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Party of Socialist Revolutionaries (AKP, Socialist Revolutionaries, Social Revolutionaries)- the largest petty-bourgeois party in Russia in 1901-22. In the course of the development of the Russian revolutionary movement, the Socialist-Revolutionary Party went through a complex evolution from petty-bourgeois revolutionism to cooperation with the bourgeoisie after and a virtual alliance with the bourgeois-landlord counter-revolution after.

Emergence. Leaders

It took shape in late 1901 - early 1902 as a result of the unification of a number of populist circles and groups: "Southern Party of Socialist Revolutionaries", "Northern Union of Socialist Revolutionaries", "Agrarian Socialist League", "Foreign Union of Socialist Revolutionaries" and others . At the time of its emergence, the party was headed by M.A. Natanson, E.K. Breshko-Breshkovskaya, N.S. Rusanov, V.M. Chernov, M.R. Gots, G.A. Gershuni.

Ideology

In the early years, the Social Revolutionaries did not have a generally accepted program. Their views and demands were reflected in the articles of the newspaper "Revolutionary Russia", the journal "Bulletin of the Russian Revolution", the collection "On Program and Tactics". In theoretical terms, the views of the Socialist-Revolutionaries are an eclectic mixture of the ideas of populism and revisionism (Bernsteinianism). wrote that the Socialist-Revolutionaries ""the gaps in Narodism ... are trying to patch up with patches of fashionable opportunist "criticism" of Marxism..."

The Socialist-Revolutionaries considered the “working people” to be the main social force: the peasantry, the proletariat, and the democratic intelligentsia. Their thesis about "the unity of the people" objectively meant the denial of class differences between the proletariat and the peasantry and the contradictions within the peasantry. The interests of the "working" peasantry were declared identical with the interests of the proletariat. The main sign of the division of society into classes, the Socialist-Revolutionaries considered the sources of income, putting in the first place distribution relations, and not relations to the means of production, as Marxism teaches. The Socialist-Revolutionaries put forward the idea of ​​the socialist character of the "working" peasantry (the rural poor and the middle peasants). Denying the leading role of the proletariat in the bourgeois-democratic revolution, they recognized the democratic intelligentsia, the peasantry and the proletariat as the driving forces of the revolution, assigning the main role in the revolution to the peasantry. Not understanding the bourgeois character of the approaching revolution, the Social Revolutionaries regarded the peasant movement against the remnants of serfdom as socialist. The Party Program, written by V.M. Chernov and adopted at the 1st Congress in December 1905 - January 1906, contained demands for the establishment of a democratic republic, the autonomy of regions, political freedoms, universal suffrage, the convening of a Constituent Assembly, the introduction of labor legislation, progressive income tax, the establishment of an 8-hour working day. The basis of the agrarian program of the Socialist-Revolutionaries was the demand for the socialization of the land, which, under the conditions of the bourgeois-democratic revolution, had a progressive character, since it provided for the liquidation of landownership by revolutionary means and the transfer of land to the peasants. The agrarian program of the Socialist-Revolutionaries provided them with influence and support among the peasants in the Revolution of 1905-07.

Activities of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party

Pre-revolutionary period

In the sphere of tactics, the Socialist-Revolutionaries borrowed from the Social Democrats the methods of mass agitation among the proletariat, the peasantry, and the intelligentsia (mainly among the students). However, one of the main methods of struggle of the Socialist-Revolutionaries was individual terror, which was carried out by a conspiratorial and virtually independent of the Central Committee Combat Organization). Its founder and leader since the end of 1901 was G.A. Gershuni, since 1903 - E.F. Azef (who turned out to be a provocateur), since 1908 - B.V. Savinkov.

In 1902-06, members of the Combat Organization of the Social Revolutionaries carried out a number of major terrorist acts: S.V. Balmashev killed the Minister of Internal Affairs D.S. Sipyagin, E.S. Sazonov - the Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. - Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. During the Revolution of 1905-07, the peasant squads of the Socialist-Revolutionaries launched a campaign of "agrarian terror" in the villages: arson of estates, seizure of landowners' property, cutting down forests. The fighting squads of the revolutionary socialists, together with the squads of other parties, participated in the armed uprisings of 1905-06 and the "guerrilla war" of 1906. The "military organization" of the Socialist-Revolutionaries carried out work in the army and navy. At the same time, the Socialist-Revolutionaries were inclined to vacillate towards liberalism. In 1904, they entered into an agreement with the "Liberation Union", participated in the Paris "Conference of Opposition and Revolutionary Organizations", which was attended by representatives of only bourgeois and petty-bourgeois groups.

Participation in the State Duma

In the 1st State Duma, the Social Revolutionaries did not have their own faction and were part of the Trudovik faction. The Socialist-Revolutionaries considered the election of 37 of their deputies to the 2nd State Duma a great victory for the revolution. Terrorist activities during the work of the 1st and 2nd Dumas were suspended. In the Duma, the Socialist-Revolutionaries wavered between the Social Democrats and the Cadets. In essence, in 1902-07, the Socialist-Revolutionaries represented the left wing of the petty-bourgeois democracy. Criticizing the utopian theories of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, the adventuristic tactics of individual terror, the vacillation between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, the Bolsheviks, in view of the fact that the Socialist-Revolutionaries participated in the nationwide struggle against tsarism, under certain conditions, made temporary agreements with them. The Socialist-Revolutionaries boycotted the 3rd and 4th Dumas, urging the peasants to recall their deputies, but did not receive the support of the masses.

First split. Party of People's Socialists and Union of Socialist Revolutionary Maximalists

The petty-bourgeois essence led to the lack of internal unity, characteristic from the moment the Socialist-Revolutionary Party appeared, which led to a split in 1906. The right wing separated from the Socialist-Revolutionaries, forming the People's Socialist Party, and the extreme left, united in the Union of Maximalist Socialist Revolutionaries. During the reaction period of 1907-1910, the Socialist-Revolutionary Party experienced a severe crisis. The revelation of Azef's provocation in 1908 demoralized the party, it actually broke up into separate organizations, the main forces of which were thrown into terror and expropriation. Propaganda and agitation among the masses almost ceased. During World War I, most of the Social Revolutionary leaders took social-chauvinist positions.

1907-1910

During the years of reaction, the Social Revolutionaries did almost no work among the masses, concentrating their efforts on organizing terrorist acts and expropriation. They stopped propaganda of the socialization of the land and in their policy towards the peasantry limited themselves to criticizing the Stolypin agrarian legislation, recommending a boycott of the landlords and holding agricultural strikes; agrarian terror was rejected.

During the period and revolutions

The February Revolution awakened the broad masses of the petty bourgeoisie to political life. Because of this, the influence and membership of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party increased dramatically and reached about 400,000 members in 1917. The Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks received a majority in the executive committees of the Petrograd and other land committees. Assessing the February Revolution as an ordinary bourgeois revolution, rejecting the slogan "All power to the Soviets", the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party came out in support of the Provisional Government, which included A.F. Kerensky, N.D. Avksentiev, V.M. Chernov, S.L. Maslov. By postponing the solution of the agrarian question until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, by openly going over to the side of the bourgeoisie during the July days of 1917, the Socialist-Revolutionaries alienated the broad masses of the working people. They continued to be supported only by the urban petty bourgeoisie and the kulaks.

Second split. Left SR Party

The conciliatory policy of the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party led to a new split and the separation of the left wing, which in December 1917 took shape as an independent party of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries.

After the October Revolution

After the victory of the October Revolution, the Right SRs launched anti-Soviet agitation in the press, the Soviets, began to create underground organizations, joined the “Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution” (A.R. Gotz and others). On June 14, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee expelled them from its membership for their activities. During the years of the Civil War, the Right SRs waged an armed struggle against Soviet power, participated in organizing conspiracies and rebellions in Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, and Murom. The newly created Combat Organization unleashed terror against the leaders of the Soviet state: the murders of V. Volodarsky and M.S. Uritsky, wounded on August 30, 1918. Pursuing a demagogic policy of a “third force” between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, in the summer of 1918 the Social Revolutionaries participated in the creation of counter-revolutionary “governments”: the Committee of members of the Constituent Assembly in Samara, the Provisional Siberian Government, the “Supreme Administration of the Northern Region” in Arkhangelsk, the Trans-Caspian Provisional “Government and others . Nationalist Socialist-Revolutionaries took up counter-revolutionary positions: the Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionaries entered the Central Rada, the Transcaucasian Socialist-Revolutionaries supported the British interventionists and bourgeois nationalists, the Siberian regionalists collaborated with A.V. Kolchak. Acting as the main organizers of the petty-bourgeois counter-revolution in the summer and autumn of 1918, the Socialist-Revolutionaries cleared the way for the power of the bourgeois-landowner counter-revolution in the person of Kolchakism, Denikinism and other White Guard regimes, which, having come to power, dispersed the "governments" of the Socialist-Revolutionaries.

Third split. Group "People"

In 1919-20, a split occurred again in the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, caused by the failure of the "third force" policy. In August 1919, part of the Social Revolutionaries - K.S. Burevoy, V.K. Volsky, N.K. Rakitnikov formed the "People" group and negotiated with the Soviet government on joint actions against Kolchak. Extreme right SRs N.D. Avksentiev, V.M. Zenzinov entered into an open alliance with the Whites.

Liquidation of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party

After the defeat of the White armies, the Social Revolutionaries again stood at the head of the internal counter-revolution, speaking under the slogan "Soviets without communists" as the organizers of the Kronstadt anti-Soviet revolt, the West Siberian revolt. In 1922, after the liquidation of the rebellions, the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, having lost all support among the masses, finally disintegrated. Some of the leaders emigrated, creating a number of anti-Soviet centers abroad, some were arrested. Ordinary SRs withdrew from political activity. The "All-Russian Congress of former rank and file members of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party" held in Moscow in March 1923 decided to dissolve the party and made a wish for its participants to join the RCP (b). In May-June, local conferences of former Social Revolutionaries were held throughout the country, which confirmed the decisions of the congress. The trial of the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries in Moscow in 1922 revealed the crimes of this party against the workers' and peasants' state and contributed to the final exposure of the counter-revolutionary essence of the Socialist-Revolutionaries.

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The largest leftist party in pre-revolutionary Russia was founded in 1902. Soon its members began to be called abbreviated SRs. It is under this name that they are known to most Russians today. The most powerful revolutionary force was swept away from the historical arena by the revolution itself. Let's take a closer look at her story.

History of creation

Social revolutionary circles appeared in Russia at the end of the 19th century. One of them was founded in Saratov in 1894 on the basis of the Narodnaya Volya society. Two years later, the circle developed a program that was sent abroad and printed out in the form of a leaflet. In 1896, Andrey Argunov became the leader of the circle, who renamed the association the "Union of Socialist Revolutionaries" and moved its center to Moscow. The Central Union established contacts with illegal revolutionary circles in St. Petersburg, Odessa, Kharkov, Poltava, Voronezh and Penza.

In 1900, the union got a printed organ - the illegal newspaper "Revolutionary Russia". It was she who in January 1902 announced the creation on the basis of the union of the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries.

Tasks and methods of the Socialist-Revolutionaries

The AKP program was drawn up in 1904 by a prominent party figure, Viktor Chernov. The main goal of the Socialist-Revolutionaries was to establish a republican form of government in Russia and to spread the most important political rights to all sections of the population. The Social Revolutionaries decided to achieve their goals in radical ways: underground struggle, terrorist attacks and active agitation among the population.

Already in 1902, the population of the vast empire learned about the militant organization of the new party. In the spring of 1902, the militant Stepan Balmashev shot the Minister of the Interior of Russia Dmitry Sipyagin point-blank. Grigory Girshuni became the organizer of the murder. In the following years, the Social Revolutionaries organized and carried out a number of successful and unsuccessful assassination attempts. The loudest of them were the murders of the new Minister of the Interior and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, uncle of Nicholas II.

Socialist-Revolutionaries and Azef

The name of the legendary provocateur and double agent is associated with the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. For several years he headed the military organization of the party and at the same time was an employee of the Okhrana (the detective department of the Russian Empire). As the head of the BO, Azef organized a series of powerful terrorist attacks, and as an agent of the tsarist secret service, he contributed to the arrest and destruction of many of his fellow party members. In 1908, Azef was exposed. The Central Committee of the AKP sentenced him to death, but the skilled provocateur fled to Berlin, where he lived for another ten years.

AKP and the Revolution of 1905

At the very beginning of the first Russian revolution, the Social Revolutionaries put forward a number of theses, which the party did not part with until its dissolution. The socialists revived the old slogan "Land and freedom", which now meant a fair distribution of land among the peasants. They also proposed to convene the Constituent Assembly - a representative body that would decide the issues of federalization and the state system of post-revolutionary Russia.

During the revolutionary years, the Social Revolutionaries conducted revolutionary agitation among the soldiers and sailors. took an active part in the creation of the first soviets of workers' deputies. These first councils coordinated the actions of the revolutionary-minded masses and did not pretend to be representative bodies. Socialist-Revolutionaries in 1917 When the February Revolution forced Nicholas II to abdicate, the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks formed bodies that were alternative to the Provisional Government, local dumas and zemstvos - soviets. The Petrograd Soviet actually became in opposition to the Provisional Government.

In the spring of 1917, the left-wing parties held the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which formed the All-Russian Executive Committee, which duplicated the functions. At first, the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries dominated the soviets, but in June their Bolshevization began. When the Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd, they held the Second Congress of Soviets. Most of the Socialist-Revolutionaries left the congress, saying that they considered the Bolshevik coup a crime, but some members of the party entered the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars. Although the AKP declared the overthrow of the Bolshevik dictatorship to be its primary goal, it remained legal until 1921. A year later, members of the Central Committee of the AKP who did not have time to emigrate were repressed.

At the beginning of the 20th century, in the colorful kaleidoscope of domestic political events in Russia, a special place was occupied by the party of socialist revolutionaries, or, as they are commonly called, the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Despite the fact that by 1917 they numbered more than a million people, they failed to realize their ideas. Subsequently, many Social Revolutionary leaders ended their days in exile, and those who did not want to leave Russia fell under the ruthless wheel

Development of a theoretical base

Viktor Chernov, the leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, was the author of the program, which was first published in 1907 in the Revolutionary Russia newspaper. It was based on the theories of a number of classics of Russian and foreign socialist thought. As a working document, unchanged throughout the entire period of the existence of the party, this program was adopted at the first party congress, held in 1906.

Historically, the Social Revolutionaries were followers of the Narodniks and, just like them, preached the country's transition to socialism by peaceful means, bypassing the capitalist period of development. In their program, they put forward the prospect of building a society of democratic socialism, in which the leading role was assigned to workers' trade unions and cooperative organizations. Its leadership was carried out by the parliament and local governments.

Basic principles for building a new society

Socialist-Revolutionary leaders at the beginning of the 20th century believed that the future society should be based on the socialization of agriculture. In their opinion, its construction will begin precisely in the countryside and will include, first of all, the prohibition of private ownership of land, but not its nationalization, but only its transfer to public ownership, excluding the right to buy and sell. Local councils, built on a democratic basis, should manage it, and wages will be made strictly in accordance with the real contribution of each employee or the whole team.

The Socialist-Revolutionary leaders considered democracy and political freedom in all forms to be the main condition for building the future. As for the state structure of Russia, the members of the AKP were supporters of the federal form. Also, one of the most important requirements was the proportional representation of all segments of the population in elected bodies of power and direct popular legislation.

Creation of a party

The first party cell of the Social Revolutionaries was formed in 1894 in Saratov and was in close connection with the local group of Narodnaya Volya. When they were liquidated, the Socialist-Revolutionaries began independent activities. It consisted mainly in developing its own program and issuing printed leaflets and brochures. The work of this circle was led by the leader of the party of socialist revolutionaries (Socialist-Revolutionaries) of those years, A. Argunov.

Over the years, their movement gained significant scope, and by the end of the nineties, its cells appeared in many large cities of the country. The beginning of the new century was marked by many structural changes in the composition of the party. Its independent branches were formed, such as the "Southern Party of the Socialist-Revolutionaries" and the "Union of Socialist-Revolutionaries" created in the northern regions of Russia. Over time, they merged with the central organization, creating a powerful structure capable of solving national problems. During these years, the leader (Socialist-Revolutionaries) was V. Chernov.

Terror as a Path to a "Bright Future"

One of the most important components of the party was their "Combat Organization", which first announced itself in 1902. The first victim was the Minister of the Interior. Since then, the revolutionary path to a "bright future" has been generously stained with the blood of political opponents. The terrorists, although they were members of the AKP, were in a completely autonomous and independent position.

The Central Committee, pointing to the next victim, only called the expected time for the execution of the sentence, leaving the militants complete organizational freedom of action. The leaders of this deeply conspiratorial part of the party were Gershuni and the provocateur, secret agent of the Okhrana, Azef, who was later exposed.

The attitude of the Social Revolutionaries to the events of 1905

When the leaders of the Social Revolutionaries broke out in the country, they were very skeptical about it. In their opinion, it was neither bourgeois nor socialist, but was a kind of intermediate link between them. The transition to socialism, they argued, should be carried out in stages by peaceful means, and only the union of the peasantry, to which the leading position was given, as well as the proletariat and the working intelligentsia, could become its driving force. The Constituent Assembly was to become the highest legislative body, according to the Socialist-Revolutionaries. They chose the phrase "Land and Freedom" as their political slogan.

From 1904 to 1907, the party carried out extensive propaganda and agitation work. A number of legal print publications are published, which helps to attract even more members to their ranks. The dissolution of the terrorist group "Combat Organization" belongs to the same period. Since that time, the activities of militants have become decentralized, their number has increased significantly, and at the same time, political assassinations have become more frequent. The loudest of them in those years was the explosion of the carriage of the Moscow mayor, committed by I. Kalyaev. In total, there were 233 terrorist acts during this period.

Divisions within the party

In the same years, the process of separation from the party of independent structures that formed independent political organizations began. This subsequently led to a fragmentation of forces and eventually caused the collapse. Serious disagreements arose even within the ranks of the Central Committee. So, for example, the well-known Socialist-Revolutionary leader of 1905, Savinkov, proposed, despite the tsar's manifesto, which gave citizens certain freedoms, to intensify terror, and another prominent party figure, Azef, insisted on its termination.

When the First World War broke out, the so-called international trend appeared in the leadership of the party, supported primarily by representatives of the left wing.

It is characteristic that the leader of the Left SRs - Maria Spiridonova - later joined the Bolsheviks. During the February Revolution, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, having entered into a single bloc with the Menshevik defencists, became the largest party of that time. They had numerous representation in the Provisional Government. Many leaders of the Social Revolutionaries received leadership positions in it. It is enough to name such names as A. Kerensky, V. Chernov, N. Avksentiev and others.

The fight against the Bolsheviks

Already in October 1917, the Social Revolutionaries entered into a tough confrontation with the Bolsheviks. In their appeal to the peoples of Russia, they called the armed seizure of power committed by the latter madness and crime. The delegation of the Socialist-Revolutionaries left the meeting of people's deputies in protest. They even organized the Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution, which was headed by the well-known leader of the Socialist Revolutionary (SR) party of that period, Abram Gots.

In the elections to the All-Russian Socialist-Revolutionaries received the majority of votes, and the permanent leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party at the beginning of the 20th century, Viktor Chernov, was elected chairman. The Party Council defined the fight against Bolshevism as a top priority and urgent, which was carried out during the years of the Civil War.

However, a certain indecision in their actions was the reason for the defeat and arrests. Especially many members of the AKP were behind bars in 1919. As a result of intra-party disagreements, the disunity of its ranks continued. An example is the creation in Ukraine of its own independent party of socialist revolutionaries.

The end of the AKP

At the beginning of 1920, the Central Committee of the Party ceased its activities, and a year later a trial took place at which many of its members were convicted of "anti-people activities". A prominent leader of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs) in those years was Vladimir Richter. He was arrested somewhat later than his comrades.

According to the verdict of the court, he was shot as a particularly dangerous enemy of the people. In 1923, the Socialist-Revolutionary Party practically ceased to exist on the territory of our country. For some time, only its members who were in exile continued their activities.

The Party of Social Revolutionaries (AKP) is a political force that unites all the previously disparate forces of the opposition, who sought to overthrow the government. Today there is a myth that the AKP are terrorists, radicals who have chosen blood and murder as a method of struggle. This delusion was formed because many representatives of populism entered into a new force, and they actually chose radical methods of political struggle. However, the AKP did not consist entirely of ardent nationalists and terrorists; its structure also included moderate-minded members. Many of them even held prominent political posts, were well-known and respected people. However, there was still a "Combat Organization" in the party. It was she who was engaged in terror and murder. Its goal is to sow fear and panic in society. They partially succeeded: there were cases when politicians refused the posts of governors, because they were afraid of being killed. But not all Social Revolutionary leaders held such views. Many of them wanted to fight for power in a legitimate constitutional way. It is the leaders of the Social Revolutionaries who will become the main characters of our article. But first, let's talk about when the party officially appeared and who was a member of it.

The emergence of the AKP in the political arena

The name "social revolutionaries" was adopted by representatives of revolutionary populism. In this game, they saw the continuation of their struggle. They formed the backbone of the party's first combat organization.

Already in the mid-90s. In the 19th century, Social Revolutionary organizations began to form: in 1894, the first Saratov Union of Russian Social Revolutionaries appeared. By the end of the 19th century, similar organizations had sprung up in almost all major cities. These are Odessa, Minsk, Petersburg, Tambov, Kharkov, Poltava, Moscow. The first leader of the party was A. Argunov.

"Combat Organization"

The "combat organization" of the Social Revolutionaries was a terrorist organization. It is by it that the entire party is judged as "bloody". In fact, such a formation existed, but it was autonomous from the Central Committee, often not subordinate to it. For the sake of fairness, let's say that many party leaders also did not share such methods of waging a struggle: there were so-called Left and Right Socialist-Revolutionaries.

The idea of ​​terror was not new in Russian history: the 19th century was accompanied by mass murders of prominent political figures. Then the “populists” were engaged in this, which by the beginning of the 20th century had joined the AKP. In 1902, the "Combat Organization" for the first time showed itself as an independent organization - the Minister of the Interior, D.S. Sipyagin, was killed. A series of murders of other prominent political figures, governors, and others soon followed. The leaders of the Social Revolutionaries could not influence their bloody offspring, which put forward the slogan: "Terror as the path to a brighter future." It is noteworthy, but one of the main leaders of the "Combat Organization" was the double agent Azef. At the same time, he organized terrorist acts, chose the next victims, and on the other hand, he was a secret agent of the Okhrana, “leaked” prominent performers to the special services, weaved intrigues in the party, and did not allow the death of the emperor himself.

Leaders of the Fighting Organization

The leaders of the "Combat Organization" (BO) were Azef - a double agent, as well as Boris Savinkov, who left memoirs about this organization. It was from his notes that historians studied all the subtleties of BO. It did not have a rigid party hierarchy, as, for example, in the Central Committee of the AKP. According to B. Savinkov, there was an atmosphere of a team, a family. Harmony reigned in it, respect for each other. Azef himself was well aware that authoritarian methods alone could not keep the BOs in subjection, he allowed the activists to determine their own inner life. Its other active figures - Boris Savinkov, I. Schweitzer, E. Sozonov - did everything to make the organization a single family. In 1904, another finance minister, V.K. Plehve, was assassinated. After that, the Charter of the BO was adopted, but it was never implemented. According to the memoirs of B. Savinkov, it was just a piece of paper that had no legal force, no one paid any attention to it. In January 1906, the "Combat Organization" was finally liquidated at the party congress due to the refusal of its leaders to continue terror, and Azef himself became a supporter of political legal struggle. In the future, of course, there were attempts to revive her with the aim of killing the emperor himself, but Azef all the time leveled them up to his exposure and flight.

Driving political force of the AKP

The Socialist-Revolutionaries in the impending revolution focused on the peasantry. This is understandable: it was the agrarians who made up the majority of the inhabitants of Russia, it was they who endured centuries of oppression. Viktor Chernov thought so too. By the way, before the first Russian revolution of 1905, serfdom was actually preserved in Russia in a modified format. Only the reforms of P. A. Stolypin freed the most industrious forces from the hated community, thereby creating a powerful impetus for socio-economic development.

The SRs of 1905 were skeptical about the revolution. They did not consider the First Revolution of 1905 to be either socialist or bourgeois. The transition to socialism was supposed to be peaceful, gradual in our country, and the bourgeois revolution, in their opinion, was not needed at all, because in Russia the majority of the inhabitants of the empire were peasants, not workers.

The Social Revolutionaries proclaimed the phrase "Land and Freedom" as their political slogan.

Official appearance

The process of forming an official political party was a long one. The reason was that the Social Revolutionary leaders had different views both on the ultimate goal of the party and on the use of methods to achieve their goals. In addition, two independent forces actually existed in the country: the Southern Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Union of Socialist-Revolutionaries. They merged into a single structure. The new leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party at the beginning of the 20th century managed to gather all the prominent figures together. The founding congress was held from December 29, 1905 to January 4, 1906 in Finland. Then it was not an independent country, but an autonomy within the Russian Empire. Unlike the future Bolsheviks, who created their RSDLP party abroad, the Social Revolutionaries were formed inside Russia. Viktor Chernov became the leader of the united party.

In Finland, the AKP approved its program, its provisional charter, and summed up the results of its movement. The Manifesto of October 17, 1905 contributed to the formalization of the party. He officially proclaimed the State Duma, which was formed through elections. The Socialist-Revolutionary leaders did not want to stand aside - they also began the official legal struggle. Extensive propaganda work is being carried out, official printed publications are being issued, and new members are actively recruited. By 1907, the Combat Organization was disbanded. After that, the leaders of the Social Revolutionaries do not control their former militants and terrorists, their activities become decentralized, their numbers grow. But with the dissolution of the military wing, on the contrary, an increase in terrorist acts occurs - there are a total of 223 of them. The loudest of them is the explosion of the carriage of the Moscow mayor Kalyaev.

Disagreements

Since 1905, disagreements began between political groups and forces in the AKP. The so-called Left Socialist-Revolutionaries and Centrists appear. The term "Right Socialist-Revolutionaries" was not found in the party itself. This label was later invented by the Bolsheviks. In the party itself, there was a division not into "left" and "right", but into maximalists and minimalists, by analogy with the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. The Left SRs are the Maximalists. In 1906 they broke away from the main forces. Maximalists insisted on the continuation of agrarian terror, that is, the overthrow of power by revolutionary methods. The Minimalists insisted on fighting in legal, democratic ways. Interestingly, the RSDLP party divided into Mensheviks and Bolsheviks in almost the same way. Maria Spiridonova became the leader of the Left SRs. It is noteworthy that they subsequently merged with the Bolsheviks, while the Minimalists united with other forces, and the leader V. Chernov himself was a member of the Provisional Government.

female leader

The Social Revolutionaries inherited the traditions of the populists, whose prominent figures for some time were women. At one time, after the arrest of the main leaders of the Narodnaya Volya, only one member of the executive committee remained at large - Vera Figner, who led the organization for almost two years. The murder of Alexander II is also associated with the name of another woman from the People's Will - Sophia Perovskaya. Therefore, no one was against it when Maria Spiridonova became the head of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. Next - a little about the activities of Mary.

The popularity of Spiridonova

Maria Spiridonova is a symbol of the First Russian Revolution; many prominent figures, poets, and writers worked on her sacred image. Maria did nothing supernatural compared to the activities of other terrorists who carried out the so-called agrarian terror. In January 1906, she made an attempt on the life of Gavriil Luzhenovsky, an adviser to the governor. He "offended" before the Russian revolutionaries during 1905. Luzhenovsky brutally suppressed any revolutionary actions in his province, was the leader of the Tambov Black Hundreds, a nationalist party that defended traditional monarchist values. The assassination attempt for Maria Spiridonova ended unsuccessfully: she was brutally beaten by Cossacks and policemen. Perhaps she was even raped, but this information is unofficial. Particularly zealous offenders of Maria - the policeman Zhdanov and the Cossack officer Avramov - were overtaken by reprisals in the future. Spiridonova herself became a "great martyr" who suffered for the ideals of the Russian revolution. The public response to her case spread all over the pages of the foreign press, which already in those years liked to talk about human rights in countries not controlled by them.

Journalist Vladimir Popov made a name for himself on this story. He conducted an investigation for the liberal newspaper Rus. Maria's case was a real PR action: her every gesture, every word spoken in court was described in the newspapers, letters to relatives and friends from prison were published. One of the most prominent lawyers of that time stood up for her defense: a member of the Central Committee of the Cadets, Nikolai Teslenko, who headed the Union of Lawyers of Russia. Spiridonova's photograph was distributed throughout the empire - this was one of the most popular photographs of that time. There is evidence that Tambov peasants prayed for her in a special chapel built in the name of Mary of Egypt. All articles about Maria were republished, each student considered it an honor to have her card in his pocket, along with a student ID. The system of power could not withstand the public outcry: Mary was abolished the death penalty, changing the punishment to life imprisonment. In 1917, Spiridonova will join the Bolsheviks.

Other Left SR leaders

Speaking about the leaders of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, it is necessary to mention several other prominent figures of this party. The first is Boris Kamkov (real name Katz).

One of the founders of the AKP party. Born in 1885 in Bessarabia. The son of a Zemstvo Jewish doctor, participated in the revolutionary movement in Chisinau, Odessa, for which he was arrested as a member of the BO. In 1907 he fled abroad, where he carried out all his active work. During the First World War, he adhered to defeatist views, that is, he actively desired the defeat of the Russian troops in the imperialist war. He was a member of the editorial office of the anti-war newspaper Life, as well as a committee for helping prisoners of war. He returned to Russia only after the February Revolution, in 1917. Kamkov actively opposed the Provisional "bourgeois" government and against the continuation of the war. Convinced that he would not be able to oppose the policy of the AKP, Kamkov, together with Maria Spiridonova and Mark Natanson, initiated the creation of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary faction. In the Pre-Parliament (September 22 - October 25, 1917), Kamkov defended his positions on peace and the Decree on Land. However, they were rejected, which led him to rapprochement with Lenin and Trotsky. The Bolsheviks decided to leave the Pre-Parliament, calling on the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries to follow along with them. Kamkov decided to stay, but declared solidarity with the Bolsheviks in the event of a revolutionary uprising. Thus, Kamkov already then either knew or guessed about the possible seizure of power by Lenin and Trotsky. In the autumn of 1917, he became one of the leaders of the largest Petrograd cell of the AKP. After October 1917, he tried to establish relations with the Bolsheviks, declaring that all parties should be included in the new Council of People's Commissars. He actively opposed the Brest peace, although in the summer he declared the inadmissibility of continuing the war. In July 1918, the Left SR movements against the Bolsheviks began, in which Kamkov took part. Since January 1920, a series of arrests and exiles began, but he never abandoned his loyalty to the AKP, despite the fact that he once actively supported the Bolsheviks. Only with the beginning of the Trotskyist purges, on August 29, 1938, Stalin was shot. Rehabilitated by the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation in 1992.

Another prominent theorist of the Left SRs is Steinberg Isaak Zakharovich. At first, just like others, he was a supporter of rapprochement between the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs. He was even People's Commissar of Justice in the Council of People's Commissars. However, just like Kamkov, he was an ardent opponent of the conclusion of the Brest peace. During the Social Revolutionary uprising, Isaak Zakharovich was abroad. After returning to the RSFSR, he led an underground struggle against the Bolsheviks, as a result of which he was arrested by the Cheka in 1919. After the final defeat of the Left Social Revolutionaries, he emigrated abroad, where he conducted anti-Soviet activities. Author of the book "From February to October 1917", which was published in Berlin.

Another prominent figure who maintained contact with the Bolsheviks was Natanson Mark Andreevich. After the October Revolution in November 1917, he initiated the creation of a new party - the Party of the Left SRs. These were the new "leftists" who did not want to join the Bolsheviks, but did not join the centrists from the Constituent Assembly either. In 1918, the party openly opposed the Bolsheviks, but Natanson remained loyal to the alliance with them, breaking away from the Left SRs. A new trend was organized - the Party of Revolutionary Communism, of which Natanson was a member of the Central Executive Committee. In 1919, he realized that the Bolsheviks would not tolerate any other political force. Fearing arrest, he left for Switzerland, where he died of illness.

SRs: 1917

After the high-profile terrorist attacks of 1906-1909. Socialist-Revolutionaries are considered the main threat to the empire. Real raids by the police begin against them. The February Revolution revived the party, and the idea of ​​"peasant socialism" resonated in the hearts of the people, since many wanted to redistribute the landowners' lands. By the end of the summer of 1917, the membership of the party reaches one million people. 436 party organizations are being formed in 62 provinces. Despite the large numbers and support, the political struggle was rather sluggish: for example, in the entire history of the party, only four congresses were held, and by 1917 a permanent Charter had not been adopted.

The rapid growth of the party, the lack of a clear structure, membership fees, and accounting for its members lead to a strong discord in political views. Some of its illiterate members did not see the difference between the AKP and the RSDLP at all, they considered the Social Revolutionaries and the Bolsheviks to be one party. There were frequent cases of transition from one political force to another. Also, whole villages, factories, plants joined the party. The leaders of the AKP noted that many of the so-called March SRs enter the party solely for the purpose of career growth. This was confirmed by their mass departure after the Bolsheviks came to power on October 25, 1917. The "March SRs" almost all went over to the Bolsheviks by the beginning of 1918.

By the autumn of 1917, the Social Revolutionaries split into three parties: the right (Breshko-Breshkovskaya E.K., Kerensky A.F., Savinkov B.V.), centrists (Chernov V.M., Maslov S.L.), left ( Spiridonova M.A., Kamkov B.D.).

It is known that in the period following the overthrow of the monarchy, the most influential political force in Russia was the Socialist-Revolutionary Party (SR), which numbered about a million of its followers. However, despite the fact that its representatives occupied a number of prominent positions in the government of the country, and the program was supported by the majority of citizens, the Social Revolutionaries did not manage to keep power in their hands. The revolutionary year of 1917 was the period of their triumph and the beginning of tragedy.

The birth of a new party

In January 1902, the underground newspaper Revolutionary Russia, published abroad, informed its readers about the appearance on the political horizon of a new party, whose members call themselves social revolutionaries. It is unlikely that this event received at that moment a significant resonance in society, since at that time, structures similar to it often appeared and disappeared. Nevertheless, the creation of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party was a significant milestone in national history.

Despite the publication of 1902, its creation occurred much earlier than announced in the newspaper. Eight years earlier, an illegal revolutionary circle had formed in Saratov, which had close ties with the local branch of the Narodnaya Volya party, which was living out its last days by that time. When it was finally liquidated by the Okhrana, the members of the circle began to act independently and two years later developed their own program.

Initially, it was distributed in the form of leaflets printed on a hectograph - a very primitive printing device, which nevertheless made it possible to make the required number of prints. In the form of a brochure, this document saw the light only in 1900, published in the printing house of one of the foreign branches of the party that had appeared by that time.

Merging together the two branches of the party

In 1897, members of the Saratov circle, led by Andrei Argunov, moved to Moscow and in a new place began to call their organization the Northern Union of Socialist Revolutionaries. They had to introduce this geographical specification into the name, since similar organizations, whose members also called themselves socialist revolutionaries, had appeared by that time in Odessa, Kharkov, Poltava and a number of other cities. They, in turn, became known as the Southern Union. In 1904, these two branches of an essentially single organization merged, as a result of which the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, well known to everyone, was formed. It was headed by the permanent leader Viktor Chernov (his photo is presented in the article).

The tasks that the Socialist-Revolutionaries set themselves

The program of the Social Revolutionary Party had a number of points that distinguished it from most of the then existing political organizations. Among them were:

  1. The formation of the Russian state on a federal basis, in which it will consist of independent territories (subjects of the federation) that have the right to self-determination.
  2. Universal suffrage, extending to citizens who have reached the age of 20, regardless of gender, nationality and religious affiliation;
  3. Guaranteed respect for fundamental civil liberties such as freedom of conscience, speech, press, association, unions, etc.
  4. Free public education.
  5. Reducing the working day to 8 hours.
  6. The reform of the armed forces, in which they cease to be a permanent state structure.
  7. Separation of church and state.

In addition, the program included a few more points, repeating, in essence, the demands of other political organizations that aspired to power, as well as the Socialist-Revolutionaries. The highest organ of party power of the social revolutionaries was the Congresses, and between them all the current issues were decided by the Soviets. The main slogan of the party was the call "Land and freedom!"

Features of the agrarian policy of the Socialist-Revolutionaries

Of all the political parties that existed at that time, the Socialist-Revolutionaries stood out for their attitude towards solving the agrarian question and towards the peasantry as a whole. This class, the most numerous in pre-revolutionary Russia, was, in the opinion of all social democrats, including the Bolsheviks, so backward and devoid of political activity that it could only be regarded as an ally and help to the proletariat, which was assigned the role of "locomotive of the revolution."

The Social Revolutionaries took a different view. In their opinion, the revolutionary process in Russia should begin precisely in the countryside and only then spread to the cities and industrialized regions. Therefore, in the transformation of society, the peasants were given almost the leading role.

As for the land policy, here the Socialist-Revolutionaries proposed their own path, different from others. According to their party program, all agricultural land was not subject to nationalization, as the Bolsheviks called for, and not to distribution to individual owners, as the Mensheviks proposed, but to be socialized and transferred to the disposal of local self-government bodies. This way they called the socialization of the land.

At the same time, its private possession, as well as the purchase and sale, were legally prohibited. The final product was subject to distribution, in accordance with established consumer norms, which were directly dependent on the amount of labor invested.

Socialist-Revolutionaries during the First Russian Revolution

It is known that the party of socialist revolutionaries (Socialist-Revolutionaries) was very skeptical about the First Russian Revolution. In the opinion of its leaders, it was not bourgeois, since this class was not able to lead the new society that was being created. The reasons for this lie in the reforms of Alexander II, who opened a wide path for the development of capitalism. They did not consider it socialist either, but came up with a new term - "social revolution".

In general, the theorists of the social revolutionary party believed that the transition to socialism should be carried out in a peaceful, reformist way, without any social upheavals. Nevertheless, a significant number of Socialist-Revolutionaries took an active part in the battles of the First Russian Revolution. For example, their role in the uprising on the battleship Potemkin is well known.

Fighting organization of the Socialist-Revolutionaries

A curious paradox lies in the fact that with all its calls for a peaceful and non-violent path of transformation, the Socialist-Revolutionary Party was remembered primarily for its terrorist activities that began immediately after its creation.

Already in 1902, its combat organization was created, which then numbered 78 people. Its first leader was Grigory Gershuni, then at different stages this post was occupied by Evno Azef and Boris Savinkov. It is recognized that of all the known terrorist formations of the early 20th century, this organization was the most effective. The victims of the committed acts were not only high-ranking officials of the tsarist government and representatives of law enforcement agencies, but also political opponents from among other parties.

The bloody path of the militant organization of the Social Revolutionaries was started in April 1902 by the assassination of the Minister of the Interior D. Sipyagin and the attempt on the life of the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod K. Pobedonostsev. This was followed by a series of new terrorist attacks, the most famous of which is the murder of the tsarist minister V. Plehve, carried out in 1904 by Yegor Sazonov, and the uncle of Nicholas II, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, committed in 1905 by Ivan Kalyaev.

The peak of the terrorist activity of the Social Revolutionaries falls on 1905-1907. According to reports, the leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party V. Chernov and the leadership of the combat group are responsible for committing 223 terrorist attacks during this period alone, as a result of which 7 generals, 33 governors, 2 ministers and the Moscow governor-general were killed. This bloody statistics was continued in subsequent years.

Events of 1917

After the February Revolution, as a political party, the Social Revolutionaries became the most influential public organization in Russia. Their representatives occupied key positions in many newly formed government structures, and the total composition reached a million people. However, despite the rapid rise and popularity of the main provisions of their program among the population of Russia, the Socialist-Revolutionary Party soon lost political leadership, and the Bolsheviks seized power in the country.

Immediately after the October coup, the leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party V. Chernov, together with members of the Central Committee, addressed an appeal to all political organizations in Russia, in which he described the actions of Lenin's supporters as madness and a crime. At the same time, at an intra-party meeting, a coordinating committee was created to organize the fight against the usurpers of power. It was headed by the prominent Socialist-Revolutionary Abram Gots.

However, not all members of the party reacted unequivocally to what was happening, and representatives of its left wing expressed support for the Bolsheviks. From that time on, the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Party tried to put its policy into practice on many issues. This caused a split and a general weakening of the organization.

Between two fires

During the years of the Civil War, the Social Revolutionaries tried to fight both the Reds and the Whites, alternately entering into an alliance with one or the other. The leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, who at the beginning of the war declared that the Bolsheviks were the lesser of two evils, very soon began to point out the need for joint action with the White Guards and interventionists.

Of course, none of the representatives of the main opposing sides took the alliance with the Social Revolutionaries seriously, realizing that as soon as circumstances change, yesterday's allies could defect to the camp of opponents. And there were many such examples during the war.

Defeat of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party

In 1919, wanting to make the most of the potential that the Socialist-Revolutionary Party had in itself, Lenin's government decided to legalize it in the territories under its control. However, this did not bring the expected result. The Socialist-Revolutionaries did not stop their attacks on the Bolshevik leadership and the methods of struggle resorted to by the party they led. Even the danger posed by their common enemy could not reconcile the Bolsheviks and the Socialist-Revolutionaries.

As a result, the temporary truce was soon replaced by a new strip of arrests, as a result of which, by the beginning of 1921, the Central Committee of the Social Revolutionary Party had practically ceased to exist. Some of its members had been killed by that time (M. L. Kogan-Bernshtein, I. I. Teterkin, and others), many emigrated to Europe (V. V. Samokhin, N. S. Rusanov, and party leader V. M. Chernov), and the bulk were in prisons. From that time on, the Socialist-Revolutionaries, as a party, ceased to be a real political force.

Years of emigration

The further history of the Social Revolutionaries is inextricably linked with the Russian emigration, whose ranks were intensively replenished in the first post-revolutionary years. Once abroad after the defeat of the party, which began as early as 1918, the Social Revolutionaries were met there by their fellow party members, who settled in Europe and created a foreign department there long before the revolution.

After the party was banned in Russia, all its surviving and free members were forced to emigrate. They settled mainly in Paris, Berlin, Stockholm and Prague. The general leadership of the activities of foreign cells was carried out by the former head of the party, Viktor Chernov, who left Russia in 1920.

Newspapers published by the Socialist-Revolutionaries

Which party, once in exile, did not have its own printed organ? The Social Revolutionaries were no exception. They published a number of periodicals, such as the newspapers "Revolutionary Russia", "Modern Notes", "For the People!" and some others. In the 1920s, they managed to be smuggled across the border illegally, and therefore the material published in them was oriented towards the Russian reader. But as a result of the efforts made by the Soviet secret services, the delivery channels were soon blocked, and all newspaper circulations began to be distributed among the emigrants.

Many researchers note that in the articles published in the Socialist-Revolutionary newspapers, not only the rhetoric, but also the general ideological orientation changed from year to year. If at first the party leaders stood mainly in their previous positions, exaggerating the same topic of creating a classless society in Russia, then at the end of the 30s, they openly declared the need to return to capitalism.

Afterword

On this, the Socialist-Revolutionaries (party) practically completed their activities. The year 1917 went down in history as the most successful period of their activity, which soon gave way to unsuccessful attempts to find their place in the new historical realities. Unable to withstand the struggle with a stronger political opponent in the face of the RSDLP (b), headed by Lenin, they were forced to leave the historical stage forever.

However, in the Soviet Union, for many years, people who had nothing to do with it were accused of belonging to the Socialist-Revolutionary Party and propagating its ideology. In an atmosphere of total terror that gripped the country, the very word "SR" was used as a designation of the enemy and was hung as a label on obvious, and more often imaginary oppositionists for their illegal condemnation.