Marxman
4th October 2002, 20:24
Votes
Percentages
Party
June
September
June
September
Social Revolutionaries
974,885
54,374
58
14
Mensheviks
76,407
15,887
12
4
Kadets
168,781
101,106
17
26
Bolsheviks
75,409
198,230
12
51
(Source, Anweiler, p. 188.)
These figures show, on the one hand, a growing polarisation between the classes, to the right (note the vote of the bourgeois Kadet party) and the left, and a collapse of the parties of the "centre", the Mensheviks and SRs. But the most striking feature is the sweeping victory of the Bolsheviks, who, from a mere 12 per cent in June were now an absolute majority. What this shows is that the Bolsheviks had the support of the overwhelming majority of the workers, and a sizeable section of the peasants also. In November 1917 the Menshevik leader Y.O. Martov himself had to admit that "almost the entire proletariat supports Lenin". (Quoted in Liebman, op. cit., p. 218.) Precisely on this basis, the Bolsheviks were able to overthrow the discredited Provisional Government and take power with a minimum of resistance. These facts alone give the lie to the myth of the October Revolution as a coup.
Thus, the democratic legitimacy of the October Revolution was clearly established. But this was not reflected in the elections to the Constituent Assembly, when the Bolsheviks only got 23.9 per cent of the votes (to which must be added the votes of the Left SRs):
Constituent Assembly (in votes):
Russian SRs
15,848,004
Ukrainian SRs
1,286,157
Peasant Parties
Ukrainian socialist coalition
3,556,581
Total SRs and allies
20,690,742
Bolsheviks
9,844,637
Mensheviks
1,364,826
Workers Parties
Other socialists
601,707
Kadets
1,986,601
Conservative Russian groups
1,262,418
Bourgeois and rightwing parties
Nationalist groups
2,620,967
Constituent Assembly (in seats)
Russian SRs
299
Ukrainian SRs
81
Left SRs
39
Bolsheviks
168
Mensheviks
18
Other socialists
4
Kadets
15
Conservatives
2
Nationalist groups
77
(Source, Anweiler, p. 220.)
Percentages
Party
June
September
June
September
Social Revolutionaries
974,885
54,374
58
14
Mensheviks
76,407
15,887
12
4
Kadets
168,781
101,106
17
26
Bolsheviks
75,409
198,230
12
51
(Source, Anweiler, p. 188.)
These figures show, on the one hand, a growing polarisation between the classes, to the right (note the vote of the bourgeois Kadet party) and the left, and a collapse of the parties of the "centre", the Mensheviks and SRs. But the most striking feature is the sweeping victory of the Bolsheviks, who, from a mere 12 per cent in June were now an absolute majority. What this shows is that the Bolsheviks had the support of the overwhelming majority of the workers, and a sizeable section of the peasants also. In November 1917 the Menshevik leader Y.O. Martov himself had to admit that "almost the entire proletariat supports Lenin". (Quoted in Liebman, op. cit., p. 218.) Precisely on this basis, the Bolsheviks were able to overthrow the discredited Provisional Government and take power with a minimum of resistance. These facts alone give the lie to the myth of the October Revolution as a coup.
Thus, the democratic legitimacy of the October Revolution was clearly established. But this was not reflected in the elections to the Constituent Assembly, when the Bolsheviks only got 23.9 per cent of the votes (to which must be added the votes of the Left SRs):
Constituent Assembly (in votes):
Russian SRs
15,848,004
Ukrainian SRs
1,286,157
Peasant Parties
Ukrainian socialist coalition
3,556,581
Total SRs and allies
20,690,742
Bolsheviks
9,844,637
Mensheviks
1,364,826
Workers Parties
Other socialists
601,707
Kadets
1,986,601
Conservative Russian groups
1,262,418
Bourgeois and rightwing parties
Nationalist groups
2,620,967
Constituent Assembly (in seats)
Russian SRs
299
Ukrainian SRs
81
Left SRs
39
Bolsheviks
168
Mensheviks
18
Other socialists
4
Kadets
15
Conservatives
2
Nationalist groups
77
(Source, Anweiler, p. 220.)