The Proletarian Revolution in Russia/Part 5/Chapter 1
I
THE KORNILOV REVOLT
The openly counter-revolutionary character of the Moscov Conference, emphasized by the reactionary proposals of Kaledine, Kornilov, Guchkov & Co., created a revulsion of feeling among the revolutionary masses. The re-appearance upon the stage of the extreme reactionary forces pushed the Soviets into the extreme Left, and made inescapable a repudiation of its moderate policy. The Soviets could no longer play the role of the centre. The assertions of the Bolsheviki, that the Coalition Government was an instrument of reaction, were confirmed by the openly organizing forces of the counter-revolution. The events of September and October accelerated the acceptance of a revolutionary policy by the masses, and led inexorably to the Bolshevik Revolution in November and the assumption of all power by the Soviets.
On September 2 the German troops launched an offensive on the Dvina front and on September 3 Riga was captured. All the evidence shows that the fall of Riga was maneuvred by General Kornilov and his staff in order to strike terror in the heart of Russia. By means of contradictory orders and the desertion of the staffs the Riga front was opened to the Germans, who poured through; it was only the activity of the soldiers' committees that prevented a fuller disaster. The documents published by the Bolsheviki offer conclusive procf of the conspiracy and deliberate treachery: General Kornilov's covert threat made at the Moscow Conference had become a reality.
It appeared for a time as if the Germans would press the offensive, and by means of army and fleet capture Petrograd.[1] Apprehension was general, and particularly in Petrograd. The psychology of "The Country is in danger!" provided an excellent opportunity for a counter-revolutionary military coup. With Boris Savinkov as the intermediary, Kerensky and Kornilov plotted drastic action against the Petrograd masses, the centre of the proletarian revolution. The dictator Kerensky required power, the annihilation of the revolutionary masses, and the military coup was to provide the power without which his dictatorship was a mere pose. It was agreed that Kornilov was to march upon Petrograd, crush and disarm the masses; and Kornilov, with Cossacks and other reliable troops, marched upon Petrograd. But the Soviet intervened and compelled the weakling Kerensky to issue an order for the arrest of Kornilov.[2] The result was not the submission of Kornilov, but his determination to march upon Petrograd for purposes of his own, and crush both the Provisional Government and the Soviets, erecting a military dictatorship. The danger was acute. A general mobilization of the revolutionary masses of Petrograd was immediately accomplished, the Bolsheviki imprisoned during and after the July uprising were released, and they marched out to meet Kornilov's troops, who were definitely defeated on September 15, on which day the Provisional Government went through the empty formality of officially declaring Russia a republic.
The aftermath of the Kornilov rebellion was swift and certain. The counter-revolution was active, the Soviets in danger—and the Bolsheviki everywhere rapidly became the majority. Leon Trotzky was elected President of the Petrograd Soviet, the most influential of all, and as a protest Cheidse, Skobeleff and Tseretelli resigned. The period of compromise was definitely at an end, and througout Russia the Soviets recognized the necessity of revolutionary proletarian action and policy. Life itself was making Bolshevism the accepted policy of the revolutionary masses.
These events isolated the Provisional Government. Its mandate had hitherto been the support of the Soviets; the attempt to secure a new and more general mandate through the Moscow Conference had failed; and Kerensky tried the desperate means of convoking a Democratic Congress to dispel the isolation of the Provisional Government and secure a mandate for its acts. The Congress met on September 27, and immediately it was rent with disputes. Capital punishment and coalition were discussed bitterly amid riotous disturbances. Trotzky appeared and issued a declaration of civil war in the event that the counter-revolution should oppose all power to the Soviets. Against the protest of the Bolsheviki; who bolted the Congress, and by a wavering majority, coalition was approved, a new cabinet formed; and it was decided to convene a Preliminary Parliament, to sit until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly. Kerensky badgered the Congress into approving all his acts by threatening to resign and by picturing tragically the situation of the country.
The Preliminary Parliament opened on October 8, and in spite of the fact that the elections everywhere showed an overwhelming majority for the Socialist candidates, the bourgeoisie was amply represented in the Parliament, out of all proportion to its numbers. The Parliament, officially designated as "The Council of the Russian Republic," demanded that the Provisional Government should be responsible to it, but the Government refused absolutely, and the demand was withdrawn: the Parliament was simply to have "advisory" functions. Turmoil and impotence marked the activity of the Parliament; recriminations made deliberations impossible; not a single measure of any importance was passed. At the first session, Trotzky, speaking on behalf of the Bolsheviki, charged that the propertied classes were represented out of all proportion to their numbers, and declared that the Parliament was against the Revolution. The Menshevik Cheidse was elected President, and against the protest of the Bolsheviki and Social-Revolutionists of the Left, it was decided to discuss in secret the constitution of the government. Instead of the Preliminary Parliament providing a mandate for the Provisional Government, it provided a new instrument for the offensive against coalition. And throughout the country the moderates were being ousted from control of the Soviets, the Bolsheviki becoming ascendant.
- ↑ At the time when a German attack upon Petrograd appeared imminent, the Second Congress of the Baltic Fleet was in session, and issued the following proclamation, which is an inspiring answer to the infamous slanders hurled at the Fleet:
"To the Oppressed in all Countries, Comrades: In the fatal hour in which the signals of war and of death ring in our ears, we repeat and emphasize our appeal to you. We send you our greetings and our last testament.—Attacked by the powerful German fleet, our warships are doomed in an unequal struggle.—Not one ship will refuse to fight, not one sailor will desert his ship.—Our much-abused Fleet will do its duty—toward the great Revolution.—We consider it our duty to defend Petrograd. We will fulfill our self-imposed obligation.—Not because of the request of a pitiful Russian Bonaparte (Kerensky) who retains power simply because of the unlimited patience of the Russian Revolution. Nor because of the treaties made by our government with the Allies, treaties intended to smother the Russian Revolution.—We follow the call of our revolutionary sentiments.—We go into death with the name of the great Revolution in our hearts and on our unfaltering lips.—The Russian Fleet has always stood in the front lines of the Revolution. The names of its sailors are written in the book of the history of the struggle against Czarism. In the earliest days of the Revolution the sailors marched in the front ranks, our ultimate aim being deliverance from all misery.—And this life and death struggle with our own oppressors gives us the right to appeal to you, proletarians of all countries, with a strong voice, with the voice of those who look into the eyes of death in the revolt against the exploiters.—Break the chains, you who are oppressed! Rise in revolt!—We have nothing to lose but our chains!—We believe in the victory of the Revolution, we are full of this belief.—We know that our comrades in the Revolution will fulfill their duty on the barricades to the bitter end.—We know that decisive moments are coming. A gigantic struggle will set the world afire. On the horizon the fires of .the revolt of all oppressed peoples are already glowing and becoming stronger.—At the moment that the waters of the Baltic will became red with the blood of our comrades, will close forever over their bodies, at this moment we call upon you.—Already in the cluch of death, we send our warm greetings and appeal to you:—Proletarians of the world, unite! Rise in revolt, you who are oppressed.—All hail, the World Revolution!—Long live Socialism!"
- ↑ Even the arch-apologist of Kerensky, A. J. Sack, admits in his Birth of the Russian Democracy, that Kerensky knew of the original movement of Kornilov's troops and was not averse to it: "Many details of the Kornilov episode are still missing and many important documents must still be published before the public will be able to come to an impartial and fair judgement. Several things, hovever, are almost certain. The first is that Kerensky knew about the movement of several detachments of troops from the front towards Petrograd, and it is probable that as Prime Minister and Minister of War, realizing the growing Bolshevist danger, he called for them."