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Interesting about the 1917 revolution. Interesting facts about the October Revolution. Bread is to blame

Interesting about the 1917 revolution. Interesting facts about the October Revolution. Bread is to blame

There have been many historical myths surrounding the February Revolution. As a rule, they were composed by those politicians who were temporarily thrown to the pinnacle of power by the revolutionary wave, but who were unable to maintain it. The composition of the Provisional Government changed four times (there was already some uncertainty in the name itself) until the Bolsheviks came to power. And they lingered on the crest of the wave for a long time.

The first myth of the “Februaryists,” which again became popular in the 1990s, was to contrast the supposedly “popular” February Revolution with the “anti-democratic” October Revolution. Like, everything would have been fine if not for the Bolsheviks, who dispersed the Constituent Assembly and turned the country to a totalitarian one-party system...

However, official Soviet historiography was, oddly enough, much closer to the truth in its interpretation of the nature of the February Revolution. This revolution had a strong anti-war and socialist charge from the very beginning. The movement that arose in the February days took place under the slogans of “peace, bread, land.” It was obvious that the matter would not be limited to one political revolution, that after the fall of the throne a social revolution would unfold. Only beautiful-hearted liberals could believe that the Russian people were mainly concerned with issues of political structure.

On the other hand, the February Revolution, to a much greater extent than the October Revolution, bore the character of a military coup. Apart from the widely propagated Petrograd garrison, no military units anywhere else took part in the events of February. The country was simply faced with the fact of a change of power. Another thing is that this change was met with very sympathy almost throughout Russia.

The sovereign was isolated from sources of objective information by his generals, primarily by the chief of staff M.V. Alekseev, who played (together with the commander of the Northern Front N.V. Ruzsky) the main role in the emperor’s decision to abdicate. As it is now becoming known, the plans to carry out a palace coup, in which Alekseev was to become the key coordinator, included the physical elimination of Nicholas II in the event of his refusal to relinquish power. The conspirators considered the movement inspired in Petrograd to be a convenient moment for a change of power.

Most army commanders and corps commanders expressed their readiness to march with their troops to suppress the uprising in Petrograd. But this information was not communicated to the king.

The same promoted St. Petersburg garrison became the main striking force in the October Revolution. In both cases, the legitimate cover for the change of power was a qualified elected body - first the State Duma, then the Congress of Soviets. But the latter was still a more democratic institution than the Duma. Therefore, when comparing the nature of both coups, it is necessary to note their significant identity, despite the fact that the movement that accompanied the overthrow of the Provisional Government was more massive.

Another myth concerns the alleged inability of the tsarist regime to effectively govern the country and ensure victory in the war. Here we are faced with a phenomenon that is well known to us from recent history - the skillful manipulation of public consciousness. The information capabilities of opponents of the monarchy far exceeded those of the authorities themselves. Meanwhile, history gradually opened its eyes to the background of the political legends that spread then. A thorough study of the events preceding February showed that Rasputin’s undivided influence on the royal couple, the emperor’s lack of will, and the queen’s preparation for a separate peace with Germany had nothing to do with reality. These were deliberate lies and slander aimed at discrediting the authorities.

It is characteristic that the first to expose these information myths was a historian of very leftist views, who was a member of the Labor People's Socialist Party in 1917, Sergei Melgunov. In a number of works that he published in exile in the 20-50s - “On the Road to a Palace Coup” (republished in Moscow in 2002), “The Legend of a Separate Peace”, etc. - he, with facts in hand, proved the complete inconsistency of Rasputin’s myth, accusations of the royal couple preparing a separate agreement with Germany and the moral and political corruption of the ruling elite.

That is, all those legends that liberal politicians in exile continued to use to justify their actions in those fateful days for Russia. Then other historians - Russian and foreign - confirmed the validity of Melgunov’s conclusions.

It is a fact that during the war years parallel contours of alternative power were created. Its structures were organizations of the liberal public - the Union of Zemstvos and Cities, Military-Industrial Committees, and the think tank, as studies of Soviet historians of the 60-80s showed, was N.N. Yakovlev and V.I. Startseva was a Masonic lodge “Great East of the Peoples of Russia”, which back in 1912 set as its task the abolition of the monarchy and the creation of a federal Russian republic. This lodge included many prominent Russian politicians belonging to a wide party spectrum - from Octobrists to Mensheviks. It was, in fact, the coordination headquarters for the preparation of the coup d'etat.

The alternative government ultimately turned out to be stronger than the official one. Here we also see an analogy with the subsequent events of October, as a result of which another alternative structure - the Soviet - overthrew the apparatus of power built by the Provisional Government. But from the fact that the tsarist government collapsed as a result of confrontation with new structures, it does not at all follow that it coped poorly with the national tasks of the current moment. The provisional government turned out to be completely unable to somehow organize the life of the country and defense.

The scale of Russia's military defeats in 1915 was no greater than the defeats of France in 1914 or the defeats of Austria-Hungary by Russian forces throughout the war. The “shell famine” that led to the “great retreat” in the summer of 1915 has long passed. The needs of the Russian army for weapons, equipment and food were satisfied no worse than in the armies of other large warring states, and clearly better than in Germany, where the economic blockade began to be acutely felt from the end of 1915. A general offensive on all fronts was planned for the spring of 1917.

If not in 1917, then in 1918 Russia, together with its allies, would inevitably have come to victory, if not for the Februaryists, who did not want the glory of this victory to go to the monarchical regime. That's why they rushed to stage a coup. W. Churchill wrote about this period: “Of all countries, fate treated Russia most cruelly - its ship sank when the saving harbor was already visible.”

On Churchill's part, these were, of course, crocodile tears. He, who was First Lord of the Admiralty (Naval Minister) during the First World War, and then Minister of War Supply, should have been well aware of the efforts that Great Britain made to change power in Russia and support anti-monarchist conspirators. The British Ambassador in Petrograd, Lord Buchanan, regularly advised the leaders of the “Great East of the Peoples of Russia”, was aware of their plans, and helped with financing. In fact, the post-February government of Russia received recognition as the first power of the then world even before its official creation. The British leadership abandoned its ally - the Russian monarchy - and relied on revolution.

What were they hoping for in London? Did they really believe that Russian liberals would be able to govern a huge country more effectively than the tsarist regime? This is most likely not the case. Britain believed that even without Russia they could achieve a final victory over Germany. Especially when the question of the United States entering the war had already been actually decided. A year earlier, a year later - what a difference. The main thing is to exclude Russia from the list of winners in advance, otherwise the question of territorial acquisitions would arise, first of all, the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. By promoting the revolution in Russia, the British leadership got rid of a competitor.

But, obviously, those historians who claim that the monarchical system has exhausted the resource of its own modernization are also right. If we try to imagine the conditions under which the monarchy could have survived in Russia in the twentieth century, then an analogy with the system that was established in the country after the revolutionary storms suggests itself.

As experience has shown, Russia of the twentieth century did not need a parliament, it did not need a multi-party system. But Russia was in dire need of social equality, the abolition of class and national restrictions, the influx of fresh popular forces into the apparatus of power, and the modernization of the economy.

It is quite possible to imagine a system in which the tsar would simultaneously be the leader of a single but massive political party (say, the Union of the Russian People; by the way, Nicholas II was offered to officially lead this party). This party would be the main source of personnel for the civil service, a mechanism for rotation of the ruling elite. There should not have been any class preferences when joining the party and pursuing a party career. It was also necessary to nationalize the most important industries and eliminate large-scale landownership, which seemed to the majority of the Russian people - the peasantry - as an extreme form of social injustice. This could be the only evolutionary path to modernize the political system of Russia in the twentieth century - an original path, not according to Western patterns.

In this case, the historical alternative about which Konstantin Leontiev wrote in 1890 could come true: “The Russian Tsar ... will become the head of the socialist movement.” An attempt to implement a socialist project in Russia was inevitable. The Russian monarchy at the end of the 19th century clearly associated itself with a capitalist project alien to Russian civilization and, by its inability to abandon it, doomed itself to historical defeat. This was the pattern of the February Revolution. But February turned out to be only a brief interlude on the way to October.

The spring of 1917 was to be decisive in the victory of the Russian Empire over Germany and Austria-Hungary in the First World War. But history decreed otherwise. The February Revolution of 1917 not only put an end to all military plans, but also destroyed the Russian autocracy.

1. Bread is to blame

The revolution began with the grain crisis. At the end of February 1917, due to snow drifts, the schedule for freight transportation of bread was disrupted, and rumors spread about an imminent transition to bread rationing. Refugees arrived in the capital, and some bakers were drafted into the army. Lines formed at the bread shops, and then riots began. Already on February 21, a crowd with the slogan “Bread, bread” began to destroy bakery shops.

2. Putilov workers

On February 18, workers at the fire monitor stamping workshop of the Putilov plant went on strike, and workers from other workshops joined them. Just four days later, the plant administration announced the closure of the enterprise and the dismissal of 36,000 workers. Proletarians from other plants and factories spontaneously began to join the Putilovites.

Appointed Minister of Internal Affairs in September 1916, Alexander Protopopov was confident that he had the entire situation under control. Trusting his minister's convictions about security in Petrograd, Nicholas II left the capital on February 22 for his headquarters in Mogilev. The only measure taken by the minister during the days of the revolution was the arrest of a number of leaders of the Bolshevik faction. The poet Alexander Blok was sure that it was Protopopov’s inaction that became the main reason for the victory of the February Revolution in Petrograd. “Why is the main platform of power - the Ministry of Internal Affairs - given to the psychopathic chatterbox, liar, hysteric and coward Protopopov, who is maddened by this power?” - Alexander Blok wondered in his “Reflections on the February Revolution”.

4. Revolt of housewives

Officially, the revolution began with unrest among Petrograd housewives forced to stand in long lines for long hours for bread. Many of them became workers in weaving factories during the war. By February 23, about 100,000 workers from fifty enterprises were already on strike in the capital. The demonstrators demanded not only bread and an end to the war, but also the overthrow of the autocracy.

5. All power is in the hands of a random person

Drastic measures were needed to suppress the revolution. On February 24, all power in the capital was transferred to the commander of the Petrograd Military District, Lieutenant General Khabalov. He was appointed to this post in the summer of 1916, without having the necessary skills and abilities. He receives a telegram from the emperor: “I command you to stop the unrest in the capital tomorrow, which is unacceptable during the difficult time of the war with Germany and Austria. NICHOLAY." A military dictatorship by Khabalov was to be established in the capital. But most of the troops refused to obey him. This was logical, since Khabalov, who was previously close to Rasputin, served his entire career at headquarters and in military schools, without having the authority among the soldiers necessary at the most critical moment.

6. When did the king learn about the beginning of the revolution?

According to historians, Nicholas II learned about the beginning of the revolution only on February 25 at about 18:00 from two sources: from General Khabalov and from Minister Protopopov. In his diary, Nikolai first wrote about the revolutionary events only on February 27 (the fourth day): “Unrest began in Petrograd several days ago; Unfortunately, troops also began to take part in them. It’s a disgusting feeling to be so far away and receive fragmentary bad news!”

7. Peasants' revolt, not soldiers' revolt

On February 27, a massive transition of soldiers to the side of the people began: in the morning 10,000 soldiers rebelled. By the evening of the next day there were already 127,000 rebel soldiers. And by March 1, almost the entire Petrograd garrison had gone over to the side of the striking workers. Government troops were melting away every minute. And this is not surprising, because the soldiers were yesterday’s peasant recruits, not ready to raise bayonets against their brothers. Therefore, it is more fair to consider this rebellion not a soldier’s, but a peasant’s. On February 28, the rebels arrested Khabalov and imprisoned him in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

8. The first soldier of the revolution

On the morning of February 27, 1917, senior sergeant major Timofey Kirpichnikov raised and armed the soldiers subordinate to him. Staff Captain Lashkevich was supposed to come to them to send, in accordance with Khabalov’s order, this unit to quell the unrest. But Kirpichnikov persuaded the platoon leaders, and the soldiers decided not to shoot at the demonstrators and killed Lashkevich. Kirpichnikov, as the first soldier to raise his weapon against the “royal system,” was awarded the Cross of St. George. But punishment found its hero; on the orders of the monarchist Colonel Kutepov, he was shot in the ranks of the Volunteer Army.

9. Arson of the Police Department

The police department was a stronghold in the struggle of the tsarist regime against the revolutionary movement. The capture of this law enforcement agency became one of the first goals of the revolutionaries. Director of the Police Department Vasiliev, foreseeing the danger of the events that had begun, ordered in advance that all documents with the addresses of police officers and secret agents be burned. The revolutionary leaders sought to be the first to get into the Department building, not only in order to take possession of all the data on criminals in the empire and solemnly burn them, but also in order to destroy in advance all the incriminating evidence on them in the hands of the former government. Thus, most of the sources on the history of the revolutionary movement and the tsarist police were destroyed during the February Revolution.

10. “Hunting season” for the police

During the days of the revolution, the rebels showed particular cruelty to police officers. Trying to escape, former servants of Themis changed clothes and hid in attics and basements. But they were still found and put to death on the spot, sometimes with monstrous cruelty. The head of the Petrograd security department, General Globachev, recalled: “The rebels scoured the whole city, looking for policemen and police officers, expressed wild delight at finding a new victim to quench their thirst for innocent blood, and there was no mockery, mockery, insults and torture that the animals did not try on their victims."

Following Petrograd, Moscow also went on strike. On February 27, it was declared under a state of siege, and all rallies were prohibited. But it was not possible to prevent the unrest. By March 2, train stations, arsenals and the Kremlin had already been captured. Representatives of the Committee of Public Organizations of Moscow and the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies, created during the days of the revolution, took power into their own hands.

12. “Three Powers” in Kyiv

News of the change of power reached Kyiv on March 3. But unlike Petrograd and other cities of the Russian Empire, in Kyiv it was not dual power that was established, but triple power. In addition to the provincial and district commissars appointed by the Provisional Government and the local Councils of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies that were being formed, a third force entered the political arena - the Central Rada, initiated by representatives of all parties participating in the revolution to coordinate the national movement. And immediately a struggle began within the Rada between supporters of national independence and supporters of an autonomous republic in a federation with Russia. Nevertheless, on March 9, the Ukrainian Central Rada declared its support for the Provisional Government headed by Prince Lvov.

13. Liberal conspiracy

Back in December 1916, the idea of a palace coup had matured among liberals. The leader of the Octobrist party, Guchkov, together with cadet Nekrasov, were able to attract the future Minister of Foreign Affairs and Finance of the Provisional Government Tereshchenko, Chairman of the State Duma Rodzianko, General Alekseev and Colonel Krymov. They planned to intercept the emperor on his way from the capital to headquarters in Mogilev no later than April 1917 and force him to abdicate the throne in favor of the rightful heir. But the plan was implemented earlier, already on March 1, 1917.

14. Five centers of “revolutionary ferment”

The authorities knew not about one, but about several centers of the future revolution. The palace commandant, General Voeikov, at the end of 1916, named five centers of opposition to autocratic power, as he put it, centers of “revolutionary ferment”: 1) the State Duma, headed by M. V. Rodzianko; 2) Zemsky Union led by Prince G. E. Lvov; 3) City Union headed by M. V. Chelnokov; 4) Central Military-Industrial Committee headed by A. I. Guchkov; 5) Headquarters headed by M.V. Alekseev. As subsequent events showed, they all took a direct part in the coup d'etat.

15. Nikolai's last chance

Did Nicholas have a chance to retain power? Perhaps if he had listened to “fat Rodzianko.” In the afternoon of February 26, Nicholas II receives a telegram from State Duma Chairman Rodzianko, who reports anarchy in the capital: the government is paralyzed, food and fuel transport is in complete disorder, and there is indiscriminate shooting in the street. “It is necessary to immediately entrust a person with confidence to form a new government. You can't hesitate. Any delay is like death. I pray to God that this hour of responsibility does not fall on the Crown Bearer.” But Nikolai does not react, complaining only to the Minister of the Imperial Court Fredericks: “Again this fat man Rodzianko has written to me all sorts of nonsense, to which I will not even answer him.”

16. Future Emperor Nicholas III Back at the end of 1916, during negotiations between the conspirators, the main contender for the throne as a result of the palace coup was considered Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the army at the beginning of the First World War. In the last pre-revolutionary months, he served as governor in the Caucasus. The proposal to occupy the throne was received by Nikolai Nikolaevich on January 1, 1917, but two days later the Grand Duke refused. During the February Revolution, he was in the south, where he received news of his appointment again as Supreme Commander-in-Chief, but upon his arrival at Headquarters in Mogilev on March 11, he was forced to abandon his post and resign.

17. The Tsar's Fatalism

Nicholas II knew about the conspiracies being prepared against him. In the fall of 1916, the palace commandant Voeikov informed him about this, in December - the Black Hundred member Tikhanovich-Savitsky, and in January 1917 - the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Prince Golitsyn and the aide-de-camp Mordvinov. Nicholas II was afraid to act openly against the liberal opposition during the war and completely entrusted his life and the life of the Empress to the “will of God.”

18. Nicholas II and Julius Caesar

If you believe the personal diary of Emperor Nicholas II, then throughout all the days of the revolutionary events he continued to read the French book about the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar. Did Nicholas think that he would soon suffer the fate of Caesar - a palace coup?

19. Rodzianko tried to save the royal family

In the February days, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was in Tsarskoe Selo with her children. After Nicholas II left for Headquarters in Mogilev on February 22, all the royal children fell ill with measles one after another. The source of the infection, apparently, were young cadets - playmates of Tsarevich Alexei. On February 27, she writes to her husband about the revolution in the capital. Rodzianko, through the empress’s valet, urged her and her children to immediately leave the palace: “Leave anywhere, and as quickly as possible. The danger is very great. When the house is on fire and sick children are carried out.” The Empress replied: “We won’t go anywhere. Let them do what they want, but I won’t leave and I won’t destroy my children.” Due to the grave condition of the children (the temperature of Olga, Tatiana and Alexei reached 40 degrees), the royal family could not leave their palace, so all the guards battalions loyal to the autocracy were gathered there. Only on March 9, “Colonel” Nikolai Romanov arrived in Tsarskoe Selo.

20. Betrayal of allies

Thanks to intelligence and the ambassador in Petrograd, Lord Buchanan, the British government had complete information about the impending conspiracy in the capital of its main ally in the war with Germany. On the issue of power in the Russian Empire, the British crown decided to rely on the liberal opposition and, through its ambassador, even financed them. By promoting the revolution in Russia, the British leadership got rid of a competitor in the post-war issue of territorial acquisitions of the victorious countries.

When on February 27, deputies of the 4th State Duma formed a Provisional Committee headed by Rodzianko, which took full power in the country for a short time, it was the allied France and Great Britain that were the first to recognize the de facto new government - on March 1, the day before the abdication still a legitimate king.

21. Unexpected renunciation

Contrary to popular belief, it was Nicholas, and not the Duma opposition, who initiated the abdication of Tsarevich Alexei. By decision of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, Guchkov and Shulgin went to Pskov with the aim of abdicating Nicholas II. The meeting took place in the carriage of the royal train, where Guchkov suggested that the emperor abdicate the throne in favor of little Alexei, with the appointment of Grand Duke Mikhail as regent. But Nicholas II declared that he was not ready to part with his son, so he decided to abdicate in favor of his brother. Taken by surprise by such a statement from the tsar, the Duma envoys even asked Nicholas for a quarter of an hour to confer and still accept the abdication. On the same day, Nicholas II wrote in his diary: “At one o’clock in the morning I left Pskov with a heavy feeling of what I had experienced. There is treason and cowardice and deceit all around!”

22. Isolation of the Emperor

A key role in the emperor's decision to abdicate was played by the chief of staff, General Alekseev, and the commander of the Northern Front, General Ruzsky. The sovereign was isolated from sources of objective information by his generals, who were participants in the conspiracy to carry out a palace coup. Most army commanders and corps commanders expressed their readiness to march with their troops to suppress the uprising in Petrograd. But this information was not communicated to the king. It is now known that in the event of the emperor’s refusal to relinquish power, the generals even considered the physical elimination of Nicholas II.

23. Loyal commanders

Only two military commanders remained loyal to Nicholas II - General Fyodor Keller, who commanded the 3rd Cavalry Corps, and the commander of the Guards Cavalry Corps, General Huseyn Khan Nakhichevansky. General Keller addressed his officers: “I received a dispatch about the abdication of the Sovereign and about some kind of Provisional Government. I, your old commander, who shared with you hardships, sorrows, and joys, do not believe that the Sovereign Emperor at such a moment could voluntarily abandon the army and Russia.” He, together with General Khan Nakhichivansky, offered the king to provide himself and his units to suppress the uprising. But it was already too late.

The Provisional Government was formed on March 2 after an agreement between the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and the Petrograd Soviet. But the new government, even after the abdication, required the consent of the emperor to appoint Prince Lvov at the head of the government. Nicholas II signed a decree to the Governing Senate on the appointment of Lvov as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, dated 2 o'clock in the afternoon on March 2, for the legitimacy of the document an hour earlier than the time set in the abdication.

On the morning of March 3, members of the newly formed Provisional Government arrived to Mikhail Romanov to decide on the issue of accepting the throne. But there was no unity among the deputation: Miliukov and Guchkov insisted on accepting the throne, Kerensky called for refusal. Kerensky was one of the most ardent opponents of the continuation of autocracy. After a personal conversation with Rodzianko and Lvov, the Grand Duke decided to renounce the throne. A day later, Mikhail issued a manifesto calling on everyone to submit to the authority of the Provisional Government until the convening of the Constituent Assembly. Ex-Emperor Nikolai Romanov reacted to this news with the following entry in his diary: “God knows who advised him to sign such a nasty thing!” This was the end of the February Revolution.

26. The Church supported the Provisional Government

Dissatisfaction with the policies of the Romanovs had been smoldering in the Orthodox Church since Peter's reforms. After the first Russian revolution, discontent only intensified, since the Duma could now pass laws concerning church issues, including its budget. The Church sought to regain from the sovereign the rights lost two centuries ago and transfer them to the newly installed patriarch. During the days of the revolution, the Holy Synod did not take any active part in the struggle on either side. But the king's abdication was approved by the clergy. On March 4, the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod of Lvov proclaimed “freedom of the Church,” and on March 6, it was decided to serve a prayer service not for the reigning house, but for the new government.

27. Two anthems of the new state

Immediately after the start of the February Revolution, the question arose about a new Russian anthem. The poet Bryusov proposed organizing an all-Russian competition to choose new music and words for the anthem. But all the proposed options were rejected by the Provisional Government, which approved the “Workers' Marseillaise” as the national anthem with the words of the populist theorist Pyotr Lavrov. But the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies proclaimed the "International" as the anthem. Thus, dual power remained not only in the government, but also in the issue of the national anthem. The final decision on the national anthem, like many other issues, had to be taken by the Constituent Assembly.

28. Symbols of the new government

A change in the state form of government is always accompanied by a revision of all state symbols. Following the anthem, which appeared spontaneously, the new government had to decide the fate of the double-headed imperial eagle. To solve the problem, a group of specialists in the field of heraldry was assembled, who decided to postpone this issue until the Constituent Assembly. It was temporarily decided to leave the double-headed eagle, but without any attributes of royal power and without St. George the Victorious on the chest.

29. Not only Lenin “slept through” the revolution

In Soviet times, it was always emphasized that only on March 2, 1917, Lenin learned that the revolution had won in Russia, and instead of the tsarist ministers, there were 12 members of the State Duma in power. “Ilyich lost sleep from the moment the news of the revolution arrived,” Krupskaya recalled, “and at night the most incredible plans were made.” But besides Lenin, all the other socialist leaders “slept through” the February Revolution: Martov, Plekhanov, Trotsky, Chernov and others who were abroad. Only the Menshevik Chkheidze, because of his duties as head of the corresponding faction in the State Duma, found himself in the capital at a critical moment and headed the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

30. Non-existent February Revolution

From 2015, in accordance with the new concept of studying national history and the historical and cultural standard, which establishes uniform requirements for school history textbooks, our children will no longer study the events of February-March 1917 as the February Revolution. According to the new concept, there is now no division into the February and October revolutions, but there is the Great Russian Revolution, which lasted from February to November 1917. The events of February-March are now officially called the “February Revolution”, and the October ones are called the “seizure of power by the Bolsheviks.”

On the night of October 25, 1917 (old style), an armed uprising began in Petrograd. At 2 a.m. on October 26, the Winter Palace was taken, the Provisional Government was arrested, and power passed to the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

On November 7, 2017, millions of people around the world will remember one of the largest political events of the 20th century, the October Revolution of 1917, the events of which directly influenced the course of world history and the future of many countries as a whole. And now many people associate the red day of the calendar with red carnations, Lenin on an armored car and the statement that “the lower classes do not want the old way, but the upper classes cannot do it in the new way.” For this date, we have prepared for you a selection of little-known facts that are associated with this significant event.

1. Blank, but a legendary shot

Local time, the October Revolution began on October 25 at 21.40. The active actions of the revolutionaries began with a shot from the gun of the cruiser "Aurora" towards the Winter Palace. The revolutionary salvo turned out to be empty.

2. First radio address to the people

On October 26 at 5.10, the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee in its “Address to the People of Russia” announced the transfer of power to the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. This was the first political event, information about which was heard on the radio.

3. Who are the real revolutionaries?

According to historians, after the capture of the Winter Palace, the sailors plundered the wine cellar, got drunk and flooded all the lower floors of the premises with the drink. Such actions were regarded as a military crime.

Reports often contain information that on the legendary night some soldier helped local residents get home, bypassing the streets of Petrograd where the shootings took place. The ghosts of revolutionaries, they say, still roam the streets of St. Petersburg today.

4. Bolsheviks are not in the majority

At the time of the February bourgeois-democratic revolution, the Bolshevik Party was underground. It had only 24 thousand members and did not play a decisive role. By October, the size of the party increased 15 times compared to March. Then the party had about 350 thousand members, of which 60% were advanced workers.

5. Hundreds of nationwide and peasant uprisings

After the October Revolution in Russia in 1917-1922. There were hundreds of uprisings directed against the red and white authorities. The harsh methods of the Bolshevik dictatorship also caused resistance on the territory of Belarus. For example, in 1920 there were several uprisings in Slutsk district, the largest of which took place in November. Four thousand rebels fought for freedom for about a month. Their slogan was: “Neither Polish gentlemen, nor Moscow communists.” All uprisings in Belarus were brutally suppressed by troops and police.

6. Women could also take part in the elections

Any citizen over 20 years of age or a person serving in the army over the age of 18 could become a voter for the 1917 Constituent Assembly. Women could also participate in the elections. At that time it was new and wild not only for Russia, but also for most countries.

7. The CPSU is located at the Institute of Noble Maidens

The main headquarters of the Bolsheviks - Smolny Palace - is the general name of a large complex of buildings that create a single architectural ensemble. The Leningrad City Council of Workers' Deputies and the city committee of the CPSU (b) / CPSU from 1917 to 1990 were located here. Before that, from 1774 to 1917. the building housed the first women's educational institution in Russia, which marked the beginning of women's education in the empire.

8. Fast and without bloodshed

The seizure of power occurred in just three days, and the seizure of the Provisional Government in 4 hours. And the State Bank, the Central Telegraph Station, the Main Post Office and the central newspapers were completely in the hands of the Bolsheviks even before the cruiser fired. The “stimulus to action” for Lenin and Trotsky was the closure of almost all Bolshevik newspapers by the Provisional Government on the night of October 24.

9. "New Time"

This is an act of Russia's transition to the Gregorian calendar, which ended the century-old practice of “adding 12-13 days” when traveling around Europe. The “Decree on the introduction of the Western European calendar in the Russian Republic” was adopted only on January 26, 1918. Then there were two options. The first is to discard 24 hours every year. By that time, the difference between the calendars was already 13 days. So the entire transition to a new style would take 13 full years. The advantage is that the Orthodox Church could take advantage of it. The second is an immediate transition to a new style of chronology. Lenin himself was a supporter and developer of this option. Thus Russia entered a “new time”.

A small selection of little-known facts that are associated with the revolutionary V.I. Lenin:

1. The main revolutionary has a B in logic

Vladimir Ulyanov graduated from the Simbirsk gymnasium in 1887 with a gold medal. His certificate included only a B in the subject “logic.”

2. No smoking

In his youth, Vladimir Ilyich began smoking several times. His mother repeatedly tried to wean her son from his bad habit. And only the statement that cigarettes were an extra expense for their poor family turned out to be a weighty argument. Lenin gave up the addiction forever.

3. Lenin was a nobleman

In 1877, Vladimir Ilyich received the rank of full state councilor. This is a 4th class civilian rank that could be compared to the military rank of major general. The rank gave the right to hereditary nobility.

4. How Lenin got into the “Cradle of the Revolution”

On the night of October 25-26, 1917, Lenin reached the Smolny headquarters with a bandaged cheek “ala flux”, a wig on his head and one of the fake passports. On his way there were at least three Cossack and Junker checkpoints. Thanks to the skills of a master of disguise throughout his political career, Vladimir Lenin managed to get to the headquarters unnoticed.

5. How many pseudonyms did V. I. Ulyanov have?

V. I. Ulyanov first used the pseudonym “Lenin” in 1901. There is a version that at the beginning of the 20th century he used the passport of the real Nikolai Lenin. In total, the revolutionary had 148 pseudonyms.

6. Is Lenin connected with the Nobel Prize?

In 1917, Norway offered to award the Nobel Prize to the world. However, the petition was rejected because the application period had expired. The Nobel Committee only stated that it is not against awarding the prize to Vladimir Ilyich if peace is established in Russia. The outbreak of the Civil War did not allow Lenin to become a Nobel laureate.

November 7 is a red day on the calendar. Most Russians associate this day (albeit somewhat vaguely) with red carnations, Lenin on an armored car and the statement that “the lower classes do not want the old way, but the upper classes cannot do it in the new way.” On this “revolutionary” day, we will present just a few facts about the Great October Socialist Revolution or the October Revolution - as you prefer.

During the Soviet years, November 7 was a special holiday and was called the “Day of the Great October Socialist Revolution.” After the transition to the Gregorian calendar, the start date of the revolution shifted from October 25 to November 7, but they did not rename the event that had already occurred and the revolution remained “October”.

The revolutionary salvo turned out to be empty

The Great October Revolution began on October 25, 1917 at 21:40 local time. The signal for the start of active actions by the revolutionaries was a shot from the gun of the cruiser Aurora. The shot was fired towards the Winter Palace on the orders of Commissioner A.V. Belyshev, and was fired by Evdokim Pavlovich Ognev. It is noteworthy that the legendary shot at the Winter Palace was fired with a blank charge. Why this happened is still unknown today: either the Bolsheviks were afraid to destroy the palace, or they did not want unnecessary bloodshed, or there were simply no warheads on the cruiser.

The most high-tech revolution

The revolutionary events of October 25 are not much different from most armed riots or insurrections that have occurred in European history. However, the October Revolution became the most “high-tech revolution” in human history. The fact is that after the last center of resistance was suppressed in St. Petersburg, and control over the city passed to the revolutionaries, the first revolutionary radio address to the people in history took place. Thus, at 5:10 a.m. on October 26, an “Appeal to the People of Russia” was heard, in which the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee announced the transfer of power to the Soviets.

The assault on Zimny is one of the most controversial events in history

The legendary storming of the Winter Palace is covered by historians in different ways. Some portray this event as perhaps the greatest feat of the revolutionaries, others describe the bloody atrocities of the sailors during the assault. According to the documents of the Military Revolutionary Committee, the losses of the revolutionaries during the assault amounted to only 6 people, and even those were listed as victims of an accident. In the comments to the losses in some lists you can find the following notes: “they were blown up by a grenade of an unknown system due to personal negligence and imprudence.” There is no information at all about the killed defenders of Zimny, but the archives are replete with notes that a cadet, officer or soldier such and such was released to such and such after the capture of Zimny, on his word of honor not to take part in battles against the revolutionaries. However, there were still battles on the streets of Petrograd.

Revolutionaries - lawless people or humanists

Modern historians love to convict revolutionaries of all sorts of crimes. So, for example, one of the most striking episodes is the case of the sailors who, after the capture of Winter Palace, plundered the wine cellar, got drunk and filled all the lower rooms with wine. However, it is not difficult to guess that this incriminating information could only become known from the archives of the revolutionaries themselves, which means that these actions were not only not encouraged, but were also regarded as a military crime.

It is worth noting that reports often contain information that on the night of October 25-26, soldier so-and-so helped local residents get home, bypassing the streets of Petrograd on which firefights took place. They say that they still roam the streets of St. Petersburg today.

However, revolutionaries were never soft and sweet people. Rather, predatory, quarrelsome and dishonest. Lenin considered Trotsky a competitor and wrote nasty things about him. Trotsky, in turn, considered Lenin to be a dishonest and unprincipled person by revolutionary standards and also “threw mud” as best he could. Lenin’s trick is well known when he began to publish a newspaper called “Pravda” parallel to Trotsky.

Lenin - bloody dictator or leader of the proletariat

On October 25 at 10 o’clock in the morning, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin addressed the appeal “To the Citizens of Russia”:
“The provisional government has been overthrown... The cause for which the people fought: the immediate proposal of a democratic peace, the abolition of landlord ownership of land, workers' control over production, the creation of the Soviet government, this cause is secured.”.

Lenin is one of the most ambiguous and contradictory personalities in the history of the revolution and Russia. Albert Einstein, being a rare humanist, respected Lenin as a man who was able to direct all his strength to achieve the goal of social equality and justice. However, Einstein also wrote that, to his deepest regret and disappointment, he could not approve of the methods by which Vladimir Ilyich achieves this good goal. It is also worth adding that Albert Einstein would later write that the Soviet Union became for him one of his greatest disappointments in world history.

It is worth noting that Vladimir Ilyich is one of the few political figures who did not leave his autobiography. In the archives they found only one piece of paper on which Lenin made an attempt to begin a biography, but there was no continuation.

Modern points of view on revolutionary events vary greatly: some endlessly criticize the actions of revolutionaries, others defend them, while others take a centrist position, some try to get to the bottom of the truth and judge events impartially. In any case, this event once and for all changed the course of Russia's development and left a significant mark on world history. However, it turns out that in Spain a coup d'état occurs every year, although not seriously, but...

And although it is already the last month of autumn, on November 7, millions of people around the world remember the October Revolution of 1917, the events of which directly influenced the course of world history and the future of many countries as a whole.

This event, or rather a whole chain of incidents that took place throughout 1917, still causes serious controversy among historians, politicians and philosophers of various stripes. What would have happened to Russia if not for the Bolsheviks? Could the monarchy survive? For these and many other questions, there is a genre of alternative history, but we will try to put together those facts and circumstances that could somewhat “refresh” a modern person’s view of the fateful events of almost a century ago.

Readiness No. 1, yes Lenin is not there

In principle, the Bolsheviks and their supporters had serious human and combat resources already in August 1917, when the Red Guard was being formed and the Bolsheviks were in power in most large cities. However, the “father of the revolution” himself finds himself on a large-scale wanted list, changes a dozen names, apartments and makeup kits and still flees to Finland. All this time he acts only through correspondence, and L. Trotsky takes on the role of temporary leader.

According to Lenin himself, it was possible to act much earlier, rather than wait for the right moment for coordination. However, the Provisional Government, although it did not have much support from the people, still had sufficient fighting strength in the form of the cadets and cadets, as well as soldiers sympathetic to the Mensheviks (note, the First World War is still ongoing).

"Noble Smolny"

Smolny Palace, the main headquarters of the Bolsheviks (“Cradle of the Revolution”) is just a general name for a large complex of buildings that create a single architectural ensemble. The main historical role was played by the Smolny Institute, which in 1917 housed the Leningrad City Council of Workers' Deputies and the city committee of the CPSU(b)/CPSU (which is noteworthy - until 1991). Before this, the building housed the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens, the first women's educational institution in Russia (1774-1917), thanks to which women's education was launched in the empire.

Social Revolutionaries, anarchy and “Latvians”

The Bolsheviks themselves, as such, enjoyed only fickle support from the population. The main fighting force of those years turned out to be the Socialist Revolutionaries (a party of socialist revolutionaries who collaborated with the Bolsheviks until 1918, the motto: “In the fight you will gain your right!”), who enjoyed the support of the army, and the anarchists, who had enormous influence among the sailors. It is interesting that in March 1921, anarchist sailors staged the famous Kronstadt uprising, which would later fall as a shameful stain on the Soviet government (after all, the uprising would be suppressed by the heroes of the revolution themselves!). As an important military force, we should not forget about the Red Latvian Riflemen, who took part in most of the serious battles of the civil war and were considered an elite formation in the ranks of the Red Army. In both the Tsarist and Soviet armies they were simply called “Latvians.”

Master of urban disguise

On the night when there was fierce fighting on the streets of Petrograd, Lenin reached Smolny headquarters with a bandaged cheek “ala flux”, a wig on his head and with one of the fake passports. There could be no talk of any kind of security - groups of more than one person were considered mandatory for a complete check. On his way to Smolny, Lenin had to pass through at least three Cossack and Junker checkpoints. Although Vladimir Ulyanov acquired the skills of a master of disguise throughout his political career, how he managed to do this still remains a mystery

Quickly and with little blood