Moscow, Nauka Publishing House. 1976. 387 p. The print run is 3000 copies. Price 2 rubles. 13 kopecks.
The Great October Socialist Revolution is one of those events of the past that, in the figurative words of Leonid Brezhnev, "remain as if a part of our today, arousing the interest of not only historians, but also all those who participate in the political struggle of our days"1 . The workers of Moscow wrote a glorious page in the annals of the Great October Revolution. V. I. Lenin, in a number of his works dating back to 1917, repeatedly emphasized that the fate of the socialist revolution in Russia was primarily decided in the working-class quarters of Petrograd and Moscow.
The book is dedicated to the history of Moscow during the period when the bourgeois-democratic revolution was transformed into a socialist one by A. Y. Grunt, a senior researcher at the Institute of History of the USSR of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Candidate of Historical Sciences. As you know, Soviet historians have created a huge research base on this problem. The historiography of revolutionary Moscow in 1917 is constantly updated. In recent years alone, several monographs, documentary collections, articles, and memoirs have been published .2 And this is not accidental.
The theme of "October 1917 in Moscow" still has many "white spots", and some of its important subjects are treated in various works very inconsistently. Many of the most controversial issues have been correctly resolved in the works published recently, first of all in the major three-volume work of Academician I. I. Mints "The History of the Great October". However, the topic under consideration is so diverse, complex and relevant that the need for further in-depth research is undeniable. That is why the peer-reviewed monograph of one of the most serious researchers of the history of revolutionary Moscow in 1917 is of legitimate interest.
The author's main task is to consider the Moscow events as an organic component of the All-Russian revolutionary process, to identify in them what was inherent in Moscow with its historically formed specifics, with the peculiarities of the alignment of class and political forces (p. 5). And it should be immediately emphasized that he successfully coped with this difficult task. Grunt was able to recreate an objective picture of the struggle of the working masses of Moscow during the preparation and victory of the socialist revolution. Moreover, this picture is often supplemented with new interesting facts and details, which is especially valuable when it comes to such a seemingly well-covered topic.
Among the undoubted advantages of the book is its clearly expressed historiographical aspect. Knowing the works of his predecessors, respecting and treating their point of view with respect and tact, the author at the same time gives a very convincing and, as a rule, well-founded criticism of certain erroneous statements, facts and figures that existed before, and makes significant clarifications in their interpretation (for example, on the results of elections to the district Duma of Moscow, on the number of Red Army As for such issues as the social appearance of Moscow, the creation of organs of popular and bourgeois power after the victory of the February Revolution, in particular, the emergence and formation of the Moscow Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, district councils, etc.) However, in terms of completeness and accuracy of presentation, none of the previous similar publications can possibly compete with the book by A. Ya.Grunt.
Among the issues that have caused the greatest controversy among historians is the coverage of the struggle for the establishment of Soviet power in Moscow on October 25-November 3, 1917. When assessing the nature and political nature of these events, there are three points of view. Some historians (including A. Y. Grunt) describe them as a proletarian uprising, while others describe them as the suppression of the youth by workers and soldiers-
1 L. I. Brezhnev. Lenin's Course, vol. 2, Moscow, 1970, p. 77.
2 See "History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union", vol. 3, book 1, Moscow, 1967; I. Vasin. Army and Revolution (The Struggle of the Moscow Bolsheviks for the Soldier Masses in Three Revolutions), Moscow, 1973; A. M. Sovokin. On the Eve of October (Preparation of the victory of the armed uprising), Moscow, 1973; A. S. Dubinin. The Communist Party-inspirer and organizer of the All-Russian Armed Uprising, Moscow, 1973; I. I. Mints. Istoriya Velikogo Oktyabrya [History of the Great October], Vol. 3, Moscow, 1973; " 1917. Chronicle of Heroic Days", Moscow, 1973; G. S. Ignatiev. Moscow in the first year of the Proletarian Dictatorship, Moscow, 1975, et al.
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the Kera mutiny. Still others view the events of October 25-27 as an uprising, and what happened in the following days as the suppression of the Junker revolt against the victorious Soviet government. Various nuances also exist in the analysis of the reasons that led to the delay in the struggle for the establishment of Soviet power in Moscow.
After carefully studying and analyzing a significant number of different sources, including many published documents, and critically rechecking them, A. Ya. Grunt was able to follow the course of events in detail, day after day, and sometimes hour after hour, give them a mostly correct assessment, and draw well-reasoned conclusions. Correctly noting the mistakes made by the leaders of the Moscow Bolsheviks during the uprising, the author also shows the difficulties and difficulties that they had to face during the struggle for the establishment of Soviet power. This should be especially emphasized because in a number of works the actions of the leaders of the Moscow Bolsheviks are interpreted in a very negative way, without taking into account a number of objective and subjective factors.
Among the undoubted advantages of the book is the following circumstance. In most of the works devoted to the socialist revolution in Moscow, this event is considered as purely local, having a local character. Following the books "Lenin and the Moscow Bolsheviks" (Moscow, 1969), "The History of the Great October" by I. I. Mints, A. Y. Grunt correctly emphasizes their All-Russian character, which was of great importance for the whole cause of the victory of the socialist revolution. At the same time, it shows that even from the moment of the so-called State Conference, and even somewhat earlier, the Russian counter-revolution tried to turn Moscow into its stronghold in the struggle against the impending socialist revolution. To this end, the reactionary Stavka was preparing to move its most reliable military units to Moscow. The Provisional Government and its organs were also planned to move here. And the subsequent events, namely, the battles that unfolded in October and November between the workers and soldiers of Moscow, on the one hand, and the cadets and officers, on the other, were not an act of despair of the counter - revolution, but a calculated attempt by the latter to prevent the victory of Soviet power in the country.
The original maps, diagrams and tables placed in the book are of great scientific and cognitive interest. For example, the map " Military and political situation in Moscow at the beginning of October 1917 "(pasted between pages 256 and 257) shows the results of the district Duma elections in September, the concentration of factory workers, the location of units and divisions of the Moscow garrison and the political orientation of the largest military units, the boundaries of the city's territory, its most important objects. A convincing visual representation of the decisive events in the city is also provided by the map "Areas of military operations in Moscow on October 27-November 2, 1917 "(pasted between pages 328 and 329).
This is not a complete list of the advantages of the new work of A. Ya. Grunt, which seems to sum up his research activities on the study of the history of revolutionary Moscow in 1917. Not everything, of course, was equally successful for the author, and not all of his provisions and conclusions can be agreed with.
We have already discussed the various points of view of Soviet historians on the nature and political essence of the October-November events in Moscow. Describing them as a proletarian armed uprising, A. Ya. Grunt, unfortunately, in fact does not express his attitude to other points of view. A scientific debate on this issue with authors who hold other points of view would be quite appropriate and legitimate.
The monograph contains a fairly detailed description of Lenin's statements devoted to the analysis of the revolutionary movement in Moscow, including the idea put forward by Lenin in a number of articles in September - October 1917 about the possibility of an uprising against the Provisional Government initially in Moscow. The author examines these statements in dynamics, in relation to the current political situation not only in the second capital, but also in Russia as a whole. At the same time, the book does not even mention that in a number of his speeches and articles, Lenin, speaking about the events in Moscow after October 27, characterized them as a junker revolt against the Soviet power3 .
It is known that up to the autumn of 1917, Moscow was developing at the rate of a revolutionary revolution.-
3 See V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 35, p. 4. 53, 63, 153, 297, 393; vol. 36, p. 215; vol. 37, p. 174, etc.
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tia was somewhat behind Petrograd. Unfortunately, the book does not address much about the objective causes of this phenomenon. But the more petty-bourgeois character of Moscow in comparison with Petrograd, the closer connection of the Moscow workers with the countryside, and the presence in the Moscow garrison of a tangible Socialist-Revolutionary - Menshevik influence-these and other factors did not completely disappear by the time of the decisive events and left their mark on the course of the struggle for the establishment of Soviet power in Moscow. The works on the history of revolutionary Moscow in 1917 correctly note the significant shortcomings and mistakes made by the leaders of the Bolshevik organization both during the preparation of the armed insurrection and during its conduct (lag in the creation of combat organs of the insurrection, enthusiasm for negotiations with the hostile side, delay in the transition to offensive actions, etc.). Far from everything was done in the field of military-technical preparation of the uprising. We fully agree with I. I. Mints, who suggested that many researchers clearly underestimate the results of the activities of the MK of the RSDLP (b) in the military-technical preparation of an armed insurrection4 . Unfortunately, this reproach also applies to the book under review to some extent. Showing the activities of the MK of the party and the district Bolshevik organizations in creating and training Red Guard detachments, supplying them with weapons, etc., that is, in the military - technical preparation of the uprising, A. Ya. Grunt succeeded worse than covering many other issues of the topic. He correctly writes that the difficult situation in which the Moscow VRK found itself on October 28 was corrected thanks to the decisive actions of the districts. But the activities of the Bolsheviks in the districts, their preparation for an armed uprising, and their formation of Red Guard detachments were directed by the Moscow Committee. And if in less than twenty-four hours the situation was corrected, and the workers and soldiers took the initiative in fighting, establishing Soviet power in virtually all proletarian districts of Moscow, then this is a direct result of the hard work of the Moscow Bolsheviks, headed by the Moscow Committee for Military - Technical Preparation of the uprising.
4 See I. I. Mints. Edict. op. t. 3, p. 46.
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