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The rise to power of the Bolsheviks causes and significance. The coming to power of the Bolsheviks: causes and consequences. The uprising has been dreamed of for more than a decade

The coming to power of the Bolsheviks. In the autumn of 1917, Russia experienced an acute crisis: the economy was in a state of paralysis, famine worsened, the national outskirts were not controlled by the central government, the strike movement in the cities, the “peasant war” against private landowners, the refusal of many provincial councils to cooperate with the official authorities, the collapse of the army . The government (September 23, Kerensky formed the 3rd coalition social-liberal government with a predominance of moderate socialists) lost the ability to influence the state of affairs.

On October 24-25, the forces of the Military Revolutionary Committee (VRC) under the Petrograd Soviet - the garrison, sailors, the "Red Guard" - practically without resistance (Kerensky left the capital) captured the strategic centers of the city. On the morning of 25, an appeal is published on the transfer of power to the Military Revolutionary Committee. On the night of October 25-26, ministers were arrested in the winter palace. At the same time, the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets, in which the majority were Bolsheviks (they were supported by the “Left Socialist-Revolutionaries”, a breakaway part of the party advocating the transfer of power to the Soviets), proclaimed the establishment of Soviet power in Russia. A Soviet government was formed - the Council of People's Commissars - headed by Lenin, which included Bolshevik leaders - A.I. Rykov, I.V. Stalin, L.D. Trotsky and others.

Since forces professing socialist doctrine came to power, the victorious revolution can be defined as socialist.

Reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks:- the leadership of Lenin, who developed a strategy for taking power;

Political and organizational unity of the Bolshevik Party (despite disagreements in the leadership) on an all-Russian scale;

The sharp weakening of the conservative forces after the fall of the monarchy;

Contradictions in the social-liberal bloc;

The lack of roots of liberal values in the mass consciousness, a consequence of the political weakness of the politically inexperienced bourgeoisie and the persistence of the communal mentality;

Destructive impact on the socio - economic sphere of military operations;

Compliance of the Bolshevik platform with the dominant anti-war and egalitarian-collectivist sentiments in society, which allowed them to "saddle" the spontaneous movement of the masses.

The coming to power of the “socialist modernizers” of the Bolsheviks with a program to eliminate the cornerstone institutions of civilization (property rights, commodity-money relations, separation of powers, etc.) meant the “civilizational” revenge of the traditionalist forces that did not accept the development trajectory laid down by the Petrine reforms. It was not possible to overcome the cultural split between the elite and the lower classes of society in pre-revolutionary Russia.

Priority measures of the Soviet regime. The actions of the winners were determined by doctrinal (resulting from their program goals) and situational (determined by the prevailing situation) factors.

At the turn of 1917-1918. the Bolsheviks, using the advantage in the politicized part of society and the wait-and-see position of the majority of Russians (the dispersal by the Bolsheviks in January 1918 of the democratically elected Constituent Assembly, which by an overwhelming majority refused to recognize the new regime, did not cause a serious reaction in society), in relatively peaceful internal conditions, they succeeded:

Take the country out of the World War (On March 3, 1918, a separate peace was concluded with Germany in Brest on difficult conditions for Russia, which made it possible to maintain Bolshevik power);

Begin implementation of situational (fight against hunger) and doctrinal measures. On the basis of the Decree on Land of the Second Congress of Soviets, which takes into account the peasant demands of the Socialist-Revolutionary persuasion, the confiscation of privately owned lands was carried out with the transfer to the peasants for equal land use, the nationalization (transfer to state ownership) of all land and subsoil; nationalization began in industry and finance.

With the adoption of the “Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People”, developed and enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic (RSFSR) in the summer of 1918 (which formalized the construction of power in the form of a system of mast congresses of councils, crowned by the All-Russian Congress that forms the government), the formation of the foundations of statehood began "workers": the dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of soviets, during the transitional period from capitalism to socialism, liquidating private property.

April 9, 1933. During the period of revolution, it seems as if history is striding by leaps and bounds. External changes quickly follow one after another, but even greater changes are taking place in the consciousness of the masses. The masses learn little from books, because they have almost no opportunity to receive a bookish education, especially since books sometimes hide rather than reveal the truth. The masses are passing through a more difficult, but also more illustrative school, the school of life experience. In the struggle not for life, but for death, which is waged during the period of revolution, all the veils that usually hide the true motives of people fall off, and the real foundation of society is exposed.

Learned from events

So, in the historical year of 1917, the masses of the people in Russia, and especially the industrial workers of the cities, who constituted the core of the revolution, learned from the events and changed almost every day.

Instability reigned everywhere, everything was unstable. Life became dynamic and constantly changing, and people and classes constantly clashed in various areas.

The Soviet stood closer to the masses and was aware of their demands for peace, land for the peasants, and the numerous demands of the workers, for example, the demand for an eight-hour working day. As a result, the Soviet paralyzed the government, and the masses paralyzed the Soviet, for the masses were far more revolutionary than the parties and their leaders.

An attempt was then made to reorganize the government to suit the Soviet, and Kerensky, a radical lawyer and excellent orator, became its leading figure. He succeeded in forming a coalition government, to which the Menshevik majority of the Soviet sent several representatives. Kerensky also went out of his way to please England and France and announced an offensive against Germany. The offensive failed because neither the army nor the people wanted to fight anymore.

In the meantime, All-Russian Congresses of Soviets were being convened in Petrograd, and each subsequent congress took a more decisive position than the previous one.

Interestingly, this confiscation of large estates was carried out entirely on the initiative of the peasants themselves, many months before the Bolshevik revolution. Lenin advocated the immediate transfer of land to the peasants in an organized manner. He strongly opposed individual anarchist takeovers. But when the Bolsheviks subsequently came to power, they found a Russia of peasant proprietors.

Exactly one month after Lenin's arrival in Petrograd, another famous emigrant returned. It was who arrived from New York and was detained by the British along the way. In factories, plants and in the Soviets, the strength and influence of the Bolsheviks continued to grow. Kerensky, frightened by this, decided to crush the Bolsheviks. First, there was a massive smear campaign against Lenin, portraying him as a German agent sent to riot in Russia. Didn't he come from Switzerland through Germany with the connivance of the German authorities? Lenin became a very unpopular figure among the bourgeoisie, who considered him a traitor. Kerensky issued a warrant for the arrest of Lenin, not as a revolutionary, but as a traitor who had gone over to the side of Germany. Lenin himself wanted to appear in court and refute such an accusation, but his comrades opposed this and persuaded him to go underground.

Trotsky was also arrested, but then, at the insistence of the Petrograd Soviet, he was released. Many other Bolsheviks were also arrested. Their newspapers were closed. The workers who supported them were disarmed. The mood of these workers became more and more militant and threatening towards the Provisional Government, demonstrations against the government followed one after another.

counterrevolution

Events quickly followed each other. Lenin moved to the outskirts of Petrograd, and the Bolsheviks decided that the time had come to take power from the Provisional Government, it was carefully planned which important objects should be captured and when. The uprising was scheduled for November 7th. On this day, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets was to open.

November 7 arrived, and the soldiers who supported the Soviet occupied government buildings, especially such important and strategic facilities as the telegraph office, telephone exchange and the State Bank. They met no resistance. “The Provisional Government has simply evaporated,” one British agent reported in an official report to England.

Lenin led the new government as its chairman, while Trotsky became foreign minister. Lenin considered the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany to be a temporary respite that would not last long. Indeed, the Soviets annulled it nine months later, as soon as the Allies had inflicted a final defeat on Germany on the Western Front. According to Lenin, a short rest was needed, a respite for the tired workers and peasants. He wanted the peasants to understand that the landlords were no more and that the land belonged to them, so that the industrial workers would realize that their exploiters were also no more.

This would help them appreciate the achievements of the revolution and encourage them to defend them, and they would know who their real enemies were. Lenin thought so, knowing full well that a civil war was not far off. Subsequent events showed how correct his policy was. Peasants and workers returned home from the front, to their fields and factories. They were not Bolsheviks or Socialists at all, but they became the most staunch defenders of the revolution because they did not want to part with what the revolution had given them.

Commander-in-chief refused to follow orders

Trying to somehow negotiate with the Germans, the leaders of the Bolsheviks also dealt with internal affairs. A large number of former officers and all sorts of adventurers, having machine guns and other weapons, engaged in banditry, killing and robbing in the very center of large cities. Some members of the former anarchist parties did not support the Soviets and caused a lot of trouble. The Soviet government set about curbing all these bandits and their ilk with a firm hand and crushed them.

But the greatest danger to the Soviet government was represented by employees of various civil institutions. Despite these changes, much of Russia's former social structure still remained. It is not at all easy in a huge country to carry out socialization immediately, and perhaps this process of change in Russia would have lasted for many years if the events that forced it had not occurred.

On a number of occasions during the civil war that followed, these former owners tried to destroy the equipment of the factories, at which point the Soviet government again intervened and claimed them as their property for their protection. Therefore, the socialization of the means of production, that is, the establishment of a kind of state socialism, or state ownership of the factory, etc., proceeded much faster than if it had taken place under normal conditions.

class interests

The general population was starving, but the wealthy still had plenty of money for luxuries and luxuries. Night cabarets were full of people, running and similar entertainment flourished. The presence of the wealthy bourgeoisie was especially felt in the big cities, where they openly rejoiced at the expected fall of the Soviet government. These people, once such ardent patriots who demanded the continuation of the war against Germany, were now actually celebrating the German offensive on Petrograd. They were very pleased with the prospect of their capital being occupied by the German armies. Their hatred of the social revolution was stronger than their fear of foreign domination. And this happens almost always, especially when class interests are involved.

Thus, life went on more or less normally, and at this stage there was not even a hint of Bolshevik terror. The famous Moscow ballet gave performances every day in front of a crowded hall. The ambassadors of the allied powers were still in Russia. When the danger arose of the capture of Petrograd by the Germans, they fled the city and settled in a safe place, in the small provincial town of Vologda. They repeatedly sent Trotsky trotsky inquiries about the validity of these rumors. Trotsky was so fed up with this nervousness of the old diplomats that he suggested prescribing "bromine to calm the nerves of their Excellencies in Vologda." Doctors prescribe bromine to calm the nerves of hysterical and excitable people.

Outwardly, it seemed that ordinary life was going on, but under this calm surface, numerous streams and currents seethed and collided. No one thought, not even the Bolsheviks themselves, that they would hold out for long. Everyone was intriguing. In Ukraine, in the south of Russia, the Germans created a puppet state and, despite the truce, constantly threatened the Soviets. The Allies, of course, hated the Germans, but they hated the Bolsheviks even more.

True, the American President Wilson sent a warm greeting to the Congress of Soviets at the beginning of 1918; Obviously, he later regretted it and changed his position. And so the allies began to privately finance counter-revolutionary activities, support them and even take part in them secretly. Moscow was teeming with foreign spies. The chief agent of the British secret service, considered the most skilled spy for Britain, was sent to Russia to organize riots there and interfere with the Soviet government. Dispossessed aristocrats and the bourgeoisie, with money received from the allies, relentlessly fomented the counter-revolution.

This was roughly how things stood in the middle of 1918. The Soviets seemed to be hanging by a thread.

The coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the date of which coincided with the date of the Great October Socialist Revolution (November 7, 1917 in modern style), seemed an impossible event for many in the Russian Empire in the spring of that year. The fact is that this branch of the Social Democratic Labor Party, headed by V.I. Lenin, almost until the very last months before the revolution, was not particularly popular with the most significant classes in society of that time.

Roots of the political party of the Bolsheviks

The ideological basis of the party arose in the early 90s of the 19th century among former populists who went to the people and saw the problems of the peasantry, who wanted to be solved with the help of a radical redistribution of land, including landowners. These agrarian problems persisted for decades and partly determined the coming to power of the Bolsheviks. In connection with the failures of the populist trend and the activation of the working class, former populist leaders (Plekhanov, Zasulich, Axelrod, etc.) adopted the experience of the Western European struggle, revised revolutionary strategies, familiarized themselves with the works of Marx and Engels, translated them into Russian and began to develop theories of settlement life in Russia on the basis of Marxist theories. The party itself was founded in 1898, and in 1903, at the second congress, the movement broke up into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks for ideological reasons.

The uprising has been dreamed of for more than a decade

The coming to power of the Bolsheviks was being prepared by this political group for a long time. During the revolution of 1905-07. this organization met in London (the Mensheviks - in Geneva), where it was decided that in general, the Social Democrats already at that time wanted to destroy tsarism by organizing uprisings in the troops (in the Black Sea Fleet, in Odessa) and undermining the financial system (they called for taking deposits from banks and do not pay taxes). They supplied weapons and explosives to Russia (Krasin's group), robbed banks (Helsingfors Bank, 1906).

They failed to enter the official authorities

The coming of the Bolsheviks to power in Russia through "official channels" was unsuccessful in the pre-revolutionary period. They boycotted the elections to the first State Duma, while in the second they received fewer seats than the Mensheviks (15 posts). The Bolsheviks did not stay long in the country's deliberative body, as members of their faction were detained while trying to raise an uprising with the help of the St. Petersburg garrison. All the Duma members from the Bolsheviks were arrested, and the Duma itself of that convocation was dissolved.

What did the potential coming of the Bolsheviks to power promise Russia? You can learn about this briefly from the decisions of the London (Fifth) Party Congress, where in 1907 the programs "maximum" and "minimum" were adopted. The minimum for Russia was provided for with the shortening of the working day to 8 hours, the overthrow of the autocracy, the establishment of democratic elections and freedoms, the introduction of local self-government, granting nations the right to self-determination, the abolition of fines and the return of land cuts to the peasants. To the maximum, a proletarian revolution and a transition to socialism were to take place in the Russian Empire with the establishment of the dictate of the proletarian masses.

The situation in Russia after 1907 continued to be difficult. The reasons why the coming to power of the Bolsheviks in the future became possible were that the tsarist reforms of that time did not produce significant results, the agrarian issue was not resolved, the outbreak of the First World War after the defeat at Tannenberg was already fought on the territory of Russia and led to hyperinflation, disruption of the food supply of cities, famine in the villages.

The decomposition of the army contributed to the revolution

About 2 million soldiers and almost a million civilians died in the war, a huge mobilization was carried out (15 million people), the bulk of which were peasants, many of whom, along with revolutionary workers, joined the army with sympathy for the Socialist-Revolutionary ideas about receiving peasants of landowners' lands. The enrollment was so great that many were not even sworn in, not to mention patriotic education. And the opponents of the tsarist regime were actively promoting their ideas, which led to the refusal of the Cossacks and soldiers to suppress popular uprisings as early as 1915-1916.

The tsarist regime has few supporters left

The reasons for the coming to power of the Bolsheviks or any other political forces by 1917 were that the tsarist regime under the circumstances was too weak economically and politically. At the same time, Nicholas II directly took a detached position (or was deprived of the necessary amount of information about the actual state of affairs). This made it possible, for example, in February 1917 to close the Putilov factory and “throw out” about 36 thousand people on the streets of St. Petersburg, some of whom were influenced by the revolutionary ideas of the Bolsheviks and began to involve workers in other factories in strikes. The emperor at that time could no longer even rely on his own guard, since most of its pre-war staff was killed on the fronts and replaced by mobilized soldiers from different classes. Many political forces of the country were against the king, which, however, were at the same time in opposition to each other, since each party had its own plan for the development of the state.

Few expected the Bolsheviks to win

As of April 1917, it seemed to many that the coming of the Bolsheviks to power was impossible, since the bulk of the population, the peasants to a greater extent, supported the Social Revolutionaries, the industrialists had their own parties, the intelligentsia had their own, there were several parties supporting the monarchical system. The April theses of Lenin did not find a response among the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and many Bolsheviks, since the leader proposed to abandon defensive positions in the war and make peace (perhaps for this Germany “did not notice” how Lenin arrived in Petrograd through its territory in a sealed wagon). Therefore, the reasons for the coming to power of the Bolsheviks were, among other things, foreign policy. In addition, the theses proposed the dissolution of the Provisional Government and the transfer of power to the Soviets, along with the nationalization of the land, instead of its transfer to the ownership of the peasant communities, which did not add popularity to Lenin's supporters.

Unsuccessful attempt

The coming of the Bolsheviks to power (1917) was accompanied by attempts to lead the country even before November. In June of the same year, at the First Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (All-Russian), it became clear that the Bolsheviks were in third place among the socialists in terms of their importance. At the congress, the delegates rejected Lenin's proposal to end the war and abolish the existing authorities. However, it should be borne in mind that by that time, soldiers' regiments were already under the influence of the Bolsheviks, including the First Machine Gun Regiment stationed in Petrograd (11.3 thousand soldiers) and the sailors of the Kronstadt naval base. The influence of Lenin's party in the military environment led to the fact that an attempt to take (the headquarters of the Provisional Government) was made in July 1917. These days, working soldiers and sailors arrived at the palace, but the organization of the "offensive" was so bad that the Bolsheviks' plan failed. This was facilitated in part by the fact that the Minister of Justice of the Provisional Government, Pereverzev, managed to prepare and paste newspapers around the city, where Lenin and his associates were presented as German spies.

Change of authorities and direct capture

What other processes accompanied the coming to power of the Bolsheviks? The year of the Great October Revolution was rich in various events. By autumn, it becomes obvious that the Provisional Government is not coping with anarchy, so a new body is being formed - the Pre-Parliament, in which the Bolsheviks have only 1/10 of the seats. At the same time, Lenin's party receives a majority in the Soviets of large cities, including up to 90% in Petrograd and about 80% in Moscow. It is supported by the soldiers' committees of the Western and Northern fronts, but among the peasantry it is still not very popular - in half of the Soviets of rural Bolshevik deputies there were no Bolsheviks at all.

What exactly was the coming of the Bolsheviks to power? Briefly, events unfolded as follows:

secretly comes to Petrograd, where he begins to propagate a new uprising, he is not supported by Kamenev and Trotsky. The second at the same time proposes to wait for the decisions (All-Russian), appointed for October 20 and postponed to October 25 (according to the old style).
On October 18, 1917 (according to the old style), a meeting of regiments took place in the garrisons of Petrograd, where it was decided to hold an armed uprising against the current government if it was initiated by the Petrograd Soviet (where the Bolsheviks had 90% of the votes). Five days later, the garrison of the Peter and Paul Fortress went over to the side of the Bolsheviks. On the side of the Provisional Government were the cadets from the schools and schools of military ensigns, the women's shock company, the Cossacks.
On October 24, Bolshevik forces captured the telegraph, the telegraph agency, through which warships were called from Krondshtat. They did not allow the junkers to open part of the bridges.
On the night of October 24-25, the Bolsheviks managed to capture the central telephone exchange, the State Bank, Varshavsky railway station, turn off the central power supply to government buildings, and bring the Aurora cruiser to the Neva. By noon, the "revolutionary masses" captured the Mariinsky Palace. The assault on the Winter Palace was carried out late at night, after a preliminary shelling from the cannons of the Aurora cruiser. At 2:10 am on October 26, the Provisional Government surrendered.

The revolution caused an increase in the number of victims

The consequences of the coming to power of the Bolsheviks were devastating for Russia, since as a result of the victory, power in Petrograd passed to them (almost in full, with the exception of the City Duma of Petrograd), a new government was formed from the Bolsheviks headed by Lenin (Council of People's Commissars). But most of the country was not controlled by them, which led to a civil war, a further collapse of the economy, which led, among other things, to famine and numerous victims.

Causes of the October Revolution:

The contradictions inherent in bourgeois society are the antagonism between labor and capital. The Russian bourgeoisie, young and inexperienced, failed to see the danger of coming class tensions and did not take sufficient measures in time to reduce the intensity of the class struggle as much as possible.

Conflicts in the countryside, which developed even more acutely. The peasants, who for centuries dreamed of taking away the land from the landowners and driving them away themselves, were not satisfied with either the reform of 1861 or the Stolypin reform. They frankly longed to get all the land and get rid of old exploiters. In addition, from the very beginning of the 20th century, a new contradiction escalated in the countryside, connected with the differentiation of the peasantry itself. This stratification intensified after the Stolypin reform, which attempted to create a new class of owners in the countryside through the redistribution of peasant lands associated with the destruction of the community. Now, in addition to the landowner, the broad peasant masses also had a new enemy - the kulak, even more hated, since he came from his environment.

National conflicts. The national movement, which was not very strong in the period 1905-1907, escalated after February and gradually increased towards the autumn of 1917.

World War. The first chauvinistic frenzy that gripped certain sections of society at the beginning of the war soon dissipated, and by 1917 the overwhelming mass of the population, suffering from the many-sided hardships of the war, longed for the speediest conclusion of peace. First of all, this concerned, of course, the soldiers. The village is also tired of endless sacrifices. Only the upper class of the bourgeoisie, which made huge amounts of money on military supplies, stood up for the continuation of the war to a victorious end. But the war also had other consequences. First of all, it armed the vast masses of workers and peasants, taught them how to handle weapons and helped overcome the natural barrier that forbids a person to kill other people.

The weakness of the Provisional Government and the entire state apparatus created by it. If immediately after February, the Provisional Government had some kind of authority, then the further, the more it lost it, being unable to solve the pressing problems of society, primarily questions about peace, bread, and land. Simultaneously with the decline in the authority of the Provisional Government, the influence and importance of the Soviets grew, promising to give the people everything they craved.

The fact that the Bolsheviks had a strong leader, authoritative both in the party itself and among the people, who managed to become a real leader in a few months after February - V.I. Lenin.

Armed uprising in Petrograd On October 18, a meeting of representatives of the regiments, at the suggestion of Trotsky, adopted a resolution on non-subordination of the garrison to the Provisional Government; only those orders of the headquarters of the military district that were confirmed by the soldiers' section of the Petrograd Soviet could be executed

Even earlier, on October 9, 1917, right-wing socialists submitted a proposal to the Petrograd Soviet to create a Committee of Revolutionary Defense to protect the capital from dangerously approaching Germans; according to the plan of the initiators, the Committee was supposed to attract and organize workers for active participation in the defense of Petrograd - the Bolsheviks saw in this proposal the possibility of legalizing the working Red Guard and its equally legal armament and training for the coming uprising. On October 16, the plenum of the Petrograd Soviet approved the creation of this body, but already as a Military Revolutionary Committee. The most important events of the October coup: “The course for an armed uprising” was adopted by the Bolsheviks at the VI Congress, in early August, but at that time the party driven underground did not could even prepare for an uprising: the workers who sympathized with the Bolsheviks were disarmed, their military organizations were crushed, the revolutionary regiments of the Petrograd garrison were disbanded. The opportunity to arm again presented itself only during the days of the Kornilov rebellion, but after it was liquidated, it seemed that a new page had been opened in the peaceful development of the revolution. Only on the 20th of September, after the Bolsheviks had taken over the Petrograd and Moscow soviets, and after the failure of the Democratic Conference, did Lenin again speak of an uprising, and only on October 10, by a resolution adopted, did the Central Committee put the uprising on the agenda. On October 16, an enlarged meeting of the Central Committee, with the participation of representatives of the districts, confirmed the decision. Having received a majority in the Petrograd Soviet, the left socialists actually restored the pre-July dual power in the city, and for two weeks the two authorities openly measured their strength: the government ordered the regiments to go to the front, - Council appointed a review of the order and, having established that it was dictated not by strategic, but by political motives, ordered the regiments to remain in the city; the commander of the Military District forbade the issuance of weapons to the workers from the arsenals of Petrograd and the environs - the Council issued a warrant, and the weapons were issued; in response, the government tried to arm its supporters with rifles from the arsenal of the Peter and Paul Fortress - a representative of the Council appeared, and the issuance of weapons ceased; On October 21, a meeting of representatives of the regiments, in a resolution adopted, recognized the Petrograd Soviet as the sole authority. The Military Revolutionary Committee appointed its commissars to all strategically important institutions and actually took them under its control. Finally, on October 24, Kerensky once again closed the not for the first time renamed Pravda and ordered the arrest of the Committee; but the Soviet easily recaptured the printing house of Pravda, and there was no one to execute the arrest order. The opponents of the Bolsheviks - right-wing socialists and Cadets - "appointed" the uprising, first on the 17th, then on the 20th, then on October 22 (announced as the Day of the Petrograd Soviet), the government tirelessly prepared for it, but it took place on the night of the 24th On October 25, the coup came as a surprise to everyone, because it was presented in a completely different way: they expected a repetition of the July days, armed demonstrations by garrison regiments, only this time with the expressed intention to arrest the government and seize power. But there were no demonstrations, and the garrison was hardly involved; detachments of the working Red Guard and sailors of the Baltic Fleet were simply completing the work begun long ago by the Petrograd Soviet to turn dual power into the autocracy of the Soviet: they brought down the bridges drawn by Kerensky, disarming the guards put up by the government, took control of the stations, power plant, telephone exchange, telegraph, and all this without a single shot , calmly and methodically, - the members of the Provisional Government, headed by Kerensky, who did not sleep that night, for a long time could not understand what was happening, they learned about the actions of the Military Revolutionary Committee by "secondary signs": at some point, telephones were turned off in the Winter Palace, then - the light ... An attempt by a small detachment of junkers led by the People's Socialist V. B. Stankevich to recapture the telephone exchange ended in failure, and on the morning of October 25 (November 7), only the Winter Palace, surrounded by detachments of the Red Guard, remained under the control of the Provisional Government. The forces of the defenders of the Provisional Government consisted of approximately 200 shock women of the women's death battalion, 2-3 companies of junkers and 40 disabled St. George Knights, led by a captain on prostheses. At 10 o'clock in the morning, the Military Revolutionary Committee issued an appeal "To the citizens of Russia!". “State power,” it said, “has passed into the hands of an organ of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, the Military Revolutionary Committee, which is at the head of the Petrograd proletariat and the garrison. The cause for which the people fought: the immediate proposal of a democratic peace, the abolition of landowner ownership of land, workers' control over production, the creation of a Soviet government - this matter is guaranteed. At 2 am on October 26, armed workers, soldiers of the Petrograd garrison and sailors of the Baltic Fleet, led by Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, took the Winter Palace and arrested the Provisional Government.

The October Revolution of 1917 and its significance In the autumn of 1917, the economic and military situation in Russia worsened even more. The devastation paralyzed its national economy. The country was on the brink of disaster. Throughout the country there were demonstrations of workers, soldiers, peasants. The slogan "All power to the Soviets!" became universal. The Bolsheviks confidently directed the revolutionary struggle. Before October, the party had about 350,000 members in its ranks. The revolutionary upsurge in Russia coincided with the growing revolutionary crisis in Europe. A sailor uprising broke out in Germany. In Italy, there were anti-government demonstrations of workers. Based on an analysis of the internal and international situation of the country, Lenin realized that the conditions for an armed uprising were ripe. The slogan "All power to the Soviets!", Lenin noted, became a call to insurrection. The speedy overthrow of the Provisional Government was the national and international duty of the workers' party. Lenin considered it necessary to immediately begin the organizational and military-technical preparations for the uprising. He proposed to set up the headquarters of the uprising, to organize the armed forces, to strike suddenly and take possession of Petrograd: to seize the telephone, the Winter Palace, the telegraph, the bridges, to arrest the members of the Provisional Government. The Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) at the historic meetings of October 10 and 16, 1917 decided on comprehensive and intensified preparations for the uprising. For leadership, the Provisional Revolutionary Center was allocated. Its members - I.V. Stalin, Sverdlov, Bubnov, Dzerzhinsky and Uritsky - became part of the Military Revolutionary Committee formed these days under the Petrograd Soviet, which became the legal headquarters of the impending uprising. V.I. Lenin, Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) , the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee, the 40,000th organization of the Bolsheviks of Petrograd carried out a titanic work in preparing the uprising. Detachments of the Red Guard were formed and armed in the capital. More than 20 thousand fighters were in its ranks. The revolutionary regiments of the Petrograd garrison, which numbered more than 150 thousand people, and the revolutionary ships of the Baltic Fleet were put on alert. Commissars of the Military Revolutionary Committee were appointed to the troops. Intensive preparations for establishing the power of the Soviets went on in Moscow, Minsk, Baku and throughout the country. The shock detachment of the imminent class battle was the Red Guard, numbering about 200,000 fighters. The armed forces of the revolution included revolutionary soldiers of the rear garrisons and rear units. The 6 million Russian army went over to the side of the working people. Foreign internationalists took up combat posts. In the ranks of the fighters of the revolution were prisoners of war-internationalists, who first of all joined the Bolshevik organizations in Serpukhov, Makeevka, Rostov-on-Don, Tomsk and other places. Socialist internationalists from Romania acted in solidarity with the Russian proletariat , USA and other countries. Thus, at a meeting of the Central Balt on October 12, 1917, Albert R. Williams, on behalf of the American socialist workers, conveyed greetings and expressed confidence in the success of the Russian revolution. And on October 24, the newspaper of the Bolshevik Central Committee Rabochiy Put published Tsentrobalt’s “Open Letter” addressed to Williams, in which they expressed gratitude for the greeting and it was stated that the revolutionary sailors would fight “under the red banner of the International.” International support further raised the revolutionary the spirit of the workers and peasants of Russia, strengthened confidence in the victory of the revolution. The country has come close to the historical achievements that were destined to determine the future development of mankind. On the morning of October 24, 1917, the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b) at a meeting in Smolny adopted a number of important decisions on holding an armed uprising. Following this, the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee called on the workers, soldiers and sailors to fight against the counter-revolution. Detachments of the Red Guard took factories and plants under guard, together with revolutionary soldiers and sailors drove out the cadets and occupied the bridges across the Neva, began to master the means of communication. Accompanied by E. Rahya, VI Lenin arrived at Smolny in the evening. Under his leadership, the uprising developed rapidly. The insurgents closed the access to Petrograd, seized railway stations, established control in government offices, began encircling the Winter Palace, in which, under the protection of the junkers, the ministers who had lost power sat out. On October 25, 1917, at 10 o'clock in the morning, the Military Revolutionary Committee, in an appeal written by V.I. Lenin "To the citizens of Russia", announced the overthrow of the provisional government. The socialist revolution has won. During the day, the revolutionary troops blocked the Winter Palace with an iron ring. The working detachments of the Red Guards of the Nevsky, Vyborg, Narva, Vasileostrovsky and other regions participated in this operation, among them were the Red Guards of the Putilov, Obukhov plants, the Novy Parviainen plant and other enterprises. Revolutionary soldiers were an inseparable part of the ring. On the Neva stood the cruiser "Aurora" and warships that arrived from Kronstadt. On the night of October 26, revolutionary troops stormed the Winter Palace. Former ministers were arrested and placed in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Foreign internationalists took part in some operations. On the instructions of F.E. Dzerzhinsky, the figures of the CEC of the SDKPiL groups S. Pentkovsky and Yu. Leshchinsky, together with the soldiers of the Keksholmsky regiment, took control of the central telegraph. A member of the Bulgarian party of close socialists, S. Cherkesov, was in the detachment that occupied the Nikolaevsky railway station. The orders of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee were carried out by the Bolsheviks, the Czech V. Zof and the Romanian I. Dik-Dicescu. Only the Winter Palace remained of the Provisional Government, surrounded by detachments of the Red Guard. The forces of the defenders of the Provisional Government consisted of approximately 200 shock women of the women's death battalion, 2-3 companies of junkers and 40 disabled St. George Knights, led by a captain on prostheses. At 10 o'clock in the morning, the Military Revolutionary Committee issued an appeal "To the citizens of Russia!". “State power,” it said, “has passed into the hands of an organ of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, the Military Revolutionary Committee, which is at the head of the Petrograd proletariat and the garrison. The cause for which the people fought: the immediate proposal of a democratic peace, the abolition of landowner ownership of land, workers' control over production, the creation of a Soviet government - this matter is guaranteed. At 2 am on October 26 (November 8), armed workers, soldiers of the Petrograd garrison and sailors of the Baltic Fleet, led by Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, took the Winter Palace and arrested the Provisional Government. The deputy of the Vyborg District Council, member of the SDKPiL, Jan Skanis, chairman Committee of the School of Ship Engineers in Kronstadt, member of the PSS-leftist R. Muklevich and other Polish internationalists. The Belgian socialist worker F. Lergan was part of the Red Guard detachment of the Sestroretsk plant, which operated on the outskirts of Palace Square. John Reed and Albert Rhys Williams were with the Red Guards, revolutionary soldiers and sailors who broke into the palace. The news of the capture of the Winter Palace and the arrest of the ministers of the provisional government was greeted with jubilation by the delegates of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets. The congress accepted what V. I. Lenin appeal "To the workers, soldiers, peasants" about the transfer of all power in Russia to the soviets. At its second meeting, V.I. Lenin made a report on peace and announced the draft decree prepared by him. The Soviet government addressed the peoples and governments of the belligerent countries with a proposal to immediately conclude a comprehensive peace without annexations and indemnities on the basis of self-determination of peoples. With the singing of the Internationale, the delegates unanimously approved the decree for peace. Then the congress adopted the Lenin Decree on Land, elected the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars headed by Lenin. Having completed their work, the delegates went to the places where the struggle for the establishment of the power of the Soviets was unfolding. However, the counter-revolution did not want to accept defeat. Two days later, the junkers revolted in Petrograd. At the same time, Kerensky, who had fled from the capital, persuaded the 3rd Cossack Corps to oppose Soviet power. Detachments of the Red Guard, revolutionary soldiers and sailors set off from Petrograd to fight the Cossacks. The rebellion was put down. On November 5, 1917, a delegation of Belgian workers arrived in Smolny and presented V.I. Greetings to Lenin. The Belgians congratulated the Russian proletariat on the victory of the revolution. Then a conversation took place in which Sverdlov participated. The delegates assured Lenin that the Belgian workers were in solidarity with the proletariat of Russia in its struggle for peace and socialism and were ready to give the Soviet government full support. , in which, reporting on the counter-revolutionary activities of the Czechoslovak National Council, they wrote that their duty was to ensure that the prisoners of war brought the ideas of the socialist revolution to their homeland. In this regard, they asked for help in publishing the appeal. Help was provided. In an appeal to "Czech prisoners of war in Russia and Czech volunteers on the Russian front", which was published on November 9 in Pravda, the October Revolution was assessed as having the greatest international significance, the anti-people activities of the Czechoslovak Council and its connection with the counter-revolution were exposed, and an appeal was made to the Czechoslovaks fight for the proletarian revolution. Solidarity with the victorious revolution was expressed by foreign internationalists throughout the country.

Conclusion Thus, the victory of the revolution on the territory of a vast country testified to the support of the ideas of Bolshevism by the masses and the weakness of its opponents. It turned out to be carried out thanks to the parliamentary, economic and political crisis, the weakness and mistakes of the Provisional Government, the fall of its authority, the adventurism of the right forces, the confusion of the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, the energy of the Bolsheviks, the political will and political art of V.I. Lenin. The main lesson of the events of 1917 for modern Russia lies, in my opinion, in the need to carry out long overdue reforms based on compromises, to renounce violence in politics. The first steps towards this have been taken. None of the many important events that determined the face of the modern world had such a direct impact on human society and had such an impact on its development as the Great October Socialist Revolution. The October Revolution sharply accelerated the world revolutionary process, giving it a worldwide character, awakening the working masses of all continents and all countries to the revolutionary movement. Subsequently, education and medical care were introduced, an 8-hour working day was introduced, a decree was issued on the insurance of workers and employees; estates, ranks and titles were eliminated, a common name was established - “citizens of the Russian Republic”. Freedom of conscience proclaimed; the church is separated from the state, the school from the church. Women received equal rights with men in all areas of public life. The October Revolution of 1917 was the first political event in the world, information about which was broadcast on the radio.

Reasons for the Bolsheviks to come to power:- the impact of the First World War on the revolutionary mood in the country: economic ruin, embitterment of the masses, depreciation of human life. During these years, the monstrous logic of the Bolsheviks manifested itself: "Let's turn the imperialist war into a civil war"

The weakness of tsarism, the doom to the death of an unlimited monarchy as an institution of power. At the royal court, Rasputin becomes the first person.

The indecision and helplessness of the Provisional Government, the inability to resolve fundamental issues. - disunity of political parties, their inability to block the path of the Bolsheviks, to give an accurate program of action. There were 70 games in total. The most influential: the Socialist-Revolutionaries (peasant party) - for the abolition of feudal remnants, endowing the peasants with land, but against private property. Cadets (party of the liberal bourgeoisie) - for the path of reforms, special attention to freedoms. - the revolutionary influence of the intelligentsia on Russian society. The intelligentsia has always advocated the abolition of autocracy and serfdom. - the tsarist orientation of the Russian people to a strong hand, which they saw in the Bolsheviks. - The Bolshevik Party is a party of a new type, i.e. a party of revolution. Goal: not reform, but a violent coup. The entire structure of the party is subordinated to this goal, the principles of organization: iron discipline, vertical subordination with an obligatory leader at the top. - the flexible tactics of the Bolsheviks. Ability to master the situation, decisiveness, uncompromisingness, purposefulness, bet on cruelty and violence. - the ability of the Bolsheviks to manipulate slogans, the use of demagogy as an effective means of influencing the politically undeveloped masses

The coming to power of the Bolsheviks. The coming to power of the Bolsheviks. In the autumn of 1917, Russia experienced an acute crisis: the economy was in a state of paralysis, famine worsened, the national outskirts were not controlled by the central government, the strike movement in the cities, the “peasant war” against private landowners, the refusal of many provincial councils to cooperate with the official authorities, the collapse of the army . The government (September 23, Kerensky formed the 3rd coalition social - liberal government with a predominance of moderate socialists) lost the ability to influence the state of affairs.

After a stubborn struggle, Lenin, with the support of L.D. Trotsky (a long-term opponent of Lenin in the social democratic movement, joined the RSDLP / b in the summer of 1917) managed to impose on the Bolshevik leadership a decision to take power (prominent party figures G.E. Zinoviev, L.B. Kamenev and others believed that even if successful in the capital, it will not be possible to retain power). On October 24-25, the forces of the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) under the Petrograd Soviet - the garrison, sailors, the "Red Guard" - practically without resistance (Kerensky left the capital) captured the strategic centers of the city. On the morning of 25, an appeal is published on the transfer of power to the Military Revolutionary Committee. On the night of October 25-26, ministers were arrested in the winter palace. At the same time, the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets, in which the majority were Bolsheviks (they were supported by the “Left Socialist-Revolutionaries”, a breakaway part of the party advocating the transfer of power to the Soviets), proclaimed the establishment of Soviet power in Russia. The Soviet government was formed - the Council of People's Commissars - headed by Lenin, which included Bolshevik leaders - A.I. Rykov, I.V. Stalin, L.D. Trotsky and others. Since forces professing the socialist doctrine came to power , the victorious revolution can be defined as socialist. ^ Reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks: - Lenin's leadership, who developed a strategy for taking power; - political and organizational unity of the Bolshevik Party (despite disagreements in the leadership) on an all-Russian scale; - a sharp weakening of the conservative forces after the fall of the monarchy; - contradictions in the social - liberal bloc; - the lack of roots of liberal values in the mass consciousness, a consequence of the political weakness of the politically inexperienced bourgeoisie and the persistence of the communal mentality; - destructive impact on the socio-economic sphere of military operations; - the correspondence of the Bolshevik platform to the dominant anti-war and egalitarian collectivist sentiments in society, which allowed them to "saddle" the spontaneous movement of the masses. The coming to power of the “socialist modernizers” of the Bolsheviks with a program to eliminate the cornerstone institutions of civilization (property rights, commodity-money relations, separation of powers, etc.) meant the “civilizational” revenge of the traditionalist forces that did not accept the development trajectory laid down by the Petrine reforms. It was not possible to overcome the cultural split between the elite and the lower classes of society in pre-revolutionary Russia. ^ Priority measures of the Soviet regime. The actions of the winners were determined by doctrinal (resulting from their program goals) and situational (determined by the prevailing situation) factors. At the turn of 1917 - 1918. the Bolsheviks, using the advantage in the politicized part of society and the wait-and-see position of the majority of Russians (the dispersal by the Bolsheviks in January 1918 of the democratically elected Constituent Assembly, which by an overwhelming majority refused to recognize the new regime, did not cause a serious reaction in society), in relatively peaceful internal conditions, they succeeded: - approve Soviet power in the provinces (October 1917 - March 1918); - withdraw the country from the World War (on March 3, 1918, a separate peace was concluded with Germany in Brest on difficult conditions for Russia, which made it possible to maintain Bolshevik power); - start implementing situational (fight against hunger) and doctrinal measures. On the basis of the Decree on Land of the Second Congress of Soviets, which takes into account the peasant demands of the Socialist-Revolutionary persuasion, the confiscation of privately owned lands was carried out with the transfer to the peasants for equal land use, the nationalization (transfer to state ownership) of all land and subsoil; nationalization began in industry and finance. With the adoption of the “Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People”, developed and enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic (RSFSR) in the summer of 1918 (which formalized the construction of power in the form of a system of mast congresses of councils, crowned by the All-Russian Congress that forms the government), the formation of the foundations of statehood began "workers": the dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of soviets, during the transitional period from capitalism to socialism, liquidating private property.

The coming to power of the Bolsheviks meant the collapse of the bourgeois-liberal alternative. The main reasons for this were the lack of a firm state power, the slow nature of reforms, the war, the growth

revolutionary sentiment. The Bolsheviks were able to use this situation to try to put their theory into practice.

"War communism" - the economic policy of the Soviet government, the main direction of which was a bet on strict centralization of the economy, a course towards the nationalization and socialization of production, the confiscation of landed estates, the nationalization of the banking and financial systems. This policy was so named because the emergency measures dictated by military necessity were perceived by many Bolshevik theorists as the embodiment of communist ideas about a society without

private property, commodity and money circulation, etc. By the summer of 1918, the following measures were taken:

The Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh) was created;

Banks (December 1917), merchant fleet (January 1918), foreign trade (April 1918), large-scale industry (June 1918) were nationalized;

A redistribution of the landlords' land among the peasants was carried out on an equalizing basis ("in fairness");

A regime of food dictatorship was declared (May 1918, state monopoly, fixed prices, a ban on private trade in grain, the fight against "speculators", the creation of food detachments).

The crisis, meanwhile, continued to escalate, taking, in the words of V. I. Lenin, the form of an "economic catastrophe." Attempts to reduce the pace of nationalization, focus on strengthening labor discipline and

management organizations undertaken in May-July 1918 did not produce results.

The policy of "war communism" in the economic and social spheres consisted of the following elements:

Liquidation of private property, nationalization of industry;

Subordination of industry and agriculture to the direct leadership of the central executive authorities, often endowed with emergency powers and acting by order,

command methods; . the curtailment of commodity-money relations, the introduction of direct product exchange between the city and the countryside on the basis of the surplus appropriation (since January 1919) - the withdrawal from the peasants of all surplus grain in excess of the minimum established by the state;

The approval of the state system of distribution by coupons and cards, equalizing wages, universal labor service, the creation of labor armies, the militarization of labor. Historians believe that "war communism" was not limited to the economic and social spheres. It was an integral system that had its reference points in politics, ideology, culture, morality, and psychology. In the program of the RCP(b), adopted by the Eighth Congress in March 1919, the policy of "war communism" was theoretically comprehended as a direct transition to a communist society. "War Communism", on the one hand, made it possible to subordinate all resources to the control of the "belligerent party", turn the country into a single military camp, and ultimately win the Civil War. On the other hand, it did not create incentives for economic growth, engendered discontent among almost all segments of the population, and created an illusory belief in violence as an all-powerful lever for solving all the problems facing the country. With the end of the war, military-communist methods have exhausted themselves. This was not immediately understood: back in November-December 1920, decrees were adopted on the nationalization of small industry, on the abolition of payments for food and fuel, and utilities.

QUESTION 35: Civil war: causes, stages, results:

Causes of the Civil War: One of the reasons for the start The conditions of the Brest Peace that were humiliating for Russia during the Civil War were regarded by people as a refusal of the authorities to protect the honor and dignity of the country. The second reason for extremely harsh methods of the new government. Nationalization of all land and confiscation of the means of production and all property, not only from the big bourgeoisie, but also from medium and even small private owners. The bourgeoisie, frightened by the scale of the nationalization of industry, wanted to return factories and factories. The liquidation of commodity-money relations and the establishment of a state monopoly on the distribution of goods and products had a painful blow to the property position of the middle and petty bourgeoisie. Thus, the desire of the overthrown classes to preserve private property and their privileged position was also the cause of the outbreak of the Civil War. The third reason is red terror, largely due to white terror, but which has become widespread. In addition, an important reason for the Civil War was the internal policy of the Bolshevik leadership, which alienated the democratic intelligentsia and the Cossacks from the Bolsheviks. The creation of a one-party political system and the "dictatorship of the proletariat", in fact the dictatorship of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), alienated the socialist parties and democratic public associations from the Bolsheviks. By the Decrees "On the Arrest of the Leaders of the Civil War against the Revolution" (November 1917) and "On the Red Terror" the Bolshevik leadership legally substantiated the "right" to violent reprisals against their political opponents. Therefore, the Mensheviks, right and left SRs, and anarchists refused to cooperate with the new government and took part in the Civil War.

In October 1997 the situation in the country was close to anarchy. The provisional government actually lost control over the city, countryside and front, was seized by paralysis. In such a situation, the Bolsheviks, with their brutal party discipline, received significant advantages. The people increasingly regarded them as the only force capable of restoring order to the country.

The growth of the influence of the Bolsheviks was also associated with the financial assistance that this party received from the German General Staff. The Germans began to finance Lenin from the spring of 1917, helped him to return from Switzerland to Russia through their territory due to the fact that with his revolutionary agitation he undermined the state order in Russia and was thus their ally. The moral principles of Lenin himself did not prevent him from taking money from the enemy.

Not all Bolshevik leaders supported Lenin's desire to seize power in October 1917. Opposed, for example, such prominent members of the party as G. Zinoviev and L. Kamenev. Lenin, however, insisted on his own. Being in an illegal position in Finland, he bombarded his colleagues who remained in Petrograd with demands to start preparing an armed uprising. As the authority of the Provisional Government in the country fell, Lenin's position in the party strengthened. Finally, on October 23, 1917. / n. Art. / The Central Committee of the party voted for LENIN's proposal. The coup was scheduled for early November.

In 1917 Lenin remained the undisputed leader of the party, but in the fall of this year, the Bolsheviks had another leader - L. Trotsky. He was a talented speaker, a good organizer of the party struggle. In November 1917 Trotsky directed the propaganda activities of the Bolsheviks among the soldiers of the Petrograd garrison. As a result of this activity, it was possible to convince the soldiers not to obey the Provisional Government and remain neutral. As a result, when Kerensky later called on government troops to defend the Provisional Government, few responded to this call.

The Bolshevik Revolution began on November 6 and ended within 36 hours. It would be a mistake to think that the Bolsheviks seized power in a stubborn struggle. In fact, by the time of the coup, the Provisional Government had already virtually ceased to exist, and in Russia there was simply no such power that would have to be seized. The Bolsheviks only filled the vacuum of power and did it easily and quickly. Lenin called for a coup, the leaders were Lenin and Trotsky, and it was carried out by the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, in which the Bolsheviks predominated.

The Bolsheviks came to power under the slogan All power to the Soviets! This meant that, having overthrown the Provisional Government, they would have to share power with the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, who were widely represented in the Soviets. This, of course, was not part of Lenin's plans. On November 8, the Bolsheviks announced the creation in Russia of a new government, the Council of People's Commissars, made up entirely of members of their party with Lenin at the head. As a result of the November 6-7 coup, a political system arose in Russia in which all real power belonged to one party, and the Soviets were only a nominal body of power.

Among the decrees issued by the Bolsheviks after the coup, one should name the immediate cessation of the war / Decree on Peace /, the distribution of land among the peasants / Decree on Land /, the introduction of workers' control in enterprises, the granting of greater autonomy to national minorities. However, over the following years, all these decisions were completely compromised.

Having come to power, the Bolsheviks faced the same problems that faced the Provisional Government. Lenin understood that he could only stay in power if he managed to end the war, no matter how expensive it was. Already in December, an armistice agreement was signed. It soon became clear that the Germans would put forward very cruel terms in the negotiations for a peace treaty. This circumstance caused great controversy among the Bolshevik leaders. Their part, headed by Bukharin, strongly opposed the signing of peace on conditions humiliating for Russia, in favor of starting a revolutionary war with Germany. In this war, the Bolsheviks would inevitably be defeated and lose power. Understanding this, Lenin used all his influence and strength to achieve the desired decision, that is, agreement to sign peace with the Germans on any (even very difficult) conditions. In the course of a fierce struggle with the Bukharinites, Lenin was able to win and on March 3, 1918, the Bolsheviks signed a peace treaty with Germany in the city of Brest-Litovsk (Brest peace). Under this treaty, Russia ceded to the enemy 25% of its territories, on which 26% of the population lived (including Ukraine, Finland, Georgia, Poland, the Baltic states). This territory contained 27% of the country's arable land, 33% of manufacturing and 73% of metallurgical production, and 75% of coal was mined. The signing of such a peace treaty was an unprecedented humiliation for Russia. On the part of the allies, Russia rightly deserved accusations of betrayal. Among the people, the Brest peace was called obscene.

It was no coincidence that the Provisional Government was called Provisional. The former members of the State Duma who composed it assumed power in the country after the abdication of the tsar for a strictly limited period of time only until the convocation of a new supreme body of power in Russia, the Constituent Assembly, which was supposed to be democratically elected by the entire population of the country. The Provisional Government scheduled elections for November 25, 1917, and the Bolsheviks, having seized power, did not dare to cancel them. In these free national elections, the Bolsheviks received 23.5% of the vote, that is, they found themselves in an absolute minority (the majority of the votes were received by the Socialist-Revolutionaries 41%). Although the Bolsheviks hoped for more favorable voting results, the result did not cause panic in their ranks. When the Constituent Assembly was convened in early January 1918, the Bolsheviks simply dispersed it, declaring it counter-revolutionary.

Gradually, an anti-Bolshevik opposition began to take shape in Russia. To deal with it, the Bolsheviks took decisive action against what they called counter-revolutionary elements. Among the latter were the Orthodox Church, against which the new government issued a number of decrees. A decree was issued banning those newspapers that the new government considered anti-Bolshevik. Another decree created the Cheka, the secret police of the Bolsheviks, whose task was to destroy all opponents of the new government.

The Bolsheviks' cynical disdain for the results of the elections to the Constituent Assembly and their desire to rely on violence vividly characterized the nature of the Bolshevik regime (if in Tsarist Russia 997 people were executed by court verdict from 1821 to 1906, then under Soviet power from 1917 to 1,861,568 people were shot). The arbitrariness and violence of the ruling party split the country and became the main reason for the outbreak of civil war.