If neither Lenin nor I had been in Petersburg, there would have been no October Revolution: the leadership of the Bolshevik Party would have prevented it from taking place...

(L.D. Trotsky "Diaries and letters".)

Vladimir Ilyich ended his speech at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, delivered immediately after the seizure of power:

"In Russia we must now get down to building a proletarian socialist state. Long live the world socialist revolution!"

But two weeks ago, Lenin wrote something completely different. Then his nerves were strained like a string. At that time, he succeeded in everything: to find new slogans, to speak successfully at rallies, to convince the wavering and literally by the scruff of the neck to drag them forward to a brighter future. He was in a hurry, he was in a terrible hurry. We read Lenin's letter with a clear and precise title - "The Bolsheviks must take power." The addressees are also indicated: to the Central Committee, the Petrograd and Moscow Committees of the RSDLP (b):

“Why should the Bolsheviks seize power precisely now? Because the impending surrender of Petrograd will make our chances a hundred times worse. But Kerensky and Co. can always frustrate it by giving Peter away. Only our Party, having taken power, can ensure the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, and, having taken power, it will accuse the other parties of delaying and prove the accusation."

The nervousness of Lenin's lines is immediately evident. The main question is: "Why should we take power now?" Lenin is in a hurry, he knows that power must be taken right now. But this excessive haste must be hidden. Those around her will not understand, they no longer understand her, just as they did not understand much before. How tired he was of all this! He cannot reveal the whole truth to them, and therefore he has to invent, the devil knows what, for his own comrades!

Everything is at stake - the revolution, the country, maybe the fate of the whole world. But only he understands this. And Trotsky. Nobody else. Some believe in the word, follow their leader, but in the depths of their eyes misunderstanding is still read. Why now? Why are we in such a hurry?

On October 10 (23) at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Party, Ilyich felt this "indifference to the question of an uprising." And Lenin's nerves are not made of iron, they are failing. And then his anxiety and anxiety, bordering on despair, spill out onto the paper, like invisible ink.

"Letter to members of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b)".

“Comrades! I am writing these lines on the evening of the 24th, the situation is utterly critical. It is clearer than it is clear that now, truly, delay in the uprising is like death. which are decided not by conferences, not by congresses (even if only by congresses of Soviets), but exclusively by the peoples, by the masses, by the struggle of the armed masses... You can't wait!! risking losing a lot tomorrow, risking losing everything. The seizure of power is a matter of insurrection; its political goal will become clear after the seizure. It would be a death or a formality to wait for an oscillating vote on October 25, the people have the right and duty to decide such questions not by voting, but by force ... The government hesitates We must finish him off at all costs! Delay in speaking out is like death."

If earlier Ilyich was cunning, inventing various fables, now he simply speaks openly, does not speak, shouts: we must take power! Everything hangs by a thread! You can lose everything! And further he urges his comrades not to ask unnecessary questions, not to be tormented by doubts, not to waste precious time on meetings and conferences. Lenin writes already quite frankly: the "political goal" of the seizure of power "will become clear after the seizure." First, we will come to power, and then our goal will become clear. You Comrade Zinoviev, our goal is not yet clear? So it's nothing, my friend. Let's first take power, and then I'll tell you why we did it.

Let us leave Vladimir Ilyich alone with his doubts and anxieties and ask ourselves just one question. The answer is very, very interesting. The answer to it is terrible, because it reveals to us that secret veil from which the revolutionary attack attacked our country. Where is Vladimir Ilyich in such a hurry?

Let's think. If some political force begins to desperately rush to fulfill its political plans, this means that another force may interfere with their implementation. Lenin is in a hurry to take power, therefore, there must be a threat of disruption of Lenin's plan. Who can prevent him from becoming the head of Russia in October 1917? We list all hypothetical opponents:

- "bourgeois" Provisional Government;

military coup;

Monarchist conspiracy;

German offensive and their occupation of Russia;

Allied intervention.

Let's take a look at the reality of all these threats.

1. Power in the person of the Provisional Government quickly degraded, it simply fell apart right before our eyes. At the head of Russia was Kerensky, who helped the Bolsheviks with all his might. More and more socialists and extremists of all stripes appeared in the government. Lenin knew and saw this very well. One could simply wait until the government, managed so clumsily, itself, like a ripe fruit, would fall at the feet of the Bolsheviks. After all, the government either does nothing, or helps and plays along with its destroyers until the very last minute.

2. Almost the only, real threat to Lenin - a military coup is no longer possible, thanks to the efforts of the same Kerensky. General Kornilov, with the help of the head of the Provisional Government, is disgraced and arrested. Kornilov's closest associates were either arrested or shot dead. The army has been purged. All unreliable generals are fired or sent to hell in the literal sense of the word. The possibility of a military coup is completely ruled out. No leaders, no organization. Yes and no desire.

(It's funny, but after October, the Bolsheviks will generally dump Kerensky together with Lavr Georgievich Kornilov in one heap. And they will write in their appeals: "Soldiers, actively resist Kornilov's Kerensky!" This all sounds no less funny than "Trotskyist Stalin" But, who will take it apart!?)

3. There was no trace of monarchical conspiracies in 1917. Not a single most meticulous historian has found the slightest hint of such a possibility. We will mark it too.

4. The Germans also cannot be a threat to the Bolshevik takeover. After all, it was they who brought Lenin here, and all his actions weaken Russia. So, they only play into the hands of the Germans. And the German officers, who arrived in a sealed train, helped organize the coup. The "upcoming surrender of Peter" to the Germans, about which Ilyich himself writes in his letters to his comrades, should not embarrass us. Neither Kerensky nor Kornilov had such plans, nor anyone at all. The surrender of the city was simply far-fetched, it existed only in Lenin's imagination and served as an excuse for his incomprehensible haste. And the Germans were not going to capture the Russian capital at all. Lenin knew this very well - he just invented this good reason to hurry unlucky comrades-in-arms, and after him it went for a walk from book to book! Formerly he frightened the proletariat and revolutionary democracy with Kornilov, now he began to frighten them with the German bayonet. This is all the more convenient, since no one, but Lenin with German plans sign. The July action of the Bolsheviks surprisingly coincided in time with our offensive at the front and the subsequent counterattack of the Germans. The Bolsheviks, by their actions, weakened the country and the army, and it would be very strange to interfere with them on the part of the Germans.

5. Our valiant "allies" were also not going to interfere with Lenin, for the same reason as the Germans. His activities were also beneficial to them. And there were neither free divisions nor plans for this. This threat did not exist in reality. If only because Lenin himself never mentions it.

An interesting picture emerges: the Leninists have no real opponents within the country - the power has been decomposed and is decomposing further. With the outside world, everything is great: they have complete love with the Germans, the "allies" do not interfere in anything. There is no threat, the Bolsheviks are getting stronger every week. Slowly but surely, the Bolsheviks are advancing towards power, and the further they go, the fewer obstacles remain in front of them on this path. It seems to be patient and wait, but the brilliant Lenin is in a hurry and hurry. But Lenin hurries and hurries: "Procrastination in an uprising is like death"! But why?

The answer must be sought from the leader of the world proletariat himself.

“If we coped so easily with the gangs of Kerensky, if we created power so easily, if we received the decree on the socialization of the land, workers’ control without the slightest difficulty, it was only because specially formed conditions shielded us from international imperialism for a short moment.”

Vladimir Ilyich himself will write this a little later. Everything turned out like in a fairy tale - "specially developed conditions" helped Lenin to take power. International "allied" imperialism calmly looked at all this, "adding up" these " special conditions"so fortunate for the Bolsheviks. But he asked for something in return ...

Just like that, nothing happens in this world. In order to be able to seize power, in order to gain money and the loyalty of the Provisional Government, Lenin had to take on certain obligations. Here are some worth mentioning.

With the "German" obligations, the clarity is complete: Lenin promised them to withdraw Russia from the war. They talk a lot about this, all modern publications are full of the "debts" of the Bolsheviks to the Germans, completely forgetting about the obligations to the "allies". You can no longer doubt that they were, analyzing the behavior of Paris, London and Washington in the flaring Russian civil strife. We must again plunge into the sinister plan for the collapse of Russia, concocted by our "allies" in the Entente. Part of their scenario, as we have seen, was brilliantly implemented by Mr. Kerensky. The final stage has begun. To implement this part, Vladimir Ilyich was prepared. They wanted to use him, and he, in turn, was preparing to take advantage of a unique moment and make a revolution, absolutely impossible in any other situation.

Before the "allies" Lenin took only one obligation: TO INTERRUPT THE LEGITIMACY OF THE RUSSIAN AUTHORITY!

This is a very interesting and completely unexplored question. This is the key to understanding Lenin's haste. This is the answer to many questions that historians cannot find in any way. As of October 1917, the only legitimate power in Russia was the Provisional Government. His only task was to convene the Constituent Assembly, which, after the abdication of Nicholas and then Michael, was to decide the further structure of the country. The provisional government was just a guiding force, designed to bring the country to the elections. Instead, it brought the country to its knees, but that's not what we're talking about now.

In order to finally destroy Russia, the "allies" were preparing a small legal incident for her - the absence of legitimate power in general! After all, no matter what the Provisional Government is bad, only Lenin openly opposed it! Kornilov lost because he did not intend to overthrow the "temporaries", but only wanted to clear the government of spies and traitors. All other revolutionaries and separatists of various stripes in the vast Russian republic-empire have so far stuttered only about autonomy, but about national military formations. Because openly calling for the overthrow of the legitimate government is difficult both morally and legally. By doing this, you automatically become a rebel and a criminal. It is quite another matter if there is no power. No, of course there is, but it is illegal, and therefore it is not necessary to obey it!

This is the situation that was prepared for our country. After the overthrow of the Kerensky government by the Bolsheviks, the Constituent Assembly remained the only legitimate body of power. The Bolsheviks had to sit "on the throne" until its convocation and safely disperse the people's choices. After they liquidated the Constituent Assembly, a complete legal vacuum ensued - there was no legal power left in the country. Just imagine: boundless, huge Russia and there is no power! The tsar abdicated, his brother abdicated, Kerensky abdicated. The provisional government has been dispersed and is in prison, the deputies of the Constituent Assembly have also been disbanded. From Vladivostok to Helsinki, from Murmansk to Central Asia there is no respected recognized power structure. But it is impossible to live without power, without the state, there can be no vacuum in public life. Therefore, in all these vast expanses, the process of formation of new power structures will begin. Spontaneously and everywhere at the same time. What does this mean? The inevitable clash of these new structures, confrontation and struggle. It means chaos, anarchy, civil war. It is death, hunger and deprivation. All together - this is the end of the country. Here it is, the logical conclusion of the "allies" plan - the death of Russia.

In order to violate the legitimacy of power, the coup had to be carried out not "when possible", but clearly tying it in time. Lenin was in a hurry to take power by the time of voting in the Constituent Assembly. On the other hand, he simply needed to be in time for the opening of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets.

Lenin had to take power before the ballots were dropped into the ballot boxes, and for one more reason: he had no other pretext left to seize it! The whole country was waiting for the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. The only motivation that the masses could understand at that moment was that the authorities are needed to hold elections and ensure the future convocation of this main state body. It is “for”, not “against”! Lenin's genius as a politician lay in the fact that in order to disperse the Constituent Assembly, he took power under the slogan of his support! That is why, in his letters to his colleagues, Lenin calls for taking power, ostensibly to ensure this convocation. In fact, Ilyich calls on the Bolsheviks to take the place of the Provisional Government, which is called upon to carry out the electoral process. But in fact, Lenin did not need elections, but a revolution.

To finally dispel our doubts, check the dates:

Here Lenin managed to get ahead of the elections, having almost two weeks of free time. But with the second term, for the opening of the Second Congress of Soviets, he was almost late. Remember, the First Congress of Soviets in June, at which Ulyanov and Kerensky spoke amicably, one after another. Before closing, he set October 25 (November 7) as the opening date for the next convention.

An "amazing" coincidence - it was on this day that the Bolshevik revolution took place! However, there are no “miracles” in history just like that! The history of our revolutions is no exception. Lenin had to take power not in general, but by a very specific date. Quickly, clearly, without wasting time on explanations and persuasion. Otherwise, the whole meaning of his actions for the "union" plan was lost. Therefore, "delay is like death"! Take power a week later, and "allied" friends will say that you have not fulfilled your obligations. If you make it by the deadline, then everything will go like clockwork. Firstly, both the Germans and the “allies” will help you, or at least not interfere. Secondly, almost no one will resist inside the country (at least for the first time). In other words, there will be time to look around and strengthen. "Special conditions" must be used to the fullest! Lenin needs this revolution not in order to grab gold to run away abroad, not just to ruin Russian empire, but in order to fulfill their pipe dream - to build a new socialist state.

It is impossible to take power after the elections. Better earlier, ahead of time. A coup d'état is a complicated thing - no matter how late. At first, in July, they were not ready yet. Then, at the end of August, the Kornilov uprising got in the way. Finally, in October, we prepared more thoroughly, but we had to be sure of success for sure. The stake is too high. If the performance fails, then both the "allies" and the Germans may turn away from the Bolsheviks. They will look for other executors of their plans. Then miracles may end, Lenin’s “brilliant” foresight will disappear ...

No, you can't risk it. They arranged a rehearsal - in Tashkent. So everything almost failed there because of the resistance of one Cossack regiment. He resisted so vigorously that the comrades of Vladimir Ilyich again panicked. Then he again told them that everything would be fine, they would win. And again he turned out to be right: a telegram from Kerensky came to the Cossacks demanding to make peace. During the war with Germany, it is unacceptable to shed brotherly blood, and so on. Having obeyed Kerensky, the Cossacks left Tashkent and went to the fortress, and the Bolsheviks surrounded it with heavy artillery during the night, and in the morning they began shelling. There was nothing to do - the Cossacks went out without horses, surrendered. They were caught and brutally killed, the officers' eyes were gouged out ...

And the Bolsheviks drew conclusions for themselves for the future. In Petrograd, an agreement will be reached with the Cossacks, and they will remain neutral, so the seizure of power will take place practically without excesses.

However, preparation, thorough preparation, took time. And Lenin had little of it. It flowed away, like grains of sand leaving one after another through the opening of an hourglass. Lenin was in a hurry, but did not have time, and then he was helped again ... Kerensky. Now this is rarely mentioned, but initially the vote for the Constituent Assembly was scheduled for September 17 (30), 1917. This date was only announced in mid-June. However, in August, the deadlines were shifted. "Considering the aggravation of the situation in the country," the Provisional Government postponed the election of the Constituent Assembly to 12 (25) November. The dates of its convocation also changed accordingly: from September 30 (October 13) to November 28 (December 11), 1917. Then the date of the convocation will be postponed again: to January 5 (18), 1918. This was the gain in time, having received which Lenin managed to make a revolution ...

A case in point The true reasons for Lenin's haste with an armed insurrection is the well-known story of the "betrayal" of Kamenev and Zinoviev, their "delivery" of the plans of the party to its opponents. Ilyich had everything ready for the seizure of power. Everything ... except the Bolshevik Party itself. More precisely - its thinking part. The worm of doubt gnawed at all who could think for themselves. Why organize an uprising on the eve of the elections?

And the fact that there will be an uprising, every street boy knows. As a matter of fact, none of the Bolsheviks made a secret out of this. Even Vladimir Ilyich himself. At the end of September, Lenin wrote the work "Will the Bolsheviks Retain State Power?". Even from the name it is clear that the issue of taking power has already been resolved, and we are talking about the success or failure of this event. The final decision was made on October 10 (23) at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Party. Everyone voted "for" except Kamenev and Zinoviev. After this decision, the Military Revolutionary Committee was formed, which calmly took power two weeks later and planted the ministers of the Provisional Government in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Trotsky said best of all about the level of secrets kept by the Bolsheviks, speaking at the second anniversary October revolution in 1919: "Memory tries in vain to find in history another uprising that was publicly scheduled in advance for a certain date and would be carried out in due time - and, moreover, victoriously." In general, in the memoirs of Lev Davydovich "My Life" mention of the "terrible secret" can be found many times: "The uprising was talked about everywhere and everywhere: on the streets, in the dining room, when meeting on the stairs of Smolny."

So, everyone is waiting for the armed action of the Bolsheviks, everyone knows about it. At this very time on October 18 (31) in the newspaper " New life"an interview was published with Kamenev, in which he spoke about his (together with Zinoviev) disagreement with the decision of the Central Committee of the party on an armed uprising. "The chances of our party in the elections to the Constituent Assembly are excellent - wrote Kamenev - Talk that the influence of Bolshevism is starting to fall and the like, we consider absolutely unfounded. In the mouths of our political opponents, these assertions are simply a device of a political game calculated precisely to provoke the action of the Bolsheviks under conditions favorable to our enemies.

On the same day, speaking in the Petrograd Soviet, Trotsky said: "We are told that we are preparing to seize power. We do not make secrets on this issue ...".

Lenin's reaction to talk of an uprising by his closest associates is surprising and inexplicable. He does not notice Trotsky's direct statements from the rostrum of the Petrosoviet, but he attacks Kamenev and Zinoviev with fury! October 20 (November 2) Lenin writes a letter to the Central Committee about the "treacherous behavior" of his comrades-in-arms. The Central Committee condemns Kamenev and Zinoviev and henceforth forbids them to make statements against the decisions taken by the Party. And Vladimir Ilyich himself answers Zinoviev and Kamenev with the same printed word! "Letter to Comrades", a voluminous work on 20 pages, is published within three (!) Days, in three issues of the newspaper "Working Way": "I say frankly - writes the proletarian leader - that I no longer consider them both comrades, and all I will fight with all my strength to expel both of them from the party."

There are many unflattering epithets: "Unheard-of hesitations that can have a detrimental effect on the party ... This couple of comrades who have lost their principles." This often happens with Lenin - in the heat of controversy, he does not particularly select words and swears terribly at those who betrayed the plans of the Bolsheviks. And then gives a rebuttal? No.

Lenin, having withdrawn his soul in the printed battle, himself gives an open and complete justification for the need for an immediate armed uprising, the “secret” of which was “betrayed” by his comrades-in-arms!

And after October, (that is, in just a week!) One of those who "lost their principles" - Kamenev, will head the All-Union Executive Committee, designed to control the activities of the Soviet government of the Council of People's Commissars, which is headed by Lenin himself. A little more time will pass, and Kamenev will be chairman of the Moscow Soviet of Deputies. At the same time, Zinoviev would become chairman of the Petrograd Soviet and chairman of the Executive Committee of the Comintern.

Only one week has passed, and there is no trace of the "terrible" contradictions and of the "nightmarish betrayal." The leaders of the Bolsheviks are together again. Why is the fanatically stubborn Lenin so inconsistent in the fight against traitors and renegades? Why did he so quickly forgive the "traitors," "scabs," "vile," "swindlers," "liars," "insolent," "criminals" "who betrayed to Rodzianka and Kerensky the decision of their party on an armed uprising"? Why, five years later, on December 24, 1922, Lenin in his "Letter to the Congress", in fact in his political testament, writes: "The October episode of Zinoviev and Kamenev, of course, was not an accident, but that it can also hardly be blamed on them personally, like Trotsky's non-Bolshevism"?

Because Lenin knows perfectly well that the behavior of Kamenev and Zinoviev, harmful to the uprising, is not caused by their meanness and betrayal, but by the desire to make the revolution in the best possible way. Kamenev and Zinoviev must come to power in the simplest and most bloodless way. And Lenin must not only take power, but be sure to interrupt its legitimacy!

He has clear deadlines and specific obligations to the “allies”. How can he explain to his unduly principled comrades that the "special conditions" for the revolution are operating only now! That Kerensky would behave so strangely and play giveaways only as long as he had such instructions. The position of its owners will change and the Bolsheviks can be slammed in one moment. It's impossible to explain. Therefore, Zinoviev, who, together with Ilyich, spent time in a hut in Razliv, does not understand the underlying causes of Lenin's behavior, does not understand Kamenev. And not realizing the true motives for the actions of their leader, they sincerely believe that Lenin is making a mistake.

That is why Kamenev and Zinoviev are trying to warn Lenin against a fatal error, they write in the newspaper that "with the present alignment of forces and a few days before the Congress of Soviets, seizing power would be disastrous for the proletariat." They do not understand that just such a variant of taking power is the only possible one. But this does not diminish their devotion to the cause of the party.

There was no betrayal, which is why Lenin puts both "traitors" to the most responsible posts already a week after their "betrayal". And he worries so much because he cannot afford to show his weakness and the weakness of the party he leads to external forces. How will you, Mr. Lenin, make a revolution and fulfill your obligations if you cannot sort things out within the Central Committee of your own party? This is the question that the “allied” emissaries will ask Lenin, the same glory will be repeated by those who arrived in a sealed wagon to help organize the coup German officers. That is why Vladimir Ilyich attacked Zinoviev and Kamenev.

And also because Lenin's nerves were strained to the limit. After all, the final, most important days for Lenin are coming. The coup will not work in October, it may never happen again. One must understand that terrible tension of HIS October days. Convince vacillating comrades-in-arms, prepare a coup, create a Military Revolutionary Committee. And when everything seemed to be done, a discussion began in the press, opened by the restless Kamenev and Zinoviev!

Moreover, the date of the performance changed several times. The coup was first scheduled for October 20, while Petrograd was filled with rumors and conjectures. Many citizens left the city that day. The rest do not dare to leave the house, the streets are semi-desert. But there was no action by the Bolsheviks, something did not fully grow together, and the last trickle threatened to pour out of the hourglass of history.

Then they said on the streets that the coup was scheduled for the 21st. But then Minister of War Verkhovsky unexpectedly makes a report at a meeting of the Provisional Government, in which he directly says that the army can no longer fight, it is necessary to save the state, for which a separate peace with Germany is necessary. For Lenin, this is a catastrophe: make peace with the government, or at least announce a desire to start negotiations, his main trump card will be pulled out of the hands of Ilyich. This cannot be allowed. Therefore, Kerensky is again playing "giveaway": Verkhovsky, under his pressure, resigns. There will be no negotiations. However, even the mere circulation of rumors about this is highly undesirable. When the newspaper Common Cause, having learned about the proposal of the Minister of War, branded him a traitor and a traitor, it was, to the surprise of the publishers ... closed by the Provisional Government on the same day!

And persistent rumors continue to creep around Petrograd - the Bolshevik coup will take place on Sunday, October 22 (November 4). But the 22nd is the day of the Kazan Mother of God, and the Cossack regiments appointed this day a prayer for the salvation of the Motherland and a mass religious procession through the city. It is impossible to collide with the Cossacks, we have to postpone the date of the uprising again. So from day to day it moved away until the Great October occurred on October 25 (November 7).

Only the iron will of Ilyich was able to unite the Bolshevik party and make it pass the path of a victorious uprising to the end. At the very last moment, Lenin managed to accomplish what the "allies" expected from him. And he entered in triumph into the meeting room of the Second Congress of Soviets. When it opened on the evening of October 25, the Bolsheviks had already overthrown the Provisional Government several hours earlier. Thus, the Congress of Soviets was confronted with a fait accompli. And he made a number of decisions. Extremely necessary for Vladimir Ilyich to retain power and to mask his true intentions.

"Resolution on the Formation of a Workers' and Peasants' Government.

The All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies resolves: to form for the administration of the country, until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, a provisional workers' and peasants' government, which will be called the Soviet People's Commissars... Chairman of the Council - Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) ... ".

Resolution adopted. The power has changed, but it demonstrated its “temporality” in every possible way, like the previous one. The people patiently waited for the Constituent Assembly, the vote, and simply did not want to get into any political nuances of successive governments.

Another ardent fighter for the happiness of the people, Comrade Trotsky, received the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Leninist Provisional Government. Now he could quite officially communicate with his "allied" curators. And they could be satisfied - the process of the collapse of Russia was now acquiring a new unprecedented speed.

To all provincial and district Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. All power now belongs to the Soviets. The commissars of the Provisional Government are removed. The chairmen of the Soviets communicate directly with the revolutionary government. By the decision of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, all arrested members of the land committees are released. The commissars who arrested them are subject to arrest."

"Resolution of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, October 26, 1917.

"The All-Russian Congress of Soviets decided: The death penalty restored by Kerensky at the front is abolished. Complete freedom of agitation is restored at the front. All soldiers, revolutionary officers who are under arrest under the so-called " political crimes"are released immediately".

What was the strength of the Russian soldier, who continued to defend Russia despite neither Order No. 1, nor the "Declaration of the Soldier's Rights", that again it was necessary to return to this issue! The little that Kornilov managed to do was completely destroyed. Kerensky suspended the death penalty, now Lenin has abolished it altogether. Again at the front, instead of defending the Motherland - "complete freedom of agitation"!

The correct tactics chosen by Ilyich led to the fact that the coup was almost bloodless. Why the Bolsheviks are better than they are worse than the "temporaries" - so far it was not clear. On the other hand, they shouted at every corner that "it was the goal of the October Revolution to ensure the convocation of the Constituent Assembly; up to now, it was the Cadets who prevented its convocation." One revolutionary government has been replaced by another, the goals have not changed - the Constituent Assembly will be convened. Why and in the name of what to fight the Bolsheviks?

Eloquent evidence of the mood that prevailed among the military is the report of the newspaper "Worker and Soldier" dated October 26 (November 8):

"Yesterday, at a meeting of the regimental committees of the 1st, 4th and 14th Don Cossack regiments, a message was made about the situation that had arisen in connection with the fall of the power of the Provisional Government, and about the need in the interests of the state to calmly expect the creation of a new state power. In response to this, the chairman, on behalf of of the assembled, declared that: 1) they would not follow the orders of the government, 2) in no case should they oppose the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Petrograd Soviet, and 3) they were ready to protect state property and personal security, as they had under the previous government.

Wait and do nothing. These are the very Cossack women who decided so, on whom Krasnov hoped so much, approaching Petrograd with his "army" of 900 people. At that most important turning point in Russian history. This is where all the enemies and ill-wishers of Russia should stand up and loudly applaud Kerensky. This is his handiwork. It was he who helped the Bolsheviks to agree on the neutrality of the Cossacks by his betrayal in Tashkent, and by all his violent activities. The Cossacks in Petrograd itself kept neutrality. During the short time of his reign, Kerensky was so fed up with the citizens of his country that no one rose to his defense. In vain did the Provisional Government send desperate telegrams on the day of the revolution asking for help. The people and the army responded with complete indifference.

The terrible apathy and indifference that struck the entire population of the country, plus the tactics deftly invented by Ilyich, helped the Bolsheviks to hold out the most difficult first days and weeks. Nobody believed in the success of the Bolsheviks - in this they were very lucky. One of the Bolshevik leaders, Anatoly Lunacharsky, two days after the coup, on October 27 (November 9), wrote to his wife:

"Dear Anyuta, Of course, you know all the details of the coup from the newspapers. For me, it was unexpected. Of course, I knew that the struggle for power of the Soviets would take place, but that power would be taken on the eve of the congress - this, I think, no one did not know. Maybe even the Military Revolutionary Committee decided to go on the offensive suddenly, out of fear that, taking a purely defensive position, one could perish and ruin the whole cause. The coup was also a surprise from the ease with which it was carried out. Even enemies say: "Dashing!" ... ".

In the same Bunin, in Cursed Days, we read: “Lunacharsky, after the coup, ran around with his eyes wide open for two weeks: no, just think, because we only wanted to make a demonstration and suddenly such an unexpected success!”.

Nobody was going to interfere with the Bolsheviks, everyone was waiting for them to collapse on their own. Open the memoirs of that time - everyone unanimously gave the Bolshevik government a maximum of two weeks of life. After that, it should have collapsed on its own. To us, who know that communism has stood in Russia for almost seventy-five years, such ideas seem naive and ridiculous. One of the leaders white movement Anton Ivanovich Denikin fully agrees with this assessment: "These "two weeks" are the fruit of intelligent romanticism ...". But his "Essays on Russian Troubles" were written in exile in Belgium and Hungary in 1922, that is, much later. In October 1917, "two weeks" of the existence of the new regime seemed a very real time. Many thought so, most. For them, these "two weeks" were an excellent alternative to the fight against the usurpers of power, a good anesthesia for their own conscience. You just have to wait and the Bolsheviks themselves crumble to dust. You and I know that we did not crumble, and this is Lenin's main merit as a leader and politician.

What better than newspapers conveys the feeling of each particular moment of history? We read the periodicals of those days, Izvestia SRSD, immediately after the coup wrote: "A crazy adventure; this is not a transfer of power to the Soviets, but the seizure of it by the Bolsheviks; they will not be able to organize state power." Novaya Zhizn is no less categorical in its assessments: “The Bolshevik government cannot govern Russia; it bakes “decrees” like pancakes, but they all remain on paper, their decrees are more like newspaper editorials; the Bolshevik leaders revealed amazing ignorance in public administration". She is echoed by Rabochaya Gazeta: "Forcing the Bolsheviks to capitulate peacefully, isolating them and thereby gaining a bloodless victory over them." flight from the Bolshevik state ship. What kind of general flight will begin in two weeks? ... The dictatorship of Lenin and Trotsky must be defeated not with weapons, but by boycotting them, turning away from them.

The leitmotif is the same - you have to wait, be patient and everything will work out. It seems a harmless position, but it was she who helped the situation develop according to the most catastrophic scenario. The general mood of the country is that we will wait for the new government, that is, the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. Here it will gather and immediately solve everything. Karl Mannerheim writes about this strange expectation in his memoirs: "... After spending a week in Helsinki, I returned to Petrograd. There was not even a hint of resistance. On the contrary, I noticed that Soviet power was becoming stronger and stronger ...".

Someone waited passively, someone did nothing "strongly protesting." And the Bolsheviks quickly shot at the people with their freshly baked decrees: on peace, on land, on workers' control. They worked out their obligations: peace - for Germany, for the "allies" who longed for the collapse of Russia - the urgently published "Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia" with a fixed opportunity for everyone to free self-determination up to secession. Then more decrees rained down on the abolition of all courts, laws and advocacy; nationalization of banks; introduction of universal labor service. For refusing to telegraphically confirm his submission to the new government, the new Foreign Minister Trotsky ordered the dismissal of all Russian ambassadors in the main countries, without pensions and without the right to continue public service. Dzerzhinsky arrested officials of other departments who refused to go to work without a warrant or delay (we are not bureaucrats!). An avalanche of all these hitherto unseen innovations simply overwhelmed the country. The main thing was to gain time and strengthen, strengthen, strengthen. Prepare for the Constituent Assembly. More precisely - to its dispersal. Which will serve to incite fratricidal slaughter in Russia, this final chord of the destruction of the Russian Empire.

Those were still patriarchal times. Russian people have not yet learned to shed Russian blood. Therefore, immediately after the seizure of power, the Bolshevik Military Revolutionary Committee decided: "Immediately release the 130 women of the women's shock battalion, who were arrested in the premises of the Grenadier Regiment." The Junkers captured in Zimny ​​were also, for the most part, simply released. But the peaceful Bolshevik coup did not suit the Anglo-French in any way. The "Allies" needed a destructive war in Russia, one that would leave no stone unturned from our state. According to their plan, for the final collapse of the country, adventurers and rogues, that is, the Bolsheviks, were to come to power. The more insane the ideas of the new government, the better: the disintegration of the country will go even faster! The pretext for separation from Russia is wonderful - madmen have come to power in the capital, and by saving our native Azerbaijan (Ukraine, Crimea, etc.), we are creating our own state. This is on the one hand, and on the other hand, the new government itself declared publicly the possibility of the outskirts to secede from Russia.

Thus, the century-long connection between Moscow and St. Petersburg and the outskirts of the empire was torn. The result of this was terrible. In the very first weeks of Bolshevik power, Finland and Ukraine declared their sovereignty, Estonia, Crimea, Bessarabia, Transcaucasia declared autonomy. Even the primordially Russian Cossack regions and Siberia formed not only their own governments, but, in fact, their own mini-states. Literally in a matter of days, thousand-year-old Russia ceased to exist

Lenin didn't care at all. The main thing for him was to strengthen himself, gaining time. Everything that is lost now can be regained later. But in order to survive, it is necessary to fulfill the obligations assumed to the "allies" and the Germans. The entire first period of the formation of Soviet power is a brilliant process of Lenin's maneuvering between these two forces.

In preparation for the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, the Bolsheviks, "as promised," led the process of preparing the elections. Under the Provisional Government, the process was controlled by a special commission. The Bolsheviks, without hesitation, put Solomon Uritsky, the future head of the St. Petersburg Cheka, at the head of it. When the members of the commission protested and refused to work, they were all simply arrested and replaced by the "Commissariat for the Constituent Assembly."

Then Solomon Uritsky was appointed commandant of the Tauride Palace and managed to clearly and quickly organize the dispersal of the assembled parliament. Indeed, for those who knew Lenin, who at least once read his works, it was clear that the future of Russian parliamentarism is very sad: “To decide once every few years which member of the ruling class will suppress, crush the people in parliament - this is what the real essence of bourgeois parliamentarism, not only in parliamentary-constitutional monarchies, but also in the most democratic republics.

Said it suddenly and bluntly. Or again: "Democracy is formal parliamentarianism, but in reality it is a continuous cruel mockery, soulless, unbearable oppression of the bourgeoisie over the working people."

Well, Ilyich did not like parliaments! But, elections still had to be held. It was impossible not to do this, because all the people were waiting for this. In addition, the voting period, which took place on more than one day and the counting of votes, gave the Bolsheviks a gain in time, increasing the period during which no one touched them. The real struggle was to begin after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.

Let us note in passing that the Bolsheviks already had experience in dispersing deputies. Little known is the fact that on the eve of October they dispersed the Pre-Parliament, whose name speaks for itself. Deputies of various parties practiced eloquence at this forum, deciding nothing in fact, until on October 25 (November 7) the Mariinsky Palace in Petrograd was surrounded by soldiers. After that, the unlucky parliamentarians hurried to go home.

And then, finally, the day came, which they had been waiting for a long time: on January 5 (18), 1918, the Bolshevik Ya.M. Sverdlov opened the meeting of the Constituent Assembly. Then the presidential elections began. The majority of 244 votes was cast for ... Socialist-Revolutionary Viktor Mikhailovich Chernov. The same Minister of the Provisional Government, under which colleagues tried not to discuss any military issues. Because they were absolutely sure of his cooperation with German intelligence. This worthy man, the head of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, the majority of the deputies wanted to see at the head of the Constituent Assembly. There were no more worthy figures in the bins of Russian democracy ...

The dispersal of the parliament looked like savagery in the eyes of the Russian public. Therefore, at least a little bit of a clear explanation of this had to be given. Ilyich tried to do this in his "Theses on the Constituent Assembly". It turned out, frankly, unconvincingly: "... the elections to the US took place at a time when the vast majority of the people could not yet know the full scope and significance of the October ... revolution." In the Draft Decree on the Dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, his demagogy deepens and expands: "The people could not then, voting for the candidates of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, make a choice between the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, supporters of the bourgeoisie, and the Left, supporters of socialism."

Needless to say - a good reason! As if from the division of the Socialist-Revolutionaries in the direction of movement, the Bolsheviks themselves will have more votes! For the workers and revolutionary sailors, Lenin will present the matter as follows: the voters are entangled in factions and parties, in various types of Socialist-Revolutionaries and Social Democrats - it is necessary to disperse the entire parliament! The same nonsense was written in Soviet history textbooks.

"In fact, the parties of the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks are waging ... a desperate struggle against Soviet power," Lenin writes further. But Vladimir Ilyich is being cunning - the reasons for the dispersal of the only legitimate body of Russian power are completely different.

The fate of the Constituent Assembly was decided long before its convocation and the beginning of the process before the elections to it. The decision to dissolve it, or rather, disperse it, was taken by our "allies" simultaneously with the decision to convene this government body and was part of the plan to crush Russia. It fell to Lenin to carry out this unpleasant work. On the eve of the opening, on the morning of January 5 (18), 1918, the Bolsheviks shot down a peaceful demonstration under the slogan "All power to the Constituent Assembly." Then they liquidated the center of parliamentarism itself, quietly bringing the deputies out into the street. If you believe the history books and memoirs, it turns out that one German spy, Lenin, for some reason dispersed a bunch of people who considered another German spy, Chernov, to be the most worthy deputy. Strange, however, shots in the German intelligence services. The left hand doesn't know what the even more left hand is doing...

But eyewitnesses in their memoirs perfectly described the state of the proletarian leader. Bonch-Bruevich points out to us that at the moment of the opening of the Constituent Assembly, Lenin "was agitated and was deathly pale as never before ... and began to look around the whole hall with flaming eyes that had become huge." Then Vladimir Ilyich pulled himself together, calmed down a little and "simply reclined on the steps, now looking bored, now laughing merrily." However, when the real moment of the dispersal of the parliament came, at night, Lenin had a severe hysterical attack. "... We almost lost him," Bukharin writes in his memoirs.

The moment came for the fulfillment of the last part of Lenin's agreement with the "allies" - the dispersal of the last legitimate Russian government. Vladimir Ilyich knows: if you fulfill your obligations, the Western secret services will continue to deal with you. If you don’t do what you have to, they will instantly add up “special circumstances”, so that there will be no wet place left from the Bolsheviks and their revolution. That's why Ilyich is going through that, that's why he has a nervous attack right now, and not at all on the day of the October revolution. Right now, on the night of the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, the fate of the revolution is being decided! Only Lenin understands the importance of the moment. For everyone else, everything that happens is just the elimination of a bunch of talkers.

Alexander Fedorovich Kerensky, who rendered invaluable services to his countryman Ulyanov, assessed the causes of Lenin's haste in a peculiar way: "It was extremely important to wrest power from the hands of the Provisional Government before the Austro-German-Turkish-Bulgarian coalition disintegrated, in other words, before the Provisional Government received an opportunity to conclude an honorable peace with the allies."

Kerensky cannot tell the truth, but he wants to write memoirs, so he gives Freudian slips mixed with obvious nonsense. Read his statement again. What does Alexander Fedorovich say? The power of the German spy Lenin must be seized before Germany, Turkey, Austria and Bulgaria lose the war. This is understandable and obvious: after the defeat in the war to the Germans, the seizure of power in Russia by their agents is like a dead poultice. This is clear to any sane person. But it is worth taking a closer look at the second part of Kerensky's dictum: "It was extremely important to wrest power from the hands of the Provisional Government ... before the Provisional Government would be able to conclude an honorable peace with the Allies."

Unnoticed by himself, Alexander Fedorovich blurts out and speaks the pure truth! Only not about the goal of Lenin, but ... Kerensky himself! And "allies"!

Don't win first world war as long as the legitimate Provisional Government is in power in Russia! This is the task of the “allied” generals and politicians. Hence the "amazing" offensives with huge losses and silence on Western front during the second half of 1917.

Give the extremist Lenin the opportunity to "wrest" power from the Provisional Government before the end of the world war! This is the task of Kerensky and his assistants. Hence the love of Alexander Fedorovich for the game "giveaway".

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin has his own task:

First, have time to "overthrow" Kerensky before the elections and the Congress of Soviets;

Then hold out until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly;

Then safely disperse it.

Only after that, after fulfilling all the obligations assumed, could Lenin start a new game...

715 deputies were elected to the Constituent Assembly. Among them were about 370 Socialist-Revolutionaries, 175 Bolsheviks, 40 Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, 16 Mensheviks, 17 Cadets, 86 representatives national parties and organizations. These figures are known, but one must understand that Lenin would have dispersed the "Constituent Assembly" with any outcome of the vote, even if he had an overwhelming majority of deputies - Bolsheviks! He had such a task, and only after its fulfillment could Lenin and the company safely disappear from the arena of world history. So it was planned by our "allies". Lenin interrupts the legitimacy of power. In response to this, not only the outskirts, but also primordially Russian regions fall away from Russia. A civil war begins - the struggle of all against all. Of course, as a result, some government will take power into its own hands, but the country will already be completely different - immensely weakened and curtailed.

The Bolsheviks, on the other hand, were supposed to disappear to where they came from - back to Europe and America, under the wing of the "allied" special services. And they were going to do it. There is a lot of evidence that almost every Bolshevik leader had in his pocket some kind of "Argentinean" passport with a false name. In addition, a large amount of gold, currency and jewelry was stored in the apartment of Sverdlov's sister. On the road, so to speak. Therefore, none of the "allies" of the Bolsheviks touched - they themselves had to disappear very quickly. Right after overclocking. But, then an event occurred that undoubtedly changed the course of world history.

Lenin realized that, having information about such terrible secrets as "German money" and "betrayal of the allies", he and his comrades would not live long. They will either be given to the new government of Russia, which will simply hang up the fighters for the people's happiness on the first bitch that comes across. Or (which is more likely) they will quickly die as a result of accidents and all sorts of other "accidents" with which the illegal life of revolutionaries is so rich. The "Allies" will simply remove them, covering the traces of their monstrous betrayal. The conclusion suggested itself - it is necessary to stay in Russia. Such a decision was dictated both by an elementary concern for self-preservation, and by Lenin's keen desire to realize his life's work - the revolution. Bringing the matter to an end was now a matter of life and death: for the leadership of the Bolsheviks, after the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, to a possible death sentence for betraying the Motherland, another one was added - for an attempted coup d'état. Two execution articles - a bit too much for any sane person.

The Bolsheviks had to stay and build a new state. Restore the destroyed army, improve the economy, fight the enemies created by their policy. A decisive stage in the life of the Bolshevik Party began. From that moment on, they begin the struggle to maintain their power, their lives and their revolution. This period entered the history of our country under the name of the Civil War. The fratricidal slaughter between the Russians was also needed by the British - for the complete destruction of Russia. British agents actively engaged in its organization.

The Russian Empire could still be saved - for this, the "allies" should have assisted the Russian patriots who had entered the struggle for the restoration of the country. But then the Bolsheviks will lose, and a strong Russia will once again enter the world stage. This is what the British feared most of all. The policy of Her Majesty's government pursued the exact opposite goal: to finish off Russia, to destroy it! So the goals of the British and French secret services again surprisingly coincided with the interests of the Bolsheviks. Their collaboration has just begun. Lenin will have to fulfill the requirements of British intelligence: to conclude Brest Peace, destroy royal family, sink the Russian fleet. But we will talk about all this in another book ...

Here it is, the first day of the October Revolution... The city is in agitation... Everyone is waiting for something... Smolny is seething with people... Here is the main headquarters of the Bolsheviks - the Military Revolutionary Committee. Vladimir Ilyich was right there too; he greeted them cordially, asking them about all the events of the day, and most of all about what was happening there, at the Winter Palace and on the outskirts of it.

The news that Vladimir Ilyich was in Smolny quickly spread among the Bolsheviks. Many wanted to see him and came here. Strangers began to look into the next room. Correspondents of various newspapers, including foreign ones, were especially persistent in trying to get into it, having obviously noticed that a lot of people were coming here, that the leading center of the uprising was operating here. Mensheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries and other undesirable persons began to drop in.

It was necessary to introduce reliable protection. In the room of the Red Guard there were more than five hundred armed most devoted workers. They were Red Guards, mostly Vyborg.

For protection, it was decided to select seventy-five especially reliable people. A young, about thirty years old, handsome worker, with curls curly from under his hat, calmly gives the command: “Build up!”. Everything is in place instantly.

Silence: no rustle, no sound. The sentries stood at the door. When the commander said that seventy-five people were needed, ready for anything, even death, in order to fulfill the order, the entire detachment took a step forward and froze. The commander selected people, appointed the chief and two people to replace him. “In which case…” he remarked gloomily and fell silent.

Passes have now been prepared. Pass number 1 was issued to Vladimir Ilyich.

What's this? Passes? What for? asked Vladimir Ilyich.

Necessary. Just in case... Smolny's guards have already been set up. Please take a look...

Vladimir Ilyich looked out the door and saw a detachment standing in impeccable military formation.

What good fellows! It’s nice to look at,” said Vladimir Ilyich admiringly.

Sentinels stood outside and inside the room at the front door. The chief immediately established contact with the central detachment.

The people kept coming and coming.

At 2:35 p.m., a meeting of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies opened. It is impossible to say - thunder, but something more, truly amazing - a whirlwind of human feelings swept through the hall when Vladimir Ilyich appeared on the podium. He began his speech with the words: “Comrades! The workers' and peasants' revolution, about the necessity of which the Bolsheviks kept talking all the time, has come to pass...' This historic meeting of the Petrograd Soviet proceeded stormily and fieryly.

Vladimir Ilyich was very excited that the siege of the Winter Palace was dragging on.

The Pavlovsky Guards Regiment, which had joined the revolutionary troops, was ordered to occupy the streets adjacent to Zimny. The regiment lay down near the palace itself.

When the sailors approached, they immediately got their bearings in the situation, without stopping, quickly crossed Palace Square and accumulated on the approaches to the Winter Palace, dragging the soldiers of the Pavlovsky Regiment and the Red Guards behind them. Then, with a strong blow, they opened the huge doors of the palace and burst into the interior. They were met by junkers who had neither combat training nor proper leadership, but nevertheless put up stubborn resistance, defending the members of the Provisional Government who were sitting in one of the halls of the palace. The women's battalion, after a brief campaign speech by the sailor Zheleznyakov, laid down their arms and completely went over to the side of the rebels.

The cruiser Aurora has docked. A few days before the attack of the Winter Palace, he was ordered by the commander-in-chief of the Bolshevik forces to turn the guns towards the palace. The same order was received by the Peter and Paul Fortress, from the verks of which, late in the evening, almost simultaneously with the Aurora, shots were fired at the Winter Palace. The besieged realized that in an instant they could be swept off the face of the earth. Sailors, as well as other Bolshevik units, quickly spread through the Winter Palace and occupied its main points, stairs, exits and approaches. On the night of October 25-26, at 02:10, the Provisional Government was arrested and escorted under guard to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Kerensky left the Winter Palace by a secret passage and shamefully fled in the car of the American embassy. Three days later he appeared in Tsarskoye Selo, where he tried in vain to raise an uprising among the Cossacks and infantry and move them to Petrograd through the Pulkovo Heights.

With a quick military step, a scooter soldier hurries along the corridor, dressed in a black leather jacket and the same wide trousers. He has a travel bag over his shoulder, which he holds with his left hand.

Where is the headquarters of the Military Revolutionary Committee? he says to the two Red Guards standing on watch at the door.

Whom do you?

Lenin! Report-

The sentry turns to the door and says to his comrade:

So a breeder is required... The courier has arrived. Without a pass... To headquarters... Demands Lenin...

The breeder came out. I asked where and from whom the courier came from.

From the Winter Palace... From the commander-in-chief, Podvoisky.

Report! the scooter says as he enters the door of the next room. — Lenin is required.

Vladimir Ilyich approaches.

What do you say, comrade?

Are you Lenin? - looking with curiosity at Vladimir Ilyich, says the scooter. His eyes sparkle with joy. He quickly unfastens the flap of the bag, takes out a piece of paper, carefully passes it to Vladimir Ilyich, putting it under his visor, and briefly re-ports:

Report.

Thank you, comrade," says Vladimir Ilyich, holding out his hand to the scooter. He is embarrassed, grabs Vladimir Ilyich's hand with both hands, shakes it, shakes it, smiles. Takes under the visor, sharply, military, turns around and with a brisk step, on the move, putting in a bag a piece of paper, on which Vladimir Ilyich signed for receipt, leaves the room.

The Winter Palace has been taken. The provisional government is arrested. Taken to Petropavlovka. Kerensky has fled! - Vladimir Ilyich quickly reads aloud ... And just finished reading, there was a "hurrah", powerfully picked up by the Red Guards in the next room.

Hooray! — rushed everywhere.

At four o'clock in the morning we, tired but excited, began to disperse from Smolny. I invited Vladimir Ilyich to come and spend the night with me. Having called in advance to the Rozhdestvensky district, I instructed the combat squad to check the streets adjacent to Khersonskaya with reconnaissance. We left Smolny. The city was not lit. Having found the car at the agreed place, we moved to my house.

Vladimir Ilyich was apparently very tired and was dozing in the car. When we arrived, we ate something. I tried to provide everything for the rest of Vladimir Ilyich. I barely persuaded him to take my bed in a separate small room, where he had a desk, paper, ink and a library at his disposal. Vladimir Ilyich agreed, and we parted ways.

I lay down on the sofa in the adjoining room and firmly resolved to fall asleep only when I was fully convinced that Vladimir Ilyich was already asleep.

I locked the front doors with all the chains, hooks and locks, put the revolvers on alert and thought: “After all, they can break in, arrest, kill Vladymir Ilyich; everything to be expected."

Just in case, I immediately wrote down on a separate piece of paper all the telephone numbers of our district and individual comrades from Smolny, neighboring district workers' committees and trade unions known to me. “So as not to over-forget in a hurry,” I thought.

Finally, I turned off the light bulb. The light in Vladimir Ilyich's room went out earlier. I begin to doze, and just as I was about to fall asleep, suddenly a light flashed at Vladimir Ilyich's.

I got worried. I hear him almost noiselessly get out of bed, quietly open the door for me and, making sure that I'm asleep, with barely audible steps, on tiptoe, so as not to wake anyone, he went to the desk. He sat down at the table, opened the inkwell and, leaning on his elbows, went deep into his work, laying out some papers, reading them immediately. I could see all this through the open door.

Vladimir Ilyich wrote, crossed out, read, made notes, wrote again, and finally, apparently, began to rewrite cleanly. It was already dawn, a late Petrograd autumn morning was beginning to turn grey, when, at last, Vladimir Ilyich put out the fire and went to bed. I forgot too.

In the morning I asked everyone at home to keep quiet, saying that Vladimir Ilyich had been working all night and, no doubt, was extremely tired. But suddenly the door opened, and he left the room dressed, energetic, fresh, cheerful, joyful.

Happy first day socialist revolution! he congratulated everyone, and there was no sign of weariness on his face, as if he had had a great night's sleep, but in fact he slept for two or three hours at most after a tense twenty-hour day at work. Comrades came up. When everyone had gathered to drink tea and Nadezhda Konstantinovna, who had spent the night with us, came out, Vladimir Ilyich took the copied sheets out of his pocket and read to us his famous Decree on Land.

If only to announce it, publish it widely and distribute it. Let them try to take it back! No, no power is in a position to take this decree away from the peasants and return the land to the landowners. This is the most important achievement of our revolution. The agrarian revolution will be accomplished and consolidated,” said Vladimir Ilyich.

When someone told him that there would still be a lot of all sorts of land disturbances and struggles in the localities, he immediately replied that all this was already a trifle, everything else would fall into place, if only they would understand the program of this agrarian revolutionary revolution, would be imbued with it. and performed entirely on the ground. He began to tell in detail that this decree would be adopted by the peasants because it was based on the demands of orders from all peasant assemblies to their deputies sent to the Congress of Soviets.

Yes, but these were the demands of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, so they will say that we are borrowing from them, ”someone remarked.

Vladimir Ilyich smiled.

Let them say. Don't we care! The peasants will clearly understand that we will always support all their just demands. We must come close to the peasants, to their life, to their desires. And if any fools laugh, let them laugh. We never intended to give the Socialist-Revolutionaries a monopoly on the peasants. We are the government party, and next to the dictatorship of the proletariat, the peasant question is the most important question.

Vladimir Ilyich wanted to proclaim this decree at the congress as soon as possible. We decided at once to retype it on a typewriter in several copies and immediately put it in typesetting in our newspapers so that it would be published tomorrow morning. After the adoption of the decree at the Congress of Soviets, immediately send it to all the newspapers * of the country with instructions to print it in the next issue.

The decree on land was soon sent to all Petrograd editorial offices by courier, and to other cities by mail and telegraph. Our newspapers made it up in advance, and in the morning the decree was read by hundreds of thousands and millions of people. All workers accepted it with delight. The bourgeoisie hissed and snapped in their papers. But nobody paid any attention to it...

For a long time Vladimir Ilyich was interested in how many copies of the decree on land were distributed among soldiers and peasants. The decree on land was reprinted many times in a booklet and sent free of charge in many copies not only to provincial and district cities, but also to all volosts of Russia, and, perhaps, not a single law has been published in our country as widely as the law on land to which Vladimir Ilyich attached such great importance.

When you hand out a decree on land to the demobilized,” said Vladimir Ilyich, “it is necessary to explain to everyone its meaning and significance well and not to forget to say that if the landowners, merchants, kulaks are still sitting on the occupied lands, it is imperative to drive them and the land - placed at the disposal of the peasant committees. Place a smart sailor who would watch where the soldier puts the decree: it is necessary that he put it deeper into the bag, under things, so that he does not lose it, and he would keep a dozen copies closer for reading and distribution in the car.

By February 1918, fatigue was felt in the mood of the masses. Enormous crowds of soldiers were wandering from the front. Exhausted, torn, they rushed home, seeing the complete collapse of the front, wanting to take a break from the nightmarish and exhausting life in the trenches. Military units arrived in Petrorrad in a continuous succession from the front. Having stayed in the capital for a short time, they went further and further into the depths of Russia. There were very few completely disciplined regiments and detachments among them.

Because of Trotsky's betrayal during the Brest-Litovsk negotiations, the terms of peace for Russia became even more onerous. And yet it was necessary to hasten with the conclusion of peace. A special commission from the RSFSR left for the city of Diinsk, where the final peace ceremony of such a long-awaited peace was to take place. For about an hour a telegram was waiting for me, notifying me that peace was signed (the armistice had been signed earlier).

And suddenly an urgent telegram arrived at the Administration of the Council of People's Commissars informing them that the enemy had launched an attack on Petrograd. The city of Pskov was taken. The German units moved on, to the Dno station. The garrison of the city and Dno station retreated disorderly and without any resistance; the remnants of the field troops of the tsarist army retreated in the same way. The headquarters rolled back to the deep rear.

The greatest danger hung over the poorly defended Petrograd. We had to act immediately.

Having learned about the received telegram, the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, which was meeting in one of the Smolny bays, interrupted its meeting.

Not even an hour had passed when the factory horns stirred Petrograd, which had already fallen asleep.

Mighty and imperiously rushing from region to region, spreading in a foggy distance, this invocative buzzing.

The workers quickly gathered at their factories. The deputies of the Soviet gave a brief account of the situation, calling on the workers to arms. The Red Guards immediately organized themselves into worker battalions. They were joined by everyone who had at least some kind of weapon. Many went without weapons, hoping to get them in Smolny. In the darkness, since there was no street lighting, tens of thousands of workers walked and walked from all areas in an endless succession, heading for their combat center - Smolny.

At night, the incident became known in Sestroretsk, on Porokhovy, in Kolpino, on Obukhovsky and in other environs of Petrograd, from where detachments of the working Red Guard began to approach in the morning.

In the morning, at nine o'clock, on February 21, Vladimir Ilyich called me to his office in the Council of People's Commissars.

Vladimir Ilyich was standing at the window. The sounds of a military march were heard.

A division of 10,000 Sestroretsk workers approached in orderly columns, with banners unfurled. They were wearing short tanned sheepskin coats trimmed with white fur.

What power! exclaimed Vladimir Ilyich.

The division lined up in front of the Smolny.

The battalions of sailors who arrived from Kronstadt came with a free, sweeping step. And then the regiments of the Red Guard of workers, the infantry units of the garrison stationed in Petrograd, swayed in a long line.

Vladimir Ilyich sat down at the table and plunged into his work. Soon Lenin's famous proclamation "The socialist fatherland is in danger!" appeared.

“In order to save the exhausted, tormented country from new military trials, we made the greatest sacrifice and announced to the Germans our agreement to sign their peace terms. Our parliamentarians left Rezhitsa in the evening for Dvinsk on February 20 (7), and there is still no answer. The German government is obviously slow to respond. It clearly does not want peace. Fulfilling the instructions of the capitalists of all countries, German militarism wants to strangle the Russian and Ukrainian workers and peasants, to return the land to the landlords, the factories and plants to the bankers, and the power to the monarchy. The German generals want to establish their own "order" in Petrograd and Kyiv. The Socialist Republic of Soviets is in the greatest danger. Until the moment when the proletariat of Germany rises and triumphs, the sacred duty of the workers and peasants of Russia is the selfless defense of the Republic of Soviets against the hordes of bourgeois-imperialist Germany. The Council of People's Commissars decides:

All the forces and resources of the country are wholly devoted to the cause of revolutionary defense.

To all Soviets and revolutionary organizations together

is obliged to defend every position to the last drop of blood.

Railway organizations and the Soviets associated with them are obliged by all means to prevent the enemy from using the communications apparatus; when retreating, destroy tracks, blow up and burn railway buildings; all rolling stock - wagons and steam locomotives - should immediately be directed east into the interior of the country.

All grain and food stocks in general, and rmpio valuable property, which is in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, must be subjected to unconditional destruction; the supervision of this is entrusted to non-local Soviets under the personal responsibility of their chairmen.

b) The workers and peasants of Petrograd, Kyiv and all cities, towns, villages and villages along the line of the new front must mobilize battalions for digging okopob under the guidance of military specialists.

These battalions must include all able-bodied members of the bourgeois class, men and women, under the supervision of the Red Guards; those who resist - shoot.

All publications that oppose the cause of revolutionary defense and take the side of the German bourgeoisie, as well as those that seek to use our imperialist hordes in order to overthrow Soviet power, are closed; able-bodied editors and employees of these publications are mobilized for digging trenches and other defensive work.

Enemy agents, speculators, thugs, hooligans, counter-revolutionary agitators, German spies are shot at the scene of the crime.

The socialist fatherland is in danger!

Long live the socialist fatherland!

Long live the international socialist revolution!”

Lenin's appeal, printed in hundreds of thousands of copies, was pasted on the walls, distributed to the people, distributed at railway stations, on trains, in barracks, sent to all cities. It had an enormous organizing and mobilizing influence on the working masses.

Here is a typical scene for those days, which I happened to be a witness to. In orderly ranks, in full combat readiness, with banners unfolded, with an orchestra, with all the units attached to it, the division marched from the Varshavsky railway station. She was on her way to Smolny to hand over her weapons, archives and cash register safe and sound and demobilize in an organized manner and go home.

A car showed up. A young worker who jumped out of it ran up with a bundle of appeals to the head detachment of the division.

Lenin's call! he shouted. - The Germans are advancing on Petrograd! The socialist fatherland is in danger! - and the worker began to distribute printed sheets to the right and left.

The division commissar quickly, on the move, looked through the list, said something to the commander, and suddenly a clear command was heard:

Division, stop!

The division quickly rebuilt its ranks, forming a square on the Five Corners Square. Someone rolled out a barrel from the nearest yard, the military commissar of the division easily jumped on it and loudly proclaimed to the whole square:

"The socialist fatherland is in danger!".

Everything trembled, alarmed. There was dead silence in the square. Passers-by also stopped as if in awe. Word by word, clearly, clearly, with enthusiasm, the commissar read Lenin's proclamation.

And he finished sweat.

Well, comrades," he suddenly said loudly, "let's go to Smolny to demobilize?

Team after team quickly followed. The division again lined up in battle formation and immediately turned back at the command "circle march". The orchestra roared. Clearly beating the step, with banners unfolded, this exemplary combat military unit moved not to Smolny to surrender their weapons and go home, but there, to the front, to the trenches.

Two military commissars, together with the division commander and one of the officers, arrived at Smolny and reported to Vladimir Ilyich that the order of the Council of People's Commissars had been carried out: the division, which was going to demobilize, turned the front by the unanimous will of all the fighters.

Vladimir Ilyich shook hands warmly with the soldiers who had arrived.

Immediately, by telephone, an order was given to provide the echelons of this glorious division. Headquarters lil fall. The division hastily loaded and left for the front. Together with other units that arrived there, she inflicted a crushing ulm "r on German troops, thwarting their offensive through Pinnia Dno. Vigorously pursued on the heels, the Germans simmiili Pskov and immediately agreed to peace negotiations.

Ey was a serious victory for the Red troops over the German imperialist hordes, who wanted to take possession of Petrograd with a lightning strike. This day has gone down in history as the birthday of the Red Army.

The military headquarters worked round the clock without interruption, strengthening the front with more and more reinforcements.

During the day on February 21, the Council of People's Commissars met several times to discuss the current situation.

Right there, in Smolny, the Central Committee of our Party met almost continuously, discussing questions of peace and war.

For an even more detailed explanation to the population of all the difficult circumstances of the time being experienced, the Council of People's Commissars on February 21 adopted an appeal "To the working population of all Russia."

The heartfelt words of this appeal, filled with unvarnished truth, opened the eyes of everyone who had not yet imagined the formidable danger that hung over the young Soviet Republic. Huge crowds of volunteers continued to besiege Smolny, the headquarters of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee. Everyone, in a single powerful impulse, wanted to immediately, immediately go to the front, defend our lines with their breasts. A people's militia was created, which rose to the defense of Petrograd.

The broad masses of workers, the entire working population understood and approved the resolute demand of the leader of the October Revolution: in the event of an attempt to resist the announced nationwide mobilization, to wipe out the enemies of our socialist fatherland from the face of the earth.

V. Bonch-Bruyevich, Chairman of the Committee for Combating Pogroms and Counter-Revolution

From the collection “October armed uprising in Petrograd. Memoirs of active participants in the revolution, Lenizdat, 1956

FateBolshevik uprising, which took place in Petrograd in October 1917, was very difficult and depended on many factors. One of them, no doubt, was the influence Vladimir Lenin.

Even while abroad, in exile, he continued to write articles and manifestos in which he addressed the members of the Central Committee with various appeals. Lenin did not immediately speak of the need to seize power by force, but both the political and economic situation in Russia by the year 17 had developed in such a way that this step began to seem inevitable.

On October 12, 1917 (September 29, old style), the Bolshevik newspaper Rabochy Put published an article called "The Crisis Is Ripe." In it, Lenin openly called for an armed uprising, which caused indignation among many of his fellow party members. However, soon, on October 23, at the next meeting of the Central Committee, where Lenin was already present in person, the uprising was placed on the agenda, and on October 29 the decision was finally made.

The doctor explained in an interview with "History. historical sciences, columnist for the magazine "Historian" Oleg Nazarov.

"It all started with the Kornilov region"

Oleg Gennadievich, even before Lenin returned from exile and took part in the meetings of the Central Committee, he published a large number of articles where he openly called on the Bolsheviks to take up arms. How much did these works still influence the fate of the uprising?

If we talk about Lenin's journalism as a whole, then we should mainly consider two months - September and October 1917. This is the period immediately after and before the Bolsheviks took power on October 26. Everything that he wrote and did at that time, it seems to me, makes sense to consider in the aggregate. It is necessary to start from the Kornilov region. This attempt to move from the right was prevented quickly and almost bloodlessly due to the fact that all the left-wing parties of a socialist orientation, the main ones of which were the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, opposed the Kornilov revolt in a single coalition. Together, with the support public organizations, Vikzhelya (All-Russian Executive Committee of the Railway Trade Union. - Note. ed.) and other trade unions, they managed to create a broad movement on the left and prevent a rebellion quickly and bloodlessly.

- How did these events affect Lenin and his supporters?

At that moment, for several days, Lenin had the idea that, perhaps, on the basis of this coalition, which justified itself, as he writes in one of his articles, it would be possible to create a homogeneous socialist government. But one must understand the situation in the socialist camp. I have in mind, first of all, the two main parties, the Mensheviks and the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Both in that and in other party representatives of two currents struggled. If we talk about the right Mensheviks and right SRs, they were oriented towards continuing cooperation with the liberals, that is, with the line that had been going on since May, when the first coalition government was created. But at the same time, since the Cadets supported the Kornilov rebellion and were the main party of the liberal camp, questions arose for them. And part of the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries, who had previously advocated for this coalition, began to believe that it had not justified itself, and thought about whether it was necessary to continue to support it and create on its basis the next cabinet of the Provisional Government. As a result, this Menshevik-Socialist-Revolutionary camp came to the conclusion that it was necessary to convene a Democratic Conference - a broad representation, in which representatives of the liberal parties would also take part. And so it happened: in September, more than one and a half thousand people gathered in Petrograd. There were also Bolsheviks, but the bulk were moderate socialists.

Presidium of the All-Russian Democratic Conference

"We'll go the other way"

- What problems did the participants of this meeting try to solve? Was it a certain signal for Lenin?

They thought that at the Democratic Conference it would be possible to decide whether the new government would be coalition with the participation of the Cadets or not coalition. When the choice was made in favor of the Democratic Conference, Lenin clearly understood that you couldn’t cook porridge with these guys. He saw that the attempt at a compromise, which he actually proposed to the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, was rejected. Therefore, Lenin decided: "We will go the other way." From that moment on, he clearly took a course towards the seizure of power, relying on the convocation of the Second Congress of Soviets and on an armed uprising.

- But the Bolsheviks rejected Lenin's proposal for a long time. Was there a split within the party as well?

Within the Bolshevik Party there was a strong current of the so-called "right" Bolsheviks, who were just determined to continue looking for points of contact with the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. One of the most authoritative representatives of this right-wing trend was Lev Kamenev. But, of course, he was not alone: ​​Zinoviev, Nogin, Ryazanov stood in these positions - this was a fairly powerful group of Bolsheviks. And Lenin had first of all to convince the Central Committee that all attempts at a compromise with this camp were senseless and power had to be taken by force of arms. And in this matter, Lenin found the support of Trotsky. These two people, in fact, became the engine of the October Revolution. They gradually influenced their party - and above all, its leadership. As a result, on October 10, the famous meeting of the Central Committee was held, where it was decided to take a course on an armed uprising. Only Kamenev and Zinoviev spoke openly against it.

“Zinoviev did not keep up with Lenin, but he went ahead”

Who led the uprising?

- The strategic course was determined by Lenin, and practical guide Trotsky worked as chairman of the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet, under which the Military Revolutionary Committee was created. This body actually led the uprising. There is one important point here: after all, it was not a party, but a Soviet organ - that is, representatives of other parties that supported the Bolsheviks participated in it - anarchists, left SRs ... So not only the Bolsheviks participated in the capture of the Winter Palace.

There is a version that Lenin's determination, with which he sought an armed uprising, was significantly strengthened after a meeting with Zinoviev in Petrograd. So, Vladlen Loginov in his book "Lenin in 1917" writes: "... they parted, and mutual language was lost", "Grigory once again participated in the meeting of the Central Committee, and in his explanations the influence of Kamenev was quite noticeable." How did it happen that the paths of two such authoritative Bolsheviks and like-minded people diverged?

During the period of emigration, Zinoviev was the right hand of Lenin. In many ways, he served as his secretary - in general, he was his closest ally and practically his closest party comrade, not counting Krupskaya. It was quite a long period of time. Together with Zinoviev, Lenin returned from Switzerland in April 1917, after the July events, the two of them hid in Razliv. They were very close. But just after the Kornilov events, Zinoviev took a much more moderate position. In general, Lenin was a rather radical comrade and thought strategically several steps ahead. Not everyone kept up with him even from among the people who had been with him for many years and learned a lot from him - such as Zinoviev. And then Zinoviev, according to his temperament, was not a very decisive person, it was Lenin who could go ahead. Over time, a misunderstanding arose between them, to the point that Lenin demanded that Zinoviev and Kamenev be expelled from the party. But he said this in a rush and then quickly walked away. The Central Committee did not exclude them, but the sediment remained.

“Even inside Petrograd, the picture of the revolution was different”

What ultimately prompted the Bolsheviks to start an uprising - the words of Vladimir Ilyich or their own understanding that the crisis was ripe?

First of all, of course, this is the influence of Lenin himself, his great authority. But at the same time, there were people in the Central Committee who consistently followed him and thought the same way as he did. At the same time, there was a rather large group of hesitators in the party, but at the final moment - this is the vote on October 10 and 16 - they voted the way Lenin needed. Here the factor of the leader played its role. And then, every day it became more and more clear that this could not go on for a long time, someone had to take power: either the left, led by the Bolsheviks, would do it, or some kind of relapse would again occur, which would lead to a new Kornilovshchina. The right camp was in disarray after the Kornilov events. But it was clear that this would not last forever and at some point a regrouping would begin: the same Kerensky could remove units from the front that would come and crush the uprising. In addition, the experience of July was before everyone's eyes - after all, the first attempt at an uprising was on July 3-4, 1917. What is most paradoxical is that it was undertaken against the will of Lenin. It was suppressed, primarily due to the fact that they removed units from the front that at that time were loyal to Kerensky. Well, they launched disinformation about the fact that Lenin was a German spy - this also greatly influenced the masses. And after the Kornilovshchina, they no longer believed Kerensky at the front: he actually betrayed the Cossacks who supported Kornilov.

So, at that moment there were no doubts that it was Lenin who should lead the revolutionary uprising?

- In that situation, the question of power had to be resolved one way or another. And then this is a revolution, and in this process, time is very compressed - a lot of events happen in a short period of time. All this is dynamically developing in different places, and people often simply do not have time to comprehend it, even if they receive all the information. Although this was a big problem - the Internet and mobile phones As you can imagine, it didn't exist then. All information came through newspapers. If you read the minutes of meetings of various Bolshevik bodies, you can see that even in different districts of Petrograd the picture was different: somewhere the mood was absolutely pro-Bolshevik, and somewhere completely different. In one city! Therefore, even the leaders of the parties and members of the Central Committee found it difficult to comprehend what was happening. And Lenin was a recognized authority among the Bolsheviks, he always determined the line of the party. They believed him, they followed him, and he really was the most powerful intellect not only in the party, but throughout the country. Plus, Lenin was an extremely strong-willed person.

Yes, many noted this quality in him. But, for example, he also appreciated "comrade Lenin's modesty and his courage to admit his mistakes." Do you think Lenin ever entertained the idea that an uprising might be a mistake?

He knew how to admit mistakes, but this is not the case. Just after what he did in October, everyone who doubted him admitted that they were wrong. It was Lenin's finest hour. Despite all the problems, difficulties and doubts, including in his party, he went ahead like a locomotive.

Comrades! The workers' and peasants' revolution, the need for which the Bolsheviks had been talking all the time, had taken place.

What is the significance of this workers' and peasants' revolution? First of all, the significance of this revolution is that we will have Soviet government, our own organ of power, without any participation of the bourgeoisie.

The oppressed masses themselves create power. The old state apparatus will be radically smashed and a new administrative apparatus will be created in the form of Soviet organizations.

From now on, a new period is beginning in the history of Russia, and this third Russian revolution must ultimately lead to the victory of socialism.

One of our immediate tasks is the immediate elimination of the war. But in order to end this war, which is closely connected with the present capitalist system, it is clear to everyone that for this it is necessary to overcome capital itself.

In this matter, the world labor movement, which is already beginning to develop in Italy, England and Germany.

The just, immediate peace that we offer to international democracy will find a warm response everywhere among the international proletarian masses. In order to strengthen this confidence of the proletariat, it is necessary to immediately publish all secret treaties.

Inside Russia, a huge part of the peasantry said: enough playing with the capitalists, we will go with the workers. We are gaining the confidence of the peasants by a single decree which will abolish landlord property. The peasants will understand that only in alliance with the workers will the peasantry be saved. We will establish genuine workers' control over production. Now we have learned to work together. The revolution that has just taken place testifies to this. We have that force of mass organization which will conquer everything and lead the proletariat to a world revolution.

Chronicle, non-stenoirated report.

PART ONE.

In Russia we must now take up the building of a proletarian socialist state.

Long live the world socialist revolution!

(N. Lenin (V. Ulyanov "). Collected works. Vol. XV, pp. and -12).

“The question of the world is a burning question, a sick question of our time. Much has been said and written about him, and all of you have probably discussed him quite a bit. Let me therefore pass on to the reading of the declaration to be issued by the government of your choice... *)

The Workers' and Peasants' Government, created by the October 24-25 revolution and based on the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, must immediately begin peace negotiations. Our appeal must be directed both to the governments and to the peoples. We cannot ignore the governments, because then the possibility of concluding peace is delayed, and the people's government does not dare to do this, but we have no right not to appeal to the peoples at the same time. Everywhere the government and the peoples diverge, and therefore we must help the peoples to intervene in matters of war and peace. Of course, we will defend our entire program of peace without annexations and indemnities in every possible way. We will not retreat from it, but we must knock out of the hands of our enemies the opportunity to say that their conditions are different, and therefore there is no point in entering into negotiations with us. No, we must deprive them of this advantageous position and not set our conditions as an ultimatum. That is why the provision is included that we will consider all conditions for peace, all proposals. Let's consider, it does not mean that we will accept. We will submit them for discussion to the Constituent Assembly, which will already have the power to decide what can and cannot be conceded. We are fighting against the deceit of governments, which all talk about peace and justice in words, but in reality they are waging predatory predatory wars. No government will say everything they think. We are against secret diplomacy, and we will act openly in front of all the people. We do not and have not closed our eyes to difficulties. A war cannot be ended with a refusal, a war cannot be ended with one side. We propose a truce for three months, but we do not reject a shorter period, so that, at least for a while, the exhausted army could breathe freely and, moreover, in all cultural countries it is necessary to convene popular assemblies to discuss the terms.

4) The Decree of Peace is as follows. In proposing an immediate armistice, we appeal to the class-conscious workers of those countries who have done much for the development of the proletarian movement. We appeal to the workers of England, where there was a Chartist movement, to the workers of France, who repeatedly showed the full strength of their class consciousness in uprisings, and to the workers of Germany, who endured the struggle against the Socialist Law and created powerful organizations.

In the manifesto of March 14, we proposed to overthrow the bankers, but we ourselves not only did not overthrow our own, but even entered into an alliance with them. Now we have overthrown the government of the bankers.

The government and the bourgeoisie will make every effort to unite and crush the workers' and peasants' revolution in blood. But three years of war have taught the masses enough. The Soviet movement in other countries, the uprising of the German fleet, suppressed by the cadets of the executioner Wilhelm, finally, we must remember that we do not live in the depths of Africa, but in Europe, where everything can soon be known.

The labor movement will take over and pave the way for peace and socialism."

(N. Lenin (V. Ulyanov). Collected works. Vol. XV, pp. 12 - 13).

Three articles about Lenin - Lenin's plan and the practice of socialist transformations during his lifetime

Page 3 of 4

Lenin's plan and the practice of socialist transformations during his lifetime

Deep thinker and sober politician V.I. Lenin clearly understood that building socialism in an economically backward Russia was a most difficult task. He persistently searched for ways of the socialist transformation of society, often revising, correcting, even abandoning some of his previous ideas.

Thus, before the victory of the October Revolution and immediately after it, he wrote that socialism meant the abolition of the commodity form of production, the abolition of money, and so on. In the work "What are the "friends of the people" and how do they fight against the social democrats?" Lenin argued that for the organization of large-scale socialist production, it is necessary "to destroy the commodity organization of the social economy and replace it with a communal, communist organization, if the regulator of production would not be the market, as it is now, but the producers themselves."

Later, but still before the October Revolution, in his "Insert to V. Kalinin's article "The Peasant Congress", Lenin again writes: "Socialism requires the destruction of the power of money, the power of capital, the destruction of the commodity economy." If exchange remains, it is "ridiculous to even talk about socialism," he stressed. He also believed that the socialist socialization of production is carried out in a centralized state form as "the transformation of all citizens into workers and employees of one large" syndicate ", namely, the entire state, and as" the complete subordination of all the work of this entire syndicate to the state. So wrote V.I. Lenin on the eve of the October Revolution in The State and Revolution.

He expressed the same idea in the article "Immediate Tasks of Soviet Power", written shortly after the revolution - in 1918. He then set the task of "turning all citizens of the country without exception into members of one nationwide, or rather, nationwide cooperative." Pseudo-democrats, having taken these phrases out of context, accuse Lenin of allegedly advocating the nationalization of everything and everything, super-centralization, and so on. However, I believe that Lenin is talking about something else here. Lenin was afraid that "special interests" (group, local) would not prevail over the interests of society as a whole. In addition, the state, in the Leninist sense, is the state of the workers themselves, i.e. a state that does not allow any violation of the rights and freedoms of its citizens.

But let's see how Lenin acted in practice, how socialist construction was carried out under him.

Lenin was a realist, he proceeded from reality, from a real situation. He strongly opposed the immediate "introduction of socialism". We Marxists, wrote Lenin, such thoughts, not to mention plans, are alien. We have always known, we have said and repeated that socialism cannot be "introduced", that between capitalism and socialism lies a period of "birth pangs". He warned the party that the organizational, economic and cultural tasks of the socialist revolution could not be solved with the same onslaught and speed as political and military tasks: “Here, due to the objective state of affairs, we will by no means be able to confine ourselves to a triumphal procession with unfurled banners ... Anyone who would try to transfer this method of struggle to the organizational tasks that stand in the way of the revolution would be completely bankrupt as a politician, as a socialist, as an activist in the socialist revolution.

The Menshevik Sukhanov was clearly wrong when he asserted that Lenin, the Bolsheviks did not know what they would do with their victory and with the conquered state. The Bolsheviks knew what to do. Even before October, Lenin wrote: "... We do not invent an organizational form of work, but take ready-made from capitalism, banks, syndicates, the best factories, experimental stations, academies, and so on." After October, he sharply argued with the left communists, who opposed his demand to "learn socialism from the organizers of the trusts." Not only banks, but also the apparatus of state-capitalist associations (“trusts”) must be preserved as far as possible, democratically transformed and placed at the service of the working people, Lenin insisted.

What exactly does Lenin propose to start with? From the creation at the enterprises of workers' control over the production and distribution of products. Justifying the need for workers' control, Lenin said: “We did not immediately decree socialism in our entire industry, because socialism can take shape and be consolidated only when the working class learns to manage ... We introduced workers' control, knowing that this is a contradictory step, an incomplete step, but it is necessary that the workers themselves take up the great task of building industry in a vast country without exploiters, against the exploiters...”. “Not in the confiscation of the property of the capitalists is the “nail” of the matter,” Lenin emphasized, “namely, in the all-people, comprehensive workers’ control over the capitalists ... You can’t do anything with confiscation, because there is no element of organization in it, taking into account the correct distribution.”

In general, the Leninist program of socialist transformations in the economy assumed the following important steps: organization of accounting and control over production and distribution on a national scale; curbing the petty-bourgeois element, directing the development of private capitalism into the mainstream of state capitalism and the gradual expansion of the socialist structure in the economy, implementing measures designed to increase labor productivity, inculcating conscious labor discipline, and using bourgeois specialists.

Obviously, measured, consistent steps. However, the “left communists” (N.I. Bukharin and others) did not accept the Leninist plan, believing that it was necessary to continue the “Red Guard attack on capital”, immediately declare private property “non-existent”, accelerate nationalization, introduce equalization in distribution, i.e. . go straight to communism. Refuting the evidence of the "Left Communists", Lenin in his work "On the "Left" Childishness and Petty-Bourgeoisness" convincingly showed that it is impossible to go straight from small-scale production to the socialist organization of the entire national economy. Under these conditions, an important step towards socialism is state capitalism, which helps to curb the petty-bourgeois elements. Arguing with Bukharin, who argued: “There can be no talk of any kind of state capitalism under the dictatorship of the proletariat, which fundamentally excludes this kind of possibility,” V.I. Lenin emphasized: “The working class, having learned how to defend the state order against petty-property anarchism, having learned how to organize a large-scale, state-wide organization of production on a state-capitalist basis, will then have—pardon the expression—all the trump cards in its hands, and the strengthening of socialism will be ensured.” Lenin also rejected N.I. Bukharin that after the victory of the proletarian revolution, all economic categories of commodity production (commodity, money, price, profit, wages) disappear, turn into "imaginary values". Bukharin argued that under socialism objective laws no longer operate, that now development is determined solely by the consciousness, the will of individuals. Consequently, political economy as the science of the spontaneously developing commodity economy of capitalist society becomes unnecessary.

Lenin, having read the book "Economics in Transition", in which N.I. Bukharin expounded his conclusions, characterized it as scholastic and eclectic.

How can it be asserted that after the victory of the proletarian revolution, commodity production disappears if the peasantry and handicraftsmen, from whose midst the bourgeoisie is constantly born, do not disappear? “How do you want to circumvent this fact?” - said Lenin at the Eighth Party Congress, addressing Bukharin. Lenin resolutely opposed any violent measures against the peasant masses. Yes, he noted, in October we immediately swept away the centuries-old enemy of all peasants - the feudal landowner. It was a general peasant struggle. Here there was as yet no division within the peasantry between the proletariat, the semi-proletariat, the poorest part of the peasantry, the middle peasant and the bourgeoisie. In the first days, months of Soviet power, days, months of a merciless war against the rural bourgeoisie and kulaks, the task of organizing the proletariat and semi-proletariat of the countryside was in the foreground, but the next step for the party, which wants to create a solid foundation for communist society, is the task of “correctly resolving the question of our attitude towards the middle peasantry. This task, Lenin emphasized, is of a higher order. We could not put it in full breadth until the foundations for the existence of the Soviet Republic were secured. This task “requires a definition of our attitude towards a large and powerful section of the population. This attitude cannot be defined by a simple answer: struggle or support ... ".

We have entered a stage of socialist construction when it is necessary to work out concretely, in detail, basic rules and guidelines tested by experience in the countryside, by which we must be guided in order to establish ourselves on the basis of a stable alliance with the middle peasantry. Seeking forms of a lasting alliance with the peasantry, Lenin, of course, advocated the co-operation of the peasantry, for collectivization. “There is nothing more stupid than the very idea of ​​violence in the field of economic relations of the middle peasantry. The task here is reduced not to the expropriation of the middle peasantry, but to ... learning from the peasants how to move to a better system and not dare to command! That's the rule we set ourselves."

In The Infantile Disease of “Leftism” in Communism, speaking about the attitude of communists towards all small producers, Lenin also emphasized this “rule”: you cannot destroy small producers, “they cannot be driven away, they cannot be suppressed, you have to get along with them, you can ( and should) remake, re-educate only by very long, slow, careful organizational work.

Of course, in practice, under the pressure of the most difficult situation, Lenin had to deviate from the principles he proclaimed in relation to the peasantry. This found its expression in requisitions in the countryside, which gave rise to discontent among the peasants. But Lenin immediately reacted to the deterioration of relations with the peasants. At the 10th Congress of the RCP(b), he declared: “... we should not try to hide anything, but should say frankly that the peasantry is dissatisfied with the form of relations that we have established with them, that they do not want this form of relations ... We this must be taken into account, and we are sufficiently sober politicians to say frankly: let's revise our policy towards the peasantry. These words reflect the sobriety, realism of V.I. Lenin, his concern for the alliance of the working class and the peasantry. As for money, now the opinion of V.I. Lenin is this: they will probably exist for a long time. In any case, as long as the class difference between the worker and the peasant persists. “It takes a lot of technical and, much more difficult and much more important, organizational gains to destroy money ... We say: as long as the money remains, and will remain for quite a long time during the transitional time from the old capitalist society to the new socialist.”

Lenin consistently stressed that overthrowing the rule of the bourgeoisie was an easier task than building a new society. Here the heroism of a single breakthrough is not enough; what is needed here is stubborn, protracted, difficult heroism of mass and everyday work. And the main task of creating a new society is the task of organizing labor in a new way, creating new forms of labor organization, attraction to work, a new conscious labor discipline. Lenin was convinced that socialism is the possibility of working for oneself and, moreover, work based on "all the achievements of the latest technology and culture." He believed that the elimination of any compulsion to work is the most important condition for the withering away of the state. He strongly disagreed with the following proposition of N. Bukharin's book "The Economy in Transition": "but as soon as the decisive world victory of the proletariat is revealed, the growth curve of proletarian statehood will steeply begin to fall down ... Externally, forced normalization will begin to die off: first, the army and navy will die out ..., then - the system of punitive and repressive bodies; further - the forced nature of labor ... ". IN AND. Lenin did not agree with such a "order" and noted in the margins of the book: "Isn't it the other way around: first "further", and then "then" and finally, "first"?

According to Lenin, socialism is primarily voluntary, creative labor for the benefit of society. Already a month and a half after the victory of the October Revolution, V.I. Lenin wrote: "Our task, now that the socialist government is in power, is to organize competition." Socialism, he wrote further, “not only does not extinguish competition, but, on the contrary, for the first time creates the opportunity to apply it really widely, really on a massive scale, to really draw the majority of the working people into the arena of such work, where they can show themselves, develop their abilities, discover talents, which among the people are an endless spring and which capitalism crushed, crushed, strangled by the thousands and millions.

And what about Lenin's attitude towards the intelligentsia, towards the bourgeois specialists?! Now many unfounded, slanderous opinions are spreading that Lenin did not value the intelligentsia, that he expelled and persecuted it. The real situation was this. After the October Revolution, large masses of the intelligentsia turned out to be opponents of Soviet power, participants in the so-called "sabotage movement." However, after the first days, months of anarchy, the Bolsheviks seized the position, put "their own people" at the head and in key posts of various departments, and reduced the former staff to the position of officials subordinate to them. Of course, the Bolsheviks did not have much confidence in them. G. Zinoviev, for example, even argued that specialists should be used in the "role of batmen" and then thrown out "like a squeezed lemon."

Lenin resolutely rejected such an approach to the old intelligentsia. Yes, "... bourgeois specialists are in the vast majority against us - and should be in the vast majority against us - because their class nature is affected here, and we cannot have any doubts about this," noted V.I. Lenin. This must be taken into account. That is why, Lenin warned, the transition of the intelligentsia to new conditions is a difficult task. Here you need to show restraint, flexibility, respect. When anarchist A.Yu. Ge, speaking at a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on April 29, 1918, stated that "specialists" could be forced to work only by the threat of execution, V.I. Lenin described Ge's speech as the greatest stupidity, as a misunderstanding of what the rifle serves and how it should be used in the new conditions.

Lenin stressed that the Soviet government cannot do without the intelligentsia, that it must treat non-Party specialists with respect. Against the backdrop of a low educational level and lack of managerial experience among the workers and peasants, we can cope with the new economic and cultural tasks only with the help of the intelligentsia.

Therefore, he continued, in relation to specialists, “we should not adhere to a policy of petty nit-picking. These specialists are not the servants of the exploiters, they are cultural figures. Patience is needed, experts will come to us, but “through the data of their science”, through their practical experience.” "Specialists-engineers will come to us when we practically prove that in this way the productive forces of the country are increased."

Patriotic feelings, the desire for the good of their homeland will certainly lead the intelligentsia to socialism, to an alliance with the Soviet government. Lenin was right. Already in the autumn of 1918, the sabotage of bourgeois specialists was actually stopped. Tens, hundreds of thousands of intellectuals and specialists have taken a completely loyal position towards the Soviet government, a position of support. Of course, the process of the transition of the intelligentsia to the side of the Soviet government was not easy, the difficult financial situation, excesses, the extremes of the revolutionary time, the civil war, the nihilistic attitude towards science and scientists on the part of a considerable number of Soviet and party workers interfered. All this aggravated the situation, gave rise to conflicts. In an acute and difficult situation, Lenin sometimes made tough decisions about certain groups of intelligentsia or individual representatives of the old intelligentsia who took part in counter-revolutionary activities or simply criticized the Soviet government.

From the standpoint of today, we see many things differently; it seems to us that in a number of cases, in relation to the intelligentsia, it would be possible to act more gently, more flexibly, more tolerantly. At the same time, much of what the Bolsheviks, of course, and Lenin saw in those days and years, we can no longer see. In any case, mentoring, categorical attacks on Lenin in connection with one or another tough decision in relation to one or another group of intelligentsia should be rejected. Lenin knew the value of the intelligentsia, respected it, strove to create normal conditions for its life and creativity, worked and fought for the intelligentsia to understand and accept socialism, to become an active participant in its creation.

Lenin devoted enormous, in essence, paramount importance in the matter of building a new society to culture. Now there is a lot of speculation on this issue. Lenin rejected world culture, defended the sectarian idea of ​​"two cultures", and was supposed to be a preacher of a narrow-class proletarian culture. All this is a lie. Yes, Lenin wrote: “Literary work must become a part of the general proletarian cause, a “wheel and cog” of one single, great social-democratic mechanism, set in motion by the entire conscious vanguard of the entire working class. Literary work must become an integral part of organized, planned, united Social-Democratic Party work.

At the same time, he emphasized that "the literary part of the party affairs of the proletariat cannot be stereotyped with other parts of the party affairs of the proletariat." He warned that “literary work is least of all amenable to mechanical equalization, leveling, domination of the majority over the minority. There is no doubt, in this matter, of course, it is necessary to provide more scope for personal initiative, individual inclinations, scope for thought and fantasy, form and content. All this is undeniable."

Yes, Lenin spoke of "two cultures". But Lenin never said anywhere that the criterion for evaluating artwork there must be a class origin of the cultural figure. For Lenin, the main thing is the artistic value of the work. L. Tolstoy, thanks to his enormous artistic talent, became a mirror of the Russian revolution, despite the fact that he personally belonged to the landlord class.

Lenin resolutely opposed the so-called proletarian culture, against those who pass off “their personal inventions” in the field of philosophy or in the field of culture “as something new, and under the guise of purely proletarian art and proletarian culture” present “something supernatural and absurd to us.”

When V. Pletnev, chairman of the Central Committee of the Proletkult, supported by N. Osinsky and N. Bukharin, in the article "On the Ideological Front", published in the newspaper "Pravda" in 1922, wrote that "questions of ideology are broader than questions of culture", IN AND. Lenin brought the word "wider" into the margins. Some time later, Pravda published an article by Yakovlev "On Proletarian Culture and Proletkult", written according to Lenin's notes and, moreover, reviewed and edited by V.I. Lenin. In an article about the statement “ideology is wider than culture,” it was said: “This is an obvious absurdity, because culture, the totality of a number of social phenomena (from morality and law to science, art, philosophy) is, of course, more general concept than social ideology.

Undoubtedly, "... the worldview of Marxism is the correct expression of the interests, point of view and culture of the revolutionary proletariat." However, “... Marxism by no means discarded the most valuable gains of the bourgeois era, but, on the contrary, assimilated and reworked everything that was valuable in more than two thousand years of development of human thought and culture. Only further work on this basis and in the same direction, inspired by the practical experience of the dictatorship of the proletariat as its last struggle against all exploitation, can be recognized as the development of a truly proletarian culture.

Lenin paid great attention to resolving the national question. He always consistently advocated the right of nations to self-determination and at the same time insisted on the unity of the working people of all oppressed nations. In an article “Toward a Revision of the Party Program,” written shortly after the February Revolution, Lenin noted: “After the experience of the six-month revolution of 1917, it can hardly be argued that the party of the revolutionary proletariat of Russia, the party working in the Great Russian language, is obliged to recognize the right to secession. Having won power, we would certainly immediately recognize this right for Finland, and for the Ukraine, and for Armenia, and for any nationality oppressed by tsarism (and the Great Russian bourgeoisie). But we, for our part, do not want secession at all. We want the largest possible state, the closest union possible, the more nations living next to the Great Russians; we want this in the interests of democracy and socialism... We want unity, unification, and therefore we are obliged to recognize freedom of secession (unification cannot be called free without freedom of secession). We are all the more obliged to recognize the freedom of secession, since tsarism and the Great Russian bourgeoisie, by their oppression, have left in the neighboring nations a darkness of bitterness and distrust of the Great Russians in general, and this distrust must be dispelled by deeds, not words.

In an effort to dispel distrust among the peoples, Soviet authority already in 1917 adopted the "Declaration of the rights of the peoples of Russia", which legally consolidated the rights of all peoples and national languages. Recognizing the right of nations to self-determination, the Soviet government granted independence to Poland, Finland, the Baltic countries, and all peoples who spoke out for self-determination. Reflecting in the 20s. about the prospects for the unity of the peoples of the former tsarist Russia, Lenin spoke in favor of their federation. He vigorously opposed Stalin's "autonomization" proposal, which he believed was intended to "dissolve" the other Soviet republics into the RSFSR, where Lenin believed they would be at a disadvantage in dealing with the Russian state apparatus.