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91-884: From October 29 to November 11, 1917 it was a body of the Petrograd Soviet , later the All Russian Central Executive Committee . From November 8, 1917 to December 18, 1917 the committee was the highest extraordinary body of state power. All its activities were conducted under the supervision of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) and Lenin , who was a member, personally. Among its numerous other members were Leon Trotsky , Nikolai Podvoisky , Felix Dzerzhinsky , Yakov Sverdlov , Andrei Bubnov , Moisei Uritsky , Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko , Joseph Stalin , and Pavel Lazimir , who

182-638: A Presidium composed of ten Bolsheviks and three Left Socialist-Revolutionaries with a further delegate from each other group (Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, etc.). The Swiss, Romanian, Swedish and Norwegian Social-Democratic parties, the British Socialist Party and the Socialist Party of America sent messages of solidarity. Occurring shortly after the Constituent Assembly had been dissolved by order of

273-626: A decidedly conditional statement of support. Moreover, the Soviet undermined the Provisional Government by issuing its own orders, beginning with the seven-article Order No. 1 . The Soviet was not opposed to the war – internal divisions produced a public ambivalence–but was deeply worried about counterrevolutionary moves from the military, and was determined to have garrison troops firmly on its side. The Petrograd Soviet developed into an alternate source of authority to

364-545: A front for the activities of the Bolshevik's Military Organization. Podvoisky would take official control of the committee on the day of the uprising, with Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko as secretary. The Ispolkom and the Provisional Government had been cut out of control of the forces in the Petrograd Military District, since very few of them remained loyal to them. The Military Staff was sidelined on

455-755: A report on Soviet military construction and fronts in the Russian Civil War . Officially called the Eighth All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’, Peasants’, Red Army and Cossack Deputies was held in Moscow on December 22–29, 1920. It was at this Congress that Gleb Krzhizhanovsky presented his report on the GOELRO plan . This was the first economic plan which focused on significant electrification of Russian industry. Lenin criticised Trotsky 's pamphlet, The Role and Tasks of

546-434: A stage for speechmakers. The party-based Ispolkom quickly took charge of actual decision-making. The members of the executive committee, called Ispolkom , came only from political groups, with every socialist party given three seats (agreed March 18). This created an intellectual and radical head to the peasant-, worker-, and soldier-dominated body. The executive committee meetings were more intense and almost as disorderly as

637-544: Is the rapid growth of the crisis, the utter consternation reigning among the ruling circles, the isolation of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, and the mass flight of the vacillating elements to the side of the Bolsheviks. A peculiar feature of the tactics of the revolution in this period must be noted, namely, that the revolution strove to take every, or nearly every, step in its attack in

728-548: The All Russian Congress of Soviets and to wreck the Constituent Assembly . At the same time the pogrom-makers may attempt to cause trouble and slaughter in the streets of Petrograd. The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies takes upon itself the defence of revolutionary order against attempts at counter-revolution and pogroms. Throughout the following events of the October Revolution

819-560: The All-Russian Central Executive Committee ( CEC or VTsIK ) with over 70 members (but no peasant representatives). The mass meetings of the body tapered from daily in the first weeks to roughly weekly by April. The rise of the Bolsheviks throughout 1917 is known as the Bolshevization of soviets . The Bolsheviks rapidly assumed the mantle of the official opposition , and took advantage of

910-588: The All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), the Congress resolved to expunge any references to the forthcoming Constituent Assembly from all new editions of decrees and laws of the Soviet Government. The Congress received: The Mensheviks, Right Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Menshevik internationalists used the Congress to indicate their opposition to the domestic and foreign policy which

1001-704: The Cossacks who were sent by Kerensky to retake Petrograd. However, shortly after the insurrection, the MRC found itself dealing with mostly civil administration duties. By 10 November [ O.S. 28 October], the MRC appointed 185 commissars to various civil agencies. The most urgent problem facing the MRC was providing food to the population of Petrograd. After the October insurrection, levels of grain stock in Petrograd were so low that they were insufficient to supply

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1092-752: The Ispolkom rejected the workings of the Congress and called on the Soviets and the army to defend the Revolution. But in the evening, the Congress dismissed the Ispolkom and replaced it with a new group of 101 members (62 Bolsheviks) under Lev Borisovich Kamenev . It also approved the Decree on Peace , the Decree on Land and the formation of a new government – the Council of People's Commissars ( Soviet Narodnykh Komissarov , abbreviated to Sovnarkom ) – until

1183-512: The Petrograd Military District , ordered the bulk of the capital's garrison units (those considered by the Provisional Government to be politically unreliable) to prepare for immediate transfer to the front. Given the inflamed political atmosphere this was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a fatal miscalculation on behalf of Alexander Kerensky and quickly sparked a "general mutiny" with most garrison units openly declaring loyalty to

1274-565: The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers Deputies and dated "10am, October 25, 1917". It reads: The Provisional Government has been deposed. State power has passed into the hands of the organ of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies – the Military Revolutionary Committee, which heads the Petrograd proletariat and the garrison. The cause for which the people have fought, namely,

1365-589: The Provisional Government under (Prince) Georgy Lvov and later Alexander Kerensky . This created a situation described as dvoevlastie ( dual power ), in which the Petrograd Soviet competed for legitimacy with the Provisional Government until the October Revolution. The Ispolkom (the "executive committee") of the Petrograd Soviet often publicly attacked the Provisional Government as bourgeois and boasted of its de facto power over de jure authority (control over post , telegraphs ,

1456-511: The Red Army in the Russian Civil War was passed. The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries had 352 delegates compared to 745 Bolsheviks out of 1132 total. The Left SRs raised disagreements on the suppression of rival parties, the death penalty, and mainly, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The Left SR Uprising broke out on during this Congress. Its suppression marked the end of Left SR participation in

1547-511: The Soviet Union , endorsed by the Congress. In his speech before the Congress, Stalin, as final words, said that: "Let us hope, comrades, that by forming our Union Republic we shall create a reliable bulwark against international capitalism, and that the new Union State will be another decisive step towards the union of the working people of the whole world into a World Soviet Socialist Republic." The Eleventh All-Russian Congress of Soviets

1638-577: The Sovnarkom decree " Socialist Homeland is in Danger! " That committee was liquidated upon signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918. Petrograd Soviet The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies ( Russian : Петроградский совет рабочих и солдатских депутатов , Petrogradsky soviet rabochih i soldatskikh deputatov ) was a city council of Petrograd (Saint Petersburg),

1729-615: The Supreme Soviet as the highest legislative body. The first soviets appeared during the 1905 Russian Revolution as councils (soviets) of workers in those cities that were captured by mass strikes ( strike action ). Enterprises that were participating in those strikes had delegated to those councils their delegates to coordinate joint actions. In various locations those councils carried different names such as "Soviet of workers deputies", "Delegate assembly", "Assembly of deputies", "Commission of elected", and others. By October 1905

1820-653: The supreme governing body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1918 until 1936, effectively. The 1918 Constitution of the Russian SFSR mandated that Congress shall convene at least twice a year, with the duties of defining (and amending) the principles of the Soviet Constitution and ratifying peace treaties. The October Revolution ousted the provisional government of 1917 , making

1911-595: The "Soviet of workers deputies" became more common. Following the example of Soviets of workers deputies in other locations were appearing Soviets of workers, sailors, and soldiers deputies, Soviets of workers and peasants deputies, Soviet of peasants deputies. Originally, those soviets were mass political organizations. For socialist parties the appearance of soviets was unexpected, yet each made an effort to delegate to them their representatives. Mensheviks and SRs view those soviets as strike committees or local authorities of self-government. Bolsheviks have seen in them

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2002-548: The Anarchists, from the Federation of Anarchist Groups , had Anarcho-Syndicalist views. The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries broke off from the more moderate Socialist-Revolutionary Party in the fall of 1917 and allied with the Bolsheviks. They were considered to be the party of the peasantry and their main agenda was the redistribution of property from the landlords and their estates. Leon Trotsky , stated that "[o]f

2093-623: The Bolsheviks passed. The Declaration of Rights of the Working and Exploited People was passed and this went on to become the basis of the Soviet Constitution. It was also agreed to establish the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic on the basis of a free union of the peoples of Russia. The Congress also approved the Decree on Land which provided the basic provisions of the redistribution and nationalization of land. At

2184-463: The Congress into a rubber stamp . The Congress was formed of representatives of city councils (1 delegate per 25,000 voters) and the congresses of the provincial (oblast) and autonomous republican councils (1 deputy for every 125,000 inhabitants). The exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress consisted of the election of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee , adoption of the Constitution of

2275-555: The Congress of Soviets the sole, and supreme governing body. This Congress was not the same as the Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union which governed the whole Soviet Union after its creation in 1922. For the earlier portion of its life, the Congress was a democratic body. Over Russia there were hundreds of soviets , democratic local governing bodies in which the surrounding population could participate. The soviets elected

2366-415: The Congress of Soviets. The Sixth Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’, Peasants’, Cossacks’ and Red Army Deputies was held November 6–9, 1918. The Seventh All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’, Peasants’, Cossacks’ and Red Army Deputies was held December 5–9, 1919. That year a report on the foreign policy of Soviet Russia was submitted to the Congress and Leon Trotsky read

2457-711: The Constituent Assembly for gratuitous alienation from all privately owned lands and transferring them to working people, but spoke against "arbitrary resolution of land issue at local level", leaving, thus, the land in hands of landowners. On 16 April 1917 the conference elected 10 delegates from oblasts and 6 from the Army and the Navy to the Petrograd Soviet Executive Committee turning it in this way in central authority of Soviets of

2548-785: The Fourth Extraordinary All-Russian Congress of Soviets (March 14–16, 1918), the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was ratified. This marked a rift between the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries , who voted against the treaty and whose ministers quit the Sovnarkom in protest. The Fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’ Peasants’, Soldiers’ and Red Army Deputies was held July 4–10, 1918. A decree that "linked citizenship to military service and obliged all healthy men aged 18–40 years to come forward" and fight for

2639-599: The MRC would play the crucial role of coordinating the thousands of soldiers, sailors, and armed workers involved in seizing control of the city. It was on its authority that the Provisional Government was ultimately disbanded and power transferred to the Second All-Russian Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies' Soviets . A pamphlet titled "To the citizens of Russia" was signed by the Revolutionary Military Committee of

2730-502: The MRC, stated that "[t]he decision to create a Military Revolutionary Committee, first introduced on [October] 9th, was passed at a plenary session of the Soviet only a week later [...] [f]our days more were required to form the Committee." Trotsky says that the MRC "went to work only on the 20th, five days before the insurrection." The MRC was formed in response to the decision of the Provisional Government under Kerensky to transfer to

2821-487: The Menshevik-SR resolution after it was added with resolutions about "control and impact" of revolutionary democracy on the Provisional Government and its local authorities. Recognizing the need for a legislative establishment of 8 hour workday, the conference did not call the workers upon its immediate establishment by revolutionary means. On peasant and land issues, the conference adopted its resolution about support in

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2912-448: The Petrograd Soviet. It was in the city's soviet on 22 October [ O.S. 9 October] that the crisis truly exploded and the body, by now with a Bolshevik majority, adopted a militant resolution authored by Leon Trotsky , that specifically called for the creation of a 'military revolutionary centre' to "facilitate the revolutionary defence of Petrograd... from the attacks being openly prepared by military and civil Kornilovites". Over

3003-524: The Provisional Government. During its tenure, the MRC in Petrograd shut down up to five newspapers a day on suspicions of being counter-revolutionary. Other duties performed by the MRC included political policing against possible counter-revolutionaries, issuing of exit visas and various permits, controlling foreign trade outlets, censoring of the press, distribution of various goods to both the military and civilian population, allocation of housing, licensing of theatrical performances, etc. Eventually, many of

3094-569: The Russian SFSR and amendments to it, approval of amendments proposed by the Central Executive Committee, and approval of the autonomous republics' constitutions. On the other issues, the Congress and the Central Executive Committee had the same authority. The Congress ceased to exist at the end of the constitutional reform of 1936–1937, when first on the union and then at the republican levels indirect election to Soviets were replaced by direct elections at all levels with

3185-521: The Social Revolutionaries only Lazimir did any work, and he was even placed at the head of the bureau in order to emphasise the fact that the Committee was a Soviet and not a party institution [...] the MRC's "chief workers [were] Podvoisky, Antonov-Ovseenko, Lashevich, Sadovsky, and Mekhonoshin" and that they all "relied exclusively upon Bolsheviks". The MRC was made up of its headquarters and corps of commissars who reported directly to

3276-633: The Soldiers' Section, and ten the Workers' Section. All members were socialists, the majority Mensheviks or Socialist-Revolutionaries ; there was no Bolshevik representation. After the first All-Russian Congress of Soviets (June/July 1917), the Petrograd Soviet began adding representatives from other parts of Russia and the front lines, renaming itself the All-Russian Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies . The executive committee became

3367-475: The Soviets considered the creation of a Committee of Revolutionary Defense. The Bolsheviks and Trotsky amended the resolution to include security of Petrograd against both German and domestic threats. The Plenum of the Soviet voted for a committee to "gather... all the forces participating in the defense of Petrograd... to arm the workers... ensuring the revolutionary defense of Petrograd... against the... military and civilian Kornilovites." The Ispolkom approved

3458-470: The Soviets, but this was already a significant act of armed insurrection that almost instantly translated into the overthrow of the Kerensky government. Even after the decision was made to overthrow Kerensky, the rhetoric of the Bolsheviks focused on defending the democratic gains from Kerensky though they were not only planning defense, but also revolutionary attack: "The characteristic feature of this period

3549-536: The Trade Unions at the subsequent preliminary joint meeting of Bolshevik delegates. The Congress also established the Sowing Committee (posevkomy). The Ninth All-Russian Congress of Soviets was held in Moscow from December 23–28, 1921. It was attended by 1,991 delegates, of whom 1,630 held voting status. The Tenth All-Russian Congress of Soviets was held in Moscow from December 23–27, 1922. It

3640-602: The USSR which existed until the 1988 constitutional reform. It was a political regime that had combined in itself the dictatorship of the Communist Party and the power of soviets (councils). The mechanism of such combination was theoretically designed by Vladimir Lenin and put into practice by the Bolshevik party. In the communist-soviet system of power, the dictatorship of one party ( professional revolutionaries )

3731-553: The agenda were Majority was composed of Mensheviks and SRs . The Bolshevik group introduced its own resolution drafts on key issues of agenda. In its resolution on war that was rather defensive, presented by Menshevik-SR Petrograd Soviet Executive Committee, the conference approved the declaration of the Provisional Government about the war (of 28 March) as if it abandoned aggressive goals. The Bolshevik group, on behalf of which Lev Kamenev had been speaking, took "a wrong position" by taking off own resolution draft and voting for

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3822-651: The authority with help of which they could install in the country their dictatorship. In 1905 Vladimir Lenin noted that in political relations the Soviet of workers deputies should be viewed as the kernel (germ) of provisional revolutionary government. In 1917 Vladimir Lenin in his April theses came up with the famous slogan "All power to the Soviets!". Following the February Revolution , Lenin considered that in Russia dual power existed as an interweaving of bourgeoisie power ( Provisional Government ) and

3913-537: The capital of Russia at the time. For brevity, it is usually called the Petrograd Soviet ( Russian : Петроградский совет , Petrogradsky soviet ). The Soviet was established in March 1917 after the February Revolution as a representative body of the city's workers and soldiers, while the city already had its well-established city council, the Saint Petersburg City Duma (Central Duma). During

4004-427: The city with the daily ration of half a pound of bread for even one day. The MRC imposed even stricter food controls and sent “flying food-supply squads” to the other provinces, followed by stiff penalties against possible speculation on the new incoming provisions. The MRC also took it upon itself to censor the press. In 1917, Petrograd had over 150 newspapers and other periodicals, and 450 journals. In keeping with

4095-436: The counterrevolution. The revolution, as it were, masked its actions in attack under the cloak of defence in order the more easily to draw the irresolute, vacillating elements into its orbit. This, no doubt, explains the outwardly defensive character of the speeches, articles and slogans of that period, the inner content of which, none the less, was of a profoundly attacking nature." In Lessons of October , Leon Trotsky , who

4186-462: The delegates to the Congress, and then in turn the Congress held the national authority, making the highest decisions. There were several political parties represented in the various sessions of the Congress, each of which fought for increasing their own influence in the soviets. However, as the civil war progressed, the soviets' authority was progressively reduced, with the rise of Stalinism effectively cementing this situation and decisively turning

4277-428: The department of revolutionary air services was added, and on 6 November [ O.S. 24 October], a motor transport allocation section was added. The immediate tasks the MRC faced after seizing power from the Provisional Government were curbing resistance, taking control of essential utilities and government offices, preventing pogroms and looting, and above all, defeating a coup attempt by military cadets and fighting

4368-400: The duties of the MRC were overtaken by the Council of People's Commissars that was formed after the October insurrection, as well as other new and/or newly renovated administrative offices. The MRC was officially abolished on 18 December [ O.S. 5 December] 1917. The committee was briefly revived as the Committee of Revolutionary Defense of Petrograd on February 21, 1918 by

4459-700: The economic situation worsened, encouraging street demonstrations and issuing revolutionary proclamations. On January 27, 1917 (all dates Old Style ) the entire leadership of the Central Workers' Group was arrested and taken to the Peter and Paul Fortress on the orders of Alexander Protopopov , the Minister of the Interior in Imperial Russia . They were freed by a crowd of disaffected soldiers on

4550-645: The end of the Provisional Government and the transfer of power to the Petrograd Soviet. In the early afternoon, Trotsky convened an Extraordinary Session of the Petrograd Soviet, to preempt the Congress of Soviets. It was packed with Bolsheviks and Left SR deputies. That evening, the Second Congress of Soviets opened in the Assembly Hall in Smolny. The 600 or so delegates chose a Presidium of 3 Mensheviks and 21 Bolsheviks and Left SRs. The following day,

4641-725: The first day of the Congress, the Socialist Revolutionaries split into two groups – the Left Social Revolutionaries and the Right Social Revolutionaries. Also on the first day, the Menshevik delegation and Right Socialist Revolutionary deputies walked out in protest. 505 delegates voted in favour of the transfer of power to the Soviets. The All-Russian Central Executive Committee and Council of People's Commissars

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4732-463: The first point of Lenin’s three point program concerning the press, the MRC would forcibly close critical publications and hand over the facilities to Bolshevik sympathizers (the following two points were a state monopoly on advertising and allocating printing services and supplies to socialist parties and citizen groups in proportion to their size). On 8 November [ O.S. 26 October], the MRC in Petrograd shut down seven newspapers that had supported

4823-488: The following days the composition and structure of this new MRC was decided upon, albeit without reference to Trotsky's inflammatory provocation to the Provisional Government, and the body was ratified by the Soviet on 29 October [ O.S. 16 October]. It began to gather in the Smolny on 31 October [ O.S. 18 October] and its first official meeting was not held until 2 November [ O.S. 20 October]. Its chair

4914-506: The front military units that were suspected of being too strongly under the influence of Bolsheviks or other radical parties. Initially, the MRC had 66 identified members. Of these members, 48 were Bolsheviks, fourteen were Left Socialist-Revolutionaries , and four were Anarchists . In contrast to the Bolsheviks, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries abided by their own official ideology of Radical Populism , and

5005-488: The garrison formations and on 3 November [ O.S. 21 October] a delegation, including Lazimir, formally asserted the committee's claim to prior command before General Polkovnikov. According to Czech historian Dr.Michal Reiman, this act can be considered the true beginning of the October Revolution : "Already on October 21 and 22 the Military Revolutionary Committee, in effect, took upon itself authority over

5096-494: The garrison. Its actions, from both a practical and a juridical standpoint, would be considered by any nation a clear case of mutiny and insurrection". With the loyalty of the garrisons secure, the following days would see the MRC locked into a confrontation with the Kerensky regime and culminating in the pronouncement of 6 November [ O.S. 24 October]: Citizens: The counter-revolution has raised its criminal head. The Kornilovites are mobilising their forces in order to crush

5187-482: The government - after advice from the military – made plans to evacuate to Moscow. The Ispolkom attacked the move, and Trotsky had the soldiers' section, who were mostly Mensheviks, vote on a resolution condemning the evacuation. The Provisional Government postponed evacuation indefinitely. Its attempts to dispatch Petrograd garrison units to the front were resisted by the troops and by the Ispolkom. On October 9,

5278-569: The government released many senior Bolsheviks on bail or promise of good behavior. In the August 20 municipal elections, the Bolsheviks took a third of the votes, a 50% increase in three months. During the Kornilov affair, the Ispolkom was forced to use the Bolsheviks' military as its main force against the "counter-revolution". Kerensky ordered the distribution of 40,000 rifles to the workers of Petrograd (some Red Guards ), many of which ended in

5369-520: The government. The Milrevcom sent armed groups to seize the main telegraph offices and lower the bridges across the Neva. That night, the Bolsheviks took control quickly and easily, since the vast majority of both the guard and the workers had sided with them, participating in the plans of the "Milrevcom". The following morning at 10 am, the Milrevcom issued an announcement written by Lenin , declaring

5460-437: The guise of defence. Undoubtedly, the refusal to allow the troops to be withdrawn from Petrograd was an important step in the revolution's attack; nevertheless, this attack was carried out under the slogan of protecting Petrograd from possible attack by the external enemy. Undoubtedly, the formation of the Revolutionary Military Committee was a still more important step in the attack upon the Provisional Government; nevertheless, it

5551-408: The hands of Bolshevik groups. As other socialist parties abandoned the Soviet organizations, the Bolsheviks increased their presence. On September 25, they gained a majority in the Workers' Section and Leon Trotsky was elected chairman. He directed the transformation of the Soviet into a revolutionary organ according to Bolshevik policies. On October 6, with a German advance threatening the city,

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5642-402: The headquarters. The commissars were mostly Bolsheviks who were formerly political prisoners of the Provisional Government. Between 3–6 November [ O.S. 21–24 October] 1917, they successfully deposed the standing commissars of the Central Executive Committee of the First Congress of Soviets , who were mostly Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries , and thereby ensured that

5733-430: The immediate offer of a democratic peace, the abolition of landed proprietorship, workers' control over production, and the establishment of Soviet power – this cause has been secured. Long live the revolution of the workers, soldiers and peasants! Bolshevik revolutionary leader Joseph Stalin pointed out that the Military Committee was created to guard against counter-revolution by the Kerensky government, and to protect

5824-412: The later shock of the Kornilov affair , polarized the political scene. The Petrograd Soviet moved steadily leftwards, just as those of the center and right consolidated around Kerensky. Despite the events in July, the Ispolkom moved to protect the Bolsheviks from serious consequences, adopting resolutions on August 4 and August 18 against the arrest and prosecution of Bolsheviks. Still wary of the Ispolkom,

5915-481: The meeting of the Constituent Assembly. The Sovnarkom was meant to be an executive governing body directly accountable to the newly created Central Executive Committee (CEC/ VTsIK ) which would act as a standing-body of the (legislative) Soviet between full sessions of the Congress of Soviets, though in practice Sovnarkom would eclipse the CEC/TSiK in autonomy and power. Congress of Soviets of Russia The All-Russian Congress of Soviets evolved from 1917 to become

6006-405: The military front lines with commissars appointed with Ministry of War support. In March 1917, the Petrograd Soviet was opposed to the workers, which protested its deliberations with strikes. On March 8, the Menshevik newspaper Rabochaia Gazeta even claimed that the strikers were discrediting the soviet by disobeying it. The Ispolkom expanded to 19 members on April 8, nine representing

6097-451: The military would be under their command. On 6–7 November [ O.S. 24–25 October], the Bolsheviks, through the MRC, were able to assume power. The headquarters of the MRC was located on the third floor of the Smolny Young Ladies’ College . Originally, it had seven departments: defense, supplies, communications, information bureau, workers’ militia, reporting section, and commandant’s office. On 2 November [ O.S. 20 October],

6188-471: The morning of February 27, the beginning of the February Revolution, and the chairman convened a meeting to organize and elect a Soviet of Workers' Deputies that day. That evening, between 69 and 300 people attended the meeting at the Tauride Palace . A provisional executive committee ( Ispolkom ) was chosen, named "Provisional Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers' Deputies" and chaired by Nikolay Chkheidze , and with mostly Menshevik deputies. (Chkheize

6279-463: The new socialist presence in the Cabinet to attack them for the failures of the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks began a strong run of propaganda . In June, 100,000 copies of Pravda (including Soldatskaya Pravda , Golos Pravdy , and Okopnaya Pravda ) were printed daily. In July, over 350,000 leaflets were distributed. The July Days riots from July 16–17, inspired but not led by the Bolsheviks, were without success. The rise of Kerensky, and

6370-610: The night of October 21, when the Milrevcom took exclusive control of the garrison in the name of the Soldiers' Section of the Soviet. The District Commander, Colonel Polkovnikov, refused to allow this control, and he and his staff were condemned in a Milrevcom public statement as "a direct weapon of the counter-revolutionary forces". The military command responded with an ultimatum to the Soviet, which led to delaying negotiations and meetings on October 23 and 24. The Bolshevik-popular uprising began on October 24, when "liberal" forces tried to shut down Pravda and take other steps to secure

6461-458: The outcome of the insurrection of October 25 was at least three-quarters settled, if not more, the moment that we opposed the transfer of the Petrograd garrison; created the Military Revolutionary Committee (October 16)...". Kerensky's order was issued not long after the Bolsheviks gained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet and Trotsky was elected Chairman (the latter took place on 9 October [ O.S. 26 September] 1917. The Soviet took

6552-585: The overthrow of the Provisional Government of Russia in the October Revolution , the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (November 7–9, 1917) ratified the revolutionary transfer of state power. 649 delegates were elected to the Congress, representing 318 local soviets; 390 were Bolsheviks , about 100 left SRs , about 60 other SRs , 72 Mensheviks , 14 United Socialist Democrat-Internationalists, 6 Menshevik Internationalists and 7 of other factions. On

6643-608: The powers of the revolutionary masses (soviets). All other Russian political parties considered soviets as temporary public organizations and dual power did not exist for them as they were preparing for elections to the All-Russian Constituent Assembly . The embedding of the Bolsheviks into the Soviets (Bolshevization of the Soviets) established the Communist-Soviet system of state power in

6734-479: The press, railroads , food supply , and other infrastructure ). A "shadow government" with a Contact Commission was created on March 8 to "inform... [the Provisional Government] about the demands of the revolutionary people, to exert pressure on the government to dissatisfy all these demands, and to exercise uninterrupted control over their implementation." On March 19, the control extended into

6825-555: The public meetings and were often extremely long. On March 1, the executive committee resolved to remain outside any new State Duma . This allowed the group to criticize without responsibility, and kept them away from any potential backlash. On March 2, the Soviet received the eight-point program of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma , appointed an oversight committee ( nabliudatel'nyi komitet ), and issued

6916-546: The resolution, against Menshevik resistance, on October 12, and the Soviet approved it on October 16 (despite warnings by the Mensheviks and SRs), creating the Military Revolutionary Committee ( Voenno-Revoliutsionnyi Komitet ), also called the Milrevcom or Military Committee. The Military-Revolutionary Committee was chaired by Pavel Lazimir , with Nikolai Podvoisky as his deputy. It was

7007-556: The revolutionary days, the council tried to extend its jurisdiction nationwide as a rival power center to the Provisional Government , creating what in Soviet historiography is known as the Dvoyevlastiye (Dual power). Its committees were key components during the Russian Revolution and some of them led the armed revolt of the October Revolution . Before 1914, Petrograd was known as Saint Petersburg , and in 1905

7098-567: The view that Kerensky was attempting to remove the revolutionary-leaning troops who were following the directions of the soviet, and replace them with ones who would not oppose his orders. On the second anniversary of the October Revolution , a friend of Trotsky, Adolf Ioffe , wrote an article on the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet for the Communist International titled “The First Proletarian Government.” Leon Trotsky, who had been elected president of

7189-450: The whole country until the opening of First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of workers and soldiers deputies. On 17 April 1917, Vladimir Lenin made a report about war and revolution in which he outlined his April theses to that conference. The same day he repeated his report at a joint conference of Bolsheviks and Mensheviks who took part. The First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies (June 16 – July 7, 1917)

7280-665: The workers' soviet called the St Petersburg Soviet was created. But the main precursor to the 1917 Petrograd Soviet was the Central Workers' Group (Центральная Рабочая Группа, Tsentral'naya Rabochaya Gruppa ), founded in November 1915 by the Mensheviks to mediate between workers and the new Central War Industry Committee in Petrograd. The group became increasingly radical as World War I progressed and

7371-614: Was attended by 1,727 delegates and 488 guests. At this Congress, 488 were from the Bolshevik -controlled states of Ukraine , Belorussia and Transcaucasia and Joseph Stalin announced the union of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic , Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic , Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic , and the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic into

7462-481: Was attended by delegates from 317 Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' with a further 110 delegates from army, corps and divisional committees. The Bolsheviks comprised 441 of the 707 delegates. On the fourth day January 13 (26), more delegates who had been at the Third All-Russia Congress of Soviets of Peasants' Deputies arrived. By the end there were 1,587 delegates. The Congress had

7553-648: Was carried out under the slogan of organising Soviet control over the actions of the Headquarters of the Military Area. Undoubtedly, the open transition of the garrison to the side of the Revolutionary Military Committee and the organisation of a network of Soviet Commissars marked the beginning of the uprising; nevertheless, the revolution took these steps under the slogan of protecting the Petrograd Soviet from possible action by

7644-519: Was concealed by the popular sovereignty (people's rule) of the soviets and therefore officially, the political regime was called Soviet power . Following the February Revolution , on 11–16 April 1917 in Petrograd the All-Russian conference of Soviets of workers and soldiers deputies was held. At the conference, 480 delegates out of 139 Soviets, 13 military rear area garrisons, 7 of regular army, and 26 separate frontline councils attended. On

7735-564: Was convened by the National Conference of the Soviets. It was dominated by pro-government parties ( Socialist-Revolutionaries , etc.) and confirmed the supremacy of the Russian Provisional Government . There were 1090 delegates, 822 acting as voting delegates, representing 305 workers', soldiers' and peasant soviets, and 53 regional, provincial and district soviets. The breakdown of delegates by party

7826-591: Was elected by the Congress, naming Vladimir Lenin the Chairman, and thus making him the head of government. At the opening of the Congress, Lenin gave a speech saying that the "Soviet government will propose an immediate democratic peace to all the nations and an immediate armistice on all fronts" and declared "Long live the revolution!," uttering what are sometimes called the "Land Decree" and "Decree on Peace." The Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies (January 23–31, 1918)

7917-535: Was its chairman. Although it took its form and inspiration from the earlier Committee for Struggle Against the Counter-Revolution of the Kornilov Affair , the Military Revolutionary Committee itself was only formed during the last weeks, and indeed days, of the Provisional Government 's existence. On 18 October [ O.S. 5 October] 1917, General Polkovnikov , the commander of

8008-496: Was one of the leaders of the Russian October Revolution and considered second only to Lenin, argues that the Petrograd Soviet essentially entered a state of armed insurrection before 7 November [ O.S. 25 October]: "From the moment when we, as the Petrograd Soviet, invalidated Kerensky's order transferring two-thirds of the garrison to the front, we had actually entered a state of armed insurrection...

8099-477: Was replaced by Irakli Tsereteli in late March). Izvestia was chosen as the official newspaper of the group. The following day, February 28, was the plenary session; elected representatives from factories and the military joined the soviet, and again moderates dominated. Non-representative voting and enthusiasm gave the Soviet almost 3,000 deputies in two weeks, of which the majority were soldiers. The meetings were chaotic, confused, and unruly, little more than

8190-483: Was the Left SR turned Bolshevik Pavel Lazimir . The following days saw the escalation of the garrison crisis as unit after unit declared their willingness to obey the Petrograd Soviet, with only three of the eighteen garrison representatives expressing confidence in the Provisional Government. Establishing its authority amongst the garrison was the immediate focus of the MRC; it began to dispatch its own commissars to

8281-427: Was thus: 285 Socialist-Revolutionaries , 248 Mensheviks , 105 Bolsheviks , 32 Menshevik Internationalists , and others. The right to vote was given to these soviets containing at least 25,000 persons, and each representative from 10,000 to 25,000 members was asked to speak on behalf of the Soviet of his locality or employment. Breakdown of delegates at the Second Congress by party (includes estimation) Following

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