The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

formed during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

. In 1917, the Socialist Revolutionary Party split between those who supported the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediatel ...

, established after the February Revolution and those who supported the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

, who favoured the overthrow of the Provisional Government and the placing of political power in the hands of the

Congress of Soviets The Congress of Soviets was the supreme governing body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and several other Soviet republics from 1917 to 1936 and a somewhat similar Congress of People's Deputies from 1989 to 1991. After the cre ...

. Those that continued to support the Provisional Government became known as the Right SRs while those who aligned with the Bolsheviks became known as the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries or Left SRs. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

, the Left SRs formed a coalition government with the Bolsheviks from November 1917 to July 1918, but resigned its position in government after the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The Central Committee of the Left SRs ultimately ordered the assassination of Wilhelm von Mirbach in an attempt to cause Russia to re-enter

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and launched an ill-fated uprising against the Bolsheviks shortly after. Most members of the Left SRs were promptly arrested, though the majority that opposed the uprising were steadily released and allowed to retain their positions in the Soviets and bureaucracy. However, they were unable to reorganize the party, which gradually splintered into multiple pro-Bolshevik parties – all of which would merge with the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) by 1921. Due to outdated voter rolls which did not acknowledge the split between the Right and Left SRs, the Left SRs were overwhelmingly underrepresented in the

Russian Constituent Assembly The All Russian Constituent Assembly (Всероссийское Учредительное собрание, Vserossiyskoye Uchreditelnoye sobraniye) was a constituent assembly convened in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. It met fo ...

. Elections to the peasant soviets that took place a few weeks after the Assembly's dissolution showed that the Right and Left SRs had roughly equal support among the

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

ry.

History

Background

The left-wing faction of the Socialist Revolutionary Party began to form after the February Revolution, grouping the most radical elements of the party. The internal faction was highlighted in the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies in mid-May 1917 for its position close to that of the

, while the bulk of the party aligned with the

Mensheviks The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

. The left-wing socialist revolutionaries were especially strong in the Petrograd Soviet, where they opposed the continuation of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

- which had been defended by the centrist fraction of the party since mid-April. They were also strong in the Northern Region,

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering ...

Kronstadt Kronstadt (russian: Кроншта́дт, Kronshtadt ), also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt or Kronštádt (from german: link=no, Krone for " crown" and ''Stadt'' for "city") is a Russian port city in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

and

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine. Later they became the main current in important rural provinces of the Russian interior, places where the socialist revolutionaries enjoyed the favor of the population. At the third party congress in May, they were a large and important fraction, although it was not until the crisis of autumn and the

when its support extended to the entire country. During the summer of 1917, it was gaining strength among soldier committees, both inside the country and in the front. Except for revered lifelong revolutionary Mark Natanson, at the head of the faction was a series of young leaders, from exile ( Boris Kamkov), from

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

( Maria Spiridonova) or agitation activities among the population ( Prosh Proshian). The SR leadership, on the contrary, had veteran and conservative representatives, who led the party into an alliance with the liberals. This led the party to share government power but, at the same time, jeopardized its support among the population. As the year progressed, the leadership of the SRs moved further and further away from the feelings of its followers and its base, which favoured the leftist current. The number of socialist-revolutionary organizations and committees that followed the leftist faction grew, a trend that was accentuated in the early autumn. In general, workers and soldiers agreed with the positions of the left-wing, the intelligentsia continued to support the SR party line, and the peasants and local branches were divided among them. The executive committee of the largest railway union, the

Vikzhel The All-Russian Executive Committee of the Union of Railwaymen (Russian: ''Всероссийский исполнительный комитет железнодорожного профсоюза),'' commonly known in English by its Cyrillic acron ...

, elected on 23 August, had a majority of Left SRs. During the congresses of the regional, national and provincial soviets held between August and November, it was the effective division of the Right SRs and the strength of those on the left that often allowed the approval of leftist motions. The leftists declared themselves the only representatives of the party program, and proclaimed the socialist character of the revolution, demanded the end of collaboration with the bourgeoisie and the immediate socialization of land, first with their surrender to the land committees and then to the peasants themselves. They were also opposed to the continuation of the war, even if it involved signing a separate peace with the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

. In industrial policy, they advocated the granting of various rights ( union organizing,

living wage A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking labo ...

s, eight-hour days) and workers' control of factories and played a prelevant role in the factory committees.

Internationalists Internationalists may refer to: * Internationalism (politics), a movement to increase cooperation across national borders * Internationalism, a current within the socialist movement opposed to World War I * ''Our Favourite Shop ''Our Favourite S ...

in the party wanted the extension of the revolution to other countries. They also advocated the transfer of government power to the Soviets, convinced that the

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

did not apply the reforms they deemed necessary. After the failed Kornilov coup, the leftist current took control of the socialist-revolutionary organization in the capital, traditionally more radical than that of other localities. Their growth within the SRs led them to hope that it would come under their control, delaying a split. In October 1917, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries joined the new Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee, formed with the aim of accelerating the revolution and at the same time moderating actions of the Bolsheviks; One of its members, Pavel Lazimir, who had played a leading role in the measures against Kornilov and presided over the military section of the Petrograd Soviet, presided over it officially. Numerous left-wing social revolutionaries, in addition to Bolsheviks and other activists without clear affiliation, participated in the committee's activities, from which the former withdrew on several occasions in