n his articles and letters written on the eve of October, Lenin always emphasised that the political fate of the people, the fate of the entire country, would be decided primarily by the victory of the revolution in Petrograd and in Moscow. The armed insurrection in Petrograd and in Moscow would to a large degree determine the outcome of the struggle throughout the country.
But while indicating the centres from which the main drive was to be launched, where the success of the revolution would, in the main, be decided, and where it was primarily necessary to concentrate the main striking force and secure decisive superiority over the enemy, the Bolshevik Party, headed by Lenin and Stalin, never assumed that the rest of the country would automatically follow Petrograd and Moscow as soon as the Soviet power had been established in the capitals. Mobilisation of forces proceeded all over the country, and the very conclusion which Lenin had drawn, namely, that the insurrection had matured, was based entirely on an analysis of the relation of class forces not only at the centre, but throughout the country.
“We have a majority in the country. . . .” wrote Lenin in his historic article “The Crisis Has Matured.”[1]
After the Kornilov plot it became obvious that the Bolsheviks were winning the majority in the country. The decision regarding armed insurrection adopted by the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party marked the opening of a pew period—the third—in the history of the preparations for the Great October Socialist Revolution.
Stalin characterised the first period (March-April, 1917) as the period in which the Party adopted the new orientation.
The second period (May-August, 1917) was the period of the revolutionary mobilisation of the masses.
The third period (September-October, 1917) was the period of the organisation of the assault.
“We must regard as the characteristic feature of this period,” wrote Stalin, “the rapid maturing of the crisis, the utter confusion prevailing in ruling circles, the isolation of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, and the wholesale desertion of the vacillating elements to the side of the Bolsheviks.”[2]
After their victory in the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets the Bolsheviks won majorities in the Soviets in nearly all the important industrial centres of the country, such as Ekaterinburg, Minsk, Rostov, Saratov, Kiev, Kharkov, Taganrog, Samara, Tsaritsyn and Vladimir, not to speak of Lugansk and Ivanovo-Voznesensk, where the Soviets had turned Bolshevik soon after the February bourgeois-democratic revolution. The elections of members of the Constituent Assembly in the large industrial centres and districts which took place after October, but which reflected the relation of forces that had existed just prior to the October Socialist Revolution, indicated how much the influence of the Bolsheviks had grown in the country.
In Ivanovo-Voznesensk the Bolsheviks polled 17,166 votes (64 per cent), the Mensheviks 679 votes (2.6 per cent) and the Socialist-Revolutionaries 3,389 votes (12.7 per cent). In Kineshma the Bolsheviks polled 3,567 votes, the Socialist-Revolutionaries 858 and the Mensheviks 815. In the Vladimir Uyezd, Vladimir Gubernia, where there were a number of large textile mills, the Bolsheviks polled 71 per cent of the total vote (over 36,000 voted for the Bolsheviks and only 745 for the Mensheviks; the Socialist-Revolutionaries polled 11,600 votes). In the Shuya Uyezd, in the same gubernia, the Bolsheviks polled 63.5 per cent of the total vote, the Socialist-Revolutionaries 22 per cent and the Mensheviks two per cent. In Ekaterinburg the Bolshevik ticket polled 11,827 votes, the Socialist-Revolutionary ticket 4,293 votes and the Menshevik ticket 567 votes.
The figures for the Asha-Balashovsky Works, in the Urals, are interesting. Here the Bolsheviks polled 1,829 votes, the Socialist-Revolutionaries 134, and all the other parties together 20 votes. In the Minyar Volost, Ufa Gubernia (the Minyar Works), the Bolsheviks polled 2,232 votes, whereas the Socialist-Revolutionaries polled 116 votes, and all the other parties together 28 votes. In Minsk the Bolsheviks polled 63 per cent of the total vote, the Socialist-Revolutionaries 19 per cent and the Mensheviks 1.8 per cent.
These figures strikingly demonstrated the utter bankruptcy of the Mensheviks, who had lost all influence over the masses, primarily in the important proletarian centres. The victory the Bolsheviks had achieved in the Soviets in the larger cities had to be consolidated all over the country. It was with this object in view that the Bolsheviks demanded the convocation of the Second Congress of Soviets. The struggle for the early convocation of the Second Congress and for ensuring Bolshevik leadership of this Congress actually became a most important means of organising the assault in the various localities.
At the beginning of October the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party circulated to its local organisations a letter signed by J. M. Sverdlov, informing them of the convocation of a special Party Congress on October 17, and of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets on October 20. The Central Committee of the Party urged that as far as possible the same delegates should be elected for the Party Congress and for the Congress of Soviets. It also instructed the local organisations to arrange for new elections to the Soviets and for Area and Regional Congresses of Soviets. At these Congresses they were to endeavour to secure the adoption of resolutions demanding the immediate convocation of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and these resolutions were to be telegraphed to Petrograd. On September 30, Rabochy Put published a leading article signed by the Central Committee of the R.S.D.L.P.(B.) entitled “On the Eve of the Congress of Soviets.” The article called for a struggle against the compromisers who were trying to prevent the Congress from being called. Addressing the Bolshevik Party members in the localities, the Central Committee said:
“Be on your guard, comrades! Rely only on yourselves. Do not waste a single hour. Prepare for the Congress of Soviets. Convene Regional Congresses, and see to it that opponents of the compromisers are elected as delegates to the Congress. Do not yield an inch of the ground won by the Soviets in the localities!”
In conclusion, the Central Committee uttered a warning against taking premature action, and, in effect, called upon the local workers to wait for the signal from the centre:
“We shall not go into battle when it suits our enemies. No isolated actions!”[3]
The campaign in favour of convening Regional Congresses of Soviets assumed particularly wide dimensions after the Congress of Soviets of the Northern Region. Regional Congresses were held in the following important centres:
| Region | Date | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Congress of Soviets of the Northern Region | October 11 | Petrograd |
| 2. Ekaterinburg Area Congress of Soviets | October 13 | Ekaterinburg |
| 3. Congress of Soviets of Vladimir Gubernia | October 16 | Vladimir |
| 4. Regional Congress of Soviets of the Volga Region | October 16 | Saratov |
| 5. Regional Congress of Soviets in Minsk | October 16 | Minsk |
| 6. First All-Siberian Congress of Soviets | October 16 | Irkutsk |
| 7. Congress of Soviets of the Tver Guberni | October 17 | Tver |
| 8. Regional Conference of Soviets of the South Western Territory | October 17 | Kiev |
| 9. Congress of Soviets of the Ryazan Gubernia | October 18 | Ryazan |
In addition, the following Congresses had been held somewhat earlier than the Congress of Soviets of the Northern Region:
| Region | Date | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Regional Congress of Soviets of the Urals | August 17 | Ekaterinburg |
| 2. Congress of Soviets of Central Siberia | September 5 | Krasnoyarsk |
| 3. Second Territorial Congress of Soviets of Turkestan | September 29 | Tashkent |
| 4. Regional Congress of Soviets of the Donets and Krivoi Rog Basins | October 6 | Kharkov |
| 5. Congress of Soviets of Eastern Siberia | October 10 | Irkutsk |
At the Congresses enumerated above representatives were present from the Soviets of Petrograd, Moscow, Finland, Estonia, the Volga Region, the Urals, Siberia, the Far East, the Ukraine, and Central Asia, i.e., from the Soviets of almost the entire country. At the Regional Congress of Soviets of the Volga Region delegates were present from Saratov, Samara, Simbirsk, Syzran, Astrakhan, Tsaritsyn and other cities. The First All-Siberian Congress of Soviets was attended by representatives from 69 Soviets in Siberia and the Far East (Vladivostok, Tumen, Harbin [in Special Area of Chinese-Eastern Railway], the Yakutsk Region, Khabarovsk, etc.). In all, 184 delegates were present, of whom 65 were Bolsheviks and 35 “Left” Socialist-Revolutionaries.
At the Regional Conference of Soviets of the South-Western Territory, held in Kiev, 34 Soviets were represented. As has been already stated, at the Congress of Soviets of the Northern Region delegates were present from the Petrograd Soviet and the Soviets in the Petrograd Gubernia, from the Moscow and Archangel Soviets, and from several Soviets in Finland, Estonia, and Latvia.
As a rule, the keynote of these Congresses of Soviets was the capture of power by the Soviets, and they passed Bolshevik resolutions. The temper prevailing in the localities may be judged from the character of the resolution adopted by the Congress of Soviets of the Vladimir Gubernia where, in addition to the Vladimir Soviet, the Soviets of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Shuya, Kovrov, Gorokhovets, and other industrial centres in the Vladimir Gubernia were represented. The resolution read as follows:
“The Congress proclaims the Provisional Government and all the parties which support it a government and parties of betrayers of the revolution and traitors to the people. Henceforth the Congress regards all the Soviets in the Vladimir Gubernia and their gubernia centre (the Gubernia Executive Committee) as being in a state of open and implacable war against the Provisional Government.”[4]
The pre-October Regional and Gubernia Congresses of Soviets were an extremely important factor in the preparations for the assault. They not only adopted resolutions urging the necessity of transferring power to the Soviets, but undertook definite obligations as regards supporting Petrograd and Moscow when the decisive battle commenced.
Simultaneously, in accordance with the instructions of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, preparations were made in the localities for the special Party Congress that was to meet on October 17. That Congress did not take place, but in nearly all localities Party Conferences and Congresses were held, all of which discussed one and the same question: “the current situation,” i.e., armed insurrection.
On October 1, the Area Conference of Bolsheviks in the Petrograd Gubernia was opened. The Moscow City Conference of Bolsheviks met on October 10. At the end of September a Gubernia Conference of the Bolshevik Party was convened in Nizhni-Novgorod (September 30-October 2). On October 6 a Gubernia Party Congress was held in Samara, and on October 5 the Second Regional Conference of Party Organisations in Byelorussia and on the Western Front was held. In the same period (October 2-7) the First Regional Congress of Caucasian Bolshevik Organisations was held in Tiflis. In the beginning and middle of October, Gubernia Party Conferences were held in Voronezh, Novgorod, Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Yaroslavl, Vyatka, Perm, Ufa, Ekaterinburg, Tomsk, and other cities.
In the main industrial centres of the country the Bolshevik Party organisations had been from the very outset independent organisations, or else had broken off all connection with the Mensheviks during the first few months after the February Revolution. In some towns, however, where there were compromising and opportunist elements, it was not possible to form sufficiently strong Bolshevik groups. Here, joint Bolshevik and Menshevik Party organisations were formed, which in some places existed up to August, September, and October 1917. But during the autumn months, on the eve of the October battles, the rupture with the Mensheviks came to a head everywhere. During September and October Pravda published every day in its “Party Life” columns “Letters to the Central Committee” from local organisations reporting the formation of independent Bolshevik Party branches which accepted the instructions of the Central Committee, and their complete rupture with the Mensheviks. In August 1917 independent Bolshevik branches were formed in Pskov and Vyatka, and in September in Taganrog, Simferopol, Orsha, Vladivostok, Orenburg, Berdyansk, Elisavetgrad, Novonikolayevsk and Tomsk. In October branches were formed in Omsk and in Irkutsk. Later on it was found that the struggle to transfer power to the Soviets and the capture of power by the Soviets were more difficult and complicated precisely in those places where the rupture with the Mensheviks and the formation of independent Bolshevik organisations had been unduly delayed despite the explicit instructions of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party.
By October 1917 considerable Bolshevik forces had developed in the localities; the Party had increased its membership enormously. As Comrade Sverdlov reported at the meeting of the Central Committee held on October 16, the Bolshevik Party at that time had no less than 400,000 members.
This army of 400,000 Bolsheviks was very well distributed over the country. The Party's main forces were naturally concentrated in the two capitals. In October the Party membership in Petrograd was around 50,000. In Moscow it exceeded 20,000, and with the membership in the whole region, 70,000. The Urals Party organisation had a membership of over 30,000.
At the Second North-Western Conference of Bolsheviks held in Minsk in October, 28,590 Party members were represented. Including the membership on the Western Front, the total amounted to 49,000.
The Party Conference of the South-Western Territory held in Kiev in July was attended by delegates from eight organisations with an aggregate membership of 7,297. Of these, the Kiev Party organisation had about 4,000 and the Odessa organisation 2,200.
The Regional Congress of Caucasian Bolshevik organisations held in Tiflis in October represented a membership of 8,636, of which Baku accounted for 2,200. There was a strong Bolshevik organisation in Ivanovo-Voznesensk with 6,000 members and large organisations in other gubernias, as for example: Saratov—3,500 members, Samara—4,000, Nizhni-Novgorod—3,000, Tsaritsyn—about 1,000, Kazan—650, and Voronezh—600.
Under the direction of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party preparations for capturing power proceeded all over the country. Notwithstanding the enormous difficulties and persecution by the Provisional Government and its organs, communication between the Central Committee and the local organisations was splendidly maintained during the pre-October days.
The delegates at the Sixth Congress of the Party went among the masses and urged the necessity for armed insurrection, and jointly with the local Party organisations, they made the practical preparations and created the necessary conditions for success.
The delegates at the Sixth Congress of the Bolshevik Party returned to the working-class centres, to the front and to the rural districts. Sixty-four of them carried on work in Petrograd, 55 in Moscow, 33 went to the Donets Basin, Kharkov and Odessa, 13 to Baku and 12 to the Urals.
A number of delegates were sent to other large cities such as Ivanovo-Voznesensk, Tula, Nizhni-Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Ufa, Omsk and Vladivostok. The Bolshevik delegates carried the decision of the Party Congress to the workers, peasants and soldiers. They prepared the working people for the new revolution, formed Red Guard units and roused the masses for the assault on capitalism, for the organisation of the armed insurrection.
The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party attached its members to the various regions and was regularly kept informed by them of the progress of operations in the localities. Every telegram from the provinces reporting readiness to support an insurrection at the centre was an important means of gauging the temper of the country. J. M. Sverdlov insisted on constant and systematic information from the localities, and he himself maintained the closest communication even with the most remote districts.
“Petrograd is not the whole of Russia!”—howled the Mensheviks and the Socialist-Revolutionaries hysterically, vainly trying to prove in their press that when the decisive clash occurred the vast provinces would, like an avalanche, overwhelm the insurrection in the Bolshevik “islands” of Petrograd and Moscow. But the Bolshevik General Staff, which was preparing for the insurrection, knew perfectly well that Petrograd and Moscow were not “islands” in a sea of hostile “provinces” but militant centres, the vanguard, at whose signal unit after unit, town after town, district after district, in fact, the whole country, would march into battle.
There was not a single large region in the country which had not received special instructions from the Central Committee of the Party. The Urals, the Donets Basin, Byelorussia and North Caucasus knew beforehand the place they were to occupy, the functions they were to perform and the part they were to play in the impending insurrection. Representatives of the Central Committee of the Party visited the localities to convey the final decisions and to inspect the preparations that had been made to capture power. The Red Guard units, which were formed on the eve of October in nearly all the important centres of the country, grew, procured arms and assumed definite shape. The entire country waited intensely for the signal to go into action, and everybody knew that this signal would come from Petrograd and Moscow.
[1] V. I. Lenin, “The Crisis Has Matured,” Collected Works, Eng. ed., Vol. XXI, Book I, p. 277.
[2] J. Stalin, “Trotskyism and Leninism,” Speech Delivered at a Meeting of the Communist Group of the All-Russian Central Council of Trade Unions, November 19, 1924. Published in Stalin’s On the Opposition. Articles and Speeches, 1921-27, State Publishers, Moscow-Leningrad, 1928, p. 113.
[3] “On the Eve of the Congress of Soviets,” Rabochy Put, No. 24, September 30, 1917.
[4] 1917 in the Vladimir Gubernia. Chronicle of Events, Vladimir, 1927, p. 106.
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