HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee (russian: Петроградский военно-революционный комитет) was a militant group of the
Petrograd Soviet The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (russian: Петроградский совет рабочих и солдатских депутатов, ''Petrogradskiy soviet rabochikh i soldatskikh deputatov'') was a city council of P ...
and one of several military revolutionary committees that were created in the
Russian Republic The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federal Republic. in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Rus ...
. Initially the committee was created on 25 October 1917 after the German army secured the city of
Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the ...
and the
West Estonian Archipelago West Estonian archipelago ( et, Lääne-Eesti saarestik, also Moonsund archipelago) is a group of Estonian islands located in the Baltic Sea around Väinameri. The total area is about . The archipelago is composed of the islands Saaremaa, Hiiu ...
(see
Operation Albion Operation Albion was a World War I German air, land and naval operation against the Russian forces in October 1917 to occupy the West Estonian Archipelago. The land campaign opened with German landings at the Tagalaht bay on the island o ...
). The committee's resolution was adopted by the
Petrograd Soviet The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (russian: Петроградский совет рабочих и солдатских депутатов, ''Petrogradskiy soviet rabochikh i soldatskikh deputatov'') was a city council of P ...
on October 29, 1917. From October 29 to November 11, 1917 it was a body of the
Petrograd Soviet The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (russian: Петроградский совет рабочих и солдатских депутатов, ''Petrogradskiy soviet rabochikh i soldatskikh deputatov'') was a city council of P ...
, later the All Russian Central Executive Committee. From November 8, 1917 to December 18, 1917 the committee was the highest extraordinary body of state power. All its activities were conducted under the supervision of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) and
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
, who was a member, personally. Among its numerous other members were
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
,
Nikolai Podvoisky Nikolai Ilyich Podvoisky (russian: Николай Ильич Подвойский; February 16 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S_February_4.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O.S_February_4">Old_Style_and_New_S ...
,
Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky ( pl, Feliks Dzierżyński ; russian: Фе́ликс Эдму́ндович Дзержи́нский; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed "Iron Felix", was a Bolshevik revolutionary and official, born into Polish nobility ...
,
Yakov Sverdlov Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (russian: Яков Михайлович Свердлов; 3 June Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._22_May.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S ...
,
Andrei Bubnov Andrei Sergeyevich Bubnov (russian: Андре́й Серге́евич Бу́бнов; 23 March 1883 – 1 August 1938) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary leader, one of Bolshevik leaders in Ukraine, Soviet politician and military leade ...
, Moisei Uritsky,
Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko Vladimir Alexandrovich Antonov-Ovseenko (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Анто́нов-Овсе́енко; ua, Володимир Антонов-Овсєєнко; 9 March 1883 – 10 February 1938), real surna ...
,
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
, and
Pavel Lazimir Pavel Evgen'evich Lazimir (25 June 1891 in Novy Peterhof – 17 May 1920 Kremenchuk) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet military leader. A prominent Left Socialist-Revolutionary, he later joined the Bolsheviks and headed a soldier section ...
, who was its chairman.


Petrograd Milrevcom


Inception

Although it took its form and inspiration from the earlier ''Committee for Struggle Against the Counter-Revolution'' of the Kornilov Affair, the Military Revolutionary Committee itself was only formed during the last weeks, and indeed days, of 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 ...
's existence. On , General Polkovnikov, the commander of the Petrograd Military District, ordered the bulk of the capital's garrison units (those considered by the Provisional Government to be politically unreliable) to prepare for immediate transfer to the front. Given the inflamed political atmosphere this was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a fatal miscalculation on behalf of
Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early Novem ...
and quickly sparked a "general mutiny" with most garrison units openly declaring loyalty to the Petrograd Soviet. It was in the city's ''soviet'' on that the crisis truly exploded and the body, by now with a
Bolshevik 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 ...
majority, adopted a militant resolution authored by
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
, that specifically called for the creation of a 'military revolutionary centre' to "facilitate the revolutionary defence of Petrograd... from the attacks being openly prepared by military and civil Kornilovites". Over the following days the composition and structure of this new MRC was decided upon, albeit without reference to Trotsky's inflammatory provocation to the Provisional Government, and the body was ratified by the Soviet on . It began to gather in the
Smolny Smolny is a place name in central Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is a compound of historically interrelated buildings erected in 18th and 19th centuries. As the most widely known of the buildings, the Smolny Institute, has been used as the seat of ...
on and its first official meeting was not held until . Its chair was the
Left SR The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revo ...
turned Bolshevik
Pavel Lazimir Pavel Evgen'evich Lazimir (25 June 1891 in Novy Peterhof – 17 May 1920 Kremenchuk) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet military leader. A prominent Left Socialist-Revolutionary, he later joined the Bolsheviks and headed a soldier section ...
. The following days saw the escalation of the garrison crisis as unit after unit declared their willingness to obey the Petrograd Soviet, with only three of the eighteen garrison representatives expressing confidence in the Provisional Government. Establishing its authority amongst the garrison was the immediate focus of the MRC; it began to dispatch its own
commissars Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Eas ...
to the garrison formations and on a delegation, including Lazimir, formally asserted the committee's claim to prior command before General Polkovnikov. According to Czech historian Dr.Michal Reiman, this act can be considered the true beginning of 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 mom ...
: "Already on October 21 and 22 the Military Revolutionary Committee, in effect, took upon itself authority over the garrison. Its actions, from both a practical and a juridical standpoint, would be considered by any nation a clear case of mutiny and insurrection". With the loyalty of the garrisons secure, the following days would see the MRC locked into a confrontation with the Kerensky regime and culminating in the pronouncement of : Throughout the following events of the October Revolution the MRC would play the crucial role of coordinating the thousands of soldiers, sailors, and armed workers involved in seizing control of the city. It was on its authority that the Provisional Government was ultimately disbanded and power transferred to the Second All-Russian Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies' Soviets. A pamphlet titled "To the citizens of Russia" was signed by the ''Revolutionary Military Committee of the
Petrograd Soviet The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (russian: Петроградский совет рабочих и солдатских депутатов, ''Petrogradskiy soviet rabochikh i soldatskikh deputatov'') was a city council of P ...
of Workers' and Soldiers Deputies'' and dated "10am, October 25, 1917". It reads: Bolshevik revolutionary leader Joseph Stalin pointed out that the Military Committee was created to guard against counter-revolution by the Kerensky government, and to protect the Soviets, but this was already a significant act of armed insurrection that almost instantly translated into the overthrow of the Kerensky government. Even after the decision was made to overthrow Kerensky, the rhetoric of the Bolsheviks focused on defending the democratic gains from Kerensky though they were not only planning defense, but also revolutionary attack: "The characteristic feature of this period is the rapid growth of the crisis, the utter consternation reigning among the ruling circles, the isolation of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, and the mass flight of the vacillating elements to the side of the Bolsheviks. A peculiar feature of the tactics of the revolution in this period must be noted, namely, that the revolution strove to take every, or nearly every, step in its attack in the guise of defence. Undoubtedly, the refusal to allow the troops to be withdrawn from Petrograd was an important step in the revolution's attack; nevertheless, this attack was carried out under the slogan of protecting Petrograd from possible attack by the external enemy. Undoubtedly, the formation of the Revolutionary Military Committee was a still more important step in the attack upon the Provisional Government; nevertheless, it was carried out under the slogan of organising Soviet control over the actions of the Headquarters of the Military Area. Undoubtedly, the open transition of the garrison to the side of the Revolutionary Military Committee and the organisation of a network of Soviet Commissars marked the beginning of the uprising; nevertheless, the revolution took these steps under the slogan of protecting the Petrograd Soviet from possible action by the counterrevolution. The revolution, as it were, masked its actions in attack under the cloak of defence in order the more easily to draw the irresolute, vacillating elements into its orbit. This, no doubt, explains the outwardly defensive character of the speeches, articles and slogans of that period, the inner content of which, none the less, was of a profoundly attacking nature." In '' Lessons of October,''
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
, who was one of the leaders of the Russian
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 mom ...
and considered second only to Lenin, argues that the Petrograd Soviet essentially entered a state of armed insurrection before : "From the moment when we, as the Petrograd Soviet, invalidated Kerensky's order transferring two-thirds of the garrison to the front, we had actually entered a state of armed insurrection... the outcome of the insurrection of October 25 was at least three-quarters settled, if not more, the moment that we opposed the transfer of the Petrograd garrison; created the Military Revolutionary Committee (October 16)...". Kerensky's order was issued not long after 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 ...
gained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet and Trotsky was elected Chairman (the latter took place on . The Soviet took the view that Kerensky was attempting to remove the revolutionary-leaning troops who were following the directions of the soviet, and replace them with ones who would not oppose his orders.


Milrevcom as the first proletarian government

On the second anniversary of 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 mom ...
, a friend of Trotsky, Adolf Ioffe, wrote an article on the Military Revolutionary Committee of the
Petrograd Soviet The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (russian: Петроградский совет рабочих и солдатских депутатов, ''Petrogradskiy soviet rabochikh i soldatskikh deputatov'') was a city council of P ...
for the
Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...
titled “The First Proletarian Government.” Leon Trotsky, who had been elected president of the MRC, stated that " e decision to create a Military Revolutionary Committee, first introduced on ctober9th, was passed at a plenary session of the Soviet only a week later .. ur days more were required to form the Committee." Trotsky says that the MRC "went to work only on the 20th, five days before the insurrection." The MRC was formed in response to the decision of 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 ...
under Kerensky to transfer to the front military units that were suspected of being too strongly under the influence of Bolsheviks or other radical parties. Initially, the MRC had 66 identified members. Of these members, 48 were Bolsheviks, fourteen were
Left Socialist-Revolutionaries The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Rev ...
, and four were
Anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...
. In contrast to the Bolsheviks, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries abided by their own official ideology of Radical Populism, and the Anarchists, from the Federation of Anarchist Groups, had
Anarcho-Syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...
views. The Left Socialist-Revolutionaries broke off from the more moderate
Socialist-Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major polit ...
in the fall of 1917 and allied with the Bolsheviks. They were considered to be the party of the peasantry and their main agenda was the redistribution of property from the landlords and their estates.
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
, stated that " the Social Revolutionaries only Lazimir did any work, and he was even placed at the head of the bureau in order to emphasise the fact that the Committee was a Soviet and not a party institution ..the MRC's "chief workers erePodvoisky, Antonov-Ovseenko, Lashevich, Sadovsky, and Mekhonoshin" and that they all "relied exclusively upon Bolsheviks". The MRC was made up of its headquarters and corps of commissars who reported directly to the headquarters. The commissars were mostly Bolsheviks who were formerly political prisoners of the Provisional Government. Between , they successfully deposed the standing commissars of the Central Executive Committee of the First Congress of Soviets, who were mostly
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 em ...
and Socialist Revolutionaries, and thereby ensured that the military would be under their command. On , the Bolsheviks, through the MRC, were able to assume power. The headquarters of the MRC was located on the third floor of the Smolny Young Ladies’ College. Originally, it had seven departments: defense, supplies, communications, information bureau, workers’ militia, reporting section, and commandant’s office. On , the department of revolutionary air services was added, and on , a motor transport allocation section was added. The immediate tasks the MRC faced after seizing power from the Provisional Government were curbing resistance, taking control of essential utilities and government offices, preventing pogroms and looting, and above all, defeating a coup attempt by military cadets and fighting the
Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
who were sent by Kerensky to retake Petrograd. However, shortly after the insurrection, the MRC found itself dealing with mostly civil administration duties.


Functions

By , the MRC appointed 185 commissars to various civil agencies. The most urgent problem facing the MRC was providing food to the population of Petrograd. After the October insurrection, levels of grain stock in Petrograd were so low that they were insufficient to supply the city with the daily ration of half a pound of bread for even one day. The MRC imposed even stricter food controls and sent “flying food-supply squads” to the other provinces, followed by stiff penalties against possible speculation on the new incoming provisions. The MRC also took it upon itself to censor the press. In 1917, Petrograd had over 150 newspapers and other periodicals, and 450 journals. In keeping with the first point of Lenin’s three point program concerning the press, the MRC would forcibly close critical publications and hand over the facilities to Bolshevik sympathizers (the following two points were a state monopoly on advertising and allocating printing services and supplies to socialist parties and citizen groups in proportion to their size).Resis, p. 285 On , the MRC in Petrograd shut down seven newspapers that had supported the Provisional Government. During its tenure, the MRC in Petrograd shut down up to five newspapers a day on suspicions of being counter-revolutionary. Other duties performed by the MRC included political policing against possible counter-revolutionaries, issuing of exit visas and various permits, controlling foreign trade outlets, censoring of the press, distribution of various goods to both the military and civilian population, allocation of housing, licensing of theatrical performances, etc.Rigby, p. 42 Eventually, many of the duties of the MRC were overtaken by the
Council of People's Commissars The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...
that was formed after the October insurrection, as well as other new and/or newly renovated administrative offices. The MRC was officially abolished on .


Revival

The committee was briefly revived as the Committee of Revolutionary Defense of Petrograd on February 21, 1918 by the Sovnarkom decree " Socialist Homeland is in Danger!" That committee was liquidated upon signing of the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers ( Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russi ...
on March 3, 1918.{{cn, date=October 2021


References


External links


Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee
at 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 ...
1917 establishments in Russia 1917 disestablishments in Russia Organizations established in 1917 Organizations disestablished in 1917 Government of Russia Organizations of the Russian Revolution