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10th January 2008, 21:59
April Crisis
The April Crisis of 1917 concerned the question of political power in Russia, which arose soon after the February Bourgeois Revolution and which was caused by the irreconcilable contradictions between the people and the imperialist bourgeoisie. It began spontaneously after it became known on April 20 that the Foreign Minister Miliukov had sent a note to the Entente on April 18 declaring the readiness of the Provisional Government to continue the horrendous war. In Petrograd the Finland Regiment, the Moscow Regiment, and part of the Second Baltic Fleet marched on the Mariinskii Palace, seat of the Provisional Government. In all, more than 15,000 persons gathered. The soldiers raised the slogan “Down with Miliukov!” On April 21, in response to a call by the Bolsheviks, some 100,000 workers and soldiers came out in a demonstration demanding peace and the transfer of all state power to the soviets. A small group of adventurous ultra-leftists raised the slogan “Down with the Provisional Government!” implying a call for armed overthrow of the regime. The Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik) adopted a resolution by Lenin on April 22 condemning this slogan, since the objective conditions for armed action did not exist at that time. Counterrevolutionary elements headed by the kadets organized provocative counter-demonstrations with the slogan “Have faith in the Provisional Government!” Clashes with these reactionaries took place. The bourgeois press baselessly charged the Bolsheviks with preparing a civil war. General Kornilov ordered artillery to be set up against the workers, but the soldiers refused.
These events showed that the bourgeois Provisional Government had no support among the masses and did not have substantial military strength. Under these conditions “the soviets could (and should) have taken power without meeting the least resistance from any quarter” (Lenin, vol.34, p.63), but the conciliatory SR-Menshevik majority in the Soviet came instead to an open agreement with the bourgeoisie. The April Crisis exposed the failure of the policy of “control” over the Provisional Government by the SR-Mensheviks. The power crisis had been temporarily overcome, but the causes that gave rise to it had not been removed.
June Crisis
The June Crisis of 1917 was the second political crisis in Russia (after the April Crisis) during the period from the February Bourgeois Revolution to the October Proletarian Revolution. The crisis was caused by the irreconcilable contradictions between the working class and the imperialist bourgeoisie on questions of peace and land and on the struggle against economic dislocation. The First Congress of Soviets of June 3-24, at which the SR-Menshevik appeasers predominated, gave support to the bourgeoisie represented by the Provisional Government and refused the demand of the people for an end to the war and the transfer of state power to the soviets. Certain antidemocratic actions by the Provisional Government, in particular a decree ordering the confiscation of the dacha of the former tsarist minister Durnovo, in which a workers’ club and the offices of the Vyborg district trade unions had been established, led to a strike of the workers of 30 factories in Petrograd. The same day, in order to give the protest an organized character, the Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik) announced a peaceful demonstration of workers and soldiers on June 10. At the insistence of the SR-Menshevik collaborationists, the Congress of Soviets banned the demonstration. The collaborationists baselessly accused the Bolsheviks of a “military conspiracy.” During the night of June 9, the Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik), not wishing to oppose itself to the congress, ordered the demonstration to be canceled. The bourgeois and petit-bourgeois parties—the SRs, Mensheviks, and Cadets--violently denounced the workers and the soldiers and their Bolshevik vanguard. Fearing that they might lose the confidence of the people, the SR-Menshevik leaders were forced to pass a resolution at the congress in favor of holding a general political demonstration of confidence in the bourgeois Provisional Government on June 18. Against these expectations, however, and as a result of Bolshevik efforts, the demonstration was held, with some 500,000 participants, under the slogans “All Power to the Soviets,” “Down with the Ten Capitalist Ministers”, and “Bread, Peace, and Freedom.” The June crisis did not develop into a crisis of bourgeois power, but it did show that unity in the demands and actions of the workers and soldiers was growing stronger and that the influence of the Bolshevik Party was rising among the masses.
July Days
The July political crisis was the third such crisis in Russia (after the April crisis and the June crisis) during the period from the February Bourgeois Revolution to the October Proletarian Revolution. The July crisis was provoked by the events of late June and early July: the disastrous offensive at the front and the disbandment of revolutionary military units by the Provisional Government. On July 3 spontaneous demonstrations broke out in Petrograd. They were started by the soldiers of the 1st Machine-gun Regiment, who were strongly influenced by the anarchists. At a secret conference the anarchists decided to call the workers and soldiers out to an armed antigovernment demonstration. On July 3 the machine gunners’ appeal met with a favorable response from the soldiers of Moscow, Grenadiers, Pavlovsky, 180th, and 1st regiments, and the 6th engineers battalion. These units marched out in an armed demonstration under the slogans “Down with the Ten Capitalist Ministers” and “All Power to the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers Deputies” The Menshevik and SRs occupying the Central Executive Committee forbade the demonstration. In the predawn hours of July 4, the Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik) decided to provide leadership to the movement in order to give it an organized and peaceful character. On July 4 a peaceful demonstration of 500,000 workers, soldiers, and sailors began in Petrograd under the slogan “All Power to the Soviets.” The military authorities under orders from the Provisional Government sent troops to smash the peaceful demonstration. More than 700 people were killed or wounded. The SR-Menshevik leadership of the Central Executive Committee actively supported the antidemocratic measures by the regime against the people. They began to disarm the workers, disband the revolutionary military units, and carry out arrests. On July 6 the editorial offices and printing plant of Pravda and the headquarters of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik) were destroyed. On July 6 the Provisional Government issued an “order” for the abduction of V.I. Lenin. The peaceful development of the revolution thus became impossible.
http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/003/821.htm
The April Crisis of 1917 concerned the question of political power in Russia, which arose soon after the February Bourgeois Revolution and which was caused by the irreconcilable contradictions between the people and the imperialist bourgeoisie. It began spontaneously after it became known on April 20 that the Foreign Minister Miliukov had sent a note to the Entente on April 18 declaring the readiness of the Provisional Government to continue the horrendous war. In Petrograd the Finland Regiment, the Moscow Regiment, and part of the Second Baltic Fleet marched on the Mariinskii Palace, seat of the Provisional Government. In all, more than 15,000 persons gathered. The soldiers raised the slogan “Down with Miliukov!” On April 21, in response to a call by the Bolsheviks, some 100,000 workers and soldiers came out in a demonstration demanding peace and the transfer of all state power to the soviets. A small group of adventurous ultra-leftists raised the slogan “Down with the Provisional Government!” implying a call for armed overthrow of the regime. The Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik) adopted a resolution by Lenin on April 22 condemning this slogan, since the objective conditions for armed action did not exist at that time. Counterrevolutionary elements headed by the kadets organized provocative counter-demonstrations with the slogan “Have faith in the Provisional Government!” Clashes with these reactionaries took place. The bourgeois press baselessly charged the Bolsheviks with preparing a civil war. General Kornilov ordered artillery to be set up against the workers, but the soldiers refused.
These events showed that the bourgeois Provisional Government had no support among the masses and did not have substantial military strength. Under these conditions “the soviets could (and should) have taken power without meeting the least resistance from any quarter” (Lenin, vol.34, p.63), but the conciliatory SR-Menshevik majority in the Soviet came instead to an open agreement with the bourgeoisie. The April Crisis exposed the failure of the policy of “control” over the Provisional Government by the SR-Mensheviks. The power crisis had been temporarily overcome, but the causes that gave rise to it had not been removed.
June Crisis
The June Crisis of 1917 was the second political crisis in Russia (after the April Crisis) during the period from the February Bourgeois Revolution to the October Proletarian Revolution. The crisis was caused by the irreconcilable contradictions between the working class and the imperialist bourgeoisie on questions of peace and land and on the struggle against economic dislocation. The First Congress of Soviets of June 3-24, at which the SR-Menshevik appeasers predominated, gave support to the bourgeoisie represented by the Provisional Government and refused the demand of the people for an end to the war and the transfer of state power to the soviets. Certain antidemocratic actions by the Provisional Government, in particular a decree ordering the confiscation of the dacha of the former tsarist minister Durnovo, in which a workers’ club and the offices of the Vyborg district trade unions had been established, led to a strike of the workers of 30 factories in Petrograd. The same day, in order to give the protest an organized character, the Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik) announced a peaceful demonstration of workers and soldiers on June 10. At the insistence of the SR-Menshevik collaborationists, the Congress of Soviets banned the demonstration. The collaborationists baselessly accused the Bolsheviks of a “military conspiracy.” During the night of June 9, the Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik), not wishing to oppose itself to the congress, ordered the demonstration to be canceled. The bourgeois and petit-bourgeois parties—the SRs, Mensheviks, and Cadets--violently denounced the workers and the soldiers and their Bolshevik vanguard. Fearing that they might lose the confidence of the people, the SR-Menshevik leaders were forced to pass a resolution at the congress in favor of holding a general political demonstration of confidence in the bourgeois Provisional Government on June 18. Against these expectations, however, and as a result of Bolshevik efforts, the demonstration was held, with some 500,000 participants, under the slogans “All Power to the Soviets,” “Down with the Ten Capitalist Ministers”, and “Bread, Peace, and Freedom.” The June crisis did not develop into a crisis of bourgeois power, but it did show that unity in the demands and actions of the workers and soldiers was growing stronger and that the influence of the Bolshevik Party was rising among the masses.
July Days
The July political crisis was the third such crisis in Russia (after the April crisis and the June crisis) during the period from the February Bourgeois Revolution to the October Proletarian Revolution. The July crisis was provoked by the events of late June and early July: the disastrous offensive at the front and the disbandment of revolutionary military units by the Provisional Government. On July 3 spontaneous demonstrations broke out in Petrograd. They were started by the soldiers of the 1st Machine-gun Regiment, who were strongly influenced by the anarchists. At a secret conference the anarchists decided to call the workers and soldiers out to an armed antigovernment demonstration. On July 3 the machine gunners’ appeal met with a favorable response from the soldiers of Moscow, Grenadiers, Pavlovsky, 180th, and 1st regiments, and the 6th engineers battalion. These units marched out in an armed demonstration under the slogans “Down with the Ten Capitalist Ministers” and “All Power to the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers Deputies” The Menshevik and SRs occupying the Central Executive Committee forbade the demonstration. In the predawn hours of July 4, the Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik) decided to provide leadership to the movement in order to give it an organized and peaceful character. On July 4 a peaceful demonstration of 500,000 workers, soldiers, and sailors began in Petrograd under the slogan “All Power to the Soviets.” The military authorities under orders from the Provisional Government sent troops to smash the peaceful demonstration. More than 700 people were killed or wounded. The SR-Menshevik leadership of the Central Executive Committee actively supported the antidemocratic measures by the regime against the people. They began to disarm the workers, disband the revolutionary military units, and carry out arrests. On July 6 the editorial offices and printing plant of Pravda and the headquarters of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik) were destroyed. On July 6 the Provisional Government issued an “order” for the abduction of V.I. Lenin. The peaceful development of the revolution thus became impossible.
http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/003/821.htm