The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies was held on November 7–9, 1917, in Smolny, Petrograd. It was convened under the pressure of the Bolsheviks on the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the First Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.
Background
During the autumn of 1917, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks) launched an activity to win a majority in the Soviets, primarily in Petrograd and Moscow.
On September 17, Bolshevik Viktor Nogin was elected Chairman of the Moscow Council Presidium; on September 20, Lev Trotsky was elected Chairman of the Petrograd Council. The Bolsheviks occupy up to 90% of the seats in the Petrograd Soviet and up to 60% in the Moscow Soviet.
As early as the end of September 1917, the Bolsheviks set a course for the conquest of the majority in the All-Russian Soviet organs, for which it was necessary to obtain a majority at the corresponding congresses of the soviets.
The decision to hold the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies in September was made by the First Congress, but the All-Russian Central Executive Committee sabotaged its meeting, not wanting to yield power to the strengthened Bolsheviks. At the end of September, the executive committee of the Bolshevik Petrograd Soviet sent to 69 local Soviets and army soldiers' committees a request their attitude towards the convocation of the Second Congress. This idea was met with hostility by the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. Of the 69 organs requested, only 8 responded positively. The reaction of the Socialist Revolutionary-Menshevik army committees, which recognized the convocation of the Congress "untimely", was particularly harsh.
The Bolshevization of the Soviets took place against the background of an aggravated political and military situation: the Provisional Government, after long delays, finally called elections to the Constituent Assembly for November 12, and its first meeting – for November 28.
The situation at the front during this period also deteriorated greatly: on October 16, an order was issued for the evacuation of Revel, on October 21, the Germans captured the Moonsund Islands, threatening Petrograd directly.
The General Rehearsal of the Second Congress for the Bolsheviks was the First Congress of the Soviets of the Northern Region organized by them in October, the lion's share of whose delegates were representatives of Petrograd and the Baltic Fleet, which were significantly Bolshevik by that time. As Richard Pipes claimed, this Congress was convened with a number of violations by the unrecognized Regional Committee of the Army, Navy and Workers of Finland. Among the delegates were even representatives of the Moscow province, not included in the Northern region. The Bolsheviks and the Left Social Revolutionaries sharply prevailed in the Congress. Following its results, the Bolshevik-Left Socialist Revolutionary Northern Regional Committee was elected, starting from October 16, began work on the convocation of the Second Congress.
All this activity of the Bolsheviks was in no way coordinated with the old Soviet bodies, the majority of which remained Socialist Revolutionary-Menshevik (the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the First Congress of the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the First Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies, army committees, the Central Executive Committee of the Navy).
On October 19, the official Soviet newspaper Izvestia noted that
Nevertheless, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee agreed to convene a Congress, having achieved only its postponement from October 20 to October 25.
Preparation of the Congress was the reason for the differences between Lenin and Trotsky. While Lenin demanded to start an armed uprising, not waiting for the Congress, Trotsky managed to convince the majority of the Central Committee to postpone the uprising until the beginning of its convocation. According to Richard Pipes, this strategy turned out to be "more realistic": the establishment of Bolshevik power was "disguised" as the seizure of power by non-partisan Soviets.
According to the description of Trotsky himself,
Chronicle of the Congress
The second congress held two plenary sessions.
Plenary Session of November 7, 1917
The first session of the congress ran from 10:45 pm on November 7 (OS:October 25) to 6 am on November 8 (OS: October 26) of 1917.
The congress was opened by the Menshevik Dan on November 7 at 10:45 pm, at the height of the armed uprising that began in Petrograd; the opening session was attended by many delegates from the socialist parties coming from all over Russia, from a variety of sectors of society.
On the eve of the October Revolution there were 1429 Soviets of workers, soldiers and peasants' deputies. At the congress, a total of 402 Soviets of Russia, out of all the 1,429 mentioned, were represented in the Congress:Vladimir Shestakov. The newest history of Russia 195 united Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies 119 Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies with the participation of peasant deputies representing rural farmers 46 Soviets of Workers' Deputies 22 Soviets of Soldiers and Sailors' Deputies representing the Armed Forces (army and navy) and 1 Council of Cossack deputies, representing the socialist-inclined amongst Cossacks within Russia
According to the bureau of all factions, by the opening of the congress 649 delegates were present of which: 390 were Bolsheviks, 160 Social Revolutionaries, 72 Mensheviks, 14 United Internationalists, 6 Mensheviks-Internationalists, and 7 Ukrainian socialists. By the end of the congress, after the departure of the right-wing socialists and with the arrival of the new delegates, there were 625 delegates, of which 390 were Bolsheviks, 179 left-wing Socialist Revolutionaries, 35 United Internationalists and 21 Ukrainian socialists. Thus, the Bolshevik-Left Socialist Revolutionary coalition won about two thirds of the votes there. According to other sources, 739 deputies arrived at the congress, including 338 Bolsheviks, 211 right and left Socialist Revolutionaries and 69 Mensheviks.
The October Revolution and the work of the Congress
At the time of the opening of the congress, the Bolsheviks already controlled the whole of Petrograd, but the Winter Palace was not yet taken. At around 6:30pm, an ultimatum was presented to the defenders of the Winter Palace under threat of shelling from the cruiser Aurora and the Peter and Paul Fortress. "Aurora" made one single shot at 9pm, just two hours later, as the congress was in session, an unmarked cannon shelling from the Peter and Paul Fortress was carried out at 11pm. At night, most of the defenders of the palace dispersed, and the place was occupied by revolutionary soldiers and sailors who tried to make a mob of law over the overthrown ministers, demanding "pin them". At 2:10 am, the ministers of the Provisional Government arrested by Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko were taken to the Peter and Paul Fortress. On the way, in the area of Trinity Bridge, the crowd that surrounded the ministers demanded "to cut off their heads and throw them into the Neva".
Agenda of the First Session of the 2nd ARCS The first meeting was divided into two parts:
– until the election of the presidium of the Congress – consists of protest speeches of moderate socialist parties against the uprising of the Bolsheviks;
– after the election of the Presidium of the Congress from the Bolsheviks and the Left Social Revolutionaries and the departure of the representatives of the Mensheviks, the Right Socialist Revolutionaries and the representatives of Bund from the Congress, the leadership of the Congress passes to the Bolsheviks.
The opening session of the congress was accompanied by a fierce political struggle in which Trotsky represented the Bolsheviks as the most capable speaker. The peasant councils and all the soldier-level committees of the army refused to participate in the activities of the congress. The Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries condemned the Bolsheviks as an "illegal coup". Opponents of the Bolsheviks accused them of numerous frauds in the selection of congress delegates. On November 7, the old composition of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee also condemned the Bolsheviks, stating that
The Central Committee of the Menshevik Party condemned the October uprising, calling it "the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks by military conspiracy against the will of democracy and the usurpation of the rights of the people". Menshevik Martov ascertains the ambiguity of the situation in which his party finds itself: on the one hand, "the power created by armed soldiers' uprising, the power of one party cannot be recognized as a country and democracy", on the other "if the Bolsheviks are defeated by force of arms, the winner will be the third force that will crush us all". As Martov puts it, the Bolsheviks demonstrate "the Arakcheev understanding of socialism, and the Pugachev understanding of class struggle". Menshevik Liber at an extraordinary congress of Mensheviks on November 30 declares that "if we took power, we would have been stormed both on the right and on the left, and the power could be kept only by Bolshevik methods. And since we are not adventurers, we would have to leave power".
The reaction of the Social Revolutionaries was just as sharp. Thus, the central press organ of the Socialist Revolutionary Party,Newspaper "Matter of the People" // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / editor-in-chief Alexander Prokhorov. – 3rd edition – Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969–1978. the newspaper Matter of the People, condemned the Bolshevik speech, saying that "our duty is to expose these traitors to the working class. Our duty is to mobilize all forces and stand up for the cause of the revolution".
In its last appeal before the Congress, the Council of the Republic called the new government "an enemy of the people and revolution" and condemned the arrest by the Bolsheviks among the ministers of the Provisional Government as well as the socialist ministers.
During the meeting, the delegates heard the roar of artillery; According to eyewitnesses, the Menshevik Martov started, and declared: "The civil war has begun, comrades! Our first question should be the peaceful resolution of the crisis... the issue of power is solved by a military conspiracy organized by one of the revolutionary parties...".
After the election of the presidium which would be filled by Bolshevik and Left Socialist Revolutionary members, a number of moderate socialist parties (Mensheviks, Right Socialist Revolutionaries, delegates of Bund) left the Congress in protest at the Bolsheviks uprising and boycotted it. They went to the City Council of Petrograd and formed the "Committee for Salvation of Motherland and Revolution" (it operated until November 10).
In turn, Trotsky at the first session of the Second Congress declared that "the uprising of the masses does not need justification; what happened is not a conspiracy, but an uprising. We hardened the revolutionary energy of the Petrograd workers and soldiers, we openly forged the will of the masses for an uprising, not a conspiracy, "and called the departure of the Menshevik and Socialist-Revolutionaries from the congress" as a criminal attempt to thwart the authorized representative office of the workers and soldiers in the masses with arms in hand protects the Congress and the revolution from the onslaught of counter-revolution".
From 2:40 to 3:10 on November 8 the first session of Congress went on immediate recess.
Proclamation of the downfall of the Provisional Government