Creation of the first city council of workers' deputies. Councils of Working People's Deputies. After the Kornilov speech

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N. I. Podvoisky

Ivanovo-Voznesensk is a city with over 60,000 workers. By the very way of its proletarian life, it differs from all other cities in Russia. Class strife hits the eye here like nowhere else: luxury and horrendous poverty are literally nearby; on the main street there are palaces of capitalists, asphalt, lighting, fast-paced trotters, rich shops, and turned around the corner - shacks, miserable shops, dirt, rare kerosene lanterns, poorly dressed, exhausted people ...

In the center - wealth, around - a ring of working districts. And from morning to night, dozens of factory chimneys smoke continuously, whistles of different voices hum, endless carts of bales rumble along the pavements, and a mass of workers hastily moves from the outskirts to the factories and back. This working life, interests, deprivations, the sharpness of class contradictions and the demands and demands arising from this had to result in a powerful proletarian mass movement, to create strong workers' organizations ...

At the beginning of 1905, when the working class of Russia had already entered into an armed struggle with tsarism, the Ivanovo Voznesensk people already had one of the most well-organized workers' Social-Democratic Bolshevik organizations in Russia. It immediately became clear how influential the Social Democratic organization of the Bolsheviks was among the working masses. In response to bloody sunday On January 9, the Ivanovo-Voznesensk group held a series of strikes in St. Petersburg, deepening its influence on the masses. It skilfully accumulates and organizes proletarian forces. Proclamations are drawn up and distributed in large numbers both among the workers and among the peasants and soldiers. The requirements of the workers of the various factories are harmonized in such a way as to unite all factories positively. By April, the will of the workers of all factories for a unanimous strike was finally revealed. A proclamation appears signed by the Ivanovo-Voznesensk group of the Northern Committee (seal - "Kostroma group of the Sev. Kom. RSDLP"). It is widespread throughout the city and even the region.

On May 1, the Ivanovo-Voznesensk proletariat created its own mass holiday Labor, and on this day the Social Democratic speakers not only used May Day slogans, but also expressed in their speeches those economic demands that were at that time in Ivanovo-Voznesensk the requirements of every weaver and weaver.

The war greatly inflated the prices of basic necessities, while wages remained almost at the level of previous years. The demands made by the workers of individual factories were systematically left unsatisfied by the factory owners. The position of the proletariat has deteriorated to the extreme.

Shortly after May 1, Ivanovo-Voznesensk was engulfed in a general strike. Up to 60,000 men and women went on strike. This mass of workers, emerging from their slave position, immediately became the master of the city. The bourgeoisie, along with the police and officials, trembled. The Social Democratic Party firmly led the people of Ivanovo along the path of organized revolutionary struggle.

On May 15, at a general meeting of 35,000 workers on the Talka River, a workers' organization unprecedented in the world was created - the Council of Workers' Deputies, which served as a prototype for the St. Petersburg and Moscow Soviets in 1905.

Only the revolutionary proletarian vanguard, connected with the depths of life of the working masses, could create such an organization, having absorbed all the rich experience of the mass working-class movement for many years.

The council immediately became popular in the eyes of the workers, since it included representatives of all factories and factories, and became even more influential because women, who constituted the predominant element of the proletariat of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, also entered it. From the very first steps, the Soviet took it upon itself to take care of the vital interests of the workers during the strike: negotiations with the city duma, the governor, the police, and also with local shopkeepers in order to get the latter to sell products on credit to the workers during the strike. The Council acted as an organ of power representing the interests of the working masses. The police felt completely at a loss. The bourgeoisie with the directors left Ivanovo; the City Duma did not meet (all of May and June). The Ivanovo-Voznesensk Council was extremely popular not only in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, but throughout the region. To communicate with him, delegations were sent from the nearest factory centers: Teikov, Sereda, Rodnikov, Shuya, Kokhma, etc. etc. Requested to send speakers, leaflets and instructions.

As the forces of the Soviet itself strengthened and developed, the faith of the proletariat in its own strength grew stronger, and with it the influence of the Social Democratic Party, which created the Soviet and led it, grew stronger.

The Party felt the greatest responsibility for the course of the strikes, worked with gigantic perseverance and energy, transferred Party discipline to the broad working masses, taught the masses of selflessness, setting an example of this selflessness, and by its intense work showed an example of energy. The Ivanovo-Voznesensk organization of the Bolsheviks, having set up a Soviet to lead the strike, set yet another important task: to train and create cadres of revolutionary workers on the basis of their grandiose organizational work. After the meeting, and at every free moment, the Soviet assumed the position of a Party school. Regular lectures were given on questions of Marxism and the labor movement. In this way, up to 200 revolutionary workers were trained, who in October 1905 played a major organizational role in the labor movement, and many of them continue to play the same role in our Great Revolution up to this day.

The factory owners, together with the police, could not be indifferent to the systematic and deeply socialist work carried out by the leaders of the strike movement. The factory owners demanded that the police put an end to this and put an end to the "socialist university on the Talka River." Unable to break the strike organized by the Soviet of Workers, the factory owners set about a provocation. They demanded the arrest of delegates and deputies. The governor banned the meeting. In response, the workers decided to continue the strike and continued to gather on Talka. The Ivanovo-Voznesensk strike, which dragged on for several weeks, began to attract the attention of the workers of all Russia. When the bourgeois newspapers, like Russkoye Slovo, which sent their correspondents to Ivanovo-Voznesensk, began to write about how unitedly and disciplined under the able leadership of such leaders as Comrade. Dunaev, a strike is going on, and when, thus, the fame of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk strike spread throughout Russia, the Ivanovo-Voznesensk workers felt responsible to all the workers of Russia and instinctively refrained from taking any step without the order of the Soviet.

The entire bourgeoisie of Russia became agitated and demanded reprisals against the workers.

On June 3, such a massacre followed with the help of the Cossacks and the police. The Astrakhan Cossacks, drunk by the police, committed this savage massacre. Workers were shot in groups and alone, tortured and mutilated. In response to the executions and in retaliation for the murdered comrades, the workers began to burn the houses and dachas of the manufacturers, smash the shops, from which the sellers did not want to lend to the workers. Ivanovo-Voznesensk was placed under a state of siege. Strikers were seized, arrested, beaten, sent to prison. But the manufacturers and the police had to yield. The workers again won the right to assemble on Talka. The Soviet of Workers' Deputies, whose work had been disrupted by the police, was now deprived of the opportunity to be responsible for order in the city.

On June 23 (I don't remember exactly), a grandiose procession of many thousands of workers took place from Talka to the city to the square in front of the city duma. Arriving at the square, the mass of the workers, seeing themselves surrounded on all sides by the Cossacks, sat down on the ground and began to quietly arm themselves ... with stones. But the police did not dare to attack the workers. The rally went on for several hours. The slogan of the speakers' speeches was "bread and work." Anger boiled in the chest of the working masses. On June 23, it was decided to continue the strike and seek satisfaction of the demands of the workers. The manufacturers rejected these demands. The excitement of the workers reached extreme tension.

After the refusal of the manufacturers on June 25, the Soviet of Workers' Deputies resigned, declaring at a meeting that it was no longer responsible for the consequences. In Ivanovo-Voznesensk, pogroms of flour and grocery stores began. Hungry workers rushed to the food supplies. Up to 150 shops were destroyed. The manufacturers then decided to make concessions, but only petty concessions. The workers continued to strike. By an enormous exertion of all their strength, the hungry, exhausted workers continued their struggle and did not give up. The manufacturers made a few more concessions.

The strike ended on 17 July. The party organization of the Bolsheviks brilliantly passed the test in terms of organization and agitation. The Soviet of Workers' Deputies showed the full strength and significance of proletarian power. Ivanovo-Voznesensk textile workers became the head of the entire working revolutionary movement Russia. The Ivanovo-Voznesensk strike and the Soviet of Workers' Deputies showed what the victory of the proletariat lies in and what path must be followed in order to achieve it.

The form of proletarian power laid down by the Ivanovo Voznesensk people on the Talka River in the form of a local Council of Deputies was recreated by the St. Petersburg and Moscow proletariat in the autumn of the same year in the form of the same Soviets.

The victory of the proletariat then turned out to be short-lived and fragile, but the Soviet of Workers' Deputies, which flashed brightly for a moment, entered the pages of history in order to occupy that grandiose world position which is now occupied.

Podvoisky N. The First Council of Workers' Deputies (Ivanovo-Voznesensky - 1905). M., 1925. p. 3 - 10

F. N. Samoilov

On the morning of May 12, work in all factories and factories proceeded at the usual pace. Around noon, the workers of the Bakulin factory quit their jobs and went out the gate. I then worked at the weaving factory of the Partnership of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk Weaving Manufactory. We, members of the party organization, having gathered in a group of several people, went on reconnaissance two or three times to find out what was being done at other factories. We looked into Bakulin's factory: the workers, having abandoned their work, were standing in a large crowd at the gate and talking noisily. At a short distance from them, just opposite the factory, a detachment of Cossacks stood in full battle formation ...

A rumor suddenly spread among the assembled workers that some personalities, who had appeared from nowhere, were walking among the strikers and were imperceptibly making marks with chalk on the backs of the most prominent leaders of the strike. Everyone quickly and anxiously began to look around and move from place to place, looking for these mysterious faces in order to deal with them. But no one was found. It is possible that this provocative rumor was spread by police agents in order to confuse the ranks of the strikers.

When we returned to our factory from the last reconnaissance, it was already about four or five in the evening. The workers were still working. Despite the upbeat, clearly strike mood, it was not easy to rouse the working masses to strike. All members of the organization at the factory walked around the buildings and agitated for a strike, but the workers did not dare to quit their jobs.

Finally, we learned that strikers from the neighboring textile factories Zubkov and Polushin had come up to the rear gate of the factory and demanded that we immediately join them. Then we got down to business more resolutely and began to shout loudly everywhere: “Give up work! Long live the strike! The workers quickly, as if on cue, stopped the machines in two weaving houses and in the spinning house, and in a dense crowd began to go out into the wide courtyard of the factory. And there, behind the back gate, the weavers of two neighboring factories demanded to open the gate.

When we, a group of party members, at the head of a huge crowd of weavers and spinners, approached the gate, there were already two policemen and several watchmen there. The policemen stood at the very gates in a resolute pose, with the clear intention of not letting anyone through. Before reaching a few steps from the police, we stopped in indecision. There was silence for a few seconds. The policemen didn't move. Finally, I and some others went to the police. The whole crowd followed us. The policemen were thrown back. The gates opened. The strikers from neighboring factories quickly joined us, and we moved across the yard in a mass to another, the so-called upper gate.

At this time, one of the comrades said that I should immediately appear at a secret meeting. I quickly headed there. The meeting took place in the forest, near the Talka River. When I arrived, comrades Terenty, Marta and many others were already there. We discussed the situation and adopted a number of decisions on the question of leading the strike.

Meanwhile, the strikers from all factories and factories moved to the main city square along the city street. Here, after a brief speech by one of the comrades, it was decided to immediately disperse to their homes, and the next day to gather again right there by 10 o'clock in the morning.

The next day, already at 9 o'clock, the strikers were drawn in dense crowds from all the workers' quarters to the main city square. At about 10 o'clock, the entire square and a significant part of the streets adjacent to it were completely crowded with workers. In the center of the square, just opposite the building of the city council, the entire city social-democratic organization gathered, surrounded by a living wall of workers. Everything stopped in the city, the factory chimneys stopped smoking, industrial life came to a standstill. All shops and shops are closed. The workers have become masters of the situation; the authorities and the manufacturers were powerless...

The square was already crowded, and people continued to arrive. It was quiet. Those gathered behaved very calmly and peacefully. Thick red faces peered expectantly from the windows of the city council.

According to the Governor's report to the Minister of the Interior, the number of strikers on the first day was 40,000.

At about 11 o'clock one of the comrades brought a stool and placed it in the center of our group of party members. E. Dunaev got up, and silence instantly fell. All eyes turned to the speaker. Having examined the huge crowd, Dunaev, after a pause that lasted several seconds, made a short speech. He talked about the need to fight until our demands, which we present to manufacturers and breeders, are satisfied. He urged to keep himself as calm as possible: do not make noise, do not shout, do not touch anyone.

In vain did these people close their shops and stores, he said, we are not thieves, not robbers, not some kind of swindlers, but honest workers, toilers who never lived at someone else's expense or by someone else's labor. All our life we ​​support by our own labor a multitude of all sorts of exploiters and parasites, idle bums. Therefore, let the people who have closed shops and shops not measure us by their own arshin; let them know that honest workers - workers - are not at all what they are.

When Dunaev finished speaking, a roar of approval swept through the crowd. After that, at the initiative of the Social Democratic organization, it was proposed to make collections in favor of the strikers. Reliable comrades, 10 ^ - 15 people, were offered as candidates for the assemblers. By a unanimous show of hands, the assembly approved them. I was one of those collectors. We immediately began to collect, dispersing in different directions. A lot of time passed before we went around the whole huge crowd, collecting labor coppers, small silver coins, and sometimes small papers in our caps. I made the rounds not only of the striking workers, but also of all the owners of shops and stores, who, after Dunaev's speech, reopened trade. They also threw various trifles into my cap, but they did it very reluctantly. Many of them anxiously asked:

When will all this end for you?

What is it? I asked them in turn.

Yes, this is it, - they continued, nodding their heads at the meeting, - is it your strike, or what?

Why, it has only just begun, and you want it to end,” I replied.

But it's a mess, they didn't let up.

And when the owners tear up three skins from us, is that okay? - I asked them a question, already starting to worry. - As soon as the owners satisfy our demands, we will end the strike.

After that, those who asked were sullenly silent and went to their shops.

When all the collectors returned, each had an almost full cap of coppers, silver coins and small papers. This marked the beginning of the strike fund.

In addition to Dunaev, other comrades spoke at the meeting: they talked about the demands put forward by the workers and explained why it was necessary to fight for these demands.

Cossacks and police behaved calmly. The meeting ended late in the evening; The next day we decided to meet again. Immediately after the meeting, we went to the safe house and counted the money we had collected. There were already several hundred rubles in the strike fund...

The governor has arrived. Together with other royal officials, he restlessly looked out of the windows of the city council at the sea of ​​​​heads that flooded the city square. From the very first days of the strike, the governor began to gather troops in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, informing the central authorities in detail about the situation that had arisen ...

The next day the meeting in the square resumed. At the same time, speeches by prominent members of the Social Democratic organization were organized in different parts of the square, explaining the demands made to the owners. Then the performances began. general: they talked about the difficult situation of the working class, about the reasons for this and the need for a resolute struggle to improve their situation. On the square stood the Cossacks in full armor. During the speeches of the agitators, representatives of the authorities and some well-dressed ladies and gentlemen watched from the windows of the city government.

Comrade Lakin 1, a worker of the Gryaznov factory, stepped onto the podium and, making an impressive gesture in the direction of the council, began to recite Nekrasov's Reflections at the Front Door. His voice was loud, and his recitation made a strong impression. The audience was delighted, but all the physiognomies peeping out of the windows of the council instantly disappeared, the windows closed and did not open for a long time. Tov. Lakin was one of the leaders of the strike and subsequently gained great fame among the workers as a fiery and talented speaker and organizer.

During the first days of the strike, the mood among the workers was very great, and the number of strikers increased every day. The striking workers of the textile factories and mechanical factories were joined by new groups of workers from small workshops. Those who had joined the strike again went straight to the square, poured into total mass and through their leaders, in simple and unsophisticated words, they spoke of their plight and their demands. Listening to the terrible stories of the workers of small enterprises about the inhuman exploitation by their owners, the crowd was dumbly worried, approvingly greeted all those who rejoined its ranks and promised them their fraternal support.

During the days of the strike, the manufacturer Burylin wrote in a letter to his relative: “What happened in three days is indescribable. An unprecedented picture of events ... I am deprived of a coachman, I boil tea myself, the last watchman was removed from the factory, I guard the factory myself. The authorities were at a loss ... One feels dual power in the city ... "

A few days later, the authorities suggested that the strikers stop gathering in the square "so as not to disrupt traffic." From that time on, meetings took place near the railway station, at the edge of the forest, on the Talka River.

The senior factory inspector of the Vladimir province, Svirsky, on behalf of the owners of enterprises and the authorities, suggested that the strikers break into factories and negotiate with each owner separately; but we rejected this impudent demand at once.

On May 14, the strikers elected 150 deputies to negotiate with government officials and to lead the strike. This was done with the knowledge and consent of the governor, who gave a guarantee of the inviolability of the personality of the workers' deputies. Elections of deputies (authorized) were carried out in factories under the leadership of local party cells. There were no special instructions from the group of the Northern Committee in this regard, and it did not discuss the issue of the composition of the Council of Commissioners. When, at a meeting with M. V. Frunze, I informed him that the workers of our factory had elected me and S. Balashov (Wanderer) as a deputy, Mikhail Vasilyevich asked in bewilderment:

Well, Arkhipych 2, after all, you are both members of the group, and who will work in the group?

In response to my remark that the workers trust us and have unanimously elected us and that we will be able to work in the Deputy Assembly and in the group, Frunze, after thinking, said:

Perhaps it is better this way - through you the group will be more closely connected with the meeting of deputies, and through it with the working masses ...

On May 15, the first meeting of workers' deputies took place in the petty-bourgeois council, at which a presidium was elected. This is how the Council of Commissioners was formed, which went down in history as the Ivanovo-Voznesensk Council of Workers' Deputies.

This first Soviet of Workers' Deputies arose as a body directing the economic strike. His initial role was limited to negotiating with the authorities and manufacturers and the general direction of the economic struggle of the Ivanovo workers. But in the natural course of the struggle of the working class, the general strike of the Ivanovites, which began on economic grounds, very soon took on a political coloring, as can be seen even from the demand for the convocation of a Constituent Assembly, which was unanimously adopted by the strikers at a meeting of many thousands already on the third day of the strike, May 15.

Was the Ivanovo-Voznesensk Assembly of Deputies a true Soviet of Workers' Deputies in the true sense of the word? In resolving this issue, for a long time, one had to be guided only by the memoirs of the participants in the strike and a small number of secondary archival documents. The main documents - protocols, despite all efforts, were not found (according to the participants in the events, they were taken away by one of the leaders of the strike abroad and got lost there).

At present, important archival documents have been found that shed light on this issue.

The first meeting of the Council of Workers' Deputies of Ivanovo-Voznesensk was attended by the senior factory inspector of the Vladimir province, Svirsky, and two of his assistants. The economic and political demands made by the striking business owners and the authorities were discussed.

Much was said at this meeting about the introduction of an 8-hour working day. All the speakers ardently argued the need to put this demand into practice at all costs, and only E. Dunaev, during the discussion of this question, suddenly threw out a few words to the effect that, in an extreme case, temporarily we could, they say, be satisfied with hourly day. But this proposal met with a decisive rebuff. The decision to introduce an 8-hour working day was adopted unanimously.

At this meeting, the representatives of the factory inspectorate, as in the first days of the strike, suggested that the workers split into factories and make demands separately to each owner of the enterprise. This proposal also met with strong objections and was unanimously voted down. Decisions on all issues discussed at this meeting were taken unanimously, without much controversy.

Representatives of the factory inspectorate pretended to observe the impartiality of a third, disinterested party. But after the failure of their offer to break into factories, the mood of the inspectors changed, no matter how hard they tried to hide it. Representatives of the factory inspectorate became even more nervous after the Soviet of Workers' Deputies refused a request from a government official to print urgent paper in one of the striking printing houses. This request was strongly supported by the Inspectorate.

At the very first meeting of the Soviet, the demands of the workers were considered, which were then printed on a hectograph by the Social Democratic organization, and at the top of the sheet it appeared: “Russian Social Democratic Labor Party” and “Proletarians of all countries, unite!”. I remember when we submitted these demands to the director of our factory, he resolutely refused to accept them, on the grounds that they came from the Social Democratic Party and not from the workers of his factory. We had an argument about this. We insisted on accepting the demands in this form, but he stubbornly refused to accept them, declaring that the Social-Democratic Party was illegal and could not officially act on behalf of the workers. But in the end he was forced to yield and accepted the demands of the workers in the form in which we offered them to him.

In the first days, the meetings of the Council took place in the petty-bourgeois council, the police did not interfere with them. Then the police demanded that the protocols be presented to her for review. The council flatly refused. After this, meetings in the premises of the petty-bourgeois council were prohibited, and the Soviet of Workers' Deputies moved them to the bank of the Talka River, where meetings of all the striking workers were held daily. MV Frunze has always actively participated in the meetings of the Council.

From the very first days of the formation of the Soviet, the authorities entered into negotiations with it on various issues related to the strike, and thereby actually recognized in the Soviet an organ of legal representation of the striking workers.

In the very first days of meetings on Talka, the workers of each factory and plant, in addition to general requirements developed additional requirements of a private nature regarding the arrangement of laundries, baths, etc.

In the mornings, before the start of the rally, the city committee of the party with party activists met and outlined the order of the day for the Council of Commissioners.

Meetings on Talka took place every day from 10 o'clock in the morning. Their order of conduct was approximately the following. In the morning, at 9 o'clock, the plenum of the Council of Commissioners met. The meetings of the plenum took place at the forest gatehouse, on a small lawn separated from the place of the general meeting of workers by the Talka River, which in this place makes a sharp bend, forming a small peninsula in the form of a semicircular area overgrown with thick green grass. At the plenum, all questions on the leadership of the strike were discussed and the order of the day for the general meeting of the strikers was worked out. Only members of the Soviet and representatives of the party organization were present at the plenum. The outside public was not allowed, except when it was necessary to make an important and urgent message.

Every day, by the end of the plenum of the Council of Commissioners, several thousand strikers gathered at Talka. Then the plenum closed. The deputies went to the podium, to the place of the general meeting (a barrel served as a podium), and the meeting was opened by a speech by one of the deputies or party workers: the workers were informed about the progress of the strike, about negotiations with the owners, about relations with the authorities, etc. a brief discussion of practical questions relating to the current affairs of the strike, and the proposals made on behalf of the Council were voted on. And then usually one of the party workers made a long agitational political speech on the topic of the condition of the working class, the causes of its lack of rights and economic need, and ways to eliminate them. The speakers also spoke about the development of the working-class movement in our country and abroad, about political parties, about trade unions, they also talked about other topics that aroused the consciousness of the workers; the assembly turned into a kind of free working university. The strikers listened to these speeches with great attention, often interrupted by shouts of approval and applause. The first speaker was followed by a second, a third, and the meeting continued until the listeners were exhausted; then revolutionary songs were sung, and the meeting closed.

In the very first days of the strike, the Council of Deputies demanded that the authorities close all government wine shops for the duration of the strike. This requirement was granted. In the city at that time there was an order that had never been before the strike: there were no drunks to be seen, no fights, no scandals, no gambling, which the Council also forbade.

But, despite the great revolutionary upsurge, at first there were no decisive calls for armed struggle in the speeches at these meetings; most of the strikers were still under the illusion that anything could be achieved peacefully.

Once F. Kukushkin (nicknamed Gogol) 3 after a short speech shouted from the podium: "Down with the autocracy!" The assembly protested, and it took no small effort to calm it down. After this incident, it became especially clear to us that the strikers still needed to be prepared for the struggle, educated politically, and that the approach to them must be skillful and cautious.

During the rallies on Talka, cases of hostile agitation among the strikers were often observed; deputies and party members who were among the workers, immediately intervene in conversations directed against the strike, exposed the enemies.

The most prominent and popular deputies were E. Dunaev, N. Grachev (Secretary of the Council), M. Lakin, D. Shorokhov, Kosyakov, V. Morozov (Ermak), K. Makarov, N. Zhidelev, D. Chernikova, Saramantova (Marta ), P. Kozlov (Tolstoy), Tsarsky.

For negotiations with the manufacturers and the authorities, as representatives of the Soviet, Kosyakov and Grachev went most often.

Once, several people, authorized by the Soviet of Workers' Deputies, came to the governor to clarify the situation that had arisen in connection with the stubborn intransigence of the owners. The delegates waited for the governor for a long time in the reception room, no one even invited them to sit down.

Finally, the governor came out, accompanied by several close associates. We greeted each other and were about to start a business conversation, when suddenly there was a deafening peal of thunder and a bright, blinding lightning flashed. The governor and his entire retinue crossed themselves vigorously.

And we, - said one of the delegates, - did not blink an eye, no one thought to be baptized. We stand still, watching them cross themselves, and some of us couldn't even suppress an ironic smile. "Don't you believe in God?" - exclaimed the governor, surprised by our behavior. Then Comrade, who was among the delegates. Kosyakov answered him that we, they say, have nothing to fear from a thunderstorm, we have seen all sorts of thunderstorms, but if hunger threatens us, then we are afraid of it - we know him very well and know that he is more terrible than any thunderstorm and it is impossible to disown him. Without answering Kosyakov, the governor cited some excerpt from Krylov's fable. Then tov. Kosyakov answered him with Krylov's fable "The Pig under the Oak".

After that, the mood of the authorities changed a lot for the worse for us, - another delegate reported. - There were no more private conversations that were not directly related to the case. After the governor's brief reply that he could not do anything, that the owners had the right to yield to us or not to yield, we, as always happened, left the authorities with nothing.

At meetings and in negotiations with the authorities, the worker Yevlampy Dunaev spoke especially often. He was very popular among the strikers. he said plain language understandable to the working masses. He approached questions skillfully and covered them sensibly and clearly. He looked like the most ordinary worker: thin, of medium height, always dressed in a worn blue blouse or a simple shirt of the same color. With his clear and simple speech, he inspired the workers with special confidence; they felt that this was their own person. The authorities considered Dunaev one of the prominent leaders of the strike and took all measures to arrest him, but due to good secrecy, they did not succeed. One day, a worker came to a general meeting on Talka and said that they had arrested him, mistaking him for Dunaev, and kept him under arrest for several days, until they found out that Dunaev continued to speak daily at the meetings of the strikers.

On May 17, the owners sent answers to the demands of the workers through the factory inspection. Each host answered separately, and these answers, sealed in envelopes, accumulated a mass. At the moment these answers were received, a general meeting of the strikers was taking place; one of the party workers, comrade. Terenty, taking this whole bunch of envelopes with the master's answers in an armful, went up to the podium and, showing them, said: “Now we finally received an answer to our demands from the hosts. Let's see what they, our "breadwinners" and "benefactors", write to us," and announced a break in the meeting.

To consider the master's responses to the demands of the workers, a plenum of the Soviet was urgently convened. The answers to all demands were negative, except for the consent of the owners to some insignificant increases and the satisfaction by them of certain petty demands regarding baths and laundries in factories. The owners said about political demands that they were sent to the wrong address, that their satisfaction did not depend on them. ..

After considering the answers of the hosts, it was decided to continue the strike, political demands were sent to the Minister of the Interior. They were signed by the deputies, accurately indicating their professions...

At the end of May, the workers of Shuya (9048 people), then the workers of Teikov (9127 people) joined the Ivanovo workers on strike. Factories went on strike in the village of Yuzha (6127 people), Grodzilovo (1805 people) and some others. During this period, there were about 70,000 strikers in the Ivanovo region. All of them kept in touch with the Ivanovo Soviet, received advice and instructions from it. Thus, the Ivanovo Soviet actually directed the strike movement of the entire region.

The technique in the Social-Democratic organization was not bad at that moment. I was instructed to supply the printing house with paper, paint and other materials. The printing house was located on the outskirts of the city, along the Bolshoi Lezhnevsky tract. I bought paper, paint, and so on in Ilyinsky's shop and, with the help of several comrades, delivered it by detour to the printing house. The printing house printed daily bulletins on the course of the strike, which were distributed at general meetings; These ballots were of great propaganda value...

Contrary to the prohibition of the authorities, on May 23, a meeting of the strikers under the slogan "Work, bread!" was again held in the city square by the decision of the Council. Returning from the square to Talka, the demonstrators threw out a red flag and sang "Be brave, comrades, in step ...". It was the first demonstration with a red banner during the entire strike.

Business owners have disappeared from the city. Only managers, directors and other administration remained at the factories, with which the workers entered into negotiations through their deputies. At one of the meetings on Talka, at the suggestion of the Soviet, it was decided to go to the factories demanding payment of wages during the strike. But when the workers' deputies came to the factories, the administration answered them that there were no owners and that no authority had been left to anyone on this issue. There were big disputes in many factories. As a result, on the very next day, the governor issued an order in which he threatened "to take measures against those who allow themselves threats and noise during negotiations with the factory administration on the question of payment for the duration of the strike."

The owners nevertheless decided to give the workers a certain amount, though a very small amount, I think, one ruble per person. During the strike such distributions were made two or three times.

The popularity of the strike and the authority of the Soviet of Workers' Deputies grew every day and spread far beyond the city limits. Various requests and complaints came to our Council from the workers of the nearest cities and towns about harassment by the owners. It is important to note that the Council also received complaints from peasants about harassment by landowners and various rural authorities. So, for example, the Shuya peasants sent walkers with a complaint about the illegal actions of the forester. Another ten walkers of the peasants asked for instructions on "how to take away the land and destroy the zemstvo chiefs." The peasants of Murom and other counties applied to the Soviet...

Delegates from workers from different parts of the province often came for advice and with all kinds of complaints about the owners. They were invited to meetings of the Soviet, listened to, given the necessary instructions, advice, and sometimes one of the deputies or party workers was sent with them to their place to organize a strike. Walkers from the workers Shuya, Teikov, Lezhnev, Rodnikov and other industrial centers of the Ivanovo region came to the Soviet of Workers' Deputies.

In the bourgeois newspapers (" Russian word”, “Russian Vedomosti”, etc.) much was written then about the events in the “Russian Manchester”, as they called Ivanovo-Voznesensk. These newspapers covered the strike in different ways: some, like Russkoye Slovo and Russkiye Vedomosti, printed lengthy articles about the strike, fawned over, “approved” restraint, discipline, etc. etc.; others, like the Russky Leaflet, swore and slandered the strikers in every possible way...

The police continued to behave calmly outwardly, but they followed the leaders of the strike and even surreptitiously hunted them. Some comrades were arrested during the first weeks of the strike, but were released some time later. These arrests embittered the strikers and invariably contributed to the still greater growth of class consciousness. When one of the comrades, after two or three weeks of arrest, appeared on the podium, an enthusiastic meeting was arranged for him ...

The council instructed the police to monitor order in the city and not allow strikebreakers to work. During the first weeks of the strike, Soviet-appointed militia patrols were stationed near the factories in the morning to check if anyone was going to work. I also had to visit the patrol on behalf of the Council more than once. Early in the morning, when the sun was just rising, you used to stand on the main road leading to the factory and see if a scab would show up somewhere. But an hour passes, then another - all around is quiet and deserted. There are silent buildings-giants of factories and plants located on both banks of the river Uvodi flowing through the city. Their huge chimneys do not smoke, the usual noise and rattling of looms is not heard.

A lot of bitterness has accumulated in the hearts of the workers from all sorts of insults and harassment over the course of decades. The struggle against unequal in strength enemies - the capitalists - is difficult: one has to starve and endure the need for everything most necessary. But the Ivanovo workers do not bend. There are no strikebreakers, there is complete desertion around ...

Once, while on duty, I had to meet with the police chief of the city of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Kozhelovsky, who later shot at the workers. The sun was already high, the usual silence and solitude all around. The patrolmen were standing on the bank of a steep ravine near the factory of the "Company" when the chief of police appeared on the road from the town of Dmitrievka. We all knew his figure well. He rode in a cab with a coachman and an armed guard and was heading towards us. We pretended not to pay attention to him. Before reaching us a few dozen steps, he said:

What? Are you careful not to let those who want to get a job? Forced to strike? Look in vain: the factories will not work! Don't be afraid, they won't roll anymore! Soon you yourself will ask to be let in, but no, no, they won’t turn around! They won't wrap up for a long time! Go on strike now, go on strike!

We did not answer, pretending that this did not apply to us, and he left. Later it became known that the employers wanted to "starve us out" by artificially dragging out the strike.

Time passed, and the manufacturers were silent. The need among the strikers grew and became more and more unbearable. At first, apart from a few hundred rubles collected by us on the first day of the strike, there was nothing in the Soviet's cash box. Then the money collected by the workers of other cities and industrial towns began to arrive. Organized a commission for the issuance of benefits. During the strike, as far as I remember, about 15,000 rubles were received. The number of those in need grew, and since it was impossible to satisfy everyone, the commission had to strictly select those who were especially in need of benefits. Benefits were not given in money, but by checks and coupons of the consumer society, and those in need received benefits in food.

The cooperative "Unity is Strength" played a big positive role in the strike, providing food assistance to the strikers; he was a thorn in the side of the police. The police decided to interfere with the cooperative; Under the pretext that the striking workers, who came to the shop of the cooperative for groceries, allegedly hinder trade, the police sent Cossacks to the shop, who brutally beat the workers.

The "University" on Talka continued to exist. The results of his political and educational work were more and more noticeable. The same workers who, at the beginning of the strike, did not even want to listen to the revolutionary calls “Down with the autocracy!”, “Long live the armed uprising!” etc., now, after passing the "initial course of political literacy", they loudly applauded the heated political speeches directed against the tsarist autocracy. Now the workers sang revolutionary songs with great enthusiasm.

The most popular songs on Talka were Whip, Dubinushka, Car, Trepov General; they were sung by striking workers. Here are the words of "Nagayka" - a song composed by the people in 1905:

Once in connection with this song there was an interesting episode. A group of combatants returning from a meeting encountered two Cossacks. In a short fight, the Cossacks were disarmed, and whips were taken from them. At the next meeting, Yevlampiy Dunaev sang the song Whip, conducting a real Cossack whip. This caused general merriment, witticisms about the goofy Cossacks and laughter. On this day, "Nagayka" was sung with special enthusiasm.

They often sang "Machinushka". The song ended with angry prophetic words:

But fear, formidable king!
We will not, as of old,
Be patient with your grief.
Like a wave in a storm
Waking up from sleep
The working people are raging like the sea.
Your luxurious palace
We will destroy completely!
And only ashes will be left from the throne,
And we will take your purple in battle
And cut ourselves into banners!
merchant merchants,
Your faithful sons
We, like clouds, will scatter across the field,
And in the place of enmity
Yes severe need
We will establish brotherhood and freedom!

From these battle songs of the revolution, the working people drew energy, perseverance and the will to fight, faith in the inevitable victory of the workers' cause.

The political and educational work of the party organization was not limited to daytime, open rallies on the banks of the Talka. In the evenings, and sometimes late at night, conspiratorial meetings were held for a narrower circle of party and non-party activists in the forest, by the fire, where reports on political and social issues were listened to. All the party leaders were usually present at these meetings, and the night passed unnoticed in a lively exchange of opinions.

The authorities could not ignore this. They understood that anti-government agitation had been going on for a long time on Talka. And they decided to put an end to this by cracking down on the strikers.

On June 2, the governor's decree was pasted up, according to which meetings of workers on Talka were strictly forbidden ...

The authorities threw off the mask of a "third party" in the "dispute" between the workers and factory owners and the prohibition of meetings, they tried to break our solidarity and organization.

A secret meeting of deputies and party workers was held, at which it was decided, despite the prohibition, to still meet at the usual time on Talka. This decision was orally conveyed to the strikers. Before the meeting, on the morning of June 3, combatants carried out reconnaissance of the forest that surrounded the place of the meeting of the strikers; large groups of Cossacks and dragoons were found in different places in an ambush. At about 11 o'clock at the edge of the forest, near the forest gatehouse, on the side of Talka opposite the usual meeting place, about three thousand workers gathered. Everyone sat on the ground and waited for the others to come up to open the meeting. People kept coming.

But now, from the side of the station, a large detachment of Cossacks appeared with police chief Kozhelovsky at the head. Those gathered continued to sit quietly, vigilantly watching the movement of the Cossacks.

The Cossacks drove up to a small bridge spanning the Talka. After a moment's stop at the bridge, they quickly moved across it. Having crossed the river, the Cossacks again stopped for a minute. At the attempt of some members of the Council to negotiate, the chief of police responded with curses and threats. He shouted three times in a row: “Disperse! Disperse! Disperse! ”, At the same moment he commanded:“ Cossacks, forward! - and he was the first to rush into the crowd. Behind him, spurring their horses, the Cossacks rushed with a shout and whoop.

People were already on their feet and began to retreat, at first slowly, and then faster and faster, and finally rushed into the forest in an avalanche in different directions. Most moved to the railroad line. We, the deputies, tried to stop this spontaneous flow, since in the forest it was possible, not without success, to resist the mounted Cossacks. But the wild howling, cursing and whooping of drunken Cossacks had their effect. The retreating Cossacks fired several volleys from rifles...

I somehow found myself in a crowd of those who were moving towards the railroad tracks. With a feeling of great anger, I, along with other comrades, began to collect stones on the railway line, intending to organize resistance to a gang of scoundrels. The Cossacks continued to shoot at those running across the railway embankment, "shooting" them from there with bullets; Panic seized the fugitives, and I realized that nothing could be done, that I had to leave. He joined a group of comrades heading into the forest, to the left of the railway. We walked through the forest for a long time until we reached the lodge, which was at a fairly large distance from Talka.

There were already several people in the gatehouse. We went in to ask for a drink. But the watchman, who was at that time in the yard, suddenly ran into the gatehouse and grabbed a revolver from the wall. At one point, several people attacked the watchman and disarmed him. He looked at us like a beast. At first we thought that he mistook us for robbers, and we began to explain to him who we were, we said that we did not wish him anything bad and would not do it. But he continued to look at us with hostility, and we moved on. We walked again for a long time through the forest until we came to the village of Bogorodskoye. There we met several comrades and, having rested a little, went to the city ... On the same evening, several wine shops were destroyed, many telephone and telegraph wires were torn. The streets were littered with twisted telegraph poles. Telegraph and telephone communication was interrupted. Crowds of embittered workers beat the policemen they came across.

It was clear that for the armed action of the workers, driven to the extreme by the brutal execution, only weapons were lacking. Rumors circulated in the city about a large number of dead and wounded, and curses and threats were heard everywhere against the perpetrators of the savage reprisals against the strikers ...

Samoilov F.I. In the wake of the past. M.. 1954. p. 63 - 75. 77 - 78

Notes:

1 He was killed by the Black Hundreds in 1905 in the city of Undola, Vladimir province. Note. ed.

2 My then party nickname. Note. ed.

3 Later turned out to be a provocateur. Note. ed.

Russia at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries was, as you know, an agrarian country with the beginnings of market relations, slowly but surely advancing on the old order. The traditional way of life gradually gave way to emerging capitalism. However, the vast majority of the population Russian Empire peasants continued to make up, the proletariat was still extremely weak and not numerous.

Founded in 1871 by the merger of the village of Ivanovo and Voznesensky Posad, Ivanovo-Voznesensk (after 1932 and still known as Ivanovo) from the very first day of its existence was a striking contrast to the main mass of ancient Russian settlements. old center flax processing (Ivanovo), which has long claimed the title of the main center of light industry in Europe, being combined with the industrial Voznesensky Posad, immediately began to play an important role in the economic life of the Empire. Ivanovo-Voznesensk has become a kind of symbol of the new path of the old, patriarchal Russia, which lived according to the peasant way of life for many years. Against the backdrop of the continued development of industry, the city also developed rapidly: new large enterprises were built, a hospital and a public library appeared, majestic buildings were built by the new “masters of life” - wealthy merchants-manufacturers. It is not surprising that the proletariat played an important role in the life of the industrial city, to early XIX century, more than 30 thousand workers worked at his enterprises, providing a luxurious life for a small "elite".

The working conditions of these workers, as you can easily guess, were far from ideal: cramped, dirty barracks for housing, the absence of any social security, 12-13-hour working days. The logical outcome of all this was that dissatisfaction with the current situation began to ripen among the workers. Already in the 80s and 90s years XIX centuries, the first mass strikes took place in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, and in 1892 the first working circle appeared here, ties were established with the Bolsheviks (including Lenin personally), who at that time represented the most consistent revolutionary movement, making the main emphasis on the proletariat. In 1901, the Ivanovo-Voznesensk organization joined the Northern Union, which stood on the platform of the Leninist Iskra, and after the II Congress of the RSDLP, it joined the Northern Committee of the RSDLP, which became a stronghold of the Bolsheviks in the textile region.

Very soon, the Bolsheviks were to take an active part in the mass strike of 1905, during which the first Soviets of workers in the history of Russia were born, which, in fact, continued to control power in the city for 72 days (the same number as those who rebelled in Paris during the Paris Commune). !). Ivanovo-Voznesensk was named "The Motherland of the First Soviets". More detailed story about those events and will become the basis of this article.

In 1917, after the October Revolution, the Ivanovo region was one of the few regions in which the counter-revolutionary forces offered almost no resistance to the young Bolshevik government; it can be said that Civil War almost did not touch these places, so unconditionally the local population, consisting in a significant majority of the proletariat, supported the communists. It is also curious that even many of the representatives of the bourgeoisie did not resist and, accordingly, were not further repressed in one way or another. For example, the famous manufacturer Dmitry Burylin, who built a museum with his own money, where numerous exhibits from different countries(including a mummy from Egypt), remained in this very museum the main curator at the suggestion of Frunze himself after the nationalization of the museum and Burylin's factory in 1919.

But let's get back to the events of 1905, which had a huge impact not only on the subsequent life of the city, but on the life of the entire vast country as a whole. In April 1905, the third congress of the local party organization was held in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, at which important decisions were made on the preparation of further speeches. On May 9 (which is symbolic in its own way!) at an illegal party conference in the presence of representatives of all factories and factories, it was decided to start a general strike. 26 requirements for manufacturers were considered and approved, including, first of all, the requirement of an 8-hour working day, the elimination of night and overtime work, the establishment of a minimum wage, etc. etc. Also here were included some political demands: freedom of speech, press, strikes, unions.

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In fact, the workers for the first time passed from scattered and unsystematic actions against the regime to a systematic struggle aimed at overthrowing it; they refused to be just tools for profit in the hands of cynical manufacturers who saw in workers only cheap labor capable of providing them with a luxurious life, the workers sought the right to their own full life, where, in addition to exhausting labor in production, there would be room for something else.

Needless to say, the Bolsheviks had a significant influence on the strike, taking the most active part in it? The leader of the local communists at that time was the professional revolutionary Fyodor Afanasevich Afanasiev, nicknamed Father. Here the revolutionary path of another famous Bolshevik began, whose name later thundered throughout the country - Mikhail Frunze.

On May 12, 1905, a widespread strike began, the next day a rally was organized, where speeches of indignant workers-orators were heard, the demands were handed over to the manufacturers. On the small river Talka, in the forest, elections to the Soviets began, lasting until May 15. As a result, 151 deputies were elected to the Soviet, of which 65 represented the Bolsheviks. At the first meeting, which took place on the same day, a non-party engraver, poet Avenir Nozdrin was elected permanent chairman of the Council. The council led the fight to fulfill the 26 demands of the workers, demands that came from tens of thousands of workers in the city.

The factory owners rejected the economic demands of the workers, and the political ones simply refused to discuss. The Council then decided to apply directly to the Minister of the Interior. The strike dragged on. From the very first days, various commissions were created under the Soviet - strike, food, financial - to help the strikers. A workers' militia appeared, keeping order in the city, gradually the Soviet became a real authority in the city, tens of thousands of textile workers obeyed it, even manufacturers were forced to reckon with its activities. Up to 70 thousand workers took part in the strike, for whom these events became a kind of political university, where people who had been brought up for many years in the consciousness of eternal obedience to the “king and masters” learned to manage their own lives, make important decisions, and ultimately think on one's own. Slogans were heard more and more often: “Down with the autocracy!”, “Proletarians of all countries, unite!” and etc.

It is not surprising that such events aroused the terrible hatred of the governor and other representatives of official power, who, not without reason, saw in them a threat to the existence of the power vertical as a whole and hence their own existence (as persons endowed with power and privileges). In the end, the governor called in additional troops to the city, and meetings of workers on Talka were banned.

On June 3, armed Cossacks and policemen, led by police chief Kozhelovsky, rode up to Talka and staged a bloody massacre. On that day, more than 80 people were arrested on Talka, including 44 deputies. However, the authorities did not calculate that such actions would cause a storm of indignation among the workers, who by that time had already learned something and had long ceased to be obedient slaves of the regime. In the mansions of the manufacturers, windows rattled, dachas caught fire. The frightened governor was forced to give in: the arrested were released, and meetings on Talka were again allowed.

The manufacturers were also forced to make some concessions. At the cost of blood, hunger and enormous efforts, the workers achieved a reduction in the working day to ten and a half hours, and a 10 percent increase in wages. On June 27 on Talka, in the presence of all the deputies and a mass of workers, the Soviet passed a resolution to end the strike from July 2 and return everyone to the factories. This was dictated by the fact that the strength of the strikers was exhausted to the last limit, however, as Avenir Nozdrin wrote: "We retreated, but did not surrender, we retreated, but did not run." The proclamation of the Bolsheviks, issued on this occasion, said: “The factory owners rejoice. They think that they have broken our solidarity, they think that they have won, that we have given up, considering ourselves defeated. But is it so, comrades?... No! Our enemies are wrong!”

Undoubtedly, the strike was a serious blow to the autocracy and young capitalism in Russia, it showed that people are ready to take to the streets and defend their own convictions, it showed the whole country and, perhaps, the whole world an example of the courageous struggle of workers for their rights, an example of the first steps towards establishment of self-government. Here is what Lenin writes about this strike: “The Ivanovo-Voznesensk strike showed an unexpectedly high political maturity of the workers. Fermentation in the entire central industrial region was already going on continuously, intensifying and expanding after this strike. M.V. Frunze later noted the great historical meaning strikes: "There is no doubt that the Ivanovo-Voznesensk summer strike provided the richest political and organizational material for the creation of the Petrograd, and then the Moscow and other Soviets."

“Ahead of the whole planet!” - If the USSR became the first state where power for the first time in history was in the hands of ordinary workers, workers and peasants, then it is the Ivanovo strike and the Council created during it that can be considered the first prototype of this very power, which later spread throughout the country. After all, it was not for nothing that the power was called Soviet, that is, the power of the Soviets, which began to appear throughout the country. And the first Soviet was the Soviet of Workers of Ivanovo-Voznesensk.

Already in the years Soviet power It was decided to perpetuate the memory of the insurgent workers by establishing a memorial ensemble "Red Talka" on the banks of the river of the same name, where in 1905 meetings of workers were held. The composition of the memorial ensemble included: a monument-obelisk and a bowl eternal flame, alley of heroes with carved on the slabsnames of the main participants of the strike, a memorial sign to the leader of the strikers - “Father” F.A. Afanasiev. Also in Ivanovo in 1967, the Museum of the First Council was opened, located inhistorical building of the Meshchanskaya uprava. It was here that from May 15 to May 18, 1905, 4 meetings of the country's first citywide Council of Workers' Deputies were held. The building itself was built in 1904 with funds collected from the city's philistines, according to the project of engineer I.D. Afanasyev for the city self-government body - the Meshchanskaya Council.

Unfortunately, during the years of Perestroika, the significance of the Memorial and the Museum fell significantly. The new government, cultivating anti-Sovietism and nurturing the ideas of “market democracy” in every possible way, did not need to mention the glorious past of the city of Ivanovo, associated with the liberation struggle of the proletariat in the name of the future building of socialism. The museum was closed for re-exposition in the late 90s and reopened only in 2005, however, having lost its independent significance (if earlier it was considered a separate museum, now it is assigned to the Ivanovo State Local History Museum named after D. G. Burylin). Last year (2014, September) the author happened to visit the museum building itself; to our surprise, the building at that time was hosting ... an exhibition of exotic reptiles, and the stands dedicated to the Council were hung with pictures of various kinds of snakes and fish. The memorial ensemble also stays on this moment not in the best condition: the names of many heroes on stone slabs are so worn out that they are almost impossible to read, some monuments have been vandalized.

We, however, hope that the current situation will change, especially considering that many people are reawakening interest in the heroic pages of our, I'm not afraid to say this, great past. This year (2015) marks exactly 110 years since those events; there are still many specialists in the city, true professionals in their field, ready to help in the resumption of the work of the museum, most of the exhibits are available.

In France, for example, they are proud of their history, honor it, remember it. The whole world knows about the Paris Commune, but few people even in Russia itself know about our little Paris Commune, the first Soviet, which became an invaluable experience in terms of self-organization of the lower classes. At the time of the next capitalist crisis, which once again exposed the shortcomings of the market system, the experience of the First Council, which has not lost its relevance in our time, can be very useful for us and for future generations.

Council of Workers' Commissioners(became known after 1917 as Ivanovo-Voznesensk City Council of Workers' Deputies) - an elected representative body of workers' power that existed in Ivanovo-Voznesensk (now Ivanovo) during the First Russian Revolution from May 15 (28) to July 19 (August 1), 1905. 151 deputies were elected to the Soviet from factories with more than a thousand workers (one deputy for every 500 people). There are 151 deputies in total. Chairman - A. E. Nozdrin. It is considered the first Council in Russia.

The council appeared in 1905 during the Ivanovo-Voznesensk strikes. Since May 12, a strike has been going on in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, in which more than 70 thousand people took part. The leading role in the strike was played by the Bolsheviks. The strikers demanded an eight-hour day, wage increases, the abolition of fines, the abolition of the factory police, freedom of speech, unions, the press, strikes, and the convening of a Constituent Assembly, but economic demands still prevailed.

On May 13, a rally gathered at the city government (now Revolution Square), at which the workers put forward their demands to the manufacturers. However, the manufacturers refused to negotiate with the crowd and insisted on the election of representatives from each enterprise by the workers. In the evening of the same day, the norm of representation was established on Talka: one deputy was elected for 500 workers from factories with more than a thousand workers, and elections began by open voting. On this day, 50 people were selected. On May 15, the elections ended on Talka. 151 deputies were elected, including 25 women. As it turned out later, three (or two: the affiliation of V.P. Barashkov is debatable) deputies were agents of the Okhrana. The Ivanovo-Voznesensk poet Avenir Evstigneevich Nozdrin became the chairman. Contrary to the intentions of the manufacturers, the deputies refused to conduct separate negotiations at each factory separately, but united in a city council. The council almost entirely (with the exception of one employee) consisted of workers, average age deputies was 23 years old.

The Soviet was called upon to lead the strike and negotiations with the authorities and the factory owners, and also to organize among the workers the propaganda of Marxism and revolutionary ideas. On the evening of May 15, in the building of the Meshchanskaya Council (now known as the House of the First Council), the first meeting of the Council was held, during which the council was guarded by workers. Later, the meetings were moved to the shore of Talka. The council created fighting squads and an elected court. On May 20, a workers' militia was created, led by I. N. Utkin. On May 22, she was sent to maintain order in the city and protect factories from scabs. The legitimate authorities tried to suppress the strike movement by evicting workers from factory barracks, raising food prices, but the Soviet tried to counteract this by opening factory shops and supplying the strikers with food. He created a commission to lead the strikes, headed by S. I. Balashov, financial and food commissions. The power in the city was partially in the hands of the Council, with the connivance of which arson and pogroms of the houses of manufacturers, shops and shops began in the city, and communication was broken in many places. There was a split in the ranks of the manufacturers.

The owners did not satisfy all the demands of the workers, but made significant concessions. On average, the working day was reduced to 10.5 hours, wages increased by 10%.

At the end of June, the factory owner P. Gryaznov was the first to make concessions to the workers, and other manufacturers soon joined in: at the enterprises of the city, the working day was reduced for various times (for example, at the Murashkin factory by 1.5 hours, at the Zhokhov factory by half an hour) and now it was 10.5 hours on average, wages increased by 10%, pregnant women and nursing mothers received some benefits, and strikers were promised not to be fired. In view of this, on June 27 the Soviet adopted a resolution to end the strike from July 1. But at the beginning of July, the manufacturers decided to refuse all concessions and arrange a lockout in order to suppress the revolutionary movement. Despite the strikers' lack of funds, the rallies resumed. The Council began to meet again. The factory owners again made concessions, and although far from all the demands were met, the workers were satisfied with them. On July 19, the last meeting of the Ivanovo-Voznesensky Soviet took place, at which the deputies decided to resume work.

SOVIETS (SOVIETS OF WORKERS' DEPUTIES) IN RUSSIA- elected political organizations, an extra-parliamentary form of revolutionary democracy. They arose in the spring of 1905 during the revolution of 1905-1907 as a reaction of the working people to the desire of the tsar and the government to delay the creation of a representative body of power of the parliamentary type.

The first forms of Russian democracy of the Soviet type appeared in March-April 1905 at the Nadezhdinsky and Alapaevsky Ural mining plants in the form of strike committees, meetings of authorized representatives. They operated on the scale of mining settlements and did not last long. Therefore, the city of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Vladimir Province, is considered to be the birthplace of the first Soviet, where, during a strike of 30,000 textile workers on May 15, 1905, the first citywide Soviet of Workers' Deputies was created. The strike, offensive in nature, began with the nomination of economic (introduction of an 8-hour working day, the establishment of a minimum wage, improvement of working conditions) and political (convocation of parliament, the introduction of democratic freedoms, the right to celebrate May Day) demands by the workers. The authorities and entrepreneurs, who declared that they intended to negotiate only with representatives of the workers, and not with an unorganized crowd, in fact, themselves initiated the creation of the first Soviet of Workers' Deputies.

Formerly a Bolshevik organ in its ideological coloring, the Soviet united young (average age - 23) workers who created a strike, financial, food commissions, organized a workers' militia, and ordered the taverns to be closed in the city. The council was led by a presidium of 6 people chaired by an educated worker-engraver, poet A.E. Nozdrin (1862–1938). In the "free" workers' university on the banks of the Talka River, the Soviet organized speeches by agitators who spoke about the growing proletarian movement throughout Russia. Having achieved a number of concessions from the entrepreneurs (reduction of the working day to 10 hours, an increase in wages by 10%), the Soviet ended the strike in an organized manner after 72 days.

Following the example of the Ivanovites, the workers of other cities, and then the peasants, the soldiers began to create their own Soviets, elected by open or secret ballot at rallies and meetings. The main electoral unit of the Soviets became the collectives of the factory, plant, collective farm, Cossack village, military unit, that is, a community of people united by a common cause. Those who could never get into the official administration could also be elected deputies in them - women, representatives of non-titular nations, members of any parties. Candidates were publicly discussed, deputies were given "mandates", for failure to comply with which they were recalled. Within the framework of elected councils, commissions (financial, food, judicial and investigative), as well as people's courts, could be created. The supreme bodies of the Soviets usually became presidiums or executive committees, in which the main backbone was made up of socialists - Social Democrats and Socialist-Revolutionaries, among whom were those who shared the Bolshevik views expressed by V.I. militant organization to achieve certain goals. Acting as such "combat organizations", the Soviets organized armed uprisings and uprisings against the autocracy, bought weapons, formed combat squads, and established contacts with the soldiers of military units. A number of cities in revolutionary Russia, thanks to the Soviets, were able to declare themselves "republics" (Novorossiysk, Krasnoyarsk, Lyubotinskaya, Ruzaevskaya, Chiatura, etc.) and even briefly introduce some democratic freedoms (speech, meetings, unions) and an 8-hour working day within the territory they control .

In the autumn of 1905, city Soviets of Workers' Deputies were created in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and their own press organs, the Izvestiya newspapers, began to work under them. Established control over railways, industrial and household enterprises, guarded by warriors, people's militia, the Soviets of that time embodied the people's dream of a state without officials and relied on the financial support of the people (money in their fund came from private individuals and revolutionary organizations). The St. Petersburg Soviet exercised revolutionary democratic power from October 13 to December 3, 1905 (562 deputies represented 200,000 workers from 181 enterprises and 16 city trade unions); Moscow - worked from November 21 to December 15, 1905 (170 deputies represented 80 thousand workers of 184 factories and plants).

In total, during the years of the revolution of 1905-1907, 62 Soviets arose in the country, of which 35 were formed in cities. With the defeat of the revolution of 1905–1907, the Soviets ceased to exist until 1917, when they began to reappear during the February Revolution. bourgeois revolution, predetermining the emergence of dual power in Russia. The number of Soviets in the spring of 1917 reached 600, and the first united Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies appeared, the first Congress of which took place on June 3-24, 1917.

The October Revolution of 1917 was carried out under the slogan "All power to the Soviets!", laying the foundation for a new state, the Republic of Soviets, in which the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies merged in 1918 with the Soviets of Peasants' Deputies. Both in the RSFSR and in the USSR, the Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Red Army Deputies were considered elected bodies of state power. However, as the new Soviet regime strengthened, everyday practice came into conflict with the ideas laid down by the founders of the Soviets of 1905 (participation of everyone in management and training in management of everyone and everyone, the possibility of recalling deputies, combining legislative and executive functions in the name of abandoning the “talking shop”). The establishment of the party dictatorship, the rapid separation of party leaders from the "party mass" and non-party people, made the functions of the Soviets formal. The leadership of the Soviets passed into the hands of their presidiums, executive committees, actively controlled by party functionaries. At the same time, in the name of the Soviets, the ideologists of the party sought to emphasize the development of "people's rule": from 1936 to 1977 they were called the Soviets of Working People's Deputies, from 1977 - the Soviets of People's Deputies.

In 1988, the Congress of People's Deputies was again declared the supreme body of state power in the USSR (it had not met since the late 1930s and lasted only three years in the era of "perestroika", 1988-1991, seven congresses).

The first step towards the destruction of the power of the Soviets in Russia was taken in March 1990, when the post of president was introduced, the second step was the collapse of the USSR in December 1991, localizing Soviet system to the territory of the Russian Federation. The political crisis of October 3-4, 1993, expressed in an armed confrontation between supporters of the preservation of the Soviet idea and the president, ended with the storming of the building of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation (parliament, "White House") by pro-presidential units of the army and the arrest of oppositionists.

These events completed the history of Soviet power in Russia (1905–1993).

Irina Pushkareva

Soviets of Working People's Deputies, Soviets- elected representative bodies of state power in some socialist states, a form of the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Elected political organizations of the working class of Russia, which first arose during the Revolution of 1905-1907. During February Revolution 1917 were created as organs of revolutionary power; in most cases, united Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies were formed.

Elected political organizations of the proletariat of indigenous nationalities Central Asia, arose as a result of the creativity of the masses during the February Revolution of 1917, following the example of the Soviets of Workers' Deputies, with which they were closely connected.

Elected political organizations that first arose in a number of places in Russia during the Revolution of 1905-1907 following the example of the Soviets of Workers' Deputies. In the course of 1917, they were created as organs of revolutionary power; in most cases, united Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies were formed; on the fronts, the functions of the Soviets of Soldiers' Deputies were performed.

Elected political organizations that first arose in a number of places in Russia during the Revolution of 1905-1907, following the example of the Soviets of Workers' Deputies. In the course of 1917, they were created as organs of revolutionary power. After 1917 they merged with the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

Elected political organizations of workers and soldiers of Russia that arose during the February Revolution of 1917. After victory October revolution 1917 - the organs of power of the working people. They were created on the basis of the experience of the Soviets of Workers' Deputies in 1905-1907. Having gone through a difficult path of development, the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies became Bolshevik by October 1917. With the establishment of Soviet power, the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies merged with the Soviets of Peasants' Deputies and formed one system Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies.

Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies

Elected bodies of state power of the Soviet Republic after the victory of the October Revolution of 1917. With the adoption of the decree on the creation of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army on January 15 (28), 1918, they began to be called the Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Red Army Deputies.

Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Red Army Deputies

Elected bodies of state power of the Soviet Republic since the end of January 1918. The USSR Constitution of 1936 renamed the Soviets of Working People's Deputies.

The soviets arose as a result of the revolutionary creativity of the masses in the revolution of 1905-07 in Russia as organs of leadership in the strike struggle of the workers and were the rudimentary organs of a new, revolutionary power - the revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry. Some Soviets during the period of the highest upsurge of the revolution became the organs of leadership of the armed uprising. One of the first Soviets was the Council of Commissioners, created by the workers during the Ivanovo-Voznesensk strike in May 1905. In the autumn of 1905, Soviets of Workers' Deputies arose in many cities and workers' settlements. In Moscow, along with the Soviets of Workers, a Soviet of Soldiers' Deputies was organized; in Chita, a Council of Soldiers' and Cossacks' Deputies was created; in Sevastopol, a Council of Sailors', Soldiers', and Workers' Deputies. In some rural areas, Soviets of Peasant Deputies (Tver Province) and Peasant Committees (in Latvia and Georgia) emerged, which played the role of Soviets. In the St. Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies in mid-November 1905, there were 562 deputies. The Petersburg Soviet included representatives of the Bolsheviks, Socialist-Revolutionaries, and Mensheviks. The petty-bourgeois parties managed to occupy a leading position in it; they regarded the Soviets not as militant revolutionary organizations of the masses, but as bodies of local self-government; as a result, the Petersburg Soviet did not become an organ of an armed uprising. The Bolsheviks played a leading role in the Moscow Soviet of Workers' Deputies: this Soviet was headed by the workers of Moscow, whose struggle marked the beginning of the December armed uprisings. Of the 62 Soviets that arose during the revolution, 47 were headed and influenced by the Bolsheviks, 10 were Menshevik, 1 was Socialist-Revolutionary. The Bolsheviks formed the leading nucleus in the Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Kostroma, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Chita, Krasnoyarsk, Motovilikha (near Perm) and other Soviets. The Soviets, led by the Bolsheviks, acted as a revolutionary power. With the defeat of the Revolution of 1905-07, the Soviets ceased to exist.

The system of Soviets was first enshrined in the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918, adopted by the Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets. This system included the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, regional, provincial, district and volost congresses of Soviets and Soviets of cities, towns, villages, villages, and in the period between congresses - the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR - the executive committees of the Soviets. The right to elect and be elected was enjoyed by all citizens of the RSFSR who had reached the age of 18 and were engaged in socially useful work, soldiers, sailors, regardless of religion, nationality, settlement. The disenfranchisement was caused by the stubborn struggle of the enemies of the Owls. authorities. Those who used hired labor to make a profit, who lived on unearned income, private merchants, monks, clergymen, employees and agents of the former police, gendarmerie and security departments, members of the reigning house in Russia, as well as insane, mentally ill people who were under guardianship, and convicted of mercenary and other discrediting crimes.

The Communist Party directed the activities of the Soviets through party factions that were created in all Soviet bodies. “The party must carry out its decisions,” the resolution of the Eighth Congress of the RCP (b) through Soviet bodies, within the framework of the Soviet constitution. The Party is trying to direct the activities of the Soviets, but not to replace them.

The development of the system of Soviets proceeded in close connection with national state building. With the formation of autonomous republics and regions in the RSFSR, their local Soviets were united by congresses of Soviets of autonomies. In sovereign Soviet republics (Ukraine, Belarus and others) senior management system of Soviets were republican congresses of Soviets, which elected the Central Executive Committee of the republics. Through the system of Soviets of national republics and regions, direct and broad participation of the working masses of all nationalities in state administration was ensured.

The Soviets became an example for workers foreign countries. During the revolutionary upsurge that began in Western Europe under the influence of the October Revolution, the workers of Hungary, Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia began to create organizations similar to Soviets. In the late 1920s, Soviets arose in China. Lenin noted that the international significance of the Soviets does not imply their exact copying in other countries - "The Soviet type, not yet the Soviets, as they exist in Russia, but the Soviet type is becoming international."

With the formation in 1922, changes took place in the system of Soviets, reflecting the structure of a multinational union state and enshrined in the Constitution of the USSR of 1924 and the constitutions of the union republics. The All-Union Congress of Soviets became the supreme organ of state power; in the period between congresses, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR was the supreme organ of power. The supreme authorities in the union and autonomous republics were the congresses of Soviets (in the period between congresses - the CEC elected by them), local authorities - regional, regional, provincial, district, county, district and volost congresses of Soviets (in the period between them - their executive committees) . The peoples of the USSR (the majority for the first time in history) created their national statehood on the basis of the Soviets. In connection with the change in the administrative-territorial division, the restructuring of Soviet bodies was carried out.

The Soviets involved in state and social work grassroots. The growth of the political activity of the working people was clearly manifested during the elections to the Soviets. In the process of liquidation of the private sector and further democratization of the electoral system in the 1930s, the number of persons deprived of the right to vote sharply decreased; in 1923 in the cities there were 8.2% of those deprived of their rights, in 1934 - 2.4%.

Adopted by the Extraordinary Eighth Congress of Soviets of the USSR, it reflected the social and economic changes that occurred in the country as a result of socialist construction after the adoption. The USSR Constitution of 1936 enshrined new system of state authorities in the center and locally, transformed the Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Red Army Deputies into Soviets of Working People's Deputies, which reflected the moral and political unity of Soviet society, which consisted of two friendly classes - the working class and the collective farm peasantry - and the working intelligentsia. In connection with the liquidation of the exploiting classes in the USSR, all restrictions on voting rights were abolished, and general, equal and direct elections by secret ballot were introduced. All units of the Soviets are elected directly by the voters according to the norm of representation established by the Constitution and the Regulations on Elections to the Soviets.