The Central Executive Committee of the Navy (Centroflot) was the main

collegial Collegiality is the relationship between colleagues. A colleague is a fellow member of the same profession. Colleagues are those explicitly united in a common purpose and respect each other's abilities to work toward that purpose. A colleague is ...

governing body of the navy, created as part of the democratization of the navy in 1917 in order to coordinate the activities of the committees of the fleets and flotillas. The Centroflot was formed by the

First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies The First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies was held from 16 June to 7 July 1917 in Petrograd in the building of the First Cadet Corps on Vasilyevsky Island. The First All-Russian Congress of Soviets, at which th ...

in June 1917 on the basis of delegates of the Maritime Section of the Petrograd Soviet.Centroflot
– Article from the

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

(3rd Edition) Most members of the Centroflot were moderate socialists – the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. By the fall of 1917, in parallel with the process of

Bolshevization of the Soviets The Bolshevization of the Soviets was the process of winning a majority in the Soviets by the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks) in the second half of 1917. The process was particularly active after the Kornilov Rebellion during Se ...

, a process of mass Bolshevization of the lower soldier and sailor committees took place (see also Democratization of the Army in Russia). At the same time, the Bolshevization of the Centroflot, and other soldiers' and sailors' committees of the highest levels was difficult due to the need to organize complex re-elections; in particular, within the framework of "Soviet legality", the Centroflot could only be re-elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. The result was the formation of a significant gap in the composition; in particular, between the Bolshevik

Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet The Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet (Tsentrobalt) russian: Центральный комитет Балтийского флота (ЦКБФ, Центробалт) was a committee for coordination of the activities of sailors' committees of t ...

and the Socialist Revolutionary–Menshevik Centroflot. During the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks, at the suggestion of

Pavel Dybenko Pavel Efimovich Dybenko (russian: Павел Ефимович Дыбенко), (February 16, 1889 – July 29, 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a leading Soviet officer and military commander. Prior to military service Pavel Dybenko was b ...

, declared the Centroflot unauthorized in connection with the recall of their representatives by the Baltic Fleet.MILITARY LITERATURE – (Memoirs) – Nikolai Khovrin. Baltic Sailors are Storming!
/ref> On November 9, 1917, the Centroflot was dispersed by the Bolsheviks led by

Nikolai Khovrin Nikolai Alexandrovich Khovrin (1891 – 1972) was a Russian and Soviet military leader who headed Baltic sailor formations during the October Revolution. Life and career Born on 7 October 1891 in Saint Petersburg, since 1912 Khovrin served in ...

, and, at the suggestion of Lenin, was replaced by the Naval Revolutionary Committee led by the Bolshevik

Ivan Vakhrameev Ivan Ivanovich Vakhrameev (1885 – 1965) was a Russian revolutionary. Member of the World War I, Russian Civil War and World War II. After the October Revolution, he held a number of responsible posts, then switched to teaching. Colonel of the qua ...

. The dispersed delegates of the Centroflot sent the following telegram to the fleets:

References

{{Reflist Russian Revolution 1917 in Russia

See also

References