Russian republic

The state structure of the Russian Republic consisted of temporary government bodies.

• The Provisional Government was the supreme body of executive and legislative power. It was headed by the Minister-Chairman and was called to govern the country until the convening of the Constituent Assembly . The chairing ministers are Prince George Lvov (from March 14 to August 6, 1917) and Alexander Kerensky (from August 6, 1917). The Provisional Government lost power as a result of the October Revolution of 1917;
• The Provisional Council of the Russian Republic - the interim parliament ( Pre-Parliament ), originally called to be the legislative body until the convening of the Constituent Assembly , but later became only an advisory body to the Provisional Government. Chairman - N. D. Avksentiev . It was dissolved by the Council of People's Commissars .

In addition, the Provisional Government formed a number of commissions in which drafts of the future state structure of Russia were developed, including new basic laws (constitution). Almost all the institutions of the Russian Empire also acted, in particular the Governing Senate , which was later dissolved by the Bolsheviks by Decree No. 1 of the court .

February Revolution

Since January 1917, Petrograd has experienced a wave of political strikes on January 9 (200,000 on strike), February 14 (27), February 17 ( March 2 ). This was the beginning of the transition from ordinary factory rallies to mass street actions and open political struggle.

On February 23 ( March 8 ), rallies and strikes began in Petrograd under the slogans “Down with the war,” “Down with the autocracy,” “Bread!”, Which soon turned into riots. 90,000 went on strike. Strikes and political actions began to develop into a general political demonstration against the power of the Russian monarch.

On February 24–25, a general strike began, which swept 240,000 workers. Petrograd was declared in a state of siege, by decree of Nicholas II, meetings of the State Duma were terminated. Troops were brought into the city, but the soldiers refused to shoot the workers.

February 26 ( March 11 ) 1917 columns of demonstrators moved to the city center. There were several clashes with the police, in the evening the police cleared the city center from the demonstrators.

On February 27 ( March 12 ), the general strike turned into an armed uprising, and workers from the Petrograd artillery warehouse alone took 40 thousand rifles and 30 thousand revolvers. On the morning of February 27, the training team of the reserve battalion of the Volyn regiment , including 600 people, revolted. The team leader was killed. Lithuanian and Preobrazhensky regiments joined Volynsky.

The general strike turned into an armed uprising, a mass transfer of troops to the side of the rebels began and reached 66,700 rebel soldiers, which were occupied with the most important points of the city, government buildings, ministers were arrested. (On the morning of February 27, there were 10 thousand rebel soldiers, in the afternoon - 26 thousand, in the evening - 66 thousand, the next day - 127 thousand, March 1 - 170 thousand, that is, the entire garrison of Petrograd.) The Duma faced a choice or sided with the uprising and try take control of the movement, or perish along with tsarism. The Interim Committee of the State Duma , chaired by the Octobrist M. Rodzianko , announced on the night of February 28 that it was taking the initiative to form a new government.

At the same time, the Petrograd Soviet under the leadership of N. S. Chkheidze and A. F. Kerensky was created in the Tauride Palace .

On March 2 (15), Nicholas II abdicated the throne for himself and his son in favor of Mikhail Alexandrovich , but Mikhail did not dare to take power, as he did not have any real power and transferred all power to the Provisional Government before the convening of the Constituent Assembly , which was to resolve the issue about the form of government. When postponing the question of the form of government until the Constituent Assembly, the return of the monarchy was not excluded ^[6] . The Provisional Committee of the State Duma formed the Provisional Government , headed by Prince Lvov , who was replaced by the socialist Kerensky. The interim government announced the election of the Constituent Assembly .

Earlier, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers' Deputies was elected. March 1 (14) - The Petrograd Council issued Order No. 1 : “On the Democratization of the Army”. By this order, the Council subordinated the Petrograd garrison to its political leadership and deprived the Duma Committee of the opportunity to use the army in its interests. Dual power was established in the country.

In the first weeks of the February revolution, press committees, police and gendarmes were liquidated. Abolished posts and institutions were replaced by the commissioners of the Provisional Government.

On March 3 (16), the new Minister of Justice Kerensky met with members of the Petrograd Jury Council, whom he introduced to the ministry’s program of work for the near future: review of criminal, civil, judicial and judicial laws. It declared " Jewish equality in its entirety," granting women political rights. Subsequently, a special commission of inquiry was also established to investigate and prosecute former officials and private individuals. As a result of the commission’s work, in particular, General V. A. Sukhomlinov , a former minister of war found guilty of the unpreparedness of the Russian army for war, was convicted by the Senate and sentenced to life in prison. Most of the defendants in the investigation were released for lack of corpus delicti in their activities.

On March 2 ( 15 ), 1917, Kerensky issued a decree ordering the country's prosecutors to release all political prisoners (and convey congratulations on behalf of the new government).

On March 6 (19), an amnesty of political prisoners was announced in Russia. However, those convicted of purely criminal crimes also demanded their release (some of them were released by obvious order in Petrograd), and a wave of prison riots swept through the country. As a result, on March 17 (30), the Provisional Government issued a decree "On Facilitating the Fate of Persons Who Committed Common Crimes." According to it, those sentenced to short sentences were released immediately, for those sentenced to hard labor, the terms were reduced by half, and the death penalty was replaced by 15 years of hard labor. Out of 104.7 thousand prisoners, as of March 1, 1917, more than 88 thousand people were released, only 5.7 thousand of them were political prisoners. The result was a surge of crime, with which the police , hastily created to replace the former professional police , were unable to cope. So, in Moscow in the spring of 1917 more than 20 thousand crimes were recorded. and in 1916 for the same period - not more than 3.7 thousand. ^[7]

On March 25, the Provisional Government issued the Law on the transfer of bread to the state (monopoly on bread). According to him, “the whole amount of bread, food and fodder crops of the past years, 1916 and the future harvest of 1917, after deducting the owner’s supply of food and household needs, comes from the time the bread is registered, at the disposal of the state at fixed prices and can only be alienated through state food authorities ”(see the article“ Extra Survey ” ).

The April Crisis

On April 18 ( May 1 ), 1917 , the Provisional Government sent a note to the allies of Russia, signed by Foreign Minister P. Milyukov , which denied rumors that Russia intended to conclude a separate peace . The note spoke of "a nationwide desire to bring the world war to a decisive end." When this note was published on April 20, several military units with placards “Down with Milyukov!” And “Milyukov resigned” came to the Mariinsky Palace , where the Provisional Government was located.

On April 20 and 21, demonstrations were held by supporters of the Provisional Government with the slogans "Trust in Milyukov," "Long live the Provisional Government." In contrast to them, on April 21, a demonstration of armed workers was organized with the slogans “Down with the war!”, “Down with the Provisional Government”, “All power to the Soviets!” These demonstrators attacked supporters of the government, were killed and wounded.

On April 29 ( May 12 ), 1917 Minister of War A. Guchkov resigned , and on May 2, under the pressure of other members of the Provisional Government, Miliukov also resigned. The first government crisis of the Provisional Government culminated in the formation on May 5, 1917 of a coalition government with the participation of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks , whose head remained Lvov .

May - June 1917

In May 1917, the Ukrainian Central Rada demanded that the Provisional Government grant Ukraine wide autonomy and create Ukrainian military units. The government lost control over what is happening in the regions. Executive committees of local councils arbitrarily introduced taxes and prohibited the export of certain goods from their localities. On May 17, the Kronstadt Council of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies decided to replace all representatives of the Provisional Government in Kronstadt with their own, and communicate with the rest of Russia through the Petrograd Council.

In May 1917, the Provisional Government organized the Ministry of Food, which was headed by publicist A.V. Peshekhonov, who led it from May 5 ( 18 ), 1917 to September 25 ( October 8 ), 1917 . He sought to implement a bread monopoly. But attempts to account for surpluses did not have visible results in connection with the resistance (sometimes with the use of force) of the population.

In the army, military discipline fell. Whole units refused to follow orders. Unwanted commanders were removed by subordinates and driven out (see the article Democratization of the Army in Russia (1917) ). Brotherhood with the enemy began. The new Minister of War A.F. Kerensky traveled around military units and called on soldiers to fulfill their duty.

On June 3 ( 16 ), 1917 , the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies opened. Contrary to the Bolshevik proposals to demand the transfer of all power to the Soviets, the Congress adopted a resolution supporting the Provisional Government and the war until victory.

On June 7 ( 20 ), 1917, the Provisional Government decided to evict the anarchists from the dacha of the former Tsarist Minister Durnovo, which they had arbitrarily occupied, on the outskirts of Petrograd. This cottage also housed a work club and trade union institutions of the Vyborg region. In response to this, on June 8 ( 21 ), 1917 , workers at 29 factories of Petrograd went on strike. The Central and Petrograd Committees of the RSDLP (b) , in order to give the speech an organized character, on the same day appointed a peaceful demonstration of workers and soldiers on June 10 ( 23 ), 1917 . However, the Congress of Soviets on June 9 ( 22 ), 1917 forbade this demonstration.

On June 14 ( 27 ), 1917, the Congress of Soviets decided to hold a demonstration in support of the Provisional Government on June 18 ( July 1 ), 1917 . However, at a demonstration in which about 500 thousand people participated. supporters of the Bolsheviks carried the slogans “All power to the Soviets!”, “Down with 10 capitalist ministers!”, “Bread, peace, freedom!”. Under the same slogans, demonstrations took place in Moscow, Minsk , Ivanovo-Voznesensk , Tver , Nizhny Novgorod , Kharkov and other cities.

On June 18, anarchists from the Durnovo dacha brought demonstrators to a prison in which several people were arrested for anti-government activities. At their request, seven of those arrested were released and taken to Durnovo's dacha. In response to this, in the morning of June 19 ( July 2 ) 1917, government troops seized the cottage and arrested 60 people. Among those arrested was the Kronstadt sailor Zheleznyakov, and in this regard, the Kronstadt "republic" demanded that the Minister of Justice release the arrested, threatening to move to Petrograd with arms in hand.

From the beginning of 1917, a large offensive of the Russian army was planned at the end of April. However, the decomposition of troops made it impossible to carry out the offensive on schedule. It was postponed to the end of June. After a meeting with the commanders of the fronts, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General M.V. Alekseev, on March 30 ( April 12 ) 1917 signed Directive No. 2647 on the preparation of the offensive. On May 22 ( June 4 ), 1917, at the insistence of the Minister of War and Navy Kerensky, the Provisional Government removed General Alekseev from the post of Supreme Commander, replacing him with General Brusilov . The offensive in the general direction of Lviv from the Zlochev and Brzezany districts began on June 16 ( 29 ), 1917 . The first two days brought the offensive some tactical success. But then the offensive stopped. The troops began to discuss orders and rallies, refused to continue the offensive. As a result, despite the significant superiority in manpower and equipment, the offensive was not successful and on June 20 was stopped.

July Days

On July 2, the Provisional Government, after negotiations with the Ukrainian Central Rada, decided to appoint a special body, the secretariat, whose composition was to be determined by the government by agreement with the Central Rada, as the supreme body for managing regional affairs in Ukraine. It was also promised the acquisition of individual military units exclusively by Ukrainians . Members of the Provisional Government from the Cadet Party — A. I. Shingarev , D. I. Shakhovskoy , A. A. Manuilov, and V. A. Stepanov — categorically disagreed with this decision. They resigned.

On July 3, cars armed with machine guns appeared on the streets of Petrograd. Workers in a number of factories went on strike. On the evening of this day, the 1st machine-gun regiment with the placards “Down with the Capitalist Ministers!” And detachments of armed Red Guard workers approached the Tauride Palace , where the Petrograd Soviet was sitting. A five-thousandth crowd of soldiers and workers came to the Kshesinskaya mansion , which housed the Central and Petrograd Committees of the RSDLP (b) .

On July 4, armed soldiers and workers continued to approach the Tauride Palace. They were joined by a large (up to 10 thousand soldiers) armed detachment of sailors who had been developed by the Bolsheviks and anarchists and arrived from Kronstadt. At the same time, meetings did not stop in front of the Kshesinskaya mansion, from the balcony of which the Bolshevik speakers made their speeches. On this day , V.I. Lenin also spoke in front of the demonstrators, who urgently arrived in Petrograd from Finland on the morning of July 4, where he was resting ^[8] .

Armed clashes began with troops loyal to the Provisional Government. One of the circumstances that changed the mood of the soldiers was the publication on July 5 in the Zhivoye Slovo newspaper of a report on the financing of the Bolsheviks by the German authorities .

During July 6 ( 19 ), 1917, the Kshesinsky mansion, the Durnovo cottage, and the Peter and Paul Fortress were cleared of Bolsheviks, soldiers, and Kronstadt sailors. A special commission of inquiry was established. V. I. Lenin, G. E. Zinoviev , L. D. Trotsky , A. V. Lunacharsky , A. M. Kollontay , M. Yu. Kozlovsky , F. F. Raskolnikov , S G. Roshal , Ya. S. Ganetsky and other Bolsheviks. Lenin, however, managed to escape from arrest.

On July 8, the head of the Provisional Government, G. E. Lvov , resigned, because he objected to the immediate proclamation of the republic and the socialization of the land proposed by the Socialist Ministers (Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks). The head of government was A.F. Kerensky.

At the height of the July crisis, the Finnish Sejm proclaimed Finland ’s independence from Russia in internal affairs and limited the competence of the Provisional Government to military and foreign policy issues. On July 12 ( 25 ), 1917, the Sejm sent a request to the Provisional Government to recognize “Finland's inalienable rights”. In response to this, on July 18 ( 31 ), 1917, the interim government dissolved the Sejm and called for its new election.

On July 6 ( 19 ), 1917, Austro-German forces launched a counterattack from the Zlochev region in the direction of Tarnopol and broke through the front of the 11th army , which entailed the withdrawal of the 7th and 8th armies. The Austro-German troops, meeting little resistance, moved forward and on July 15 ( 28 ), 1917, Russian troops stopped on the line of Brody , Zbarazh , p. Zbruch . The losses of the Southwestern Front killed, wounded and captured were 1968 officers and 56 361 soldiers.

On July 12 ( 25 ), 1917 , the death penalty was restored at the front. July 19 ( August 1 ) 1917 Kerensky appointed the new Supreme Commander-in-Chief - General L. G. Kornilov .

On July 25 ( August 7 ) 1917 , a new coalition Provisional Government was formed.

Moscow State Conference

On August 13-15 ( 28 ), 1917 , the so-called State Conference took place in Moscow. It was attended by representatives of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies , representatives of the Soviets of Peasants' Deputies and the Front, members of the State Duma of all four convocations, representatives of city and district governments, trade and industrial organizations, agricultural societies and landowner organizations, universities and other higher educational institutions organizations, trade unions , cooperatives and national organizations.

It is rare that one of the reports at the meeting did not talk about the various manifestations of the crisis in which Russia found itself after the events of June-July, especially after the failure of the offensive at the front. A noticeable resonance was caused by the performance of the chieftain of the Don Cossack army, General A.M. Kaledin . On behalf of all Cossack troops, he called for the complete elimination of politics from the army, the unification of the front and rear on the basis of military order, the restoration of the power of commanders, the liquidation of councils and committees. The report of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Kornilov was full of facts of the killings of officers, looting and desertion, demoralization of the front. He stated that the government should take upon itself “determination and firm adamant about carrying out the planned measures” to “improve the front and rear” “in the name of victory”. ^[9]

Kornilov speech

On August 26 ( September 8 ), 1917, General Kornilov attempted to take full power to fight the "irresponsible organizations." Kerensky’s role in Kornilov’s speech remains ambiguous: supporters of General Kornilov consider his actions to be completely sanctioned by Prime Minister Kerensky, who then renounced his words. The right, led by General Kornilov, planned to disperse not only the Bolsheviks, but also the Soviets in general. Kerensky was unlikely to have managed to maintain power in the event of the supposed victory of General Kornilov. According to a popular legend, General Kornilov promised "to hang on the first pillar of Lenin, and on the second - Kerensky" ^[10] .

On August 27 ( September 9 ), 1917 Kerensky described the actions of General Kornilov as a rebellion, announced his removal from his post and appointed himself Supreme Commander.

In his response to appeal, General Kornilov called the statement of the Minister-Chairman a lie, and stated that

Генерал А. М. Крымов получил от Корнилова приказ направить свой 3-й кавалерийский корпус в Петроград.

Керенский разрешил выдачу оружия большевистской Красной гвардии для борьбы с корниловцами. ВЦИК сформировал Комитет народной борьбы с контрреволюцией, который мобилизовал на борьбу с корниловцами до 60 тыс. человек; навстречу наступающим солдатам были высланы большевистские агитаторы. Против Корнилова выступили также железнодорожники. 30 августа ( 12 сентября ) 1917 Временное правительство амнистировало большевиков. 3 ( 16 ) сентября 1917 из « Крестов » выпустили Троцкого.

Корниловцы потерпели поражение, потому что распропагандированные большевиками войска 3-го кавалерийского корпуса отказались продолжить движение на Петроград. Корнилов и его сподвижники были арестованы, а Крымов застрелился.

Сентябрь — октябрь 1917 года

Кадеты в знак солидарности с генералом Корниловым подали в отставку, вызвав очередной правительственный кризис. Итогом его стало учреждение 1 ( 14 ) сентября 1917 года Директории ( «Деловой кабинет» ) из пяти человек во главе с Керенским и объявление России республикой. В течение сентября 1917 появляются также и другие новые органы власти: Демократическое совещание и Предпарламент . К 26 сентября ( 9 октября ) 1917 формируется третье коалиционное правительство.

К ноябрю 1917 года становится очевидной неспособность Временного правительства справиться с нарастающей анархией. Армия воюющей страны стремительно разваливается; за февраль-ноябрь 1917 года дезертировали до 1,5 млн человек. Политика продразвёрстки провалилась, нормы хлеба в Петрограде и Москве были уменьшены до 0,5 фунта на человека в сутки. Резко возросло забастовочное движение в городах и самозахваты помещичьих земель в деревнях.

На этом фоне происходит «большевизация Советов», активно протекавшая в августе-октябре 1917 года. К началу ноября 1917 года большевики занимают до 90 % мест в Петроградском Совете, до 60 % в Московском, большинство мест в 80 местных Советах крупных промышленных городов. 17 ( 30 ) сентября 1917 года председателем Моссовета становится большевик В. П. Ногин , 25 сентября ( 8 октября ) 1917 года председателем Петросовета становится Троцкий, который уже был председателем Петросовета в 1905 году . На сторону большевиков переходят солдатские комитеты, в первую очередь Северного и Западного фронтов, петроградский гарнизон и Центробалт . На II съезде депутатов Балтфлота принята резолюция о том, что флот «не подчиняется правительству», был избран большевистско-левоэсеровский ЦК Балтфлота.

На начало октября из 974 действовавших в стране Советов рабочих и солдатских депутатов 600 высказывались за разгон Временного правительства, и уничтожение системы «двоевластия». В то же время добиться большевизации Советов крестьянских депутатов не удалось; из 455 таких Советов в 264 вообще не было большевистских фракций.

В октябре в Петроград конспиративно возвращается Ленин. Уже с 15 сентября он начинает активно склонять своих сторонников к началу подготовки восстания против Временного правительства. В результате восстания 25 октября Временное правительство было свергнуто .

Comments

Sources

• Sukhanov N. N. Notes on the revolution
• Milyukov P. N. “History of the Second Russian Revolution”, Minsk, 2002
• A site dedicated to Andrei Ivanovich Shingarev.
• P.Marchenya Drunken pogroms and the struggle for power in 1917 (inaccessible link)
• Solzhenitsyn A.I. April of the Seventeenth
• Solzhenitsyn A.I. On the edge of the narrative. Summary of Unwritten Nodes (V — XX) (link not available)
• A. Smykalin “The Constitution of the Russian Democratic Federal Republic of 1917”, Yekaterinburg, “Official” - No. 2 (18), - 2002
• The Russian Republic proclaimed . Presidential library
• Browder, RP, Kerensky, AF The Russian Provisional Government, 1917: Documents . " Stanford University Press ." Stanford, 1961. ISBN 9780804700238