Lenin's role in the history of Russia is enormous. He was the main ideologist of the revolution and the overthrow of the autocracy in Russia, organized the Bolshevik Party, which was able to come to power in a fairly short time and completely change Russia politically and economically. Thanks to Lenin, Russia transformed from an Empire into a socialist state, which was based on the ideas of communism and the supremacy of the working class.

The state created by Lenin lasted almost throughout the entire 20th century and became one of the strongest in the world. Lenin's personality is still controversial among historians, but everyone agrees that he is one of the greatest world leaders who has ever existed in world history.

February Revolution in Russia

The beginning of the revolution and the reasons for its occurrence

The February Revolution began as a spontaneous impulse of the masses, but its success was also facilitated by an acute political crisis at the top and the sharp dissatisfaction of liberal-bourgeois circles with the autocratic policies of the tsar. Bread riots, anti-war rallies, demonstrations, strikes industrial enterprises cities were superimposed on discontent and unrest among the capital's garrison of thousands, who joined the revolutionary masses who took to the streets.

The reasons for the February Revolution of 1917 were anti-war sentiment, the plight of workers and peasants, political lack of rights, the decline in the authority of the autocratic government and its inability to carry out reforms.

The driving force in the struggle was the working class, led by the revolutionary Bolshevik Party. The allies of the workers were the peasants, demanding the redistribution of land. The Bolsheviks explained to the soldiers the goals and objectives of the struggle.

February 23, 1917 is considered the beginning of the February Revolution. At first the government did not attach much importance to these events. The day before, Nicholas II, having assumed the duties of Supreme Commander-in-Chief, left Petrograd for Headquarters in Mogilev. However, events escalated. On February 24, 214 thousand people were already on strike in Petrograd, and on the 25th - over 300 thousand (80% of workers). Demonstrations spread. The Cossacks sent to disperse them began to go over to the side of the demonstrators. Commander of the Petrograd Military District, General S.S. Hubble received an order from the king: “I command you to stop the riots in the capital tomorrow.” On February 26, Khabalov ordered fire on the demonstrators: 50 people were killed and hundreds were wounded.

The outcome of any revolution depends on whose side the army is on. Defeat of the revolution of 1905-1907. was largely due to the fact that in general the army remained faithful to tsarism. In February 1917, there were 180 thousand soldiers in Petrograd who were being prepared to be sent to the front. There were many recruits here from workers mobilized for participation in strikes. They did not want to go to the front and easily succumbed to revolutionary propaganda. The shooting of the demonstrators caused outrage among the garrison soldiers. Soldiers of the Pavlovsk regiment seized the arsenal and handed over the weapons to the workers. On March 1, there were already 170 thousand soldiers on the side of the rebels. The remnants of the garrison, together with Khabalov, surrendered. The transition of the garrison to the side of the revolution ensured its victory. Tsarist ministers were arrested, police stations were destroyed and burned, and political prisoners were released from prisons.

Creation of new authorities. Petrograd Soviet of Workers' Deputies (February 27, 1917). The Petrograd Soviet consisted of 250 members. Chairman - Menshevik N.S. Chkhidze, deputies - Menshevik M.I. Skobelev and Trudovik A.F. Kirensky (1881-1970). The Petrograd Soviet was dominated by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, at that time the most numerous left-wing parties. They put forward the slogan of “civil peace,” the consolidation of all classes and political freedoms. By decision of the Petrograd Soviet, the tsar's finances were confiscated.

“Order No. 1” was issued by the Petrograd Soviet on March 1, 1917. Elected soldiers’ committees were created in military units, and weapons were placed at their disposal. The titles of officers and the giving of honor to them were abolished. Although this order was intended only for the Petrograd garrison, it soon spread to the fronts. “Order No. 1” was destructive, undermined the principle of unity of command in the army, leading to its collapse and mass desertion.

During all the years of Soviet power, Lenin scholars were unable to establish exactly when V.I. Lenin returned to Petrograd to carry out the Great October Socialist Revolution. When and where he was is not entirely clear. He was a conspirator! But why was such secrecy necessary?

A French intelligence report has been declassified, according to which Lenin came to Berlin in August 1917 and met with the German Chancellor, then visited Geneva, where a meeting of bankers from both warring parties took place: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain and France, but without Russia.

If French intelligence had the correct information, then only three issues could be discussed with Lenin: the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in Russia, the conclusion of a separate Bolshevik-German peace and the financing of all this.

Of course, Western financiers discussed the post-war structure of the world and divided the “post-war pie,” including the part that was required to restore our country after the aggression of Kaiser Germany.

Lenin returned to Petrograd no later than October 10 (old style) 1917, since on that day he participated in a meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party and finally achieved a decision on an armed uprising; achieved with the support of L. D. Trotsky and despite the objections of L. B. Kamenev and G. E. Zinoviev. Therefore, Lenin himself called Lev Davidovich “the best Bolshevik.” And Trotsky later reasoned: “If it had not been for me in St. Petersburg in 1917, the October Revolution would have occurred - provided Lenin had the presence and leadership. If neither Lenin nor I had been in St. Petersburg, there would have been no October Revolution: the leadership of the Bolshevik Party would have prevented it from happening... If Lenin had not been in St. Petersburg, I would hardly have been able to cope... the outcome of the revolution would have been a question mark.”

The October Revolution grew under the leadership of Trotsky, chairman of the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. And Lenin, made up, having shaved his mustache and beard, appeared in Smolny on the evening of October 24, without waiting for Trotsky’s invitation. Lenin, with desperate determination, activates and directs the armed uprising that has begun. But the revolutionary Petrograd garrison has decayed, the Red Guard is not professional, and it’s cold outside...

According to Lenin's teaching on an uprising, it should develop into a general strike of workers. However, the workers are not on strike!

And then things happen strange stories. Combat-ready Cossacks offer A.F. Kerensky support and ask to allow them a religious procession on the day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God on October 22, but Kerensky does not allow it and finds himself without their significant support. The Chairman of the Provisional Government ignores other specific offers of support, including the subsequent offer of Cossacks loyal to the government.

The Bolsheviks mockingly recalled that the Provisional Government in the Winter Palace was defended only by military women and cadets. However, the women and youths prevented several attempts to capture Zimny ​​within a few hours. Lenin called in the military from Finland for help, including those who did not answer the questions of the Petrograd residents and did not understand what they were being told. Only on October 26, at three o'clock in the morning, did they manage to capture Zimny. This was followed by gang rapes, public floggings and torture of female military personnel, a drinking spree unprecedented in the history of Petrograd and the robbery of the Winter Palace, from where even huge beds were stolen, and one can imagine how the triumphant lumpen-proletarians carried them to their closets.

And the strange stories don’t end there. One of the most informed newspapers in the world, the New York Times, comes out with the message that a new government has been created in Russia headed by... Trotsky. At the same time, a large photograph of Lev Davidovich is published.

It is traditionally accepted that A.F. Kerensky at that time was tired, exhausted and inadequate. It is possible that this was the case. However, questions arise: just recently he was adequate - how did the boy outplay General L.G. Kornilov, and after that became inadequate? Fatigue is tired, who among us has not worked too hard, but not so much as to refuse the help offered. And if Kerensky still remained adequate, then what? Then the assumption arises that it was not by chance that he slipped away from the capital in the car of the US Embassy and, perhaps, ceded power to L. D. Trotsky as the legal and popular chairman of the Petrosoviet, who did not refuse American money.

Trotsky's uncle was the millionaire banker A.I. Zhivotovsky, who had his own interests and connections in the USA and had the English intelligence officer Sidney Reilly as his employee; It was through his uncle that Trotsky was fed with money from American bankers, and Lev Davidovich returned to Russia from the USA with the consent of Great Britain. And during the negotiations in Brest-Litovsk, Trotsky refused to sign peace with Germany; this was more beneficial to the United States and Great Britain, which were at war with Germany, than the position of Lenin, who was ready to sign peace on any terms, which, in turn, was fully consistent with the interests of Germany, which helped Lenin return to Russia and supported his party.

Could L. D. Trotsky and V. I. Lenin forget about those who helped? They could. Just remember that in 1917, during the revolutionary unrest, the best officers of the Baltic Fleet were killed with precise shots. Not just anyone, not just a few, but 70 of the best naval commanders! Could this be a coincidence? Rather, another option suggests itself - cooperation between the radical revolutionaries who organized the unrest and the German saboteurs who knew how and who to shoot at. So, when dealing with professionals, it is not safe to burn all your bridges. In addition, a document has been preserved indicating that German money came to Russia even after October. The question is: who were the Germans interested in financing? If the greatest politician supporting a separate peace with Germany was the chairman of the Soviet government, Lenin.

The intrigues around Russia and the Red Troubles of 1917 in Russia itself evoke associations with modern intrigues and the role of Western powers in the “color revolutions.” Let's take a look at what M. House, an adviser to the American president, wrote at the time: “If the allies win, this will mean Russian domination on the European continent”; therefore, “the world will live more peacefully if, instead of the huge Russia, there are four Russias in the world. One is Siberia, and the rest are the divided European part of the country.” Moreover, the adviser and President Wilson himself even agreed on the desire to separate Ukraine from the Russian state and transfer Crimea to Ukraine.

But let's go back directly to October 1917. From October 25 to 27, the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies took place. The Bolsheviks managed to make up 51% of the deputies of the congress, since the majority of the workers' and soldiers' councils did not send their representatives to the congress (the majority of the councils were dominated by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, who thus tried to sabotage the development of the revolution). And Lenin could not help but take advantage of such a “gift”, and with brilliance.

Back on October 25, the Second Congress of Soviets proclaimed the transfer of all power in the center and locally to the soviets. On October 26, the congress adopted the decree on peace proposed by Lenin, which, on behalf of Soviet Russia, proposed concluding an immediate, just and democratic peace. The illiterate soldiers and workers were delighted and did not think about the most basic thing: that Germany did not attack our country to conclude a fair and democratic peace, and, therefore, such a peace would not be concluded. Peace-hungry soldiers and workers thoughtlessly supported the party, which openly called for turning the First World War into the worst - civil war. For comparison: during the world war, less than 1 million Russians died, during the civil war - more than 12 million.

The Second Congress of Soviets adopted the decree on land proposed by Lenin. Lenin based the decree on the text of the Peasant Order on Land, compiled by the Socialist Revolutionaries from orders from the localities to the deputies of the First All-Russian Congress of Peasant Councils. It was a brilliant move. Lenin demonstrated to the peasants (including peasants in soldiers' greatcoats) that the Bolsheviks were ready to meet them halfway, to fulfill their demands, and not the Bolshevik program of land nationalization, which was unpopular in the countryside. Lenin needed to win over or neutralize the peasants. And he achieved it. But the illiterate peasantry did not notice that Lenin did not include the entire Peasant Mandate in the decree, but removed from it the sections that contained the political and economic conditions that would ensure its implementation.

The self-confident men did not even think that Lenin’s almost unknown party would seize power so much that it would refuse to follow the decree on land and begin to implement its own agrarian program. The men could not think that Lenin’s party would take away the land almost received by decree and carry out a second enslavement of the peasantry - now into collective and state farms.

Lenin later admitted that decrees on peace and land were a form of revolutionary agitation. However, if you call a spade a spade, then Lenin’s party deceived the peasants, soldiers, and workers. The October Socialist Revolution is a grandiose deception of the people of Russia.

If in form October was a coup d'etat, then in consequences it became a socialist revolution. Was it just what I dreamed of...

Vladimir Lavrov,

Doctor of Historical Sciences,

Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences

The February Revolution found Vladimir Lenin in Switzerland and came as a complete surprise to him. Just a month ago he spoke to Swiss youth and said that Russian revolution 1905 awakened both Europe and Asia from sleep, becoming the prologue to the coming European proletarian revolution.

“We old men may not live to see the decisive battles of this coming revolution,

- he declared. “But I can, I think, express with great confidence the hope that the youth, who work so wonderfully in the socialist movement of Switzerland and the whole world, that they will have the happiness not only to fight, but also to win in the coming proletarian revolution.”

It was not by chance that Lenin ended up in Switzerland. “After Austrian Poland, from where he forcibly managed to run away in 1914, there were few options in Europe - theoretically, it was possible to go to America - there were few,” writer Lev told Gazeta.Ru. — The Central Powers were obviously excluded as a place of residence; in England and France Lenin would have been interned or transferred to Russia for not only anti-war but defeatist agitation.

The choice was, essentially, Switzerland or Sweden, two neutral countries. But Lenin left Poland, obsessed with the idea of ​​reading Hegel, or rather, re-deciphering Hegel’s code (traces of this are in the 29th volume of the Collected Works), and writing a book about imperialism, about the causes of the world war. Sweden was closer to Russia, and there was a Marxist colony there, but in terms of books, Switzerland was better; Lenin didn’t know Swedish, but he was fluent in German. Well, in Switzerland there was a promising local socialist party that could be pushed to the left. Switzerland in those days was not a boring country of bankers and watchmakers; there, in 1918, a real revolution almost happened, with blood and barricades.”

In Switzerland, Lenin continued to study the works of Karl Marx and other authors, writing out the most important provisions. He entitled the notebook containing the notes “Marxism on the State.” He also published articles in the local press and edited the works of the Bolshevik and revolutionary Inessa Armand, his confidant.

The news of the revolution that had taken place in his homeland reached Lenin only on March 2, 1917.

“From the very first minutes, as soon as the news of the February Revolution arrived, Ilyich began to rush to Russia,” recalled his wife Nadezhda Krupskaya.

“The first thing he did when he learned about February in Russia was to go not to church, not to a liquor store, but to the nearest mountain, or hill by Swiss standards - Zurichberg - and there he spent several hours alone, thinking, what to do,” Danilkin said. “This kind of workload always turned out to be very fruitful for him both as a politician and as a philosopher. Well, then he rushed around Switzerland in search of an opportunity to get into Russia - legally, illegally, obviously, secretly, with an English passport, on an airplane, with documents in the name of a deaf-mute Swede, etc.

Then, when I decided to travel through Germany, I collected letters of support that I could wave in Russia - such an informal, but still a sanction for travel. And if before then he communicated rather with a close circle of Swiss young socialists, more left-wing than their older, moderate comrades (Fritz Platten was precisely one of these young people, who took on mediation functions in the “sealed carriage”), now he had to mobilize your communication skills and revive old contacts - both with the Mensheviks and with the Vperyodists. And more often than in the cantonal library, he could be seen in the neighboring Eintracht workers' club, where it was convenient to negotiate. Well, he wrote, voraciously, political analytics about the Russian Revolution, although only from newspapers at that time, from hearsay. From his “damned far away,” as he himself put it.”

In the first days of March, looking for ways to leave Switzerland, Lenin sent a letter to his assistant Jakub Ganetsky, who was at that time in Stockholm. He wrote: “We can’t wait any longer, all hopes for a legal arrival are in vain. It is necessary to immediately get to Russia at any cost, and the only plan is the following:

find a Swede like me. But I don't know Swedish, so the Swede must be deaf and dumb. I’m sending you my photograph just in case.”

While waiting for the opportunity to get out to Russia, Lenin was busy drawing up theses on the tasks of the proletariat in the revolution. He noted the need to organize Soviets, arm the workers, and transfer proletarian organizations to the army and villages. When asked by a revolutionary who was in Stockholm at that time, to provide instructions for the Bolsheviks, he replied: “Raise new layers! Arouse new initiative, new organizations in all layers and prove to them that peace will only be given by an armed Council of Workers’ Deputies if it takes power.”

Before leaving, Lenin collected all possible information about the accomplished revolution that could be obtained from local newspapers. Having learned about the amnesty announced by the Provisional Government for political and religious matters, he turned to Armand with a request that if she left for Russia, “in England, find out quietly and surely” whether she could return. He admonished the Bolsheviks leaving Switzerland for Russia: “Our tactics: complete distrust, no support for the new government; Kerensky is especially suspected; arming the proletariat is the only guarantee; immediate elections to the Petrograd Duma; no rapprochement with other parties. Telegraph this to Petrograd.”

Hoping to get out of Switzerland through England, Lenin turned to the revolutionary Vyacheslav Karpinsky, who was in Geneva. He planned to travel illegally using his documents. “I can wear a wig. The photograph will be taken of me already in a wig...” Lenin suggested. He was sure that if he went under his own name, he would be detained or arrested.

In emigrant circles, the idea arose to go to Russia through Germany.

They planned to obtain permission to travel in exchange for Germans and Austrians interned in Russia. Success in negotiations with the German authorities was facilitated by Lenin's friend, the Swiss Friedrich Platten, who took personal responsibility for the move. In addition, the Germans believed that transporting Lenin to Russia would help them win the First World War. German General Max Hoffmann later recalled: “We naturally sought to strengthen the disintegration introduced into the Russian army by the revolution by means of propaganda. In the rear, someone who maintained relations with Russians living in exile in Switzerland came up with the idea of ​​​​using some of these Russians in order to even more quickly destroy the spirit of the Russian army and poison it with poison.”

Among the conditions put forward by Platten was the requirement that persons be allowed to travel, regardless of their political views, no interruptions in train movement without technical need and no document checks when entering and leaving Germany.

The Swiss Bolsheviks, at Lenin's request, informed the emigrants that the opportunity had arisen to go to Russia. Within a few days, a group of 32 people gathered.

They proceeded through warring Germany, Sweden, and Finland.

He wrote about Lenin’s appearance in Petrograd: “It is necessary to pay the closest attention to the vile idea of ​​the German military leadership, which it has already implemented. That it used its most terrible weapons against Russia is awe-inspiring. It transported Lenin in a sealed carriage from Switzerland to Russia like a plague bacillus.”

The statement about the sealed carriage is, of course, exaggerated - only three of the four doors were sealed.

The fourth door was used to communicate with outside world, for example, buying milk for children in the carriage or receiving newspapers. As the author of the monograph “Lenin on a Train,” Katherine Merridale, notes, this myth arose due to Lenin’s demand to give his train the status of extraterritoriality so that it would have nothing to do with Germany. On Lenin’s initiative, a chalk line was drawn in the carriage, dividing it into two parts: in one there were revolutionaries, in the other - German officers.

“Subsequently, Karl Radek, who was a passenger on the train, and other passengers denied that the train doors were sealed,” says Merridale. “One of the four doors did not close at all, and the Swiss socialist Fritz Platten, through whom Lenin and his companions communicated with the guards, could freely get off at all stops, buy newspapers, milk for two children on the train and other products.”

Another demand of Lenin was that the passengers pay for the tickets from their own funds: this is how he showed that they were not going to accept German money. The emigrants took with them a supply of food, but at the Swiss-German border customs officers confiscated the provisions - bringing food into the warring countries was prohibited.

Lenin and his companions traveled second and third class. Lenin himself and his wife traveled in a separate compartment.

On the way home, the revolutionaries encountered an unpleasant problem - there was only one toilet available to them in the carriage, the second was in the “German” part of the carriage.

In addition, Lenin banned smoking in the carriage, so passengers went to the toilet to smoke. As a result, this led to a constant crush and noise near Lenin’s compartment. He solved the problem by issuing tickets for visiting the toilet in two classes: the first - for those who needed to relieve themselves, and the second - for smokers.

The trip took eight days. Arriving in Petrograd, Lenin immediately came up with the “April Theses” - a program of action for the Russian Bolsheviks, which implied the struggle for the development of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist one. Preparations for the October Revolution began.

The October Revolution, unlike the February Revolution, was carefully prepared by the Bolsheviks, whom Lenin, overcoming strong resistance, managed to win over to his side. On October 24–25 (November 6–7), several thousand Red Guards, sailors and soldiers, who followed the Bolsheviks, captured strategically important points in the capital: train stations, arsenals, warehouses, a telephone exchange, and the State Bank. October 25 (November 7) the headquarters of the uprising - the Military Revolutionary Committee announces the overthrow of the Provisional Government. At the end of the night on October 26 (November 8), after a warning salvo from the cruiser Aurora, the rebels took the Winter Palace with the ministers there, easily suppressing the resistance of the cadets and women's battalion, which constituted the only defense of the impotent government. At the same time, the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, at which the influence of the Bolsheviks prevailed, being presented with a fact, affirms the victory of the uprising. Then, at the second meeting, he adopts a resolution on the formation of the Council of People's Commissars, as well as decrees on peace and land. Thus, within a few days of the almost bloodless “Great October Revolution,” a complete break with the country’s historical past occurred. However, it would take many years of fierce struggle before the Bolsheviks could finally establish their undivided dominance.

Political and public life

29 Sep. (Oct 12). Lenin’s article “The Crisis is Overdue” appears in the Bolshevik newspaper Rabochiy Put. The call it contains for an immediate armed uprising encounters the disagreement of a significant part of the Bolsheviks.

Lenin secretly returns to Petrograd.

10 (23) Oct. A meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party is taking place in an atmosphere of secrecy. V. Lenin achieves the adoption of the resolution on the uprising with 10 votes in favor and 2 against (L. Kamenev and G. Zinoviev) thanks to Ya. Sverdlov’s message about the impending military conspiracy in Minsk. A Political Bureau was created, which included V. Lenin, G. Zinoviev, L. Kamenev, L. Trotsky, G. Sokolnikov and A. Bubnov.

12 (25) Oct. The Petrograd Soviet creates a Military Revolutionary Committee to organize the defense of the city from the Germans. The Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Trotsky, transform it into a headquarters for preparing an armed uprising. The Council appeals to the soldiers of the capital's garrison, the Red Guards and Kronstadt sailors with an appeal to join it.

16 (29) Oct. At an enlarged meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, the resolution on the uprising carried out by Lenin was approved, the technical preparation of which was entrusted to the Military Revolutionary Center, acting on behalf of the party together with the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet.

18 (31) Oct. In M. Gorky's newspaper " New life“an article by L. Kamenev was published, where he sharply objects to the impending uprising, which he considers untimely.

Oct 22 (Nov 4). The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet announces that only orders approved by it are recognized as valid.

Oct 24 (Nov 6). An open break between the Soviet and the Provisional Government, which orders the printing house of Bolshevik newspapers to be sealed and calls military reinforcements to Petrograd. The Bolsheviks break the seals and during the day do not allow troops loyal to the government to open the bridges. The beginning of the uprising, which was led from the building of the Smolny Institute. On the night of 24 to 25 Oct. (November 6–7) Red Guards, sailors and soldiers who sided with the Bolsheviks easily occupied the most important points of the city. Lenin comes to Smolny, where the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies is about to begin, ministers gather in the Winter Palace, Kerensky flees the capital for reinforcements.

Oct 25 (November 7) The rebels take possession of almost the entire capital, except for the Winter Palace. The Military Revolutionary Committee announces the overthrow of the Provisional Government and, in the name of the Council, takes power into its own hands.

Assault on the Winter Palace (with the support of the cruiser Aurora). At 2:30 a.m. the palace is occupied by the rebels.

The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets opens in Smolny (out of 650 delegates, 390 Bolsheviks and 150 Left Socialist-Revolutionaries). A new presidium was elected, dominated by Bolsheviks; the Mensheviks and Right Socialist Revolutionaries, who opposed the coup, leave the congress; the appeal “To workers, soldiers and peasants!” is accepted! - thereby the congress affirms the victory of the uprising.

Oct 26 (8 Nov). The beginning of the Bolshevik uprising in Moscow, which, after fierce fighting, ends with the capture of the Kremlin.

3 (16) Nov. The Petrograd City Duma creates the “Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution,” which includes Mensheviks and Right Socialist Revolutionaries who do not accept the actions of the Bolsheviks.

Night from 26 to 27 Oct. (8-9 Nov). Final meeting of the Second Congress of Soviets: a resolution was approved on the formation of a new government - the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), which included exclusively Bolsheviks: Lenin (chairman), Trotsky (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs), Stalin (People's Commissar for Nationalities), Rykov (People's Commissar for Nationalities), internal affairs), Lunacharsky (People's Commissar of Education). The All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), which is also dominated by Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, was re-elected. The decrees on peace and land written by Lenin were adopted.

Oct 27 (Nov 9). The offensive of General Krasnov’s troops against Petrograd, organized by A. Kerensky (stopped near Pulkovo on October 30/November 12).

Oct 29 (Nov 11). In Petrograd, an attempted mutiny by the cadets was suppressed. An ultimatum from the Executive Committee of the Railway Workers' Trade Union (Vikzhel) demanding the formation of a coalition socialist government.

1 (14) Nov. The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party adopts a resolution meaning the breakdown of negotiations that were conducted with representatives of other socialist parties on the formation of a coalition government. The Bolshevik representatives sent to Gatchina manage to win over the troops gathered by Kerensky and Krasnov to the side of the revolution. Kerensky flees, Krasnov is arrested (he will soon be released and join the counter-revolutionary forces on the Don). The Tashkent council takes power into its own hands. In general, at that time, Soviet power was established in Yaroslavl, Tver, Smolensk, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, Saratov, Rostov, Ufa.

2 (15) Nov. The “Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia” proclaims the equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia and their right to free self-determination, up to and including secession.

4 (17) Nov. In protest against the refusal to form a coalition government, several Bolsheviks (including Kamenev, Zinoviev and Rykov) announced their resignation from the Central Committee or the Council of People's Commissars, but soon returned to their posts. The third Universal of the Ukrainian Central Rada, proclaiming the creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic (without breaking with Russia, the Rada called on it to transform into a federation).

10–25 Nov. (23 Nov.-8 Dec.). Extraordinary Congress of Peasant Deputies in Petrograd, dominated by the Socialist Revolutionaries. The congress approves the decree on land and delegates 108 representatives as members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

12 (25) Nov. The beginning of elections to the Constituent Assembly, during which 58% of the votes will be cast for the Socialist Revolutionaries, 25% for the Bolsheviks (however, the majority votes for them in Petrograd, Moscow and in the military units of the Northern and Western fronts), 13% - for the Cadets and other “bourgeois” parties.

15 (28) Nov. The Transcaucasian Commissariat was formed in Tiflis, organizing resistance to the Bolsheviks in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

19–28 Nov. (2-11 Dec.). The First Congress of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, organized into an independent political party, takes place in Petrograd.

20 Nov (Dec 3). The call of Lenin and Stalin to all Muslims of Russia and the East to begin the struggle for liberation from all forms of oppression. The National Muslim Assembly is meeting in Ufa to prepare the national-cultural autonomy of Muslims in Russia.

26 Nov - 10 Dec (9-23 Dec.). I Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies in Petrograd. It is dominated by the Left Social Revolutionaries, who support the policies of the Bolsheviks.

28 Nov (Dec 11). Decree on the arrest of the leadership of the cadet party accused of preparing a civil war.

Nov. Organization of the first counter-revolutionary military formations: in Novocherkassk, generals Alekseev and Kornilov create the Volunteer Army, and in December they form a “triumvirate” with the Don Ataman A. Kaledin.

2 (15) Dec. The Cadets were expelled from the Constituent Assembly. The volunteer army enters Rostov.

4 (17) Dec. An ultimatum was presented to the Central Rada demanding recognition Soviet power in Ukraine.

7 (20) Dec. Creation of the Cheka (All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Sabotage and Counter-Revolution) under the chairmanship of Dzerzhinsky.

9 (22) Dec. The Bolsheviks negotiate with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries about the latter's entry into the government (they were given the posts of People's Commissars of Agriculture, Justice, Posts and Telegraphs).

11 (24) Dec. The First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets (dominated by the Bolsheviks) opens in Kharkov. 12 (25) Dec. he proclaims Ukraine a “Republic of Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Villagers’ Deputies.”

World War And foreign policy

Oct 26 (8 Nov). Peace Decree: it contains a proposal to all warring parties to immediately begin negotiations on signing a just democratic peace without annexations and indemnities.

1 (14) Nov. After the flight of A. Kerensky, General N. Dukhonin became Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

8 (21) Nov. A note from the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L. Trotsky, in which all warring parties are invited to begin peace negotiations.

9 (22) Nov. General N. Dukhonin was removed from command (for refusing to begin negotiations on a truce with the Germans) and replaced by N. Krylenko. The upcoming publication of secret treaties related to the war is announced.

20 Nov (Dec 3). Negotiations on a truce between Russia and the Central European powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey) open in Brest-Litovsk. N. Krylenko takes control of Headquarters in Mogilev. N. Dukhonin was brutally killed by soldiers and sailors.

9 (22) Dec. Opening of the peace conference in Brest-Litovsk: Germany is represented by State Secretary (Foreign Minister) von Kühlmann and General Hoffmann, Austria by Foreign Minister Chernin. The Soviet delegation, headed by A. Ioffe, demands the conclusion of peace without annexations and reparations, with respect for the right of peoples to decide their own destinies.

27 Dec (Jan 9). After a ten-day break (arranged at the request of the Soviet side, which is trying - unsuccessfully - to involve the Entente countries in the negotiations), the peace conference in Brest-Litovsk resumes. The Soviet delegation is now headed by L. Trotsky.

Economy, society and culture

16–19 Oct. (Oct 29-Nov 1). Meeting of proletarian cultural education organizations in Petrograd (under the leadership of A. Lunacharsky); from November they will take the official name “Proletkult”.

Oct 26 (8 Nov). Decree on land; landlord ownership of land is abolished without any redemption, all lands are transferred to the disposal of volost land committees and district Soviets of peasant deputies. In many cases, the decree simply consolidates the actual situation. Each peasant family is given an additional tithe of land.

5 (18) Nov. Metropolitan Tikhon was elected Patriarch of Moscow (the patriarchate had recently been restored by the Council of the Orthodox Church).

14 (27) Nov. “Regulations on workers’ control” in enterprises that employ more than 5 hired workers (factory committees are elected at enterprises, the highest body is the All-Russian Council of Workers’ Control).

22 Nov (Dec 5). Reorganization of the judicial system (election of judges, creation of revolutionary tribunals).

2 (15) Dec. Creation of the Supreme Council National economy(VSNKh) to regulate the entire economic life. The local bodies of the Supreme Council of National Economy became the Councils of National Economy (sovnarkhozes).

18 (31) Dec. Decrees “On civil marriage, on children and maintaining books of deeds” and “On divorce”.

Curriculum Vitae

Lenin (Ulyanov) Vladimir Ilyich (1870–1924) was born in Simbirsk, in the family of an inspector of public schools. Having entered the law faculty of Kazan University, he soon finds himself expelled after student unrest. His older brother Alexander was executed in 1887 as a participant in a Narodnaya Volya conspiracy to assassinate Alexandra III. Young Vladimir brilliantly passes exams at St. Petersburg University. Then he became a Marxist, met with Plekhanov in Switzerland and, upon returning to the capital in 1895, founded the “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.” He is immediately arrested and, after imprisonment, exiled to Siberia for three years. There he wrote the work “The Development of Capitalism in Russia,” published in 1895 and directed against populist theories. After serving his exile, he left Russia in 1900 and founded the Iskra newspaper in exile, which was designed to serve the propaganda of Marxism; At the same time, the distribution of the newspaper makes it possible to create a fairly extensive network of underground organizations in the territory Russian Empire. At the same time, he adopted the pseudonym Lenin and published in 1902 the fundamental work “What is to be done?”, in which he sets out his concept of a party of professional revolutionaries - small, strictly centralized, intended to become the vanguard of the working class in its struggle against the bourgeoisie. In 1903, at the First Congress of the RSDLP, a split occurred between the Bolsheviks (led by Lenin) and the Mensheviks, who disagreed with this concept of party organization. During the revolution of 1905, he returned to Russia, but with the beginning of the Stolypin reaction he was forced to go into exile again, where he continued his irreconcilable struggle with everyone who did not accept his views on the revolutionary struggle, accusing even some Bolsheviks of idealism. In 1912, he decisively broke with the Mensheviks and began to manage the newspaper Pravda, legally published in Russia, from abroad. Since 1912 he lived in Austria, and after the outbreak of the First World War he moved to Switzerland. At the conferences in Zimmerwald (1915) and in Kienthal (1916), he defended his thesis about the need to transform the imperialist war into a civil war and at the same time argued that the socialist revolution could win in Russia (“Imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism”).

After the February Revolution of 1917, he was allowed to cross Germany by train, and immediately upon arriving in Russia, he took the Bolshevik Party into his hands and raised the question of preparing a second revolution (April Theses). In October, not without some difficulties, he convinces his fellow fighters of the need for an armed uprising, after the success of which he carries out decrees on peace and land, and then leads the “building of socialism,” during which he more than once has to overcome stubborn resistance, as , for example, on the issue of the Brest-Litovsk Peace or on trade union and national problems. Having the ability to make concessions in certain situations, as happened with the adoption of a new economic policy(NEP), inevitable in conditions of complete devastation in the country, Lenin showed exceptional intransigence in the fight against the opposition, not stopping either at the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly in 1918, or at the expulsion of the “counter-revolutionary” intelligentsia from the country in 1922. Already seriously ill, he still -at the end of 1922 - beginning of 1923, he tried to participate in decision-making and expressed his concerns in notes, later known as “Testament.” For about another year he actually does not live, but survives, paralyzed and speechless, and dies in January 1924.