Ten Days That Shook the World

ging

a prudent hour, got up early, and went to work. In Petrograd the street-cars were running, the stores and restaurants open, theatres going, an exhibition of paintings advertised…. All the complex routine of common l

raised the Front, and to be leading a great army against the ca

ge of a precipice, and demand the effort of our entire will, our courage and the devotion

eparable misfortunes, by opening the Front to the enemy. Therefore it is indispensable to preserve at any price the morale of the troops, by assuring complete order and the preservation of the Army from new shocks, and by maintaining absolute confidence between

is placard on

RUSSIAN CONGR

rrested by the Military Revolutionary Committee. Kerensky has fled. All Army organisations are or

nsky will be punished as a se

abolished. Government employees were ordered to continue their work, and threatened with severe penalties if they refused. All pillage, disorder and speculation were forbidden under pain of death. Temporary Commissars were appointed to the various Ministries: Foreign Affairs, Vuritsky and Trotzky; Interior and Justic

o maintain order, especially not to delay the transport of food to the cities and the fron

to force you into battle with the revolutionary workers and soldiers of the capital. Do

ants of Russia. The Congress wishes also to welcome into its midst the worker-Cossacks. The G

ossacks. This is a lie. It is only from the great Cossack landlords

ossacks' Deputies! Jo

nd Soldier

to the People, and that you do not wish to b

cute no orders of the

to Petrograd to talk

ograd garrison, to t

hope of the Pe

to you a fraternal hand. Long live the brotherhood of the Co

everywhere, newspapers-screaming and cursing and prophesying evil. Now raged the

the Committee for Sal

broadcast over R

NS OF THE RUS

visional Government, dispersed the Council of the Republic, and proclaimed an illegal power. Such violence committed against the

low to the cause of national defence, and postpones

archy and counter-revolution, and cause the failure of the Constituent Assembly, which mu

es the initiative in forming a new Provisional Government; which, basing itself on the forces of democracy, will conduct the country to the Constituent Assembly and

nce of the countr

Committee fo

of the Russian Republi

-ee-kah (First Cong

nts' Soviets, and from

ons of Socialist Revol

Unified Social Demo

inst

, the Mensheviki oborontsi, Peasants' Soviets again

trample on our liberty. Black Hundred pogroms will spread over Rus

promise of immediate peace-is a lie! The promise

all in t

power has been accomplished by the Bolsheviki alone…. They conceal

-revolution will profit by the anarchy called forth by t

pers were

ors to the working-class. Our duty is to mobilise all our

ing in the name of the old Tsay-ee

iets! We affirm that it was merely a private conference of the Bolshevik faction

n of the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Mensheviki in quitting the Congress, and pointed out that the Bolshevik insurrect

Lenin's newspaper which had been sup

own the tyranny of the clique of nobles. Yesterday

is to guard the app

disarm the counter-revolut

he revolutionary power and assure the

Influential Cadets were to be seen hovering around the Municipal Duma, and on the outskirts of the Committee for Salvation. Other than that, the bourgeoisie lay low, biding its hour-which c

rd, was describing his visit to Smolny the night before, to protest in the name of the Municipal Self-Government. "The Duma, being the only existing legal Government in the city, elected by equal, direct and secret suff

nment recognised by the majority, and not one created by the usurpation of a minority!" Wild applause on all benches except those of the Bolsheviki

eard, that the decision of the Congress of Soviets mean

nsult!" The old Mayor, with dignity, reminded him that the Duma was elected by the freest possible popul

w Congress of Soviets

tion-" Uproar. "-and we demand a re-election of the Duma…." Whereupon the Bolshevi

ttee be discharged from their position and indicted. Schreider was on his feet, putting a motion to the effect that the Duma protested a

n state excite so much anxiety, never yet did history put so harshly and categorically the question-is Russia to be or not to be! The great hour for the salvation of the Revolution has arrived, and in consciousness thereof we observe the close

e Bolsheviki and had taken the entire railroad apparatus into their own hands, refusing to entrust it to any usurpatory power. The Telegraphers' delegate declared that the operators had flatly refused to work their instruments as long as the Bolshevik Commissar was in the office. The Post

stries; another was to visit the banks; some ten or twelve were to work the barracks and persuade the soldiers to remain neutral-"Russian soldiers, do not shed the blood of your brothers!"; a

f shabby soldiers, grimy workmen, peasants-poor men, bent and scarred in the brute struggle for existence; here the Menshevik and Social Revolutionary leaders-Avksentievs, Dans, Liebers,-the former Socialist Ministers-Skobelievs, Tche

edin was marching north…. The Soviet of Moscow had set up a Military Revolutionary Committee, and was nego

otes and E

s mixed an astoundi

n lies. For instance,

vate secretary to M

aside and told us all

er P

d by German and Austria

eplied, politely.

ine was there

ell they were G

they wore Ger

he anti-Bolshevik press, but believed by the most unlikely persons-Socialist Revolutiona

, had killed some of the Ministers in cold blood; and as for the woman soldiers, most of them had been violated, and many had committed suicide because of the tortures they had gone through…. All these stories were swallowed whole by

. A few hours later this was denied by the Prince's family, who added that the Prince was under arrest so the press identified the de

Sect. 2) to the enormous crowd which blocked the Nevsky in front of the door-a crowd

E MUNIC

ate dwellings. Through the House Committees it calls upon the population of the town of Petrograd to meet with decisive repulse al

zeta (Workers' Gazette). Angrily he shouted at them, shaking his fist, as one of the sailors tore the papers from his stand. An ugly crowd had gathered around, abusing the patrol. One litt

Take over the Government, organise the City, keep the garrison loyal, fight the Duma and the Committee for Salvation, keep out the Germans, prepare to do battle with Kerensky, inform the provinces what had happened, Propagandise from Archangel to Vladivostok…. Government and Municipal employees refusing to obey their Commissars, post and telegraph refusing them communication, railroads roads stonily ignoring their appeals for trains, Kerensky coming, the garrison not altogether to

t in," but of course he hadn't slept-and a three days' growth of beard. He was anxiously figuring on a dirty envelope, and biting his pencil meanwhile. This was Menzhinsky, Commissar of Finance, whose qualifications were that he had once been clerk in a French bank…. And these

evik and Left Social Revolutionary factions were in session in their own rooms. All the livelong afternoon Lenin and Trotzky had fought against compromise

en. We will be isolated, and the whole thing

me in! We won't give way an inch. If there are comrades here who haven't the courage and the will to dare what we da

seven came word fro

ay that they would r

onary Co

enin. "They a

e slightest idea where to find the governing body of the Congress. As we went my companion described his ancient revolutionary activities, his long and pleasant exile in France…. As for the Bolsheviki, he confided to me that they were common, rude, ignorant persons, without aesthetic sensibilities. He was a real specimen of the Russian intelligentzia

lized-looking young man, gave a c

ng out his hand. "Don't you remember m

lly, looking the other up and down with an expression of great friendliness. "You are S-

king on…. You seem

proletarian Revolution is a great success." He laughed.

a follower of Kropotkin. To us the Revolution is a great failure; it has not aroused the patr

aven now, but already beginning to bristle with the well-known beard of his past and future. Dressed in shabby clothes, his trousers much too long for him. Unimpressive, to be the idol of a mob, loved and revered as perhaps few leaders in history have been. A strange popular leader-a le

ent in the Army, restoration of the free right of propaganda, release of officers and soldiers arrested for politica

hing of the Revolution; therefore, the Bund delegates must refuse any longer to sit in the Congress. Cr

e of the Mensheviki In

" The speaker explaine

alists left the Congre

s

to transfer the power to the Soviets"-Interruptions-"but we feel it o

al soldiers just arrived from the Front brought the enthusiastic greetings of their regiments…. Now Lenin, gripping the edge of the reading stand, letting his little winking eyes travel over the crowd as he stood the

ms-no annexations, no indemnities, and the right of self-determination of peoples. At the same time, according to our promise, we shall publish and repudiate the secret treati

ened that way after years and years of speaking-and went on monotonously, with the effect of being able to go on forever….

ES AND GOVERNMENTS OF ALL

d on the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, proposes to all the belligerent p

by the war-that peace which the Russian workers and peasants, after having struck down the Tsarist monarchy, have not ceased to demand categorically-immediate

o enter upon the decisive steps of negotiations aiming at such a peace, at once, without the slightest delay, before the definitive ra

t and strong State of a small or weak nationality, without the voluntary, clear and precise expression of its consent and desire; whatever be the moment when such an annexation by force was accomplishe

al parties, or by disorders and riots against national oppression), that nation is not given the right of deciding by free vote-without the slightest constraint, after the complete departure of the armed forces of the

s considered by the Government the greatest possible crime against humanity; and the Government solemnly proclaims its decision to si

ion of all secret treaties confirmed or concluded by the Government of land-owners and capitalists, from March until November 7th, 1917. All the clauses of the secret treaties which, as occur in a majority of cases, h

on these negotiations by telegraph, by post, or by pourparlers between the representatives of the different countries, or at a conference

hree months, during which time it is perfectly possible, not only to hold the necessary pourparlers between the representatives of all the nations and nationalities without exception drawn into the

of progress and of Socialism. The splendid examples of the Chartist movement in England, the series of revolutions, of world-wide historical significance, accomplished by the French proletariat-and finally, in Germany, the historic struggle against the Laws of Exception, an example for the workers of the whole world of prolonged and stubborn action, and the creation of the formidable organisations of German proletarians-all these models of proletarian hero

of applause had died

ring the armistice, will be ratified by the Constituent Assembly. In fixing the duration of the armistice at three months, we desire to give to the peoples as long a rest as possible after this bloody extermination, and ample time for them to elect their representatives. This proposal of

the era of the Social Revolution…. The labour movement, in the n

is, which stirred the souls of men. It was under

es of political factions should be allowed to speak on the m

nity to propose amendments to the text of the proclamation; it is a private docum

y a Government composed of all the Socialist parties, he said, could possess the authority to take such important action. If a Socialist coalition were formed, his

t coalition; Lettish Social Democracy, support…. Something was kindled in these men. One spoke of the "coming World-Revolution, of which we are the advance-guard"; another of "the new age of brotherhood, when all the peoples will become one

answer our appeal-but we shall not issue an ultimatum to which it will be easy to say no…. If the German proletariat realises that we are

ccept them…. For some of our terms we shall fight to the end-but possibly for others

to hold up their cards. One delegate dared to raise his hand against, but

d seared into the quiet sky. "The war is ended! The war is ended!" said a young workman near me, his face shining. And when it was over, as we stood there in a kind of awkward hush, some one in the back of the room shouted, "Comrades! Let us remember those who have died for liberty!" So we began to si

in the fa

he people, for the h

lives and every

d in horrib

to exile

r chains because you could not

that justice is str

when your surrend

yranny falls the people w

hers, you chos

new and fresh army rea

hers, you chos

ight, to work for freedom a

ns of thousands had died in the prisons, in exile, in Siberian mines. It had not come as they expected it would come, nor a

ading the De

of land is abolished immedi

r live stock and inventoried property, buildings and all appurtenances, are transferred to the disposition of t

essary measures for the observance of the strictest order during the taking over of the land-owners' estates, for the determination of the dimensions of the plots of land and which of them are subject to confiscation, for the drawing up of a

following peasant nakaz (See App. V, Sect. 3) (instructions), drawn up on the basis of 242 local peasant nakazi by the editorial board of the

f Cossacks serving in the A

-work' and tried to realise reforms from above. From below, on the spot, will be decided the questions o

ey the orders of the Land Committees-those Land Committees projected by L

owd in the aisle and climbed upon the platform. It was Pianikh, member of th

omrades, the Ministers Salazkin and Mazlov!" he flung harshly in the faces of the crowd, "We demand their inst

he peasants, and you commit an act of tyrants and usurpers against the peasants' chosen representatives! I tell you-" he

utionary and Menshevik Ministers, Mazlov, Salazkin, Gvozdov and Maliantovitch-on principle. That they are still in Peter-Paul is only because we have had so much to do…

any revolution have such thi

e arrested in the July days…. When Comrade Kollontai was released from prison by the doctor's orders, Avksentiev placed

Decree. While agreeing in principle, his faction could not vote on the qu

tionalists, too, insis

peasants: "We must do honour to a political party which puts s

l corners of the hall. "I wish you well, comrades and citizens," he said. "There are som

t was precisely like the debate of soldiers of the nigh

nd the rest, whom we thought were the peasants' protect

ese Avksentievs? They are not peasan

se to them, reco

a half-hour intermission. As the delegates

s all-important to Russia must be on

d the voice of an emissary of the Military Revolutionary Committee, cry

idium mounted the platform, and the session recommenced by the reading of telegrams from r

, reported, "We support you with all our strength!" A peasant-soldier protested against the release of "the traitor Socialists, Mazlov and Salazkin"; as for the Executive Committee of the Peasants' Soviets, it should be arrested _en masse!_Here was real revolutionary talk…. A deputy from the Russian Army in

e trying to stir up disorders everywhere, and read a

local Soviets to take immediate energetic measures to oppose all counter-revolutionary anti-Jewish action and all pogroms,

ionary garrison and the sailors have ma

ould follow everywhere the example of

, on us falls the duty of ass

a and the entire world

ith joy…. So plunged the Bolsheviki ahead, irresistible, over-riding hesitation and opposition-the onl

e voted senseless as well as horrible, he greeted the Revolution with hope of peace and freedom. Peace? The Government of Kerensky forced him again to go forward into Galicia to slaughter and be slaughtered; to his pleas for peace, Terestchenko simply laughed…. Freedom? Under Kerensky he found his Committees suppressed, his newspapers cut off, his party speakers put

ters are scoundrels, who run away home and leave their comrades to die in the trenches alone! Every deserter is a traitor, and should be punish

. Kameniev was reading the decr

Workers' and Peasants' Government is formed, which shall be n

ng out of the programme of the Congress, in close union with the mass-organisations of working-men, working-women, sailors, soldiers, peasants and clerical

vities of the People'

shall belong to the A

Peasants' and Soldi

xecutive

ommissars, bursts of applause after eac

Council: Vladim

r: A. E

re: V. P.

A. G. Sh

Affairs-a committ

, N. V. Krylenko,

d Industry:

ation: A. V.

E. Skvorts

s: L. D. Brons

. E. Oppok

E. A. Te

raph: N. P. Av

nalities: I. V. Dj

To be fil

e with Kerensky, the sound of whose trumpets came up the south-west wind…. In the meanwhile nobody went home; on the contrary hundreds of newcomers filtered in, filling the great room solid w

rat Internationalists and the remnant of the Mensheviki Internationalists; Avilo

lained by the strength of the left wing of the democracy, but only by the incapacity of the Government to give t

asants will not be with you, for you cannot give them the machinery they

ith Skobeliev. They will never accept the proposition of a peace conference f

mocracy was unable even to convoke the Stockholm Conference. Concerning the German Social Democrats, I have just talked with Comrade Goldenberg, one of our delegates to Stockholm; h

y the Germans, and the patching up of a peace between the Austro-German coalition and t

ring to leave, and that Committees for Salvation of Countr

he majority of the people, supporting a government of So

e resolution of

ties, recognising moreover that the task of this government is the quickest possible attainment of peace, the transfer of the land into the hands of the agrarian committees, the organisation of control over industrial production, an

v's cool tolerant reasoning had shaken them. Toward the end, the cries

eft Socialist Revolutionaries, the party of Maria Spiridonova, the party which almo

nary army which left the Congress, a separation which would make it impossible for us to serve as intermediaries between the Bolsheviki and the other

ki. Our Commissars have been driven from their posts. Our only organ,

ntry and Revolution, to fight you. Already you are isolated, and your

ng, with that sarcastic expression about his mouth which was almost a

Revolutionaries of the left was with us in the Military Revolutionary Committee. How is it that we were able to overturn the Government almost without bloodshed?…. That fact is the most striking pro

arty's honour to have realised that coalition…. What sort of coalition did Avilov mean? A coalition with those who supported the Government of Treason to the P

tween the peasants and Avksentiev, who ordered the arrest of the Land Committees, w

understanding'? No, comrades. When a party in full tide of revolution, still wreathed in powder-smoke, comes to say, 'Here is the Power-take it!'-and when th

, or even Terestchenko, can help us to get peace! Avilov tries to frighten us by the threat of a peace at our expense. And I answe

lution will create a revolutionary movement in Europe, or

he thought of championing mankind. And from that moment there was something conscious an

sed a delegate from the Union of Railway Workers, a hardfaced, stock

make known the decision of the Union concerning the constitution of Power. The Central Committee refuses absolutely to support

d Tsay-ee-kah which did not invite you!" The orator paid no attention. "We do not recognise the legality of this Congress; since the departure of the Mensheviki and

ution of such a power, the Union of Railway Workers, which refuses to transport counter-revolutionary troops to Petrograd, at the same time forbids the exe

oncern on the faces of the presidium. Kameniev, however, merely answered that there could be no doubt of the legality of the Congress, as e

the Constitution of Po

mmissars into office b

nced its composition: 100 members, of which 70 Bolsheviki…. As for the peasants, and the seceding factions, places were to

dissolved, so that the members might hurry to their homes in

lways kept waiting at Smolny to take the Soviet delegates to their homes. In the crowded car there was less happy hilarity than the

by an armed patrol of citizens and carefully exam

ome in, and stumbled ou

that you take your turn on guard-dut

eason for thi

house and the wo

o f

and mur

e a Commissar from the

to search

say they are…. And beside

all American citizens to carry arms-especially i