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124-611: The square was renamed Dzerzhinsky Square for many years (1926–1990) in honor of the founder of the Soviet security service Felix Dzerzhinsky . A fountain used to stand in front of the building, at the center of the Lubyanka Square. In 1958, the fountain at the center of the Lubyanka Square was replaced by an 11-ton statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky ("Iron Felix"), founder of the Cheka, made by Yevgeny Vuchetich . On October 30, 1990,

248-567: A Constituent Assembly . This new Soviet government was known as the council (Soviet) of People's Commissars ( Sovnarkom ), with Lenin as a leader. Lenin allegedly approved of the name, reporting that it "smells of revolution". The cabinet quickly passed the Decree on Peace and the Decree on Land . This new government was also officially called "provisional" until the Assembly was dissolved. That same day, posters were pinned on walls and fences by

372-606: A sealed train carriage through their territory. According to Deutsche Welle : On November 7, 1917, a coup d'état went down in history as the October Revolution. The interim government was toppled, the Soviets seized power, and Russia later terminated the Triple Entente military alliance with France and Britain. For Russia, it was effectively the end of the war. Kaiser Wilhelm II had spent around half

496-630: A Bolshevik appeal, Moscow's working class began a protest strike of 400,000 workers. They were supported by strikes and protest rallies by workers in Kyiv , Kharkiv , Nizhny Novgorod , Ekaterinburg , and other cities. In what became known as the Kornilov affair, General Lavr Kornilov , who had been Commander-in-Chief since 18 July, with Kerensky's agreement directed an army under Aleksandr Krymov to march toward Petrograd to restore order. According to some accounts, Kerensky appeared to become frightened by

620-492: A Bolshevik as late as 1917. Therefore, it was wrong to assert (as official Soviet historians did subsequently) that Dzerzhinsky had been one of Lenin's oldest and most reliable comrades, or that Lenin had exercised some sort of spellbinding influence on Dzerzhinsky and the SDKPiL. Lenin and Dzerzhinsky frequently had opposing opinions about many important ideological and political issues of the pre-revolutionary period, and also after

744-939: A Moscow landmark during late Soviet times. Symbolically, the Memorial society erected the Solovetsky Stone , a memorial to the victims of the Gulag (using a simple stone from the Solovki prison camp in the White Sea ) beside the Iron Felix statue on 30 October 1990). The Moscow Soviet ( Mossovet ) had the Dzerzhinsky statue removed to the Fallen Monument Park and laid on its side in August 1991, after

868-565: A billion euros ($ 582 million) in today's money to weaken his wartime enemy. Upon his arrival Lenin gave his April Theses that called on the Bolsheviks to take over the Provisional Government, usurp power, and end the war. Throughout June, July, and August 1917, it was common to hear working-class Russians speak about their lack of confidence in the Provisional Government. Factory workers around Russia felt unhappy with

992-542: A diplomatic note of 1 May, the minister of foreign affairs, Pavel Milyukov , expressed the Provisional Government's desire to continue the war against the Central Powers "to a victorious conclusion", arousing broad indignation. On 1–4 May, about 100,000 workers and soldiers of Petrograd, and, after them, the workers and soldiers of other cities, led by the Bolsheviks, demonstrated under banners reading "Down with

1116-534: A means of reaching military forces he hoped would be friendly to the Provisional Government outside the city and ultimately borrowed a Renault car from the American embassy, which he drove from the Winter Palace, along with a Pierce Arrow . Kerensky was able to evade the pickets going up around the palace and to drive to meet approaching soldiers. As Kerensky left Petrograd, Lenin wrote a proclamation To

1240-567: A peaceful demonstration in Petrograd, the so-called July Days . The Provisional Government, with the support of Socialist-Revolutionary Party - Menshevik leaders of the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Soviets, ordered an armed attack against the demonstrators, killing hundreds. A period of repression followed. On 5–6 July, attacks were made on the editorial offices and printing presses of Pravda and on

1364-729: A revolutionary hero and appointed him to organize a force to combat internal threats. On 20 December 1917, the Council of People's Commissars officially established the All-Russia Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counter-revolution and Sabotage—commonly known as the Cheka (based on the Russian acronym ВЧК). Dzerzhinsky became its director. The Cheka received extensive resources, and became known for ruthlessly pursuing any perceived counterrevolutionary elements. As

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1488-426: A satisfactory attention and satisfactory diligence showed the following successes in sciences, namely: Divine law—"good"; Logic, Latin, Algebra, Geometry, Mathematical geography, Physics, History (of Russia), French—"satisfactory"; Russian and Greek—"unsatisfactory". Two months before he expected to graduate, the gymnasium expelled Dzerzhinsky for "revolutionary activity" and for posting signs with socialist slogans at

1612-530: A statement denouncing the government's actions. At 10   a.m., Bolshevik-aligned soldiers successfully retook the Rabochiy put printing house. Kerensky responded at approximately 3   p.m. that afternoon by ordering the raising of all but one of Petrograd's bridges, a tactic used by the government several months earlier during the July Days . What followed was a series of sporadic clashes over control of

1736-564: A validation of its ideology and the triumph of the working class over capitalism . On the other hand, the Western Allies , for various reasons, later intervened against the Bolsheviks in the civil war. The event inspired many cultural works and ignited communist movements globally. October Revolution Day was a public holiday in the Soviet Union , marking its key role in the state's founding, and many communist parties around

1860-657: A vast expansion of the Cheka's authority, inaugurating a campaign of mass arrests, detentions (including in newly founded Gulag forced labour camps), and executions known as the Red Terror. An estimated 50,000 to 200,000 people were executed by the Cheka during the years of the civil war. The agency was reorganized as the State Political Directorate (GPU) in 1922, and then as the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU)

1984-621: A year later, with Dzerzhinsky remaining as head of the powerful organization. He served as director of the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy (VSNKh) from 1924. Dzerzhinsky died of a heart attack in 1926, and was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis . Remembered by secret police agents (known as "Chekists" throughout the Soviet era) as a hero of the revolution, a large statue of him stood in front of

2108-639: A young age, and was active in the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania party. Active in Kaunas and Warsaw , he was frequently arrested and underwent several exiles to Siberia , from which he escaped every time. He evaded the tsarist secret police, the Okhrana , whose work he took interest in. Dzerzhinsky participated in the failed 1905 Revolution , and after a final arrest in 1912,

2232-484: A youngster Dzerzhinsky became a polyglot, speaking Polish , Russian , German and Latin . He attended the Vilnius Gymnasium from 1887 to 1895. One of the older students at this gymnasium was his future arch-enemy, Józef Piłsudski . Years later, as Marshal of Poland, Piłsudski recalled that Dzerzhinsky "distinguished himself as a student with delicacy and modesty. He was rather tall, thin and demure, making

2356-644: Is named for him, as was the FD class steam locomotive . During the Communist era (1945–1989) in Poland, Dzerzhinsky was celebrated as a socialist hero. In 1951, a large-scale statue of Dzerzhinsky was designed by Zbigniew Dunajewski and erected in the northern side of Bank Square in Warsaw. The square bore Dzerzhinsky's name ( Polish : Plac Dzierżyńskiego ) until 1989. The statue was toppled on 16 November 1989, one of

2480-612: The Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment in the larger Russian Revolution of 1917–1923. It was the second revolutionary change of government in Russia in 1917. It took place through an insurrection in Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg ) on 7 November 1917 [ O.S. 25 October]. It was the precipitating event of the Russian Civil War . The initial stage of the October Revolution which involved

2604-597: The Memorial organization erected the Solovetsky Stone , a monument to the victims of the Gulag , a simple stone from the Solovki prison camp in the White Sea . In 1991 the statue of Dzerzhinsky was removed by liberal protesters following the failure of the coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev , and the square's original name was officially restored. Lubyanka Square is best known for the monumental Lubyanka Building , designed by Aleksandr V. Ivanov  [ ru ] and constructed from 1897 to 1898. Originally built for

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2728-620: The Moscow City Duma rejected the proposals due to concerns that the proposed return would cause "unnecessary tension" in society. According to a December 2013 VTsIOM poll, 46% of Russians favour the restoration of the statue to the Lubyanka Square, with 17% opposing it. The statue remained in a yard for old Soviet memorials at the Central House of Artists. In April 2012, the Moscow authorities stated that they would renovate

2852-663: The Palace of Kshesinskaya , where the Central Committee and the Petrograd Committee of the Bolsheviks were located. On 7 July, the government ordered the arrest and trial of Vladimir Lenin , who was forced to go underground, as he had done under the Tsarist regime. Bolsheviks were arrested, workers were disarmed, and revolutionary military units in Petrograd were disbanded or sent to the war front. On 12 July,

2976-669: The Russian Civil War expanded, Dzerzhinsky also began organizing internal security troops to enforce the Cheka's authority. The Cheka became notorious for mass summary executions , performed especially during the Red Terror and the Russian Civil War. The Cheka undertook drastic measures as tens of thousands of political opponents and saboteurs were shot without trial in the basements of prisons and in public places. Dzerzhinsky said: "We represent in ourselves organized terror—this must be said very clearly". In 1922, at

3100-565: The Russian Empire (now Belarus ). In the Russian Empire, his family was of a type known as " column-listed nobility " ( Russian : столбовое дворянство , stolbovoe dvorianstvo), whose nobility was formally acknowledged, but so old that they did not enjoy the privileges of the new nobility. His sister Wanda died at the age of 12, when she was accidentally shot with a hunting rifle on the family estate by one of her brothers. At

3224-799: The Russian Revolution of 1905 , as Dzerzhinsky became involved with work again. After the revolution failed he was again jailed in July 1905, this time by the Okhrana . In October, he was released on amnesty. As a delegate to the 4th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in Stockholm, Dzerzhinsky entered the central body of the party. From July through September 1906, he lived in Saint Petersburg and then returned to Warsaw, where he

3348-550: The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies , which began on this day. After the majority of the petrograd Soviet passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks, [Trotsky] was elected its chairman and in that position organized and led the insurrection of October 25. Lenin on the organization of the October Revolution, Vol.XIV of the Collected Works . Kerensky and

3472-582: The Winter Palace (the seat of the Provisional government located in Petrograd, then capital of Russia) was captured. As the revolution was not universally recognized, the country descended into the Russian Civil War , which would last until late 1922 and ultimately lead to the creation of the Soviet Union . The historiography of the event has varied. The victorious Soviet Union viewed it as

3596-488: The elected parliament of Russia, and used machine-gun fire against demonstrators in Petrograd, killing about 100 demonstrators and wounding several hundred. Dybenko in his memoirs mentioned this event as "several shots in the air". These are disputed by various sources, such as Louise Bryant , who claims that news outlets in the West at the time reported that the unfortunate loss of life occurred in Moscow, not Petrograd, and

3720-495: The left-wing Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (SRs), controlled the government. The far-left Bolsheviks were deeply unhappy with the government, and began spreading calls for a military uprising. On 10 October 1917 (O.S.; 23 October, N.S.), the Petrograd Soviet , led by Leon Trotsky , voted to back a military uprising. On 24 October (O.S.; 6 November, N.S.), the government shut down numerous newspapers and closed

3844-596: The "Iron Felix" monument in full and put the statue on a list of monuments to be renovated, as well as officially designating it an object of cultural heritage. On 26 April 2021, it was announced by the prosecutor office of Moscow that the removal of the statue had no legal basis and was therefore illegal. Finally, the monument was reerected on 11 September 2023, but this time in front of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service headquarters outside Moscow. A smaller bust of Dzerzhinsky in

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3968-603: The "politically correct" version of the October events in Petrograd came to be taken as truth. Historical falsification of political events such as the October Revolution and the Brest-Litovsk Treaty became a distinctive element of Stalin's regime. A notable example is the 1938 publication, History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) , in which the history of the governing party

4092-603: The Alexandrovsk Transitional Prison near Irkutsk . While in exile, he escaped on a boat and later emigrated from the country. He traveled to Berlin , where at the SDKPiL conference Dzerzhinsky was elected a secretary of its party committee abroad ( Polish : Komitet Zagraniczny , KZ) and met with several prominent leaders of the Polish Social Democratic movement, including Rosa Luxemburg and Leo Jogiches . They gained control of

4216-553: The Bolshevik party had risen from 24,000 members in February 1917 to 200,000 members by September 1917. The Bolsheviks created a revolutionary military committee within the Petrograd soviet, led by the Soviet's president, Leon Trotsky . The committee included armed workers, sailors, and soldiers, and assured the support or neutrality of the capital's garrison. The committee methodically planned to occupy strategic locations through

4340-468: The Bolsheviks had illegally seized power and they walked out before the resolution was passed. As they exited, they were taunted by Trotsky who told them "You are pitiful isolated individuals; you are bankrupts; your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on—into the dustbin of history!" The following day, 26 October, the Congress elected a new cabinet of Bolsheviks, pending the convocation of

4464-635: The Bolsheviks' Central Committee voted 10–2 for a resolution saying that "an armed uprising is inevitable, and that the time for it is fully ripe." At the Committee meeting, Lenin discussed how the people of Russia had waited long enough for "an armed uprising," and it was the Bolsheviks' time to take power. Lenin expressed his confidence in the success of the planned insurrection. His confidence stemmed from months of Bolshevik buildup of power and successful elections to different committees and councils in major cities such as Petrograd and Moscow. Membership of

4588-663: The Bolsheviks' popularity in the soviets grew significantly, both in the central and local areas. On 31 August, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies—and, on 5 September, the Moscow Soviet Workers Deputies—adopted the Bolshevik resolutions on the question of power. The Bolsheviks were able to take over in Briansk , Samara , Saratov , Tsaritsyn , Minsk , Kiev, Tashkent , and other cities. On 10 October 1917 (O.S.; 23 October, N.S.),

4712-693: The Central Committee in October, and he strongly endorsed Lenin's demands for the immediate preparation of a coup, after which Felix Dzerzhinsky had an active role with the Military Revolutionary Committee during the October Revolution . With the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, Dzerzhinsky eagerly assumed responsibility for making security arrangements at the Smolny Institute where the Bolsheviks had their headquarters. Lenin regarded Felix Dzerzhinsky as

4836-587: The Citizens of Russia , stating that the Provisional Government had been overthrown by the Military-Revolutionary Committee. The proclamation was sent by telegraph throughout Russia, even as the pro-Soviet soldiers were seizing important control centers throughout the city. One of Lenin's intentions was to present members of the Soviet congress, who would assemble that afternoon, with a fait accompli and thus forestall further debate on

4960-479: The Cossacks breaking rank and fleeing, leaving their artillery behind. On 31 October 1917 (13 November, N.S.), the Bolsheviks gained control of Moscow after a week of bitter street-fighting. Artillery had been freely used, with an estimated 700 casualties. However, there was continued support for Kerensky in some of the provinces. After the fall of Moscow, there was only minor public anti-Bolshevik sentiment, such as

5084-485: The IV Congress of SDKPiL in 1903, Dzerzhinsky was elected as a member of its General Board. Dzerzhinsky visited Switzerland , where his fiancée Julia Goldman, the sister of Boris Gorev , was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis . She died in his arms on 4 June 1904. Her illness and death depressed him – in letters to his sister, Dzerzhinsky explained that he no longer saw any meaning for his life. That changed with

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5208-528: The Kaunas prison. In 1898, Dzerzhinsky was exiled for three years to the Vyatka Governorate (city of Nolinsk ) where he worked at a local tobacco factory. There Dzerzhinsky was arrested for agitating for revolutionary activities and was sent 500 versts (330 mi) north to the village of Kaigorod  [ ru ] . In August 1899, he returned to Vilnius. Dzerzhinsky subsequently became one of

5332-405: The LSDP with the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) and took the same position as influential Social Democrat Rosa Luxemburg on what was referred to in contemporary writings as "The National Question," i.e., the right of nations to self determination. He was arrested on a denunciation for his revolutionary activities for the first time in 1897, after which he served almost a year in

5456-432: The Military-Revolutionary Committee designated the last of the locations to be assaulted or seized. The Red Guards systematically captured major government facilities, key communication installations, and vantage points with little opposition. The Petrograd Garrison and most of the city's military units joined the insurrection against the Provisional Government. The insurrection was timed and organized to hand state power to

5580-486: The Moscow and Petrograd workers, miners in the Donbas, metalworkers in the Urals, oil workers in Baku , textile workers in the Central Industrial Region , and railroad workers on 44 railway lines. In these months alone, more than a million workers took part in strikes. Workers established control over production and distribution in many factories and plants in a social revolution . Workers organized these strikes through factory committees . The factory committees represented

5704-446: The October Revolution. After 1917, Dzerzhinsky would oppose Lenin on such crucial issues as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , the trade unions, and Soviet nationality policy . During the April 1917 Party Conference, when Lenin accused Dzerzhinsky of Great-Russian chauvinism, he replied: "I can reproach him (Lenin) with standing at the point of view of the Polish, Ukrainian and other chauvinists." From 1917 to his death in 1926, Dzerzhinsky

5828-401: The Provisional Government published a law introducing the death penalty at the front. The second coalition government was formed on 24 July, chaired by Alexander Kerensky and consisted mostly of Socialists. Kerensky's government introduced a number of liberal rights, such as freedom of speech , equality before the law, and the right to form unions and arrange labor strikes . In response to

5952-443: The Provisional Government sent punitive detachments, it only enraged the peasants. In September, the garrisons in Petrograd, Moscow, and other cities, the Northern and Western fronts, and the sailors of the Baltic Fleet declared through their elected representative body Tsentrobalt that they did not recognize the authority of the Provisional Government and would not carry out any of its commands. Soldiers' wives were key players in

6076-413: The Provisional Government were virtually helpless to offer significant resistance. Railways and railway stations had been controlled by Soviet workers and soldiers for days, making rail travel to and from Petrograd impossible for Provisional Government officials. The Provisional Government was also unable to locate any serviceable vehicles. On the morning of the insurrection, Kerensky desperately searched for

6200-411: The SR Party no longer existed as a whole party by that time, as the Left SRs had gone into coalition with the Bolsheviks from October 1917 to March 1918 (a cause of dispute of the legitimacy of the returned seating of the Constituent Assembly, as the old lists, were drawn up by the old SR Party leadership, and thus represented mostly Right SRs, whereas the peasant soviet deputies had returned majorities for

6324-405: The Social Democratic party and at the same time he directed party work in Warsaw, led strikes, published appeals to workers, and traveled on party matters to Łódź and Kraków." The police were unable to arrest Dzerzhinsky until the end of 1912, when they found the apartment where he lived in the name of Władysław Ptasiński. Dzerzhinsky spent the next 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 years in prisons, first at

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6448-473: The Socialist Revolutionaries, describing the takeover as a "crime against the motherland" and "revolution"; this signaled the next wave of anti-Bolshevik sentiment. The next day, the Mensheviks seized power in Georgia and declared it an independent republic; the Don Cossacks also claimed control of their government. The Bolshevik strongholds were in the cities, particularly Petrograd, with support much more mixed in rural areas. The peasant-dominated Left SR party

6572-492: The Soviet-Polish border of the time, it was created on 15 March 1932, with the capital at Dzyarzhynsk (in Russian Dzerzhynsk, formerly known as Kojdanów), not far from the family estate. The Dzerzhinsky estate itself remained inside Poland from 1921 to the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. The district was disbanded in 1935 at the onset of the Great Purge , and most of its administration was executed. Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (the highest point in Belarus), located near Dzyarzhynsk

6696-448: The Ukrainian cities Dzerzhynsk and Dniprodzerzhynsk reverted to their historic names Toretsk and Kamianske in February and May 2016. A Ukrainian village in the Zhytomyr Oblast was also named Dzerzhinsk until 2005, when it was renamed to Romaniv. The Dzerzhinskiy Tractor Works in Stalingrad were named in his honor and became a scene of bitter fighting during the Second World War . The FED camera, produced from 1934 to around 1996,

6820-408: The army and convinced them to stand down. The Bolsheviks' influence over railroad and telegraph workers also proved vital in stopping the movement of troops. The political right felt betrayed, and the left was resurgent. The first direct consequence of Kornilov's failed coup was the formal abolition of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Russian Republic on 1 September. With Kornilov defeated,

6944-448: The arrest of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) branch. He worked in a book-binding factory and set up an illegal press. As an organizer of a shoemakers' strike, Dzerzhinsky was arrested for "criminal agitation among the Kaunas workers"; the police files from this time state: "Felix Dzerzhinsky, considering his views, convictions and personal character, will be very dangerous in the future, capable of any crime." Dzerzhinsky envisioned merging

7068-547: The assault on Petrograd occurred largely without any human casualties . The October Revolution followed and capitalized on the February Revolution earlier that year, which had led to the abdication of Nicholas II and the creation of a provisional government . The provisional government, led by Alexander Kerensky , had taken power after Grand Duke Michael , the younger brother of Nicholas II, declined to take power. During this time, urban workers began to organize into councils ( soviets ) wherein revolutionaries criticized

7192-441: The autumn, as much as 50% of all enterprises in the Urals , the Donbas , and other industrial centers were closed down, leading to mass unemployment. At the same time, the cost of living increased sharply. Real wages fell to about 50% of what they had been in 1913. By October 1917, Russia's national debt had risen to 50 billion roubles . Of this, debts to foreign governments constituted more than 11 billion roubles. The country faced

7316-404: The bridges, between Red Guard militias aligned with the Military-Revolutionary Committee and military units still loyal to the government. At approximately 5   p.m. the Military-Revolutionary Committee seized the Central Telegraph of Petrograd, giving the Bolsheviks control over communications through the city. On 25 October (O.S.; 7 November, N.S.) 1917, the Bolsheviks led their forces in

7440-401: The building, the cabinet of the Provisional Government surrendered, and were imprisoned in Peter and Paul Fortress . The only member who was not arrested was Kerensky himself, who had already left the palace. With the Petrograd Soviet now in control of government, garrison, and proletariat, the Second All Russian Congress of Soviets held its opening session on the day, while Trotsky dismissed

7564-422: The cases of destruction (usually burning down and seizing property from the landlord's estate) recorded between February and October occurred in October. While the uprisings varied in severity, complete uprisings and seizures of the land were not uncommon. Less robust forms of protest included marches on landowner manors and government offices, as well as withholding and storing grains rather than selling them. When

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7688-416: The city of Ryazan , Russia. On 20 January 2017, the People's Public Security Academy in Hanoi, Vietnam, inaugurated a Dzerzhinsky statue. In 1943, the manor house of Dzerzhinovo, where Dzerzhinsky was born, was destroyed and family members (including Dzerzhinsky's brother Kazimierz) were killed by the Germans, because of their support for the Polish Home Army . In 2005, the Government of Belarus rebuilt

7812-446: The city of Petrograd in an attempt to forestall the revolution; minor armed skirmishes broke out. The next day, a full-scale uprising erupted as a fleet of Bolshevik sailors entered the harbor and tens of thousands of soldiers rose up in support of the Bolsheviks. Bolshevik Red Guard forces under the Military-Revolutionary Committee began the occupation of government buildings. In the early morning of 26 October (O.S.; 8 November, N.S.),

7936-526: The city, almost without concealing their preparations: the Provisional Government's President Kerensky was himself aware of them; and some details, leaked by Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev , were published in newspapers. In the early morning of 24 October (O.S.; 6 November N.S.), a group of soldiers loyal to Kerensky's government marched on the printing house of the Bolshevik newspaper, Rabochiy put ( Worker's Path ), seizing and destroying printing equipment and thousands of newspapers. Shortly thereafter,

8060-401: The courtyard of the Moscow police headquarters at Petrovka 38 was restored in November 2005 (police officers had removed this bust on 22 August 1991). A 10-foot bronze replica of the original Iron Felix statue was placed on the grounds of the military academy in Minsk , Belarus, in May 2006. In 2017, on the 140th anniversary of Dzerzhinsky's birth, a monument to Dzerzhinsky was erected in

8184-405: The cruiser Aurora fired a blank shot from the harbor. Some of the revolutionaries entered the palace at 10:25   p.m. and there was a mass entry 3 hours later. By 2:10   a.m. on 26 October, Bolshevik forces had gained control. The Cadets and the 140 volunteers of the Women's Battalion surrendered rather than resist the 40,000 strong attacking force. After sporadic gunfire throughout

8308-485: The end of the Civil War, the Cheka was dissolved and reorganized as the State Political Directorate (Gosudarstvennoe Politicheskoe Upravlenie, or GPU), a section of the NKVD . With the formation of the Soviet Union later that year, the GPU was again reorganized as the Joint State Political Directorate (Obyedinyonnoye gosudarstvennoye politicheskoye upravleniye, or OGPU), directly under the Council of People's Commissars. These changes did not diminish Dzerzhinsky's power; he

8432-410: The failed coup d'état attempt by hard-line Communist members of the government. A mock-up of the removal of Dzerzhinsky's statue can be found in the entrance hall of the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. The figure of Dzerzhinsky remains controversial in Russian society. Between 1999 and 2013, six proposals called for the return of the statue to its plinth. The Monument Art Commission of

8556-441: The founders of Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania ( Polish : Socjaldemokracja Królestwa Polskiego i Litwy , SDKPiL) in 1899. In February 1900, he was arrested again and served his time at first in the Alexander Citadel in Warsaw and later at the Siedlce prison. In 1902, Dzerzhinsky was sent deep into Siberia for the next five years to the remote town of Vilyuysk , while en route being temporarily held at

8680-401: The government announced the immediate closure of not only Rabochiy put but also the left-wing Soldat , as well as the far-right newspapers Zhivoe slovo and Novaia Rus . The editors and contributors of these newspapers were seen to be calling for insurrection and were to be prosecuted on criminal charges. In response, at 9   a.m. the Bolshevik Military Revolutionary Committee issued

8804-473: The growing shortages of food, supplies, and other materials. They blamed their managers or foremen and would even attack them in the factories. The workers blamed many rich and influential individuals for the overall shortage of food and poor living conditions. Workers saw these rich and powerful individuals as opponents of the Revolution and called them "bourgeois", "capitalist", and "imperialist". In September and October 1917, there were mass strike actions by

8928-564: The house (now on Belarusian territory) and established a museum. The graduating class of their KGB academy holds its annual swearing-in at the manor. October Revolution Bolshevik victory The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography ), October coup , Bolshevik coup , or Bolshevik revolution , was a revolution in Russia led by

9052-422: The impression of an ascetic with the face of an icon... Tormented or not, this is an issue history will clarify; in any case this person did not know how to lie." School documents show that Dzerzhinsky attended his first year in school twice, while he was not able to finish his eighth year. Dzerzhinsky received a school diploma which stated: "Dzerzhinsky Feliks, who is 18 years of age, of Catholic faith , along with

9176-761: The insurance company Rossiya , it later became better known for housing the headquarters of the KGB in its various incarnations. As of 2016 the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) occupies the building. Opposite the FSB building stands the massive Central Children's Store , known by its historical name of Detsky Mir ( Russian : Де́тский мир , "Children World"), Europe 's largest children's store, built between 1953 and 1957, and fully restored in 2014. It hosts in its main atrium

9300-562: The landowners had spread to 482 of 624 counties, or 77% of the country. As 1917 progressed, the peasantry increasingly began to lose faith that the land would be distributed to them by the Social Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks . Refusing to continue living as before, they increasingly took measures into their own hands, as can be seen by the increase in the number and militancy of the peasant's actions. Over 42% of all

9424-645: The leading position of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars when the Bolsheviks formed a new government, after the October Revolution in 1917, and suggested Trotsky for the position. However, Trotsky refused the position and other Bolsheviks insisted that Lenin assume principal responsibility which resulted in Lenin eventually accepting the role of chairman. The Second Congress of Soviets consisted of 670 elected delegates: 300 were Bolsheviks and nearly 100 were Left Socialist-Revolutionaries , who also supported

9548-529: The many Soviet-era symbols removed that year to mark the end of Communism in Poland . The square was subsequently renamed Plac Bankowy (Bank Square). A 15-ton iron monument of Dzerzhinsky, which once dominated the Lubyanka Square in Moscow, near the KGB headquarters, also became known as "Iron Felix" ( Russian : Железный Феликс – Zheleznyj Feliks ). Sculpted in 1958 by Yevgeny Vuchetich , it served as

9672-454: The model for official films made later, which showed fierce fighting during the storming of the Winter Palace, although, in reality, the Bolshevik insurgents had faced little opposition. Later accounts of the heroic "storming of the Winter Palace" and "defense of the Winter Palace" were propaganda by Bolshevik publicists. Grandiose paintings depicting the "Women's Battalion" and photo stills taken from Sergei Eisenstein 's staged film depicting

9796-553: The newspaper Novaya Zhizn , which criticized the Bolsheviks' lack of manpower and organization in running their party, let alone a government. Lenin confidently claimed that there is "not a shadow of hesitation in the masses of Petrograd, Moscow and the rest of Russia" in accepting Bolshevik rule. On 10 November 1917 (23 November, N.S.), the government applied the term "citizens of the Russian Republic" to Russians, whom they sought to make equal in all possible respects, by

9920-519: The notorious Tenth Pavilion of the Warsaw Citadel. When World War I began in 1914, all political prisoners were relocated from Warsaw into Russia proper. Dzerzhinsky was taken to Oryol Prison . He was very concerned about the fate of his wife and son, with whom he did not have any communication. Moreover, the Russian guards administered Dzerzhinsky frequent beatings, which caused permanent disfigurement of his jaw and mouth. In 1916, Dzerzhinsky

10044-502: The nullification of all "legal designations of civil inequality, such as estates, titles, and ranks." The long-awaited Constituent Assembly elections were held on 12 November (O.S., 25 November, N.S.) 1917. In contrast to their majority in the Soviets, the Bolsheviks only won 175 seats in the 715-seat legislative body, coming in second behind the Socialist Revolutionary Party , which won 370 seats, although

10168-459: The number was much less than suggested above. As for the "several shots in the air", there is little evidence suggesting otherwise. While the seizure of the Winter Palace happened almost without resistance, Soviet historians and officials later tended to depict the event in dramatic and heroic terms. The historical reenactment titled The Storming of the Winter Palace was staged in 1920. This reenactment, watched by 100,000 spectators, provided

10292-505: The offensive's failure intensified the struggle of the workers and the soldiers. On 16 July, spontaneous demonstrations of workers and soldiers began in Petrograd, demanding that power be turned over to the soviets. The Central Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party provided leadership to the spontaneous movements. On 17 July, over 500,000 people participated in what was intended to be

10416-495: The opposing Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries (SR) from Congress. Some sources contend that as the leader of Tsentrobalt , Pavlo Dybenko played a crucial role in the revolt and that the ten warships that arrived at the city with ten thousand Baltic Fleet mariners were the force that took the power in Petrograd and put down the Provisional Government. The same mariners then dispersed by force

10540-409: The organized peasantry in this criminal violation of the will of the working class". This eventually developed into major counter-revolutionary action, as on 30 October (O.S., 12 November, N.S.) when Cossacks , welcomed by church bells, entered Tsarskoye Selo on the outskirts of Petrograd with Kerensky riding on a white horse. Kerensky gave an ultimatum to the rifle garrison to lay down weapons, which

10664-677: The overthrow of the Alexander Kerensky government. When the fall of the Winter Palace was announced, the Congress adopted a decree transferring power to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, thus ratifying the Revolution. The transfer of power was not without disagreement. The center and right wings of the Socialist Revolutionaries, as well as the Mensheviks, believed that Lenin and

10788-456: The palace and returned to their barracks. While the cabinet of the provisional government within the palace debated what action to take, the Bolsheviks issued an ultimatum to surrender. Workers and soldiers occupied the last of the telegraph stations, cutting off the cabinet's communications with loyal military forces outside the city. As the night progressed, crowds of insurgents surrounded the palace, and many infiltrated it. At 9:45   p.m,

10912-520: The party organization through the creation of a committee called the Komitet Zagraniczny (KZ), which dealt with the party's foreign relations. As secretary of the KZ, Dzerzhinsky was able to dominate the SDKPiL. In Berlin, he organized publication of the newspaper Czerwony Sztandar ("Red Banner"), and transportation of illegal literature from Kraków into Congress Poland . Being a delegate to

11036-556: The police had prepared at the apartment of his father-in-law. Dzerzhinsky continued to direct the Social Democratic Party (SDKPiL), while considering his continued freedom "only a game of the Okhrana". The Okhrana, however, was not playing a game; Dzerzhinsky simply was a master of conspiratorial techniques and was therefore extremely difficult to find. A police file from this time says: "Dzerzhinsky continued to lead

11160-411: The possibility that the army would stage a coup, and reversed the order. By contrast, historian Richard Pipes has argued that the episode was engineered by Kerensky. On 27 August, feeling betrayed by the government, Kornilov pushed on towards Petrograd. With few troops to spare at the front, Kerensky turned to the Petrograd Soviet for help. Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, and Socialist Revolutionaries confronted

11284-472: The pro-Bolshevik Left SRs). The Constituent Assembly was to first meet on 28 November (O.S.) 1917, but its convocation was delayed until 5 January (O.S.; 18 January, N.S.) 1918 by the Bolsheviks. On its first and only day in session, the Constituent Assembly came into conflict with the Soviets, and it rejected Soviet decrees on peace and land, resulting in the Constituent Assembly being dissolved

11408-611: The proletarian revolutionary struggle." By April, he had entered the Moscow Committee of the Bolsheviks and soon thereafter was elected to the executive committee of the Moscow Soviet . Dzerzhinsky endorsed Vladimir Lenin 's " April Theses ", demanding uncompromising opposition to the new Russian Provisional Government , the transfer of all political authority to the Soviets , and the immediate withdrawal of Russia from

11532-749: The proletariat". Dzerzhinsky was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis . Today his grave is one of the twelve individual tombs located between the Lenin Mausoleum and the Kremlin Wall . Dzerzhinsky was succeeded as chairman of the OGPU by Vyacheslav Menzhinsky . Dzierżyńszczyzna , one of the two Polish Autonomous Districts in the Soviet Union, was named to commemorate Dzerzhinsky. Located in Belarus , near Minsk and close to

11656-533: The provisional government and its actions. The provisional government remained unpopular, especially because it was continuing to fight in World War I , and had ruled with an iron fist throughout mid-1917 (including killing hundreds of protesters in the July Days ). It declared Russia as a republic on 1 September (O.S.; 14 September, N.S.) 1917. Events came to a head in late 1917 as the Directorate , led by

11780-423: The provisional government was weak and riven by internal dissension. It continued to wage World War I , which became increasingly unpopular. There was a nationwide crisis affecting social, economic, and political relations. Disorder in industry and transport had intensified, and difficulties in obtaining provisions had increased. Gross industrial production in 1917 decreased by over 36% of what it had been in 1914. In

11904-468: The revolution there. He wrote to his wife, "Together with these masses, we will return to Poland after the war and become one whole with the SDKPiL." He remained in Moscow where he joined the Bolshevik party , writing to his comrades that "the Bolshevik party organization is the only Social Democratic organization of the proletariat, and if we were to stay outside of it, then we would find ourselves outside

12028-617: The school. He had joined a Marxist group, the Union of Workers (Socjaldemokracja Królestwa Polskiego "SDKP"), in 1895. In late April 1896, he was one of 15 delegates at the first congress of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP). In 1897, he attended the second congress of the LSDP, where it rejected independence in favor of national autonomy. On 18 March 1897, he was sent to Kaunas to take advantage of

12152-540: The security service headquarters at Moscow's Lubyanka Building until 1991. Meanwhile, he also became a prominent symbol of repression and brutality to critics of the Soviet Union. Felix Dzerzhinsky was born on 11 September 1877 to ethnically Polish parents of noble descent, at the Dzerzhinovo family estate, about 15 km (9.3 mi) from the small town of Ivyanets in the Minsk Governorate of

12276-611: The tasks of socialist construction. Dzerzhinsky died of a heart attack on 20 July 1926 in Moscow , immediately after a two-hour speech to the Bolshevik Central Committee during which, visibly quite ill, he violently denounced the United Opposition directed by Leon Trotsky , Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev . Upon hearing of his death, Joseph Stalin eulogized Dzerzhinsky as "a devout knight of

12400-521: The threat of financial bankruptcy . Vladimir Lenin, who had been living in exile in Switzerland, with other dissidents organized a plan to negotiate a passage for them through Germany, with whom Russia was then at war. Recognizing that these dissidents could cause problems for their Russian enemies, the German government agreed to permit 32 Russian citizens, among them Lenin and his wife, to travel in

12524-549: The time of the event. In his book, The Stalin School of Falsification , Leon Trotsky argued that the Stalinist faction routinely distorted historical events and the importance of Bolshevik figures especially during the October Revolution. He cited a range of historical documents such as private letters, telegrams, party speeches, meeting minutes , and suppressed texts such as Lenin's Testament . Lenin initially turned down

12648-583: The time of the incident, there were conflicting claims as to whether Felix or his brother Stanisław was responsible for the accident. His father, Edmund-Rufin Dzierżyński graduated from the Saint Petersburg Imperial University in 1863 and moved to Vilnius , where he worked as a home teacher for a professor of Saint Petersburg University named Januszewski and eventually married Januszewski's daughter Helena Ignatievna, who also

12772-734: The unrest in the villages. From 1914 to 1917, almost 50% of healthy men were sent to war, and many were killed on the front, resulting in many females being head of the household. Often—when government allowances were late and were not sufficient to match the rising costs of goods—soldiers' wives sent masses of appeals to the government, which went largely unanswered. Frustration resulted, and these women were influential in inciting "subsistence riots"—also referred to as "hunger riots", " pogroms ", or "baba riots". In these riots, citizens seized food and resources from shop owners, who they believed to be charging unfair prices. Upon police intervention, protesters responded with "rakes, sticks, rocks, and fists." In

12896-504: The uprising in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg, then capital of Russia) against the Provisional Government. The event coincided with the arrival of a pro-Bolshevik flotilla—consisting primarily of five destroyers and their crews, as well as marines—in Petrograd harbor. At Kronstadt , sailors announced their allegiance to the Bolshevik insurrection. In the early morning, from its heavily guarded and picketed headquarters in Smolny Palace,

13020-616: The wall. Besides his leadership of the secret police, Dzerzhinsky also took on a number of other roles; he led the fight against typhus in 1918, was chair of the Commissariat for Internal Affairs from 1919 to 1923, initiated a vast orphanage construction program, chaired the Transport Commissariat, organized the embalming of Lenin's body in 1924 and chaired the Society of Friends of Soviet Cinema. Dzerzhinsky became

13144-512: The war!" and "All power to the soviets!" The mass demonstrations resulted in a crisis for the Provisional Government. 1 July saw more demonstrations, as about 500,000 workers and soldiers in Petrograd demonstrated, again demanding "all power to the soviets," "down with the war," and "down with the ten capitalist ministers." The Provisional Government opened an offensive against the Central Powers on 1 July, which soon collapsed. The news of

13268-475: The war. Dzerzhinsky's brother Stanisław was murdered on the Dzerzhinsky estate by deserting Russian soldiers that same year. Subsequently, in late July, Dzerzhinsky was subsequently elected to the Bolshevik Central Committee at the Sixth Party Congress. He then relocated from Moscow to Petrograd to begin his new responsibilities. In Petrograd, Dzerzhinsky participated in the crucial session of

13392-418: The wisdom or legitimacy of taking power. A final assault against the Winter Palace —against 3,000 cadets, officers, cossacks, and female soldiers—was not vigorously resisted. The Bolsheviks delayed the assault because they could not find functioning artillery. At 6:15   p.m., a large group of artillery cadets abandoned the palace, taking their artillery with them. At 8:00   p.m., 200 cossacks left

13516-423: The workers and were able to negotiate better working conditions, pay, and hours. Even though workplace conditions may have been increasing in quality, the overall quality of life for workers was not improving. There were still shortages of food and the increased wages workers had obtained did little to provide for their families. By October 1917, peasant uprisings were common. By autumn, the peasant movement against

13640-638: The world celebrate it. Despite occurring in November of the Gregorian calendar , the event is most commonly known as the "October Revolution" ( Октябрьская революция ) because at the time Russia still used the Julian calendar . The event is sometimes known as the "November Revolution", after the Soviet Union modernized its calendar . To avoid confusion, both O.S and N.S. dates have been given for events. For more details see Old Style and New Style dates . It

13764-442: The world's largest mechanical clock movement: Raketa Monumental . The Moscow Metro station Lubyanka operates under Lubyanka Square. Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (Russian: Феликс Эдмундович Дзержинский ; Polish : Feliks Edmundowicz Dzierżyński [ˈfɛliks ɛdmundɔvʲiʈ͡ʂ d͡ʑɛrʐɨj̃skʲi] ; 11 September [ O.S. 30 August] 1877 – 20 July 1926), nicknamed " Iron Felix ",

13888-679: Was Minister of the Interior, director of the Cheka/GPU/OGPU, Minister for Communications, and director of the Vesenkha (Supreme Council of National Economy) in 1921–24. Indeed, while the (O)GPU was theoretically supposed to act with more restraint than the Cheka, in time its de facto powers grew even greater than those of the Cheka. At his office in Lubyanka , Dzerzhinsky kept a portrait of fellow Polish revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg on

14012-535: Was a Soviet revolutionary and politician of Polish origin. From 1917 until his death in 1926, he led the first two Soviet secret police organizations, the Cheka and the OGPU , establishing state security organs for the Bolshevik government. He was a key architect of the Red Terror and de-Cossackization . Born to a Polish family of noble descent in the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire (now in Belarus ), Dzerzhinsky embraced revolutionary politics from

14136-541: Was already pregnant. A month later she was arrested; she gave birth to their son Janek in Pawiak prison. In 1911, Zofia was sentenced to permanent Siberian exile, and she left the child with her father. Dzerzhinsky saw his son for the first time in March 1912 in Warsaw. In attending the welfare of his child, Dzerzhinsky repeatedly exposed himself to the danger of arrest. On one occasion, Dzerzhinsky narrowly escaped an ambush that

14260-1101: Was arrested again in December of the same year. In June 1907, Dzerzhinsky was released on bail. At the 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in London in May–June 1907, he was elected in absentia as a member of the Central Committee of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party . In April 1908, Dzerzhinsky was arrested once again in Warsaw and again exiled to Siberia ( Yeniseysk Governorate ) in 1909. As before, Dzerzhinsky managed to escape (by November 1909). In 1910, he reached Italy, where he met Maxim Gorky on Capri ; he then returned to Poland. Back in Kraków in 1910, Dzerzhinsky married RSDLP party member Zofia Muszkat , who

14384-496: Was first and foremost a Russian Communist, and Dzerzhinsky's involvement in the affairs of the Polish Communist Party (which was founded in 1918) was minimal. The energy and dedication that had previously been responsible for the building of the SDKPiL would henceforth be devoted to the priorities of the struggle for Bolshevik power in Russia, to the defence of the revolution during the civil war, and eventually, to

14508-557: Was imprisoned until the February Revolution of 1917. He then joined Vladimir Lenin 's Bolshevik party, and played an active role in the October Revolution which brought them to power. In December 1917, Lenin named Dzerzhinsky head of the newly established All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (Cheka), tasking him with the suppression of counter-revolutionary activities in Soviet Russia. The Russian Civil War saw

14632-455: Was in coalition with the Bolsheviks. There were reports that the Provisional Government had not conceded defeat and were meeting with the army at the Front. Anti-Bolshevik sentiment continued to grow as posters and newspapers started criticizing the actions of the Bolsheviks and repudiated their authority. The executive committee of Peasants Soviets "[refuted] with indignation all participation of

14756-579: Was named after Dzerzhinsky in 1958. His name and image were used widely throughout the KGB and the Soviet Union and other communist countries; there were numerous places named after him. In Russia , there is the city of Dzerzhinsk , a village of Dzerzhinsk, and three other cities called Dzerzhinskiy; in other former Soviet republics, there was a city named for him in Armenia and the aforementioned Dzyarzhynsk in Belarus. To comply with decommunization laws ,

14880-613: Was of Polish origin. In 1868, after a short period in Kherson gymnasium, he worked as a gymnasium teacher of physics and mathematics at the schools of Taganrog in the Don Host Province , Russia, particularly the Chekhov Gymnasium . In 1875, Edmund Dzierżyński retired due to health conditions and moved with his family to his estate near Ivyanets and Rakaŭ . In 1882, Felix's father died from tuberculosis . As

15004-520: Was promptly refused. They were then fired upon by Kerensky's Cossacks, which resulted in 8 deaths. This turned soldiers in Petrograd against Kerensky as being the Tsarist regime. Kerensky's failure to assume authority over troops was described by John Reed as a "fatal blunder" that signaled the final end of his government. Over the following days, the battle against the anti-Bolsheviks continued. The Red Guard fought against Cossacks at Tsarskoye Selo, with

15128-453: Was significantly altered and revised including the importance of the leading figures during the Bolshevik revolution. Retrospectively, Lenin's primary associates such as Zinoviev, Trotsky, Radek and Bukharin were presented as "vacillating", "opportunists" and "foreign spies" whereas Stalin was depicted as the chief discipline during the revolution. However, in reality, Stalin was considered a relatively unknown figure with secondary importance at

15252-671: Was sometimes known as the Bolshevik Revolution, or the Communist Revolution. Initially the event was referred to as the "October coup" ( Октябрьский переворот ) or the "Uprising of the 3rd", as seen in contemporary documents, for example in the first editions of Lenin 's complete works. The February Revolution had toppled Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and replaced his government with the Russian Provisional Government . However,

15376-540: Was transferred to the Moscow Butyrka prison , where he was soon hospitalized because the chains that he had been forced to wear were causing severe cramps in his legs. Despite the prospects of amputation, Dzerzhinsky recovered and was put to work sewing military uniforms. Dzerzhinsky was freed from Butyrka after the February Revolution of 1917. Soon after his release, Dzerzhinsky's goal was to organize Polish refugees in Russia, then return to Poland and fight for

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