The first transformations of the Bolsheviks 1917 1918 briefly. The main reforms of the Bolsheviks in the first year of Soviet power. Introduction of the Gregorian calendar

The October Revolution won under the slogan “All power to the Soviets!”

To defeat the remnants of the tsarist regime, the Soviet government actively began to introduce reforms. The changes affected almost everything that bore echoes of old Russia.

The Decree on Land was adopted on October 26, 1917. According to it, landowners' holdings were liquidated, and the land was nationalized and transferred to the use of local Councils of Peasants' Deputies. The labor of hired workers was abolished. Downside The decree was that, for the most part, no one controlled the redistribution of landowners' lands, politics receded into the background, and squatting often occurred on the periphery.

The banking sector was expropriated due to the seizure of the State Bank of Russia by the proletariat.

Nationalization also affected industry. Decree on the organization of the Supreme Council National economy industrial enterprises are nationalized.

At the same time, the Decree on Peace was adopted at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets. The new government proposed that all warring parties peacefully resolve all differences, that is, stop all hostilities and begin peace negotiations. The result was the conclusion of the shameful Brest Peace Treaty, according to which Russia lost part of its territory and suffered material losses in the form of huge indemnities. was over and turned into a defeat for Russia, but allowed the Bolshevik power to strengthen.

On October 27, 1917, the Decree on Press was published. Advice People's Commissars unilaterally decides which printed publications close or suspend their work. In fact, all publications that called for disobedience to the new regime were banned.

On October 29, 1917, the Decree on the eight-hour working day was issued. The Decree clearly states the duration working day, rest time is specified. It is prohibited to work for hire for teenagers under 14 years of age. “Holidays” are established.

On November 2, 1917, the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia was adopted. The Declaration assumed that all peoples, large and small, within the country, have the right to free self-determination, religion and development. In fact, it all boiled down to the fact that such an ideology was declarative; it was necessary to fight for a universal national idea outside the country; inside, any attempts at the national development of minorities were unacceptable - everything was common, everything was for the benefit of the young country.

In November 1917, the Decree on the abolition of estates, civil, court and military ranks introduced the concept of “citizen of the Soviet Republic” and eliminated the division into estates.

The education system is being reformed. It is prohibited to teach the “Law of God” in educational institutions. In 1918 everything educational institutions become state-owned. A single labor school- every citizen has the right to free education. By reforming the education system, the Bolsheviks gained powerful leverage over the population.

The first agrarian reforms. The Decree on Land repeated the main provisions of the agrarian program of the Socialist Revolutionaries. Destruction of emergencies on earth. Land use is equal, land is distributed among workers according to labor or consumption standards. Periodic redistribution, which should be carried out by local self-government bodies. Land plots with highly cultivated farms are not divided, they are turned into demonstration plots, transferred to the state or communities, depending on the value.

The Law “On the Socialization of Land” was promulgated on 02/19/18. The distribution of lands is in charge of the “land departments of the Soviets”. The goals of the socialist agrarian program: “the development of collective farming in agriculture, as more profitable in terms of saving labor and products, at the expense of individual farms, in order to transition to a socialist economy.” The new law recognized the Bolshevik principle of collective management Agriculture. The basic SR principles were fully recognized. “The right to use the land belongs only to those who cultivate it with their own labor.” “The distribution of land among workers should be carried out on an egalitarian labor basis, “the amount of land allocated to farms should not exceed the consumption-labor norm.”

In the autumn and winter of 1917-1918, the spontaneous division of landowners', monastic and appanage lands continued. In the densely populated central provinces, land was distributed primarily according to the number of eaters, in less populated ones - according to labor capabilities.

11/14/17 “Regulations on workers’ control” of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. Factory committees received the right to interfere in the activities of the administration. Workers' organizations interpreted the decree as a decree on workers' management. Entrepreneurs regarded it as an act that upsets the foundations economic activity, and tried to curtail production. The state used the nationalization of individual factories as a repressive measure. The decree of the Council of People's Commissars of November 17, 2017 on the nationalization of the Likino manufactory, the board of which refused to recognize the control of the Federal Labor Code over production, marked the beginning of the nationalization of enterprises. November 1917 – March 1918 “Red Guard attack on capital.

The first stage of nationalization (November 1917 - February 1918) was characterized by rapid pace, initiative local authorities, nationalization of only certain enterprises. 11/14/17 the nationalization of private banks in Petrograd was announced. State monopoly on banking. In January 1918, the Soviet government canceled the debt obligations of the Tsarist and Provisional governments. In January 1918, the merchant fleet was nationalized. On April 22, 2018, a foreign trade monopoly was established.

By the spring of 1918, the lack of production discipline had become a problem. The 3rd Congress of Soviets introduced universal labor conscription. The trend towards nationalization of economic life. On December 2, 2017, the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh) was created. It also included bodies governing workers' control. In fact, this meant replacing workers' control with state control. The Supreme Economic Council was divided into main committees (headquarters) and central departments (centers) managing individual industries. Regional councils of the national economy were subordinate to him. Osinsky (V.A. Obolensky) became the chairman.

They talk about the need to attract bourgeois specialists by assigning them better material support. Lenin made a rather sharp distinction between the first and second periods of the revolution. The matter of “suppressing the resistance of the exploiters” was already done in its main outline “in the period from 10.25.17 to February 1918.” On the other hand, “the work of organizing, under the leadership of the proletariat, national accounting and control over the production and distribution of products has lagged far behind our work of directly expropriating the expropriators.” What lies ahead is “the fundamental task of creating a social order higher than capitalism,” and this means “increasing labor productivity.” He proposes introducing strict control of production and distribution, piecework payment, discipline and unity of command in production, and attracting bourgeois specialists for high pay. Lenin sees the key to success in “state capitalism,” meaning three forms: a grain monopoly, state-controlled entrepreneurs and cooperation. In Lenin's innovations, the “left communists” saw a return to bourgeois order. Their demands are no compromises with capital, total nationality. The position of the left was dominant in the party.

Decree of the Supreme Council of National Economy 3.03.18. Contained explicit official recognition of technical management functions in industry. Each central directorate or center was required to appoint to each enterprise its own commissioner or commissioner, who was called upon to play the role of representative of the government and exercise supervision, as well as two directors, one technical and the other administrative. The administrative director was subject to the decisions of the “economic and administrative council,” which included representatives of workers, entrepreneurs and engineering personnel of the enterprise, as well as trade unions and local councils. The Bolsheviks tried to reach a compromise with entrepreneurs in order to use their experience in organizing the economy. At this time, negotiations were held with the major entrepreneur Meshchersky about the creation of a Soviet metallurgical trust. A project was discussed by the industrialist Stakheev, who controlled about 150 enterprises in the Urals, who proposed creating a powerful industrial association on a parity basis with the government. However, even these modest attempts at partnership between the Bolsheviks and entrepreneurs were soon thwarted.

Formation of the Soviet state-political system. Having come to power, the Bolsheviks liquidated the old state apparatus and created a fundamentally new political system - dictatorship of the proletariat - political power of workers.
The Congress of Soviets became the highest representative body. During the breaks between congresses, a permanent body operated - the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK). The first chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was L.B. Kamenev, but was soon replaced by Ya.M. Sverdlov . The government was the Council of People's Commissars. V.I. became the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. Lenin. The Council of People's Commissars began to exercise both executive and legislative power. There was no clear separation of powers between the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars. Local government was concentrated in provincial and district councils.
Before October 1917, the Bolsheviks' ideas about the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat were permeated with the spirit of romanticism. In particular, V.I. Lenin envisioned disbanding the army and police and replacing them with the general arming of the people. But reality refuted the Bolsheviks’ ideas about a proletarian state. To maintain power, it was necessary to create an apparatus of violence.
On November 11 (new style), 1917, a workers' and peasants' militia was organized to protect public order. People's courts were established by decree of the Council of People's Commissars. In December 1917, a punitive body of the new government was created - All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage (VChK) , headed by F.E. Dzerzhinsky . The Cheka was removed from under state control and coordinated her actions only with the top party leadership. The Cheka had unlimited rights: from arrest and investigation to sentencing and execution. In November - December 1917, the Council of People's Commissars subjugated the leadership of the army and dismissed more than a thousand generals and officers who did not accept Soviet power. The old army was demobilized. In 1918, decrees were adopted on the creation Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and Workers' and Peasants' Fleet on a voluntary basis basis.
Until October, the country lived according to the Julian calendar, which in the twentieth century. lagged behind the European one by 13 days. On February 1, 1918, the Bolsheviks declared February 14, 1918.
The activities of the Bolshevik government aroused resistance from many social strata (landowners, bourgeoisie, officials, officers, clergy). Anti-Bolshevik conspiracies were brewing in Petrograd and other cities. The Left Socialist Revolutionaries took a wait-and-see attitude, because they did not want to break with the socialist parties and at the same time were afraid of losing the support of the masses. The Left Socialist Revolutionaries supported the idea of ​​the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Railway Workers' Trade Union (Vikzhel) to create a multi-party socialist government and remove V.I. Lenin from the post of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. This proposal caused serious disagreement among the Bolshevik leadership. L.B. Kamenev, G.E. Zinoviev, A.I. Rykov, V.P. Milyutin, V.P. In early November, Nogin left the Central Committee, and some of the people's commissars left the government. The conflict that arose V.I. Lenin managed to resolve: L.B. Kamenev was replaced as chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee by Ya.M. Sverdlov, G.I. was introduced into the Council of People's Commissars. Petrovsky, P.I. Stuchku, A.I. Tsyurupu and others. In mid-November, an agreement was reached with the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, and in December their representatives entered the Council of People's Commissars.

Dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. On January 5, 1918, the Constituent Assembly, to which the Russian intelligentsia had so strived, opened. Its meeting lasted only 12 hours, but the significance of this event goes far beyond this short period.
The writer M. Gorky noted in January 1918: “The best Russian people lived for almost a hundred years with the idea of ​​a Constituent Assembly. In the struggle for this idea, thousands of intellectuals died in prisons, in exile and hard labor, on the gallows and under the bullets of soldiers. On the altar of this sacred ideas, rivers of blood have been shed." After February 1917, the Constituent Assembly became a symbol of the onset of a new, fair life. The onset of a new life was associated with it - the acquisition of land, the end of the war, the end of all unjustified suffering. People understood it as the advent of the kingdom of justice. All major parties in the summer of 1917 spoke under the slogan “All power to the Constituent Assembly!” Until October 1917, the idea of ​​convening a constituent assembly was not questioned. But already on the first day October revolution The Soviet government, in its first documents “Decree on Peace” and “Decree on Land”, resolved those issues that were postponed until the Constituent Assembly. After this, in the eyes of many soldiers and peasants, the idea of ​​a Constituent Assembly lost its meaning. Elections to the Constituent Assembly took place in November 1917. High spirits reigned in the country in connection with the elections. The Socialist Revolutionary newspaper “The Will of the People” wrote: “The elections to the Constituent Assembly were held with extraordinary enthusiasm. Sick old men, old women, and blind people were brought to the ballot boxes in their arms.” These were the first general, equal, secret and direct elections in Russia. 44 million 433 thousand people took part in them. All restrictions on education, nationality, and residence were lifted.
The Socialist Revolutionary Party won the elections - more than 40% of the votes, the Bolsheviks came in second place - more than 23% of the votes. The Cadets completely failed in the elections - 5%, the Mensheviks - less than 3%. The conflict between the Constituent Assembly and the Soviet government was inevitable.
On January 5 (18), 1918, the opening of the Constituent Assembly took place in the Tauride Palace. The right-wing Socialist-Revolutionary V.M. was elected chairman. Chernov. Already in his big opening speech, the chairman challenged the Bolsheviks, declaring that “neither the Don Cossacks”, “nor the supporters of an independent Ukraine” will be reconciled with “Soviet power.” Further, the representative of the Bolsheviks Ya.M. Sverdlov proposed to approve the “Declaration of the Rights of Workers and Exploited People” introduced by the Bolsheviks, which confirmed the first legislative acts of Soviet power, proclaimed the exploitation of people and the course towards building socialism. The meeting decided to postpone discussion of the declaration. The Bolsheviks demanded a break and went to a faction meeting. After the break, Bolshevik representative F.F. Raskolnikov read out a harsh declaration from the Bolshevik faction, in which the Bolsheviks called the right-wing Socialist Revolutionaries “enemies of the people” who “feed the people with promises.” At about 2 a.m. the Bolsheviks and Left Socialist Revolutionaries left the meeting.
At about 4 o’clock in the morning, the head of the security of the Tauride Palace, 22-year-old sailor A. Zheleznyakov, ordered those present to leave the meeting room under the pretext that “the guard was tired.” The deputies managed to put to a vote the draft laws on peace, land and the republic prepared by the Socialist Revolutionaries. The meeting lasted for more than 12 hours. The deputies were tired, decided to take a break and resume work at 17:00 the same day.
In the evening of the same day, the deputies came to the next meeting. The doors of the Tauride Palace were locked, and a guard armed with machine guns stood at the entrance.
The next day, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a decree dissolving the Constituent Assembly, approved by the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets.
The Constituent Assembly provided an opportunity for the development of the country towards parliamentarism, multi-party system and social harmony, this opportunity was missed. Socialist Revolutionary deputy N. Svyatitsky later wrote with bitterness that the Constituent Assembly died not from a sailor’s shout, but from “the indifference with which the people reacted to our dispersal and which allowed Lenin to give up on us: “Let them go home!”
However, the Bolsheviks' dispersal of the legally elected representative body aggravated the situation in the country. The struggle for the Constituent Assembly began and continued throughout 1918. Deputies of the Constituent Assembly moved to Samara and created the People's Army of the Constituent Assembly. But gradually they lost their support in society.

The beginning of the formation of a one-party political system. Trying to maintain power in their hands and counting on the help of the world revolution, the Bolsheviks did not seek to maintain an alliance with other left-wing political forces.
In January 1918, the III All-Russian Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies took place. He supported the Bolsheviks. The congress approved "Declaration of the Rights of Working and Exploited People" , approved the draft law on the socialization of the land, proclaimed the federal principle of government of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic (RSFSR) and instructed the All-Russian Central Executive Committee to develop the main provisions of the country's Constitution. (See textbook material)
July 10, 1918 The V Congress of Soviets approved the first Constitution of the RSFSR . The Constitution proclaimed the proletarian character of the Soviet state, the federal principle of the state structure of the RSFSR and the course towards building socialism. Representatives of the former exploiting classes, clergy, officers and police agents were deprived of the right to vote. The advantage of workers over peasants was introduced in the norms of representation in elections to government bodies (1 worker’s vote was equal to 5 peasant votes). The elections were not universal, not direct, not secret, and not equal. The Constitution established the system of central and local authorities.
The Constitution declared the introduction of political freedoms (speech, press, meetings, rallies, processions). However, in practice this had no real confirmation. Moreover, the first Soviet Constitution did not provide for the possibility of participation of the propertied classes and their parties in the political struggle.
Until October 1918, V.I. Lenin expressed his firm belief that the masses, through the Soviets, were capable of governing the state. But very soon it turned out that practice diverged from the forecast. In 1919 V.I. Lenin because of Russian specifics, i.e. lack of culture, the masses cannot rule the state at all. The “dictatorship of the proletariat” in our country from the very beginning began to mean the power of a narrow layer of the Communist Party. Elections to the Soviets were held more and more formally; selected candidates were appointed in advance to deputy positions. In practice, “Soviet power” and “Bolshevik power” increasingly merged. A one-party political system began to take shape in the RSFSR.

Economic transformations. During the short period of its stay in power, the provisional government could not solve the main socio-economic, political and national problems of the country. All these unresolved problems now faced the Soviet government.
Before coming to power, the Bolsheviks imagined a socialist economy as an economy without private property, a directive one, where the state should take control of all goods and distribute them to the population as needed.
It was a Marxist model of economics. Therefore, immediately after October 1917, the Bolsheviks began to pursue a policy of destroying private property. Already in November 1917, the authorities organized a “Red Guard attack on capital.” A number of large enterprises and industries were nationalized. Then decrees were passed on the nationalization of banks, railway transport, a monopoly on foreign trade was introduced. The beginning of the creation of the public sector in the economy was laid. In December 1917, a government was created to manage the public sector in the economy. Supreme Council of National Economy (VSNKh) . The transition of enterprises to state control laid the foundations of “state socialism.”
In the spring of 1918, the implementation of the Decree on Land began. The peasants were to receive 150 million dessiatines of land that belonged to the landowners, the bourgeoisie, the church, and monasteries free of charge. The 3 billion debt of peasants to banks was cancelled. The implementation of the Decree on Land was welcomed by the poor peasants. The land was divided equally between all groups of peasants, and individual small-scale farming of peasants was preserved. Landownership in the country was destroyed, and along with it the class of landowners ceased to exist.
The agrarian policy of the Bolsheviks caused social tension in the countryside, as the Soviet government supported the poor. This caused discontent among the wealthy peasant kulaks. The fists began to hold back the marketable (for sale) bread. There was a threat of famine in the cities. In this regard, the Council of People's Commissars switched to a policy of harsh pressure on the villages. In May 1918 it was introduced food dictatorship. This meant banning the grain trade and confiscating food supplies from wealthy peasants. They were sent to the village food detachments (food detachments) . They relied on help committees of the poor (committees of the poor) , created in June 1918 instead of local Soviets. The “black redistribution” of land dealt a blow to large farms of landowners, wealthy peasants (otrubniks, farmers), i.e. were destroyed positive sides agrarian reform P.A. Stolypin. Equal distribution led to a drop in labor productivity and agricultural marketability, and to worse use of land.
The food dictatorship did not justify itself and failed because... instead of the planned 144 million poods of grain, only 13 were collected, and also led to peasant protests against the Bolshevik power.

Social transformations. Democratic changes were carried out in social sphere. The Soviet government finally destroyed the class system and abolished pre-revolutionary ranks and titles. Free education was established and medical service. Women had equal rights with men. The Decree on Marriage and Family introduced the institution of civil marriage. The Decree on the 8-hour working day was adopted, a labor code that prohibited exploitation child labor, guaranteed a system of labor protection for women and adolescents, payment of unemployment and sickness benefits. Freedom of conscience was proclaimed. The church was separated from the state and from the education system. Most of the church property was confiscated.

National politics The Soviet state was determined by the “Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia”, adopted by the Council of People's Commissars on November 2, 1917. It proclaimed the equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia, their right to self-determination and the formation of independent states. (See Additional textbook material 1 and 2) In December 1917, the Soviet government recognized the independence of Ukraine and Finland, in August 1918 - Poland, in December - Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, in February 1919 - Belarus. Self-determination of peoples was becoming a reality. National movements were led by intellectuals, entrepreneurs, clergy, bourgeois and moderate parties, which nominated bright political leaders. The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic also declared its independence; after its collapse (in June), the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Georgian bourgeois republics arose.
In May 1918 the Nationalist government North Caucasus(“Union of United Highlanders of the Caucasus”), which arose before October events, declared the independence of the North Caucasus state and its separation from Russia. In September 1919, an independent “North Caucasian Emirate” was created in Nagorno-Chechnya. In the fall of 1918, Polish statehood was restored from the lands that were part of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia.
The First Soviet Constitution of the RSFSR (adopted on July 10, 1918) established the principle of unitarity of the new state, but the peoples of Russia received the right to regional autonomy. The peoples of the Russian state could realize their national interests within the framework of autonomy.
In 1918, the first national regional associations were: the Turkestan Soviet Republic, the Labor Commune of the Volga Germans, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida (Crimea). In March 1919, the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Republic was proclaimed, and in 1920 the Tatar and Kyrgyz Republics became autonomous republics. Kalmyk, Mari, Votsk, Karachay-Cherkess, and Chuvash joined the autonomous regions. Karelia became the Labor Commune. In 1921-1922, the Kazakh, Mountain, Dagestan, Crimean Autonomous Republics, Komi-Zyryan, Kabardin, Mongol-Buryat, Oirot, Circassian, and Chechen Autonomous Regions were created.
The right to autonomy was deprived of the Cossacks, who were formed over several centuries at the expense of the Russian, Ukrainian, Kalmyk, Bashkir, Yakut and other peoples of Russia and lived compactly. IN in this case The central government showed concern towards the Cossacks as a “socially dangerous element.” The interests of the Russian population were also not taken into account. Thus, back in 1918, a proposal was put forward to create Russian autonomy by uniting 14 European provinces with a predominant Russian population around Moscow, but this project was rejected by the People's Commissariat for Nationalities (Narkomnats).
However, in its practical activities The Bolshevik leadership sought to overcome the further disintegration of Russia. Using local party organizations, it contributed to the establishment of Soviet power in national regions and provided financial and material assistance to the Soviet Baltic republics.

Peace of Brest-Litovsk. On November 26, 1917, the Bolsheviks adopted the “Decree on Peace,” which, among other things, called on the peoples and governments of the warring countries to conclude a democratic peace without annexations and indemnities. At that time, the Soviet state did not recognize any state in the world. Only Germany was on the verge of defeat and responded to the Peace Decree.
On December 2, an armistice was signed with Germany. After this, peace negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk (now Brest). The Soviet delegation proposed concluding peace without annexations and indemnities. But Germany sought to take advantage of the weakness and isolation of the Soviet government. On January 1, 1918, Germany presented Russia with a harsh ultimatum: demanding that it hand over huge territory- Poland, part of the Baltic states, Ukraine, Belarus - with an area of ​​150 thousand square meters. km. In this regard, negotiations were interrupted.
In the Bolshevik state, the ultimatum caused sharp disagreements. Thus, a minority of members of the Central Committee, together with V.I. Lenin insisted on unconditional acceptance of German conditions, because The Bolsheviks did not have the strength to continue the war. But the majority of members of the Central Committee believed that it was impossible to sign peace on such humiliating terms, since this would postpone the world revolution indefinitely. People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L.D. Trotsky and his supporters advocated refusing to sign peace during the negotiations, proposing to do this only after German troops went on the offensive and there was a direct threat of the death of Soviet power. They proposed the following formula for Brest-Litovsk: “No peace, no war.” N.I. Bukharin and his supporters (referred to as “left communists”) believed that the Soviet state, having concluded a separate peace with Germany, would become an “accomplice” of German imperialism. They demanded to stop negotiations and declare revolutionary war on international imperialism and provoke a revolutionary crisis in Europe.
The Bolsheviks decided to delay peace negotiations. L.D. Trotsky led the delegation to Brest-Litovsk in February 1918. He came up with the famous formula: “We are not signing peace, we are not waging war, but we are disbanding the army.” In response, on February 18, German troops went on the offensive along the entire front. (See textbook material)
A direct threat to the Soviet state arose. The Bolsheviks accepted the terms of the German ultimatum, but the Germans tightened their demands. Now they wanted to tear away a territory of 750 thousand square meters from Russia. km. With a population of 50 million people: the entire Baltic region, Belarus and part of Transcaucasia (Ardagan, Kars, Batum) in favor of Turkey. The future fate of the territories separated from Russia, according to the peace treaty, will be “determined” by Germany. Russia had to pay an indemnity of 3 billion rubles. (the amount could be increased by Germany unilaterally), stop revolutionary propaganda in Central European countries.
No military threat for Germany on the Russian side did not exist at that time. The fact is that the theoretical justification for the need to destroy Russia by Germany was prepared for the leadership of the Reich back in 1915-1916. The program of German expansion to the east at the expense of Russia had by that time become an integral part of the political thinking of the German elite. By putting forward the “robbery” conditions of the peace treaty, the German Reich began the first stage of destroying the independent Russian state.
On March 3, 1918, the Russian delegation, without discussion, signed an agreement to end the state of war with Kaiser Germany and its allies. (See textbook material)
Only the complete victory of the Entente countries over Germany could save the independent Soviet state.
The November Revolution in Germany in 1918 led to the collapse of the Kaiser's Germany. On November 11, 1919, German troops surrendered to Western Front. This allowed Moscow to annul the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on the same day and return most of the territories lost under it. German troops left the territory of Ukraine. Soviet power was established in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The prerequisites for preserving Russian statehood were restored. (The “robber” nature of the Brest-Litovsk peace dictate largely determined the harshness of the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, which most Germans perceived as a national humiliation, although the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty were much more civilized than the conditions of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty).

Socio-economic transformations:

The very first months of the Bolsheviks' stay in power and their revolutionary transformations showed the new government's unpreparedness for an effective economic policy. The greatest attention was paid to " destructive" And " destructive» means in developing a strategy for economic reforms.

In the social sphere, estates were eliminated and the equality of nations was declared. The proletariat (dictatorship of the proletariat) and the poor peasantry were declared the ruling classes. As a class, the nobility, senior officers and opposition intelligentsia were physically destroyed. Traders, clergy, former police officers and peasant exploiters (kulaks who used hired labor) were deprived of their political rights. The intelligentsia was seen as a layer between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.

In the Union of Artists in 1918, the implementation of the Decree on Land began. The lands confiscated from the landowners were distributed among the peasants; the Bolsheviks hoped that the city would supply them with bread. However, the village agreed to provide food only in exchange for industrial goods. goods. The inability to organize the supply of manufactured goods to the village in exchange for agricultural products led to an even greater intensification of the food crisis. IN As a result, the Bolsheviks began a policy of forcible seizure food, executions were carried out. The campaign to confiscate the property of the bourgeoisie and nationalize enterprises became widespread. Set of actions

Establishment Soviet power:

The process of creating a new state covered the period from October 1917, the time of the beginning of the October Revolution, to the summer of 1818, when Soviet statehood was enshrined in the Constitution. The central thesis of the new government was the idea of ​​exporting the world revolution and creating a socialist state. As part of this idea, the slogan “Workers of all countries, unite!” was put forward. The main task of the Bolsheviks was the issue of power, so the main attention was paid not to socio-economic transformations, but to the strengthening of central and regional authorities.

On October 25, 1917, the Second Congress of Soviets adopted the Decree on Power, which declared the transfer of all power to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. On October 27, 1917, it was decided to form the Soviet government - the Council of People's Commissars (S/W), which should operate until elected. To combat counter-revolution and sabotage, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK) was formed, headed by F. Dzerzhinsky. Revolutionary courts were created for the same purpose.

In November-December 1917. elections to the Constituent Assembly took place, during which Social Revolutionaries Bolsheviks - 24%, Thus, were forced to disperse constituent Assembly. On November 28, a blow was dealt to the cadet party - arrests took place

The Bolsheviks came to power. On the morning of October 25, 1917, the published appeal “To the Citizens of Russia” announced the overthrow of the Provisional Government and the transfer of power to the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee, and on the night of October 25-26, the Winter Palace was taken and the old ministers were arrested.

On the evening of October 25 (November 7, new style), the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets opened, which proclaimed the establishment of Soviet power. The composition of the congress reflected the balance of political forces mainly in the cities and the army. The Russian village was represented only by envoys from the Soviets of Soldiers' Deputies and a few Soviets, which by this time existed as united organizations of workers, soldiers and peasants. The Executive Committee of the All-Russian Council of Peasant Deputies did not send its representatives to the congress. Thus, the Second Congress of Soviets expressed the will not of the majority of the people, but of its minority, albeit the most socially active. The Mensheviks and Right Socialist Revolutionaries condemned the actions of the Bolsheviks, accused them of organizing and carrying out a military conspiracy, and left the congress in protest (about a third of the delegates). Of the 670 delegates, 338 represented the Bolshevik Party, 100 mandates were held by their allies, the Left Social Revolutionaries.

Lenin made reports on the two main issues on the agenda of the congress - “about peace” and “about land”. On October 26, the congress unanimously adopted the “Decree on Peace,” which declared war a crime against humanity and called on the warring countries to immediately conclude peace without annexations and indemnities. The “Decree on Land” took into account peasant demands and proclaimed the abolition of private ownership of land, the nationalization of all land and its subsoil.

At the congress, a workers' and peasants' government was formed - the Council of People's Commissars, which was headed by V.I. Lenin. The Council of People's Commissars included: A.I. Rykov - People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, L.D. Trotsky - People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, A.V. Lunacharsky - People's Commissar of Education, I.V. Stalin - People's Commissar for Nationalities, V.P. Milyutin - People's Commissar of Agriculture, A.G. Shlyapnikov - People's Commissar of Labor, V.P. Nogin - People's Commissar of Trade and Industry, G.I. Oppokov (Lomov) – People's Commissar of Justice, I.A. Teodorovich - People's Commissar of Food, N.P. Avilov (Glebov) – People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs, I.I. Skvortsov (Stepanov) – People's Commissar of Finance. The Committee on Military and Naval Affairs was headed by V.A. Antonov (Ovseenko), N.V. Krylenko and P.E. Dybenko. The post of People's Commissar of Railway Transport remained vacant.

The congress elected a new composition of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), which included 62 Bolsheviks and 29 left Socialist Revolutionaries, 6 Menshevik-internationalists (L.B. Kamenev became the chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and on November 8 he was replaced by Ya.M. Sverdlov) and declared its intention hold elections to the Constituent Assembly.

In Moscow, Soviet power was established only on November 3 after bloody battles between supporters of the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks. In the Central Industrial Region of the country, the Bolsheviks won in November-December 1917. mostly peacefully. In Western Siberia, the Soviets took power in early December, and by February 1918 it had established itself throughout almost the entire Altai. It was only by March 1918 that a new government was established in the Far East.

On the fronts, Soviet power was strengthened at the very beginning of November by introducing Bolshevik control over the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, after an unsuccessful attempt by A.F. Kerensky and General P.N. Krasnov to send troops to Petrograd.

On the outskirts of the former Russian Empire, the establishment of a new government lasted for many months. Bolshevik power was established exclusively with the help of weapons in the Cossack regions of the Don, Kuban and Southern Urals, where the main anti-Bolshevik forces were formed.

The relatively quick and easy victory of the Bolsheviks was determined, firstly, by the weakness of the national bourgeoisie and the absence in the country of a wide range of people with a private property ideology, and the relative weakness of liberal political forces. Secondly, the Russian bourgeoisie also did not have the necessary political experience. Thirdly, there was massive support for the first Soviet decrees, which were of a general democratic nature and met the vital interests of the majority of the population. The Bolsheviks were able to decisively “saddle” the revolutionary-anarchist element, which they encouraged in every possible way, and exploit the weakness of the Provisional Government.

The first transformations of the Bolsheviks. The primary tasks of the Bolsheviks after seizing power were to strengthen their own power and destroy the previous state and public structures. On the eve of the world revolution that seemed close to them, they pinned their hopes on the hatred of the revolutionary masses for the “bourgeoisie” and the old order.

Simultaneously with the establishment of Soviet power and the liquidation of all old state institutions in the center and locally (State Council, ministries, city dumas and zemstvos), a new state apparatus was created.

The All-Russian Congress of Soviets became the highest legislative body, and in the intervals between congresses these functions were assigned to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK). The highest executive body was the Council of People's Commissars (SNK), which also had the right of legislative initiative.

Elections to the Constituent Assembly (November 12, 1917) meant the defeat of the Bolsheviks, who received only 24% of the votes, the Cadets - 4.7%, and the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries - 59%. By the opening day of the Constituent Assembly (January 5, 1918), the Bolsheviks took measures to strengthen their power: they closed all newspapers that did not share their views, and on November 28, 1917, a decree was issued on the arrest of the “leaders” civil war against the revolution,” which hit, first of all, the Cadets.

On the opening day of the Constituent Assembly, demonstrations of workers, students, and intellectuals (in Petrograd and Moscow) in support of the assembly were dispersed and shot, and only after that it began to work. Since the Assembly accepted the Menshevik agenda and rejected the Bolshevik “Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People,” the Left SRs and Bolsheviks left its meeting. On January 6, 1918, the Constituent Assembly was dispersed.

The “Decree of Peace” promised peace without annexations and indemnities. But according to the Brest-Litovsk Treaty with Germany (March 3, 1918), the Baltic states, Poland, part of Belarus, part of Transcaucasia, and some other territories with a total area of ​​1 million square meters were torn away from Russia. km, an indemnity of 3 billion rubles was paid. The Brest-Litovsk Treaty was broken only after the November Revolution of 1918 in Germany.

The system of organization, growth and development of the organs of Soviet power depended on the requirements of the historical moment being experienced and, before crystallizing into established forms, went through a certain evolution. In the first weeks after the October Revolution, the revolutionary order was established and defended by various amateur organizations. Anti-Soviet protests were suppressed by Red Guards, workers' squads and revolutionary sailors. However, the scale and strength of the resistance of those who did not accept the Soviet regime were so great that it required the creation of permanent and powerful bodies to protect the gains of the new government. October 28, 1917 The People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs decides to create a workers' militia under the Soviets. Even before the decree of the Soviet government on the dissolution of the bourgeois judicial apparatus, the creation of revolutionary courts began, which appeared under different names throughout the country - the Provisional Revolutionary Court (Vyborg district of Petrograd), the court of public conscience (Kronstadt), the investigative commission (Moscow). The main principles of the work of these courts were “revolutionary legal awareness and revolutionary conscience.”

November 22, 1917 The Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR approves the decree on the court, according to which the entire old judicial and prosecutorial system was abolished: the institution of judicial investigators, prosecutorial supervision, the jury and private lawyers, the government Senate with all departments, district courts, judicial chambers, military, maritime and commercial vessels. The decree proclaimed the democratic principles of the new court: the election of judges and assessors with the right to recall them, openness and collegiality of consideration of cases in courts, the right of the accused to defense.

The question of the fight against “internal counter-revolution” and sabotage was raised by V.I. Lenin at a meeting of the Council of People's Commissars on December 6, 1917 in connection with fierce resistance to the measures of Soviet power, and a possible strike by senior employees of government agencies. F.E. was instructed to form a commission to find out ways to combat sabotage. Dzerzhinsky, whose report was heard at the meeting of the Council of People's Commissars on December 7. At the same meeting, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission was formed to combat counter-revolution and sabotage, and Dzerzhinsky was appointed its chairman.

From the very first days after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks and the Soviet government were faced with the task of organizing the military defense of the Soviet Republic from “internal and external counter-revolution.” The Bolsheviks had to solve this problem in short time in conditions of a difficult international situation, economic devastation and fatigue of the masses from the ongoing world war. After the victory of the armed uprising in Petrograd, the Bolsheviks and the Soviet government intensified the struggle for the army, and on November 24, 1917, the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs established control over the apparatus of the former War Ministry. Starting the complete democratization of the old army, the Council of People's Commissars adopted the decrees “On the elective principle and on the organization of power in the army” and “On the equal rights of all military personnel.”

The beginning of 1918 is characterized by continuous and intensive work in the “search and creation of new organizational forms.” In time, this work coincides with the emergence of the first outbreaks of the civil war. January 15, 1918 The People's Commissar of Military Affairs submits to the Council of People's Commissars a draft decree on the organization of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. On the same day, the decree was adopted, and the basis for recruiting the Red Army was the principle of volunteerism, which lasted until the summer of that year.

Simultaneously with the adoption of this decree, the Council of People's Commissars approved the All-Russian Collegium for the Organization and Management of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army as an auxiliary body under the People's Commissariat of Military Affairs. On February 14, 1918, a decree on the organization of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet was published. With the adoption of these decrees, the initial period searches for forms of organization of the armed forces of Soviet Russia.