On October 25, 1917, residents of Petrograd read the appeal of the Military Revolutionary Committee "To the Rear and Front": "In Petrograd, power is in the hands of the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. The soldiers and workers who rose up with one accord won without any bloodshed. The Kerensky government is deposed. The Committee appeals to the front and rear not to succumb to provocation, but to support the Petrograd Soviet and the new revolutionary government, which will immediately propose a just peace, hand over the land to the peasants, and convene a Constituent Assembly. Local power passes into the hands of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers 'and Peasants' deputies. Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet " 1 .
What is the place of this appeal among other documents of October 25? 56 documents are known that reflect the activities of the VRK on this day2 . In the vast majority-these are orders, instructions, orders, assignments. The four WRC documents are programmatic in nature, proclaiming the immediate goals and objectives of the new, Soviet government. These are: the appeal written by V. I. Lenin "To the citizens of Russia", the announcement of the victory of the revolution in Petrograd "The revolution has triumphed", the appeal "To the rear and front", the order to all army committees and Soviets of Soldiers ' Deputies to immediately announce to the military units the program of the new government .3 This is the order in which these documents are located in the publications of the materials of IAC 4 .
Is this arrangement of documents correct? Does it reflect the course of the Military Revolutionary Committee's activities? The exact time is known for two documents. On the first - the appeal "To the citizens of Russia!" - set "10 o'clock. in the morning." On the fourth-an order-telegram to the army committees and soldiers ' Councils-it is indicated: "20 hours and 30 minutes". For the other two documents, the exact time is unknown. So, in any case, it is considered.
Let's take a closer look at the appeal "To the rear and front" and compare it with the appeal "To the citizens of Russia!", which says: "The provisional government has been deposed. State power passed into the hands of the organ of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, the Military Revolutionary Committee, which stands at the head of the Petrograd proletariat and garrison. The cause for which the people fought: the immediate proposal of a democratic peace, the abolition of landlord ownership of land, workers ' control of production, the creation of a Soviet Government-this cause is assured. Long live the revolution of the workers, soldiers and peasants! Military Revolutionary Committee under the Petrograd Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies " 5 .
V. D. Bonch-Bruevich recalls this proclamation: Lenin "began to write the first proclamation of the October Revolution. It was necessary to write briefly, concisely and say everything in it. " 6 This is exactly what both of these documents are. They are brief and emphatic, and contain the main and fundamental message about the overthrow of the Provisional Government, the transfer of power to the Military Revolutionary Committee, and the tasks of the new, revolutionary Party.
1 "Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee", Vol. 1, Moscow, 1967, p. 107.
2 See ibid., pp. 106-126.
3 See ibid., pp. 106-108.
4 Ibid.; "The Great October Socialist Revolution". Documents and Materials, vol. 8, Moscow, 1957.
5 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 35, p. 1.
6 V. Bonch-Bruevich. At combat posts of the February and October Revolutions, Moscow, 1930, p. 130.
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authorities. But there is also a difference - the address "To the Rear and Front" has changed the wording of these tasks: it explicitly says about the transfer of land to the peasants, does not mention workers ' control, and includes a clause about the convocation of a Constituent Assembly.
The announcement "The revolution has triumphed"is of a different nature. This is a relatively lengthy document. At first, it describes in detail the victorious course of the uprising - it tells about the occupation of railway stations, telegraph, telephone exchange, post office, State Bank, the environment of the Winter Palace and the district headquarters. The report ends with a statement on the deposition of the Provisional Government and the transfer of power to the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. This is followed by the full address "To the rear and front".
Thus, the announcement of the overthrow of the Provisional Government and the transfer of power to the Military Revolutionary Committee is repeated twice in the announcement: it ends the first part, on the victory of the insurrection, and begins the second, on the tasks of the Soviet government. It should be noted that first we are talking about the overthrow of the Provisional Government (as in Lenin's appeal), and then - about the overthrow of the Kerensky government (as in the appeal to the army). Apparently, the author (or authors) of the declaration "The Revolution has triumphed "had at his disposal both an appeal to the population of the country and an appeal to the army. In the same wording as in the address "To the Rear and Front", the tasks of the Soviet government are set out in the order-telegram to the army committees and soldiers ' Councils. So, in the three documents of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, there is the same wording of the priority tasks of the Soviet government.
A comparison of the four program documents of the WRC allows us to conclude that the main ones are two, following (or simultaneously) the appeal "To the citizens of Russia!" the appeal "To the rear and front" was written.
This conclusion is confirmed by familiarization with the procedure for the publication of these documents by the WRC on those significant days. The first three were published on October 25 in the Petrograd Soviet's evening newspaper Rabochy i Soldat. On October 26, all four documents were published by the central organ of the RSDLP(b), Rabochy Put, and the daily peasant newspaper of the Military Organization attached to the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b), Derevenskaya Bednota, in which the entire first page is occupied by an appeal "To the Rear and Front", entitled "From the Military Revolutionary Committee". The address is marked with the time "10 o'clock. morning" - the same as on the appeal " To the citizens of Russia!"7 .
Undoubtedly, the question of the army, its attitude to the October revolution, to the overthrow of the Provisional Government and the transfer of power to the Soviets immediately rose on the agenda of the VRK. Therefore, the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) and the VRK, not limited to the appeal "To the citizens of Russia!", decided to specifically explain to the army the program of activities of the Soviet government. Thus, on the very first day of the revolution, October 25, two documents appeared - an appeal "To the rear and Front" and a telegram to the army committees and soldiers ' Soviets ordering them to immediately announce the program of Soviet power.
In the early morning hours of October 25, 1917, Lenin wrote an appeal "To the citizens of Russia!" At the same time, an appeal "To the rear and front"is being drawn up in the leading staff of the revolution. On the first program documents of October, the same time is set: "10 am" 8 . The Soviet government, which emerged as a result of the victory of the armed uprising, immediately addresses the entire population of the country and especially the army with a program declaration.
7 "The Rural Poor", 26. X. (8. XI) 1917.
8 This is mentioned in the literature of the 1920s. See F. Anulov. Tactics of October in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Proletarian Revolution, 1922, No. 4, p. 156.
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