Causes and course of the 1917 revolution. Literary and historical notes of a young technician

On the night of October 25, 1917, an armed uprising began in Petrograd, during which the current government was overthrown and power was transferred to the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. The most important objects were captured - bridges, telegraph, government offices, and at 2 am on October 26, the Winter Palace was taken and the Provisional Government was arrested.

V. I. Lenin. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Background of the October Revolution

The February Revolution of 1917, met with enthusiasm, although it ended the absolute monarchy in Russia, very soon disappointed the revolutionary-minded "lower layers" - the army, workers and peasants, who expected it to end the war, transfer land to the peasants, ease working conditions for workers and democratic power devices. Instead, the Provisional Government continued the war, assuring the Western Allies of their commitment; in the summer of 1917, on his orders, a large-scale offensive began, which ended in disaster due to the fall in discipline in the army. Attempts to carry out land reform and introduce an 8-hour working day in factories were blocked by a majority in the Provisional Government. The autocracy was not finally abolished - the question of whether Russia should be a monarchy or a republic, the Provisional Government postponed until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. The situation was aggravated by the growing anarchy in the country: desertion from the army took on gigantic proportions, unauthorized "repartitions" of land began in the villages, thousands of landowners' estates were burned. Poland and Finland declared independence, nationally-minded separatists claimed power in Kyiv, and their own autonomous government was created in Siberia.

Counter-revolutionary armored car "Austin" surrounded by cadets at the Winter. 1917 Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

At the same time, the country developed powerful system Councils of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, which became an alternative to the bodies of the Provisional Government. Soviets began to form during the 1905 revolution. They were supported by numerous factory and peasant committees, militia and soldiers' councils. Unlike the Provisional Government, they demanded an immediate end to the war and reforms, which found increasing support among the embittered masses. The dual power in the country becomes obvious - the generals in the person of Alexei Kaledin and Lavr Kornilov demand the dispersal of the Soviets, and the Provisional Government in July 1917 carries out mass arrests of deputies of the Petrograd Soviet, and at the same time, demonstrations are taking place in Petrograd under the slogan "All power to the Soviets!"

Armed uprising in Petrograd

The Bolsheviks headed for an armed uprising in August 1917. On October 16, the Bolshevik Central Committee decided to prepare an uprising, two days after that, the Petrograd garrison declared disobedience to the Provisional Government, and on October 21, a meeting of representatives of the regiments recognized the Petrograd Soviet as the only legitimate authority. From October 24, detachments of the Military Revolutionary Committee occupied key points in Petrograd: railway stations, bridges, banks, telegraphs, printing houses and power stations.

The Provisional Government was preparing for this station, but the coup that took place on the night of October 25 came as a complete surprise to him. Instead of the expected mass demonstrations of the regiments of the garrison, detachments of the working Red Guard and sailors Baltic Fleet they simply took control of key facilities - without firing a shot, putting an end to the dual power in Russia. On the morning of October 25, only the Winter Palace, surrounded by detachments of the Red Guard, remained under the control of the Provisional Government.

At 10 a.m. on October 25, the Military Revolutionary Committee issued an appeal in which it announced that all "state power had passed into the hands of an organ of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies." At 21:00, a blank shot from the gun of the Baltic Fleet cruiser "Aurora" signaled the start of the assault on the Winter Palace, and at 2:00 am on October 26, the Provisional Government was arrested.

Cruiser Aurora". Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

On the evening of October 25, the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets opened in Smolny, proclaiming the transfer of all power to the Soviets.

On October 26, the congress adopted the Decree on Peace, inviting all belligerent countries to start negotiations on concluding a general democratic peace, and the Decree on Land, according to which the landed estates were to be transferred to the peasants, and all subsoil, forests and waters were nationalized.

The congress also formed the government, the Council of People's Commissars headed by Vladimir Lenin, the first supreme body of state power in Soviet Russia.

On October 29, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a Decree on an eight-hour working day, and on November 2, a Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia, which proclaimed the equality and sovereignty of all the peoples of the country, the abolition of national and religious privileges and restrictions.

On November 23, a decree "On the destruction of estates and civil ranks" was issued, proclaiming the legal equality of all citizens of Russia.

Simultaneously with the uprising in Petrograd on October 25, the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Moscow Council also took control of all the important strategic objects of Moscow: the arsenal, the telegraph, the State Bank, etc. However, on October 28, the Public Security Committee, headed by the chairman of the city Duma Vadim Rudnev, The support of the junkers and Cossacks began military operations against the Council.

Fighting in Moscow continued until November 3, when the Committee of Public Safety agreed to lay down their arms. The October Revolution was immediately supported in the Central Industrial Region, where the local Soviets of Workers' Deputies had actually established their power, in the Baltic States and Belarus, Soviet power was established in October - November 1917, and in the Central Black Earth Region, the Volga region and Siberia, the process of recognizing Soviet power dragged on until the end of January 1918.

Name and celebration of the October Revolution

Since Soviet Russia switched to the new Gregorian calendar in 1918, the anniversary of the uprising in Petrograd fell on November 7th. But the revolution was already associated with October, which was reflected in its name. This day became an official holiday in 1918, and starting from 1927, two days became holidays - November 7 and 8. Every year on this day, demonstrations and military parades took place on Red Square in Moscow and in all cities of the USSR. The last military parade on Moscow's Red Square to commemorate the anniversary of the October Revolution was held in 1990. Since 1992, it has become a working day in Russia on November 8, and in 2005 a day off on November 7 was also canceled. Until now, the Day of the October Revolution is celebrated in Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Transnistria.

This is the second revolution in a row, which is also called the Bourgeois-Democratic.

Causes

After 100 years, historians argue that the February Revolution was inevitable, since there were many reasons that caused it - defeat on the fronts, plight workers and peasants, hunger, devastation, political lack of rights, decline in the authority of autocratic power and its inability to carry out reforms.

That is, almost all those problems that remained unresolved after the first revolution, which took place in 1905.

Democratic reforms in Russia, with the exception of small concessions made by the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, remained unfinished, so new social upheavals were inevitable.

move

The main events of the February Revolution took place rapidly. At the beginning of 1917, interruptions in food supplies to the large cities of Russia intensified, and by mid-February, workers began to strike en masse due to a shortage of bread and rising prices.

Bread riots broke out in Petrograd - crowds of people smashed bread shops, and on February 23 a general strike of Petrograd workers began.

Workers and women with the slogans "Bread!", "Down with the war!", "Down with the autocracy!" took to the streets of Petrograd - a political demonstration marked the beginning of the revolution.

Every day the number of striking workers, who were the driving force of the struggle, was growing, led by the Bolshevik Party. The workers were joined by students, employees, artisans, as well as peasants demanding a redistribution of land. For several days, a wave of strikes swept over Petrograd, Moscow and other cities of the country.

© photo: Sputnik / RIA Novosti

Executions and arrests were no longer able to cool the revolutionary fervor of the masses. Every day the situation became more and more aggravated, taking on an irreversible character. Government troops were sent to combat readiness Petrograd was turned into a military camp.

The outcome of the struggle predetermined the mass transition of the soldiers on February 27 to the side of the rebels, who occupied the most important points of the city, government buildings. The next day the government was overthrown.

In Petrograd, the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies and the Provisional Committee of the State Duma were created, which formed the Provisional Government.

The power of the Provisional Government was established in Moscow on March 1, and within a month already throughout the country.

Results

The new government proclaimed political rights and freedoms, including speech, assembly, press and demonstrations.

Class, national and religious restrictions were abolished, the death penalty, courts-martial, a political amnesty was announced, an eight-hour working day was introduced.

The workers received the right to restore democratic organizations banned during the war years, to create trade unions and factory committees.

However, the main political issue of power remained unresolved - dual power was formed in Russia, which further split Russian society.

The land issue was not resolved, the factories remained in the hands of the bourgeoisie, agriculture and industry were in dire need, there was not enough fuel for rail transport.

• January
• February
• April
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

January Strikes in Petrograd, rescue of Riga and the suffragette at the White House

The revolution On January 22 (January 9 according to the old style), on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the largest strike during the war began in Petrograd, more than 145 thousand workers of the Vyborg, Narva and Moscow regions took part in it. The demonstrations were dispersed by the Cossacks. Strikes also took place in Moscow, Kazan, Kharkov and other major cities Russian Empire; in total, more than 200,000 people went on strike in January 1917.

War On January 5 (December 23, 1916, old style), the Russian army launched an offensive on the Northern Front in the Mitava region (modern Jelgava in Latvia). An unexpected blow made it possible to break through the line of fortifications of the German army and move the front from Riga. The initial success of the Mitav operation could not be consolidated: the soldiers of the 2nd and 6th Siberian Corps rebelled and refused to take part in the hostilities. In addition, the command of the Northern Front refused to provide reinforcements. The operation was terminated on January 11 (December 29).

Picket at the gates of the White House. Washington, January 26, 1917 Library of Congress

On January 10, a suffragist movement known as the "Quiet Guards" began picketing outside the White House in Washington. For the next two and a half years, six days a week, women picketed the residence of the American president, demanding equal voting rights with men. During this time, they were repeatedly beaten, detained for “obstructing traffic”, and tortured during arrests. The picket ended on June 4, 1919, when both houses of Congress passed the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution: "The right to vote of the citizens of the United States shall not be denied or restricted by the United States or by any state on account of sex."

February Submarine Warfare, Duma Opposition, and the Mexican Constitution

The revolution On February 27 (14), the first meeting of the State Duma in 1917 opened. It was supposed to take place in January, but at the beginning of the year, by decree of the emperor, it was postponed to a later date. A demonstration took place near the Tauride Palace, many deputies at the meeting demanded the resignation of the government. The leader of the Trudovik faction, Alexander Kerensky, called for fighting the authorities not only by legal means, but also with the help of “physical elimination”.

War

German submarine U-14. 1910s Library of Congress

On February 1, Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare. German submarines easily overcame barriers and attacked both military convoys and civilian ships. During the first week of February, 35 ships were sunk in the English Channel and on the western approaches to it. For the whole month, the German fleet lost only 4 submarines out of 34, and the British troops were cut off from supplies due to constant attacks on merchant ships in the strait and in the Atlantic.

Peace On February 5, Mexico published the text of the Constitution adopted in January by the Constituent Assembly. The new basic law transferred all land to the state, reduced the powers of the church to a minimum, separated the branches of government and established an eight-hour working day. Thus, the revolutionaries achieved the fulfillment of all their demands. However, the armed struggle between the government and the rebel leaders continued even after that. The revolution began in 1910 with the struggle against the dictatorship of President Porfirio Diaz. Then the peasants joined the movement, and land reform became the main goal.

March Renunciation in Pskov, the capture of Baghdad and the first jazz record

The revolution March 8 (February 23), International Women's Day, another strike began, which grew into a general one. Workers from the Vyborg side broke through to Nevsky Prospekt, the strike turned into a political action. On March 11 (February 26), as a result of clashes, demonstrators died, the guards regiments began to go over to the side of the rebels, and the riots could not be extinguished. On March 15 (2) in Pskov, Nicholas II signed an act of renunciation; in Petrograd, a Provisional Government was formed, headed by the leader of the Zemsky Union, Prince Georgy Lvov.

War

British troops enter Baghdad. March 11, 1917 Wikimedia Commons

On March 11, British troops took Baghdad, forcing the Ottoman army to retreat. Great Britain took revenge for the defeat at El Kut in early 1916, when the defenders of the fortress were forced to capitulate after a long siege. In January 1917, British troops first recaptured El Kut, and then advanced north, struck a surprise blow Ottoman army and entered Baghdad. This allowed the British to gain a foothold in Mesopotamia, and the Ottoman Empire lost control of another territory.

"Livery Stable Blues" performed by the Original Dixieland Jass Band. 1917

On March 7, the first commercial jazz recording goes on public sale - the single "Livery Stable Blues" by the white orchestra of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. With the release of this record, an explosion in the popularity of jazz is associated. 1917 also saw the birth of future jazz musicians Ella Fitzgerald (April 25), Thelonious Monk (October 10), and Dizzy Gillespie (October 21).

April Lenin's Theses, Wilson's War and Gandhi's Nonviolent Protest

The revolution

Sketch of the "April Theses". Manuscript of Vladimir Lenin. 1917 RIA News"

On April 9 (March 27), the Provisional Government sent a note to France and Great Britain, in which it assured the allies that Russia would not withdraw from the war and would not conclude a separate peace. In response, the Petrograd Soviet, which consisted of Bolsheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, led soldiers and workers to an anti-war demonstration. The April crisis led to a split between the Provisional Government and the Soviets. At the same time, Lenin published his "April Theses" - the Bolsheviks' program of action: ending the war; refusal to support the Provisional Government; new, proletarian revolution.

War On April 6, the United States entered the First world war. Up to this point, the United States had remained neutral, but American ships were increasingly becoming victims of the submarine war that Germany had been waging since February. The reason for the war was also a telegram from German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann, in which he asked the German ambassador to the United States to achieve an alliance with Mexico. The British intercepted the telegram, deciphered it, and presented it to US President Woodrow Wilson, who made it public. Shortly thereafter, with several more American ships sunk in the Atlantic, Congress declared war on Germany.

Peace On April 10, 47-year-old lawyer and social activist Mohandas Gandhi launched the first civil disobedience campaign in India. Gandhi called this form of protest Satyagraha (from Sanskrit "satya" - "truth", and "agraha" - "firmness"). In the Champaran district, he began to fight against the colonial authorities, who forced the peasants to grow indigo and other commercial crops instead of cereals that could be eaten. The main goal was the independence of India from the British Empire. The first stage of peaceful resistance ended with Gandhi's arrest. Thousands of people demanded his release, calling him Mahatma - the Great Soul, and the police had to release Gandhi a few days later.

May Coalition Government, Commander-in-Chief Pétain and the Birth of Surrealism

The revolution The April crisis, above all, the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Milyukov about the "war to a victorious end", led to a change of government. The new coalition included six socialists: the Socialist-Revolutionary Kerensky became the Minister of War and the Navy, the leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party Viktor Chernov became the Minister of Agriculture, the Mensheviks Irakli Tsereteli and Matvey Skobelev, Trudovik Pavel Pereverzev and People's Socialist Alexei Peshekhonov also entered the coalition.

War On May 15, General Henri Philippe Pétain became commander-in-chief of the French army. After the battle of Verdun, which lasted almost the entire year 1916, Pétain became one of the most revered generals of the soldiers. In the spring of 1917, Commander-in-Chief Robert Nivel sent troops to break through the German front, the losses of the French army reached 100 thousand people killed and wounded. A crisis began in the army - the soldiers rebelled. Pétain calmed the troops, promised to give up suicidal attacks, and shot the instigators of the rebellion. Later, in 1940, he would head the government of the Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Nazis.

Leonid Myasin as a Chinese magician. Costume designed by Picasso for the ballet "Parade". Photograph by Harry Lachman. Paris, 1917

Horse. Costume designed by Picasso for the ballet "Parade". Photograph by Harry Lachman. Paris, 1917© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

American manager. Costume designed by Picasso for the ballet "Parade". Photograph by Harry Lachman. Paris, 1917 © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Acrobat. Costume designed by Picasso for the ballet "Parade". Photograph by Harry Lachman. Paris, 1917© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

American baby. Costume designed by Picasso for the ballet "Parade". Photograph by Harry Lachman. Paris, 1917© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

French manager. Costume designed by Picasso for the ballet "Parade". Photograph by Harry Lachman. Paris, 1917© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

On May 18, the term "surrealism" appeared. The poet Guillaume Apollinaire applied this definition to the ballet Parade. The performance with music by Eric Satie, script by Jean Cocteau, costumes by Pablo Picasso and choreography by Leonid Myasin, based on a parade of circus performers, caused a real scandal. The audience whistled, critics after the premiere called the production a stain on the reputation of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and a blow to French society. Apollinaire ardently defended the ballet in his manifesto "Paradade and the New Spirit", explaining that this combination of scenery, costumes and choreography "led to a kind of sur-réalisme" in which the New Spirit could begin to take off.

June All-Russian Central Executive Committee, abdication of Constantine I and Act on espionage

The revolution On June 16 (3) the Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies opened in Petrograd. The majority on it were Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. Lenin's "April theses" on ending the war and transferring power to the Soviets were rejected. Following the results of the congress, the deputies elected their leadership - the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (All-Russian Central Executive Committee), headed by the Menshevik Nikolai Chkheidze.

War On June 11, King Constantine I of Greece abdicated under pressure from the Entente. From the beginning of the war, the monarch remained neutral, despite opposition from the government. Constantine I was married to the sister of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, which gave rise to reproaches for the pro-German position of the king. Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos approved the British landing in Thessaloniki, was dismissed, but then formed the opposition Provisional Government of National Defense. Dual power arose in the country, and as a result, Constantine I abdicated and left for Switzerland, passing the throne to his son Alexander, who had no real power as a king.

Winsor McKay. Cartoon of the Espionage Act from the New York American. May 1917 Library of Congress

On June 15, the U.S. passed the Espionage Act. the federal law, which was intended to strengthen the national security of a country that had just entered the First World War, but was immediately perceived as an attack on freedom of speech. It specifically forbids the dissemination of information that could harm the US military or advance its enemies. The Espionage Act is still in use today - in particular, its violation is blamed on Edward Snowden, who made public the data on how American intelligence agencies monitor people around the world.

July Government crisis, failed offensive and execution of Mata Hari

The revolution On July 17-18 (4-5) in Petrograd, demonstrations of anarchists and Bolsheviks lead to clashes with government troops. The armed uprising failed, the Bolshevik leaders Lenin and Zinoviev had to flee the capital. At the same time, a crisis is also taking place in the Provisional Government: first, the Cadets leave it in protest against the granting of broad powers to the Ukrainian Central Rada, and then the chairman of the government, Prince Georgy Lvov, also resigns.

War At the end of June, the Russian army began preparations for a large-scale strategic offensive. On July 1 (June 18), the offensive began on the Southwestern Front in the direction of Lvov. In the first two days, the troops advanced significantly, which allowed Kerensky, Minister of War and Marine, to declare "the great triumph of the revolution." On July 6 (June 23), the 8th Army of General Lavr Kornilov attacked the positions of the Austro-Hungarian troops. But a week later, the impulse dried up: fermentation began in the army, military committees decided to abandon hostilities. Meanwhile, the Austro-German command transferred additional forces to this sector of the front. The counteroffensive turned to Russian army catastrophic: entire divisions fled from the front.

Mata Hari in stage costume. Card. 1906Bibliothèque Marguerite Durand

Mata Hari on the day of his arrest. 1917 Wikimedia Commons

On July 24, the trial of the Dutch dancer Marga-re-ta Gertrude Zelle, better known by her stage name Mata Hari, began in France. She was accused of spying for Germany and passing on to the Germans information that caused the death of several divisions of soldiers. The very next day, the court sentenced Mata Hari to death. She was shot on October 15, 1917, she was 41 years old.

August Mustard, the Bolshevik Congress and the miraculous appearance of the Virgin

The revolution On August 6 (July 24), a second coalition government was formed, already led by. The Provisional Government after the July days returned the death penalty and announced its intention to liquidate the Soviets. In Moscow, at the initiative of the government, a State Conference was convened with the participation of all political forces, except for the Bolsheviks, demanding the gradual liquidation of military committees, a ban on rallies and meetings, and the return of the death penalty. The Bolsheviks, in turn, held a party congress in Petrograd, at which they announced the need for an armed uprising.

War In August, the most difficult stage of the battle of Passchendaele in Belgium (the third battle of Ypres) began, which had been going on since July 11. British troops decided to break through the German front, the main goal was the base of German submarines. On the third day of the battle, the German army used a new poison gas - mustard gas: it hit the skin and eyes, the losses from it were greater than from any other chemical weapon during the war. In August, due to the rains, the area turned into an impenetrable swamp, in which the armies fought. The tanks got stuck in the mud. The British did not manage to overcome the German fortifications, and only in October they were able to move forward.

Lucia Santos, Francisco Marta and Jacinta Marta. Fatima, Portugal, 1917 Wikimedia Commons

From May to October 1917, every 13th day, the Virgin Mary appeared to three children from the Portuguese city of Fatima - Lucia Santos and her cousins ​​Francisco and Jacinta Marta. The exception was August 13, when the children were arrested by a local official and journalist, Artur Santos, a well-known anti-clerical and anti-monarchist in the district. He tried to get them to admit that they had not actually seen any miracles, but in vain. Coming out from under arrest, the children witnessed another appearance of the Virgin on August 19. The field on which this took place, back in 1917, became a place of mass pilgrimage.

September Kornilov rebellion, surrender of Riga and bacterial viruses

The revolution September 8 (August 26) The Supreme Commander presented an ultimatum to the Provisional Government. He demanded to give him full power before the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. In response, Kor-nilov was called a rebel. Troops loyal to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief moved to Petrograd, but under the influence of agitators they stopped at the approaches to the capital. After the failure of the rebellion, the government collapsed: the Cadets, who supported Kornilov's speech, left it. During the transitional period, the highest authority was formed - the Directory, headed by Kerensky.

War

German infantry in Riga. September 1917© IWM (Q 86949)

Kaiser Wilhelm II and Leopold of Bavaria on the banks of the Western Dvina (Daugava). Riga, September 1917© IWM (Q 70272)

Russian prisoners of war. Riga, September 1917© IWM (Q 86680)

On September 1, German troops began shelling the positions of the Russian army near Riga. This was followed by a massive offensive, the purpose of which was to encircle the 12th Army. In two days Russian troops lost 25 thousand people killed and already on September 3 left Riga. However, the 12th Army left the encirclement. The city was one of the main targets of the German army on the Eastern Front. After the capture of Riga, fears arose that the Germans would be able to occupy Petrograd. Panic arose in the Russian capital and preparations began for evacuation.

Peace On September 3, French-Canadian microbiologist Felix d'Herelle, who works at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, published a paper describing bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. This is one of the most ancient and numerous groups of viruses, which is now used in medicine as an alternative to antibiotics, and in biology as one of the tools of genetic engineering. Initially, bacteriophages were described in 1915 by the Englishman Frederick Twort (calling them bacteriolytic agents), but his research went unnoticed, and d'Herelle made his discovery on his own.

October Attack on Petrograd, the capture of the Moonsund Islands and the navel of Cleopatra

The revolution On October 8 (September 25), the composition of the third coalition government was announced, with Kerensky remaining chairman. At this time, in Petrograd, the Bolsheviks began preparing an armed uprising. They received a majority in the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, and on October 29 (16) the proposal of the head of the Petrograd Soviet, Lev Trotsky, to create a Military Revolutionary Committee was approved, formally - to protect against the Kornilovites and the German troops approaching the capital. After that, the Petrograd garrison came under the control of the Petrograd Soviet.

War On October 12, German troops launched an operation to capture the Russian-owned Moonsund Islands in the Baltic Sea. The operation was a combi-ni-ro-bath: it involved and ground troops, and fleet, and aviation (aircraft and airships). The German Navy unexpectedly encountered fierce resistance from the Russian fleet. Only by October 17 did the German dreadnoughts manage to get to the archipelago and gain control over it.

Theda Bara in Cleopatra (1917)

On October 14, Cleopatra, the most expensive film of its time, is released, with a budget of $500,000 (almost $10 million today). The title role was played by Theda Bara, one of the main sex symbols of the 1910s. The film was subjected to significant censorship - for example, during screenings in Chicago, a scene was cut from the first part in which Cleopatra stands in front of Caesar with a "bare navel" and "ambiguously bows" to the Roman ruler. The last two complete copies of the film burned down in a fire at the Fox Studios in 1937, it is currently considered lost, only minor fragments have survived.

November The Bolshevik coup, the battle from Farewell to Arms! and Jews in Palestine

The revolution November 7 (October 25) Petrograd was almost completely in the hands of the Military Revolutionary Committee, which issued an appeal "To the citizens of Russia!", Reporting that power had passed to the Petrograd Soviet. On the night of November 7-8 (October 25-26), the Bolsheviks and their political allies took the Winter Palace and arrested the ministers of the Provisional Government. The next day, the Second Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies formed the authorities and adopted decrees on peace and land.

War

The retreat of the Italian army during the Battle of Caporetto. November 1917 Italian Army Photographers/Wikimedia Commons

On November 9, the active phase of the Battle of Caporetto in northeastern Italy ended. It began on October 24, when the 14th Army under the command of General Otto von Belov, consisting of German and Austro-Hungarian divisions, broke through the Italian front. The Italian army, demoralized by the chemical attack, began to retreat. The Entente allies transferred additional forces to this sector, but the German-Austrian troops continued to move forward. By November 9, the Italian army was forced to withdraw across the Piave River. Ernest Hemingway described this retreat in A Farewell to Arms. The defeat at Caporetto led to the resignation of the Italian government and commander-in-chief Luigi Cadorna, the army of the kingdom lost more than 70 thousand people killed and wounded.

Peace On November 2, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sent an official letter to Lord Walter Rothschild, representative of the British Jewish community, for onward transmission to the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland. The purpose of the letter was to enlist the support of not only British, but also American representatives of the diaspora, so that they would contribute to a more active US participation in the First World War. Minister Balfour declared that the government was "considering with approval the question of establishing in Palestine a national home for the Jewish people." This document was called the Balfour Declaration and became the basis for the post-war settlement in Palestine and for the UK to obtain a mandate over the territories, and in the future for the creation of the State of Israel.

December Peace talks, Cheka and NHL

The revolution By mid-December, the left SRs entered the new government, the Council of People's Commissars, and the highest authority, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. On December 20 (7), the Council of People's Commissars created the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage (VChK). And on December 26 (13) in Pravda, Lenin's "Theses on the Constituent Assembly" appeared, which stated that the composition of the assembly (where the Right SRs had a majority) did not correspond to the will of the people.

War

Meeting of the delegation of the RSFSR at the station in Brest-Litovsk. Early 1918 Wikimedia Commons

December 3 (November 20) in Brest-Litovsk, negotiations begin between Germany and Soviet Russia on a truce. Having adopted, on the one hand, the Decree on Peace at the Second Congress of Soviets and hoping for an early revolution in the countries Central Europe- on the other hand, the Bolsheviks initiated these negotiations, but tried their best to drag them out. Three months later, on March 3, despite the desperate inner-party struggle of the Bolsheviks, peace was concluded, but even the main supporter Vladimir Lenin called it "obscene": Russia agreed to pay colossal reparations and lose the western territories with a total area of ​​​​780 thousand square kilometers with a population over 50 million people. The Entente called the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk a "political crime". However, Russia, in fact, did not have to comply with his conditions: in November 1918, Germany was defeated in the First World War. Part of the seized territories became part of the USSR following the results of civil war, part - was occupied Soviet Union at the start of World War II.

Peace On December 19, the first match in the history of the National Hockey League took place, which arose as a result of disagreements within the National Hockey Association that existed since 1909. The Toronto Arenas and Montreal Wanderers played in the NHL opening game. Two more Canadian teams participated in the first championship - the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Sena Torz, which, unlike the first two clubs, still exist. Toronto became the champion of the first season. The NHL predicted an imminent collapse: in the third year of the war, many hockey players went to the front. However, the league proved to be a successful project and soon attracted clubs not only from Canada, but also from the United States.

The October Revolution of 1917 in Russia is the armed overthrow of the Provisional Government and the coming to power of the Bolshevik Party, which proclaimed the establishment of Soviet power, the beginning of the liquidation of capitalism and the transition to socialism. The slowness and inconsistency of the actions of the Provisional Government after the February bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1917 in solving labor, agrarian, national issues, Russia's continued participation in the First World War led to a deepening of the national crisis and created the prerequisites for the strengthening of extreme left parties in the center and nationalist parties in the outskirts country. The Bolsheviks acted most vigorously, proclaiming a course for a socialist revolution in Russia, which they considered the beginning of a world revolution. They put forward popular slogans: "Peace to the peoples", "Land to the peasants", "Factories to the workers".

In the USSR, the official version of the October Revolution was the version of "two revolutions". According to this version, in February 1917, the bourgeois-democratic revolution began and ended in the coming months, and the October Revolution was the second, socialist revolution.

The second version was put forward by Leon Trotsky. Already abroad, he wrote a book on the united revolution of 1917, in which he defended the concept that the October Revolution and the decrees adopted by the Bolsheviks in the first months after coming to power were only the completion of the bourgeois democratic revolution, the realization of what the insurgent people fought for. in February.

The Bolsheviks put forward a version of the spontaneous growth of the "revolutionary situation". The very concept of a "revolutionary situation" and its main features were first scientifically defined and introduced into Russian historiography by Vladimir Lenin. He called the following three objective factors its main features: the crisis of the "tops", the crisis of the "bottoms", the extraordinary activity of the masses.

Lenin characterized the situation that developed after the formation of the Provisional Government as "dual power", and Trotsky as "dual anarchy": the socialists in the Soviets could rule, but did not want to, the "progressive bloc" in the government wanted to rule, but could not, being forced to rely on the Petrograd Council, with which he disagreed on all issues of domestic and foreign policy.

Some domestic and foreign researchers adhere to the version of the "German financing" of the October Revolution. It lies in the fact that the German government, interested in Russia's withdrawal from the war, purposefully organized the transfer from Switzerland to Russia of representatives of the radical faction of the RSDLP headed by Lenin in the so-called "sealed wagon" and financed the activities of the Bolsheviks aimed at undermining the combat capability of the Russian army and disorganization of the defense industry and transport.

To lead the armed uprising, a Politburo was created, which included Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin, Andrei Bubnov, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev (the last two denied the need for an uprising). The direct leadership of the uprising was carried out by the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, which also included Left Social Revolutionaries.

Chronicle of the events of the October Revolution

On the afternoon of October 24 (November 6), the junkers tried to open the bridges across the Neva in order to cut off the workers' districts from the center. The Military Revolutionary Committee (VRK) sent detachments of the Red Guard and soldiers to the bridges, who took almost all the bridges under guard. By evening, the soldiers of the Keksholmsky regiment occupied the Central Telegraph Office, a detachment of sailors captured the Petrograd Telegraph Agency, and the soldiers of the Izmailovsky Regiment - the Baltic Station. The revolutionary units blocked the Pavlovsk, Nikolaev, Vladimir, Konstantinovskoye cadet schools.

On the evening of October 24, Lenin arrived at Smolny and directly took charge of the armed struggle.

At 1 h 25 min. On the night of October 24-25 (November 6-7), the Red Guards of the Vyborg region, soldiers of the Keksgolmsky regiment and revolutionary sailors occupied the Main Post Office.

At 2 am, the first company of the 6th reserve engineer battalion captured the Nikolaevsky (now Moscow) station. At the same time, a detachment of the Red Guard occupied the Central Power Plant.

On October 25 (November 7), at about 6 o'clock in the morning, the sailors of the naval guards' crew took possession of the State Bank.

At 7 o'clock in the morning, the soldiers of the Keksholm regiment occupied the Central Telephone Exchange. At 8 o'clock. the Red Guards of the Moscow and Narva regions captured the Varshavsky railway station.

At 2:35 p.m. An emergency meeting of the Petrograd Soviet was opened. The Soviet heard a report that the Provisional Government had been overthrown and state power had passed into the hands of an organ of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

On the afternoon of October 25 (November 7), revolutionary forces occupied the Mariinsky Palace, where the Pre-Parliament was located, and dissolved it; the sailors occupied the Military Port and the Main Admiralty, where the Naval Headquarters was arrested.

By 6 p.m. the revolutionary detachments began to move towards the Winter Palace.

On October 25 (November 7), at 21:45, on a signal from the Peter and Paul Fortress, a cannon shot from the cruiser Aurora thundered, and the assault on the Winter Palace began.

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, occupied the Winter Palace and arrested the Provisional Government.

On October 25 (November 7), following the victory of the uprising in Petrograd, which was almost bloodless, an armed struggle began in Moscow. In Moscow, the revolutionary forces met with extremely fierce resistance, and stubborn battles were going on in the streets of the city. At the cost of great sacrifices (during the uprising, about 1,000 people were killed), on November 2 (15) Soviet power was established in Moscow.

On the evening of October 25 (November 7), 1917, the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies opened. The congress heard and adopted Lenin's appeal "To the Workers, Soldiers and Peasants", which announced the transfer of power to the Second Congress of Soviets, and in the localities - to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies.

On October 26 (November 8), 1917, the Decree on Peace and the Decree on Land were adopted. The congress formed the first Soviet government - the Council of People's Commissars, consisting of: Chairman Lenin; drug addicts: by foreign affairs Leon Trotsky, Joseph Stalin on nationality affairs, and others. Lev Kamenev was elected chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and after his resignation, Yakov Sverdlov.

The Bolsheviks established control over the main industrial centers of Russia. The leaders of the Cadets Party were arrested, the opposition press was banned. In January 1918, the Constituent Assembly was dispersed, by March of that year Soviet authority was installed on a large territory of Russia. All banks and enterprises were nationalized, a separate truce was concluded with Germany. In July 1918, the first Soviet Constitution was adopted.

The Great October Socialist Revolution took place on October 25-26, 1917 (November 7-8, New Style). This is one of the greatest events in the history of Russia, as a result of which there were cardinal changes in the position of all classes of society.

The October Revolution began as a result of a number of facts:

• in 1914-1918 Russia was involved in, the situation at the front was not the best, there was no sensible leader, the army suffered heavy losses. In industry, the growth of military products prevailed over consumer products, which led to an increase in prices and caused discontent among the masses. The soldiers and peasants wanted peace, and the bourgeoisie, who profited from the supply of military equipment, longed for the continuation of hostilities;
• national conflicts;
• heat of the class struggle. The peasants, who for centuries dreamed of getting rid of the oppression of the landowners and kulaks and taking possession of the land, were ready for decisive action;
• the fall of the authority of the Provisional Government, which was unable to solve the problems of society;
• the Bolsheviks had a strong authoritative leader V.I. Lenin, who promised the people to solve all social problems;
• the prevalence of socialist ideas in society.

The Bolshevik Party achieved tremendous influence over the masses. In October, there were already 400,000 people on their side. On October 16, 1917, the Military Revolutionary Committee was created, which began preparations for an armed uprising. During the October 25, 1917 revolution, all the key points in the city were occupied by the Bolsheviks under the leadership of V.I. Lenin. They captured the Winter Palace and arrested the Provisional Government.

On the evening of October 25, at the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, it was announced that power was transferred to the 2nd Congress of Soviets, and in the localities - to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies.

On October 26, decrees on peace and land were adopted. At the congress, a Soviet government was formed, called the Council of People's Commissars, which included Lenin (chairman), L.D. Trotsky (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs), I.V. Stalin (People's Commissar for National Affairs). The Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia was introduced, which stated that all people have equal rights to freedom and development, there is no longer a nation of masters and a nation of oppressed.

As a result of the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks won, and the dictatorship of the proletariat was established. Class society was liquidated, the landlords' land was transferred into the hands of the peasants, and industrial facilities: factories, plants, mines - into the hands of the workers.

As a result of the October Revolution, millions of people died, many emigrated to other countries. The Great October Revolution influenced the subsequent course of events in world history.