Left SR uprising
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The Left SR uprising, or Left SR revolt, was an uprising against 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 ...
by the
Left Socialist Revolutionary Party The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revol ...
. The uprising started on 6 July 1918 and was claimed to be intended to restart the war against
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
.Boniece, Sally A.
link "Don Quixotes of the Revolution"? The Left SRs as a Mass Political Movement
Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History 5.1 (2004) 185–194
It was one of a number of
left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks The left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks, known in anarchist literature as the Third Russian Revolution, were a series of rebellions, uprisings, and revolts against the Bolsheviks by oppositional left-wing organizations and groups that sta ...
that took place during the
Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...
.


Background

The revolt was led by the
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 ...
in
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. Previously, the
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 politi ...
had supported the continuation of the war by the Provisional Government after the February Revolution of 1917. The Bolshevik Party came to power in November 1917 through the simultaneous election in the
soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...
and an organized uprising supported by military mutiny. Several of the main reasons the population supported the Bolsheviks were to end the war and have a social revolution, exemplified by the slogan "Peace, Land, Bread". The Bolsheviks invited left SRs and
Martov Julius Martov or L. Martov (Ма́ртов; born Yuliy Osipovich Tsederbaum; 24 November 1873 – 4 April 1923) was a politician and revolutionary who became the leader of the Mensheviks in early 20th-century Russia. He was arguably the closes ...
's
Menshevik Internationalists The Menshevik-Internationalists were a faction inside the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Mensheviks). The faction, representing the left-wing inside the party, emerged in May 1917. It was joined by a number of political leaders returning fr ...
to join the government. Left SRs split from the main SR party and joined the Bolshevik coalition government, supporting the Bolsheviks immediate enactment of the Socialist Revolutionary Party's land redistribution program. The Left SRs were given four Commissar positions and held high posts within the
Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
. The Left SRs still diverged with the Bolsheviks on the issue of the war and were dismayed that 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 ...
gave up large amounts of territory in
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...
to 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 W ...
. With the treaty, the Left SRs considered that the opportunity to spread the revolution throughout Europe had been lost. They left 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 ...
in protest in March 1918 and at the 4th Congress of Soviets they voted against the treaty. Although they continued to work in the Cheka, which played a decisive role in rebellion. Left Social Revolutionaries remained on the boards of the People's Commissars, the military department, various committees, commissions, and councils. In
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
, where the soviet government had pledged by the treaty not to intervene, the landing of German troops significantly helped the "white" (counter-revolutionary) forces to crush the
Finnish Revolution The Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (FSWR), more commonly referred to as Red Finland, was a self-proclaimed Finnish socialist state that ruled parts of the country during the Finnish Civil War of 1918. It was outlined on 29 January 1918 by t ...
. In
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
, a puppet government, the Hetmanate, had been established with German backing. The forces of 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 W ...
advanced through Ukraine towards
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the Eas ...
while Ottoman units made it into the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...
. In March, Allied troops landed in Murmansk and reached the
Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...
the next month. In late May, clashes between the Russians and the
Czechoslovak Legion The Czechoslovak Legion (Czech language, Czech: ''Československé legie''; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Československé légie'') were volunteer armed forces composed predominantly of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the side of the Allies of World ...
began, and in June rival anti-Bolshevik governments were formed in
Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...
(the Komuch) and
Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk a ...
(the Provisional Siberian Government). The Left SRs strongly objected to the invasion and opposed Trotsky's insistence that nobody was allowed to attack German troops in Ukraine.Carr, E.H. - The Bolshevik Revolution 1917–1923. W. W. Norton & Company 1985. (162–167)
Sergey Mstislavsky Sergey Dmitrievich Mstislavsky (Сергей Дмитриевич Мстиславский, born Maslovsky; November 4, 1876, Moscow - April 22, 1943, Irkutsk, USSR) was a Russian Soviet writer, dramatist, publicist, anthropologist, editor an ...
coined the slogan “It's not a war, it's an uprising!”, calling on the “masses” to “rebel” against the
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-
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occupation forces, accusing the Bolsheviks of creating a “state that obstructs the working class", moving away from the position of revolutionary socialism onto the path of opportunistic service to the state." A new surge of tension was associated with an increase in the activity of the Bolsheviks in rural villages, when the Bolshevik-controlled government announced, by decree, the enforcement of a state bread monopoly and the organization of "food detachments" for the compulsory collection of bread. On June 14, 1918, representatives of the Socialist-Revolutionary parties (both
Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album '' Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * ...
and
Right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...
) and 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 em ...
were expelled from the
All-Russian Central Executive Committee The All-Russian Central Executive Committee ( rus, Всероссийский Центральный Исполнительный Комитет, Vserossiysky Centralny Ispolnitelny Komitet, VTsIK) was the highest legislative, administrative and r ...
by a Bolshevik decree. By this same decree, all Soviets of workers, soldiers, peasants, and Cossack deputies were also invited to remove representatives of these parties from their midst. Vladimir Karelin, a member of the Central Committee of the Left SRs, called this decree illegal, since only the All-Russian Congress of Soviets could change the composition of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. In early July, the Third Congress of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party was held, in its resolution to the present moment sharply condemned the policy of the Bolsheviks: According to
Richard Pipes Richard Edgar Pipes ( yi, ריכארד פּיִפּעץ ''Rikhard Pipets'', the surname literally means 'beak'; pl, Ryszard Pipes; July 11, 1923 – May 17, 2018) was an American academic who specialized in Russian and Soviet history. He publi ...
,


Fifth Congress of Soviets

In this situation of internal tension, on July 4, the 5th All-Russian Congress of Soviets began to decide the country's policy. The confrontation between the SRs and Bolsheviks was harsh. Left SR speakers fiercely attacked the policy of the Bolsheviks, from the requisitioning of grain and suppression of opposition parties, to the institution of the death penalty. They argued especially against the Bolshevik peace with imperialist Germany and the lack of defense of the revolution in
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
and
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
.
Boris Kamkov Boris Davidovich Kamkov (russian: Бори́с Дави́дович Камко́в; June 3, 1885 – August 29, 1938) was a Russian revolutionary, a leader of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries and a member of the Council of People's Commissars. H ...
promised to "sweep food detachments from the villages."
Maria Spiridonova Maria Alexandrovna Spiridonova (russian: Мари́я Алекса́ндровна Спиридо́нова; 16 October 1884 – 11 September 1941) was a Narodnik-inspired Russian revolutionary. In 1906, as a novice member of a local combat group ...
characterized the Bolsheviks as "traitors to the revolution" and "successors to the policy of the Kerensky government." The Left SRs also called for
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
in the elections of the
Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...
, due to the sharp vote disparity between rural and city-dwelling workers.Text of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 in Wikisource
/ref> However, the Bolsheviks had sent a large number of delegates who were suspected of not being legitimately elected, simply to achieve a large majority in Congress. The
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 ...
had 352 delegates compared to 745 Bolsheviks out of 1132 total. The vast Bolshevik majority thwarted the socialist-revolutionary plans to change government policy in Congress, which was now firmly in the hands of Lenin's party. This disillusionment felt by the Left SRs, the sense of danger in the face of the Bolshevik threats —embodied in Trotsky's resolution that allowed the execution of those who opposed the German occupation of Ukraine— and the conviction that a terrorist action could force the start of new hostilities with Germany led the socialist-revolutionary leadership to plot the murder of the German ambassador in Moscow. The SR's objective was not to challenge the Bolsheviks, but to force the Sovnarkom to confront the Germans; the left SRs preferred to achieve this through motions of congress, but, once this route was exhausted, the SRs resumed the decision to carry out the Assassinations. Knowledge of the plans was confined to only a few members of the central committee: neither the delegates of the Soviet congress, nor those of the party congress, nor the Cheka's lieutenant himself, Vyacheslav Aleksandrovich, received any communication about the resolution of the central committee.


Assassination of Mirbach

On June 25, 1918, Count Mirbach informed his boss, State Secretary of the German Foreign Ministry
Richard von Kühlmann Richard von Kühlmann (3 May 1873 – 16 February 1948) was a German diplomat and industrialist. From 6 August 1917 to 9 July 1918, he served as Germany's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and led the delegation that negotiated the Treat ...
about the deep political crisis of the Bolshevik government: “Today, after more than 2 months of careful observation, I don’t think I can make a more favorable diagnosis of Bolshevism: we, no doubt, are at the bedside of a seriously ill patient; and although moments of apparent improvement are possible, ultimately it is doomed." In May, he sent a telegraph to Berlin saying “the Entente allegedly spends huge sums to bring the right wing of the Socialist Revolutionary Party to power and resume the war... Sailors on ships... are probably bribed, like the former Preobrazhensky regiment. Weapons stocks... from weapons factories in the hands of the Socialist Revolutionaries." German diplomat Carl von Botmer also testified that the German embassy, beginning in mid-June 1918, repeatedly received threats that the Bolshevik security service had investigated, but to no avail.
Yakov Blumkin Yakov Grigoryevich Blumkin (russian: Я́ков Григо́рьевич Блю́мкин; 12 March 1900 – 3 November 1929) was a Left Socialist-Revolutionary, a Bolshevik, and an agent of the Cheka and the Joint State Political Directorat ...
, a Left SR in charge of the Cheka counter-espionage section dedicated to monitoring the activity of the Germans, and Nikolai Andreyev, a photographer the same section, received an order from Maria Spiridonova on July 4, to carry out the assassination of the German ambassador in two days time. The day of the uprising was chosen, among other reasons, because it was the Latvian national holiday Ivanov Day (
Jāņi Jāņi () is an annual Latvian festival celebrating the summer solstice. Although astronomically the solstice falls on 21 or 22 June, the public holidays—Līgo Day and Jāņi Day—are on 23 and 24 June. The day before Jāņi is known as Līg ...
), which was supposed to neutralize the Latvian units most loyal to the Bolsheviks. The Leadership of the Left SRs believed this assassination would lead to a widespread popular uprising in support of their aims. They claimed to be leading a revolt against the peace with Germany and not necessarily against the Bolsheviks and soviet power. On July 6, 1918, at about 1:00 PM, a member of the Left SR central committee, probably
Maria Spiridonova Maria Alexandrovna Spiridonova (russian: Мари́я Алекса́ндровна Спиридо́нова; 16 October 1884 – 11 September 1941) was a Narodnik-inspired Russian revolutionary. In 1906, as a novice member of a local combat group ...
, handed over weapons and instructions to the assassins. Blumkin and Andreyev hid the pistols and grenades in briefcases and drove in a Cheka car to the German embassy, where they arrived at 2:15 PM. They showed a letter of introduction, supposedly signed by the head of Cheka
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 ...
and asked to see German envoy. Mirbach believed that the Chekists were coming to inform him of a plan to assassinate him, a plan he'd been warned about earlier. During their conversation - at about 2:50 PM, Blumkin drew up a revolver and shot at Count Mirbach, Dr. Riezler, and the interpreter, Lt. Mueller, but failed to injure any of them. Riezler and Mueller took shelter under a large table, whereas Mirbach, who tried to escape, was then shot by Andreev. The assassins jumped out of a window while throwing grenades to create confusion; Blumkin fractured a leg in the jump and was injured by one of the embassy sentinels. The pair fled and disappeared in a car that was waiting for them in front of the embassy, heading straight for a Cheka HQ (under the command of Dmitry Popov) where the Left SR central committee was waiting. They made many mistakes during the assassination: they left a briefcase at the scene containing certificates in the name of Blumkin and Andreev, witnesses to the murders of Riezler and Mueller also survived. In the turmoil, they even left their caps at the embassy. That same afternoon, Lenin had sent some of the few remaining forces in the city to the northeast, to try to quell the Yaroslavl uprising, which had just broken out. Only a few Latvian marksmen units, Cheka forces and some Red Guard and Army units (still in training), remained in Moscow. Lenin received the news shortly after, not knowing who had perpetrated the attack, and immediately went to the embassy to apologize for the murder and try to calm the Germans. Later that night, when going to give condolences to the embassy, Dzerzhinski indicated that the authors were socialist-revolutionary members of the Cheka. At the same time, the Foreign Commissioner,
Georgy Chicherin Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin (24 November 1872 – 7 July 1936), also spelled Tchitcherin, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and a Soviet politician who served as the first People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in the Soviet government from ...
, communicated to him the German demand to station troops in Moscow. A few weeks later, on July 30, the commander of German occupation forces
Hermann von Eichhorn (13 February 1848 – 30 July 1918) was a Prussian officer, later during World War I. He was a recipient of with Oak Leaves, one of the highest orders of merit in the Kingdom of Prussia and, subsequently, Imperial Germany. Biography was bor ...
was assassinated in
Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...
, by the Left SR
Boris Donskoy Boris Mikhailovich Donskoy (russian: Борис Михайлович Донской; 1894 – 10 August 1918) was a Russian Empire terrorist-revolutionary. He was a member of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary party as SR-maximalist. Donskoy became w ...
.


First skirmishes

Dzerzhinsky personally appeared at the headquarters of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Cheka detachment and demanded the extradition of Mirbach's killers. Accompanied by three Chekists, Dzerzhinsky began to search the premises, breaking several doors. At this point, the Central Committee of the Left SRs left the Congress of Soviets, which was taking place at that time, and began a meeting at the headquarters of the Popov detachment, where Dzerzhinsky discovered it. Dzerzhinsky threatened to shoot almost the entire Left SR Central Committee, announced the arrest of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Commissars Proshyan and Karelin and demanded Popov immediately extradite Blumkin, threatening to shoot him on the spot in case of refusal. However, Dzerzhinsky himself was arrested and taken hostage by the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, to ensure the SR delegates to the Soviet congress. The main armed force that the Socialist-Revolutionaries could make use of was the Cheka detachment under the command of Popov. This detachment consisted mostly of Finns and sailors, numbering about 800 people, and was armed with several guns and armored cars. However, Popov's detachment did not take action, and the defense of the occupied positions was reduced to sitting out in two buildings of Trekhsvyatitelsky Lane. Subsequently, in 1921, during interrogation at the Cheka, Popov claimed that: “I didn’t take part in the preparation of the alleged uprising against the state, the armed clash in Trekhsvyatitelny Lane was an act of self-defense.” In total, during the mutiny, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries took 27 Bolshevik functionaries hostage, including the deputy chairman of the Cheka
Martin Latsis Martin Ivanovich Latsis (russian: Мартын Иванович Лацис, lv, Mārtiņš Lācis, born Jānis Sudrabs, russian: Ян Фридрихович Судрабс, translit=Yan Fridrikhovich Sudrabs) (December 14, 1888 – February 11, ...
and the chairman of the Moscow City Council Pyotr Smidovich. In addition, they captured several cars, and a congress delegate Nikolai Abelman was killed. They also captured the General Post Office and began to send out anti-Bolshevik appeals. One of these appeals, declaring the Bolshevik government deposed and ordering "not to execute orders of Lenin and Sverdlov", according to the command of the Kremlin Bolshevik Pavel Dmitrievich Malkova, fell into the hands of Lenin. Another appeal stated that "... the executioner Mirbach was killed ... German spies and armed provocateurs have invaded Moscow, demanding the death of the left-wing socialist revolutionaries. Frightened by possible consequences, as before, the ruling party of the Bolsheviks are following the orders of the German executioners ... Forward, workers, workers and Red Army soldiers, to defend the working people, against all executioners, against all spies and provocative imperialism. ” By this time, the leader of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, Maria Spiridonova, who had come to the Congress of Soviets, had already been arrested by the Bolsheviks herself and also taken hostage. Lenin thought that the whole Cheka had rebelled. According to the testimony of
Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich Vladimir Dmitriyevich Bonch-Bruyevich (russian: Владимир Дмитриевич Бонч-Бруевич; sometimes spelled Bonch-Bruevich; in Polish Boncz-Brujewicz;  – 14 July 1955) was a Soviet politician, revolutionary, historian ...
, Lenin “did not even turn pale, but turned white” when he heard the news. Of all the units of the Moscow garrison, the Bolsheviks were able to rely only on the Latvian Riflemen — all the other units either sided with the rebels or declared their neutrality. Trotsky's order to units of the Moscow garrison to speak out against the rebels was carried out only by the Commandant Regiment and the School of Military Cadets, and the Commandant Regiment soon fled. In the midst of events, Lenin doubted the loyalty of the commander of the Latvian Riflemen,
Jukums Vācietis Jukums Vācietis (russian: Иоаким Иоакимович Вацетис, link=no, ''Ioakim Ioakimovich Vatsetis''; 11 November 1873 – 28 July 1938) was a Latvian Soviet military commander. He was a rare example of a notable Soviet leader ...
, and expressed his readiness to “accept his services” only by assigning four commissioners to him. During the uprising Trotsky investigated four times whether Vācietis had joined the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. At night, Lenin ordered him to gather forces to launch a counterattack. By the early morning of 7 July, the Bolsheviks had gathered enough forces, mainly Vācietis's Latvian Riflemen, to start their counterattack. At about 10:00 a.m., they set up their artillery only two hundred yards in front of the building where Popov's unit was located. After an unsuccessful negotiation attempt, the Latvians opened fire. The very first salvos hit the Left SR headquarters, after which the Left SR Central Committee left the building at once. Lenin decided to demonstrate to the Germans that the Bolsheviks could control the Socialist Revolutionaries, despite having lost control of the local Cheka. Lenin accused the SRs of trying to overthrow the Soviet Government and charged Trotsky with crushing the rebellion who, in turn, put Ivar Smilga in command of the forces faithful to the Bolsheviks. For a while, Lenin, Sverdlov and Trotsky declared the Cheka dismissed, ousted Dzerzhinsky and put Latsis in his place, who was ordered to recruit new people to the Cheka. Trotsky ordered Latsis to arrest all the Left Socialist Revolutionaries serving in the Cheka, and declare them hostages. However, soon the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries themselves occupied the Cheka's building, arresting Latsis and freeing the Left Socialist Revolutionary Emelyanov, whom had been arrested. Also unsuccessful was Trotsky's attempt to prevent the rebels from seizing the central telegraph; the two companies of Latvian riflemen sent to them there were disarmed by the group of Left Socialist Revolutionaries led by Prosh Proshian. For a short time the Left SRs controlled the
telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
exchange and
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
office. They sent out several
manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
s, bulletins, and
telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
s in the name of the Left S.R. Central Committee declaring that the Left S.R.s had taken over
power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...
and that their action had been welcomed by the whole
nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by th ...
. A telegram from the Left SR Central Committee stating that the Left SRs had seized power in Moscow, was sent to
Mikhail Artemyevich Muravyov Mikhail Artemyevich Muravyov (russian: Михаи́л Арте́мьевич Муравьёв) ( – July 11, 1918) was a Russian officer who changed sides during the time of the Civil War. He was born in a village of Burdukovo, near Vetluga ...
, a Left SR and
Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...
of the Eastern Front. On the pretext of attacking the Germans, he seized
Simbirsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), was the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin ( ...
and tried to march his forces on Moscow in support of the left socialist revolutionaries. However, Muravyov could not convince his troops to oppose the Bolsheviks and was killed when arrested. The leader of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries
Maria Spiridonova Maria Alexandrovna Spiridonova (russian: Мари́я Алекса́ндровна Спиридо́нова; 16 October 1884 – 11 September 1941) was a Narodnik-inspired Russian revolutionary. In 1906, as a novice member of a local combat group ...
then went to the Fifth Congress of Soviets, where she announced that "the Russian people are free from Mirbach," and, jumping onto a table, started shouting "Hey, you, listen, Earth, hey, you, listen, earth! ”. However, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries made no attempt to arrest the Bolshevik government, although they even had passes allowing them to enter the Kremlin without hindrance. In addition, the rebels did not arrest the Bolshevik delegates of the Fifth Congress of Soviets. Without attempting to seize power, they declared the Bolsheviks “agents of German imperialism” who established the regime of “commissar rule” and smeared all other socialists as “counterrevolutionaries”. Researcher Valery Evgenievich Shambarov draws attention to the passivity of military units that sided with the rebels: “The regiment of the Cheka, under the command of Popov, rebelled quite strangely. On March 1, their forces were armed with 1,800 bayonets, 80 sabers, 4 armored cars and 8 artillery guns. The Bolsheviks in Moscow had 720 bayonets, 4 armored cars and 12 artillery guns. But instead of attacking and winning, taking advantage of surprise and an almost three-fold advantage, the regiment passively "rebelled" in the barracks ". On the same topic American historian
Alexander Rabinowitch Alexander Rabinowitch (born 30 August 1934) is an American historian. He is Professor Emeritus of History at the Indiana University, Bloomington, where he taught from 1968 until 1999, and Affiliated Research Scholar at the St. Petersburg Institute ...
argues as follows.


Clashes


Fighting in Moscow

Shortly after the assassination, Lenin ordered
Yakov Peters Yakov (alternative spellings: Jakov or Iakov, cyrl, Яков) is a Russian or Hebrew variant of the given names Jacob and James. People also give the nickname Yasha ( cyrl, Яша) or Yashka ( cyrl, Яшка) used for Yakov. Notable people People ...
to put under guard the whole Left SR faction of the Fifth Congress of Soviets (approximately 450 people). The
Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...
, where the session of Congress took place, was surrounded by chekists and Latvian riflemen. Bolshevik delegates of Congress were allowed to leave the theater, while Left SRs were arrested inside the theater. Despite sympathy on the part of the Moscow garrison for the SRs, the Bolsheviks mustered enough forces on the morning of 7 July to storm their positions, thanks especially to the support of the Latvian Riflemen, who remained loyal to the Bolsheviks. In the Bolshoi, Maria Spiridonova and
Andrei Kolegayev Andrei Lukic Kolegayev (russian: Андрей Лукич Колегаев) (22 March 1887 – 23 March 1937) was a Left Socialist-Revolutionary and later Soviet statesman who advocated an alliance with the Bolsheviks. He was born in Surgut, Tobol ...
severely reproached
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 M ...
for their confinement and for the measures taken against their comrades. Trotsky responded by accusing the Socialist Revolutionaries of having risen to take power. After a vain attempt to stop the clash, pro-Bolshevik units attacked the SRs. The first assault, scheduled for 2:00 a.m., was a failure. Being a Sunday and a public holiday – St. John the Baptist's day - the troops assigned to the assault did not show up and forced it to be carried out the next day, instead of taking advantage of the night, as originally planned. The attack finally started at noon with the use of artillery against the Cheka headquarters, which was badly damaged by the explosions. Around 2:00 p. m., the revolt had been put down and the SR leaders had fled, abandoning Dzerzhinski in the building. Of the defenders, the assailants ended up capturing about four hundred. Aleksandrovich, captured shortly thereafter at a nearby railway station, was executed the same day. Popov and eleven other Chekists who had participated in the uprising were also subjected to execution without trial.


Actions in Petrograd

In Petrograd, July 7 dawned warm and sunny, the streets were filled with people. The press only picked up two lines about the murder of the German ambassador in Moscow, sent before communications with the capital were cut off. The night before, the few Bolshevik leaders who had remained in the city and had not attended the Fifth Soviet Congress in Moscow received the order to prepare for an uprising of the Left SRs and they immediately formed a revolutionary military committee. They decided to disarm the main Left SR armed detachment in the city, close down their main newspaper and try to arrest the local Left SR committee. They also ordered the formation of Bolshevik troikas in the different districts of the city, these were to neutralize and disarm the socialist revolutionaries of the respective districts. The Bolshevik authorities in Petrograd knew about the murder of the German ambassador before even the local socialist revolutionaries. Moisei Uritsky arrived in Petrograd around 15:00 on July 7 and immediately took over the leadership of the revolutionary military committee. He relieved Prosh Proshian from the regional Commissariat of Interior and accelerated the release of the Administration's socialist-revolutionary positions. Forces loyal to the Bolsheviks surrounded the offices of the socialist-revolutionaries in
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 ...
and closed them at 14:00, while the Socialist Revolutionary delegation 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 ...
was arrested. Then the city's Social Revolutionary Committee, alerted to the likelihood of government actions to disarm and arrest his forces, alerted them and went underground. Ignorant of the Moscow events, local organizations were stunned by the instructions. Confused by the unexpected events, pro-socialist forces offered no resistance to disarmament and the only victims of the disarmament process were by accident, when a grenade exploded causing four deaths and fourteen injuries. The only confrontation in the city took place at the School of Pages, where the scarce garrison, just 350-380 mercenary soldiers, most of them teenagers and without sympathy for the Left SRs, attracted to the building's guard by the better conditions than the front, defended the place. At 17:00, communications to the building were counted and they began to surround themselves, while government patrols began to walk the main avenues of the city The military committee tried unsuccessfully to achieve the surrender of the besieged. After a first unsuccessful assault, the talks between the two sides resumed, without ceasing the fighting. They attracted a crowd, curious to see what was happening in the area. At 19:00, new troops surrounded the building and brought machine guns; the main assault occurred about an hour later, using artillery and machine guns against the besieged. The shelling accelerated the defectors' defection. The fighting ended around 21:00 when the few remaining defenders hoisted a white towel from one of the windows of the building. After a surrender agreement guaranteeing the safety of the defenders, about 150 of them surrendered to the troops, who entered the building a little later.


Repression of the SRs

The Bolsheviks immediately executed thirteen SRs that were in the Cheka, without trial, while keeping the SR Congressional delegation in prison and expelling its members from the executive committee. Little by little they released the bulk of the delegates. Those who opposed the uprising were immediately released, after their weapons had been seized. Thirteen of the four hundred and fifty delegates - including Spiridonova - were transferred on the morning of July 8 from the theater to the Kremlin dungeons; ten of them were released the next day. The Communists tried to divide the party and alienate the militants from the leadership, by having some form two separate new parties. Most of the radical leaders who had advocated accepting peace with the Central Empire ended up repudiating the uprising. Those who, instead of criticizing the actions of the party, endorsed them, were persecuted by the authorities. Despite the flight of most of the leaders, some four hundred Party members were arrested and some of them executed. Spiridonova remained in prison in the Kremlin until the end of November. She received a one-year sentence, which was commuted by her admission to a sanitarium, from which she soon escaped. The Bolsheviks began to expel SRs from the institutions and took their offices in
Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
on the morning of July 7 after a brief fight, despite the fact that there had been no incidents in the city. The party's two main newspapers, '' Znamia trudá '' and '' Golos trudovogo krestianstva '', were closed and did not receive permission to resume publication. On July 9, the Soviets Congress continued its sessions, without the Left SR delegates. It condemned the uprising as an attempt by the Left SRs to take power, approved the government's actions to crush the revolt and expelled left-wing Socialist Revolutionaries who did not condemn the actions of their central committee from the Soviets.
Grigory Petrovsky Grigory Ivanovich Petrovsky (russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Петро́вский, uk, Григо́рій Іва́нович Петро́вський, translit=Hryhorii Ivanovych Petrovskyi) (3 February 1878 - 9 January 1958) wa ...
, Commissioner of the Interior, nevertheless ordered the expulsion of the Social Revolutionaries from all local soviets, independent mind whether or not they condemned the actions approved by the PSRI central committee. In Petrograd, Left SR representatives were expelled from the leadership 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 from then on their influence over the organisation was null. Mirbach's assassination was attempted, in vain, to force the Bolsheviks to resume the fight against Germany, once the impossibility of having a majority in Congress that allowed them to change the government's policy in a peaceful way was clear. Despite the government's accusation of the Left SR's attempted overthrow of the
Soviet government The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...
, the Cheka's own investigation in Petrograd ended without any evidence being found and with the release of those arrested. Much the same conclusions have also been reached by British historian
Orlando Figes Orlando Guy Figes () is a British historian and writer. Until his retirement, he was Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London. Figes is known for his works on Russian history, such as '' A People's Tragedy'' (1996), ''Nata ...
, who generally holds up to ridicule the Left SRs' naive tendency 'to play at revolution'.


Consequences

The assassination of the ambassador led to a serious but short-lived crisis between the Lenin government and the German Empire. As the Bolshevik leaders feared, on July 14 the acting ambassador demanded the sending of troops to Moscow on the pretext of protecting the embassy, which would have placed the Sovnarkom under the control of the German high command. The rejection of the German demands, however, seemed to lead to a resumption of hostilities. The start of the
Second Battle of the Marne The Second Battle of the Marne (french: Seconde Bataille de la Marne) (15 July – 18 July 1918) was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. The attack failed when an Allied counterattack, supported by s ...
turned German attention to the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
and allowed the government to finally reject the German claims in exchange for assigning a thousand Red Guards to protect the embassy, who would share the task with three hundred unarmed and plainclothes German soldiers. For his part, the Latvian colonel
Jukums Vācietis Jukums Vācietis (russian: Иоаким Иоакимович Вацетис, link=no, ''Ioakim Ioakimovich Vatsetis''; 11 November 1873 – 28 July 1938) was a Latvian Soviet military commander. He was a rare example of a notable Soviet leader ...
, who had led the assault on the Cheka headquarters in the capital under the command of the main forces loyal to the Bolsheviks, was appointed commander of the Volga front and, later, commander-in-chief of the whole Red Army. According to Orlando Figes he was also rewarded with 10,000 roubles. Left SR members did not immediately disappear from the institutions due to a lack of cadres, which prevented the Bolsheviks from replacing them with their own supporters. However, they became part of the persecuted opposition, even groups that distanced themselves or broke relations with their central committee did not retain their previous power in the institutions. The increasing measures of repression against the SRs culminated in the trial of the party that began on 27. Of the fourteen defendants, only two were present, the rest went underground. All were sentenced to short sentences, but the party was removed from power. The uprising, which ended the alliance between Bolsheviks and left-wing social revolutionaries, was a milestone in the process of forming a one-party state. The murder of the ambassador, contrary to what the socialist-revolutionary leaders expected, frustrated their plans: neither did it bring about the resumption of the conflict with Germany, nor did it cause the expected uprising of the population against it, nor did it serve to bring the left-communists closer together; furthermore, the party was not prepared for the consequences of the attack. It served primarily to facilitate Lenin's removal of political power from the rival party. Despite its strong support in the countryside, the Left SRs never recovered from the repression suffered after the Mirbach murder and disappeared as a notable political option. The " Party of the Populists-Communists" and "
Party of Revolutionary Communism Party of Revolutionary Communism (in Russian: Партия революционного коммунизма) was a political party in Russia. It was formed by a Narodnik group which broke away from the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries after the la ...
" split from Left SRs and supported the Bolsheviks. The Left SRs collapsed as a party by 1922 and only existed as small cells through 1925. Mirbach's assassins, Blumkin and Andreev, managed to evade capture. In early 1919, Blumkin was pardoned by the Bolsheviks and rejoined the Cheka. During the
Moscow Trials The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against " Trotskyists" and members of " Right Opposition" of the Communist Party o ...
in 1937, it was claimed that Trotsky, Kamenev, and Zinoviev were involved in this plot.Spitzer, Alan B.
John Dewey, the "Trial" of Leon Trotsky and the Search for Historical Truth
History and Theory, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Feb., 1990), pp. 16–37
Yuri Felshtinsky claimed the revolt was staged by the Bolsheviks as a pretext to discredit the Left SRs. However, this was disputed by L. M. Ovrutskii and Anatolii Izrailevich Razgon.


See also

* 1st Congress of the Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine * Black Guards *
Green Armies The Green armies (russian: Зеленоармейцы), also known as the Green Army (Зелёная Армия) or Greens (Зелёные), were armed peasant groups which fought against all governments in the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1922 ...
*
Left communism Left communism, or the communist left, is a position held by the left wing of communism, which criticises the political ideas and practices espoused by Marxist–Leninists and social democrats. Left communists assert positions which they reg ...
*
Left Opposition The Left Opposition was a faction within the Russian Communist Party (b) from 1923 to 1927 headed ''de facto'' by Leon Trotsky. The Left Opposition formed as part of the power struggle within the party leadership that began with the Soviet fou ...
*
Permanent Revolution Permanent revolution is the strategy of a revolutionary class pursuing its own interests independently and without compromise or alliance with opposing sections of society. As a term within Marxist theory, it was first coined by Karl Marx and F ...
*
World revolution World revolution is the Marxist concept of overthrowing capitalism in all countries through the conscious revolutionary action of the organized working class. For theorists, these revolutions will not necessarily occur simultaneously, but whe ...
*
War communism War communism or military communism (russian: Военный коммунизм, ''Voyennyy kommunizm'') was the economic and political system that existed in Soviet Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921. According to Soviet histo ...


References


External links


Lutz Hafner. The Assassination of Count Mirbach and the "July Uprising" of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries in Moscow, 1918.
Russian Review, Vol. 50, No. 3 (Jul., 1991), pp. 324–344

* ttp://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/jul/08.htm V. I. Lenin, "Interview Granted To An Izvestia Correspondent In Connection With The Left Socialist-Revolutionary Revolt"br>"Poole to Lansing on assassination of Count Mirbach"
{{Russian Revolution Rebellions in Russia 1918 in Russia Anti-Bolshevik uprisings Conflicts in 1918 Socialist Revolutionary Party