Ten Days That Shook the World

oming

he Revolution. Some of the Socialist Ministers were implicated; even Kerensky was under suspicion. (See App. II, Sect. 1) Savinkov, summoned to explain to the Central Committee of his party, th

ts. Kerensky declined to obey, and threatened to resign from the Cabinet if the Socialists insisted. However, popular feeling ran so high that for the moment he d

ce. There must be no more Kornilovs. A new Government must be created, responsible to the elements supporting the Revolution. So the T

oined with the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, led by Kamkov and Spiridonova, the Mensheviki Internationalists under Martov, and the "centre" Mensheviki,[6] represented by Bogdanov and Skobeliev, in demanding a purely Socialist

tes and Ex

in the Petrograd Soviet, and the Soviets of Mos

ervative bodies. Even this packed assembly at first voted for a Coalition Government without the Cadets. Only Kerensky's open threat of resignation, and the alarming cries of the "moderate" Socialists that "the Republic is in danger" persuaded the Conference, by a small majority, to declare in favour of the principle of coalition with

no intention of calling this Congress or of allowing it to be called. Its official organ, Izviestia (News), began to hint that the function of the Soviets was nearly at an end, (See App.

ded by summoning the

November 2, and take

time they withdrew f

ating that they woul

on to the People." (

ent had no legal right to declare Russia a republic. They demanded stern measures in the Army and Navy to destroy the Soldiers' and Sailors' Committees, and denounced the Soviets. On the other side of

he tribune like the mortally sick man he was, and speaking in a voice so ho

s the subject of bargaining between the different imperialist groups…. You are trying to impose upon the Russian people a policy dictated by the interests of the bourgeoisie. The question of peace should be raised withou

ialists of Europe, so-called because of their participation in the

irresistibly forced to the left by the pressure of the rising dissatisfaction

nouncement of the Allied Conference in Paris br

en under control of the Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries, had proclaimed the famous Russian peace-conditions. They had demanded that the Allies hold a conf

drew up a manifesto, the famous nakaz-(See App. II, Sect. 5) instructions. The Provisional Government objected to Skobeliev and his nakaz; the Allied ambassadors protested and finally Bonar Law in

tive Russian press w

ee where the comprom

ialist Revolutiona

armies stirred like the sea rising, pouring into the capital the

my amphitheatre, lit by five tiny lights hanging from a thin wire, was packed from the ring up the steep sweep of grimy benches to the very roof-soldiers, sailors, w

iring gestures. "The people at the top are always calling upon us to sacrifi

als to serve on our Staff? Well we're at war with the cap

ia? Is it the democracy, or is it the capitalist plunderers? If you can prove to me that I a

to the workers, and the power to the Soviets, then we'll k

all clamouring for an end to the war, declaring that if the Government did not mak

an for the

od and boots and reinforcements, or soon there will be left only empty trenches

-sixth Siberi

he counter-revolutionary Government supports them. We thought that the Revolution would bring peace. But now the Government forbid

urs of peace at the e

I, Sec

ers with Soldiers' Committees, like their comrades at home, and had refused an order to go to Salonika, demanding to be sen

he Council of the Republic sat, to hear Terestchenko's declaration of the Government's fore

eech. (See App. II, Sect. 8) Nothing…. Only the same platitudes about crushing German militarism with the help of the Allie

atever happens. We must all defend her, we must show that we a

c parties wanted an assurance that the Government would press for peace…. I reproduce an ed

T'S ANSWER TO

s, Mr. Terestchenko, has actually

our Allies. (Not with the peop

possibility or impossibility of a winter campaign. T

neficial and a very happy affair. (

ons. (Declarations? What about deeds? What about the behaviour of the British fleet? (See App. II, Sect. 9) The par

ike it and the Russian diplomats don't like it. In t

The solution is, faith in the Allies and in Terestc

nment replied to the

gue outlines of a sinister power-the Cossacks. Novaya Zhizn (N

they refused to follow him. From passive loyalty to the Revolution the Cossacks have passed to an active political

nded by three immense Cossack armies lay at Novotcherkask, plotting and menacing. So great was his power that the Government was forced to ignore his insubordination. M

nister-President for yielding to the Soviets. Kerensky agreed to let Kaledin alone, and then is reported to have said, "In the eyes of the Soviet leaders I am a

on the British ambassador, treating with him boldl

e dispersed by armed Cossacks, and the headquarters of the Coal Miners' Union at Kharkov raided. In all its manifestations the Cossack movement was anti-Socialist and militaristi

y to the Provisional Government, declared Finland autonomous, and demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops. The bourgeois Rada at Kiev extended the boundaries of Ukraine until they included all the richest agricultural lands of South Russia, as far east as the Urals, and began the formation of a national army. Premie

s of Tambov and Tver Governments, tired of waiting for the land, exasperated by the repressive measures of the Government, were burning manor-houses and massacring land-owners. I

ograd the Economic Council, established to rebuild the shattered economic life of the country, came to a deadlock between the opposing forces of capital and labour, and was dissolved by Kerensky. The old régime military men, backed by Cadets, demanded that harsh measures be adopted to restore discipline in the

and more openly the bourgeois press defended him, speaking of him as "the great Russian patriot." Burt

f the Republic. A small, stooped figure with a wrinkled face, eyes near

off the Revolution now and concentrate on the Germans. Bunglers, bunglers, to defeat

he organs of the scarc

dny Tribun (People's

voye Slovo (Living Wo

n of the revolut

for evacuating the capital. First the great munitions works were to go, distributed widely throughout Russia; and then the Government itself was to move to Moscow. Instantly the B

thout being interfered with by anarchists." Rodzianko, leader of the right wing of the Cadet party, declared in Utro Rossii (The Morning of Russia)

Petrograd is lost the central revolutionary organisations will be destroyed. To that I answer that I r

so be destroyed…. But there will be nothing to regret

pular disapproval the plan o

the Central Committees of some of the Trade Unions, the Peasants' Soviets, but most of all the Tsay-ee-kah itself, spared no pains to prevent the meeting. Izviestia and Golos Soldata (Voice of the Soldier), newspapers found

ss, declarations that the democracy was opposed to the meeting so near the date of the Constituent Assembly, representatives from the Front, from the Union of Zemstvos, the Peasants' Union, Union of Cossack Armies, Union of Officers,

tes and Ex

mmittees; and the insurgent Army and Fleet organisations. In some places the people, prevented from electing their regular Soviet delegates, held rump meetings and chose one of their number to go to Petrograd. In others they smashed the old obstructionist committ

civil war." One Sunday we went, on a top-heavy steam tram that lumbered through oceans of mud, between stark fac

affolding draped in red, people heaped on piles of lumber and bricks, perched high upon shadowy girders, intent and thunder-voiced. Through the

power must be taken by the Soviets. Nothing else could guarantee the Revolution against its enemies,

no reason. I ask the American comrades to carry word to America, that the Russians will never give up their Revolution until they die. We will hold t

et used to it. They are trying to starve us and freeze us. They are trying to provoke us. But let them know that they can go too far-that

appeared a new paper for the peasants, Derevenskaya Byednota (Village Poorest), poured out in a daily half-mil

ught to desperation come out in open rebellion; the landlords and Government authorities massacre them with punitive expeditions; factories and mines are closing down, workmen are threatened with starvation…

ople and by the people-the poor classes, workers, soldiers and peasants. The people can only be saved by

: All power to the Soviets-both in

l fronts. An honest p

ithout compensatio

ol over indust

onestly elected Co

rom that same paper-the organ of those Bolshevi

sh his army against Petrograd. Let us call to the German workmen, soldiers and pe

nts of Russia, and would appeal over the heads of the diplomats directly to the German troops, fill the German tr

he gulf between the two sides of

es," cried Karelin, f

to exploit the revolu

a to the war-chario

es are absolutely a

We must have immediately strong discipline in the army…. Since the beginning of the war I have not ceased to insist that it is a crime to underta

don't believe you!" Might

l the army what it was fighting for, since every soldier ought to rea

ional unity, once bursting into tears at the end. The asse

a groaning noise through the cobbled, muddy streets, and jammed with people. At the end of the line rose the graceful smoke-blue cupolas of Smolny Convent outlined in dull gold, beautiful; an

te and bare, on their doors enamelled plaques still informing the passerby that within was "Ladies' Class-room Number 4" or "Teachers' Bureau"; but over these hung crudely-lettered signs, evidence of the vitality of the new order: "Central Committee of the Petrogr

printed propaganda of all sorts. The sound of their heavy boots made a deep and incessant thunder on the wooden floor…. Signs were posted up everywhere: "Comrades! For the sake of your health

e long serving-tables, where twenty men and women were ladling from immense cauldrons cabbage soup, hunks of meat and piles of kasha, slabs of black bread. Five kopeks paid for tea in a tin cup

t of placard in russia

KE OF YOUR HEALTH,

ay-ee-kah- though every one went there. Here could be

hundreds of ornate electric bulbs, and divided by two rows of massive columns; at one end a dais, flanked with two tall many-branched light standards, and a gold frame be

-smiled contemptuously. "These are very different people from the delegates to the first Siezd (Congress)," she remarked. "See how rough and ignorant they look! The Dark People…." It was true; the depths of Russia had been stirred, and it was the bottom which came uppermost now. The Credent

tes and Ex

i i Sol

of the Organising Committee to break up the Congress, by asserting that it will not take place, and

utionaries, realising that they were defeated, suddenly changed their tactics and began to wire frantically to their provincial organisations to elect as many "moderate" Socialist delegates as possible.

of the workers and soldiers. The bourgeois and reactionary press prophesied insurrection, and urged the Government to arrest the Pe

empting to destroy the Revolution, and that if necessary they must be resisted by force

ng, there is no advantage in passing to the attack. But if the hostile elements appeal to force, then the revolutionary d

owever, would prepare the way for a new Kornilov. He urged the Bolsheviki to deny the rumours. Potressov, in the Menshevik Die

ttees of the "moderate" and conservative factions and the Tsay-ee-kah, denouncing any "demonstrations," imploring the worker

r. It may easily happen that, not taking into consideration the state of mind of the majority of the workers, soldiers and peasants, individual hot-heads will call out part of the workers and soldiers on the streets, inciting them to an uprising…. In this fearful time through which revolutionary Russia is passing, any insurrection can easily turn into

ll sure that enough delegates would come. "If there is a Congress," he said, "it will represent the overwhelming sentiment of the people. If the m

The 'Lieber-Dans' and the other compromisers are sabotaging the Congress. If they succ

red in my notebook the following items

f Headquarters). Conce

avage Division, Cossac

Selo and Peterhof ordered by the Government to be ready to

ion of the Petrograd garrism s

ifles delivered by the Government Arms Factory at

ower Liteiny Quarter, a resolution demand

ose feverish days, when everybody knew that someth

tempt of the reactionaries to discredit and wreck the Congress of Soviets…. The Petrograd Soviet," he declared, "had not ordered any uystuplennie. If it is necessary we shall do so, and

nsurrection. All night long the 23d they met. There were present all the party intellectuals, the leaders-and delegates of the Petrograd workers and gar

y. "We are in favour of insurrection. Have it your own way, but I tell you now that if you allow the Soviets to be

t appeared in Rabotchi Put the first instalment of Lenin's "Letter to the Comrades," (See App. II, Sect. 11) one of the most audacious pieces of political prop

to the Soviets,'" he wrote, "or else we must ma

Republic, branding the Skobeliev nakaz as pro-German, declaring that the "revolutionary democracy" was destroying Russia, sneering at T

sants, and the other for pushing an energetic foreign policy of peace. The next day Kerensky suspended capital punishment in the army. That same afternoon was opened with great ceremony the first session of the new "Commission for Strengthening the Republi

ionment with the Allies! The world thinks that the Russian Revolution is at an end. Do not be m

. The "moderate" Socialist intellectuals, officers, members of Army Committees, the Tsay-ee-kah, wer

This Kerensky is nothing but a shield to the pomieshtchiki (landowners)," he cried. "They know that at the

down the departments one by one on the pretext that there was no fuel or raw mater

he. "They want to starve u

ing you greetings from the place where men ar

, met with a roar of welcome. It was Tchudnovsky, reported

viet, betrayed us…. The masses of the soldiers want the Constituent Assembly to be held exactly when it was called fo

al campaign for the Co

fficers, and especiall

ries, are trying deli

are not allowed to ci

ers are a

out the lack of bread?"

bread alone," answere

the Government, but with the war…. and the war must be won before any change-" At this, hoots and ironical cheers. "These Bolshevik agitators are demag

wds thickened toward gloomy evening, pouring in slow voluble tides up and down the Nevsky, fighting for the newspapers…. Hold-ups increased to such an extent that it was dangerous to walk down side streets…. On the Sadovaya one afternoon I saw a crowd of several hundred people beat and t

otes and E

buzzed and hummed all day and all night, hundreds of soldiers and workmen slept on the floor, wherever they could

g and stakes of twenty thousand rubles. In the centre of the city at night pr

rman spies, smuggler

great throbbing city under grey skies