right. + +I ordered the Pulkovo forces to occupy Tsarskoye Selo, to fortify its +approaches, especially on the side of Gatchina. + +Also to pass and occupy Pavlovskoye, fortifying its southern side, and +to take up the railroad as far as Dno. + +The troops must take all measures to strengthen the positions occupied +by them, arranging trenches and other defensive works. + +They must enter into close liaison with the detachments of Colpinno and +Krasnoye Selo, and also with the Staff of the Commander in Chief for +the Defence of Petrograd. + +Signed, + +_Commander in Chief aver all Forces acting against the +Counter-revolutionary Troops of Kerensky,_ + +Lieutenant-Colonel MURAVIOV. + +Tuesday morning. But how is this? Only two days ago the Petrograd +campagna was full of leaderless bands, wandering aimlessly; without +food, without artillery, without a plan. What had fused that +disorganised mass of undisciplined Red Guards, and soldiers without +officers, into an army obedient to its own elected high command, +tempered to meet and break the assault of cannon and Cossack cavalry? +(See App. IX, Sect. 1) + +People in revolt have a way of defying military precedent. The ragged +armies of the French Revolution are not forgotten—Valmy and the Lines +of Weissembourg. Massed against the Soviet forces were _yunkers,_ +Cossacks, land-owners, nobility, Black Hundreds—the Tsar come again, +_Okhrana_ and Siberian chains; and the vast and terrible menace of the +Germans…. Victory, in the words of Carlyle, meant “Apotheosis and +Millennium without end!” + +Sunday night, the Commissars of the Military Revolutionary Committee +returning desperately from the field, the garrison of Petrograd elected +its Committee of Five, its Battle Staff, three soldiers and two +officers, all certified free from counter-revolutionary taint. Colonel +Muraviov, ex-patriot, was in command—an efficient man, but to be +carefully watched. At Colpinno, at Obukhovo, at Pulkovo and Krasnoye +Selo were formed provisional detachments, increased in size as the +stragglers came in from the surrounding country—mixed soldiers, sailors +and Red Guards, parts of regiments, infantry, cavalry and artillery all +together, and a few armoured cars. + +Day broke, and the pickets of Kerensky’s Cossacks came in touch. +Scattered rifle-fire, summons to surrender. Over the bleak plain on the +cold quiet air spread the sound of battle, falling upon the ears of +roving bands as they gathered about their little fires, waiting…. So it +was beginning! They made toward the battle; and the worker hordes +pouring out along the straight roads quickened their pace…. Thus upon +all the points of attack automatically converged angry human swarms, to +be met by Commissars and assigned positions, or work to do. This was +_their_ battle, for _their_ world; the officers in command were elected +by _them._ For the moment that incoherent multiple will was one will…. + +Those who participated in the fighting described to me how the sailors +fought until they ran out of cartridges, and then stormed; how the +untrained workmen rushed the charging Cossacks and tore them from their +horses; how the anonymous hordes of the people, gathering in the +darkness around the battle, rose like a tide and poured over the +enemy…. Before midnight of Monday the Cossacks broke and were fleeing, +leaving their artillery behind them, and the army of the proletariat, +on a long ragged front, moved forward and rolled into Tsarskoye, before +the enemy had a chance to destroy the great Government wireless +station, from which now the Commissars of Smolny were hurling out to +the world paeans of triumph…. + +TO ALL SOVIETS OF WORKERS’ AND SOLDIERS’ DEPUTIES + + +The 12th of November, in a bloody combat near Tsarskoye Selo, the +revolutionary army defeated the counter-revolutionary troops of +Kerensky and Kornilov. In the name of the Revolutionary Government I +order all regiments to take the offensive against the enemies of the +revolutionary democracy, and to take all measures to arrest Kerensky, +and also to oppose any adventure which might menace the conquests of +the Revolution and the victory of the proletariat. + +Long live the Revolutionary Army! +MURAVIOV. + +News from the provinces…. + +At Sevastopol the local Soviet had assumed the power; a huge meeting of +the sailors on the battleships in the harbour had forced their officers +to line up and swear allegiance to the new Government. At Nizhni +Novgorod the Soviet was in control. From Kazan came reports of a battle +in the streets, _yunkers_ and a brigade of artillery against the +Bolshevik garrison…. + +Desperate fighting had broken out again in Moscow. The _yunkers_ and +White Guards held the Kremlin and the centre of the town, beaten upon +from all sides by the troops of the Military Revolutionary Committee. +The Soviet artillery was stationed in Skobeliev Square, bombarding the +City Duma building, the Prefecture and the Hotel Metropole. The +cobblestones of the Tverskaya and Nikitskaya had been torn up for +trenches and barricades. A hail of machine-gun fire swept the quarters +of the great banks and commercial houses. There were no lights, no +telephones; the bourgeois population lived in the cellars…. The last +bulletin said that the Military Revolutionary Committee had delivered +an ultimatum to the Committee of Public Safety, demanding the immediate +surrender of the Kremlin, or bombardment would follow. + +“Bombard the Kremlin?” cried the ordinary citizen. “They dare not!” + +From Vologda to Chita in far Siberia, from Pskov to Sevastopol on the +Black Sea, in great cities and little villages, civil war burst into +flame. From thousands of factories, peasant communes, regiments and +armies, ships on the wide sea, greetings poured into +Petrograd—greetings to the Government of the People. + +The Cossack Government at Novotcherkask telegraphed to Kerensky, _“The +Government of the Cossack troops invites the Provisional Government and +the members of the Council of the Republic to come, if possible, to +Novotcherkask, where we can organise in common the struggle against the +Bolsheviki.”_ + +In Finland, also, things were stirring. The Soviet of Helsingfors and +the _Tsentrobalt_ (Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet), jointly +proclaimed a state of siege, and declared that all attempts to +interfere with the Bolshevik forces, and all armed resistance to its +orders, would be severely repressed. At the same time the Finnish +Railway Union called a countrywide general strike, to put into +operation the laws passed by the Socialist Diet of June, 1917, +dissolved by Kerensky…. + +Early in the morning I went out to Smolny. Going up the long wooden +sidewalk from the outer gate I saw the first thin, hesitating +snow-flakes fluttering down from the grey, windless sky. “Snow!” cried +the soldier at the door, grinning with delight. “Good for the health!” +Inside, the long, gloomy halls and bleak rooms seemed deserted. No one +moved in all the enormous pile. A deep, uneasy sound came to my ears, +and looking around, I noticed that everywhere on the floor, along the +walls, men were sleeping. Rough, dirty men, workers and soldiers, +spattered and caked with mud, sprawled alone or in heaps, in the +careless attitudes of death. Some wore ragged bandages marked with +blood. Guns and cartridge-belts were scattered about…. The victorious +proletarian army! + +In the upstairs buffet so thick they lay that one could hardly walk. +The air was foul. Through the clouded windows a pale light streamed. A +battered samovar, cold, stood on the counter, and many glasses holding +dregs of tea. Beside them lay a copy of the Military Revolutionary +Committee’s last bulletin, upside down, scrawled with painful +hand-writing. It was a memorial written by some soldier to his comrades +fallen in the fight against Kerensky, just as he had set it down before +falling on the floor to sleep. The writing was blurred with what looked +like tears…. + +Alexei Vinogradov + +D. Maskvin + +S. Stolbikov + +A. Voskressensky + +D. Leonsky + +D. Preobrazhensky + +V. Laidansky + +M. Berchikov + +These men were drafted into the Army on November 15th, 1916. Only three +are left of the above. + +Mikhail Berchikov + +Alexei Voskressensky + +Dmitri Leonsky + +_Sleep, Warrior eagles, sleep with peaceful soul._ + +_You have deserved, our own ones, happiness and_ + +_Eternal peace. Under the earth of the grave_ + +_You have straitly closed your ranks. Sleep, Citizens!_ + +Only the Military Revolutionary Committee still functioned, unsleeping. +Skripnik, emerging from the inner room, said that Gotz had been +arrested, but had flatly denied signing the proclamation of the +Committee for Salvation, as had Avksentiev; and the Committee for +Salvation itself had repudiated the Appeal to the garrison. There was +still disafiection among the city regiments, Skripnik reported; the +Volhynsky Regiment had refused to fight against Kerensky. + +Several detachments of “neutral” troops, with Tchernov at their head, +were at Gatchina, trying to persuade Kerensky to halt his attack on +Petrograd. + +Skripnik laughed. “There can be no ‘neutrals’ now,” he said. “We’ve +won!” His sharp, bearded face glowed with an almost religious +exaltation. “More than sixty delegates have arrived from the Front, +with assurances of support by all the armies except the troops on the +Rumanian front, who have not been heard from. The Army Committees have +suppressed all news from Petrograd, but we now have a regular system of +couriers….” + +[Graphic, page 224: Certificate approving telegram transmission] + +Order given me at Staff headquarters by command of the Council of +People’s Commissars, to transmit the first despatch out of Perograd +after the November Revolution, over the Government wires to America. + (Translation) + STAFF + Military Revolutionary + Commitee + Sov. W. & S. D. + 2 November, 1917 + No. 1860 + CERTIFICATE +Is given by the present to the journalist of the New York Socialist +press JOHN REED, that the text of the telegram (herewith) has been +examined by the Government of People’s Commissars, and there is no +objection to its transmission, and also it is recommended that all +cooperate in every way to transmit same to its destination. + For the Commander in Chief, ANTONOV + Chief of Staff, VLAD. BONCH-BRUEVITCH + +Down in the front hall Kameniev was just entering, worn out by the +all-night session of the Conference to Form a New Government, but +happy. “Already the Socialist Revolutionaries are inclined to admit us +into the new Government,” he told me. “The right wing groups are +frightened by the Revolutionary Tribunals; they demand, in a sort of +panic, that we dissolve them before going any further. … We have +accepted the proposition of the _Vikzhel_ to form a homogeneous +Socialist Ministry, and they’re working on that now. You see, it all +springs from our victory. When we were down, they would’t have us at +any price; not everybody’s in favour of some agreement with the +Soivets…. What we need is a really decisive victory. Kerensky wants an +armistice, but he’ll have to surrender (See App. IX, Sect. 2) ….” + +That was the temper of the Bolshevik leaders. To a foreign journalist +who asked Trotzky what statement he had to make to the world, Trotzky +replied: “At this moment the only statement possible is the one we are +making through the mouths of our cannon!” + +But there was an undercurrent of real anxiety in the tide of victory; +the question of finances. Instead of opening the banks, as had been +ordered by the Military Revolutionary Committee, the Union of Bank +Employees had held a meeting and declared a formal strike. Smolny had +demanded some thirty-five millions of rubles from the State Bank, and +the cashier had locked the vaults, only paying out money to the +representatives of the Provisional Government. The reactionaries were +using the State Bank as a political weapon; for instance, when the +_Vikzhel_ demanded money to pay the salaries of the employees of the +Government railroads, it was told to apply to Smolny…. + +I went to the State Bank to see the new Commissar, a redhaired +Ukrainean Bolshevik named Petrovitch. He was trying to bring order out +of the chaos in which affairs had been left by the striking clerks. In +all the offices of the huge place perspiring volunteer workers, +soldiers and sailors, their tongues sticking out of their mouths in the +intensity of their effort, were poring over the great ledgers with a +bewildered air…. + +The Duma building was crowded. There were still isolated cases of +defiance toward the new Government, but they were rare. The Central +Land Committee had appealed to the Peasants, ordering them not to +recognise the Land Decree passed by the Congress of the Soviets, +because it would cause confusion and civil war. Mayor Schreider +announced that because of the Bolshevik insurrection, the elections to +the Constituent Assembly would have to be indefinitely postponed. + +Two questions seemed to be uppermost in all minds, shocked by the +ferocity of the civil war; first, a truce to the bloodshed (See App. +IX, Sect. 3)—second, the creation of a new Government. There was no +longer any talk of “destroying the Bolsheviki”—and very little about +excluding them from the Government, except from the Populist Socialists +and the Peasants’ Soviets. Even the Central Army Committee at the +_Stavka,_ the most determined enemy of Smolny, telephoned from +Moghilev: “If, to constitute the new Ministry, it is necessary to come +to an understanding with the Bolsheviki, we agree to admit them _in a +minority_ to the Cabinet.” + +_Pravda,_ ironically calling attention to Kerensky’s “humanitarian +sentiments,” published his despatch to the Committee for Salvation: + +In accord with the proposals of the Committee for Salvation and all the +democratic organisations united around it, I have halted all military +action against the rebels. A delegate of the Committee has been sent to +enter into negotiations. Take all measures to stop the useless shedding +of blood. + +The _Vikzhel_ sent a telegram to all Russia: + +The Conference of the Union of Railway Workers with the representatives +of both the belligerent parties, who admit the necessity of an +agreement, protest energetically against the use of political terrorism +in the civil war, especially when it is carried on between different +factions of the revolutionary democracy, and declare that political +terrorism, in whatever form, is in contradiction to the very idea of +the negotiations for a new Government…. + +[Graphic, page 227: Leaflet] + +Popular leaflet sold in the streets just after the Bolshevik +insurrection, containing rhymes and jokes about the defeated +bourgeoisie and the “moderate” Socialist leaders, Called, “How THE +BOORZHUI (BOURGEOISIE) LOST THE POWER.” + +Delegations from the Conference were sent to the Front, to Gatchina. In +the Conference itself everything seemed on the point of final +settlement. It had even been decided to elect a Provisional People’s +Council, composed of about four hundred members—seventy-five +representing Smolny, seventy-five the old _Tsay-ee-kah,_ and the rest +split up among the Town Dumas, the Trade Unions, Land Committees and +political parties. Tchernov was mentioned as the new Premier. Lenin and +Trotzky, rumour said, were to be excluded…. + +About noon I was again in front of Smolny, talking with the driver of +an ambulance bound for the revolutionary front. Could I go with him? +Certainly! He was a volunteer, a University student, and as we rolled +down the street shouted over his shoulder to me phrases of execrable +German: _“Also, gut! Wir nach die Kasernen zu essen gehen!”_ I made out +that there would be lunch at some barracks. + +On the Kirotchnaya we turned into an immense courtyard surrounded by +military buildings, and mounted a dark stairway to a low room lit by +one window. At a long wooden table were seated some twenty soldiers, +eating _shtchi_ (cabbage soup) from a great tin wash-tub with wooden +spoons, and talking loudly with much laughter. + +“Welcome to the Battalion Committee of the Sixth Reserve Engineers’ +Battalion!” cried my friend, and introduced me as an American +Socialist. Whereat every one rose to shake my hand, and one old soldier +put his arms around me and gave me a hearty kiss. A wooden spoon was +produced and I took my place at the table. Another tub, full of +_kasha,_ was brought in, a huge loaf of black bread, and of course the +inevitable tea-pots. At once every one began asking me questions about +America: Was it true that people in a free country sold their votes for +_money?_ If so, how did they get what they wanted? How about this +“Tammany”? Was it true that in a free country a little group of people +could control a whole city, and exploited it for their personal +benefit? Why did the people stand it? Even under the Tsar such things +could not happen in Russia; true, here there was always graft, but to +buy and sell a whole city full of people! And in a free country! Had +the people no revolutionary feeling? I tried to explain that in my +country people tried to change things by law. + +“Of course,” nodded a young sergeant, named Baklanov, who spoke French. +“But you have a highly developed capitalist class? Then the capitalist +class must control the legislatures and the courts. How then can the +people change things? I am open to conviction, for I do not know your +country; but to me it is incredible….” + +I said that I was going to Tsarskoye Selo. “I, too,” said Baklanov, +suddenly. “And I—and I—” The whole roomful decided on the spot to go to +Tsarskoye Selo. + +Just then came a knock on the door. It opened, and in it stood the +figure of the Colonel. No one rose, but all shouted a greeting. “May I +come in?” asked the Colonel. “_Prosim! Prosim!_” they answered +heartily. He entered, smiling, a tall, distinguished figure in a +goat-skin cape embroidered with gold. “I think I heard you say that you +were going to Tsarskoye Selo, comrades,” he said. “Could I go with +you?” + +Baklanov considered. “I do not think there is anything to be done here +to-day,” he answered. “Yes, comrade, we shall be very glad to have +you.” The Colonel thanked him and sat down, filling a glass of tea. + +In a low voice, for fear of wounding the Colonel’s pride, Baklanov +explained to me. “You see, I am the chairman of the Committee. We +control the Battalion absolutely, except in action, when the Colonel is +delegated by us to command. In action his orders must be obeyed, but he +is strictly responsible to us. In barracks he must ask our permission +before taking any action…. You might call him our Executive Officer….” + +Arms were distributed to us, revolvers and rifles—“we might meet some +Cossacks, you know”—and we all piled into the ambulance, together with +three great bundles of newspapers for the front. Straight down the +Liteiny we rattled, and along the Zagorodny Prospekt. Next to me sat a +youth with the shoulder-straps of a Lieutenant, who seemed to speak all +European languages with equal fluency. He was a member of the Battalion +Committee. + +“I am not a Bolshevik,” he assured me, emphatically. “My family is a +very ancient and noble one. I, myself, am, you might say, a Cadet….” + +“But how—?” I began, bewildered. + +“Oh, yes, I am a member of the Committee. I make no secret of my +political opinions, but the others do not mind, because they know I do +not believe in opposing the will of the majority…. I have refused to +take any action in the present civil war, however, for I do not believe +in taking up arms against my brother Russians….” + +“Provocator! Kornilovitz!” the others cried at him gaily, slapping him +on the shoulder…. + +Passing under the huge grey stone archway of the Moskovsky Gate, +covered with golden hieroglyphics, ponderous Imperial eagles and the +names of Tsars, we sped out on the wide straight highway, grey with the +first light fall of snow. It was thronged with Red Guards, stumbling +along on foot toward the revolutionary front, shouting and singing; and +others, greyfaced and muddy, coming back. Most of them seemed to be +mere boys. Women with spades, some with rifles and bandoleers, others +wearing the Red Cross on their arm-bands—the bowed, toil-worn women of +the slums. Squads of soldiers marching out of step, with an +affectionate jeer for the Red Guards; sailors, grim-looking; children +with bundles of food for their fathers and mothers; all these, coming +and going, trudged through the whitened mud that covered the cobbles of +the highway inches deep. We passed cannon, jingling southward with +their caissons; trucks bound both ways, bristling with armed men; +ambulances full of wounded from the direction of the battle, and once a +peasant cart, creaking slowly along, in which sat a white-faced boy +bent over his shattered stomach and screaming monotonously. In the +fields on either side women and old men were digging trenches and +stringing barbed wire entanglements. + +Back northward the clouds rolled away dramatically, and the pale sun +came out. Across the flat, marshy plain Petrograd glittered. To the +right, white and gilded and coloured bulbs and pinnacles; to the left, +tall chimneys, some pouring out black smoke; and beyond, a lowering sky +over Finland. On each side of us were churches, monasteries…. +Occasionally a monk was visible, silently watching the pulse of the +proletarian army throbbing on the road. + +At Pulkovo the road divided, and there we halted in the midst of a +great crowd, where the human streams poured from three directions, +friends meeting, excited and congratulatory, describing the battle to +one another. A row of houses facing the cross-roads was marked with +bullets, and the earth was trampled into mud half a mile around. The +fighting had been furious here…. In the near distance riderless Cossack +horses circled hungrily, for the grass of the plain had died long ago. +Right in front of us an awkward Red Guard was trying to ride one, +falling off again and again, to the childlike delight of a thousand +rough men. + +The left road, along which the remnants of the Cossacks had retreated, +led up a little hill to a hamlet, where there was a glorious view of +the immense plain, grey as a windless sea, tumultuous clouds towering +over, and the imperial city disgorging its thousands along all the +roads. Far over to the left lay the little hill of Kranoye Selo, the +parade-ground of the Imperial Guards’ summer camp, and the Imperial +Dairy. In the middle distance nothing broke the flat monotony but a few +walled monasteries and convents, some isolated factories, and several +large buildings with unkempt grounds that were asylums and orphanages…. + +“Here,” said the driver, as we went on over a barren hill, “here was +where Vera Slutskaya died. Yes, the Bolshevik member of the Duma. It +happened early this morning. She was in an automobile, with Zalkind and +another man. There was a truce, and they started for the front +trenches. They were talking and laughing, when all of a sudden, from +the armoured train in which Kerensky himself was riding, somebody saw +the automobile and fired a cannon. The shell struck Vera Slutskaya and +killed her….” + +And so we came into Tsarskoye, all bustling with the swaggering heroes +of the proletarian horde. Now the palace where the Soviet had met was a +busy place. Red Guards and sailors filled the court-yard, sentries +stood at the doors, and a stream of couriers and Commissars pushed in +and out. In the Soviet room a samovar had been set up, and fifty or +more workers, soldiers, sailors and officers stood around, drinking tea +and talking at the top of their voices. In one corner two clumsy-handed +workingmen were trying to make a multigraphing machine go. At the +centre table, the huge Dybenko bent over a map, marking out positions +for the troops with red and blue pencils. In his free hand he carried, +as always, the enormous bluesteel revolver. Anon he sat himself down at +a typewriter and pounded away with one finger; every little while he +would pause, pick up the revolver, and lovingly spin the chamber. + +A couch lay along the wall, and on this was stretched a young workman. +Two Red Guards were bending over him, but the rest of the company did +not pay any attention. In his breast was a hole; through his clothes +fresh blood came welling up with every heart-beat. His eyes were closed +and his young, bearded face was greenish-white. Faintly and slowly he +still breathed, with every breath sighing, _“Mir boudit! Mir boudit!_ +(Peace is coming! Peace is coming!)” + +Dybenko looked up as we came in. “Ah,” he said to Baklanov. “Comrade, +will you go up to the Commandant’s headquarters and take charge? Wait; +I will write you credentials.” He went to the typewriter and slowly +picked out the letters. + +The new Commandant of Tsarskoye Selo and I went toward the Ekaterina +Palace, Baklanov very excited and important. In the same ornate, white +room some Red Guards were rummaging curiously around, while my old +friend, the Colonel, stood by the window biting his moustache. He +greeted me like a long-lost brother. At a table near the door sat the +French Bessarabian. The Bolsheviki had ordered him to remain, and +continue his work. + +“What could I do?” he muttered. “People like myself cannot fight on +either side in such a war as this, no matter how much we may +instinctively dislike the dictatorship of the mob…. I only regret that +I am so far from my mother in Bessarabia!” + +Baklanov was formally taking over the office from the Commandant. +“Here,” said the Colonel nervously, “are the keys to the desk.” + +A Red Guard interrupted. “Where’s the money?” he asked rudely. The +Colonel seemed surprised. “Money? Money? Ah, you mean the chest. There +it is,” said the Colonel, “just as I found it when I took possession +three days ago. Keys?” The Colonel shrugged. “I have no keys.” + +The Red Guard sneered knowingly. “Very convenient,” he said. + +“Let us open the chest,” said Baklanov. “Bring an axe. Here is an +American comrade. Let him smash the chest open, and write down what he +finds there.” + +I swung the axe. The wooden chest was empty. + +“Let’s arrest him,” said the Red Guard, venomously. “He is Kerensky’s +man. He has stolen the money and given it to Kerensky.” + +Baklanov did not want to. “Oh, no,” he said. “It was the Kornilovitz +before him. He is not to blame. + +“The devil!” cried the Red Guard. “He is Kerensky’s man, I tell you. If +_you_ won’t arrest him, then _we_ will, and we’ll take him to Petrograd +and put him in Peter-Paul, where he belongs!” At this the other Red +Guards growled assent. With a piteous glance at us the Colonel was led +away…. + +Down in front of the Soviet palace an auto-truck was going to the +front. Half a dozen Red Guards, some sailors, and a soldier or two, +under command of a huge workman, clambered in, and shouted to me to +come along. Red Guards issued from headquarters, each of them +staggering under an arm-load of small, corrugated-iron bombs, filled +with _grubit_—which, they say, is ten times as strong, and five times +as sensitive as dynamite; these they threw into the truck. A three-inch +cannon was loaded and then tied onto the tail of the truck with bits of +rope and wire. + +We started with a shout, at top speed of course; the heavy truck +swaying from side to side. The cannon leaped from one wheel to the +other, and the _grubit_ bombs went rolling back and forth over our +feet, fetching up against the sides of the car with a crash. + +The big Red Guard, whose name was Vladimir Nicolaievitch, plied me with +questions about America. “Why did America come into the war? Are the +American workers ready to throw over the capitalists? What is the +situation in the Mooney case now? Will they extradite Berkman to San +Francisco?” and other, very difficult to answer, all delivered in a +shout above the roaring of the truck, while we held on to each other +and danced amid the caroming bombs. + +Occasionally a patrol tried to stop us. Soldiers ran out into the road +before us, shouted _“Shtoi!”_ and threw up their guns. + +We paid no attention. “The devil take you!” cried the Red Guards. “We +don’t stop for anybody! We’re Red Guards!” And we thundered imperiously +on, while Vladimir Nicolaievitch bellowed to me about the +internationalisation of the Panama Canal, and such matters…. + +About five miles out we saw a squad of sailors marching back, and +slowed down. + +“Where’s the front, brothers?” + +The foremost sailor halted and scratched his head. “This morning,” he +said, “it was about half a kilometer down the road. But the damn thing +isn’t anywhere now. We walked and walked and walked, but we couldn’t +find it.” + +They climbed into the truck, and we proceeded. It must have been about +a mile further that Vladimir Nicolaievitch cocked his ear and shouted +to the chauffeur to stop. + +“Firing!” he said. “Do you hear it?” For a moment dead silence, and +then, a little ahead and to the left, three shots in rapid succession. +Along here the side of the road was heavily wooded. Very much excited +now, we crept along, speaking in whispers, until the truck was nearly +opposite the place where the firing had come from. Descending, we +spread out, and every man carrying his rifle, went stealthily into the +forest. + +Two comrades, meanwhile, detached the cannon and slewed it around until +it aimed as nearly as possible at our backs. + +It was silent in the woods. The leaves were gone, and the tree-trunks +were a pale wan colour in the low, sickly autumn sun. Not a thing +moved, except the ice of little woodland pools shivering under our +feet. Was it an ambush? + +We went uneventfully forward until the trees began to thin, and paused. +Beyond, in a little clearing, three soldiers sat around a small fire, +perfectly oblivious. + +Vladimir Nicolaievitch stepped forward. _“Zra’zvuitye,_ comrades!” he +greeted, while behind him one cannon, twenty rifles and a truck-load of +_grubit_ bombs hung by a hair. The soldiers scrambled to their feet. + +“What was the shooting going on around here?” + +One of the soldiers answered, looking relieved, “Why we were just +shooting a rabbit or two, comrade….” + +The truck hurtled on toward Romanov, through the bright, empty day. At +the first cross-roads two soldiers ran out in front of us, waving their +rifles. We slowed down, and stopped. + +“Passes, comrades!” + +The Red Guards raised a great clamour. “We are Red Guards. We don’t +need any passes…. Go on, never mind them!” + +But a sailor objected. “This is wrong, comrades. We must have +revolutionary discipline. Suppose some counterrevolutionaries came +along in a truck and said: ‘We don’t need any passes?’ The comrades +don’t know you.” + +At this there was a debate. One by one, however, the sailors and +soldiers joined with the first. Grumbling, each Red Guard produced his +dirty _bumaga_ (paper). All were alike except mine, which had been +issued by the Revolutionary Staff at Smolny. The sentries declared that +I must go with them. The Red Guards objected strenuously, but the +sailor who had spoken first insisted. “This comrade we know to be a +true comrade,” he said. “But there are orders of the Committee, and +these orders must be obeyed. That is revolutionary discipline….” + +In order not to make any trouble, I got down from the truck, and +watched it disappear careening down the road, all the company waving +farewell. The soldiers consulted in low tones for a moment, and then +led me to a wall, against which they placed me. It flashed upon me +suddenly; they were going to shoot me! + +In all three directions not a human being was in sight. The only sign +of life was smoke from the chimney of a _datchya,_ a rambling wooden +house a quarter of a mile up the side road. The two soldiers were +walking out into the road. Desperately I ran after them. + +“But comrades! See! Here is the seal of the Military Revolutionary +Committee!” + +They stared stupidly at my pass, then at each other. + +“It is different from the others,” said one, sullenly. “We cannot read, +brother.” + +I took him by the arm. “Come!” I said. “Let’s go to that house. Some +one there can surely read.” They hesitated. “No,” said one. The other +looked me over. “Why not?” he muttered. “After all, it is a serious +crime to kill an innocent man.” + +We walked up to the front door of the house and knocked. A short, stout +woman opened it, and shrank back in alarm, babbling, “I don’t know +anything about them! I don’t know anything about them!” One of my +guards held out the pass. She screamed. “Just to read it, comrade.” +Hesitatingly she took the paper and read aloud, swiftly: + +The bearer of this pass, John Reed, is a representative of the American +Social-Democracy, an internationalist…. + +Out on the road again the two soldiers held another consultation. “We +must take you to the Regimental Committee,” they said. In the +fast-deepening twilight we trudged along the muddy road. Occasionally +we met squads of soldiers, who stopped and surrounded me with looks of +menace, handling my pass around and arguing violently as to whether or +not I should be killed…. + +It was dark when we came to the barracks of the Second Tsarskoye Selo +Rifles, low sprawling buildings huddled along the post-road. A number +of soldiers slouching at the entrance asked eager questions. A spy? A +provocator? We mounted a winding stair and emerged into a great, bare +room with a huge stove in the centre, and rows of cots on the floor, +where about a thousand soldiers were playing cards, talking, singing, +and asleep. In the roof was a jagged hole made by Kerensky’s cannon…. + +I stood in the doorway, and a sudden silence ran among the groups, who +turned and stared at me. Of a sudden they began to move, slowly and +then with a rush, thundering, with faces full of hate. “Comrades! +Comrades!” yelled one of my guards. “Committee! Committee!” The throng +halted, banked around me, muttering. Out of them shouldered a lean +youth, wearing a red arm-band. + +“Who is this?” he asked roughly. The guards explained. “Give me the +paper!” He read it carefully, glancing at me with keen eyes. Then he +smiled and handed me the pass. “Comrades, this is an American comrade. +I am Chairman of the Committee, and I welcome you to the Regiment….” A +sudden general buzz grew into a roar of greeting, and they pressed +forward to shake my hand. + +“You have not dined? Here we have had our dinner. You shall go to the +Officers’ Club, where there are some who speak your language….” + +He led me across the court-yard to the door of another building. An +aristocratic-looking youth, with the shoulder straps of a Lieutenant, +was entering. The Chairman presented me, and shaking hands, went back. + +“I am Stepan Georgevitch Morovsky, at your service,” said the +Lieutenant, in perfect French. From the ornate entrance hall a +ceremonial staircase led upward, lighted by glittering lustres. On the +second floor billiard-rooms, card-rooms, a library opened from the +hall. We entered the dining-room, at a long table in the centre of +which sat about twenty officers in full uniform, wearing their gold- +and silver-handled swords, the ribbons and crosses of Imperial +decorations. All rose politely as I entered, and made a place for me +beside the Colonel, a large, impressive man with a grizzled beard. +Orderlies were deftly serving dinner. The atmosphere was that of any +officers’ mess in Europe. Where was the Revolution? + +“You are not Bolsheviki?” I asked Morovsky. + +A smile went around the table, but I caught one or two glancing +furtively at the orderly. + +“No,” answered my friend. “There is only one Bolshevik officer in this +regiment. He is in Petrograd to-night. The Colonel is a Menshevik. +Captain Kherlov there is a Cadet. I myself am a Socialist Revolutionary +of the right wing…. I should say that most of the officers in the Army +are not Bolsheviki, but like me they believe in democracy; they believe +that they must follow the soldier-masses….” + +Dinner over, maps were brought, and the Colonel spread them out on the +table. The rest crowded around to see. + +“Here,” said the Colonel, pointing to pencil marks, “were our positions +this morning. Vladimir Kyrilovitch, where is your company?” + +Captain Kherlov pointed. “According to orders, we occupied the position +along this road. Karsavin relieved me at five o’clock.” + +Just then the door of the room opened, and there entered the Chairman +of the Regimental Committee, with another soldier. They joined the +group behind the Colonel, peering at the map. + +“Good,” said the Colonel. “Now the Cossacks have fallen back ten +kilometres in our sector. I do not think it is necessary to take up +advanced positions. Gentlemen, for to-night you will hold the present +line, strengthening the positions by—” + +“If you please,” interrupted the Chairman of the Regimental Committee. +“The orders are to advance with all speed, and prepare to engage the +Cossacks north of Gatchina in the morning. A crushing defeat is +necessary. Kindly make the proper dispositions.” + +There was a short silence. The Colonel again turned to the map. “Very +well,” he said, in a different voice. “Stepan Georgevitch, you will +please—” Rapidly tracing lines with a blue pencil, he gave his orders, +while a sergeant made shorthand notes. The sergeant then withdrew, and +ten minutes later returned with the orders typewritten, and one carbon +copy. The Chairman of the Committee studied the map with a copy of the +orders before him. + +“All right,” he said, rising. Folding the carbon copy, he put it in his +pocket. Then he signed the other, stamped it with a round seal taken +from his pocket, and presented it to the Colonel…. + +Here was the Revolution! + +I returned to the Soviet palace in Tsarskoye in the Regimental Staff +automobile. Still the crowds of workers, soldiers and sailors pouring +in and out, still the choking press of trucks, armoured cars, cannon +before the door, and the shouting, the laughter of unwonted victory. +Half a dozen Red Guards forced their way through, a priest in the +middle. This was Father Ivan, they said, who had blessed the Cossacks +when they entered the town. I heard afterward that he was shot…. (See +App. IX, Sect. 4) + +Dybenko was just coming out, giving rapid orders right and left. In his +hand he carried the big revolver. An automobile stood with racing +engine at the kerb. Alone, he climbed in the rear seat, and was off-off +to Gatchina, to conquer Kerensky. + +Toward nightfall he arrived at the outskirts of the town, and went on +afoot. What Dybenko told the Cossacks nobody knows, but the fact is +that General Krasnov and his staff and several thousand Cossacks +surrendered, and advised Kerensky to do the same. (See App. IX, Sect. +5) + +As for Kerensky—I reprint here the deposition made by General Krasnov +on the morning of November 14th: + +“Gatchina, November 14, 1917. To-day, about three o’clock (A. M.), I +was summoned by the Supreme Commander (Kerensky). He was very agitated, +and very nervous. + +“‘General,’ he said to me, ‘you have betrayed me. Your Cossacks declare +categorically that they will arrest me and deliver me to the sailors.’ + +“‘Yes,’ I answered, ‘there is talk of it, and I know that you have no +sympathy anywhere.’ + +“‘But the officers say the same thing.’ + +“‘Yes, most of all it is the officers who are discontented with you.’ + +“‘What shall I do? I ought to commit suicide!’ + +“‘If you are an honorable man, you will go immediately to Petrograd +with a white flag, you will present yourself to the Military +Revolutionary Committee, and enter into negotiations as Chief of the +Provisional Government.’ + +“‘All right. I will do that, General.’ + +“‘I will give you a guard and ask that a sailor go with you.’ + +“‘No, no, not a sailor. Do you know whether it is true that Dybenko is +here?’ + +“‘I don’t know who Dybenko is.’ + +“‘He is my enemy. + +“‘There is nothing to do. If you play for high stakes you must know how +to take a chance.’ + +“‘Yes. I’ll leave to-night!’ + +“‘Why? That would be a flight. Leave calmly and openly, so that every +one can see that you are not running away.’ + +“‘Very well. But you must give me a guard on which I can count.’ + +“‘Good.’ + +“I went out and called the Cossack Russkov, of the Tenth Regiment of +the Don, and ordered him to pick out ten Cossacks to accompany the +Supreme Commander. Half an hour later the Cossacks came to tell me that +Kerensky was not in his quarters, that he had run away. + +“I gave the alarm and ordered that he be searched for, supposing that +he could not have left Gatchina, but he could not be found….” + +And so Kerensky fled, alone, “disguised in the uniform of a sailor,” +and by that act lost whatever popularity he had retained among the +Russian masses…. + +I went back to Petrograd riding on the front seat of an auto truck, +driven by a workman and filled with Red Guards. We had no kerosene, so +our lights were not burning. The road was crowded with the proletarian +army going home, and new reserves pouring out to take their places. +Immense trucks like ours, columns of artillery, wagons, loomed up in +the night, without lights, as we were. We hurtled furiously on, +wrenched right and left to avoid collisions that seemed inevitable, +scraping wheels, followed by the epithets of pedestrians. + +Across the horizon spread the glittering lights of the capital, +immeasurably more splendid by night than by day, like a dike of jewels +heaped on the barren plain. + +The old workman who drove held the wheel in one hand, while with the +other he swept the far-gleaming capital in an exultant gesture. + +“Mine!” he cried, his face all alight. “All mine now! My Petrograd!” + + + + +Chapter X +Moscow + + +The Military Revolutionary Committee, with a fierce intensity, followed +up its victory: + +November 14th. + +To all Army, corps, divisional and regimental Committees, to all +Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies, to all, all, +all. + +Conforming to the agreement between the Cossacks, _yunkers,_ soldiers, +sailors and workers, it has been decided to arraign Alexander +Feodorvitch Kerensky before a tribunal of the people. We demand that +Kerensky be arrested, and that he be ordered, in the name of the +organisations hereinafter mentioned, to come immediately to Petrograd +and present himself to the tribunal. + +Signed, + +_The Cossacks of the First Division of Ussuri Cavalry; the Committee of +Yunkers of the Petrograd detachment of Franc-Tireurs; the delegate of +the Fifth Army._ + +People’s Commissar DYBENKO. + +The Committee for Salvation, the Duma, the Central Committee of the +Socialist Revolutionary party—proudly claiming Kerensky as a member—all +passionately protested that he could only be held responsible to the +Constituent Assembly. + +On the evening of November 16th I watched two thousand Red Guards swing +down the Zagorodny Prospekt behind a military band playing the +_Marseillaise_—and how appropriate it sounded—with blood-red flags over +the dark ranks of workmen, to welcome home again their brothers who had +defended “Red Petrograd.” In the bitter dusk they tramped, men and +women, their tall bayonets swaying; through streets faintly lighted and +slippery with mud, between silent crowds of bourgeois, contemptuous but +fearful…. + +All were against them—business men, speculators, investors, +land-owners, army officers, politicians, teachers, students, +professional men, shop-keepers, clerks, agents. The other Socialist +parties hated the Bolsheviki with an implacable hatred. On the side of +the Soviets were the rank and file of the workers, the sailors, all the +undemoralised soldiers, the landless peasants, and a few—a very +few—intellectuals…. + +From the farthest corners of great Russia, whereupon desperate +street-fighting burst like a wave, news of Kerensky’s defeat came +echoing back the immense roar of proletarian victory. Kazan, Saratov, +Novgorod, Vinnitza—where the streets had run with blood; Moscow, where +the Bolsheviki had turned their artillery against the last strong-hold +of the bourgeoisie—the Kremlin. + +“They are bombarding the Kremlin!” The news passed from mouth to mouth +in the streets of Petrograd, almost with a sense of terror. Travellers +from “white and shining little mother Moscow” told fearful tales. +Thousands killed; the Tverskaya and the Kuznetsky Most in flames; the +church of Vasili Blazheiny a smoking ruin; Usspensky Cathedral +crumbling down; the Spasskaya Gate of the Kremlin tottering; the Duma +burned to the ground. (See App. X, Sect. 1) + +Nothing that the Bolsheviki had done could compare with this fearful +blasphemy in the heart of Holy Russia. To the ears of the devout +sounded the shock of guns crashing in the face of the Holy Orthodox +Church, and pounding to dust the sanctuary of the Russian nation…. + +On November 15th, Lunatcharsky, Commissar of Education, broke into +tears at the session of the Council of People’s Commissars, and rushed +from the room, crying, “I cannot stand it! I cannot bear the monstrous +destruction of beauty and tradition….” + +That afternoon his letter of resignation was published in the +newspapers: + +I have just been informed, by people arriving from Moscow, what has +happened there. + +The Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, the Cathedral of the +Assumption, are being bombarded. The Kremlin, where are now gathered +the most important art treasures of Petrograd and of Moscow, is under +artillery fire. There are thousands of victims. + +The fearful struggle there has reached a pitch of bestial ferocity. + +What is left? What more can happen? + +I cannot bear this. My cup is full. I am unable to endure these +horrors. It is impossible to work under the pressure of thoughts which +drive me mad! + +That is why I am leaving the Council of People’s Commissars. + +I fully realise the gravity of this decision. But I can bear no more…. +(See App. X, Sect. 2) + +That same day the White Guards and _yunkers_ in the Kremlin +surrendered, and were allowed to march out unharmed. The treaty of +peace follows: + +1. The Committee of Public Safety ceases to exist. + +2. The White Guard gives up its arms and dissolves. The officers retain +their swords and regulations side-arms. In the Military Schools are +retained only the arms necessary for instruction; all others are +surrendered by the _yunkers._ The Military Revolutionary Committee +guarantees the liberty and inviolability of the person. + +3. To settle the question of disarmament, as set forth in section 2, a +special commission is appointed, consisting of representatives from all +organisations which took part in the peace negotiations. + +4. From the moment of the signature of this peace treaty, both parties +shall immediately give order to cease firing and halt all military +operations, taking measures to ensure punctual obedience to this order. + +5. At the signature of the treaty, all prisoners made by the two +parties shall be released…. + +For two days now the Bolsheviki had been in control of the city. The +frightened citizens were creeping out of their cellars to seek their +dead; the barricades in the streets were being removed. Instead of +diminishing, however, the stories of destruction in Moscow continued to +grow…. And it was under the influence of these fearful reports that we +decided to go there. + +Petrograd, after all, in spite of being for a century the seat of +Government, is still an artificial city. Moscow is real Russia, Russia +as it was and will be; in Moscow we would get the true feeling of the +Russian people about the Revolution. Life was more intense there. + +For the past week the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee, aided +by the rank and file of the Railway Workers, had seized control of the +Nicolai Railroad, and hurled trainload after trainload of sailors and +Red Guards southwest…. We were provided with passes from Smolny, +without which no one could leave the capital…. When the train backed +into the station, a mob of shabby soldiers, all carrying huge sacks of +eatables, stormed the doors, smashed the windows, and poured into all +the compartments, filling up the aisles and even climbing onto the +roof. Three of us managed to wedge our way into a compartment, but +almost immediately about twenty soldiers entered…. There was room for +only four people; we argued, expostulated, and the conductor joined +us—but the soldiers merely laughed. Were they to bother about the +comfort of a lot of _boorzhui_ (bourgeois)? We produced the passes from +Smolny; instantly the soldiers changed their attitude. + +“Come, comrades,” cried one, “these are American _tovarishtchi._ They +have come thirty thousand versts to see our Revolution, and they are +naturally tired….” + +With polite and friendly apologies the soldiers began to leave. Shortly +afterward we heard them breaking into a compartment occupied by two +stout, well-dressed Russians, who had bribed the conductor and locked +their door…. + +About seven o’clock in the evening we drew out of the station, an +immense long train drawn by a weak little locomotive burning wood, and +stumbled along slowly, with many stops. The soldiers on the roof kicked +with their heels and sang whining peasant songs; and in the corridor, +so jammed that it was impossible to pass, violent political debates +raged all night long. Occasionally the conductor came through, as a +matter of habit, looking for tickets. He found very few except ours, +and after a half-hour of futile wrangling, lifted his arms despairingly +and withdrew. The atmosphere was stifling, full of smoke and foul +odours; if it hadn’t been for the broken windows we would doubtless +have smothered during the night. + +In the morning, hours late, we looked out upon a snowy world. It was +bitter cold. About noon a peasant woman got on with a basket-full of +bread-chunks and a great can of luke warm coffee-substitute. From then +on until dark there was nothing but the packed train, jolting and +stopping, and occasional stations where a ravenous mob swooped down on +the scantily-furnished buffet and swept it clean…. At one of these +halts I ran into Nogin and Rykov, the seceding Commissars, who were +returning to Moscow to put their grievances before their own Soviet, +and further along was Bukharin, a short, red-bearded man with the eyes +of a fanatic—“more Left than Lenin,” they said of him…. + +Then the three strokes of the bell and we made a rush for the train, +worming our way through the packed and noisy aisle…. A good-natured +crowd, bearing the discomfort with humorous patience, interminably +arguing about everything from the situation in Petrograd to the British +Trade-Union system, and disputing loudly with the few _boorzhui_ who +were on board. Before we reached Moscow almost every car had organised +a Committee to secure and distribute food, and these Committees became +divided into political factions, who wrangled over fundamental +principles…. + +The station at Moscow was deserted. We went to the office of the +Commissar, in order to arrange for our return tickets. He was a sullen +youth with the shoulder-straps of a Lieutenant; when we showed him our +papers from Smolny, he lost his temper and declared that he was no +Bolshevik, that he represented the Committee of Public Safety…. It was +characteristic—in the general turmoil attending the conquest of the +city, the chief railway station had been forgotten by the victors…. + +Not a cab in sight. A few blocks down the street, however, we woke up a +grotesquely-padded _izvostchik_ asleep upright on the box of his little +sleigh. “How much to the centre of the town?” + +He scratched his head. “The _barini_ won’t be able to find a room in +any hotel,” he said. “But I’ll take you around for a hundred rubles….” +Before the Revolution it cost _two!_ We objected, but he simply +shrugged his shoulders. “It takes a good deal of courage to drive a +sleigh nowadays,” he went on. We could not beat him down below fifty…. +As we sped along the silent, snowy half-lighted streets, he recounted +his adventures during the six days’ fighting. “Driving along, or +waiting for a fare on the corner,” he said, “all of a sudden _pooff!_ a +cannon ball exploding here, _pooff!_ a cannon ball there, _ratt-ratt!_ +a machine-gun…. I gallop, the devils shooting all around. I get to a +nice quiet street and stop, doze a little, _pooff!_ another cannon +ball, _ratt-ratt_…. Devils! Devils! Devils! Brrr!” + +In the centre of the town the snow-piled streets were quiet with the +stillness of convalescence. Only a few arc-lights were burning, only a +few pedestrians hurried along the side-walks. An icy wind blew from the +great plain, cutting to the bone. At the first hotel we entered an +office illuminated by two candles. + +“Yes, we have some very comfortable rooms, but all the windows are shot +out. If the _gospodin_ does not mind a little fresh air….” + +Down the Tverskaya the shop-windows were broken, and there were +shell-holes and torn-up paving stones in the street. Hotel after hotel, +all full, or the proprietors still so frightened that all they could +say was, “No, no, there is no room! There is no room!” On the main +streets, where the great banking-houses and mercantile houses lay, the +Bolshevik artillery had been indiscriminately effective. As one Soviet +official told me, “Whenever we didn’t know just where the _yunkers_ and +White Guards were, we bombarded their pocketbooks….” + +At the big Hotel National they finally took us in; for we were +foreigners, and the Military Revolutionary Committee had promised to +protect the dwellings of foreigners…. On the top floor the manager +showed us where shrapnel had shattered several windows. “The animals!” +said he, shaking his first at imaginary Bolsheviki. “But wait! Their +time will come; in just a few days now their ridiculous Government will +fall, and then we shall make them suffer!” + +We dined at a vegetarian restaurant with the enticing name, “I Eat +Nobody,” and Tolstoy’s picture prominent on the walls, and then sallied +out into the streets. + +The headquarters of the Moscow Soviet was in the palace of the former +Governor-General, an imposing white building fronting Skobeliev Square. +Red Guards stood sentry at the door. At the head of the wide, formal +stairway, whose walls were plastered with announcements of +committee-meetings and addresses of political parties, we passed +through a series of lofty ante-rooms, hung with red-shrouded pictures +in gold frames, to the splendid state salon, with its magnificent +crystal lustres and gilded cornices. A low-voiced hum of talk, +underlaid with the whirring bass of a score of sewing machines, filled +the place. Huge bolts of red and black cotton cloth were unrolled, +serpentining across the parqueted floor and over tables, at which sat +half a hundred women, cutting and sewing streamers and banners for the +Funeral of the Revolutionary Dead. The faces of these women were +roughened and scarred with life at its most difficult; they worked now +sternly, many of them with eyes red from weeping…. The losses of the +Red Army had been heavy. + +At a desk in one corner was Rogov, an intelligent, bearded man with +glasses, wearing the black blouse of a worker. He invited us to march +with the Central Executive Committee in the funeral procession next +morning…. + +“It is impossible to teach the Socialist Revolutionaries and the +Mensheviki anything!” he exclaimed. “They compromise from sheer habit. +Imagine! They proposed that we hold a joint funeral with the +_yunkers!”_ + +[Graphic, page 251: Questionaire for the Bourgeoioisie] + +Distributed to all bourgeois households in Moscow by the Moscow +Military Revolutionary Commitee, so as to provide a basis for the +requisition of clothing for the Army and the poor workers. For +translation see Appendix 3. (See App. X, Sect. 3) + +Across the hall came a man in a ragged soldier-coat and _shapka,_ whose +face was familiar; I recognised Melnichansky, whom I had known as the +watch-maker George Melcher in Bayonne, New Jersey, during the great +Standard Oil strike. Now, he told me, he was secretary of the Moscow +Metal-Workers’ Union, and a Commissar of the Military Revolutionary +Committee during the fighting…. + +“You see me!” he cried, showing his decrepit clothing. “I was with the +boys in the Kremlin when the _yunkers_ came the first time. They shut +me up in the cellar and swiped my overcoat, my money, watch and even +the ring on my finger. This is all I’ve got to wear!” + +From him I learned many details of the bloody six-day battle which had +rent Moscow in two. Unlike in Petrograd, in Moscow the City Duma had +taken command of the _yunkers_ and White Guards. Rudnev, the Mayor, and +Minor, president of the Duma, had directed the activities of the +Committee of Public Safety and the troops. Riabtsev, Commandant of the +city, a man of democratic instincts, had hesitated about opposing the +Military Revolutionary Committee; but the Duma had forced him…. It was +the Mayor who had urged the occupation of the Kremlin; “They will never +dare fire on you there,” he said…. + +One garrison regiment, badly demoralised by long inactivity, had been +approached by both sides. The regiment held a meeting to decide what +action to take. Resolved, that the regiment remain neutral, and +continue its present activities—which consisted in peddling rubbers and +sunflower seeds! + +“But worst of all,” said Melnichansky, “we had to organise while we +were fighting. The other side knew just what it wanted; but here the +soldiers had their Soviet and the workers theirs…. There was a fearful +wrangle over who should be Commander-in-chief; some regiments talked +for days before they decided what to do; and when the officers suddenly +deserted us, we had no battle-staff to give orders….” + +Vivid little pictures he gave me. On a cold grey day he had stood at a +corner of the Nikitskaya, which was swept by blasts of machine-gun +fire. A throng of little boys were gathered there—street waifs who used +to be newsboys. Shrill, excited as if with a new game, they waited +until the firing slackened, and then tried to run across the street…. +Many were killed, but the rest dashed backward and forward, laughing, +daring each other…. + +Late in the evening I went to the _Dvorianskoye Sobranie_—the Nobles’ +Club—where the Moscow Bolsheviki were to meet and consider the report +of Nogin, Rykov and the others who had left the Council of People’s +Commissars. + +The meeting-place was a theatre, in which, under the old régime, to +audiences of officers and glittering ladies, amateur presentations of +the latest French comedy had once taken place. + +At first the place filled with the intellectuals—those who lived near +the centre of the town. Nogin spoke, and most of his listeners were +plainly with him. It was very late before the workers arrived; the +working-class quarters were on the outskirts of the town, and no +street-cars were running. But about midnight they began to clump up the +stairs, in groups of ten or twenty—big, rough men, in coarse clothes, +fresh from the battle-line, where they had fought like devils for a +week, seeing their comrades fall all about them. + +Scarcely had the meeting formally opened before Nogin was assailed with +a tempest of jeers and angry shouts. In vain he tried to argue, to +explain; they would not listen. He had left the Council of People’s +Commissars; he had deserted his post while the battle was raging. As +for the bourgeois press, here in Moscow there was no more bourgeois +press; even the City Duma had been dissolved. (See App. X, Sect. 4) +Bukharin stood up, savage, logical, with a voice which plunged and +struck, plunged and struck…. Him they listened to with shining eyes. +Resolution, to support the action of the Council of People’s +Commissars, passed by overwhelming majority. So spoke Moscow…. + +[Graphic, page 254: Pass to the Kremlin] + +By this the Military Revolutionary Commitee requests to give a pass for +the purpose of investigating the Kremlin, the representatives of the +American Socialist party attached to the Socialist press, comrades Reed +and Bryant. Chief of the Military Revolutionary Committee For the +Secretary + +Late in the night we went through the empty streets and under the +Iberian Gate to the great Red Square in front of the Kremlin. The +church of Vasili Blazheiny loomed fantastic, its bright-coloured, +convoluted and blazoned cupolas vague in the darkness. There was no +sign of any damage…. Along one side of the square the dark towers and +walls of the Kremlin stood up. On the high walls flickered redly the +light of hidden flames; voices reached us across the immense place, and +the sound of picks and shovels. We crossed over. + +Mountains of dirt and rock were piled high near the base of the wall. +Climbing these we looked down into two massive pits, ten or fifteen +feet deep and fifty yards long, where hundreds of soldiers and workers +were digging in the light of huge fires. + +A young student spoke to us in German. “The Brotherhood Grave,” he +explained. “To-morrow we shall bury here five hundred proletarians who +died for the Revolution.” + +He took us down into the pit. In frantic haste swung the picks and +shovels, and the earth—mountains grew. No one spoke. Overhead the night +was thick with stars, and the ancient Imperial Kremlin wall towered up +immeasurably. + +“Here in this holy place,” said the student, “holiest of all Russia, we +shall bury our most holy. Here where are the tombs of the Tsars, our +Tsar—the People—shall sleep….” His arm was in a sling, from a +bullet-wound gained in the fighting. He looked at it. “You foreigners +look down on us Russians because so long we tolerated a mediæval +monarchy,” said he. “But we saw that the Tsar was not the only tyrant +in the world; capitalism was worse, and in all the countries of the +world capitalism was Emperor…. Russian revolutionary tactics are +best….” + +As we left, the workers in the pit, exhausted and running with sweat in +spite of the cold, began to climb wearily out. Across the Red Square a +dark knot of men came hurrying. They swarmed into the pits, picked up +the tools and began digging, digging, without a word…. + +So, all the long night volunteers of the People relieved each other, +never halting in their driving speed, and the cold light of the dawn +laid bare the great Square, white with snow, and the yawning brown pits +of the Brotherhood Grave, quite finished. + +We rose before sunrise, and hurried through the dark streets to +Skobeliev Square. In all the great city not a human being could be +seen; but there was a faint sound of stirring, far and near, like a +deep wind coming. In the pale half-light a little group of men and +women were gathered before the Soviet headquarters, with a sheaf of +gold-lettered red banners—the Central Executive Committee of the Moscow +Soviets. It grew light. From afar the vague stirring sound deepened and +became louder, a steady and tremendous bass. The city was rising. We +set out down the Tverskaya, the banners flapping overhead. The little +street chapels along our way were locked and dark, as was the Chapel of +the Iberian Virgin, which each new Tsar used to visit before he went to +the Kremlin to crown himself, and which, day or night, was always open +and crowded, and brilliant with the candles of the devout gleaming on +the gold and silver and jewels of the ikons. Now, for the first time +since Napoleon was in Moscow, they say, the candles were out. + +The Holy Orthodox Church had withdrawn the light of its countenance +from Moscow, the nest of irreverent vipers who had bombarded the +Kremlin. Dark and silent and cold were the churches; the priests had +disappeared. There were no popes to officiate at the Red Burial, there +had been no sacrament for the dead, nor were any prayers to be said +over the grave of the blasphemers. Tikhon, Metropolitan of Moscow, was +soon to excommunicate the Soviets…. + +Also the shops were closed, and the propertied classes stayed at +home—but for other reasons. This was the Day of the People, the rumour +of whose coming was thunderous as surf…. + +Already through the Iberian Gate a human river was flowing, and the +vast Red Square was spotted with people, thousands of them. I remarked +that as the throng passed the Iberian Chapel, where always before the +passerby had crossed himself, they did not seem to notice it…. + +We forced our way through the dense mass packed near the Kremlin wall, +and stood upon one of the dirt-mountains. Already several men were +there, among them Muranov, the soldier who had been elected Commandant +of Moscow—a tall, simple-looking, bearded man with a gentle face. + +Through all the streets to the Red Square the torrents of people +poured, thousands upon thousands of them, all with the look of the poor +and the toiling. A military band came marching up, playing the +_Internationale,_ and spontaneously the song caught and spread like +wind-ripples on a sea, slow and solemn. From the top of the Kremlin +wall gigantic banners unrolled to the ground; red, with great letters +in gold and in white, saying, “Martyrs of the Beginning of World Social +Revolution,” and “Long Live the Brotherhood of Workers of the World.” + +A bitter wind swept the Square, lifting the banners. Now from the far +quarters of the city the workers of the different factories were +arriving, with their dead. They could be seen coming through the Gate, +the blare of their banners, and the dull red—like blood—of the coffins +they carried. These were rude boxes, made of unplaned wood and daubed +with crimson, borne high on the shoulders of rough men who marched with +tears streaming down their faces, and followed by women who sobbed and +screamed, or walked stiffly, with white, dead faces. Some of the +coffins were open, the lid carried behind them; others were covered +with gilded or silvered cloth, or had a soldier’s hat nailed on the +top. There were many wreaths of hideous artificial flowers…. + +Through an irregular lane that opened and closed again the procession +slowly moved toward us. Now through the Gate was flowing an endless +stream of banners, all shades of red, with silver and gold lettering, +knots of crepe hanging from the top—and some Anarchist flags, black +with white letters. The band was playing the Revolutionary Funeral +March, and against the immense singing of the mass of people, standing +uncovered, the paraders sang hoarsely, choked with sobs…. + +Between the factory-workers came companies of soldiers with their +coffins, too, and squadrons of cavalry, riding at salute, and artillery +batteries, the cannon wound with red and black—forever, it seemed. +Their banners said, “Long live the Third International!” or “We Want an +Honest, General, Democratic Peace!” + +Slowly the marchers came with their coffins to the entrance of the +grave, and the bearers clambered up with their burdens and went down +into the pit. Many of them were women—squat, strong proletarian women. +Behind the dead came other women—women young and broken, or old, +wrinkled women making noises like hurt animals, who tried to follow +their sons and husbands into the Brotherhood Grave, and shrieked when +compassionate hands restrained them. The poor love each other so! + +All the long day the funeral procession passed, coming in by the +Iberian Gate and leaving the Square by way of the Nikolskaya, a river +of red banners, bearing words of hope and brotherhood and stupendous +prophecies, against a back-ground of fifty thousand people,—under the +eyes of the world’s workers and their descendants forever…. + +One by one the five hundred coffins were laid in the pits. Dusk fell, +and still the banners came drooping and fluttering, the band played the +Funeral March, and the huge assemblage chanted. In the leafless +branches of the trees above the grave the wreaths were hung, like +strange, multi-coloured blossoms. Two hundred men began to shovel in +the dirt. It rained dully down upon the coffins with a thudding sound, +audible beneath the singing…. + +The lights came out. The last banners passed, and the last moaning +women, looking back with awful intensity as they went. Slowly from the +great Square ebbed the proletarian tide…. + +I suddenly realised that the devout Russian people no longer needed +priests to pray them into heaven. On earth they were building a kingdom +more bright than any heaven had to offer, and for which it was a glory +to die…. + + + + +Chapter XI +The Conquest of Power (See App. XI, Sect. 1) + + +DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLES OF RUSSIA (See App. XI, Sect. +2) + +… The first Congress of Soviets, in June of this year, proclaimed the +right of the peoples of Russia to self-determination. + +The second Congress of Soviets, in November last, confirmed this +inalienable right of the peoples of Russia more decisively and +definitely. + +Executing the will of these Congresses, the Council of People’s +Commissars has resolved to establish as a basis for its activity in the +question of Nationalities, the following principles: + +(1) The equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia. + +(2) The right of the peoples of Russia to free self-determination, even +to the point of separation and the formation of an independent state. + +(3) The abolition of any and all national and national religious +privileges and disabilities. + +(4) The free development of national minorities and ethnographic groups +inhabiting the territory of Russia. + +Decrees will be prepared immediately upon the formation of a Commission +on Nationalities. + +In the name of the Russian Republic, + +People’s Commissar for Nationalities + +YUSSOV DJUGASHVILI-STALIN + + +President of the Council of People’s Commissars + +V. ULIANOV (LENIN) + + +The Central Rada at Kiev immediately declared Ukraine an independent +Republic, as did the Government of Finland, through the Senate at +Helsingfors. Independent “Governments” spring up in Siberia and the +Caucasus. The Polish Chief Military Committee swiftly gathered together +the Polish troops in the Russian army, abolished their Committees and +established an iron discipline…. + +All these “Governments” and “movements” had two characteristics in +common; they were controlled by the propertied classes, and they feared +and detested Bolshevism…. + +Steadily, amid the chaos of shocking change, the Council of People’s +Commissars hammered at the scaffolding of the Socialist order. Decree +on Social Insurance, on Workers’ Control, Regulations for Volost Land +Committees, Abolition of Ranks and Titles, Abolition of Courts and the +Creation of People’s Tribunals…. (See App. XI, Sect. 3) + +Army after army, fleet after fleet, sent deputations, “joyfully to +greet the new Government of the People.” + +In front of Smolny, one day, I saw a ragged regiment just come from the +trenches. The soldiers were drawn up before the great gates, thin and +grey-faced, looking up at the building as if God were in it. Some +pointed out the Imperial eagles over the door, laughing…. Red Guards +came to mount guard. All the soldiers turned to look, curiously, as if +they had heard of them but never seen them. They laughed good-naturedly +and pressed out of line to slap the Red Guards on the back, with +half-joking, half-admiring remarks…. + +The Provisional Government was no more. On November 15th, in all the +churches of the capital, the priests stopped praying for it. But as +Lenin himself told the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ that was “only the beginning of +the conquest of power.” Deprived of arms, the opposition, which still +controlled the economic life of the country, settled down to organise +disorganisation, with all the Russian genius for cooperative action—to +obstruct, cripple and discredit the Soviets. + +The strike of Government employees was well organised, financed by the +banks and commercial establishments. Every move of the Bolsheviki to +take over the Government apparatus was resisted. + +Trotzky went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the functionaries +refused to recognise him, locked themselves in, and when the doors were +forced, resigned. He demanded the keys of the archives; only when he +brought workmen to force the locks were they given up. Then it was +discovered that Neratov, former assistant Foreign Minister, had +disappeared with the Secret Treaties…. + +Shliapnikov tried to take possession of the Ministry of Labour. It was +bitterly cold, and there was no one to light the fires. Of all the +hundreds of employees, not one would show him where the office of the +Minister was…. + +Alexandra Kollontai, appointed the 13th of November Commissar of Public +Welfare—the department of charities and public institutions—was +welcomed with a strike of all but forty of the functionaries in the +Ministry. Immediately the poor of the great cities, the inmates of +institutions, were plunged in miserable want: delegations of starving +cripples, of orphans with blue, pinched faces, besieged the building. +With tears streaming down her face, Kollontai arrested the strikers +until they should deliver the keys of the office and the safe; when she +got the keys, however, it was discovered that the former Minister, +Countess Panina, had gone off with all the funds, which she refused to +surrender except on the order of the Constituent Assembly. (See App. +XI, Sect. 4) + +In the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Supplies, the Ministry +of Finance, similar incidents occurred. And the employees, summoned to +return or forfeit their positions and their pensions, either stayed +away or returned to sabotage…. Almost all the _intelligentzia_ being +anti-Bolshevik, there was nowhere for the Soviet Government to recruit +new staffs…. + +The private banks remained stubbornly closed, with a back door open for +speculators. When Bolshevik Commissars entered, the clerks left, +secreting the books and removing the funds. All the employees of the +State Bank struck except the clerks in charge of the vaults and the +manufacture of money, who refused all demands from Smolny and privately +paid out huge sums to the Committee for Salvation and the City Duma. + +Twice a Commissar, with a company of Red Guards, came formally to +insist upon the delivery of large sums for Government expenses. The +first time, the City Duma members and the Menshevik and Socialist +Revolutionary leaders were present in imposing numbers, and spoke so +gravely of the consequences that the Commissar was frightened. The +second time he arrived with a warrant, which he proceeded to read aloud +in due form; but some one called his attention to the fact that it had +no date and no seal, and the traditional Russian respect for +“documents” forced him again to withdraw…. + +The officials of the Credit Chancery destroyed their books, so that all +record of the financial relations of Russia with foreign countries was +lost. + +The Supply Committees, the administrations of the Municipal-owned +public utilities, either did not work at all, or sabotaged. And when +the Bolsheviki, compelled by the desperate needs of the city +population, attempted to help or to control the public service, all the +employees went on strike immediately, and the Duma flooded Russia with +telegrams about Bolshevik “violation of Municipal autonomy.” + +At Military headquarters, and in the offices of the Ministries of War +and Marine, where the old officials had consented to work, the Army +Committees and the high command blocked the Soviets in every way +possible, even to the extent of neglecting the troops at the front. The +_Vikzhel_ was hostile, refusing to transport Soviet troops; every +troop-train that left Petrograd was taken out by force, and railway +officials had to be arrested each time—whereupon the _Vikzhel_ +threatened an immediate general strike unless they were released…. + +Smolny was plainly powerless. The newspapers said that all the +factories of Petrograd must shut down for lack of fuel in three weeks; +the _Vikzhel_ announced that trains must cease running by December +first; there was food for three days only in Petrograd, and no more +coming in; and the Army on the Front was starving…. The Committee for +Salvation, the various Central Committees, sent word all over the +country, exhorting the population to ignore the Government decrees. And +the Allied Embassies were either coldly indifferent, or openly +hostile…. + +The opposition newspapers, suppressed one day and reappearing next +morning under new names, heaped bitter sarcasm on the new regime. (See +App. XI, Sect. 5) Even _Novaya Zhizn_ characterised it as “a +combination of demagoguery and impotence.” + +From day to day (it said) the Government of the People’s Commissars +sinks deeper and deeper into the mire of superficial haste. Having +easily conquered the power… the Bolsheviki can not make use of it. + +Powerless to direct the existing mechanism of Government, they are +unable at the same time to create a new one which might work easily and +freely according to the theories of social experimenters. + +Just a little while ago the Bolsheviki hadn’t enough men to run their +growing party—a work above all of speakers and writers; where then are +they going to find trained men to execute the diverse and complicated +functions of government? + +The new Government acts and threatens, it sprays the country with +decrees, each one more radical and more “socialist” than the last. But +in this exhibition of Socialism on Paper—more likely designed for the +stupefaction of our descendants—there appears neither the desire nor +the capacity to solve the immediate problems of the day! + +Meanwhile the _Vikzhel’s_ Conference to Form a New Government continued +to meet night and day. Both sides had already agreed in principle to +the basis of the Government; the composition of the People’s Council +was being discussed; the Cabinet was tentatively chosen, with Tchernov +as Premier; the Bolsheviki were admitted in a large minority, but Lenin +and Trotzky were barred. The Central Committees of the Menshevik and +Socialist Revolutionary parties, the Executive Committee of the +Peasant’s Soviets, resolved that, although unalterably opposed to the +“criminal politics” of the Bolsheviki, they would, “in order to halt +the fratricidal bloodshed,” not oppose their entrance into the People’s +Council. + +The flight of Kerensky, however, and the astounding success of the +Soviets everywhere, altered the situation. On the 16th, in a meeting of +the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ the Left Socialist Revolutionaries insisted that the +Bolsheviki should form a coalition Government with the other Socialist +parties; otherwise they would withdraw from the Military Revolutionary +Committee and the _Tsay-ee-kah._ Malkin said, “The news from Moscow, +where our comrades are dying on both sides of the barricades, +determines us to bring up once more the question of organisation of +power, and it is not only our right to do so, but our duty…. We have +won the right to sit with the Bolsheviki here within the walls of +Smolny Institute, and to speak from this tribune. After the bitter +internal party struggle, we shall be obliged, if you refuse to +compromise, to pass to open battle outside…. We must propose to the +democracy terms of an acceptable compromise….” + +After a recess to consider this ultimatum, the Bolsheviki returned with +a resolution, read by Kameniev: + +The _Tsay-ee-kah_ considers it necessary that there enter into the +Government representatives of _all the Socialist parties composing the +Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies who recognise the +conquests of the Revolution of November 7th—that is to say, the +establishment of a Government of Soviets, the decrees on peace, land, +workers’ control over industry, and the arming of the working-class._ +The _Tsay-ee-kah_ therefore resolves to propose negotiations concerning +the constitution of the Government to all parties _of the Soviet,_ and +insists upon the following conditions as a basis: + +The Government is responsible to the _Tsay-ee-kah._ The _Tsay-ee-kah_ +shall be enlarged to 150 members. To these 150 delegates of the Soviets +of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies shall be added 75 delegates of the +_Provincial_ Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies, 80 from the Front +organisations of the Army and Navy, 40 from the Trade Unions (25 from +the various All-Russian Unions, in proportion to their importance, 10 +from the _Vikzhel,_ and 5 from the Post and Telegraph Workers), and 50 +delegates from the Socialist groups in the Petrograd City Duma. In the +Ministry itself, at least one-half the portfolios must be reserved to +the Bolsheviki. The Ministries of Labour, Interior and Foreign Affairs +must be given to the Bolsheviki. The command of the garrisons of +Petrograd and Moscow must remain in the hands of delegates of the +Moscow and Petrograd Soviets. + +The Government undertakes the systematic arming of the workers of all +Russia. + +It is resolved to insist upon the candidature of comrades Lenin and +Trotzky. + +Kameniev explained. “The so-called ‘People’s Council,’” he said, +“proposed by the Conference, would consist of about 420 members, of +which about 150 would be Bolsheviki. Besides, there would be delegates +from the counter-revolutionary old _Tsay-ee-kah,_ 100 members chosen by +the Municipal Dumas—Kornilovtsi all; 100 delegates from the Peasants’ +Soviets—appointed by Avksentiev, and 80 from the old Army Committees, +who no longer represent the soldier masses. + +“We refuse to admit the old _Tsay-ee-kah,_ and also the representatives +of the Municipal Dumas. The delegates from the Peasants’ Soviets shall +be elected by the Congress of Peasants, which we have called, and which +will at the same time elect a new Executive Committee. The proposal to +exclude Lenin and Trotzky is a proposal to decapitate our party, and we +do not accept it. And finally, we see no necessity for a ‘People’s +Council’ anyway; the Soviets are open to all Socialist parties, and the +_Tsay-ee-kah_ represents them in their real proportions among the +masses….” + +Karelin, for the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, declared that his +party would vote for the Bolshevik resolution, reserving the right to +modify certain details, such as the representation of the peasants, and +demanding that the Ministry of Agriculture be reserved for the Left +Socialist Revolutionaries. This was agreed to…. + +Later, at a meeting of the Petrograd Soviet, Trotzky answered a +question about the formation of the new Government: + +“I don’t know anything about that. I am not taking part in the +negotiations…. However, I don’t think that they are of great +importance….” + +That night there was great uneasiness in the Conference. The delegates +of the City Duma withdrew…. + +But at Smolny itself, in the ranks of the Bolshevik party, a formidable +opposition to Lenin’s policy was growing. On the night of November 17th +the great hall was packed and ominous for the meeting of the +_Tsay-ee-kah._ + +Larin, Bolshevik, declared that the moment of elections to the +Constituent Assembly approached, and it was time to do away with +“political terrorism.” + +“The measures taken against the freedom of the press should be +modified. They had their reason during the struggle, but now they have +no further excuse. The press should be free, except for appeals to riot +and insurrection.” + +In a storm of hisses and hoots from his own party, Larin offered the +following resolution: + +The decree of the Council of People’s Commissars concerning the Press +is herewith repealed. + +Measures of political repression can only be employed subject to +decision of a special tribunal, elected by the _Tsay-ee-kah_ +proportionally to the strength of the different parties represented; +and this tribunal shall have the right also to reconsider measures of +repression already taken. + +This was met by a thunder of applause, not only from the Left Socialist +Revolutionaries, but also from a part of the Bolsheviki. + +Avanessov, for the Leninites, hastily proposed that the question of the +Press be postponed until after some compromise between the Socialist +parties had been reached. Overwhelmingly voted down. + +“The revolution which is now being accomplished,” went on Avanessov, +“has not hesitated to attack private property; and it is as private +property that we must examine the question of the Press….” + +Thereupon he read the official Bolshevik resolution: + +The suppression of the bourgeois press was dictated not only by purely +military needs in the course of the insurrection, and for the checking +of counter-revolutionary action, but it is also necessary as a measure +of transition toward the establishment of a new régime with regard to +the Press—a régime under which the capitalist owners of +printing-presses and of paper cannot be the all-powerful and exclusive +manufacturers of public opinion. + +We must further proceed to the confiscation of private printing plants +and supplies of paper, which should become the property of the Soviets, +both in the capital and in the provinces, so that the political parties +and groups can make use of the facilities of printing in proportion to +the actual strength of the ideas they represent—in other words, +proportionally to the number of their constituents. + +The reëstablishment of the so-called “freedom of the press,” the simple +return of printing presses and paper to the capitalists,—poisoners of +the mind of the people—this would be an inadmissible surrender to the +will of capital, a giving up of one of the most important conquests of +the Revolution; in other words, it would be a measure of unquestionably +counter-revolutionary character. + +Proceeding from the above, the _Tsay-ee-kah_ categorically rejects all +propositions aiming at the reëstablishment of the old régime in the +domain of the Press, and unequivocally supports the point of view of +the Council of People’s Commissars on this question, against +pretentions and ultimatums dictated by petty bourgeois prejudices, or +by evident surrender to the interests of the counter-revolutionary +bourgeoisie. + +The reading of this resolution was interrupted by ironical shouts from +the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, and bursts of indignation from the +insurgent Bolsheviki. Karelin was on his feet, protesting. “Three weeks +ago the Bolsheviki were the most ardent defenders of the freedom of the +Press… The arguments in this resolution suggest singularly the point of +view of the old Black Hundreds and the censors of the Tsarist +régime—for they also talked of ‘poisoners of the mind of the people.’” + +Trotzky spoke at length in favour of the resolution. He distinguished +between the Press during the civil war, and the Press after the +victory. “During civil war the right to use violence belongs only to +the oppressed….” (Cries of “Who’s the oppressed now? Cannibal!”). + +“The victory over our adversaries is not yet achieved, and the +newspapers are arms in their hands. In these conditions, the closing of +the newspapers is a legitimate measure of defence….” Then passing to +the question of the Press after the victory, Trotzky continued: + +“The attitude of Socialists on the question of freedom of the Press +should be the same as their attitude toward the freedom of business…. +The rule of the democracy which is being established in Russia demands +that the domination of the Press by private property must be abolished, +just as the domination of industry by private property…. The power of +the Soviets should confiscate all printing-plants.” (Cries, “Confiscate +the printing-shop of _Pravda!_”) + +“The monopoly of the Press by the bourgeoisie must be abolished. +Otherwise it isn’t worth while for us to take the power! Each group of +citizens should have access to print shops and paper…. The ownership of +print-type and of paper belongs first to the workers and peasants, and +only afterwards to the bourgeois parties, which are in a minority…. The +passing of the power into the hands of the Soviets will bring about a +radical transformation of the essential conditions of existence, and +this transformation will necessarily be evident in the Press…. If we +are going to nationalise the banks, can we then tolerate the financial +journals? The old régime must die; that must be understood once and for +all….” Applause and angry cries. + +Karelin declared that the _Tsay-ee-kah_ had no right to pass upon this +important question, which should be left to a special committee. Again, +passionately, he demanded that the Press be free. + +Then Lenin, calm, unemotional, his forehead wrinkled, as he spoke +slowly, choosing his words; each sentence falling like a hammer-blow. +“The civil war is not yet finished; the enemy is still with us; +consequently it is impossible to abolish the measures of repression +against the Press. + +“We Bolsheviki have always said that when we reached a position of +power we would close the bourgeois press. To tolerate the bourgeois +newspapers would mean to cease being a Socialist. When one makes a +Revolution, one cannot mark time; one must always go forward—or go +back. He who now talks about the ‘freedom of the Press’ goes backward, +and halts our headlong course toward Socialism. + +“We have thrown off the yoke of capitalism, just as the first +revolution threw off the yoke of Tsarism. _If the first revolution had +the right to suppress the Monarchist papers,_ then we have the right to +suppress the bourgeois press. It is impossible to separate the question +of the freedom of the Press from the other questions of the class +struggle. We have promised to close these newspapers, and we shall do +it. The immense majority of the people is with us! + +“Now that the insurrection is over, we have absolutely no desire to +suppress the papers of the other Socialist parties, except inasmuch as +they appeal to armed insurrection, or to disobedience to the Soviet +Government. However, we shall not permit them, under the pretence of +freedom of the Socialist press, to obtain, through the secret support +of the bourgeoisie, a monopoly of printing-presses, ink and paper…. +These essentials must become the property of the Soviet Government, and +be apportioned, first of all, to the Socialist parties in strict +proportion to their voting strength….” + +Then the vote. The resolution of Larin and the Left Socialist +Revolutionaries was defeated by 31 to 22; the Lenin motion was carried +by 34 to 24. Among the minority were the Bolsheviki Riazanov and +Lozovsky, who declared that it was impossible for them to vote against +any restriction on the freedom of the Press. + +Upon this the Left Socialist Revolutionaries declared they could no +longer be responsible for what was being done, and withdrew from the +Military Revolutionary Committee and all other positions of executive +responsibility. + +Five members—Nogin, Rykov, Miliutin, Teodorovitch and +Shiapnikov—resigned from the Council of People’s Commissars, declaring: + +We are in favour of a Socialist Government composed of all the parties +in the Soviets. We consider that only the creation of such a Government +can possibly guarantee the results of the heroic struggle of the +working-class and the revolutionary army. Outside of that, there +remains only one way: the constitution of a purely Bolshevik Government +by means of political terrorism. This last is the road taken by the +Council of People’s Commissars. We cannot and will not follow it. We +see that this leads directly to the elimination from political life of +many proletarian organisations, to the establishment of an +irresponsible régime, and to the destruction of the Revolution and the +country. We cannot take the responsibility for such a policy, and we +renounce before the _Tsay-ee-kah_ our function as People’s Commissars. + +Other Commissars, without resigning their positions, signed the +declaration—Riazanov, Derbychev of the Press Department, Arbuzov, of +the Government Printing-plant, Yureniev, of the Red Guard, Feodorov, of +the Commissariat of Labour, and Larin, secretary of the Section of +Elaboration of Decrees. + +At the same time Kameniev, Rykov, Miliutin, Zinoviev and Nogin resigned +from the Central Committee of the Bolshevik party, making public their +reasons: + +… The constitution of such a Government (composed of all the parties of +the Soviet) is indispensable to prevent a new flow of blood, the coming +famine, the destruction of the Revolution by the Kaledinists, to assure +the convocation of the Constituent Assembly at the proper time, and to +apply effectively the programme adopted by the Congress of Soviets…. + +We cannot accept the responsibility for the disastrous policy of the +Central Committee, carried on against the will of an enormous majority +of the proletariat and the soldiers, who are eager to see the rapid end +of the bloodshed between the different political parties of the +democracy…. We renounce our title as members of the Central Committee, +in order to be able to say openly our opinion to the masses of workers +and soldiers…. + +We leave the Central Committee at the moment of victory; we cannot +calmly look on while the policy of the chiefs of the Central Committee +leads toward the loss of the fruits of victory and the crushing of the +proletariat…. + +The masses of the workers, the soldiers of the garrison, stirred +restlessly, sending their delegations to Smolny, to the Conference for +Formation of the New Government, where the break in the ranks of the +Bolsheviki caused the liveliest joy. + +But the answer of the Leninites was swift and ruthless. Shliapnikov and +Teodorovitch submitted to party discipline and returned to their posts. +Kameniev was stripped of his powers as president of the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ +and Sverdlov elected in his place. Zinoviev was deposed as president of +the Petrograd Soviet. On the morning of the 5th, _Pravda_ contained a +ferocious proclamation to the people of Russia, written by Lenin, which +was printed in hundreds of thousands of copies, posted on the walls +everywhere, and distributed over the face of Russia. + +The second All-Russian Congress of Soviets gave the majority to the +Bolshevik party. Only a Government formed by this party can therefore +be a Soviet Government. And it is known to all that the Central +Committee of the Bolshevik party, a few hours before the formation of +the new Government and before proposing the list of its members to the +All-Russian Congress of Soviets, invited to its meeting three of the +most eminent members of the Left Socialist Revolutionary group, +comrades Kamkov, Spiro and Karelin, and ASKED THEM to participate in +the new Government. We regret infinitely that the invited comrades +refused; we consider their refusal inadmissible for revolutionists and +champions of the working-class; we are willing at any time to include +the Left Socialist Revolutionaries in the Government; but we declare +that, as the party of the majority at the second All-Russian Congress +of Soviets, we are entitled and BOUND before the people to form a +Government…. + +… Comrades! Several members of the Central Committee of our party and +the Council of People’s Commissars, Kameniev, Zinoviev, Nogin, Rykov, +Miliutin and a few others left yesterday, November 17th, the Central +Committee of our party, and the last three, the Council of People’s +Commissars…. + +The comrades who left us acted like deserters, because they not only +abandoned the posts entrusted to them, but also disobeyed the direct +instructions of the Central Committee of our party, to the effect that +they should await the decisions of the Petrograd and Moscow party +organisations before retiring. We blame decisively such desertion. We +are firmly convinced that all conscious workers, soldiers and peasants, +belonging to our party or sympathising with it, will also disapprove of +the behaviour of the deserters…. + +Remember, comrades, that two of these deserters, Kameniev and Zinoviev, +even before the uprising in Petrograd, appeared as deserters and +strike-breakers, by voting at the decisive meeting of the Central +Committee, October 23d, 1917, against the insurrection; and even AFTER +the resolution passed by the Central Committee, they continued their +campaign at a meeting of the party workers…. But the great impulse of +the masses, the great heroism of millions of workers, soldiers and +peasants, in Moscow, Petrograd, at the front, in the trenches, in the +villages, pushed aside the deserters as a railway train scatters +saw-dust…. + +Shame upon those who are of little faith, hesitate, who doubt, who +allow themselves to be frightened by the bourgeoisie, or who succumb +before the cries of the latter’s direct or indirect accomplices! There +is NOT A SHADOW of hesitation in the MASSES of Petrograd, Moscow, and +the rest of Russia…. + +… We shall not submit to any ultimatums from small groups of +intellectuals which are not followed by the masses, which are +PRACTICALLY only supported by Kornilovists, Savinkovists, _yunkers,_ +and so forth…. + +The response from the whole country was like a blast of hot storm. The +insurgents never got a chance to “say openly their opinion to the +masses of workers and soldiers.” Upon the _Tsay-ee-kah_ rolled in like +breakers the fierce popular condemnation of the “deserters.” For days +Smolny was thronged with angry delegations and committees, from the +front, from the Volga, from the Petrograd factories. “Why did they dare +leave the Government? Were they paid by the bourgeoisie to destroy the +Revolution? They must return and submit to the decisions of the Central +Committee!” + +Only in the Petrograd garrison was there still uncertainty. A great +soldier meeting was held on November 24th, addressed by representatives +of all the political parties. By a vast majority Lenin’s policy was +sustained, and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries were told that they +must enter the government…. _See next page._ + +The Mensheviki delivered a final ultimatum, demanding that all +Ministers and _yunkers_ be released, that all newspapers be allowed +full freedom, that the Red Guard be disarmed and the garrison put under +command of the Duma. To this Smolny answered that all the Socialist +Ministers and also all but a very few _yunkers_ had been already set +free, that all newspapers were free except the bourgeois press, and +that the Soviet would remain in command of the armed forces…. On the +19th the Conference to Form a New Government disbanded, and the +opposition one by one slipped away to Moghilev, where, under the wing +of the General Staff, they continued to form Government after +Government, until the end…. + +[Graphic, page 276: Meeting announcement] + +Announcement, posted on the walls of Petrograd, of the result of a +meeting of representatives of the garrison regiments, called to +consider the question of forming a new Government. For translation see +App. XI, Sect. 6. + +Meanwhile the Bolsheviki had been undermining the power of the +_Vikzhel._ An appeal of the Petrograd Soviet to all railway workers +called upon them to force the _Vikzhel_ to surrender its powers. On the +15th, the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ following its procedure toward the peasants, +called an All-Russian Congress of Railway Workers for December 1st; the +_Vikzhel_ immediately called its own Congress for two weeks later. On +November 16th, the _Vikzhel_ members took their seats in the +_Tsay-ee-kah._ On the night of December 2d, at the opening session of +the All-Russian Congress of Railway Workers, the _Tsay-ee-kah_ formally +offered the post of Commissar of Ways and Communications to the +_Vikzhel_—which accepted…. + +Having settled the question of power, the Bolsheviki turned their +attention to problems of practical administration. First of all the +city, the country, the Army must be fed. Bands of sailors and Red +Guards scoured the warehouses, the railway terminals, even the barges +in the canals, unearthing and confiscating thousands of _poods_ of food +held by private speculators. Emissaries were sent to the provinces, +where with the assistance of the Land Committees they seized the +store-houses of the great grain-dealers. Expeditions of sailors, +heavily armed, were sent out in groups of five thousand, to the South, +to Siberia, with roving commissions to capture cities still held by the +White Guards, establish order, and _get food._ Passenger traffic on the +Trans-Siberian Railroad was suspended for two weeks, while thirteen +trains, loaded with bolts of cloth and bars of iron assembled by the +Factory-Shop Committees, were sent out eastward, each in charge of a +Commissar, to barter with the Siberian peasants for grain and +potatoes…. + +Kaledin being in possession of the coal-mines of the Don, the fuel +question became urgent. Smolny shut off all electric lights in +theatres, shops and restaurants, cut down the number of street cars, +and confiscated the private stores of fire-wood held by the +fuel-dealers…. And when the factories of Petrograd were about to close +down for lack of coal, the sailors of the Baltic Fleet turned over to +the workers two hundred thousand _poods_ from the bunkers of +battle-ships…. + +Toward the end of November occurred the “wine-pogroms” (See App. XI, +Sect. 7)—looting of the wine-cellars—beginning with the plundering of +the Winter Palace vaults. For days there were drunken soldiers on the +streets…. In all this was evident the hand of the +counter-revolutionists, who distributed among the regiments plans +showing the location of the stores of liquor. The Commissars of Smolny +began by pleading and arguing, which did not stop the growing disorder, +followed by pitched battles between soldiers and Red Guards…. Finally +the Military Revolutionary Committee sent out companies of sailors with +machine-guns, who fired mercilessly upon the rioters, killing many; and +by executive order the wine-cellars were invaded by Committees with +hatchets, who smashed the bottles—or blew them up with dynamite…. + +Companies of Red Guards, disciplined and well-paid, were on duty at the +headquarters of the Ward Soviets day and night, replacing the old +Militia. In all quarters of the city small elective Revolutionary +Tribunals were set up by the workers and soldiers to deal with petty +crime…. + +The great hotels, where the speculators still did a thriving business, +were surrounded by Red Guards, and the speculators thrown into jail. +(See App. XI, Sect. 8)… + +Alert and suspicious, the working-class of the city constituted itself +a vast spy system, through the servants prying into bourgeois +households, and reporting all information to the Military Revolutionary +Committee, which struck with an iron hand, unceasing. In this way was +discovered the Monarchist plot led by former Duma-member Purishkevitch +and a group of nobles and officers, who had planned an officers’ +uprising, and had written a letter inviting Kaledin to Petrograd. (See +App. XI, Sect. 9)…. In this way was unearthed the conspiracy of the +Petrograd Cadets, who were sending money and recruits to Kaledin…. + +Neratov, frightened at the outburst of popular fury provoked by his +flight, returned and surrendered the Secret Treaties to Trotzky, who +began their publication in _Pravda,_ scandalising the world…. + +[Graphic, page 279: Proclamation] + +Bolshevik order. A proclamation of the Committee to Fight against +Pogroms, attached to the Petrograd Soviet. For translation see App. XI, +Sect. 11. + +The restrictions on the Press were increased by a decree (See App. XI, +Sect. 10) making advertisements a monopoly of the official Government +newspaper. At this all the other papers suspended publication as a +protest, or disobeyed the law and were closed…. Only three weeks later +did they finally submit. + +Still the strike of the Ministries went on, still the sabotage of the +old officials, the stoppage of normal economic life. Behind Smolny was +only the will of the vast, unorganised popular masses; and with them +the Council of People’s Commissars dealt, directing revolutionary +mass-action against its enemies. In eloquent proclamations, (See App. +XI, Sect. 12) couched in simple words and spread over Russia, Lenin +explained the Revolution, urged the people to take the power into their +own hands, by force to break down the resistance of the propertied +classes, by force to take over the institutions of Government. +Revolutionary order. Revolutionary discipline! Strict accounting and +control! No strikes! No loafing! + +[Graphic, page 281: Appeal to work hard] + +Appeal of the Petrograd Soviet, the Petrograd Council of Professional +Unions, and the Petrograd Council of Factory Shop Committees, to the +Workers of Petrograd, urging them to work hard and not to strike. For +translation see App. XI, Sect. 13. + +On the 20th of November the Military Revolutionary Committee issued a +warning: + +The rich classes oppose the power of the Soviets—the Government of +workers, soldiers and peasants. Their sympathisers halt the work of the +employees of the Government and the Duma, incite strikes in the banks, +try to interrupt communication by the railways, the post and the +telegraph…. + +We warn them that they are playing with fire. The country and the Army +are threatened with famine. To fight against it, the regular +functioning of all services is indispensable. The Workers’ and +Peasants’ Government is taking every measure to assure the country and +the Army all that is necessary. Opposition to these measures is a crime +against the People. We warn the rich classes and their sympathisers +that, if they do not cease their sabotage and their provocation in +halting the transportation of food, they will be the first to suffer. +They will be deprived of the right of receiving food. All the reserves +which they possess will be requisitioned. The property of the principal +criminals will be confiscated. + +We have done our duty in warning those who play with fire. + +We are convinced that in case decisive measures become necessary, we +shall be solidly supported by all workers, soldiers, and peasants. + +On the 22d of November the walls of the city were placarded with a +sheet headed “EXTRAORDINARY COMMUNICATION”: + +The Council of People’s Commissars has received an urgent telegram from +the Staff of the Northern Front…. + +“There must be no further delay; do not let the Army die of hunger; the +armies of the Northern Front have not received a crust of bread now for +several days, and in two or three days they will not have any more +biscuits—which are being doled out to them from reserve supplies until +now never touched…. Already delegates from all parts of the Front are +talking of a necessary removal of part of the Army to the rear, +foreseeing that in a few days there will be headlong flight of the +soldiers, dying from hunger, ravaged by the three years’ war in the +trenches, sick, insufficiently clothed, bare-footed, driven mad by +superhuman misery.” + +The Military Revolutionary Committee brings this to the notice of the +Petrograd garrison and the workers of Petrograd. The situation at the +Front demands the most urgent and decisive measures. … Meanwhile the +higher functionaries of the Government institutions, banks, railroads, +post and telegraph, are on strike and impeding the work of the +Government in supplying the Front with provisions…. Each hour of delay +may cost the life of thousands of soldiers. The counter-revolutionary +functionaries are the most dishonest criminals toward their hungry and +dying brethren on the Front…. + +The MILITARY REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE GIVES THESE CRIMINALS A LAST +WARNING. In event of the least resistance or opposition on their part, +the harshness of the measures which will be adopted against them will +correspond to the seriousness of their crime…. + +The masses of workers and soldiers responded by a savage tremor of +rage, which swept all Russia. In the capital the Government and bank +employees got out hundreds of proclamations and appeals (See App. XI, +Sect. 14), protesting, defending themselves, such as this one: + +TO THE ATTENTION OF ALL CITIZENS. + +THE STATE BANK IS CLOSED! + +WHY? + + +Because the violence exercised by the Bolsheviki against the State Bank +has made it impossible for us to work. The first act of the People’s +Commissars was to DEMAND TEN MILLION RUBLES, and on November 27th THEY +DEMANDED TWENTY-FIVE MILLIONS, without any indication as to where this +money was to go. + +… We functionaries cannot take part in plundering the people’s +property. We stopped work. + +CITIZENS! The money in the State Bank is yours, the people’s money, +acquired by your labour, your sweat and blood. CITIZENS! Save the +people’s property from robbery, and us from violence, and we shall +immediately resume work. + +EMPLOYEES OF THE STATE BANK. + + +From the Ministry of Supplies, the Ministry of Finance, from the +Special Supply Committee, declarations that the Military Revolutionary +Committee made it impossible for the employees to work, appeals to the +population to support them against Smolny…. But the dominant worker and +soldier did not believe them; it was firmly fixed in the popular mind +that the employees were sabotaging, starving the Army, starving the +people…. In the long bread lines, which as formerly stood in the iron +winter streets, it was not _the Government_ which was blamed, as it had +been under Kerensky, but the _tchinovniki,_ the sabotageurs; for the +Government was _their_ Government, _their_ Soviets—and the +functionaries of the Ministries were against it…. + +At the centre of all this opposition was the Duma, and its militant +organ, the Committee for Salvation, protesting against all the decrees +of the Council of People’s Commissars, voting again and again not to +recognise the Soviet Government, openly cooperating with the new +counter-revolutionary “Governments” set up at Moghilev…. On the 17th of +November, for example, the Committee for Salvation addressed “all +Municipal Governments, Zemstvos, and all democratic and revolutionary +organisations of peasants, workers, soldiers and other citizens,” in +these words: + +Do not recognise the Government of the Bolsheviki, and struggle against +it. + +Form local Committees for Salvation of Country and Revolution, who will +unite all democratic forces, so as to aid the All-Russian Committee for +Salvation in the tasks which it has set itself…. + +Meanwhile the elections for the Constituent Assembly in Petrograd (See +App. XI, Sect. 15) gave an enormous plurality to the Bolsheviki; so +that even the Mensheviki Internationalists pointed out that the Duma +ought to be re-elected, as it no longer represented the political +composition of the Petrograd population…. At the same time floods of +resolutions from workers’ organisations, from military units, even from +the peasants in the surrounding country, poured in upon the Duma, +calling it “counter-revolutionary, Kornilovitz,” and demanding that it +resign. The last days of the Duma were stormy with the bitter demands +of the Municipal workers for decent living wages, and the threat of +strikes…. + +On the 23d a formal decree of the Military Revolutionary Committee +dissolved the Committee for Salvation. On the 29th, the Council of +People’s Commissars ordered the dissolution and re-election of the +Petrograd City Duma: + +In view of the fact that the Central Duma of Petrograd, elected +September 2d, … has definitely lost the right to represent the +population of Petrograd, being in complete disaccord with its state of +mind and its aspirations … and in view of the fact that the personnel +of the Duma majority, although having lost all political following, +continues to make use of its prerogatives to resist in a +counter-revolutionary manner the will of the workers, soldiers and +peasants, to sabotage and obstruct the normal work of the +Government—the Council of People’s Commissars considers it its duty to +invite the population of the capital to pronounce judgment on the +policy of the organ of Municipal autonomy. + +To this end the Council of People’s Commissars resolves: + +(1) To dissolve the Municipal Duma; the dissolution to take effect +November 30th, 1917. + +(2) All functionaries elected or appointed by the present Duma shall +remain at their posts and fulfil the duties confided to them, until +their places shall be filled by representatives of the new Duma. + +(3) All Municipal employees shall continue to fulfil their duties; +those who leave the service of their own accord shall be considered +discharged. + +(4) The new elections for the Municipal Duma of Petrograd are fixed for +December 9th, 1917…. + +(5) The Municipal Duma of Petrograd shall meet December 11th, 1917, at +two o’clock. + +(6) Those who disobey this decree, as well as those who intentionally +harm or destroy the property of the Municipality, shall be immediately +arrested and brought before the Revolutionary Tribunals…. + +The Duma met defiantly, passing resolutions to the effect that it would +“defend its position to the last drop of its blood,” and appealing +desperately to the population to save their “own elected City +Government.” But the population remained indifferent or hostile. On the +31st Mayor Schreider and several members were arrested, interrogated, +and released. That day and the next the Duma continued to meet, +interrupted frequently by Red Guards and sailors, who politely +requested the assembly to disperse. At the meeting of December 2d, an +officer and some sailors entered the Nicolai Hall while a member was +speaking, and ordered the members to leave, or force would be used. +They did so, protesting to the last, but finally “ceding to violence.” + +The new Duma, which was elected ten days later, and for which the +“Moderate” Socialists refused to vote, was almost entirely Bolshevik…. + +There remained several centres of dangerous opposition, such as the +“republics” of Ukraine and Finland, which were showing definitely +anti-Soviet tendencies. Both at Helsingfors and at Kiev the Governments +were gathering troops which could be depended upon, and entering upon +campaigns of crushing Bolshevism, and of disarming and expelling +Russian troops. The Ukrainean Rada had taken command of all southern +Russia, and was furnishing Kaledin reinforcements and supplies. Both +Finland and Ukraine were beginning secret negotiations with the +Germans, and were promptly recognised by the Allied Governments, which +loaned them huge sums of money, joining with the propertied classes to +create counter-revolutionary centres of attack upon Soviet Russia. In +the end, when Bolshevism had conquered in both these countries, the +defeated bourgeoisie called in the Germans to restore them to power…. + +But the most formidable menace to the Soviet Government was internal +and two-headed—the Kaledin movement, and the Staff at Moghilev, where +General Dukhonin had assumed command. + +[Graphic, page 287: Education Proclamation] + +Proclamation of the Commission of Public Education attached to the City +Duma, concerning the strike of school-teachers, just before the +Christmas holidays. The Duma had been re-elected, and was composed +almost entirely of Bolsheviki. For translation see App. XI, Sect. 17. + +The ubiquitous Muraviov was appointed commander of the war against the +Cossacks, and a Red Army was recruited from among the factory workers. +Hundreds of propagandists were sent to the Don. The Council of People’s +Commissars issued a proclamation to the Cossacks, (See App. XI, Sect. +16) explaining what the Soviet Government was, how the propertied +classes, the _tchin ovniki,_ landlords, bankers and their allies, the +Cossack princes, land-owners and Generals, were trying to destroy the +Revolution, and prevent the confiscation of their wealth by the people. + +On November 27th a committee of Cossacks came to Smolny to see Trotzky +and Lenin. They demanded if it were true that the Soviet Government did +not intend to divide the Cossack lands among the peasants of Great +Russia? “No,” answered Trotzky. The Cossacks deliberated for a while. +“Well,” they asked, “does the Soviet Government intend to confiscate +the estates of our great Cossack land-owners and divide them among the +working Cossacks?” To this Lenin replied. “That,” he said, “is for +_you_ to do. We shall support the working Cossacks in all their +actions…. The best way to begin is to form Cossacks Soviets; you will +be given representation in the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ and then it will be +_your_ Government, too….” + +The Cossacks departed, thinking hard. Two weeks later General Kaledin +received a deputation from his troops. “Will you,” they asked, “promise +to divide the great estates of the Cossack landlords among the working +Cossacks?” + +“Only over my dead body,” responded Kaledin. A month later, seeing his +army melt away before his eyes, Kaledin blew out his brains. And the +Cossack movement was no more…. + +Meanwhile at Moghilev were gathered the old _Tsay-ee-kah_ the +“moderate” Socialist leaders—from Avksentiev to Tchernov—the active +chiefs of the old Army Committees, and the reactionary officers. The +Staff steadily refused to recognise the Council of People’s Commissars. +It had united about it the Death Battalions, the Knights of St. George, +and the Cossacks of the Front, and was in close and secret touch with +the Allied military attachès, and with the Kaledin movement and the +Ukrainean Rada…. + +The Allied Governments had made no reply to the Peace decree of +November 8th, in which the Congress of Soviets had asked for a general +armistice. + +On November 20th Trotzky addressed a note to the Allied Ambassadors: +(See App. XI, Sect. 18) + +I have the honour to inform you, Mr. Ambassador, that the All-Russian +Congress of Soviets… on November 8th constituted a new Government of +the Russian Republic, in the form of the Council of People’s +Commissars. The President of this Government is Vladimir Ilyitch Lenin. +The direction of Foreign Affairs has been entrusted to me, People’s +Commissar for Foreign Affairs…. + +In drawing your attention to the text, approved by the All-Russian +Congress, of the proposition for an armistice and a democratic peace +without annexations or indemnities, based on the right of +self-determination of peoples, I have the honour to request you to +consider that document as a formal proposal of an immediate armistice +on all fronts, and the opening of immediate peace negotiations; a +proposal which the authorised Government of the Russian Republic +addresses at the same time to all the belligerent peoples and their +Governments. + +Please accept, Mr. Ambassador, the profound assurance of the esteem of +the Soviet Government toward your people, who cannot but wish for +peace, like all the other peoples exhausted and drained by this +unexampled butchery…. + +The same night the Council of People’s Commissars telegraphed to +General Dukhonin: + +… The Council of People’s Commissars considers it indispensable without +delay to make a formal proposal of armistice to all the powers, both +enemy and Allied. A declaration conforming to this decision has been +sent by the Commissar for Foreign Affairs to the representatives of the +Allied powers at Petrograd. + +The Council of People’s Commissars orders you, Citizen Commander,… to +propose to the enemy military authorities immediately to cease +hostilities, and enter into negotiations for peace. + +In charging you with the conduct of these preliminary pourparlers, the +Council of People’s Commissars orders you: + +1. To inform the Council by direct wire immediately of any and all +steps in the pourparlers with the representatives of the enemy armies. + +2. Not to sign the act of armistice until it has been passed upon by +the Council of People’s Commissars. + +The Allied Ambassadors received Trotzky’s note with contemptuous +silence, accompanied by anonymous interviews in the newspapers, full of +spite and ridicule. The order to Dukhonin was characterised openly as +an act of treason…. + +As for Dukhonin, he gave no sign. On the night of November 22nd he was +communicated with by telephone, and asked if he intended to obey the +order. Dukhonin answered that he could not, unless it emanated from “a +Government sustained by the Army and the country.” + +By telegraph he was immediately dismissed from the post of Supreme +Commander, and Krylenko appointed in his place. Following his tactics +of appealing to the masses, Lenin sent a radio to all regimental, +divisional and corps Committees, to all soldiers and sailors of the +Army and the Fleet, acquainting them with Dukhonin’s refusal, and +ordering that “the regiments on the front shall elect delegates to +begin negotiations with the enemy detachments opposite their +positions….” + +On the 23d, the military attaches of the Allied nations, acting on +instructions from their Governments, presented a note to Dukhonin, in +which he was solemnly warned not to “violate the conditions of the +treaties concluded between the Powers of the Entente.” The note went on +to say that if a separate armistice with Germany were concluded, that +act “would result in the most serious consequences” to Russia. This +communication Dukhonin at once sent out to all the soldiers’ +Committees…. + +Next morning Trotzky made another appeal to the troops, characterising +the note of the Allied representatives as a flagrant interference in +the internal affairs of Russia, and a bald attempt “to force by threats +the Russian Army and the Russian people to continue the war in +execution of the treaties concluded by the Tsar….” + +From Smolny poured out proclamation after proclamation, (See App. XI, +Sect. 19) denouncing Dukhonin and the counter-revolutionary officers +about him, denouncing the reactionary politicians gathered at Moghilev, +rousing, from one end of the thousand-mile Front to the other, millions +of angry, suspicious soldiers. And at the same time Krylenko, +accompanied by three detachments of fanatical sailors, set out for the +_Stavka,_ breathing threats of vengeance, (See App. XI, Sect. 20) and +received by the soldiers everywhere with tremendous ovations—a +triumphal progress. The Central Army Committee issued a declaration in +favour of Dukhonin; and at once ten thousand troops moved upon +Moghilev…. + +On December 2d the garrison of Moghilev rose and seized the city, +arresting Dukhonin and the Army Committee, and going out with +victorious red banners to meet the new Supreme Commander. Krylenko +entered Moghilev next morning, to find a howling mob gathered about the +railway-car in which Dukhonin had been imprisoned. Krylenko made a +speech in which he implored the soldiers not to harm Dukhonin, as he +was to be taken to Petrograd and judged by the Revolutionary Tribunal. +When he had finished, suddenly Dukhonin himself appeared at the window, +as if to address the throng. But with a savage roar the people rushed +the car, and falling upon the old General, dragged him out and beat him +to death on the platform…. + +So ended the revolt of the _Stavka_…. + +Immensely strengthened by the collapse of the last important stronghold +of hostile military power in Russia, the Soviet Government began with +confidence the organisation of the state. Many of the old functionaries +flocked to its banner, and many members of other parties entered the +Government service. The financially ambitious, however, were checked by +the decree on Salaries of Government Employees, fixing the salaries of +the People’s Commissars—the highest—at five hundred rubles (about fifty +dollars) a month…. The strike of Government Employees, led by the Union +of Unions, collapsed, deserted by the financial and commercial +interests which had been backing it. The bank clerks returned to their +jobs…. + +With the decree on the Nationalisation of Banks, the formation of the +Supreme Council of People’s Economy, the putting into practical +operation of the Land decree in the villages, the democratic +reorganisation of the Army, and the sweeping changes in all branches of +the Government and of life,—with all these, effective only by the will +of the masses of workers, soldiers and peasants, slowly began, with +many mistakes and hitches, the moulding of proletarian Russia. + +Not by compromise with the propertied classes, or with the other +political leaders; not by conciliating the old Government mechanism, +did the Bolsheviki conquer the power. Nor by the organized violence of +a small clique. If the masses all over Russia had not been ready for +insurrection it must have failed. The only reason for Bolshevik success +lay in their accomplishing the vast and simple desires of the most +profound strata of the people, calling them to the work of tearing down +and destroying the old, and afterward, in the smoke of falling ruins, +cooperating with them to erect the frame-work of the new…. + + + + +Chapter XII +The Peasants’ Congress + + +It was on November 18th that the snow came. In the morning we woke to +window-ledges heaped white, and snowflakes falling so whirling thick +that it was impossible to see ten feet ahead. The mud was gone; in a +twinkling the gloomy city became white, dazzling. The _droshki_ with +their padded coachmen turned into sleights, bounding along the uneven +street at headlong speed, their drivers’ beards stiff and frozen…. In +spite of Revolution, all Russia plunging dizzily into the unknown and +terrible future, joy swept the city with the coming of the snow. +Everybody was smiling; people ran into the streets, holding out their +arms to the soft, falling flakes, laughing. Hidden was all the +greyness; only the gold and coloured spires and cupolas, with +heightened barbaric splendour, gleamed through the white snow. + +Even the sun came out, pale and watery, at noon. The colds and +rheumatism of the rainy months vanished. The life of the city grew gay, +and the very Revolution ran swifter…. + +I sat one evening in a _traktir_—a kind of lower-class inn—across the +street from the gates of Smolny; a low-ceilinged, loud place called +“Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” much frequented by Red Guards. They crowded it +now, packed close around the little tables with their dirty +table-cloths and enormous china tea-pots, filling the place with foul +cigarette-smoke, while the harassed waiters ran about crying +_“Seichass! Seichass!_ In a minute! Right away!” + +In one corner sat a man in the uniform of a captain, addressing the +assembly, which interrupted him at every few words. + +“You are no better than murderers!” he cried. “Shooting down your +Russian brothers on the streets!” + +“When did we do that?” asked a worker. + +“Last Sunday you did it, when the _yunkers_—” + +“Well, didn’t they shoot us?” One man exhibited his arm in a sling. +“Haven’t I got something to remember them by, the devils?” + +The captain shouted at the top of his voice. “You should remain +neutral! You should remain neutral! Who are you to destroy the legal +Government? Who is Lenin? A German—” + +“Who are you? A counter-revolutionist! A provocator!” they bellowed at +him. + +When he could make himself heard the captain stood up. “All right!” +said he. “You call yourselves the people of Russia. But you’re _not_ +the people of Russia. The _peasants_ are the people of Russia. Wait +until the peasants—” + +“Yes,” they cried, “wait until the peasants speak. We know what the +peasants will say…. Aren’t they workingmen like ourselves?” + +In the long run, everything depended upon the peasants. While the +peasants had been politically backward, still they had their own +peculiar ideas, and they constituted more than eighty per cent of the +people of Russia. The Bolsheviki had a comparatively small following +among the peasants; and a permanent dictatorship of Russia by the +industrial workers was impossible…. The traditional peasant party was +the Socialist Revolutionary party; of all the parties now supporting +the Soviet Government, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries were the +logical inheritors of peasant leadership—and the Left Socialist +Revolutionaries, who were at the mercy of the organised city +proletariat, desperately needed the backing of the peasants…. + +Meanwhile Smolny had not neglected the peasants. After the Land decree, +one of the first actions of the new _Tsay-ee-kah_ had been to call a +Congress of Peasants, over the head of the Executive Committee of the +Peasants’ Soviets. A few days later was issued detailed Regulations for +the _Volost_ (Township) Land Committees, followed by Lenin’s +“Instruction to Peasants,” (See App. XII, Sect. 1) which explained the +Bolshevik revolution and the new Government in simple terms; and on +November 16th, Lenin and Miliutin published the “Instructions to +Provincial Emissaries,” of whom thousands were sent by the Soviet +Government into the villages. + +1. Upon his arrival in the province to which he is accredited, the +emissary should call a joint meeting of the Central Executive +Committees of the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ +Deputies, to whom he should make a report on the agrarian laws, and +then demand that a joint plenary session of the Soviets be summoned…. + +2. He must study the aspects of the agrarian problem in the province. + +a. Has the land-owners’ property been taken over, and if so, in what +districts? + +b. Who administers the confiscated land—the former proprietor, or the +Land Committees? + +c. What has been done with the agricultural machinery and with the +farm-animals? + +3. Has the ground cultivated by the peasants been augmented? + +4. How much and in what respect does the amount of land now under +cultivation differ from the amount fixed by the Government as an +average minimum? + +5. The emissary must insist that, after the peasants have received the +land, it is imperative that they increase the amount of cultivated land +as quickly as possible, and that they hasten the sending of grain to +the cities, as the only means of avoiding famine. + +6. What are the measures projected or put into effect for the transfer +of land from the land-owners to the Land Committees and similar bodies +appointed by the Soviets? + +7. It is desirable that agricultural properties well appointed and well +organised should be administered by Soviets composed of the regular +employees of those properties, under the direction of competent +agricultural scientists. + +All through the villages a ferment of change was going on, caused not +only by the electrifying action of the Land decree, but also by +thousands of revolutionary-minded peasant-soldiers returning from the +front…. These men, especially, welcomed the call to a Congress of +Peasants. + +Like the old _Tsay-ee-kah_ in the matter of the second Congress of +Workers’ and Soldiers’ Soviets, the Executive Committee tried to +prevent the Peasant Congress summoned by Smolny. And like the old +_Tsay-ee-kah,_ finding its resistance futile, the Executive Committee +sent frantic telegrams ordering the election of Conservative delegates. +Word was even spread among the peasants that the Congress would meet at +Moghilev, and some delegates went there; but by November 23d about four +hundred had gathered in Petrograd, and the party caucuses had begun…. + +The first session took place in the Alexander Hall of the Duma +building, and the first vote showed that more than half of all the +delegates were Left Socialist Revolutionaries, while the Bolsheviki +controlled a bare fifth, the conservative Socialist Revolutionaries a +quarter, and all the rest were united only in their opposition to the +old Executive Committee, dominated by Avksentiev, Tchaikovsky and +Peshekhonov…. + +The great hall was jammed with people and shaken with continual +clamour; deep, stubborn bitterness divided the delegates into angry +groups. To the right was a sprinkling of officers’ epaulettes, and the +patriarchal, bearded faces of the older, more substantial peasants; in +the centre were a few peasants, non-commissioned officers, and some +soldiers; and on the left almost all the delegates wore the uniforms of +common soldiers. These last were the young generation, who had been +serving in the army…. The galleries were thronged with workers—who, in +Russia, still remember their peasant origin…. + +Unlike the old _Tsay-ee-kah,_ the Executive Committee, in opening the +session, did not recognise the Congress as official; the official +Congress was called for December 13th; amid a hurricane of applause and +angry cries, the speaker declared that this gathering was merely +“Extraordinary Conference”… But the “Extraordinary Conference” soon +showed its attitude toward the Executive Committee by electing as +presiding officer Maria Spiridonova, leader of the Left Socialist +Revolution aries. + +Most of the first day was taken up by a violent debate as to whether +the representatives of _Volost_ Soviets should be seated, or only +delegates from the Provincial bodies; and just as in the Workers’ and +Soldiers’ Congress, an overwhelming majority declared in favour of the +widest possible representation. Whereupon the old Executive Committee +left the hall…. + +Almost immediately it was evident that most of the delegates were +hostile to the Government of the People’s Commissars. Zinoviev, +attempting to speak for the Bolsheviki, was hooted down, and as he left +the platform, amid laughter, there were cries, “There’s how a People’s +Commissar sits in a mudpuddle!” + +“We Left Socialist Revolutionaries refuse,” cried Nazariev, a delegate +from the Provinces, “to recognise this so-called Workers’ and Peasants’ +Government until the peasants are represented in it. At present it is +nothing but a dictatorship of the workers…. We insist upon the +formation of a new Government which will represent the entire +democracy!” + +The reactionary delegates shrewdly fostered this feeling, declaring, in +the face of protests from the Bolshevik benches, that the Council of +People’s Commissars intended either to control the Congress or dissolve +it by force of arms—an announcement which was received by the peasants +with bursts of fury…. + +On the third day Lenin suddenly mounted the tribune; for ten minutes +the room went mad. “Down with him!” they shrieked. “We will not listen +to any of your People’s Commissars! We don’t recognise your +Government!” + +Lenin stood there quite calmly, gripping the desk with both hands, his +little eyes thoughtfully surveying the tumult beneath. Finally, except +for the right side of the hall, the demonstration wore itself out +somewhat. + +“I do not come here as a member of the Council of People’s Commissars,” +said Lenin, and waited again for the noise to subside, “but as a member +of the Bolshevik faction, duly elected to this Congress.” And he held +his credentials up to that all might see them. + +“However,” he went on, in an unmoved voice, “nobody will deny that the +present Government of Russia has been formed by the Bolshevik party—” +he had to wait a moment, “so that for all purposes it is the same +thing….” Here the right benches broke into deafening clamour, but the +centre and left were curious, and compelled silence. + +Lenin’s argument was simple. “Tell me frankly, you peasants, to whom we +have given the lands of the _pomieshtchiki;_ do you want now to prevent +the workers from getting control of industry? This is class war. The +_pomieshtchiki_ of course oppose the peasants, and the manufactures +oppose the workers. Are you going to allow the ranks of the proletariat +to be divided? Which side will you be on? + +“We, the Bolsheviki, are the party of the proletariat—of the peasant +proletariat as well as the industrial proletariat. We, the Bolsheviki, +are the protectors of the Soviets—of the Peasants’ Soviets as well as +those of the Workers and Soldiers. The present Government is a +Government of Soviets; we have not only invited the Peasants’ Soviets +to join that Government, but we have also invited representatives of +the Left Socialist Revolutionaries to enter the Council of People’s +Commissars…. + +“The Soviets are the most perfect representatives of the people—of the +workers in the factories and mines, of the workers in the fields. +Anybody who attempts to destroy the Soviets is guilty of an +anti-democratic and counter-revolutionary act. And I serve notice here +on you, comrades _Right_ Socialist Revolutionaries—and on you, Messrs. +Cadets—that if the Constituent Assembly attempts to destroy the +Soviets, we shall not permit the Constituent Assembly to do this +thing!” + +On the afternoon of November 25th Tchernov arrived in hot haste from +Moghilev, summoned by the Executive Committee. Only two months before +considered an extreme revolutionist, and very popular with the +peasants, he was now called to check the dangerous drift of the +Congress toward the Left. Upon his arrival Tchernov was arrested and +taken to Smolny, where, after a short conversation, he was released. + +His first act was to bitterly rebuke the Executive Committee for +leaving the Congress. They agreed to return, and Tchernov entered the +hall, welcomed with great applause by the majority, and the hoots and +jeers of the Bolsheviki. + +“Comrades! I have been away. I participated in the Conference of the +Twelfth Army on the question of calling a Congress of all the Peasant +delegates of the armies of the Western Front, and I know very little +about the insurrection which occurred here—” + +Zinoviev rose in his seat, and shouted, “Yes, you were away—for a few +minutes!” Fearful tumult. Cries, “Down with the Bolsheviki!” + +Tchernov continued. “The accusation that I helped lead an army on +Petrograd has no foundation, and is entirely false. Where does such an +accusation come from? Show me the source!” + +Zinoviev: “_Izviestia_ and _Dielo Naroda_—your own paper—that’s where +it comes from!” + +Tchernov’s wide face, with the small eyes, waving hair and greyish +beard, became red with wrath, but he controlled himself and went on. “I +repeat, I know practically nothing about what has happened here, and I +did not lead any army except this army, (he pointed to the peasant +delegates), which I am largely responsible for bringing here!” +Laughter, and shouts of “Bravo!” + +“Upon my return I visited Smolny. No such accusation was made against +me there…. After a brief conversation I left—and that’s all! Let any +one present make such an accusation!” + +An uproar followed, in which the Bolsheviki and some of the Left +Socialist Revolutionaries were on their feet all at once, shaking their +fists and yelling, and the rest of the assembly tried to yell them +down. + +“This is an outrage, not a session!” cried Tchernov, and he left the +hall; the meeting was adjourned because of the noise and disorder…. + +Meanwhile, the question of the status of the Executive Committee was +agitating all minds. By declaring the assembly “Extraordinary +Conference,” it had been planned to block the reelection of the +Executive Committee. But this worked both ways; the Left Socialist +Revolutionists decided that if the Congress had no power over the +Executive Committee, then the Executive Committee had no power over the +Congress. On November 25th the assembly resolved that the powers of the +Executive Committee be assumed by the Extraordinary Conference, in +which only members of the Executive who had been elected as delegates +might vote…. + +The next day, in spite of the bitter opposition of the Bolsheviki, the +resolution was amended to give all the members of the Executive +Committee, whether elected as delegates or not, voice and vote in the +assembly. + +On the 27th occurred the debate on the Land question, which revealed +the differences between the agrarian programme of the Bolsheviki and +the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. + +Kolchinsky, for the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, outlined the +history of the Land question during the Revolution. The first Congress +of Peasants’ Soviets, he said, had voted a precise and formal +resolution in favour of putting the landed estates immediately into the +hands of the Land Committees. But the directors of the Revolution, and +the bourgeois in the Government, had insisted that the question could +not be solved until the Constituent Assembly met…. The second period of +the Revolution, the period of “compromise,” was signalled by the +entrance of Tchernov into the Cabinet. The peasants were convinced that +now the practical solution of the Land question would begin; but in +spite of the imperative decision of the first Peasant Congress, the +reactionaries and conciliators in the Executive Committee had prevented +any action. This policy provoked a series of agrarian disorders, which +appeared as the natural expression of impatience and thwarted energy on +the part of the peasants. The peasants understood the exact meaning of +the Revolution—they tried to turn words into action…. + +“The recent events,” said the orator, “do not indicate a simple riot, +or a ‘Bolshevik adventure,’ but on the contrary, a real popular rising, +which has been greeted with sympathy by the whole country…. + +“The Bolsheviki in general took the correct attitude toward the Land +question; but in recommending that the peasants seize the land by +force, they committed a profound error…. From the first days, the +Bolsheviki declared that the peasants should take over the land ‘by +revolutionary mass action.’ This is nothing but anarchy; the land can +be taken over in an organised manner…. For the Bolsheviki it was +important that the problems of the Revolution should be solved in the +quickest possible manner—but the Bolsheviki were not interested in +_how_ these problems were to be solved…. + +“The Land decree of the Congress of Soviets is identical in its +fundamentals with the decisions of the first Peasants’ Congress. Why +then did not the new Government follow the tactics outlined by that +Congress? Because the Council of People’s Commissars wanted to hasten +the settlement of the Land question, so that the Constituent Assembly +would have nothing to do…. + +“But also the Government saw that it was necessary to adopt practical +measures, so without further reflection, it adopted the Regulations for +Land Committees, thus creating a strange situation; for the Council of +People’s Commissars abolished private property in land, but the +Regulations drawn up by the Land Committees are based on private +property…. However, no harm has been done by that; for the Land +Committees are paying no attention to the Soviet decrees, but are +putting into operation their own practical decisions—decisions based on +the will of the vast majority of the peasants…. + +“These Land Committees are not attempting the legislative solution of +the Land question, which belongs to the Constituent Assembly alone…. +But will the Constituent Assembly desire to do the will of the Russian +peasants? Of that we cannot be sure…. All we can be sure of is that the +revolutionary determination of the peasants is now aroused, and that +the Constituent will be _forced_ to settle the Land question the way +the peasants want it settled…. The Constituent Assembly will not dare +to break with the will of the people….” + +Followed him Lenin, listened to now with absorbing intensity. “At this +moment we are not only trying to solve the Land question, but the +question of Social Revolution—not only here in Russia, but all over the +world. The Land question cannot be solved independently of the other +problems of the Social Revolution…. For example, the confiscation of +the landed estates will provoke the resistance not only of Russian +land-owners, but also of foreign capital—with whom the great landed +properties are connected through the intermediary of the banks…. + +“The ownership of the land in Russia is the basis for immense +oppression, and the confiscation of the land by the peasants is the +most important step of our Revolution. But it cannot be separated from +the other steps, as is clearly manifested by the stages through which +the Revolution has had to pass. The first stage was the crushing of +autocracy and the crushing of the power of the industrial capitalists +and land-owners, whose interests are closely related. The second stage +was the strengthening of the Soviets and the political compromise with +the bourgeoisie. The mistake of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries lies +in the fact that at that time they did not oppose the policy of +compromise, because they held the theory that the consciousness of the +masses was not yet fully developed…. + +“_If Socialism can only be realised when the intellectual development +of all the people permits it, then we shall not see Socialism for at +least five hundred years_…. The Socialist political party—this is the +vanguard of the working-class; it must not allow itself to be halted by +the lack of education of the mass average, but it must lead the masses, +using the Soviets as organs of revolutionary initiative…. But in order +to lead the wavering, the comrades Left Socialist Revolutionaries +themselves must stop hesitating…. + +“In July last a series of open breaks began between the popular masses +and the ‘compromisers’; but now, in November, the Left Socialist +Revolutionaries are still holding out their hand to Avksentiev, who is +pulling the people with his little finger…. If Compromise continues, +the Revolution disappears. No compromise with the bourgeoisie is +possible; its power must be absolutely crushed…. + +“We Bolsheviki have not changed our Land programme; we have not given +up the abolition of private property in the land, and we do not intend +to do so. We adopted the Regulations for Land Committees,—which are +_not_ based on private property at all—because we want to accomplish +the popular will in the way the people have themselves decided to do +it, so as to draw closer the coalition of all the elements who are +fighting for the Social Revolution. + +“We invite the Left Socialist Revolutionaries to enter that coalition, +insisting, however, that they cease looking backward, and that they +break with the ‘conciliators’ of their party…. + +“As far as the Constituent Assembly is concerned, it is true, as the +preceding speaker has said, that the work of the Constituent will +depend on the revolutionary determination of the masses. I say, ‘Count +on that revolutionary determination, but don’t forget your gun!’” + +Lenin then read the Bolshevik resolution: + +The Peasants’ Congress, fully supporting the Land decree of November +8th… approves of the Provisional Workers’ and Peasants’ Government of +the Russian Republic, established by the second All-Russian Congress of +Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. + +The Peasants’ Congress… invites all peasants unanimously to sustain +that law, and to apply it immediately themselves; and at the same time +invites the peasants to appoint to posts and positions of +responsibility only persons who have proved, not by words but by acts, +their entire devotion to the interests of the exploited +peasant-workers, their desire and their ability to defend these +interests against all resistance on the part of the great land-owners, +the capitalists, their partisans and accomplices…. + +The Peasants’ Congress, at the same time, expresses its conviction that +the complete realisation of all the measures which make up the Land +decree can only be successful through the triumph of the Workers’ +Social Revolution, which began November 7th, 1917; for only the Social +Revolution can accomplish the definite transfer, without possibility of +return, of the land to the peasant-workers, the confiscation of model +farms and their surrender to the peasant communes, the confiscation of +agricultural machinery belonging to the great land-owners, the +safe-guarding of the interests of the agricultural workers by the +complete abolition of wage-slavery, the regular and methodical +distribution among all regions of Russia of the products of agriculture +and industry, and the seizure of the banks (without which the +possession of land by the whole people would be impossible, after the +abolition of private property), and all sorts of assistance by the +State to the workers…. + +For these reasons the Peasants’ Congress sustains entirely the +Revolution of November 7th… as a social revolution, and expresses its +unalterable will to put into operation, with whatever modifications are +necessary, but without any hesitation, the social transformation of the +Russian Republic. + +The indispensable conditions of the victory of the Social Revolution, +which alone will secure the lasting success and the complete +realisation of the Land decree, is the close union of the +peasant-workers with the industrial working-class, with the proletariat +of all advanced countries. From now on, in the Russian Republic, all +the organisation and administration of the State, from top to bottom, +must rest on that union. That union, crushing all attempts, direct or +indirect, open or dissimulated, to return to the policy of conciliation +with the bourgeoisie—conciliation, damned by experience, with the +chiefs of bourgeois politics—can alone insure the victory of Socialism +throughout the world…. + +The reactionaries of the Executive Committee no longer dared openly to +appear. Tchernov, however, spoke several times, with a modest and +winning impartiality. He was invited to sit on the platform…. On the +second night of the Congress an anonymous note was handed up to the +chairman, requesting that Tchernov be made honorary President. Ustinov +read the note aloud, and immediately Zinoviev was on his feet, +screaming that this was a trick of the old Executive Committee to +capture the convention; in a moment the hall was one bellowing mass of +waving arms and angry faces, on both sides…. Nevertheless, Tchernov +remained very popular. + +In the stormy debates on the Land question and the Lenin resolution, +the Bolsheviki were twice on the point of quitting the assembly, both +times restrained by their leaders…. It seemed to me as if the Congress +were hopelessly deadlocked. + +But none of us knew that a series of secret conferences were already +going on between the Left Socialist Revolutionaries and the Bolsheviki +at Smolny. At first the Left Socialist Revolutionaries had demanded +that there be a Government composed of all the Socialist parties in and +out of the Soviets, to be responsible to a People’s Council, composed +of an equal number of delegates from the Workers’ and Soldiers’ +organisation, and that of the Peasants, and completed by +representatives of the City Dumas and the Zemstvos; Lenin and Trotzky +were to be eliminated, and the Military Revolutionary Committee and +other repressive organs dissolved. + +Wednesday morning, November 28th, after a terrible all-night struggle, +an agreement was reached. The _Tsay-ee-kah,_composed of 108 members, +was to be augumented by 108 members elected proportionally from the +Peasants’ Congress; by 100 delegates elected directly from the Army and +the Fleet; and by 50 representatives of the Trade Unions (35 from the +general Unions, 10 Railway Workers, and 5 from the Post and Telegraph +Workers). The Dumas and Zemstvos were dropped. Lenin and Trotzky +remained in the Government, and the Military Revolutionary Committee +continued to function. + +The sessions of the Congress had now been removed to the Imperial Law +School building, Fontanka 6, headquarters of the Peasants’ Soviets. +There in the great meeting-hall the delegates gathered on Wednesday +afternoon. The old Executive Committee had withdrawn, and was holding a +rump convention of its own in another room of the same building, made +up of bolting delegates and representatives of the Army Committees. + +Tchernov went from one meeting to the other, keeping a watchful eye on +the proceedings. He knew that an agreement with the Bolsheviki was +being discussed, but he did not know that it had been concluded. + +He spoke to the rump convention. “At present, when everybody is in +favour of forming an all-Socialist Government, many people forget the +first Ministry, which was _not_ a coalition Government, and in which +there was only one Socialist—Kerensky; a Government which, in its time, +was very popular. Now people accuse Kerensky; they forget that he was +raised to power, not only by the Soviets, but also by the popular +masses…. + +“Why did public opinion change toward Kerensky? The savages set up gods +to which they pray, and which they punish if one of their prayers is +not answered…. That is what is happening at this moment…. Yesterday +Kerensky; to-day Lenin and Trotzky; another to-morrow…. + +“We have proposed to both Kerensky and the Bolsheviki to retire from +the power. Kerensky has accepted—to-day he announced from his +hiding-place that he has resigned as Premier; but the Bolsheviki wish +to retain the power, and they do not know how to use it…. + +“If the Bolsheviki succeed, or if they fail, the fate of Russia will +not be changed. The Russian villages understand perfectly what they +want, and they are now carrying out their own measures…. The villages +will save us in the end….” + +In the meanwhile, in the great hall Ustinov had announced the agreement +between the Peasants’ Congress and Smolny, received by the delegates +with the wildest joy. Suddenly Tchernov appeared, and demanded the +floor. + +“I understand,” he began, “that an agreement is being concluded between +the Peasants’ Congress and Smolny. Such an agreement would be illegal, +seeing that the true Congress of Peasants’ Soviets does not meet until +next week…. + +“Moreover, I want to warn you now that the Bolsheviki will never accept +your demands….” + +He was interrupted by a great burst of laughter; and realising the +situation, he left the platform and the room, taking his popularity +with him…. + +Late in the afternoon of Thursday, November 16th, the Congress met in +extraordinary session. There was a holiday feeling in the air; on every +face was a smile…. The remainder of the business before the assembly +was hurried through, and then old Nathanson, the white-bearded dean of +the left wing of the Socialist Revolutionaries, his voice trembling and +tears in his eyes, read the report of the “wedding” of the Peasants’ +Soviets with the Workers’ and Soldiers’ Soviets. At every mention of +the word “union” there was ecstatic applause…. At the end Ustinov +announced the arrival rival of a delegation from Smolny, accompanied by +representatives of the Red Army, greeted with a rising ovation. One +after another a workman, a soldier and a sailor took the floor, hailing +them. + +Then Boris Reinstein, delegate of the American Socialist Labor Party: +“The day of the union of the Congress of Peasants and the Soviets of +Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies is one of the great days of the +Revolution. The sound of it will ring with resounding echoes throughout +the whole world—in Paris, in London, and across the ocean—in New York. +This union will fill with happiness the hearts of all toilers. + +“A great idea has triumphed. The West, and America, expected from +Russia, from the Russian proletariat, something tremendous…. The +proletariat of the world is waiting for the Russian Revolution, waiting +for the great things that it is accomplishing….” + +Sverdlov, president of the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ greeted them. And with the +shout, “Long live the end of civil war! Long live the United +Democracy!” the peasants poured out of the building. + +It was already dark, and on the ice—covered snow glittered the pale +light of moon and star. Along the bank of the canal were drawn up in +full marching order the soldiers of the Pavlovsky Regiment, with their +band, which broke into the _Marseillaise._ Amid the crashing +full-throated shouts of the soldiers, the peasants formed in line, +unfurling the great red banner of the Executive Committee of the +All-Russian Peasants’ Soviets, embroidered newly in gold, “Long live +the union of the revolutionary and toiling masses!” Following were +other banners; of the District Soviets—of Putilov Factory, which read, +“We bow to this flag in order to create the brotherhood of all people!” + +From somewhere torches appeared, blazing orange in the night, a +thousand times reflected in the facets of the ice, streaming out +smokily over the throng as it moved down the bank of the Fontanka +singing, between crowds that stood in astonished silence. + +“Long live the Revolutionary Army! Long live the Red Guard! Long live +the Peasants!” + +So the great procession wound through the city, growing and unfurling +ever new red banners lettered in gold. Two old peasants, bowed with +toil, were walking hand in hand, their faces illumined with child-like +bliss. + +“Well,” said one, “I’d like to see them take away our land again, +_now!_” + +Near Smolny the Red Guard was lined up on both sides of the street, +wild with delight. The other old peasant spoke to his comrade, “I am +not tired,” he said. “I walked on air all the way!” + +On the steps of Smolny about a hundred Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies +were massed, with their banner, dark against the blaze of light +streaming out between the arches. Like a wave they rushed down, +clasping the peasants in their arms and kissing them; and the +procession poured in through the great door and up the stairs, with a +noise like thunder…. + +In the immense white meeting-room the _Tsay-ee-kah_ was waiting, with +the whole Petrograd Soviet and a thousand spectators beside, with that +solemnity which attends great conscious moments in history. + +Zinoviev announced the agreement with the Peasants’ Congress, to a +shaking roar which rose and burst into storm as the sound of music +blared down the corridor, and the head of the procession came in. On +the platform the presidium rose and made place for the Peasants’ +presidium, the two embracing; behind them the two banners were +intertwined against the white wall, over the empty frame from which the +Tsar’s picture had been torn…. + +Then opened the “triumphal session.” After a few words of welcome from +Sverdlov, Maria Spiridonova, slight, pale, with spectacles and hair +drawn flatly down, and the air of a New England school-teacher, took +the tribune—the most loved and the most powerful woman in all Russia. + +“… Before the workers of Russia open now horizons which history has +never known…. All workers’ movements in the past have been defeated. +But the present movement is international, and that is why it is +invincible. There is no force in the world which can put out the fire +of the Revolution! The old world crumbles down, the new world begins….” + +Then Trotzky, full of fire: “I wish you welcome, comrades peasants! You +come here not as guests, but as masters of this house, which holds the +heart of the Russian Revolution. The will of millions of workers is now +concentrated in this hall…. There is now only one master of the Russian +land: the union of the workers, soldiers and peasants….” + +With biting sarcasm he went on to speak of the Allied diplomats, till +then contemptuous of Russia’s invitation to an armistice, which had +been accepted by the Central Powers. + +“A new humanity will be born of this war…. In this hall we swear to +workers of all lands to remain at our revolutionary post. If we are +broken, then it will be in defending our flag….” + +Krylenko followed him, explaining the situation at the front, where +Dukhonin was preparing to resist the Council of People’s Commissars. +“Let Dukhonin and those with him understand well that we shall not deal +gently with those who bar the road to peace!” + +Dybenko saluted the assembly in the name of the Fleet, and Krushinsky, +member of the _Vikzhel,_ said, “From this moment, when the union of all +true Socialists is realised, the whole army of railway workers places +itself absolutely at the disposition of the revolutionary democracy!” +And Lunatcharsky, almost weeping, and Proshian, for the Left Socialist +Revolutionaries, and finally Saharashvili, for the United Social +Democrats Internationalists, composed of members of the Martov’s and of +Gorky’s groups, who declared: + +“We left the _Tsay-ee-kah_ because of the uncompromising policy of the +Bolsheviki, and to force them to make concessions in order to realise +the union of all the revolutionary democracy. Now that that union is +brought about, we consider it a sacred duty to take our places once +more in the _Tsay-ee-kah_…. We declare that all those who have +withdrawn from the _Tsay-ee-kah_ should now return.” + +Stachkov, a dignified old peasant of the presidium of the Peasants’ +Congress, bowed to the four corners of the room. “I greet you with the +christening of a new Russian life and freedom!” + +Gronsky, in the name of the Polish Social Democracy; Skripnik, for the +Factory-Shop Committees; Tifonov, for the Russian soldiers at Salonika; +and others, interminably, speaking out of full hearts, with the happy +eloquence of hopes fulfilled…. + +It was late in the night when the following resolution was put and +passed unanimously: + +“The _Tsay-ee-kah,_ united in extraordinary session with the Petrograd +Soviet and the Peasants’ Congress, confirms the Land and Peace decrees +adopted by the second Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ +Deputies, and also the decree on Workers’ Control adopted by the +_Tsay-ee-kah._ + +“The joint session of the _Tsay-ee-kah_ and the Peasants’ Congress +expresses its firm conviction that the union of workers, soldiers and +peasants, this fraternal union of all the workers and all exploited, +will consolidate the power conquered by them, that it will take all +revolutionary measures to hasten the passing of the power into the +hands of the working-class in other countries, and that it will assure +in this manner the lasting accomplishment of a just peace and the +victory of Socialism.” (See App. XI, Sect. 2) + + + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I + +1. + + +_Oborontsi_—“Defenders.” All the “moderate” Socialist groups adopted or +were given this name, because they consented to the continuation of the +war under Allied leadership, on the ground that it was a war of +National Defence. The Bolsheviki, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, +the Mensheviki Internationalists (Martov’s faction), and the Social +Democrats Internationalists (Gorky’s group) were in favour of forcing +the Allies to declare democratic war-aims, and to offer peace to +Germany on those terms…. + +2. +WAGES AND COST OF LIVING BEFORE AND DURING THE REVOLUTION + + +The following tables of wages and costs were compiled, in October, +1917, by a joint Committee from the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and the +Moscow section of the Ministry of Labour, and published in _Novaya +Zhizn,_ October 26th, 1917: + +_Wages Per Day_—(_Rubles and kopeks_) + + _Trade_ _July_ 1914 _July_ 1916 _August_ 1917 + Carpenter, Cabinet maker 1.60—2. 4. —6. 8.50 + Terrassier 1.30—1.50 3. —3.50 + Mason, plasterer 1.70—2.35 4. —6. 8. + Painter, upholsterer 1.80—2.20 3. —5.50 8. + Blacksmith 1. —2.25 4. —5. 8.50 + Chimney sweep 1.50—2. 4. —5.50 7.50 + Locksmith .90—2. 3.50—6. 9. + Helper 1. —1.50 2.50—4.50 8. + +In spite of numerous stories of gigantic advances in wages immediately +following the Revolution of March, 1917, these figures, which were +published by the Ministry of Labour as characteristic of conditions all +over Russia, show that wages did not rise immediately after the +Revolution, but little by little. On an average, wages increased +slightly more than 500 per cent…. + +But at the same time the value of the ruble fell to less than one-third +its former purchasing power, and the cost of the necessities of life +increased enormously. + +The following table was compiled by the Municipal Duma of Moscow, where +food was cheaper and more plentiful than in Petrograd: + +_Cost of Food—(Rubles and Kopeks)_ + +_August_ 1914 _August_ 1917 _% Increase_ Black +bread _(Fund)_ .02 1/2 .12 330 White +bread _(Fund)_ .05 .20 300 Beef _(Fund)_ .22 + 1.10 400 Veal _(Fund)_ .26 2.15 727 +Pork _(Fund)_ .23 2. 770 +Herring _(Fund)_ .06 .52 767 +Cheese _(Fund)_ .40 3.50 754 +Butter _(Fund)_ .48 3.20 557 +Eggs (Doz.) .30 1.60 443 +Milk _(Krushka)_ .07 .40 471 + +On an average, food increased in price 556 per cent, or 51 per cent +more than wages. + +As for the other necessities, the price of these increased +tremendously. + +The following table was compiled by the Economic section of the Moscow +Soviet of Workers’ Deputies, and accepted as correct by the Ministry of +Supplies of the Provisional Government. + +_Cost of Other Necessities_—(_Rubles and Kopeks_) + +_August_ 1914 _August_ 1917 % _Increase_ Calico _(Arshin)_ +.11 1.40 1173 Cotton cloth _(Arshin)_ .15 2. 1233 +Dress Goods _(Arshin)_ 2. 40. 1900 Castor +Cloth _(Arshin)_ 6. 80. 1233 Men’s +Shoes (Pair) 12. 144. 1097 Sole +Leather 20. 400. 1900 +Rubbers (Pair) 2.50 15. 500 Men’s +Clothing (Suit) 40. 400.–455. 900–1109 +Tea _(Fund)_ 4.50 18. 300 +Matches (Carton) .10 .50 400 +Soap _(Pood)_ 4.50 40. 780 +Gasoline _(Vedro)_ 1.70 11. 547 +Candles _(Pood)_ 8.50 100. 1076 +Caramel _(Fund)_ .30 4.50 1400 Fire +Wood (Load) 10. 120. 1100 +Charcoal .80 13. 1525 Sundry Metal +Ware 1. 20. 1900 + +On an average, the above categories of necessities increased about +1,109 per cent in price, more than twice the increase of salaries. The +difference, of course, went into the pockets of speculators and +merchants. + +In September, 1917, when I arrived in Petrograd, the average daily wage +of a skilled industrial worker—for example, a steel-worker in the +Putilov Factory—was about 8 rubles. At the same time, profits were +enormous…. I was told by one of the owners of the Thornton Woollen +Mills, an English concern on the outskirts of Petrograd, that while +wages had increased about 300 per cent in his factory, his profits had +gone up _900 per cent._ + +3. +THE SOCIALIST MINISTERS + + +The history of the efforts of the Socialists in the Provisional +Government of July to realise their programme in coalition with the +bourgeois Ministers, is an illuminating example of class struggle in +politics. Says Lenin, in explanation of this phenomenon: + +“The capitalists, … seeing that the position of the Government was +untenable, resorted to a method which since 1848 has been for decades +practised by the capitalists in order to befog, divide, and finally +overpower the working-class. This method is the so-called ‘Coalition +Ministry,’ composed of bourgeois and of renegades from the Socialist +camp. + +“In those countries where political freedom and democracy have existed +side by side with the revolutionary movement of the workers—for example +in England and France—the capitalists make use of this subterfuge, and +very successfully too. The ‘Socialist’ leaders, upon entering the +Ministries, invariably prove mere figure-heads, puppets, simply a +shield for the capitalists, a tool with which to defraud the workers. +The ‘democratic’ and ‘republican’ capitalists in Russia set in motion +this very same scheme. The Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviki +fell victim to it, and on June 1st a ‘Coalition’ Ministry, with the +participation of Tchernov, Tseretelli, Skobeliev, Avksentiev, Savinkov, +Zarudny and Nikitin became an accomplished fact….”—_Problems of the +Revolution._ + +4. +SEPTEMBER MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS IN MOSCOW + + +In the first week of October, 1917, _Novaya Zhizn_ published the +following comparative table of election results, pointing out that this +meant the bankruptcy of the policy of Coalition with the propertied +classes. “If civil war can yet be avoided, it can only be done by a +united front of all the revolutionary democracy….” + +_Elections for the Moscow Central and Ward Dumas._ + + June 1917 September 1917 +Socialist Revolutionaries 58 Members 14 Members +Cadets 17 Members 30 Members +Mensheviki 12 Members 4 Members +Bolsheviki 11 Members 47 Members + +5. +GROWING ARROGANCE OF THE REACTIONARIES + + +September 18th. The Cadet Shulgin, writing in a Kiev newspaper, said +that the Provisional Government’s declaration that Russia was a +Republic constituted a gross abuse of its powers. “We cannot admit +either a Republic, or the present Republican Government…. And we are +not sure that we want a Republic in Russia….” + +October 23d. At a meeting of the Cadet party held at Riazan, M. +Dukhonin declared, “On March 1st we must establish a Constitutional +Monarchy. We must not reject the legitimate heir to the throne, Mikhail +Alexandrovitch….” + +October 27th. Resolution passed by the Conference of Business Men at +Moscow: + +“The Conference… insists that the Provisional Government take the +following immediate measures in the Army: + +“1. Forbidding of all political propaganda; the Army must be out of +politics. + +“2. Propaganda of antinational and international ideas and theories +deny the necessity for armies, and hurt discipline; it should be +forbidden, and all propagandists punished…. + +“3. The function of the Army Committees must be limited to economic +questions exclusively. All their decisions should be confirmed by their +superior officers, who have the right to dissolve the Committees at any +time…. + +“4. The salute to be reestablished, and made obligatory. Full +reestablishment of disciplinary power in the hands of officers, with +right of review of sentence…. + +“5. Expulsion from the Corps of Officers of those who dishonour it by +participating in the movement of the soldier-masses, which teaches them +disobedience…. Reestablishment for this purpose of the Courts of +Honor…. + +“6. The Provisional Government should take the necessary measures to +make possible the return to the army of Generals and other officers +unjustly discharged under the influence of Committees, and other +irresponsible organisations….” + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II + +1. + + +The Kornilov revolt is treated in detail in my forthcoming volume, +“Kornilov to Brest-Litovsk.” The responsibility of Kerensky for the +situation which gave rise to Kornilov’s attempt is now pretty clearly +established. Many apologists for Kerensky say that he knew of +Kornilov’s plans, and by a trick drew him out prematurely, and then +crushed him. Even Mr. A. J. Sack, in his book, “The Birth of the +Russian Democracy,” says: + +“Several things… are almost certain. The first is that Kerensky knew +about the movement of several detachments from the Front toward +Petrograd, and it is possible that as Prime Minister and Minister of +War, realising the growing Bolshevist danger, he called for them….” + +The only flaw in that argument is that there was no “Bolshevist danger” +at that time, the Bolsheviki still being a powerless minority in the +Soviets, and their leaders in jail or hiding. + +2. +DEMOCRATIC CONFERENCE + + +When the Democratic Conference was first proposed to Kerensky, he +suggested an assembly of all the elements in the nation—“the live +forces,” as he called them—including bankers, manufacturers, +land-owners, and representatives of the Cadet party. The Soviet +refused, and drew up the following table of representation, which +Kerensky agreed to: + + 100 delegates All-Russian Soviets Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies + 100 delegates All-Russian Soviets Peasants’ Deputies + 50 delegates Provincial Soviets Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies + 50 delegates Peasants’ District Land Committees + 100 delegates Trade Unions + 84 delegates Army Committees at the Front + 150 delegates Workers’ and Peasants’ Cooperative Societies + 20 delegates Railway Workers’ Union + 10 delegates Post and Telegraph Workers’ Union + 20 delegates Commercial Clerks + 15 delegates Liberal Professions—Doctors, Lawyers, Journalists, etc. + 50 delegates Provincial Zemstvos + 59 delegates Nationalist Organisations—Poles, Ukraineans, etc. + +This proportion was altered twice or three times. The final disposition +of delegates was: + + 300 delegates All-Russian Soviets Workers’, Soldiers’ & Peasants’ Deputies + 300 delegates Cooperative Societies + 300 delegates Municipalities + 150 delegates Army Committees at the Front + 150 delegates Provincial Zemstvos + 200 delegates Trade Unions + 100 delegates Nationalist Organisations + 200 delegates Several small groups + +3. +THE FUNCTION OF THE SOVIETS IS ENDED + + +On September 28th, 1917, _Izviestia,_ organ of the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ +published an article which said, speaking of the last Provisional +Ministry: + +“At last a truly democratic government, born of the will of all classes +of the Russian people, the first rough form of the future liberal +parliamentary régime, has been formed. Ahead of us is the Constituent +Assembly, which will solve all questions of fundamental law, and whose +composition will be essentially democratic. The function of the Soviets +is at an end, and the time is approaching when they must retire, with +the rest of the revolutionary machinery, from the stage of a free and +victorious people, whose weapons shall hereafter be the peaceful ones +of political action.” + +The leading article of _Izviestia_ for October 23d was called, “The +Crisis in the Soviet Organisations.” It began by saying that travellers +reported a lessening activity of local Soviets everywhere. “This is +natural,” said the writer. “For the people are becoming interested in +the more permanent legislative organs—the Municipal Dumas and the +Zemstvs…. + +“In the important centres of Petrograd and Moscow, where the Soviets +were best organised, they did not take in all the democratic elements…. +The majority of the intellectuals did not participate, and many workers +also; some of the workers because they were politically backward, +others because the centre of gravity for them was in their Unns…. We +cannot deny that these organisations are firmly united with the masses, +whose everyday needs are better served by them…. + +“That the local democratic administrations are being energetically +organised is highly important. The City Dumas are elected by universal +suffrage, and in purely local matters have more authority than the +Soviets. Not a single democrat will see anything wrong in this…. + +“… Elections to the Municipalities are being conduct in a better and +more democratic way than the elections to the Soviets… All classes are +represented in the Municipalities…. And as soon as the local +Self-Governments begin to organise life in the Municipalities, the rôle +of the local Soviets naturally ends…. + +“… There are two factors in the falling off of interest in the Soviets. +The first we may attribute to the lowering of political interest in the +masses; the second, to the growing effort of provincial and local +governing bodies to organise the building of new Russia…. The more the +tendency lies in this latter direction, the sooner disappears the +significance of the Soviets…. + +“We ourselves are being called the ‘undertakers’ of our own +organisation. In reality, we ourselves are the hardest workers in +constructing the new Russia…. + +“When autocracy and the whole bureaucratic régime fell, we set up the +Soviets as a barracks in which all the democracy cod find temporary +shelter. Now, instead of barracks, we are building the permanent +edifice of a new system, and naturally the people will gradually leave +the barracks for more comfortable quarters.” + +4. +TROTZKY’S SPEECH AT THE COUNCIL OF THE RUSSIAN REPUBLIC + + +“The purpose of the Democratic Conference, which was called by the +_Tsay-ee-kah,_ was to do away with the irresponsible personal +government which produced Kornilov, and to establish a responsible +government which would be capable of finishing the war, and ensure the +calling of the Constituent Assembly at the given time. In the meanwhile +behind the back of the Democratic Conference, by trickery, by deals +between Citizen Kerensky, the Cadets, and the leaders of the Menshevik +and Socialist Revolutionary parties, we received the opposite result +from the officially announced purpose. A power was created around which +and in which we have open and secret Kornilovs playing leading parts. +The irresponsibility of the Government is offically proclaimed, when it +is announced that the Council of the Russian Republic is to be a +_consultative_ and not _legislative_ body. In the eighth month of the +Revolution, the irresponsible Government creates a cover for itself in +this new edition of Bieligen’s Duma. + +“The propertied classes have entered this Provision Council in a +proportion which clearly shows, from elections all over the country, +that many of them have no right here whatever. In spite of that the +Cadet party, which until yesterday wanted the Provisional Government to +be responsible to the State Duma—this same Cadet party secured the +independence Assembly the propertied classes will no doubt have as +favourable position than they have in this Council, and they will not +be able to be irresponsible to the Constituent Assembly. + +“If the propertied classes were really getting ready for the +Constituent Assembly six weeks from now, there could be no reason for +establishing the irresponsibility of the Government at this time. The +whole truth is that the bourgeoisie, which directs the policies of the +Provisional Government, has for its aim to break the Constituent +Assembly. At present this is the main purpose of the propertied +classes, which control our entire national policy—external and +internal. In the industrial, agrarian and supply departments the +politics of the propertied classes, acting with the Government, +increases the natural disorganisation caused by the war. The propertied +classes, which are provoking a peasants’ revolt! The propertied +classes, which are provoking civil war, and openly hold their course on +the bony hand of hunger, with which they intend to overthrow the +Revolution and finish with the Constituent Assembly! + +“No less criminal also is the international policy of the bourgeoisie +and its Government. After forty months of war, the capital is +threatened with mortal danger. In reply to this arises a plan to move +the Government to Moscow. The idea of abandoning the capital does not +stir the indignation of the bourgeoisie. Just the opposite. It is +accepted as a natural part of the general policy designed to promote +counter-revolutionary conspiracy. … Instead of recognising that the +salvation of the country lies in concluding peace, instead of throwing +openly the idea of immediate peace to all the worn-out peoples, over +the heads of diplomats and imperialists, and making the continuation of +the war impossible,—the Provisional Government, by order of the Cadets, +the Counter-Revolutionists and the Allied Imperialists, without sense, +without purpose and without a plan, continues to drag on the murderous +war, sentencing to useless death new hundreds of thousands of soldiers +and sailors, and preparing to give up Petrograd, and to wreck the +Revolution. At a time when Bolshevik soldiers and sailors are dying +with other soldiers and sailors as a result of the mistakes and crimes +of others, the so-called Supreme Commander (Kerensky) continues to +suppress the Bolshevik press. The leading parties of the Council are +acting as a voluntary cover for these policies. + +“We, the faction of Social Democrats Bolsheviki, announce that with +this Government of Treason to the People we have nothing in common. We +have nothing in common with the work of these Murderers of the People +which goes on behind official curtains. We refuse either directly or +indirectly to cover up one day of this work. While Wilhelm’s troops are +threatening Petrograd, the Government of Kerensky and Kornilov is +preparing to run away from Petrograd and turn Moscow into a base of +counter-revolution! + +“We warn the Moscow workers and soldiers to be on their guard. Leaving +this Council, we appeal to the manhood and wisdom of the workers, +peasants and soldiers of all Russia. Petrograd is in danger! The +Revolution is in danger! The Government has increased the danger—the +ruling classes intensify it. Only the people themselves can save +themselves and the country. + +“We appeal to the people. Long live immediate, honest, democratic +peace! All power to the Soviets! All land to the people! Long live the +Constituent Assembly!” + +5. +THE “NAKAZ” TO SKOBELIEV + + +_Resumé_ + + +(Passed by the _Tsay-ee-kah_ and given to Skobeliev as an instruction +for the representative of the Russian Revolutionary democracy at the +Paris Conference.) + +The peace treaty must be based on the principle, “No annexations, no +indemnities, the right of self-determination of peoples.” + +_Territorial Problems_ + + +(1) Evacuation of German troops from invaded Russia. Full right of +self-determination to Poland, Lithuania and Livonia. + +(2) For Turkish Armenia autonomy, and later complete +self-determination, as soon as local Governments are established. + +(3) The question of Alsace-Lorraine to be solved by a plebiscite, after +the withdrawal of all foreign troops. + +(4) Belgium to be restored. Compensation for damages from an +international fund. + +(5) Serbia and Montenegro to be restored, and aided by an international +relief fund. Serbia to have an outlet on the Adriatic. Bosnia and +Herzegovina to be autonomous. + +(6) The disputed provinces in the Balkans to have provisional autonomy, +followed by a plebiscite. + +(7) Rumania to be restored, but forced to give complete +self-determination to the Dobrudja…. Rumania must be forced to execute +the clauses of the Berlin Treaty concerning the Jews, and recognise +them as Rumanian citizens. + +(8) In Italia Irridenta a provisional autonomy, followed by a +plebiscite to determine state dependence. + +(9) The German colonies to be returned. + +(10) Greece and Persia to be restored. + +_Freedom of the Seas_ + + +All straits opening into inland seas, as well as the Suez and Panama +Canals, are to be neutralised. Commercial shipping to be free. The +right of privateering to be abolished. The torpedoing of commercial +ships to be forbidden. + +_Indemnities_ + + +All combatants to renounce demands for any indemnities, either direct +or indirect—as, for instance, charges for the maintenance of prisoners. +Indemnities and contributions collected during the war must be +refunded. + +_Economic Terms_ + + +Commercial treaties are not to be a part of the peace terms. Every +country must be independent in its commercial relations, and must not +be obliged to, or prevented from, concluding an economic treaty, by the +Treaty of Peace. Nevertheless, all nations should bind themselves, by +the Peace Treaty, not to practise an economic blockade after the war, +nor to form separate tariff agreements. The right of most favoured +nation must be given to all countries without distinction. + +_Guarantees of Peace_ + + +Peace is to be concluded at the Peace Conference by delegates elected +by the national representative institutions of each country. The peace +terms are to be confirmed by these parliaments. + +Secret diplomacy is to be abolished; all parties are to bind themselves +not to conclude any secret treaties. Such treaties are declared in +contradiction to international law, and void. All treaties, until +confirmed by the parliaments of the different nations, are to be +considered void. + +Gradual disarmament both on land and sea, and the establishment of a +militia system. The “League of Nations” advanced by President Wilson +may become a valuable aid to international law, provided that (a), all +nations are to be obliged to participate in it with equal rights, and +(b), international politics are to be democratised. + +_Ways to Peace_ + + +The Allies are to announce immediately that they are willing to open +peace negotiations as soon as the enemy powers declare their consent to +the renunciation of all forcible annexations. + +The Allies must bind themselves not to begin any peace negotiations, +nor to conclude peace, except in a general Peace Conference with the +participation of delegates from all the neutral countries. + +All obstacles to the Stockholm Socialist Conference are to be removed, +and passports are to be given immediately to all delegates of parties +and organisations who wish to participate. + +(The Executive Committee of the Peasants’ Soviets also issued a +_nakaz,_ which differs little from the above.) + +6. +PEACE AT RUSSIA’S EXPENSE + + +The Ribot revelations of Austria’s peace-offer to France; the so-called +“Peace Conference” at Berne, Switzerland, during the summer of 1917, in +which delegates participated from all belligerent countries, +representing large financial interests in all these countries; and the +attempted negotiations of an English agent with a Bulgarian church +dignitary; all pointed to the fact that there were strong currents, on +both sides, favourable to patching up a peace at the expense of Russia. +In my next book, “Kornilov to Brest-Litovsk,” I intend to treat this +matter at some length, publishing several secret documents discovered +in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Petrograd. + +7. +RUSSIAN SOLDIERS IN FRANCE + + +_Official Report of the Provisional Government._ + +“From the time the news of the Russian Revolution reached Paris, +Russian newspapers of extreme tendencies immediately began to appear; +and these newspapers, as well as individuals, freely circulated among +the soldier masses and began a Bolshevik propaganda, often spreading +false news which appeared in the French journals. In the absence of all +official news, and of precise details, this campaign provoked +discontent among the soldiers. The result was a desire to return to +Russia, and a hatred toward the officers. + +“Finally it all turned into rebellion. In one of their meetings, the +soldiers issued an appeal to refuse to drill, since they had decided to +fight no more. It was decided to isolate the rebels, and General +Zankievitch ordered all soldiers loyal to the Provisional Government to +leave the camp of Courtine, and to carry with them all ammunition. On +June 25th the order was executed; there remained at the camp only the +soldiers who said they would submit ‘conditionally’ to the Provisional +Government. The soldiers at the camp of Courtine received several times +the visit of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armies abroad, of +Rapp, the Commissar of the Ministry of War, and of several +distinguished former exiles who wished to influence them, but these +attempts were unsuccessful, and finally Commissar Rapp insisted that +the rebels lay down their arms, and, in sign of submission, march in +good order to a place called Clairvaux. The order was only partially +obeyed; first 500 men went out, of whom 22 were arrested; 24 hours +later about 6,000 followed…. About 2,000 remained…. + +“It was decided to increase the pressure; their rations were +diminished, their pay was cut off, and the roads toward the village of +Courtine were guarded by French soldiers. General Zankievitch, having +discovered that a Russian artillery brigade was passing through France, +decided to form a mixed detachment of infantry and artillery to reduce +the rebels. A deputation was sent to the rebels; the deputation +returned several hours later, convinced of the futility of the +negotiations. On September 1st General Zankievitch sent an ultimatum to +the rebels demanding that they lay down their arms, and menacing in +case of refusal to open fire with artillery if the order was not obeyed +by September 3d at 10 o’clock. + +“The order not being executed, a light fire of artillery was opened on +the place at the hour agreed upon. Eighteen shells were fired, and the +rebels were warned that the bombardment would become more intense. In +the night of September 3d 160 men surrendered. September 4th the +artillery bombardment recommenced, and at 11 o’clock, after 36 shells +had been fired, the rebels raised two white flags and began to leave +the camp without arms. By evening 8,300 men had surrendered. 150 +soldiers who remained in the camp opened fire with machine-guns that +night. The 5th of September, to make an end of the affair, a heavy +barrage was laid on the camp, and our soldiers occupied it little by +little. The rebels kept up a heavy fire with their machine-guns. +September 6th, at 9 o’clock, the camp was entirely occupied…. After the +disarmament of the rebels, 81 arrests were made….” + +Thus the report. From secret documents discovered in the Ministry of +Foreign Affairs, however, we know that the account is not strictly +accurate. The first trouble arose when the soldiers tried to form +Committees, as their comrades in Russia were doing. They demanded to be +sent back to Russia, which was refused; and then, being considered a +dangerous influence in France, they were ordered to Salonika. They +refused to go, and the battle followed…. It was discovered that they +had been left in camp without officers for about two months, and badly +treated, before they became rebellious. All attempts to find out the +name of the “Russian artillery brigade” which had fired on them were +futile; the telegrams discovered in the Ministry left it to be inferred +that French artillery was used…. + +After their surrender, more than two hundred of the mutineers were shot +in cold blood. + +8. +TERESTCHENKO’S SPEECH (_Resumé_) + + +“… The questions of foreign policy are closely related to those of +national defence…. And so, if in questions of national defence you +think it is necessary to hold session in secret, also in our foreign +policy we are sometimes forced to observe the same secrecy…. + +“German diplomacy attempts to influence public opinion…. Therefore the +declarations of directors of great democratic organisations who talk +loudly of a revolutionary Congress, and the impossibility of another +winter campaign, are dangerous…. All these declarations cost human +lives…. + +“I wish to speak merely of governmental logic, without touching the +questions of the honour and dignity of the State. From the point of +view of logic, the foreign policy of Russia ought to be based on a real +comprehension of the _interests_ of Russia…. These interests mean that +it is impossible that our country remain alone, and that the present +alignment of forces with us, (the Allies), is satisfactory…. All +humanity longs for peace, but in Russia no one will permit a +humiliating peace which would violate the State interests of our +fatherland!” + +The orator pointed out that such a peace would for long years, if not +for centuries, retard the triumph of democratic principles in the +world, and would inevitably cause new wars. + +“All remember the days of May, when the fraternisation on our Front +threatened to end the war by a simple cessation of military operations, +and lead the country to a shameful separate peace… and what efforts it +was necessary to use to make the soldier masses at the front understand +that it was not by this method that the Russian State must end the war +and guarantee its interest….” + +He spoke of the miraculous effect of the July offensive, what strength +it gave to the words of Russian ambassadors abroad, and the despair in +Germany caused by the Russian victories. And also, the disillusionment +in Allied countries which followed the Russian defeat…. + +“As to the Russian Government, it adhered strictly to the formula of +May, ‘No annexations and no punitive indemnities.’ We consider it +essential not only to proclaim the self-determination of peoples, but +also to renounce imperialist aims….” + +Germany is continually trying to make peace. The only talk in Germany +is of peace; she knows she cannot win. + +“I reject the reproaches aimed at the Government which allege that +Russian foreign policy does not speak clearly enough about the aims of +the war…. + +“If the question arises as to what ends the Allies are pursuing, it is +indispensable first to demand what aims the Central Powers have agreed +upon…. + +“The desire is often heard that we publish the details of the treaties +which bind the Allies; but people forget that, up to now, we do not +know the treaties which bind the Central Powers….” + +Germany, he said, evidently wants to separate Russia from the West by a +series of weak buffer-states. + +“This tendency to strike at the vital interests of Russia must be +checked…. + +“And will the Russian democracy, which has inscribed on its banner the +rights of nations to dispose of themselves, allow calmly the +continuation of oppression upon the most civilised peoples (in +Austria-Hungary)? + +“Those who fear that the Allies will try to profit by our difficult +situation, to make us support more than our share of the burden of war, +and to solve the questions of peace at our expense, are entirely +mistaken…. Our enemy looks upon Russia as a market for its products. +The end of the war will leave us in a feeble condition, and with our +frontier open the flood of German products can easily hold back for +years our industrial development. Measures must be taken to guard +against this…. + +“I say openly and frankly: the combination of forces which unites us to +the Allies is _favourable to the interests of Russia…._ It is therefore +important that our views on the questions of war and peace shall be in +accord with the views of the Allies as clearly and precisely as +possible…. To avoid all misunderstanding, I must say frankly that +Russia must present at the Paris Conference _one point of view…._” + +He did not want to comment on the _nakaz_ to Skobeliev, but he referred +to the Manifesto of the Dutch-Scandinavian Committee, just published in +Stockholm. This Manifesto declared for the autonomy of Lithuania and +Livonia; “but that is clearly impossible,” said Terestchenko, “for +Russia must have free ports on the Baltic all the year round…. + +“In this question the problems of foreign policy are also closely +related to interior politics, for if there existed a strong sentiment +of unity of all great Russia, one would not witness the repeated +manifestations, everywhere, of a desire of peoples to separate from the +Central Government…. Such separations are contrary to the interests of +Russia, and the Russian delegates cannot raise the issue….” + +9. +THE BRITISH FLEET (_etc._) + + +At the time of the naval battle of the Gulf of Riga, not only the +Bolsheviki, but also the Ministers of the Provisional Government, +considered that the British Fleet had deliberately abandoned the +Baltic, as one indication of the attitude so often expressed publicly +by the British press, and semi-publicly by British representatives in +Russia, “Russia’s finished! No use bothering about Russia!” + +See interview with Kerensky (Appendix 13). + +GENERAL GURKO was a former Chief of Staff of the Russian armies under +the Tsar. He was a prominent figure in the corrupt Imperial Court. +After the Revolution, he was one of the very few persons exiled for his +political and personal record. The Russian naval defeat in the Gulf of +Riga coincided with the public reception, by King George in London, of +General Gurko, a man whom the Russian Provisional Government considered +dangerously pro-German as well as reactionary! + +10. +APPEALS AGAINST INSURRECTION + + +_To Workers and Soldiers_ + + +“Comrades! The Dark Forces are increasingly trying to call forth in +Petrograd and other towns DISORDERS AND _Pogroms._ Disorder is +necessary to the Dark Forces, for disorder will give them an +opportunity for crushing the revolutionary movement in blood. Under the +pretext of establishing order, and of protecting the inhabitants, they +hope to establish the domination of Kornilov, which the revolutionary +people succeeded in suppressing not long ago. Woe to the people if +these hopes are realised! The triumphant counter-revolution will +destroy the Soviets and the Army Committees, will disperse the +Constituent Assembly, will stop the transfer of the land to the Land +Committees, will put an end to all the hopes of the people for a speedy +peace, and will fill all the prisons with revolutionary soldiers and +workers. + +“In their calculations, the counter-revolutionists and Black Hundred +leaders are counting on the serious discontent of the unenlightened +part of the people with the disorganisation of the food-supply, the +continuation of the war, and the general difficulties of life. They +hope to transform every demonstration of soldiers and workers into a +_pogrom,_ which will frighten the peaceful population and throw it into +the arms of the Restorers of Law and Order. + +“Under such conditions every attempt to organise a demonstration in +these days, although for the most laudable object, would be a crime. +All conscious workers and soldiers who are displeased with the policy +of the Government will only bring injury to themselves and to the +Revolution if they indulge in demonstrations. + +“THEREFORE THE _Tsay-ee-kah_ ASKS ALL WORKERS NOT TO OBEY ANY CALLS TO +DEMONSTRATE. + +“WORKERS AND SOLDIERS! DO NOT YIELD TO PROVOCATION! REMEMBER YOUR DUTY +TO YOUR COUNTRY AND TO THE REVOLUTION! DO NOT BREAK THE UNITY OF THE +REVOLUTIONARY FRONT BY DEMONSTRATIONS WHICH ARE BOUND TO BE +UNSUCCESSFUL!” + + +_The Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers’ and +Soldiers’ Deputies (Tsay-ee-kah)_ + +_Russian Social Democratic Labour Party_ THE DANGER IS NEAR! To All +Workers and Soldiers (_Read and Hand to Others_) + +_Comrades Workers and Soldiers!_ + +“Our country is in danger. On account of this danger our freedom and +our Revolution are passing through difficult days. The enemy is at the +gates of Petrograd. The disorganisation is growing with every hours. It +becomes more and more difficult to obtain bread for Petrograd. All, of +from the smallest to the greatest, must redouble their efforts, must +endeavour to arrange things properly…. We must save our country, save +freedom…. More arms and provisions for the Army! Bread—for the great +cities. Order and organisation in the country…. + +“And in these terrible critical days rumours creep about that SOMEWHERE +a demonstration is being prepared, that SOME ONE is calling on the +soldiers and workers to destroy revolutionary peace and order…. +_Rabotchi Put,_ the newspaper of the Bolsheviki, is pouring oil on the +flames: it flattering, trying to please the unenlightened people, +tempting the worker and soldiers, urging them on against the +Government, promising them mountains of good things…. The confiding, +ignorant men believe, they do not reason…. And from the other side come +also rumours—rumours that the Dark Forces, the friends of the Tsar, the +German spies, are rubbing their hands with glee. They are ready to join +the Bolsheviki, and with them fan the disorders into civil war. + +“The Bolsheviki and the ignorant soldiers and workers seduced by them +cry senselessly: ‘Down with the Government! All power to the Soviets!’ +And the Dark servants of the Tsar and the spies of Wilhelm will egg the +on; ‘Beat the Jews, beat the shopkeepers, rob the markets, devastate +the shops, pillage the wine stores! Slay, burn, rob!’ + +“And then will begin a terrible confusion, a war between one part of +the people and the other. All will become still more disorganised, and +perhaps once more blood will be shed on the streets of the capital. And +then what then? + +“Then, the road to Petrograd will be open to Wilhelm. Then, no bread +will come to Petrograd, the children will die of hunger. Then, the Army +as the front will remain without support, our brothers in the trenches +will be delivered to the fire of the enemy. Then, Russia will lose all +prestige in other countries, our money will lose its value; everything +will be so dear as to make life impossible. Then, the long awaited +Constituent Assembly will be postponed—it will be impossible to convene +it in time. And then—Death to the Revolution, Death to our Liberty…. + +“Is it this that you want, workers and soldiers? No! If you do not then +go, go to the ignorant people seduced by the betrayers, and tell them +the whole truth, which we have told you! + +“Let all know that EVERY MAN WHO IN THESE TERRIBLE DAYS CALLS ON YOU TO +COME OUT IN THE STREETS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, IS EITHER A SECRET +SERVANT OF THE TSAR, A PROVOCATOR, OR AN UNWISE ASSISTANT OF THE +ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE, OR A PAID SPY OF WILHELM! + +“Every conscious worker revolutionist, every conscious peasant, every +revolutionary soldier, all who understand what harm a demonstration or +a revolt against the Government might cause to the people, must join +together and not allow the enemies of the people to destroy our +freedom.” + +_The Petrograd Electoral Committee of the Mensheviki-oborontzi._ + +11. +LENIN’s “LETTER TO THE COMRADES” + + +This series of articles appeared in _Rabotchi Put_ several days +running, at the end of October and beginning of November, 1917. I give +here only extracts from two instalments: + +1. Kameniev and Riazanov say that we have not a majority among the +people, and that without a majority insurrection is hopeless. + +“Answer: People capable of speaking such things are falsifiers, +pedants, or simply don’t want to look the real situation in the face. +In the last elections we received in all the country more than fifty +per cent of all thevotes…. + +“The most important thing in Russia to-day is the peasants’ revolution. +In Tambov Government there has been a real agrarian uprising with +wonderful political results…. Even _Dielo Naroda_ has been scared into +yelling that the land must be turned over to the peasants, and not only +the Socialist Revolutionaries in the Council of the Republic, but also +the Government itself, has been similarly affected. Another valuable +result was the bringing of bread which had been hoarded by the +_pomieshtchiki_ to the railroad stations in that province. The +_Russkaya Volia_ had to admit that the stations were filled with bread +after the peasants’ rising…. + +“2. We are not sufficiently strong to take over the Government, and the +bourgeoisie is not sufficiently strong to prevent the Constituent +Assembly. + +“Answer: This is nothing but timidity, expressed by pessimism as +regards workers and soldiers, and optimism as regards the failure of +the bourgeoisie. If _yunkers_ and Cossacks say they will fight, you +believe them; if workmen and soldiers say so, you doubt it. What is the +distinction between such doubts and siding politically with the +bourgeoisie? + +“Kornilov proved that the Soviets were really a power. To believe +Kerensky and the Council of the Republic, if the bourgeoisie is not +strong enough to break the Soviets, it is not strong enough to break +the Constituent. But that is wrong. The bourgeoisie will break the +Constituent by sabotage, by lock-outs, by giving up Petrograd, by +opening the front to the Germans. This has already been done in the +case of Riga…. + +“3. The Soviets must remain a revolver at the head of the Government to +force the calling of the Constituent Assembly, and to suppress any +further Kornilov attempts. + +“Answer: Refusal of insurrection is refusal of ‘All Power to the +Soviets.’ Since September the Bolshevik party has been discussing the +question of insurrection. Refusing to rise means to trust our hopes in +the faith of the good bourgeoisie, who have ‘promised’ to call the +Constituent Assembly. When the Soviets have all the power, the calling +of the Constituent is guaranteed, and its success assured. + +“Refusal of insurrection means surrender to the ‘Lieber-Dans.’ Either +we must drop ‘All Power to the Soviets’ or make an insurrection; there +is no middle course.” + +“4. The bourgeoisie cannot give up Petrograd, although the Rodziankos +want it, because it is not the bourgeoisie who are fighting, but our +heroic soldiers and sailors. + +“Answer: This did not prevent two admirals from running away at the +Moonsund battle. The Staff has not changed; it is composed of +Kornilovtsi. If the Staff, with Kerensky at its head, wants to give up +Petrograd, it can do it doubly or trebly. It can make arrangements with +the Germans or the British; open the fronts. It can sabotage the Army’s +food supply. At all these doors has it knocked. + +“We have no right to wait until the bourgeoisie chokes the Revolution. +Rodzianko is a man of action, who has faithfully and truthfully served +the bourgeoisie for years…. Half the Lieber-Dans are cowardly +compromisers; half of them simple fatalists….” + +“5. We’re getting stronger every day. We shall be able to enter the +Constituent Assembly as a strong opposition. Then why should we play +everything on one card?” + +“Answer: This is the argument of a sophomore with no practical +experience, who reads that the Constituent Assembly is being called and +trustfully accepts the legal and constitutional way. Even the voting of +the Constituent Assembly will not do away with hunger, or beat +Wilhelm…. The issue of hunger and of surrendering Petrograd cannot be +decided by waiting for the Constituent Assembly. Hunger is not waiting. +The peasants’ Revolution is not waiting. The Admirals who ran away did +not wait. + +“Blind people are surprised that hungry people, betrayed by admirals +and generals, do not take an interest in voting. + +“6. If the Kornilovtsi make an attempt, we would show them our +strength. But why should we risk everything by making an attempt +ourselves? + +“Answer: History doesn’t repeat. ‘Perhaps Kornilov will some day make +an attempt!’ What a serious base for proletarian action! But suppose +Kornilov waits for starvation, for the opening of the fronts, what +then? This attitude means to build the tactics of a revolutionary party +on one of the bourgeoisie’s former mistakes. + +“Let us forget everything except that there is no way out but by the +dictatorship of the proletariat—either that or the dictatorship of +Kornilov. + +“Let us wait, comrades, for—a miracle!” + +12. +MILIUKOV’s SPEECH (_Resumé_) + + +“Every one admits, it seems, that the defence of the country is our +principal task, and that, to assure it, we must have discipline in the +Army and order in the rear. To achieve this, there must be a power +capable of daring, not only by persuasion, but also by force…. The germ +of all our evils comes from the point of view, original, truly Russian, +concerning foreign policy, which passes for the Internationalist point +of view. + +“The noble Lenin only imitates the noble Keroyevsky when he holds that +from Russia will come the New World which shall resuscitate the aged +West, and which will replace the old banner of doctrinary Socialism by +the new direct action of starving masses—and that will push humanity +forward and force it to break in the doors of the social paradise….” + +These men sincerely believed that the decomposition of Russia would +bring about the decomposition of the whole capitalist régime. Starting +from that point of view, they were able to commit the unconscious +treason, in wartime, of calmly telling the soldiers to abandon the +trenches, and instead of fighting the external enemy, creating internal +civil war and attacking the proprietors and capitalists…. + +Here Miliukov was interrupted by furious cries from the Left, demanding +what Socialist had ever advised such action…. + +“Martov says that only the revolutionary pressure of the proletariat +can condemn and conquer the evil will of imperialist cliques and break +down the dictatorship of these cliques…. Not by an accord between +Governments for a limitation of armaments, but by the disarming of +these Governments and the radical democratisation of the military +system….” + +He attacked Martov viciously, and then turned on the Mensheviki and +Socialist Revolutionaries, whom he accused of entering the Government +as Ministers with the avowed purpose of carrying on the class struggle! + +“The Socialists of Germany and of the Allied countries contemplated +these gentlemen with ill-concealed contempt, but they decided that it +was for Russia, and sent us some apostles of the Universal +Conflagration…. + +“The formula of our democracy is very simple; no foreign policy, no art +of diplomacy, an immediate democratic peace, a declaration to the +Allies, ‘We want nothing, we haven’t anything to fight with!’ And then +our adversaries will make the same declaration, and the brotherhood of +peoples will be accomplished!” + +Miliukov took a fling at the Zimmerwald Manifesto, and declared that +even Kerensky has not been able to escape the influence of “that +unhappy document which will forever be your indictment.” He then +attacked Skobeliev, whose position in foreign assemblies, where he +would appear as a Russian delegate, yet opposed to the foreign policy +of his Government, would be so strange that people would say, “What’s +that gentleman carrying, and what shall we talk to him about?” As for +the _nakaz,_ Miliukov said that he himself was a pacifist; that he +believed in the creation of an International Arbitration Board, and the +necessity for a limitation of armaments, and parliamentary control over +secret diplomacy, which did not mean the abolition of secret diplomacy. + +As for the Socialist ideas in the _nakaz,_ which he called “Stockholm +ideas”—peace without victory, the right of self-determination of +peoples, and renunciation of the economic war— + +“The German successes are directly proportionate to the successes of +those who call themselves the revolutionary democracy. I do not wish to +say, ‘to the successes of the Revolution,’ because I believe that the +defeats of the revolutionary democracy are victories for the +Revolution…. + +“The influence of the Soviet leaders abroad is not unimportant. One had +only to listen to the speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to be +convinced that, in this hall, the influence of the revolutionary +democracy on foreign policy is so strong, that the Minister does not +dare to speak face to face with it about the honour and dignity of +Russia! + +“We can see, in the _nakaz_ of the Soviets, that the ideas of the +Stockholm Manifesto have been elaborated in two direction—that of +Utopianism, and that of German interests….” + +Interrupted by the angry cries of the Left, and rebuked by the +President, Miliukov insisted that the proposition of peace concluded by +popular assemblies, not by diplomats, and the proposal to undertake +peace negotiations as soon as the enemy had renounced annexations, were +pro-German. Recently Kuhlman said that a personal declaration bound +only him who made it…. “Anyway, we will imitate the Germans before we +will imitate the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies….” + +The sections treating of the independence of Lithuania and Livonia were +symptoms of nationalist agitation in different parts of Russia, +supported, said Miliukov, by German money…. Amid bedlam from the Left, +he contrasted the clauses of the _nakaz_ concerning Alsace-Lorraine, +Rumania, and Serbia, with those treating of the nationalities in +Germany and Austria. The _nakaz_ embraced the German and Austrian point +of view, said Miliukov. + +Passing to Terestchenko’s speech, he contemptuously accused him of +being afraid to speak the thought in his mind, and even afraid to think +in terms of the greatness of Russia. The Dardanelles must belong to +Russia…. + +“You are continually saying that the soldier does not know why he is +fighting, and that when he does know, he’ll fight…. It is true that the +soldier doesn’t know why he is fighting, but now you have told him that +there is no reason for him to fight, that we have no national +interests, and that we are fighting for alien ends….” + +Paying tribute to the Allies, who, he said, with the assistance of +America, “will yet save the cause of humanity,” he ended: + +“Long live the light of humanity, the advanced democracies of the West, +who for a long time have been travelling the way we now only begin to +enter, with ill-assured and hesitating steps! Long live our brave +Allies!” + +13. +INTERVIEW WITH KERENSKY + + +The Associated Press man tried his hand. “Mr. Kerensky,” he began, “in +England and France people are disappointed with the Revolution——” + +“Yes, I know,” interrupted Kerensky, quizzically. “Abroad the +Revolution is no longer fashionable!” + +“What is your explanation of why the Russians have stopped fighting?” + +“That is a foolish question to ask.” Kerensky was annoyed. “Russia +entered the war first of all the Allies, and for a long time she bore +the whole brunt of it. Her losses have been inconceivably greater than +those of all the other nations put together. Russia has now the right +to demand of the Allies that they bring greater force of arms to bear.” +He stopped for a moment and stared at his interlocutor. “You are asking +why the Russians have stopped fighting, and the Russians are asking +where is the British fleet—with German battle-ships in the Gulf of +Riga?” Again he ceased suddenly, and as suddenly burst out. “The +Russian Revolution hasn’t failed and the revolutionary Army hasn’t +failed. It is not the Revolution which caused disorganisation in the +army—that disorganisation was accomplished years ago, by the old +regime. Why aren’t the Russians fighting? I will tell you. Because the +masses of the people are economically exhausted,—and because they are +disillusioned with the Allies!” + +The interview of which this is an excerpt was cabled to the United +States, and in a few days sent back by the American State Department, +with a demand that it be “altered.” This Kerensky refused to do; but it +was done by his secretary, Dr. David Soskice—and, thus purged of all +offensive references to the Allies, was given to the press of the +world…. + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER III + +1. + +RESOLUTION OF THE FACTORY-SHOP COMMITTEES + + +_Workers’ Control_ + +1. (See page 43) + +2. The organisation of Workers’ Control is a manifestation of the same +healthy activity in the sphere of industrial production, as are party +organisations in the sphere of politics, trade unions in employment, +Cooperatives in the domain of consumption, and literary clubs in the +sphere of culture. + +3. The working-class has much more interest in the proper and +uninterrupted operation of factories… than the capitalist class. +Workers’ Control is a better security in this respect for the interests +of modern society, of the whole people, than the arbitrary will of the +owners, who are guided only by their selfish desire for material +profits or political privileges. Therefore Workers’ Control is demanded +by the proletariat not only in their own interest, but in the interest +of the whole country, and should be supported by the revolutionary +peasantry as well as the revolutionary Army. + +4. Considering the hostile attitude of the majority of the capitalist +class toward the Revolution, experience shows that proper distribution +of raw materials and fuel, as well as the most efficient management of +factories, is impossible without Workers’ Control. + +5. Only Workers’ Control over capitalist enterprises, cultivating the +workers’ conscious attitude toward work, and making clear its social +meaning, can create conditions favourable to the development of a firm +self-discipline in labour, and the development of all labour’s possible +productivity. + +6. The impending transformation of industry from a war to a peace +basis, and the redistribution of labour all over the country, as well +as among the different factories, can be accomplished without great +disturbances only by means of the democratic self-government of the +workers themselves…. Therefore the realisation of Workers’ Control is +an indispensable preliminary to the demobilisation of industry. + +7. In accordance with the slogan proclaimed by the Russian Social +Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviki), Workers’ Control on a national +scale, in order to bring results, must extend to all capitalist +concerns, and not be organised accidentally, without system; it must be +well-planned, and not separated from the industrial life of the country +as a whole. + +8. The economic life of the country—agriculture, industry, commerce and +transport—must be subjected to one unified plan, constructed so as to +satisfy the individual and social requirements of the wide masses of +the people; it must be approved by their elected representatives, and +carried out under the direction of these representatives by means of +national and local organisations. + +9. That part of the plan which deals with land-labour must be carried +out under supervision of the peasants’ and land-workers’ organisations; +that relating to industry, trade and transport operated by +wage-earners, by means of Workers’ Control; the natural organs of +Workers’ Control inside the industrial plant will be the Factory-Shop +and similar Committees; and in the labour market, the Trade Unions. + +10. The collective wage agreements arranged by the Trade Unions for the +majority of workers in any branch of labour, must be binding on all the +owners of plants employing this kind of labour in the given district. + +11. Employment bureaus must be placed under the control and management +of the Trade Unions, as class organisations acting within the limits of +the whole industrial plan, and in accordance with it. + +12. Trade Unions must have the right, upon their own initiative, to +begin legal action against all employers who violate labour contracts +or labour legislation, and also in behalf of any individual worker in +any branch of labour. + +13. On all questions relating to Workers’ Control over production, +distribution and employment, the Trade Unions must confer with the +workers of individual establishments through their Factory-Shop +Committees. + +14. Matters of employment and discharge, vacations, wage scales, +refusal of work, degree of productivity and skill, reasons for +abrogating agreements, disputes with the administration, and similar +problems of the internal life of the factory, must be settled +exclusively according to the findings of the Factory-Shop Committee, +which has the right to exclude from participation in the discussion any +members of the factory administration. + +15. The Factory-Shop Committee forms a commission to control the +supplying of the factory with raw materials, fuel, orders, labour power +and technical staff (including equipment), and all other supplies and +arrangements, and also to assure the factory’s adherence to the general +industrial plan. The factory administration is obliged to surrender to +the organs of Workers’ Control, for their aid and information, all data +concerning the business; to make it possible to verify this data, and +to produce the books of the company upon demand of the Factory-Shop +Committee. + +16. Any illegal acts on the part of the administration discovered by +the Factory-Shop Committees, or any suspicion of such illegal acts, +which cannot be investigated or remedied by the workers alone, shall be +referred to the district central organisation of Factory-Shop +Committees charged with the particular branch of labour involved, which +shall discuss the matter with the institutions charged with the +execution of the general industrial plan, and find means to deal with +the matter, even to the extent of confiscating the factory. + +17. The union of the Factory-Shop Committees of different concerns must +be accomplished on the basis of the different trades, in order to +facilitate control over the whole branch of industry, so as to come +within the general industrial plan; and so as to create an effective +plan of distribution among the different factories of orders, raw +materials, fuel, technical and labour power; and also to facilitate +cooperation with the Trade Unions, which are organised by trades. + +18. The central city councils of Trade Unions and Factory-Shop +Committees represent the proletariat in the corresponding provincial +and local institutions formed to elaborate and carry out the general +industrial plan, and to organise economic relations between the towns +and the villages (workers and peasants). They also possess final +authority for the management of Factory-Shop Committees and Trade +Unions, so far as Workers’ Control in their district is concerned, and +they shall issue obligatory regulations concerning workers’ discipline +in the routine of production—which regulations, however, must be +approved by vote of the workers themselves. + +2. + +THE BOURGEOIS PRESS ON THE BOLSHEVIKI + + +_Russkaya Volia,_ October 28. “The decisive moment approaches…. It is +decisive for the Bolsheviki. Either they will give us… a second edition +of the events of July 16-18, or they will have to admit that with their +plans and intentions, with their impertinent policy of wishing to +separate themselves from everything consciously national, they have +been definitely defeated…. + +“What are the chances of Bolshevik success? + +“It is difficult to answer that question, for their principal support +is the… ignorance of the popular masses. They speculate on it, they +work upon it by a demagogy which nothing can stop…. + +“The Government must play its part in this affair. Supporting itself +morally by the Council of the Republic, the Government must take a +clearly-defined attitude toward the Bolsheviki…. + +“And if the Bolsheviki provoke an insurrection against the legal power, +and thus facilitate the German invasion, they must be treated as +mutineers and traitors….” + +_Birzhevya Viedomosti,_ October 28. “Now that the Bolsheviki have +separated themselves from the rest of the democracy, the struggle +against them is very much simpler—and it is not reasonable, in order to +fight against Bolshevism, to wait until they make a manifestation. The +Government should not even allow the manifestation…. + +“The appeals of the Bolsheviki to insurrection and anarchy are acts +punishable by the criminal courts, and in the freest countries, their +authors would receive severe sentences. For what the Bolsheviki are +carrying on is not a political struggle against the Government, or even +for the power; it is propaganda for anarchy, massacres, and civil war. +This propaganda must be extirpated at its roots; it would be strange to +wait, in order to begin action against an agitation for _pogroms,_ +until the _pogroms_ actually occurred….” + +_Novoye Vremya,_ November 1. “… Why is the Government excited only +about November 2d (date of calling of the Congress of Soviets), and not +about September 12th, or October 3d? + +“This is not the first time that Russia burns and falls in ruins, and +that the smoke of the terrible conflagration makes the eyes of our +Allies smart…. + +“Since it came to power, has there been a single order issued by the +Government for the purpose of halting anarchy, or has any one attempted +to put out the Russian conflagration? + +“There were other things to do…. + +“The Government turned its attention to a more immediate problem. It +crushed an insurrection (the Kornilov attempt) concerning which every +one is now asking, ‘Did it ever exist?” + +3. + +MODERATE SOCIALIST PRESS ON THE BOLSHEVIKI + + +_Dielo Naroda,_ October 28 (Socialist Revolutionary). “The most +frightful crime of the Bolsheviki against the Revolution is that they +impute exclusively to the bad intentions of the revolutionary +Government all the calamities which the masses are so cruelly +suffering; when as a matter of fact these calamities spring from +objective causes. + +“They make golden promises to the masses, knowing in advance that they +can fulfil none of them; they lead the masses on a false trail, +deceiving them as to the source of all their troubles…. + +“The Bolsheviki are the most dangerous enemies of the Revolution….” + +_Dien,_ October 30 (Menshevik). “Is this really ‘the freedom of the +press’? Every day _Novaya Rus_ and _Rabotchi Put_ openly incite to +insurrection. Every day these two papers commit in their columns actual +crimes. Every day they urge _pogroms_…. Is that ‘the freedom of the +press’?… + +“The Government ought to defend itself and defend us. We have the right +to insist that the Government machinery does not remain passive while +the threat of bloody riots endangers the lives of its citizens….” + +4. + +“YEDINSTVO” + + +Plekhanov’s paper, _Yedinstvo,_ suspended publication a few weeks after +the Bolsheviki seized the power. Contrary to popular report, +_Yedinstvo_ was not suppressed by the Soviet Government; an +announcement in the last number admitted that it was unable to continue +_because there were too few subscribers_…. + +5. + +WERE THE BOLSHEVIKI CONSPIRATORS? + + +The French newspaper _Entente_ of Petrograd, on November 15th, +published an article of which the following is a part: + +“The Government of Kerensky discusses and hesitates. The Government of +Lenin and Trotzky attacks and acts. + +“This last is called a Government of Conspirators, but that is wrong. +Government of usurpers, yes, like all revolutionary Governments which +triumph over their adversaries. Conspirators—no! + +“No! They did not conspire. On the contrary, openly, audaciously, +without mincing words, without dissimulating their intentions, they +multiplied their agitation, intensified their propaganda in the +factories, the barracks, at the Front, in the country, everywhere, even +fixing in advance the date of their taking up arms, the date of their +seizure of the power…. + +“_They_—conspirators? Never….” + +6. + +APPEAL AGAINST INSURRECTION + + +_From the Central Army Committee_ + +“… Above everything we insist upon the inflexible execution of the +organised will of the majority of the people, expressed by the +Provisional Government in accord with the Council of the Republic and +the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ as organ of the popular power…. + +“Any demonstration to depose this power by violence, at a moment when a +Government crisis will infallibly create disorganisation, the ruin of +the country, and civil war, will be considered by the Army as a +counter-revolutionary act, and repressed by force of arms…. + +“The interests of private groups and classes should be submitted to a +single interest—that of augmenting industrial production, and +distributing the necessities of life with fairness…. + +“All who are capable of sabotage, disorganisation, or disorder, all +deserters, all slackers, all looters, should be forced to do auxiliary +service in the rear of the Army…. + +“We invite the Provisional Government to form, out of these violators +of the people’s will, these enemies of the Revolution, labour +detachments to work in the rear, on the Front, in the trenches under +enemy fire….” + +7. + +EVENTS OF THE NIGHT, NOVEMBER 6TH + + +Toward evening bands of Red Guards began to occupy the printing shops +of the bourgeois press, where they printed _Rabotchi Put, Soldat,_ and +various proclamations by the hundred thousand. The City Militia was +ordered to clear these places, but found the offices barricaded, and +armed men defending them. Soldiers who were ordered to attack the +print-shops refused. + +About midnight a Colonel with a company of _yunkers_ arrived at the +club “Free Mind,” with a warrant to arrest the editor of _Rabotchi +Put._ Immediately an enormous mob gathered in the street outside and +threatened to lynch the _yunkers._ The Colonel thereupon begged that he +and the _yunkers_ be arrested and taken to Peter-Paul prison for +safety. This request was granted. + +At 1 A. M. a detachment of soldiers and sailors from Smolny occupied +the Telegraph Agency. At 1.35 the Post Office was occupied. Toward +morning the Military Hotel was taken, and at 5 o’clock the Telephone +Exchange. At dawn the State Bank was surrounded. And at 10 A. M. a +cordon of troops was drawn about the Winter Palace. + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV + +1. + +EVENTS OF NOVEMBER 7TH + + +From 4 A. M. until dawn Kerensky remained at the Petrograd Staff +Headquarters, sending orders to the Cossacks and to the _yunkers_ in +the Officers’ Schools in and around Petrograd—all of whom answered that +they were unable to move. + +Colonel Polkovnikov, Commandant of the City, hurried between the Staff +and the Winter Palace, evidently without any plan. Kerensky gave an +order to open the bridges; three hours passed without any action, and +then an officer and five men went out on their own initiative, and +putting to flight a picket of Red Guards, opened the Nicolai Bridge. +Immediately after they left, however, some sailors closed it again. + +Kerensky ordered the print-shop of _Rabotchi Put_ to be occupied. The +officer detailed to the work was promised a squad of soldiers; two +hours later he was promised some _yunkers;_ then the order was +forgotten. + +An attempt was made to recapture the Post Office and the Telegraph +Agency; a few shots were fired, and the Government troops announced +that they would no longer oppose the Soviets. + +To a delegation of _yunkers_ Kerensky said, “As chief of the +Provisional Government and as Supreme Commander I know nothing, I +cannot advise you; but as a veteran revolutionist, I appeal to you, +young revolutionists, to remain at your posts and defend the conquests +of the Revolution.” + +Orders of Kishkin, November 7th: + +“By decree of the Provisional Government…. I am invested with +extraordinary powers for the reestablishment of order in Petrograd, in +complete command of all civil and military authorities….” + +“In accordance with the powers conferred upon me by the Provisional +Government, I herewith relieve from his functions as Commandant of the +Petrograd Military District Colonel George Polkovnikov….” + + * * * * * + +_Appeal to the Population_ signed by Vice-Premier Konovalov, November +7th: + +“Citizens! Save the fatherland, the republic and your freedom. Maniacs +have raised a revolt against the only governmental power chosen by the +people, the Provisional Government…. + +“The members of the Provisional Government fulfil their duty, remain at +their post, and continue to work for the good of the fatherland, the +reestablishment of order, and the convocation of the Constituent +Assembly, future sovereign of Russia and of all the Russian peoples…. + +“Citizens, you must support the Provisional Government. You must +strengthen its authority. You must oppose these maniacs, with whom are +joined all enemies of liberty and order, and the followers of the +Tsarist régime, in order to wreck the Constituent Assembly, destroy the +conquests of the Revolution, and the future of our dear fatherland…. + +“Citizens! Organise around the Provisional Government for the defence +of its temporary authority, in the name of order and the happiness of +all peoples….” + + * * * * * + +_Proclamation of the Provisional Government._ + +“The Petrograd Soviet…. has declared the Provisional Government +overthrown, and has demanded that the Governmental power be turned over +to it, under threat of bombarding the Winter Palace with the cannon of +Peter-Paul Fortress, and of the cruiser _Avrora,_ anchored in the Neva. + +“The Government can surrender its authority only to the Consituent +Assembly; for that reason it has decided not to submit, and to demand +aid from the population and the Army. A telegram has been sent to the +_Stavka;_ and an answer received says that a strong detachment of +troops is being sent…. + +“Let the Army and the People reject the irresponsible attempts of the +Bolsheviki to create a revolt in the rear….” + +About 9 A. M. Kerensky left for the Front…. + +Toward evening two soldiers on bicycles presented themselves at the +Staff Headquarters, as delegates of the garrison of Peter-Paul +Fortress. Entering the meeting-room of the Staff, where Kishkin, +Rutenburg, Paltchinski, General Bagratouni, Colonel Paradielov and +Count Tolstoy were gathered, they demanded the immediate surrender of +the Staff; threatening, in case of refusal, to bombard headquarters…. +After two panicky conferences the Staff retreated to the Winter Palace, +and the headquarters were occupied by Red Guards…. + +Late in the afternoon several Bolshevik armoured cars cruised around +the Palace Square, and Soviet soldiers tried unsuccessfully to parley +with the _yunkers_…. + +Firing on the Palace began about 7 o’clock in the evening…. + +At 10 P. M. began an artillery bombardment from three sides, in which +most of the shells were blanks, only three small shrapnels striking the +façade of the Palace…. + +2. + +KERENSKY IN FLIGHT + + +Leaving Petrograd in the morning of November 7th, Kerensky arrived by +automobile at Gatchina, where he demanded a special train. Toward +evening he was in Ostrov, Province of Pskov. The next morning, +extraordinary session of the local Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ +Depulies, with participation of Cossack delegates—there being 6,000 +Cossacks at Ostrov. + +Kerensky spoke to the assembly, appealing for aid against the +Bolsheviki, and addressed himself almost exclusively to the Cossacks. +The soldier delegates protested. + +“Why did you come here?” shouted voices. Kerensky answered, “To ask the +Cossacks’ assistance in crushing the Bolshevik insurrection!” At this +there were violent protestations, which increased when he continued, “I +broke the Kornilov attempt, and I will break the Bolsheviki!” The noise +became so great that he had to leave the platform…. + +The soldier deputies and the Ussuri Cossacks decided to arrest +Kerensky, but the Don Cossacks prevented them, and got him away by +train…. A Military Revolutionary Committee, set up during the day, +tried to inform the garrison of Pskov; but the telephone and telegraph +lines were cut…. + +Kerensky did not arrive at Pskov. Revolutionary soldiers had cut the +railway line, to prevent troops being sent against the capital. On the +night of November 8th he arrived by automobile at Luga, where he was +well received by the Death Battalions stationed there. + +Next day he took train for the South-West Front, and visited the Army +Committee at headquarters. The Fifth Army, however, was wild with +enthusiasm over the news of the Bolshevik success, and the Army +Committee was unable to promise Kerensky any support. + +From there he went to the _Stavka,_ at Moghilev, where he ordered ten +regiments from different parts of the Front to move against Petrograd. +The soldiers almost unanimously refused; and those regiments which did +start halted on the way. About five thousand Cossacks finally followed +him…. + +3. + +LOOTING OF THE WINTER PALACE + + +I do not mean to maintain that there was no looting, in the Winter +Palace. Both after and _before_ the Winter Palace fell, there was +considerable pilfering. The statement of the Socialist Revolutionary +paper _Narod,_ and of members of the City Duma, to the effect that +precious objects to the value of 500,000,000 rubles had been stolen, +was, however, a gross exaggeration. + +The most important art treasures of the Palace—paintings, statues, +tapestries, rare porcelains and armorie,—had been transferred to Moscow +during the month of September; and they were still in good order in the +basement of the Imperial Palace there ten days after the capture of the +Kremlin by Bolshevik troops. I can personally testify to this…. + +Individuals, however, especially the general public, which was allowed +to circulate freely through the Winter Palace for several days after +its capture, made away with table silver, clocks, bedding, mirrors and +some odd vases of valuable porcelain and semi-precious stone, to the +value of about $50,000. + +The Soviet Government immediately created a special commission, +composed of artists and archæologists, to recover the stolen objects. +On November 1st two proclamations were issued: + +“CITIZENS OF PETROGRAD! + + +“We urgently ask all citizens to exert every effort to find whatever +possible of the objects stolen from the Winter Palace in the night of +November 7-8, and to forward them to the Commandant of the Winter +Palace. + +“Receivers of stolen goods, antiquarians, and all who are proved to be +hiding such objects will be held legally responsible and punished with +all severity. + +“_Commissars for the Protection of Museums and Artistic Collections,_ +“G. YATMANOV, B. MANDELBAUM.” + + * * * * * + +“TO REGIMENTAL AND FLEET COMMITTEES + + +“In the night of November 7-8, in the Winter Palace, which is the +inalienable property of the Russian people, valuable objects of art +were stolen. + +“We urgently appeal to all to exert every effort, so that the stolen +objects are returned to the Winter Palace. + +“_Commissars_…. + “G. YATMANOV, B. MANDELBAUM.” + +About half the loot was recovered, some of it in the baggage of +foreigners leaving Russia. + +A conference of artists and archæologists, held at the suggestion of +Smolny, appointed a commission of make an inventory of the Winter +Palace treasures, which was given complete charge of the Palace and of +all artistic collections and State museums in Petrograd. On November +16th the Winter Palace was closed to the public while the inventory was +being made…. + +During the last week in November a decree was issued by the Council of +People’s Commissars, changing the name of the Winter Palace to +“People’s Museum,” entrusting it to the complete charge of the +artistic-archæological commission, and declaring that henceforth all +Governmental activities within its wall were prohibited…. + +4. + +RAPE OF THE WOMEN’S BATTALION + + +Immediately following the taking of the Winter Palace all sorts of +sensational stories were published in the anti-Bolshevik press, and +told in the City Duma, about the fate of the Women’s Battalion +defending the Palace. It was said that some of the girl-soldiers had +been thrown from the windows into the street, most of the rest had been +violated, and many had committed suicide as a result of the horrors +they had gone through. + +The City Duma appointed a commission to investigate the matter. On +November 16th the commission returned from Levashovo, headquarters of +the Women’s Battalion. Madame Tyrkova reported that the girls had been +at first taken to the barracks of the Pavlovsky Regiment, and that +there some of them had been badly treated; but that at present most of +them were at Levashovo, and the rest scattered about the city in +private houses. Dr. Mandelbaum, another of the commission, testified +drily that _none_ of the women had been thrown out of the windows of +the Winter Palace, that _none_ were wounded, that three had been +violated, and that one had committed suicide, leaving a note which said +that she had been “disappointed in her ideals.” + +On November 21st the Military Revolutionary Committee officially +dissolved the Women’s Battalion, at the request of the girls +themselves, who returned to civilian clothes. + +In Louise Bryant’s book, “Six Red Months in Russia,” there is an +interesting description of the girl-soldiers during this time. + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V + +1. + +APPEALS AND PROCLAMATIONS + + +_From the Military Revolutionary Committee,_ November 8: + +“To All Army Committees and All Soviets of Soldiers’ Deputies. + +“The Petrograd garrison has overturned the Government of Kerensky, +which had risen against the Revolution and the People…. In sending this +news to the Front and the country, the Military Revolutionary Committee +requests all soldiers to keep vigilant watch on the conduct of +officers. Officers who do not frankly and openly declare for the +Revolution should be immediately arrested as enemies. + +“The Petrograd Soviet interprets the programme of the new Government +as: immediate proposals of a general democratic peace, the immediate +transfer of great landed estates to the peasants, and the honest +convocation of the Constituent Assembly. The people’s revolutionary +Army must not permit troops of doubtful morale to be sent to Petrograd. +Act by means of arguments, by means of moral suasion—but if that fails, +halt the movement of troops by implacable force. + +“The present order must be immediately read to all military units of +every branch of the service. Whoever keeps the knowledge of this order +from the soldier-masses…. commits a serious crime against the +Revolution, and will be punished with all the rigour of revolutionary +law. + +“Soldiers! For peace, bread, land, and popular government!” + + * * * * * + +“To All Front and Rear Army, Corps, Divisional, Regimental and Company +Committees, and All Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ +Deputies. + +“Soldiers and Revolutionary Officers! + +“The Military Revolutionary Committee, by agreement with the majority +of the workers, soldiers, and peasants, has decreed that General +Kornilov and all the accomplices of his conspiracy shall be brought +immediately to Petrograd, for incarceration in Peter-Paul Fortress and +arraignment before a military revolutionary court-martial…. + +“All who resist the execution of this decree are declared by the +Committee to be traitors to the Revolution, and their orders are +herewith declared null and void.” + +_The Military Revolutionary Committee Attached to the Petrograd Soviet +of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies._ + + * * * * * + +“To all Provincial and District Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and +Peasants’ Deputies. + +“By resolution of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, all arrested +members of Land Committees are immediately set free. The Commissars who +arrested them are to be arrested. + +“From this moment all power belongs to the Soviets. The Commissars of +the Provisional Government are removed. The presidents of the various +local Soviets are invited to enter into direct relations with the +revolutionary Government.” + +_Military Revolutionary Committee._ + +2. + +PROTEST OF THE MUNICIPAL DUMA + + +“The Central City Duma, elected on the most democratic principles, has +undertaken the burden of managing Municipal affairs and food supplies +at the time of the greatest disorganisation. At the present moment the +Bolshevik party, three weeks before the elections to the Constituent +Assembly, and in spite of the menace of the external enemy, having +removed by armed force the only legal revolutionary authority, is +making an attempt against the rights and independence of the Municipal +Self-Government, demanding submission to its Commissars and its illegal +authority. + +“In this terrible and tragic moment the Petrograd City Duma, in the +face of its constituents, and of all Russia, declares loudly that it +will not submit to any encroachments on its rights and its +independence, and will remain at the post of responsibility to which it +has been called by the will of the population of the capital. + +“The Central City Duma of Petrograd appeals to all Dumas and Zemstvos +of the Russian Republic to rally to the defence of one of the greatest +conquests of the Russian Revolution—the independence and inviolability +of popular self-government.” + +3. + +LAND DECREE—PEASANTS’ “NAKAZ” + + +The Land question can only be permanently settled by the general +Constituent Assembly. + +The most equitable solution of the Land question should be as follows: + +1. The right of private ownership of land is abolished forever; land +cannot be sold, nor leased, nor mortgaged, nor alienated in any way. +All dominical lands, lands attached to titles, lands belonging to the +Emperor’s cabinet, to monasteries, churches, possession lands, entailed +lands, private estates, communal lands, peasant free-holds, and others, +are confiscated without compensation, and become national property, and +are placed at the disposition of the workers who cultivate them. + +Those who are damaged because of this social transformation of the +rights of property are entitled to public aid during the time necessary +for them to adapt themselves to the new conditions of existence. + +2. All the riches beneath the earth—ores, oil, coal, salt, etc.—as well +as forests and waters having a national importance, become the +exclusive property of the State. All minor streams, lakes and forests +are placed in the hands of the communities, on condition of being +managed by the local organs of government. + +3. All plots of land scientifically cultivated—gardens, plantations, +nurseries, seed-plots, green-houses, and others—shall not be divided, +but transformed into model farms, and pass into the hands of the State +or of the community, according to their size and importance. + +Buildings, communal lands and villages with their private gardens and +their orchards remain in the hands of their present owners; the +dimensions of these plots and the rate of taxes for their use shall be +fixed by law. + +4. All studs, governmental and private cattle-breeding and +bird-breeding establishments, and others, are confiscated and become +national property, and are transferred either to the State or to the +community, according to their size and importance. + +All questions of compensation for the above are within the competence +of the Constituent Assembly. + +5. All inventoried agricultural property of the confiscated lands, +machinery and live-stock, are transferred without compensation to the +State or the community, according to their quantity and importance. + +The confiscation of such machinery or live-stock shall not apply to the +small properties of peasants. + +6. The right to use the land is granted to all citizens, without +distinction of sex, who wish to work the land themselves, with the help +of their families, or in partnership, and only so long as they are able +to work. No hired labour is permitted. + +In the event of the incapacity for work of a member of the commune for +a period of two years, the commune shall be bound to render him +assistance during this time by working his land in common. + +Farmers who through old age or sickness have permanently lost the +capacity to work the land themselves, shall surrender their land and +receive instead a Government pension. + +7. The use of the land should be equalised—that is to say, the land +shall be divided among the workers according to local conditions, the +unit of labour and the needs of the individual. + +The way in which land is to be used may be individually determined +upon: as homesteads, as farms, by communes, by partnerships, as will be +decided by the villages and settlements. + +8. All land upon its confiscation is pooled in the general People’s +Land Fund. Its distribution among the workers is carried out by the +local and central organs of administration, beginning with the village +democratic organisations and ending with the central provincial +institutions—with the exception of urban and rural cooperative +societies. + +The Land Fund is subject to periodical redistribution according to the +increase of population and the development of productivity and rural +economy. + +In case of modification of the boundaries of allotments, the original +centre of the allotment remains intact. + +The lands of persons retiring from the community return to the Land +Fund; providing that near relatives of the persons retiring, or friends +designated by them, shall have preference in the redistribution of +these lands. + +When lands are returned to the Land Fund, the money expended for +manuring or improving the land, which has not been exhausted, shall be +reimbursed. + +If in some localities the Land Fund is insufficient to satisfy the +local population, the surplus population should emigrate. + +The organisation of the emigration, also the costs thereof, and the +providing of emigrants with the necessary machinery and live-stock, +shall be the business of the State. + +The emigration shall be carried out in the following order: first, the +peasants without land who express their wish to emigrate; then the +undesirable members of the community, deserters, etc., and finally, by +drawing lots on agreement. + +All which is contained in this _nakaz,_ being the expression of the +indisputable will of the great majority of conscious peasants of +Russia, is declared to be a temporary law, and until the convocation of +the Constituent Assembly, becomes effective immediately so far as is +possible, and in some parts of it gradually, as will be determined by +the District Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies. + +4. + +THE LAND AND DESERTERS + + +The Government was not forced to make any decision concerning the +rights of deserters to the land. The end of the war and the +demobilisation of the army automatically removed the deserter problem…. + +5. + +THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE’S COMMISSARS + + +The Council of People’s Commissars was at first composed entirely of +Bolsheviki. This was not entirely the fault of the Bolsheviki, however. +On November 8th they offered portfolios to members of the Left +Socialist Revolutionaries, who declined. See page 273. {of original +volume} + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VI + +1. + +APPEALS AND DENUNCIATIONS + + +Appeal to all Citizens and to the Military Organisations of the +Socialist Revolutionary Party. + +“The senseless attempt of the Bolsheviki is on the eve of complete +failure. The garrison is disaffected…. The Ministries are idle, bread +is lacking. All factions except a handful of Bolsheviki have left the +Congress of Soviets. The Bolsheviki are alone! Abuses of all sorts, +acts of vandalism and pillage, the bombardment of the Winter Palace, +arbitrary arrests—all these crimes committed by the Bolsheviki have +aroused against them the resentment of the majority of the sailors and +soldiers. The _Tsentroflot_ refuses to submit to the orders of the +Bolsheviki…. + +“We call upon all sane elements to gather around the Committee for +Salvation of Country and Revolution; to take serious measures to be +ready, at the first call of the Central Committee of the Party, to act +against the counter-revolutionists, who will doubtless attempt to +profit by these troubles provoked by the Bolshevik adventure, and to +watch closely the external enemy, who also would like to take advantage +of this opportune moment when the Front is weakened….” + +_The Military Section of the Central Committee of the Socialist +Revolutionary Party._ + + * * * * * + +From _Pravda:_ + +“What is Kerensky? + +“A usurper, whose place is in Peter-Paul prison, with Kornilov and +Kishkin. + +“A criminal and a traitor to the workers, soldiers and peasants, who +believed in him. + +“Kerensky? A murderer of soldiers! + +“Kerensky? A public executioner of peasants! + +“Kerensky? A strangler of workers! + +“Such is the second Kornilov who now wants to butcher Liberty!” + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VII + +1. + +TWO DECREES + + +_On the Press_ + +In the serious decisive hour of the Revolution and the days immediately +following it, the Provisional Revolutionary Committee is compelled to +adopt a series of measures against the counter-revolutionary press of +all shades. + +Immediately on all sides there are cries that the new Socialist +authority is in this violating the essential principles of its own +programme by an attempt against the freedom of the press. + +The Workers’ and Peasants’ Government calls the attention of the +population to the fact that in our country, behind this liberal shield, +is hidden the opportunity for the wealthier classes to seize the lion’s +share of the whole press, and by this means to poison the popular mind +and bring confusion into the consciousness of the masses. + +Every one knows that the bourgeois press is one of the most powerful +weapons of the bourgeoisie. Especially in this critical moment, when +the new authority of the workers and peasants is in process of +consolidation, it is impossible to leave it in the hands of the enemy, +at a time when it is not less dangerous than bombs and machine-guns. +This is why temporary and extraordinary measures have been adopted for +the purpose of stopping the flow of filth and calumny in which the +yellow and green press would be glad to drown the young victory of the +people. + +As soon as the new order is consolidated, all administrative measures +against the press will be suspended; full liberty will be given it +within the limits of responsibility before the law, in accordance with +the broadest and most progressive regulations…. + +Bearing in mind, however, the fact that any restrictions of the freedom +of the press, even in critical moments, are admissible only within the +bounds of necessity, the Council of People’s Commissars decrees as +follows: + +1. The following classes of newspapers shall be subject to closure: (a) +Those inciting to open resistance or disobedience to the Workers’ and +Peasants’ Government; (b) Those creating confusion by obviously and +deliberately perverting the news; (c) Those inciting to acts of a +criminal character punishable by the laws. + +2. The temporary or permanent closing of any organ of the press shall +be carried out only by virtue of a resolution of the Council of +People’s Commissars. + +3. The present decree is of a temporary nature, and will be revoked by +a special _ukaz_ when normal conditions of public life are +re-established. + +_President of the Council of People’s Commissars,_ + +VLADIMIR ULIANOV (LENIN). + + + * * * * * + +_On Workers’ Militia_ + +1. All Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies shall form a Workers’ +Militia. + +2. This Workers’ Militia shall be entirely at the orders of the Soviets +of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. + +3. Military and civil authorities must render every assistance in +arming the workers and in supplying them with technical equipment, even +to the extent of requisitioning arms belonging to the War Department of +the Government. + +4. This decree shall be promulgated by telegraph. Petrograd, November +10, 1917. + +_People’s Commissar of the Interior_ + +A. I. RYKOV. + + +This decree encouraged the formation of companies of Red Guards all +over Russia, which became the most valuable arm of the Soviet +Government in the ensuing civil war. + +2. + +THE STRIKE FUND + + +The fund for the striking Government employees and bank clerks was +subscribed by banks and business houses of Petrograd and other cities, +and also by foreign corporations doing business in Russia. All who +consented to strike against the Bolsheviki were paid full wages, and in +some cases their pay was increased. It was the realisation of the +strike fund contributors that the Bolsheviki were firmly in power, +followed by their refusal to pay strike benefits, which finally broke +the strike. + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VIII + +1. + +KERENSKY’S ADVANCE + + +On November 9th Kerensky and his Cossacks arrived at Gatchina, where +the garrison, hopelessly split into two factions, immediately +surrendered. The members of the Gatchina Soviet were arrested, and at +first threatened with death; later they were released on good +behaviour. + +The Cossack advance-guards, practically unopposed, occupied Pavlovsk, +Alexandrovsk and other stations, and reached the outskirts of Tsarskoye +Selo next morning—November 10th. At once the garrison divided into +three groups—the officers, loyal to Kerenskly; part of the soldiers and +non-commissioned officers, who declared themselves “neutral”; and most +of the rank and file, who were for the Bolsheviki. The Bolshevik +soldiers, who were without leaders or organisation, fell back toward +the capital. The local Soviet also withdrew to the village of Pulkovo. + +From Pulkovo six members of the Tsarskoye Selo Soviet went with an +automobile-load of proclamations to Gatchina, to propagandise the +Cossacks. They spent most of the day going around Gatchina from one +Cossack barracks to another, pleading, arguing and explaining. Toward +evening some officers discovered their presence and they were arrested +and brought before General Krasnov, who said, “You fought against +Kornilov; now you are opposing Kerensky. I’ll have you all shot!” + +After reading aloud to them the order appointing him commander-in-chief +of the Petrograd District, Krasnov asked if they were Bolsheviki. They +replied in the affirmative—upon which Krasnov went away; a short time +later an officer came and set them free, saying that it was by order of +General Krasnov…. + +In the meanwhile delegations continued to arrive from Petrograd; from +the Duma, the Committee for Salvation, and, last of all, from the +_Vikzhel._ The Union of Railway Workers insisted that some agreement be +reached to halt the civil war, and demanded that Kerensky treat with +the Bolsheviki, and that he stop the advance on Petrograd. In case of +refusal, the _Vikzhel_ threatened a general strike at midnight of +November 11th. + +Kerensky asked to be allowed to discuss the matter with the Socialist +Ministers and with the Committee for Salvation. He was plainly +undecided. + +On the 11th Cossack outposts reached Krasnoye Selo, from which the +local Soviet and the heterogeneous forces of the Military Revolutionary +Committee precipitately retired, some of them surrendering…. That night +they also touched Pulkovo, where the first real resistance was +encountered…. + +Cossacks deserters began to dribble into Petrograd, declaring that +Kerensky had lied to them, that he had spread broadcast over the front +proclamations which said that Petrograd was burning, that the +Bolsheviki had invited the Germans to come in, and that they were +murdering women and children and looting indiscriminately…. + +The Military Revolutionary Committee immediately sent out some dozens +of “agitators,” with thousands of printed appeals, to inform the +Cossacks of the real situation…. + +2. + +PROCLAMATIONS OF THE MILITARY REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE + + +“To All Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies. + +“The All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and +Peasants’ Deputies charges the local Soviets immediately to take the +most energetic measures to oppose all counter-revolutionary +anti-Semitic disturbances, and all _pogroms_ of whatever nature. The +honour of the workers’, peasants’ and soldiers’ Revolution cannot +tolerate any disorders…. + +“The Red Guard of Petrograd, the revolutionary garrison and the sailors +have maintained complete order in the capital. + +“Workers, soldiers, and peasants, everywhere you should follow the +example of the workers and soldiers of Petrograd. + +“Comrades soldiers and Cossacks, on us falls the duty of keeping real +revolutionary order. + +“All revolutionary Russia and the whole world have their eyes on you….” + +“The All-Russian Congress of Soviets decrees: + +“To abolish capital punishment at the Front, which was reintroduced by +Kerensky. + +“Complete freedom of propaganda is to be re-established in the country. +All soldiers and revolutionary officers now under arrest for so-called +political ‘crimes’ are at once to be set free.” + +“The ex-Premier Kerensky, overthrown by the people, refuses to submit +to the Congress of Soviets and attempts to struggle against the legal +Government elected by the All-Russian Congress—the Council of People’s +Commissars. The Front has refused to aid Kerensky. Moscow has rallied +to the new Government. In many cities (Minsk, Moghilev, Kharkov) the +power is in the hands of the Soviets. No infantry detachment consents +to march against the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government, which, in +accord with the firm will of the Army and the people, has begun peace +negotiations and has given the land to the peasants…. + +“We give public warning that if the Cossacks do not halt Kerensky, who +has deceived them and is leading them against Petrograd, the +revolutionary forces will rise with all their might for the defence of +the precious conquests of the Revolution—Peace and Land. + +“Citizens of Petrograd! Kerensky fled from the city, abandoning the +authority to Kishkin, who wanted to surrender the capital to the +Germans; Rutenburg, of the Black Band, who sabotaged the Municipal Food +Supply; and Paltchinsky, hated by the whole democracy. Kerensky has +fled, abandoning you to the Germans, to famine, to bloody massacres. +The revolting people have arrested Kerensky’s Ministers, and you have +seen how the order and supplying of Petrograd at once improved. +Kerensky, at the demand of the aristocrat proprietors, the capitalists, +speculators, marches against you for the purpose of giving back the +land to the land-owners, and continuing the hated and ruinous war. + +“Citizens of Petrograd! We know that the great majority of you are in +favour of the people’s revolutionary authority, against the Kornilovtsi +led by Kerensky. Do not be deceived by the lying declarations of the +impotent bourgeois conspirators, who will be pitilessly crushed. + +“Workers, soldiers, peasants! We call upon you for revolutionary +devotion and discipline. + +“Millions of peasants and soldiers are with us. + +“The victory of the people’s Revolution is assured!” + +3. + +ACTS OF THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE’s COMMISSARS + +In this book I am giving only such decrees as are in my opinion +pertinent to the Bolshevik conquest of power. The rest belong to a +detailed account of the Structure of the Soviet State, for which I have +no place in this work. This will be dealt with very fully in the second +volume, now in preparation, “Kornilov to Brest-Litovsk.” + +_Concerning Dwelling-Places_ + +1. The independent Municipal Self-Governments have the right to +sequestrate all unoccupied or uninhabited dwelling-places. + +2. The Municipalities may, according to laws and arrangements +established by them, install in all available lodgings citizens who +have no place to live, or who live in congested or unhealthy lodgings. + +3. The Municipalities may establish a service of inspection of +dwelling-places, organise it and define its powers. + +4. The Municipalities may issue orders on the institution of House +Committees, define their organisation, their powers and give them +juridical authority. + +5. The Municipalities may create Housing Tribunals, define their powers +and their authority. + +6. This decree is promulgated by telegraph. + +_People’s Commissar of the Interior,_ + +A. I. RYKOV. + + + * * * * * + +_On Social Insurance_ + +The Russian proletariat has inscribed on its banners the promise of +complete Social Insurance of wage-workers, as well as of the town and +village poor. The Government of the Tsar, the proprietors and the +capitalists, as well as the Government of coalition and conciliation, +failed to realise the desires of the workers with regard to Social +Insurance. + +The Workers’ and Peasants’ Government, relying upon the support of the +Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies, announces to the +working-class of Russia and to the town and village poor, that it will +immediately prepare laws on Social Insurance based on the formulas +proposed by the Labour organisations: + +1. Insurance for all wage-workers without exception, as well as for all +urban and rural poor. + +2. Insurance to cover all categories of loss of working capacity, such +as illness, infirmities, old age, childbirth, widowhood, orphanage, and +unemployment. + +3. All the costs of insurance to be charged to employers. + +4. Compensation of at least full wages in all loss of working capacity +and unemployment. + +5. Complete workers’ self-government of all Insurance institutions. + +In the name of the Government of the Russian Republic, + _The People’s Commissar of Labour,_ + ALEXANDER SHLIAPNIKOV. + + * * * * * + +_On Popular Education_ + +Citizens of Russia! + +With the insurrection of November 7th the working masses have won for +the first time the real power. + +The All-Russian Congress of Soviets has temporarily transferred this +power both to its Executive Committee and to the Council of People’s +Commissars. + +By the will of the revolutionary people, I have been appointed People’s +Commissar of Education. + +The work of guiding in general the people’s education, inasmuch as it +remains with the central government, is, until the Constituent Assembly +meets, entrusted to a Commission on the People’s Education, whose +chairman and executive is the People’s Commissar. + +Upon what fundamental propositions will rest this State Commission? How +is its sphere of competence determined? + +_The General Line of Educational Activity:_ Every genuinely democratic +power must, in the domain of education, in a country where illiteracy +and ignorance reign supreme, make its first aim the struggle against +this darkness. It must acquire in the shortest time _universal +literacy,_ by organising a network of schools answering to the demands +of modern pedagogics; it must introduce universal, obligatory and free +tuition for all, and establish at the same time a series of such +teachers’ institutes and seminaries as will in the shortest time +furnish a powerful army of people’s teachers so necessary for the +universal instruction of the population of our boundless Russia. + +_Decentralisation:_ The State Commission on People’s Education is by no +means a central power governing the institutions of instruction and +education. On the contrary, the entire school work ought to be +transferred to the organs of local self-government. The independent +work of the workers, soldiers and peasants, establishing on their own +initiative cultural educational organisations, must be given full +autonomy, both by the State centre and the Municipal centres. + +The work of the State Commission serves as a link and helpmate to +organise resources of material and moral support to the Municipal and +private institutions, particularly to those with a class-character +established by the workers. + +_The State Committee on People’s Education:_ A whole series of +invaluable law projects was elaborated from the beginning of the +Revolution by the State Committee for People’s Education, a tolerably +democratic body as to its composition, and rich in experts. The State +Commission sincerely desires the collaboration of this Committee. + +It has addressed itself to the bureau of the Committee, with the +request at once to convoke an extraordinary session of the Committee +for the fulfilment of the following programme: + +1. The revision of rules of representation in the Committee, in the +sense of greater democratisation. + +2. The revision of the Committee’s rights in the sense of widening +them, and of converting the Committee into a fundamental State +institute for the elaboration of law projects calculated to reorganise +public instruction and education in Russia upon democratic principles. + +3. The revision, jointly with the new State Commission, of the laws +already created by the Committee, a revision required by the fact that +in editing them the Committee had to take into account the bourgeois +spirit of previous Ministries, which obstructed it even in this its +narrowed form. + +After this revision these laws will be put into effect without any +bureaucratic red tape, in the revolutionary order. + +_The Pedagogues and the Societists:_ The State Commission welcomes the +pedagogues to the bright and honourable work of educating the +people—the masters of the country. + +No one measure in the domain of the people’s education ought to be +adopted by any power without the attentive deliberation of those who +represent the pedagogues. + +On the other hand, a decision cannot by any means be reached +exclusively through the cooperation of specialists. This refers as well +to reforms of the institutes of general education. + +The cooperation of the pedagogues with the social forces—this is how +the Commission will work both in its own constitution, in the State +Committee, and in all its activities. + +As its first task the Commission considers the improvement of the +teachers’ status, and first of all of those very poor though almost +most important contributors to the work of culture—the elementary +school teachers. Their just demands ought to be satisfied at once and +at any cost. The proletariat of the schools has in vain demanded an +increase of salary to one hundred rubles per month. It would be a +disgrace any longer to keep in poverty the teachers of the overwhelming +majority of the Russian people. + +But a real democracy cannot stop at mere literacy, at universal +elementary instruction. It must endeavour to organise a uniform secular +school of several grades. The ideal is, equal and if possible higher +education for all the citizens. So long as this idea has not been +realised for all, the natural transition through all the schooling +grades up to the university—a transition to a higher stage—must depend +entirely upon the pupil’s aptitude, and not upon the resources of his +family. + +The problem of a genuinely democratic organisation of instruction is +particularly difficult in a country impoverished by a long, criminal, +imperialistic war; but the workers who have taken the power must +remember that education will serve them as the greatest instrument in +their struggle for a better lot and for a spiritual growth. However +needful it may be to curtail other articles of the people’s budget, the +expenses on education must stand high. A large educational budget is +the pride and glory of a nation. The free and enfranchised peoples of +Russia will not forget this. + +The fight against illiteracy and ignorance cannot be confined to a +thorough establishment of school education for children and youths. +Adults, too, will be anxious to save themselves from the debasing +position of a man who cannot read and write. The school for adults must +occupy a conspicuous place in the general plan of popular instruction. + +_Instruction and Education:_ One must emphasise the difference between +instruction and education. + +Instruction is the transmission of ready knowledge by the teacher to +his pupil. Education is a creative process. The personality of the +individual is being “educated” throughout life, is being formed, grows +richer in content, stronger and more perfect. + +The toiling masses of the people—the workmen, the peasants, the +soldiers—are thirsting for elementary and advanced instruction. But +they are also thirsting for education. Neither the government nor the +intellectuals nor any other power outside of themselves can give it to +them. The school, the book, the theatre, the museum, etc., may here by +only aids. They have their own ideas, formed by their social position, +so different from the position of those ruling classes and +intellectuals who have hitherto created culture. They have their own +ideas, their own emotions, their own ways of approaching the problems +of personality and society. The city labourer, according to his own +fashion, the rural toiler according to his, will each build his clear +world-conception permeated with the class-idea of the workers. There is +no more superb or beautiful phenomenon than the one of which our +nearest descendants will be both witnesses and participants: The +building by collective Labour of its own general, rich and free soul. + +Instruction will surely be an important but not a decisive element. +What is more important here is the criticism, the creativeness of the +masses themselves; for science and art have only in some of their parts +a general human importance. They suffer radical changes with every +far-reaching class upheaval. + +Throughout Russia, particularly among the city labourers, but also +among the peasants, a powerful wave of cultural educational movement +has arisen; workers’ and soldiers’ organisations of this kind are +multiplying rapidly. To meet them, to lend them support, to clear the +road before them is the first task of a revolutionary and popular +government in the domain of democratic education. + +_The Constituent Assembly_ will doubtless soon begin its work. It alone +can permanently establish the order of national and social life in our +country, and at the same time the general character of the organisation +of popular education. + +Now, however, with the passage of power to the Soviets, the really +democratic character of the Constituent Assembly is assured. The line +which the State Commission, relying upon the State Committee, will +follow, will hardly suffer any modification under the influence of the +Constituent Assembly. Without pre-determining it, the new People’s +Government considers itself within its rights in enacting in this +domain a series of measures which aim at enriching and enlightening as +soon as possible the spiritual life of the country. + +_The Ministry:_ The present work must in the interim proceed through +the Ministry of the People’s Education. Of all the necessary +alterations in its composition and construction the State Commission +will have charge, elected by the Executive Committee of the Soviets and +the State Committee. Of course the order of State authority in the +domain of the people’s education will be established by the Constituent +Assembly. Until then, the Ministry must play the part of the executive +apparatus for both the State Committee and the State Commission for +People’s Education. + +The pledge of the country’s safety lies in the cooperation of all its +vital and genuinely democratic forces. + +We believe that the energetic effort of the working people and of the +honest enlightened intellectuals will lead the country out of its +painful crisis, and through complete democracy to the reign of +Socialism and the brotherhood of nations. + +_People’s Commissar on Education,_ + +A. V. LUNACHARSKY. + + + * * * * * + +_On the Order in Which the Laws Are to be Ratified and Published._ + +1. Until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, the enacting and +publishing of laws shall be carried out in the order decreed by the +present Provisional Workmen’s and Peasants’ Government, elected by the +All-Russian Congress of Workers’, Peasants’ and Soldiers’ Deputies. + +2. Every bill is presented for consideration of the Government by the +respective Ministry, signed by the duly authorised People’s Commissar; +or it is presented by the legislative section attached to the +Government, signed by the chief of the section. + +3. After its ratification by the Government, the decree in its final +edition, in the name of the Russian Republic, is signed by the +president of the Council of People’s Commissars, or for him by the +People’s Commissar who presented it for the consideration of the +Government, and is then published. + +4. The date of publishing it in the official “Gazette of the +Provisional Workmen’s and Peasants’ Government,” is the date of its +becoming law. + +5. In the decree there may be appointed a date, other than the date of +publication, on which it shall become law, or it may be promulgated by +telegraph; in which case it is to be regarded in every locality as +becoming law upon the publication of the telegram. + +6. The promulgation of legislative acts of the government by the State +Senate is abolished. The Legislative Section attached to the Council of +People’s Commissars issues periodically a collection of regulations and +orders of the government which possess the force of law. + +7. The Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers’, +Peasants’, and Soldiers’ Deputies _(Tsay-ee-kah)_ has at all times the +right to cancel, alter or annul any of the Government decrees. + +_In the name of the Russian Republic, the President of the Council of +People’s Commissars,_ + +V. ULIANOV-LENIN. + + +4. + +THE LIQUOR PROBLEM + + +_Order Issued by the Military Revolutonary Committee_ + +1. Until further order the production of alcohol and alcoholic drinks +is prohibited. + +2. It is ordered to all producers of alcohol and alcoholic drinks to +inform not later than on the 27th inst. of the exact site of their +stores. + +3. All culprits against this order will be tried by a Military +Revolutionary Court. + +THE MILITARY REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE. + + +5. + +ORDER NO. 2 + + +_From the Committee of the Finland Guard Reserve Regiment to all House +Committees and to the citizens of Vasili Ostrov._ + +The bourgeoisie has chosen a very sinister method of fighting against +the proletariat; it has established in various parts of the city huge +wine depots, and distributes liquor among the soldiers, in this manner +attempting to sow dissatisfaction in the ranks of the Revolutionary +army. + +It is herewith ordered to all house committees, that at 3 o’clock, the +time set for posting this order, they shall in person and secretly +notify the President of the Committee of the Finland Guard Regiment, +concerning the amount of wine in their premises. + +Those who violate this order will be arrested and given trial before a +merciless court, and their property will be confiscated, and the stock +of wine discovered will be + +BLOWN UP WITH DYNAMITE + + +2 hours after this warning, + +because more lenient measures, as experience has shown, do not bring +the desired results. + +REMEMBER, THERE WILL BE NO OTHER WARNING BEFORE THE EXPLOSIONS. + + +_Regimental Committee of the Finland Guard Regiment._ + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IX + +1. + +MILITARY REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE. BULLETIN NO. 2 + + +November 12th, in the evening, Kerensky sent a proposition to the +revolutionary troops—“to lay down their arms.” Kerensky’s men opened +artillery fire. Our artillery answered and compelled the enemy to be +silent. The Cossacks assumed the offensive. The deadly fire of the +sailors, the Red Guards and the soldiers forced the Cossacks to +retreat. Our armoured cars rushed in among the ranks of the enemy. The +enemy is fleeing. Our troops are in pursuit. The order has been given +to arrest Kerensky. Tsarskoye Selo has been taken by the revolutionary +troops. + +_The Lettish Riflemen:_ The Military Revolutionary Committee has +received precise information that the valiant Lettish Riflemen have +arrived from the Front and taken up a position in the rear of +Kerensky’s bands. + +_From the Staff of the Military Revolutionary Committee_ + +The seizure of Gatchina and Tsarskoye Selo by Kerensky’s detachments is +to be explained by the complete absence of artillery and machine-guns +in these places, whereas Kerensky’s cavalry was provided with artillery +from the beginning. The last two days were days of enforced work for +our Staff, to provide the necessary quantity of guns, machine-guns, +field telephones, etc., for the revolutionary troops. When this +work—with the energetic assistance of the District Soviets and the +factories (the Putilov Works, Obukhov and others)—was accomplished, the +issue of the expected encounter left no place for doubt: on the side of +the revolutionary troops there was not only a surplus in quantity and +such a powerful material base as Petrograd, but also an enormous moral +advantage. All the Petrograd regiments moved out to the positions with +tremendous enthusiasm. The Garrison Conference elected a Control +Commission of five soldiers, thus securing a complete unity between the +commander in chief and the garrison. At the Garrison Conference it was +unanimously decided to begin decisive action. + +The artillery fire on the 12th of November developed with extraordinary +force by 3 P.M. The Cossacks were completely demoralised. A +parliamentarian came from them to the staff of the detachment at +Krasnoye Selo, and proposed to stop the firing, threatening otherwise +to take “decisive” measures. He was answered that the firing would +cease when Kerensky laid down his arms. + +In the developing encounter all sections of the troops—the sailors, +soldiers and the Red Guards—showed unlimited courage. The sailors +continued to advance until they had fired all their cartridges. The +number of casualties has not been established yet, but it is larger on +the part of the counter-revolutionary troops, who experienced great +losses through one of our armoured cars. + +Kerensky’s staff, fearing that they would be surrounded, gave the order +to retreat, which retreat speedily assumed a disorderly character. By +11-12 P.M., Tsarkoye Selo, including the wireless station, was entirely +occupied by the troops of the Soviets. The Cossacks retreated towards +Gatchina and Colpinno. + +The morale of the troops is beyond all praise. The order has been given +to pursue the retreating Cossacks. From the Tsarskoye Selo station a +radio-telegram was sent immediately to the Front and to all local +Soviets throughout Russia. Further details will be communicated…. + +2. + +EVENTS OF THE 13TH IN PETROGRAD + + +Three regiments of the Petrograd garrison to take any part in the +battle against Kerensky. On the morning of the 13th they summoned to a +joint conference sixty delegates from the Front, in order to find some +way to stop the civil war. This conference appointed a committee to go +and persuade Kerensky’s troops to lay down their arms. They proposed to +ask the Government soldiers the following questions: (1) Will the +soldiers and Cossacks of Kerensky recognise the _Tsay-ee-kah_ as the +repository of Governmental power, responsible to the Congress of +Soviets? (2) Will the soldiers and Cossacks accept the decrees of the +second Congress of Soviets? (3) Will they accept the Land and Peace +decrees? (4) Will they agree to cease hostilities and return to their +units? (5) Will they consent to the arrest of Kerensky, Krasnov and +Savinkov? + +At the meeting of the Petrograd Soviet, Zinoviev said, “It would be +foolish to think that this committee could finish affair. The enemy can +only be broken by force. However, it would be a crime for us not to try +every peaceful means to bring the Cossacks over to us…. What we need is +a military victory…. The news of an armistice is premature. Our Staff +will be ready to conclude an armistice when the enemy can no longer do +any harm…. + +“At present, the influence of our victory is creating new political +conditions…. To-day the Socialist Revolutionaries are inclined to admit +the Bolsheviki into the new Government…. A decisive victory is +indispensable, so that those who hesitate will have no further +hesitation….” + +At the City Duma all attention was concentrated on the formation of the +new Government. In many factories and barracks already Revolutionary +Tribunals were operating, and the Bolsheviki were threatening to set up +more of these, and try Gotz and Avksentiev before them. Dan proposed +that an ultimatum be sent demanding the abolition of these +Revolutionary Tribunals, or the other members of the Conference would +immediately break off all negotiations with the Bolsheviki. + +Shingariov, Cadet, declared that the Municipality ought not to take +part in any agreement with the Bolsheviki…. “Any agreement with the +maniacs is impossible until they lay down their arms and recognise the +authority of independent courts of law….” + +Yartsev, for the _Yedinstvo_ group, declared that any agreement with +the Bolsheviki would be equivalent to a Bolshevik victory…. + +Mayor Schreider, for the Socialist Revolutionaries, stated that he was +opposed to all agreement with the Bolsheviki…. “As for a Government, +that ought to spring from the popular will; and since the popular will +has been expressed in the municipal elections, the popular will which +can create a Government is actually concentrated in the Duma….” + +After other speakers, of which only the representative of the +Mensheviki Internationalists was in favour of considering the admission +of the Bolsheviki into the new Government, the Duma voted to continue +its representatives in the _Vikzhel’s_ conference, but to insist upon +the restoration of the Provisional Government before everything, and to +exclude the Bolsheviki from the new power…. + +3. + +TRUCE. KRASNOV’s ANSWER TO THE COMMITTEE FOR SALVATION + +“In answer to your telegram proposing an immediate armistice, the +Supreme Commander, not wishing further futile bloodshed, consents to +enter into negotiations and to establish relations between the armies +of the Government and the insurrectionists. He proposes to the General +Staff of the insurrectionists to recall its regiments to Petrograd, to +declare the line Ligovo-Pulkovo-Colpinno neutral, and to allow the +advance-guards of the Government cavalry to enter Tsarskoye Selo, for +the purpose of establishing order. The answer to this proposal must be +placed in the hands of our envoys before eight o’clock to-morrow +morning. + +KRASNOV.” + + +4. + +EVENTS AT TSARSKOYE SELO + + +On the evening that Kerensky’s troops retreated from Tsarskoye Selo, +some priests organised a religious procession through the streets of +the town, making speeches to the citizens in which they asked the +people to support the rightful authority, the Provisional Government. +When the Cossacks had retreated, and the first Red Guards entered the +town, witnesses reported that the priests had incited the people +against the Soviets, and had said prayers at the grave of Rasputin, +which lies behind the Imperial Palace. One of the priests, Father Ivan +Kutchurov, was arrested and shot by the infuriated Red Guards…. + +Just as the Red Guards entered the town the electric lights were shut +off, plunging the streets in complete darkness. The director of the +electric light plant, Lubovitch, was arrested by the Soviet troops and +asked why he had shut off the lights. He was found some time later in +the room where he had been imprisoned with a revolver in his hand and a +bullet hole in his temple. + +The Petrograd anti-Bolshevik papers came out next day with headlines, +“Plekhanov’s temperature 39 degrees!” Plekhanov lived at Tsarskoye +Selo, where he was lying ill in bed. Red Guards arrived at the house +and searched it for arms, questioning the old man. + +“What class of society do you belong to?” they asked him. + +“I am a revolutionist,” answered Plekhanov, “who for forty years has +devoted his life to the struggle for liberty!” + +“Anyway,” said a workman, “you have now sold yourself to the +bourgeoisie!” + +The workers no longer knew Plekhanov, pioneer of the Russian Social +Democracy! + +5. + +APPEAL OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT + + +“The detachments at Gatchina, deceived by Kerensky, have laid down +their arms and decided to arrest Kerensky. That chief of the +counter-revolutionary campaign has fled. The Army, by an enormous +majority, has pronounced in favour of the second All-Russian Congress +of Soviets, and of the Government which it has created. Scores of +delegates from the Front have hastened to Petrograd to assure the +Soviet Government of the Army’s fidelity. No twisting of the facts, no +calumny against the revolutionary workers, soldiers, and peasants, has +been able to defeat the People. The Workers’ and Soldiers’ Revolution +is victorious…. + +“The _Tsay-ee-kah_ appeals to the troops which march under the flag of +the counter-revolution, and invites them immediately to lay down their +arms—to shed no longer the blood of their brothers in the interests of +a handful of land-owners and capitalists. The Workers’, Soldiers’ and +Peasants’ Revolution curses those who remain even for a moment under +the flag of the People’s enemies…. + +“Cossacks! Come over to the rank of the victorious People! Railwaymen, +postmen, telegraphers—all, all support the new Government of the +People!” + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER X + +1. + +DAMAGE TO THE KREMLIN + + +I myself verified the damage to the Kremlin, which I visited +immediately after the bombardment. The Little Nicolai Palace, a +building of no particular importance, which was occupied occasionally +by receptions of one of the Grand Duchesses, had served as barracks for +the _yunkers._ It was not only bombarded, but pretty well sacked; +fortunately there was nothing in it of particular historical value. + +Usspensky Cathedral had a shell-hole in one of the cupolas, but except +for a few feet of mosaic in the ceiling, was undamaged. The frescoes on +the porch of Blagovestchensky Cathedral were badly damaged by a shell. +Another shell hit the corner of Ivan Veliki. Tchudovsky Monastery was +hit about thirty times, but only one shell went through a window into +the interior, the others breaking the brick window-moulding and the +roof cornices. + +The clock over the Spasskaya Gate was smashed. Troitsky Gate was +battered, but easily reparable. One of the lower towers had lost its +brick spire. + +The church of St. Basil was untouched, as was the great Imperial +Palace, with all the treasures of Moscow and Petrograd in its cellar, +and the crown jewels in the Treasury. These places were not even +entered. + +2. + +LUNATCHARSKY’s DECLARATION + +“Comrades! You are the young masters of the country, and although now +you have much to do and think about, you must know how to defend your +artistic and scientific treasures. + +“Comrades! That which is happening at Moscow is a horrible, irreparable +misfortune…. The People in its struggle for the power has mutilated our +glorious capital. + +“It is particularly terrible in these days of violent struggle, of +destructive warfare, to be Commissar of Public Education. Only the hope +of the victory of Socialism, the source of a new and superior culture, +brings me comfort. On me weighs the responsibility of protecting the +artistic wealth of the people…. Not being able to remain at my post, +where I had no influence, I resigned. My comrades, the other +Commissars, considered this resignation inadmissible. I shall therefore +remain at my post…. And moreover, I understand that the damage done to +the Kremlin is not as serious as has been reported…. + +“But I beg you, comrades, to give me your support…. Preserve for +yourselves and your descendants the beauty of our land; be the +guardians of the property of the People. + +“Soon, very soon, even the most ignorant, who have been held in +ignorance so long, will awake and understand what a source of joy, +strength and wisdom is art….” + +3. + +QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE BOURGEOISIE + + +[Graphic, page 354] + +4. + +REVOLUTIONARY FINANCIAL MEASURE + + +_Order_ + +In virtue of the powers vested in me by the Military Revolutionary +Committee attached to the Moscow Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ +Deputies, I decree: + +1. All banks with branches, the Central State Savings Bank with +branches, and the savings banks at the Post and Telegraph offices are +to be opened beginning November 22nd, from 11 A. M. to 1 P. M. until +further order. + +2. On current accounts and on the books of the savings banks, payments +will be made by the above mentioned institutions, of not more than 150 +rubles for each depositor during the course of the next week. + +3. Payments of amounts exceeding 150 rubles a week on current accounts +and savings banks books, also payments on other accounts of all kinds +will be allowed during the next three days—November 22nd, 23d, and +24th, only in the following cases: + +(a) On the accounts of military organisations for the satisfaction of +their needs; + +(b) For the payment of salaries of employees and the earnings of +workers according to the tables and lists certified by the Factory +Committees or Soviets of Employees, and attested by the signatures of +the Commissars, or the representatives of the Military Revolutionary +Committee, and the district Military Revolutionary Committees. + +4. Not more than 150 rubles are to be paid against drafts; the +remaining sums are to be entered on current account, payments on which +are to be made in the order established by the present decree. + +5. All other banking operations are prohibited during these three days. + +6. The receipt of money on all accounts is allowed for any amount. + +7. The representatives of the Finance Council for the certification of +the authorisations indicated in clause 3 will hold their office in the +building of the Stock Exchange, Ilyinka Street, from 10 A. M. to 2 P. +M. + +8. The Banks and Savings Banks shall send the totals of daily cash +operations by 5 P. M. to the headquarters of the Soviet, Skobeliev +Square, to the Military Revolutionary Committee, for the Finance +Council. + +9. All employees and managers of credit institutions of all kinds who +refuse to comply with this decree shall be responsible as enemies of +the Revolution and of the mass of the population, before the +Revolutionary Tribunals. Their names shall be published for general +information. + +10. For the control of the operations of Branches of the Savings Banks +and Banks within the limits of this decree, the district Military +Revolutionary Committees shall elect three representatives and appoint +their place of business. + +_Fully-authorised Commissar of the Military Revolutionary Committee,_ + +S. SHEVERDIN-MAKSIMENKO. + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XI + +1. + +LIMITATIONS OF THIS CHAPTER + + +This chapter extends over a period of two months, more or less. It +covers the time of negotiations with the Allies, the negotiations and +armistice with the Germans, and the beginning of the Peace negotiations +at Brest-Litovsk, as well as the period in which were laid the +foundations of the Soviet State. + +However, it is no part of my purpose in this book to describe and +interpret these very important historical events, which require more +space. They are therefore reserved for another volume, “Kornilov to +Brest-Litovsk.” + +In this chapter, then, I have confined myself to the Soviet +Government’s attempts to consolidate its political power at home, and +sketched its successive conquests of hostile domestic elements—which +process was temporarily interrupted by the disastrous Peace of +Brest-Litovsk. + +2. + +PREAMBLE—DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLES OF RUSSIA + + +The October Revolution of the workers and peasants began under the +common banner of Emancipation. + +The peasants are being emancipated from the power of the landowners, +for there is no longer the landowner’s property right in the land—it +has been abolished. The soldiers and sailors are being emancipated from +the power of autocratic generals, for generals will henceforth be +elective and subject to recall. The workingmen are being emancipated +from the whims and arbitrary will of the capitalists, for henceforth +there will be established the control of the workers over mills and +factories. Everything living and capable of life is being emancipated +from the hateful shackles. + +There remain only the peoples of Russia, who have suffered and are +suffering oppression and arbitrariness, and whose emancipation must +immediately be begun, whose liberation must be effected resolutely and +definitely. + +During the period of Tsarism the peoples of Russia were systematically +incited against one another. The result of such a policy are known: +massacres and _pogroms_ on the one hand, slavery of peoples on the +other. + +There can be and there must be no return to this disgraceful policy. +Henceforth the policy of a voluntary and honest union of the peoples of +Russia must be substituted. + +In the period of imperialism, after the March revolution, when the +power was transferred into the hands of the Cadet bourgeoisie, the +naked policy of provocation gave way to one of cowardly distrust of the +peoples of Russia, to a policy of fault-finding, of meaningless +“freedom” and “equality” of peoples. The results of such a policy are +known: the growth of national enmity, the impairment of mutual +confidence. + +An end must be put to this unworthy policy of falsehood and distrust, +of fault-finding and provocation. Henceforth it must be replaced by an +open and honest policy leading to the complete mutual confidence of the +peoples of Russia. Only as the result of such a trust can there be +formed an honest and lasting union of the peoples of Russia. Only as +the result of such a union can the workers and peasants of the peoples +of Russia be cemented into one revolutionary force able to resist all +attempts on the part of the imperialist-annexationist bourgeoisie. + +3. + +DECREES + + +_On the Nationalisation of the Banks_ + +In the interest of the regular organisation of the national economy, of +the thorough eradication of bank speculation and the complete +emancipation of the workers, peasants, and the whole labouring +population from the exploitation of banking capital, and with a view to +the establishment of a single national bank of the Russian Republic +which shall serve the real interests of the people and the poorer +classes, the Central Executive Committee _(Tsay-ee-kah)_ resolves: + +1. The banking business is declared a state monopoly. + +2. All existing private joint-stock banks and banking offices are +merged in the State Bank. + +3. The assets and liabilities of the liquidated establishments are +taken over by the State Bank. + +4. The order of the merger of private banks in the State Bank is to be +determined by a special decree. + +5. The temporary administration of the affairs of the private banks is +entrusted to the board of the State Bank. + +6. The interests of the small depositors will be safeguarded. + + * * * * * + +_On the Equality of Rank of All Military Men_ + +In realisation of the will of the revolutionary people regarding the +prompt and decisive abolition of all remnants of former inequality in +the Army, the Council of People’s Commissars decrees: + +1. All ranks and grades in the Army, beginning with the rank of +Corporal and ending with the rank of General, are abolished. The Army +of the Russian Republic consists now of free and equal citizens, +bearing the honourable title of Soldiers of the Revolutionary Army. + +2. All privileges connected with the former ranks and grades, also all +outward marks of distinction, are abolished. + +3. All addressing by titles is abolished. + +4. All decorations, orders, and other marks of distinction are +abolished. + +5. With the abolition of the rank of officer, all separate officers’ +organisations are abolished. + +Note.—Orderlies are left only for headquarters, chanceries, Committees +and other Army organisations. + + _President of the Council of People’s Commissars,_ + VL. ULIANOV (LENIN). + + _People’s Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs,_ + N. KRYLENKO. + + _People’s Commissar for Military Affairs,_ + N. PODVOISKY. + + _Secretary of the Council,_ + N. GORBUNOV. + + * * * * * + +_On the Elective Principle and the Organisation of Authority in the +Army_ + +1. The army serving the will of the toiling people is subject to its +supreme representative—the Council of People’s Commissars. + +2. Full authority within the limits of military units and combinations +is vested in the respective Soldiers’ Committees and Soviets. + +3. Those phases of the life and activity of the troops which are +already under the jurisdiction of the Committees are now formally +placed in their direct control. Over such branches of activity which +the Committees cannot assume, the control of the Soldiers’ Soviets is +established. + +4. The election of commanding Staff and officers is introduced. All +commanders up to the commanders of regiments, inclusive, are elected by +general suffrage of squads, platoons, companies, squadrons, batteries, +divisions (artillery, 2-3 batteries), and regiments. All commanders +higher than the commander of a regiment, and up to the Supreme +Commander, inclusive, are elected by congresses or conferences of +Committees. + +Note.—By the term “conference” must be understood a meeting of the +respective Committees together with delegates of committees one degree +lower in rank. (Such as a “conference” of Regimental Committees with +delegates from Company Committees.—Author.) + +5. The elected commanders above the rank of commander of regiment must +be confirmed by the nearest Supreme Committee. + +Note. In the event of a refusal by a Supreme Committee to confirm an +elected commander, with a statement of reasons for such refusal, a +commander elected by the lower Committee a second time must be +confirmed. + +6. The commanders of Armies are elected by Army congresses. Commanders +of Fronts are elected by congresses of the respective Fronts. + +7. To posts of a technical character, demanding special knowledge or +other practical preparation, namely: doctors, engineers, technicians, +telegraph and wireless operators, aviators, automobilists, etc., only +such persons as possess the required special knowledge may be elected, +by the Committees of the units of the respective services. + +8. Chiefs of Staff must be chosen from among persons with special +military training for that post. + +9. All other members of the Staff are appointed by the Chief of Staff, +and confirmed by the respective congresses. + +Note.—All persons with special training must be listed in a special +list. + +10. The right is reserved to retire from the service all commanders on +active service who are not elected by the soldiers to any post, and who +consequently are ranked as privates. + +11. All other functions beside those pertaining to the command, with +the exception of posts in the economic departments, are filled by +appointment of the respective elected commanders. + +12. Detailed instructions regarding the elections of the commanding +Staff will be published separately. + +_President of the Council of People’s Commissars._ + +VL. ULIANOV (LENIN). + + +_People’s Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs,_ + +N. KRYLENKO. + + +_People’s Commissar for Military Affairs,_ + +N. PODVOISKY. + + +_Secretary of the Council,_ + +N. GORBUNOV. + + + * * * * * + +_On the Abolition of Classes and Titles_ + +1. All classes and class divisions, all class privileges and +delimitations, all class organisations and institutions and all civil +ranks are abolished. + +2. All classes of society (nobles, merchants, petty bourgeois, etc.), +and all titles (Prince, Count and others), and all denominations of +civil rank (Privy State Councillor, and others), are abolished, and +there is established the general denomination of Citizen of the Russian +Republic. + +3. The property and institutions of the classes of nobility are +transferred to the corresponding autonomous Zemstvos. + +4. The property of merchant and bourgeois organisations is transferred +immediately to the Municipal Self-Governments. + +5. All class institutions of any sort, with their property, their rules +of procedure, and their archives, are transferred to the administration +of the Municipalities and Zemstvos. + +6. All articles of existing laws applying to these matters are herewith +repealed. + +7. The present decree becomes effective on the day it is published and +applied by the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies. + +The present decree has been confirmed by the _Tsay-ee-kah_ at the +meeting of November 23d, 1917, and signed by: + +_President of the Tsay-ee-kah,_ + +SVERDLOV. + + +_President of the Council of People’s Commissars,_ + +VL. ULIANOV (LENIN). + + +_Executive of the Council of People’s Commissars,_ + +V. BONCH-BRUEVITCH. + + +_Secretary of the Council,_ + +N. GORBUNOV. + + + * * * * * + +On December 3d the Council of People’s Commissars resolved “to reduce +the salaries of functionaries and employees in all Government +institutions and establishments, general or special, without +exception.” + +To begin with, the Council fixed the salary of a People’s Commissar at +500 rubles per month, with 100 rubles additional for each grown member +of the family incapable of work…. + +This was the highest salary paid to any Government official…. + +4. + +Countess Panina was arrested and brought to trial before the first +Supreme Revolutionary Tribunal. The trial is described in the chapter +on “Revolutionary Justice” in my forthcoming volume, “Kornilov to +Brist-Litovsk.” The prisoner was sentenced to “return the money, and +then be liberated to the public contempt.” In other words, she was set +free! + +5. + +RIDICULE OF THE NEW RÉGIME + + +From _Drug Naroda_ (Menshevik), November 18th: + +“The story of the ‘immediate peace’ of the Bolsheviki reminds us of a +joyous moving-picture film…. Neratov runs—Trotzky pursues; Neratov +climbs a wall, Trotzky too; Neratov dives into the water—Trotzky +follows; Neratov climbs onto the roof—Trotzky right behind him; Neratov +hides under the bed—and Trotzky has him! He has him! Naturally, peace +is immediately signed…. + +“All is empty and silent at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The +couriers are respectful, but their faces wear a caustic expression…. + +“How about arresting an ambassador and signing an armistice or a Peace +Treaty with him? But they are strange folk, these ambassadors. They +keep silent just as if they had heard nothing. Hola, hola, England, +France, Germany! We have signed an armistice with you! Is it possible +that you know nothing about it? Nevertheless, it has been published in +all the papers and posted on all the walls. On a Bolshevik’s word of +honour, Peace has been signed. We’re not asking much of you; you just +have to write two words…. + +“The ambassadors remain silent. The Powers remain silent. All is empty +and silent in the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. + +“‘Listen,’ says Robespierre-Trotzky to his assistant Marat-Uritzky, +‘run over to the British Ambassador’s, tell him we’re proposing peace!’ + +“‘Go yourself,’ says Marat-Uritzky. ‘He’s not receiving.’ + +“‘Telephone him, then.’ + +“‘I’ve tried. The receiver’s off the hook.’ + +“‘Send him a telegram.’ + +“‘I did.’ + +“‘Well, with what result?’ + +“Marat-Uritzky sighs and does not answer. Robespierre-Trotzky spits +furiously into the corner…. + +“‘Listen, Marat,’ recommences Trotzky, after a moment. ‘We must +absolutely show that we’re conducting an active foreign policy. How can +we do that?’ + +“‘Launch another decree about arresting Neratov,’ answers Uritzky, with +a profound air. + +“‘Marat, you’re a blockhead!’ cries Trotzky. All of a sudden he arises, +terrible and majestic, looking at this moment like Robespierre. + +“‘Write, Uritzky!’ he says with severity. ‘Write a letter to the +British ambassador, a registered letter with receipt demanded. Write! I +also will write! The peoples of the world await an immediate peace!’ + +“In the enormous and empty Ministry of Foreign Affairs are to be heard +only the sound of two typewriters. With his own hands Trotzky is +conducting an active foreign policy….” + +6. + +ON THE QUESTION OF AN AGREEMENT + + +To the Attention of All Workers and All Soldiers. + +November 11th, in the club of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, was held an +extraordinary meeting of representatives of all the units of the +Petrograd garrison. + +The meeting was called upon the initiative of the Preobrazhensky and +Semionovsky Regiments, for the discussion of the question as to which +Socialist parties are for the power of the Soviets, which are against, +which are for the people, which against, and if an agreement between +them is possible. + +The representatives of the _Tsay-ee-kah,_ of the Municipal Duma, of the +Avksentiev Peasants’ Soviets, and of all the political parties from the +Bolsheviki to the Populist Socialists, were invited to the meeting. + +After long deliberation, having heard the declarations of all parties +and organisations, the meeting by a tremendous majority of votes agreed +that only the Bolsheviki and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries are for +the people, and that all the other parties are only attempting, under +cover of seeking an agreement, to deprive the people of the conquests +won in the days of the great Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolution of +November. + +Here is the text of the resolution carried at this meeting of the +Petrograd garrison, by 61 votes against 11, and 12 not voting: + +“The garrison conference, summoned at the initiative of the Semionovsky +and Preobrazhensky Regiments, on hearing the representatives of all the +Socialist parties and popular organisations on the question of an +agreement between the different political parties finds that: + +“1. The representatives of the _Tasy-ee-kah,_ the representatives of +the Bolshevik party and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, declared +definitely that they stand for a Government of the Soviets, for the +decrees on Land, Peace and Workers’ Control of Industry, and that upon +this platform they are willing to agree with all the Socialist parties. + +“2. At the same time the representatives of the other parties +(Mensheviki, Socialist Revolutionaries) either gave no answer at all, +or declared simply that they were opposed to the power of the Soviets +and against the decrees on Land, Peace and Workers’ Control. + +“In view of this the meeting resolves: + +“‘1. To express severe censure of all parties which, under cover of an +agreement, wish practically to annul the popular conquests of the +Revolution of November. + +“2. To express full confidence in the _Tsay-ee-kah_ and the Council of +People’s Commissars, and to promise them complete support.’ + +“At the same time the meeting deems it necessary that the comrades Left +Socialist Revolutionaries should enter the People’s Government.” + +7. + +WINE “POGROMS” + + +It was afterward discovered that there was a regular organisation, +maintained by the Cadets, for provoking rioting among the soldiers. +There would be telephone messages to the different barracks, announcing +that wine was being given away at such and such an address, and when +the soldiers arrived at the spot an individual would point out the +location of the cellar…. + +The Council of People’s Commissars appointed a Commissar for the Fight +Against Drunkenness, who, besides mercilessly putting down the wine +riots, destroyed hundreds of thousands of bottles of liquor. The Winter +Palace cellars, containing rare vintages valued at more than five +million dollars, were at first flooded, and then the liquor was removed +to Cronstadt and destroyed. + +In this work the Cronstadt sailors, “flower and pride of the +revolutionary forces,” as Trotzky called them, acquitted themselves +with iron self-dicipline…. + +8. + +SPECULATORS + + +Two orders concerning them: + +_Council of People’s Commissars_ + +_To the Military Revolutionary Committee_ + +The disorganisation of the food supply created by the war, and the lack +of system, is becoming to the last degree acute, thanks to the +speculators, marauders and their followers on the railways, in the +steamship offices, forwarding offices, etc. + +Taking advantage of the nation’s greatest misfortunes, these criminal +spoliators are playing with the health and life of millions of soldiers +and workers, for their own benefit. + +Such a situation cannot be borne a single day longer. + +The Council of People’s Commissars proposes to the Military +Revolutionary Committee to take the most decisive measures towards the +uprooting of speculation, sabotage, hiding of supplies, fraudulent +detention of cargoes, etc. + +All persons guilty of such actions shall be subject, by special orders +of the Military Revolutionary Committee, to immediate arrest and +confinement in the prisons of Cronstadt, pending their arraignment +before the Revolutionary Tribunal. + +All the popular organisations are invited to cooperate in the struggle +against the spoliators of food supplies. + + _President of the Council of People’s Commissaries._ + V. ULIANOV (LENIN). + +Accepted for execution, + _Military Revolutionary Committee attached to + the C. E. C. of the Soviets of W. & S. Deputies._ + +Petrograd, Nov. 23d, 1917. + + * * * * * + +_To All Honest Citizens_ + +_The Military Revolutionary Committee Decrees:_ + +Spoliators, marauders, speculators, are declared to be enemies of the +People…. + +The Military Revolutionary Committee proposes to all public +organisations, to all honest citizens: to inform the Military +Revolutionary Committee immediately of all cases of spoliation, +marauding, speculation, which become known to them. + +The struggle against this evil is the business of all honest people. +The Military Revolutionary Committee expects the support of all to whom +the interests of the People are dear. + +The Military Revolutionary Committee will be merciless in pursuit of +speculators and marauders. + +THE MILITARY REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE + + +Petrograd, Dec. 2d, 1917. + +9. + +PURISHKEVITCH’s LETTER TO KALEDIN + +“The situation at Petrograd is desperate. The city is cut off from the +outside world and is entirely in the power of the Bolsheviki…. People +are arrested in the streets, thrown into the Neva, drowned and +imprisoned without any charge. Even Burtzev is shut up in Peter-Paul +fortress, under strict guard. + +“The organisation at whose head I am is working without rest to unite +all the officers and what is left of the _yunker_ schools, and to arm +them. The situation cannot be saved except by creating regiments of +officers and _yunkers._ Attacking with these regiments, and having +gained a first success, we could later gain the aid of the garrison +troops; but without that first success it is impossible to count on a +single soldier, because thousands of them are divided and terrorised by +the scum which exists in every regiment. Most of the Cossacks are +tainted by Bolshevik propaganda, thanks to the strange policy of +General Dutov, who allowed to pass the moment when by decisive action +something could have been obtained. The policy of negotiations and +concessions has borne its fruits; all that is respectable is +persecuted, and it is the _plebe_ and the criminals who dominate—and +nothing can be done except by shooting and hanging them. + +“We are awaiting you here, General, and at the moment of your arrival, +we shall advance with all the forces at our disposal. But for that we +must establish some communication with you, and before all, clear up +the following points: + +“(1) Do you know that in your name all officers who could take part in +the fight are being invited to leave Petrograd on the pretext of +joining you? + +“(2) About when can we count on your arrival at Petrograd? We should +like to know in order to coordinate our actions. + +“In spite of the criminal inaction of the conscious people here, which +allowed the yoke of Bolshevism to be laid upon us—in spite of the +extraordinary pig—headedness of the majority of officers, so difficult +to organise—we believe in spite of all that Truth is on our side, and +that we shall conquer the vicious and criminal forces who say that they +are acting for motives of love of country and in order to save it. +Whatever comes, we shall not permit ourselves to be struck down, and +shall remain firm until the end.” + +Purishkevitch, being brought to trial before the Revolutionary +Tribunal, was given a short prison term…. + +10. + +DECREE ON THE MONOPOLY OF ADVERTISEMENTS + + +1. The printing of advertisements, in newspapers, books, bill-boards, +kiosks, in offices and other establishments is declared to be a State +monopoly. + +2. Advertisements may only be published in the organs of the +Provisional Workers’ and Peasants’ Government at Petrograd, and in the +organs of local Soviets. + +3. The proprietors of newspapers and advertising offices, as well as +all employees of such establishments, should remain at their posts +until the transfer of the advertisement business to the Government…. +superintending the uninterrupted continuation of their houses, and +turning over to the Soviets all private advertising and the sums +received therefor, as well as all accounts and copy. + +4. All managers of publications and businesses dealing with paid +advertising, as well as their employees and workers, shall agree to +hold a City Congress, and to join, first the City Trade Unions, and +then the All-Russian Unions, to organise more thoroughly and justly the +advertising business in the Soviet publications, as well as to prepare +better rules for the public utility of advertising. + +5. All persons found guilty of having concealed documents or money, or +having sabotaged the regulations indicated in paragraphs 3 and 4, will +be punished by a sentence of not more than three years’ imprisonment, +and all their property will be confiscated. + +6. The paid insertion of advertisements…. in private publications, or +under a masqued form, will also be severely penalised. + +7. Advertising offices are confiscated by the Government, the owners +being entitled to compensation in cases of necessity. Small +proprietors, depositors and stock-holders of the confiscated +establishments will be reimbursed for all moneys held by them in the +concern. + +8. All buildings, officers, counters, and in general every +establishment doing a business in advertising, should immediately +inform the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies of its address, +and proceed to the transfer of its business, under penalty of the +punishment indicated in paragraph 5. + + _President of the Council of People’s + Commissars,_ + VL. ULIANOV (LENIN). + + _People’s Commissar for Public Instruction,_ + A. V. LUNATCHARSKY. + +_Secretary of the Council,_ + +N. GORBUNOV. + + +11. + +OBLIGATORY ORDINANCE + + +1. The city of Petrograd is declared to be in a state of siege. + +2. All assemblies, meetings and congregations on the streets and +squares are prohibited. + +3. Attempts to loot wine-cellars, warehouses, factories, stores, +business premises, private dwellings, etc., etc., _will be stopped by +machine-gun fire without warning._ + +4. House Committees, doormen, janitors and Militiamen are charged with +the duty of keeping strict order in all houses, courtyards and in the +streets, and house-doors and carriage-entrances must be locked at 9 +o’clock in the evening, and opened at 7 o’clock in the morning. After 9 +o’clock in the evening only tenants may leave the house, under strict +control of the House Committees. + +5. Those guilty of the distribution, sale or purchase of any kind of +alcoholic liquor, and also those guilty of the violation of sections 2 +and 4, will be immediately arrested and subjected to the most severe +punishment. + +Petrograd, 6th of December, 3 o’clock in the night. + +_Committee to Fight Against Pogroms, attached to the Executive +Committee of the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies._ + +12. + +TWO PROCLAMATIONS + + +Lenin, To _the People of Russia:_ + +“Comrades workers, soldiers, peasants—all toilers! + +“The Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolution has won at Petrograd, at +Moscow…. From the Front and the villages arrive every day, every hour, +greetings to the new Government…. The victory of the Revolution…. is +assured, seeing that it is sustained by the majority of the people. + +“It is entirely understandable that the proprietors and the +capitalists, the employees and functionaries closely allied with the +bourgeoisic—in a word, all the rich and all those who join hands with +them—regard the new Revolution with hostility, oppose its success, +threaten to halt the activity of the banks, and sabotage or obstruct +the work of other establishments…. Every conscious worker understands +perfectly that we cannot avoid this hostility, because the high +officials have set themselves against the People and do not wish to +abandon their posts without resistance. But the working classes are not +for one moment afraid of that resistance. The majority of the people +are for us. For us are the majority of the workers and the oppressed of +the whole world. We have justice on our side. Our ultimate victory is +certain. + +“The resistance of the capitalists and high officials will be broken. +No one will be deprived of his property without a special law on the +nationalisation of banks and financial syndicates. This law is in +preparation. Not a worker will lose a single kopek; on the contrary, he +will be assisted. Without at this moment establishing the new taxes, +the new Government considers one of its primary duties to make a severe +accounting and control on the reception of taxes decreed by the former +régime…. + +“Comrades workers! Remember that you yourselves direct the Government. +No one will help you unless you organise yourselves and take into your +own hands the affairs of the State. Your Soviets are now the organs of +governmental power…. Strengthen them, establish a severe revolutionary +control, pitilessly crush the attempts at anarchy on the part of +drunkards, brigands, counter-revolutionary _yunkers_ and Kornilovists. + +“Establish a strict control over production and the accounting for +products. Arrest and turn over to the Revolutionary Tribunal of the +People every one who injures the property of the People, by sabotage in +production, by concealment of grain-reserves, reserves of other +products, by retarding the shipments of grain, by bringing confusion +into the railroads, the posts and the telegraphs, or in general +opposing the great work of bringing Peace and transferring the Land to +the peasants…. + +“Comrades workers, soldiers, peasants—all toilers! + +“Take immediately all local power into your hands…. Little by little, +with the consent of the majority of peasants, we shall march firmly and +unhesitatingly toward the victory of Socialism, which will fortify the +advance-guards of the working-class of the most civilised Countries, +and give to the peoples an enduring peace, and free them from every +slavery and every exploitation.” + +13. + +_“To All Workers of Petrograd!_ + +“Comrades! The Revolution is winning—the revolution has won. All the +power has passed over to our Soviets. The first weeks are the most +difficult ones. The broken reaction must be finally crushed, a full +triumph must be secured to our endeavours. The working-class ought +to—must—show in these days THE GREATEST FIRMNESS AND ENDURANCE, in +order to facilitate the execution of all the aims of the new People’s +Government of Soviets. In the next few days decrees on the Labour +question will be issued, and among the very first will be the decree on +Workers’ Control over the production and regulation of Industry. + +“STRIKES AND DEMONSTRATIONS OF THE WORKER MASSES IN PETROGRAD NOW CAN +ONLY DO HARM. + + +“We ask you to cease immediately all economic and political strikes, to +take up your work, and do it in perfect order. The work in the +factories and all the industries is necessary for the new Government of +Soviets, because any interruption of this work will only create new +difficulties for us, and we have enough as it is. All to your places. + +“The best way to support the new Government of Soviets in these days—is +by doing your job. + +“LONG LIVE THE IRON FIRMNESS OF THE PROLETARIAT! LONG LIVE THE +REVOLUTION!” + + +_Petrograd Soviet of W. & S. D._ + +_Petrograd Council of Trade Unions._ + +_Petrograd Council of Factory-Shop Committees._ + +14. + +APPEALS AND COUNTER-APPEALS + + +_From the Employees of the State and private Banks To the Population of +Petrograd:_ + +“Comrades workers, soldiers and citizens! + +“The Military Revolutionary Committee in an ‘extraordinary notice’ is +accusing the workers of the State and private banking and other +institutions of ‘impeding the work of the Government, directed towards +the ensuring of the Front with provisions.’ + +“Comrades and citizens, do not believe this calumny, brought against +us, who are part of the general army of labour. + +“However difficult it be for us to work under the constant threat of +interference by acts of violence in our hard-working life, however +depressing it be to know that our Country and the Revolution are on the +verge of ruin, we, nevertheless, all of us, from the highest to the +lowest, employees, _artelshtchiki,_ counters, labourers, couriers, +etc., are continuing to fulfil our duties which are connected with the +ensuring of provisions and munitions to the Front and country. + +“Counting upon your lack of information, comrades workers and soldiers, +in questions of finance and banking, you are being incited against +workers like yourselves, because it is desirable to divert the +responsibility for the starving and dying brother-soldiers at the Front +from the guilty persons to the innocent workers who are accomplishing +their duty under the burden of general poverty and disorganisation. + +“REMEMBER, WORKERS AND SOLDIERS! THE EMPLOYEES HAVE ALWAYS STOOD UP FOR +AND WILL ALWAYS STAND UP FOR THE INTERESTS OF THE TOILING PEOPLE, PART +OF WHICH THEY ARE THEMSELVES, AND NOT A SINGLE KOPEK NECESSARY FOR THE +FRONT AND THE WORKERS HAS EVER BEEN DETAINED AND WILL NOT BE DETAINED +BY THE EMPLOYEES. + + +“From November 6th to November 23d, i.e., during 17 days, 500 million +rubles were dispatched to the Front, and 120 millions to Moscow, +besides the sums sent to other towns. + +“Keeping guard over the wealth of the people, the master of which can +be only the Constituent Assembly, representing the whole nation, the +employees refuse to give out money for purposes which are unknown to +them. + +“DO NOT BELIEVE THE CALUMNIATORS CALLING YOU TO TAKE THE LAW INTO YOUR +OWN HANDS!” + + +_Central Board of the All-Russian Union of Employees of the State +Bank._ + +_Central Board of the All-Russian Trade Union of Employees of Credit +Institutions._ + + * * * * * + +_To the Population of Petrograd._ + +“CITIZENS: Do not believe the falsehood which irresponsible people are +trying to suggest to you by spreading terrible calumnies against the +employees of the Ministry of Supplies and the workers in other Supply +organisations who are labouring in these dark days for the salvation of +Russia. Citizens! In posted placards you are called upon to lynch us, +we are accused falsely of sabotage and strikes, we are blamed for all +the woes and misfortunes that the people are suffering, although we +have been striving indefatigably and uninterruptedly, and are still +striving, to save the Russian people from the horrors of starvation. +Notwithstanding all that we are bearing as citizens of unhappy Russia, +we have not for one hour abandoned our heavy and responsible work of +supplying the Army and population with provisions. + +“The image of the Army, cold and hungry, saving our very existence by +its blood and its tortures, does not leave us for a single moment. + +“Citizens! If we have survived the blackest days in the life and +history of our people, if we have succeeded in preventing famine in +Petrograd, if we have managed to procure to the suffering army bread +and forage by means of enormous, almost superhuman, efforts, it is +because we have honestly continued and are still continuing to do our +work…. + +“To the ‘last warning’ of the usurpers of the power we reply: It is not +for you who are leading the country to ruin to threaten us who are +doing all we can not to allow the country to perish. We are not afraid +of threats; before us stands the sacred image of tortured Russia. We +will continue our work of supplying the Army and the people with bread +to our last efforts, so long as you will not prevent us from +accomplishing our duty to our country. In the contrary case the Army +and the people will stand before the horrors of famine, but the +responsibility therefor belongs to the perpetrators of violence. + +_Executive Committee of the Employees of the Ministry of Supplies._ + + * * * * * + +_To the_ Tchinovniki (_Government Officials_). + +It is notified hereby, that all officials and persons who have quitted +the service in Government and public institutions or have been +dismissed for sabotage or for having failed to report for work on the +day fixed, and who have nevertheless received their salary paid in +advance for the time they have not served, are bound to return such +salary not later than on November 27th, 1917, to those institutions +where they were in service. + +In the event of this not being done, these persons will be rendered +answerable for stealing the Treasury’s property and tried by the +Military Revolutionary Court. + +_The Military-Revolutionary Committee._ + +December 7th, 1917. + + * * * * * + +_From the Special Board for the Supplies_ CITIZENS + +“The conditions of our work for the supplying of Petrograd are getting +more and more difficult every day. + +“The interference with our work—which is so ruinous to our business—of +the Commissars of the Military Revolutionary Committee is still +continuing. + +“THEIR ARBITRARY ACTS, their annulling of our orders, MAY LEAD TO A +CATASTROPHE. + +“Seals have been affixed to one of the cold storages where the meat and +butter destined for the population are kept, and we cannot regulate the +temperature SO THAT THE PRODUCTS WOULD NOT BE SPOILT. + +“One carload of potatoes and one carload of cabbages have been seized +and carried away no one knows where to. + +“Cargoes which are not liable to requisition (_khalva_) are +requisitioned by the Commissars and, as was the case one day, five +boxes of _khalva_ were seized by the Commissar for his own use. + +“WE ARE NOT IN A POSITION TO DISPOSE OF OUR STORAGES, where the +self-appointed Commissars do not allow the cargoes to be taken out, and +terrorise our employees, threatening them with arrest. + +“ALL THAT IS GOING ON IN PETROGRAD IS KNOWN IN THE PROVINCES, AND FROM +THE DON, FROM SIBERIA, FROM VORONEZH AND OTHER PLACES PEOPLE ARE +REFUSING TO SEND FLOUR AND BREAD. + +“THIS CANNOT GO ON MUCH LONGER. + + +“The work is simply falling out of our hands. + +“OUR DUTY is to let the population know of this. + +“To the last possibility we will remain on guard of the interests of +the population. + +“WE WILL DO EVERYTHING TO AVOID THE ONCOMING FAMINE, BUT IF UNDER THESE +DIFFICULT CONDITIONS OUR WORK IS COMPELLED TO STOP, LET THE PEOPLE KNOW +THAT IT IS NOT OUR FAULT….” + + +15. +ELECTIONS TO THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY IN PETROGRAD + + +There were nineteen tickets in Petrograd. The results are as follows, +published November 30th: + + _Party_ _Vote_ + Populist Socialists 19,109 + Cadets 245,006 + Christian Democrats 3,707 + Bolsheviki 424,027 + Socialist Universalists 158 + S. D. and S. R. Ukrainean and Jewish Workers 4,219 + League of Women’s Rights 5,310 + Socialist Revolutionaries (_oborontsi_) 4,696 + Left Socialist Revolutionaries 152,230 + League of the People’s Development 385 + Radical Democrats 413 + Orthodox Parishes 24,139 + Feminine League for Salvation of Country 318 + Independent League of Workers, Soldiers, Peasants 4,942 + Christian Democrats (Catholic) 14,382 + Unified Social Democrats 11,740 + Mensheviki 17,427 + _Yedinstvo_ group 1,823 + League of Cossack Troops 6,712 + + +16. +FROM THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE’s COMMISSARS TO THE TOILING COSSACKS + + +_“Brothers-Cossacks._ + +“You are being deceived. You are being incited against the People. You +are told that the Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies +are your enemies, that they want to take away your Cossack land, your +Cossack ‘liberty’. Don’t believe it, Cossacks…. Your own Generals and +landowners are deceiving you, in order to keep you in darkness and +slavery. We, the Council of People’s Commissars, address ourselves to +you, Cossacks, with these words. Read them attentively and judge +yourselves which is the truth and which is cruel deceit. The life and +service of a Cossack were always bondage and penal servitude. At the +first call of the authorities a Cossack always had to saddle his horse +and ride out on campaign. All his military equipment a Cossack had to +provide with his own hardly earned means. A Cossack is on service, his +farm is going to rack and ruin. Is such a condition fair? No, it must +be altered for ever. THE COSSACKS MUST BE FREED FROM BONDAGE. The new +People’s Soviet power is willing to come to the assistance of the +toiling Cossacks. It is only necessary that the Cossacks themselves +should resolve to abolish the old order, that they should refuse +submission to their slave-driver officers, land-owners, rich men, that +they should throw off the cursed yoke from their necks. Arise, +Cossacks! Unite! The Council of People’s Commissars calls upon you to +enter a new, fresh, more happy life. + +“In November and December in Petrograd there were All-Russian +Congresses of Soviets of Soldiers’, Workers’, and Peasants’ Deputies. +These Congresses transferred all the authority in the different +localities into the hands of the Soviets, i.e., into the hands of men +elected by the People. From now on there must be in Russia no rulers or +functionaries who command the People from above and drive them. The +People create the authority themselves. A General has no more rights +than a soldier. All are equal. Consider, Cossacks, is this wrong or +right? We are calling upon you, Cossacks, to join this new order and to +create your own Soviets of Cossacks’ Deputies. To such Soviets all the +power must belong in the different localities. Not to _hetmans_ with +the rank of General, but to the elected representatives of the toiling +Cossacks, to your own trustworthy reliable men. + +“The All-Russian Congresses of Soldiers’, Workers’, and Peasants’ +Deputies have passed a resolution to transfer all landowners’ land into +the possession of the toiling people. Is not that fair, Cossacks? The +Kornilovs, Kaledins, Dutovs, Karaulovs, Bardizhes, all defend with +their whole souls the interests of the rich men, and they are ready to +drown Russia in blood if only the lands remain in the hands of the +landowners. But you, the toiling Cossacks, do not you suffer yourselves +from poverty, oppression and lack of land? How many Cossacks are there +who have more than 4-5 _dessiatins_ per head? But the landowners, who +have thousands of _dessiatins_ of their own land, wish besides to get +into their hands the lands of the Cossack Army. According to the new +Soviet laws, the lands of Cossack landowners must pass without +compensation into the hands of the Cossack workers, the poorer +Cossacks. You are being told that the Soviets wish to take away your +lands from you. Who is frightening you? The rich Cossacks, who know +that the Soviet AUTHORITY WISHES TO transfer the landowners’ lands to +you. Choose then, Cossacks, for whom will you stand: for the Kornilovs +and Kaledins, for the Generals and rich men, or for the Soviets of +Peasants’, Soldiers’, Workers’ and Cossacks’ Deputies. + +“THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE’s COMMISSARS elected by the All-Russian Congress +HAS PROPOSED TO ALL NATIONS AN IMMEDIATE ARMISTICE AND AN HONOURABLE +DEMOCRATIC PEACE WITHOUT LOSS OR DETRIMENT TO ANY NATION. All the +capitalists, landowners, Generals-Kornilovists have risen against the +peaceful policy of the Soviets. The war was bringing them profits, +power, distinctions. And to you, Cossack privates? You were perishing +without reason, without purpose, like your brothers-soldiers and +sailors. It will soon be three years and a half that this accursed war +has gone on, a war devised by the capitalists and landowners of all +countries for their own profit, their world robberies. To the toiling +Cossacks the war has only brought ruin and death. The war has drained +all the resources from Cossack farm life. The only salvation for the +whole of our country and for the Cossacks in particular is a prompt and +honest peace. The Council of People’s Commissars has declared to all +Governments and peoples: We do not want other people’s property, and we +do not wish to give away our own. Peace without annexations and without +indemnities. Every nation must decide its own fate. There must be no +oppressing of one nation by another. Such is the honest, democratic, +People’s peace which the Council of People’s Commissars is proposing to +all Governments, to all peoples, allies and enemies. And the results +are visible: ON THE RUSSIAN FRONT AN ARMISTICE HAS BEEN CONCLUDED. + +“The soldier’s and the Cossack’s blood is not flowing there any more. +Now, Cossacks, decide: do you wish to continue this ruinous, senseless, +criminal slaughter? Then support the Cadets, the enemies of the people, +support Tchernov, Tseretelli, Skobeliev, who drove you into the +offensive of July 1st; support Kornilov, who introduced capital +punishment for soldiers and Cossacks at the front. BUT IF YOU WISH A +PROMPT AND HONEST PEACE, THEN ENTER THE RANKS OF THE SOVIETS AND +SUPPORT THE COUNCIL OF PEOPLE’s COMMISSARS. + +“Your fate, Cossacks, lies in your own hands. Our common foes, the +landowners, capitalists, officers-Kornilovists, bourgeois newspapers, +are deceiving you and driving you along the road to ruin. In Orenburg, +Dutov has arrested the Soviet and disarmed the garrison. Kaledin is +threatening the Soviets in the province of the Don. He has declared the +province to be in a state of war and is assembling his troops. Karaulov +is shooting the local tribes in the Caucasus. The Cadet bourgeoisie is +supplying them with its millions. Their common aim is to suppress the +People’s Soviets, to crush the workers and peasants, to introduce again +the discipline of the whip in the army, and to eternalise the bondage +of the toiling Cossacks. + +“Our revolutionary troops are moving to the Don and the Ural in order +to put an end to this criminal revolt against the people. The +commanders of the revolutionary troops have received orders not to +enter into any negotiations with the mutinous Generals, to act +decisively and mercilessly. + +“Cossacks! On you depends now whether your brothers’ blood is to flow +still. We are holding out our hand to you. Join the whole people +against its enemies. Declare Kaledin, Kornilov, Dutov, Karaulov and all +their aiders and abettors to be the enemies of the people, traitors and +betrayers. Arrest them with your own forces and turn them over into the +hands of the Soviet authority, which will judge them in open and public +Revolutionary Tribunal. Cossacks! Form Soviets of Cossacks’ Deputies. +Take into your toil-worn hands the management of all the affairs of the +Cossacks. Take away the lands of your own wealthy landowners. Take over +their grain, their inventoried property and live-stock for the +cultivation of the lands of the toiling Cossacks, who are ruined by the +war. + +“Forward, Cossacks, to the fight for the common cause of the people! + +“Long live the toiling Cossacks! + +“Long live the union of the Cossacks, the soldiers, peasants and +workers! + +“Long live the power of the Soviets of Cossacks’, Soldiers’, Workers’ +and Peasants’ Deputies. + +“Down with the war! Down with the landowners and the +Kornilovist-Generals! + +“Long live Peace and the Brotherhood of peoples!” + +_Council of People’s Commissars._ + +17. + +FROM THE COMMISSION ON PUBLIC EDUCATION ATTACHED TO THE CENTRAL CITY +DUMA + + +“Comrades Workingmen and Workingwomen! + +“A few days before the holidays, a strike has been declared by the +teachers of the public schools. The teachers side with the bourgeoisie +against the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government. + +“Comrades, organise parents’ committees and pass resolutions against +the strike of the teachers. Propose to the Ward Soviets of Workers’ and +Soldiers’ Deputies, the Trade Unions, the Factory-Shop and Party +Committees, to organise protest meetings. Arrange with your own +resources Christmas trees and entertainments for the children, and +demand the opening of the schools, after the holidays, at the date +which will be set by the Duma. + +“Comrades, strengthen your position in matters of public education, +insist on the control of the proletarian organisations over the +schools.” + +_Commission on Public Education attached to the Central City Duma._ + +18. + +DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT + + +The notes issued by Trotzky to the Allies and to the neutral powers, as +well as the note of the Allied military Attachés to General Dukhonin, +are too voluminous to give here. Moreover they belong to another phase +of the history of the Soviet Republic, with which this book has nothing +to do—the foreign relations of the Soviet Government. This I treat at +length in the next volume, “Kornilov to Brest-Litovsk.” + +19. + +APPEALS TO THE FRONT AGAINST DUKHONIN + + +“… The struggle for peace has met with the resistance of the +bourgeoisie and the counter-revolutionary Generals…. From the accounts +in the newspapers, at the _Stavka_ of former Supreme Commander Dukhonin +are gathering the agents and allies of the bourgeoisie, Verkhovski, +Avksentiev, Tchernov, Gotz, Tseretelli, etc. It seems even that they +want to form a new power against the Soviets. + +“Comrades soldiers! All the persons we have mentioned have been +Ministers already. They have acted in accord with Kerensky and the +bourgeoisie. They are responsible for the offensive of July 1st and for +the prolongation of the war. They promised the land to the peasants and +then arrested the Land Committees. They reestablished capital +punishment for soldiers. They obey the orders of French, English and +American financiers…. + +“General Dukhonin, for having refused to obey orders of the Council of +People’s Commissars, has been dismissed from his position as Supreme +Commander…. For answer he is circulating among the troops the note from +the Military Attachés of the Allied imperialist Powers, and attempting +to provoke a counter-revolution…. + +“Do not obey Dukhonin! Pay no attention to his provocation! Watch him +and his group of counter-revolutionary Generals carefully….” + +20. + +FROM KRYLENKO + + +_Order Number Two_ + +“… The ex-Supreme Commander, General Dukhonin, for having opposed +resistance to the execution of orders, for criminal action susceptible +of provoking a new civil war, is declared enemy of the People. All +persons who support Dukhonin will be arrested, without respect to their +social or political position or their past. Persons equipped with +special authority will operate these arrests. I charge General +Manikhovsky with the execution of the above-mentioned dispositions….” + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XII + +1. + +INSTRUCTION TO PEASANTS + + +In answer to the numerous enquiries coming from peasants, it is hereby +explained that the whole power in the country is from now on held by +the Soviets of the Workers’, Soldiers’, and Peasants’ Deputies. The +Workers’ Revolution, after having conquered in Petrograd and in Moscow, +is now conquering in all other centres of Russia. The Workers’ and +Peasants’ Government safeguards the interests of the masses of +peasantry, the poorest of them; it is with the majority of peasants and +workers against the landowners, and against the capitalists. + +Hence the Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies, and before all the District +Soviets, and subsequently those of the Provinces, are from now on and +until the Constituent Assembly meets, full-powered bodies of State +authority in their localities. All landlords’ titles to the land are +cancelled by the second All-Russian Congress of Soviets. A decree +regarding the land has already been issued by the present Provisional +Workers’ and Peasants’ Government. On the basis of the above decree all +lands hitherto belonging to landlords now pass entirely and wholly into +the hands of the Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies. The _Volost_ (a group +of several villages forms a _Volost_) Land Committees are immediately +to take over all land from the landlords, and to keep a strict account +over it, watching that order be maintained, and that the whole estate +be well guarded, seeing that from now on all private estates become +public property and must therefore be protected by the people +themselves. + +All orders given by the _Volost_ Land Committees, adopted with the +assent of the District Soviets of Peasants’ Deputies, in fulfilment of +the decrees issued by the revolutionary power, are absolutely legal and +are to be forthwith and irrefutably brought into execution. + +The Workers’ and Peasants’ Government appointed by the second +All-Russian Congress of Soviets has received the name of the Council of +People’s Commissars. + +The Council of People’s Commissars summons the Peasants to take the +whole power into their hands in every locality. + +The workers will in every way absolutely and entirely support the +peasants, arrange for them all that is required in connection with +machines and tools, and in return they request the peasants to help +with the transport of grain. + +_President of the Council of People’s Commissars,_ V. ULIANOV (LENIN). + +Petrograd, November 18th, 1917. + +2. + +The full-powered Congress of Peasants’ Soviets met about a week later, +and continued for several weeks. Its history is merely an expanded +version of the history of the “Extraordinary Conference.” At first the +great majority of the delegates were hostile to the Soviet Government, +and supported the reactionary wing. Several days later the assembly was +supporting the moderates with Tchernov. And several days after that the +vast majority of the Congress were voting for the faction of Maria +Spiridonova, and sending their representatives into the _Tsay-ee-kah_ +at Smolny…. The Right Wing then walked out of the Congress and called a +Congress of its own, which went on, dwindling from day to day, until it +finally dissolved…. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEN DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD *** + +***** This file should be named 3076-0.txt or 3076-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/7/3076/ + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. 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