Ten Days That Shook the World

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Mayor Schreider, for the Socialist Revolutionaries, stated that he
was opposed to all agreement with the Bolsheviki…. “As for a
Government, that ought to spring from the popular will; and since the
popular will has been expressed in the municipal elections, the
popular will which can create a Government is actually concentrated
in the Duma….”

After other speakers, of which only the representative of the
Mensheviki Internationalists was in favour of considering the
admission of the Bolsheviki into the new Government, the Duma voted
to continue its representatives in the _Vikzhel’s_ conference, but to
insist upon the restoration of the Provisional Government before
everything, and to exclude the Bolsheviki from the new power….

3.

TRUCE. KRASNOV’s ANSWER TO THE COMMITTEE FOR SALVATION

“In answer to your telegram proposing an immediate armistice, the
Supreme Commander, not wishing further futile bloodshed, consents to
enter into negotiations and to establish relations between the armies
of the Government and the insurrectionists. He proposes to the
General Staff of the insurrectionists to recall its regiments to
Petrograd, to declare the line Ligovo-Pulkovo-Colpinno neutral, and
to allow the advance-guards of the Government cavalry to enter
Tsarskoye Selo, for the purpose of establishing order. The answer to
this proposal must be placed in the hands of our envoys before eight
o’clock to-morrow morning.

KRASNOV.”

4.

EVENTS AT TSARSKOYE SELO

On the evening that Kerensky’s troops retreated from Tsarskoye Selo,
some priests organised a religious procession through the streets of
the town, making speeches to the citizens in which they asked the
people to support the rightful authority, the Provisional Government.
When the Cossacks had retreated, and the first Red Guards entered the
town, witnesses reported that the priests had incited the people
against the Soviets, and had said prayers at the grave of Rasputin,
which lies behind the Imperial Palace. One of the priests, Father
Ivan Kutchurov, was arrested and shot by the infuriated Red Guards….

Just as the Red Guards entered the town the electric lights were shut
off, plunging the streets in complete darkness. The director of the
electric light plant, Lubovitch, was arrested by the Soviet troops
and asked why he had shut off the lights. He was found some time
later in the room where he had been imprisoned with a revolver in his
hand and a bullet hole in his temple.

The Petrograd anti-Bolshevik papers came out next day with headlines,
“Plekhanov’s temperature 39 degrees!” Plekhanov lived at Tsarskoye
Selo, where he was lying ill in bed. Red Guards arrived at the house
and searched it for arms, questioning the old man.

“What class of society do you belong to?” they asked him.

“I am a revolutionist,” answered Plekhanov, “who for forty years has
devoted his life to the struggle for liberty!”

“Anyway,” said a workman, “you have now sold yourself to the
bourgeoisie!”

The workers no longer knew Plekhanov, pioneer of the Russian Social
Democracy!

5.

APPEAL OF THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT

“The detachments at Gatchina, deceived by Kerensky, have laid down
their arms and decided to arrest Kerensky. That chief of the
counter-revolutionary campaign has fled. The Army, by an enormous
majority, has pronounced in favour of the second All-Russian Congress
of Soviets, and of the Government which it has created. Scores of
delegates from the Front have hastened to Petrograd to assure the
Soviet Government of the Army’s fidelity. No twisting of the facts,
no calumny against the revolutionary workers, soldiers, and peasants,
has been able to defeat the People. The Workers’ and Soldiers’
Revolution is victorious….

“The _Tsay-ee-kah_ appeals to the troops which march under the flag
of the counter-revolution, and invites them immediately to lay down
their arms—to shed no longer the blood of their brothers in the
interests of a handful of land-owners and capitalists. The Workers’,
Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Revolution curses those who remain even for a
moment under the flag of the People’s enemies….

“Cossacks! Come over to the rank of the victorious People!
Railwaymen, postmen, telegraphers—all, all support the new Government
of the People!”

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER X

1.

DAMAGE TO THE KREMLIN

I myself verified the damage to the Kremlin, which I visited
immediately after the bombardment. The Little Nicolai Palace, a
building of no particular importance, which was occupied occasionally
by receptions of one of the Grand Duchesses, had served as barracks
for the _yunkers._ It was not only bombarded, but pretty well sacked;
fortunately there was nothing in it of particular historical value.

Usspensky Cathedral had a shell-hole in one of the cupolas, but
except for a few feet of mosaic in the ceiling, was undamaged. The
frescoes on the porch of Blagovestchensky Cathedral were badly
damaged by a shell. Another shell hit the corner of Ivan Veliki.
Tchudovsky Monastery was hit about thirty times, but only one shell
went through a window into the interior, the others breaking the
brick window-moulding and the roof cornices.

The clock over the Spasskaya Gate was smashed. Troitsky Gate was
battered, but easily reparable. One of the lower towers had lost its
brick spire.

The church of St. Basil was untouched, as was the great Imperial
Palace, with all the treasures of Moscow and Petrograd in its cellar,
and the crown jewels in the Treasury. These places were not even
entered.

2.

LUNATCHARSKY’s DECLARATION

“Comrades! You are the young masters of the country, and although now
you have much to do and think about, you must know how to defend your
artistic and scientific treasures.

“Comrades! That which is happening at Moscow is a horrible,
irreparable misfortune…. The People in its struggle for the power has
mutilated our glorious capital.

“It is particularly terrible in these days of violent struggle, of
destructive warfare, to be Commissar of Public Education. Only the
hope of the victory of Socialism, the source of a new and superior
culture, brings me comfort. On me weighs the responsibility of
protecting the artistic wealth of the people…. Not being able to
remain at my post, where I had no influence, I resigned. My comrades,
the other Commissars, considered this resignation inadmissible. I
shall therefore remain at my post…. And moreover, I understand that
the damage done to the Kremlin is not as serious as has been
reported….

“But I beg you, comrades, to give me your support…. Preserve for
yourselves and your descendants the beauty of our land; be the
guardians of the property of the People.

“Soon, very soon, even the most ignorant, who have been held in
ignorance so long, will awake and understand what a source of joy,
strength and wisdom is art….”

3.

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE BOURGEOISIE

[Graphic page-354]

4.

REVOLUTIONARY FINANCIAL MEASURE
_Order_

In virtue of the powers vested in me by the Military Revolutionary
Committee attached to the Moscow Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’
Deputies, I decree:

1. All banks with branches, the Central State Savings Bank with
branches, and the savings banks at the Post and Telegraph offices are
to be opened beginning November 22nd, from 11 A. M. to 1 P. M. until
further order.

2. On current accounts and on the books of the savings banks,
payments will be made by the above mentioned institutions, of not
more than 150 rubles for each depositor during the course of the next
week.

3. Payments of amounts exceeding 150 rubles a week on current
accounts and savings banks books, also payments on other accounts of
all kinds will be allowed during the next three days—November 22nd,
23d, and 24th, only in the following cases:

(a) On the accounts of military organisations for the satisfaction of
their needs;

(b) For the payment of salaries of employees and the earnings of
workers according to the tables and lists certified by the Factory
Committees or Soviets of Employees, and attested by the signatures of
the Commissars, or the representatives of the Military Revolutionary
Committee, and the district Military Revolutionary Committees.

4. Not more than 150 rubles are to be paid against drafts; the
remaining sums are to be entered on current account, payments on
which are to be made in the order established by the present decree.

5. All other banking operations are prohibited during these three
days.

6. The receipt of money on all accounts is allowed for any amount.

7. The representatives of the Finance Council for the certification
of the authorisations indicated in clause 3 will hold their office in
the building of the Stock Exchange, Ilyinka Street, from 10 A. M. to
2 P. M.

8. The Banks and Savings Banks shall send the totals of daily cash
operations by 5 P. M. to the headquarters of the Soviet, Skobeliev
Square, to the Military Revolutionary Committee, for the Finance
Council.

9. All employees and managers of credit institutions of all kinds who
refuse to comply with this decree shall be responsible as enemies of
the Revolution and of the mass of the population, before the
Revolutionary Tribunals. Their names shall be published for general
information.

10. For the control of the operations of Branches of the Savings
Banks and Banks within the limits of this decree, the district
Military Revolutionary Committees shall elect three representatives
and appoint their place of business.

_Fully-authorised Commissar of the Military Revolutionary Committee,_

S. SHEVERDIN-MAKSIMENKO.

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XI

1.

LIMITATIONS OF THIS CHAPTER

This chapter extends over a period of two months, more or less. It
covers the time of negotiations with the Allies, the negotiations and
armistice with the Germans, and the beginning of the Peace
negotiations at Brest-Litovsk, as well as the period in which were
laid the foundations of the Soviet State.

However, it is no part of my purpose in this book to describe and
interpret these very important historical events, which require more
space. They are therefore reserved for another volume, "Kornilov to
Brest-Litovsk."

In this chapter, then, I have confined myself to the Soviet
Government's attempts to consolidate its political power at home, and
sketched its successive conquests of hostile domestic elements—which
process was temporarily interrupted by the disastrous Peace of
Brest-Litovsk.

2.

PREAMBLE—DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLES OF RUSSIA

The October Revolution of the workers and peasants began under the
common banner of Emancipation.

The peasants are being emancipated from the power of the landowners,
for there is no longer the landowner's property right in the land—it
has been abolished. The soldiers and sailors are being emancipated
from the power of autocratic generals, for generals will henceforth
be elective and subject to recall. The workingmen are being
emancipated from the whims and arbitrary will of the capitalists, for
henceforth there will be established the control of the workers over
mills and factories. Everything living and capable of life is being
emancipated from the hateful shackles.

There remain only the peoples of Russia, who have suffered and are
suffering oppression and arbitrariness, and whose emancipation must
immediately be begun, whose liberation must be effected resolutely
and definitely.

During the period of Tsarism the peoples of Russia were
systematically incited against one another. The result of such a
policy are known: massacres and _pogroms_ on the one hand, slavery of
peoples on the other.

There can be and there must be no return to this disgraceful policy.
Henceforth the policy of a voluntary and honest union of the peoples
of Russia must be substituted.

In the period of imperialism, after the March revolution, when the
power was transferred into the hands of the Cadet bourgeoisie, the
naked policy of provocation gave way to one of cowardly distrust of
the peoples of Russia, to a policy of fault-finding, of meaningless
"freedom" and "equality" of peoples. The results of such a policy are
known: the growth of national enmity, the impairment of mutual
confidence.

An end must be put to this unworthy policy of falsehood and distrust,
of fault-finding and provocation. Henceforth it must be replaced by
an open and honest policy leading to the complete mutual confidence
of the peoples of Russia. Only as the result of such a trust can
there be formed an honest and lasting union of the peoples of Russia.
Only as the result of such a union can the workers and peasants of
the peoples of Russia be cemented into one revolutionary force able
to resist all attempts on the part of the imperialist-annexationist
bourgeoisie.

3.

DECREES
_On the Nationalisation of the Banks_

In the interest of the regular organisation of the national economy,
of the thorough eradication of bank speculation and the complete
emancipation of the workers, peasants, and the whole labouring
population from the exploitation of banking capital, and with a view
to the establishment of a single national bank of the Russian
Republic which shall serve the real interests of the people and the
poorer classes, the Central Executive Committee _(Tsay-ee-kah)_
resolves:

1. The banking business is declared a state monopoly.

2. All existing private joint-stock banks and banking offices are
merged in the State Bank.

3. The assets and liabilities of the liquidated establishments are
taken over by the State Bank.

4. The order of the merger of private banks in the State Bank is to
be determined by a special decree.

5. The temporary administration of the affairs of the private banks
is entrusted to the board of the State Bank.

6. The interests of the small depositors will be safeguarded.

* * * * *

_On the Equality of Rank of All Military Men_

In realisation of the will of the revolutionary people regarding the
prompt and decisive abolition of all remnants of former inequality in
the Army, the Council of People's Commissars decrees:

1. All ranks and grades in the Army, beginning with the rank of
Corporal and ending with the rank of General, are abolished. The Army
of the Russian Republic consists now of free and equal citizens,
bearing the honourable title of Soldiers of the Revolutionary Army.

2. All privileges connected with the former ranks and grades, also
all outward marks of distinction, are abolished.

3. All addressing by titles is abolished.

4. All decorations, orders, and other marks of distinction are
abolished.

5. With the abolition of the rank of officer, all separate officers'
organisations are abolished.

Note.—Orderlies are left only for headquarters, chanceries,
Committees and other Army organisations.

_President of the Council of People's Commissars,_
VL. ULIANOV (LENIN).

_People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs,_
N. KRYLENKO.

_People's Commissar for Military Affairs,_
N. PODVOISKY.

_Secretary of the Council,_
N. GORBUNOV.
* * * * *

_On the Elective Principle and the Organisation of Authority in the
Army_

1. The army serving the will of the toiling people is subject to its
supreme representative—the Council of People's Commissars.

2. Full authority within the limits of military units and
combinations is vested in the respective Soldiers' Committees and
Soviets.

3. Those phases of the life and activity of the troops which are
already under the jurisdiction of the Committees are now formally
placed in their direct control. Over such branches of activity which
the Committees cannot assume, the control of the Soldiers' Soviets is
established.

4. The election of commanding Staff and officers is introduced. All
commanders up to the commanders of regiments, inclusive, are elected
by general suffrage of squads, platoons, companies, squadrons,
batteries, divisions (artillery, 2-3 batteries), and regiments. All
commanders higher than the commander of a regiment, and up to the
Supreme Commander, inclusive, are elected by congresses or
conferences of Committees.

Note.—By the term "conference" must be understood a meeting of the
respective Committees together with delegates of committees one
degree lower in rank. (Such as a "conference" of Regimental
Committees with delegates from Company Committees.—Author.)

5. The elected commanders above the rank of commander of regiment
must be confirmed by the nearest Supreme Committee.

Note. In the event of a refusal by a Supreme Committee to confirm an
elected commander, with a statement of reasons for such refusal, a
commander elected by the lower Committee a second time must be
confirmed.

6. The commanders of Armies are elected by Army congresses.
Commanders of Fronts are elected by congresses of the respective
Fronts.

7. To posts of a technical character, demanding special knowledge or
other practical preparation, namely: doctors, engineers, technicians,
telegraph and wireless operators, aviators, automobilists, etc.,
only such persons as possess the required special knowledge may be
elected, by the Committees of the units of the respective services.

8. Chiefs of Staff must be chosen from among persons with special
military training for that post.

9. All other members of the Staff are appointed by the Chief of
Staff, and confirmed by the respective congresses.

Note.—All persons with special training must be listed in a special
list.

10. The right is reserved to retire from the service all commanders
on active service who are not elected by the soldiers to any post,
and who consequently are ranked as privates.

11. All other functions beside those pertaining to the command, with
the exception of posts in the economic departments, are filled by
appointment of the respective elected commanders.

12. Detailed instructions regarding the elections of the commanding
Staff will be published separately.

_President of the Council of People's Commissars._

VL. ULIANOV (LENIN).

_People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs,_

N. KRYLENKO.

_People's Commissar for Military Affairs,_

N. PODVOISKY.

_Secretary of the Council,_

N. GORBUNOV.

* * * * *

_On the Abolition of Classes and Titles_

1. All classes and class divisions, all class privileges and
delimitations, all class organisations and institutions and all civil
ranks are abolished.

2. All classes of society (nobles, merchants, petty bourgeois,
etc.),and all titles (Prince, Count and others), and all
denominations of civil rank (Privy State Councillor, and others), are
abolished, and there is established the general denomination of
Citizen of the Russian Republic.

3. The property and institutions of the classes of nobility are
transferred to the corresponding autonomous Zemstvos.

4. The property of merchant and bourgeois organisations is
transferred immediately to the Municipal Self-Governments.

5. All class institutions of any sort, with their property, their
rules of procedure, and their archives, are transferred to the
administration of the Municipalities and Zemstvos.

6. All articles of existing laws applying to these matters are
herewith repealed.

7. The present decree becomes effective on the day it is published
and applied by the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants'
Deputies.

The present decree has been confirmed by the _Tsay-ee-kah_ at the
meeting of November 23d, 1917, and signed by:

_President of the Tsay-ee-kah,_

SVERDLOV.

_President of the Council of People's Commissars,_

VL. ULIANOV (LENIN).

_Executive of the Council of People's Commissars,_

V. BONCH-BRUEVITCH.

_Secretary of the Council,_

N. GORBUNOV.

* * * * *

On December 3d the Council of People's Commissars resolved "to reduce
the salaries of functionaries and employees in all Government
institutions and establishments, general or special, without
exception."

To begin with, the Council fixed the salary of a People's Commissar
at 500 rubles per month, with 100 rubles additional for each grown
member of the family incapable of work….

This was the highest salary paid to any Government official….

4.

Countess Panina was arrested and brought to trial before the first
Supreme Revolutionary Tribunal. The trial is described in the chapter
on "Revolutionary Justice" in my forthcoming volume, "Kornilov to
Brist- Litovsk." The prisoner was sentenced to "return the money, and
then be liberated to the public contempt." In other words, she was
set free!

5.

RIDICULE OF THE NEW RÉGIME

From _Drug Naroda_ (Menshevik), November 18th:

"The story of the 'immediate peace' of the Bolsheviki reminds us of a
joyous moving-picture film…. Neratov runs—Trotzky pursues; Neratov
climbs a wall, Trotzky too; Neratov dives into the water—Trotzky
follows; Neratov climbs onto the roof—Trotzky right behind him;
Neratov hides under the bed—and Trotzky has him! He has him!
Naturally, peace is immediately signed….

"All is empty and silent at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
couriers are respectful, but their faces wear a caustic expression….

"How about arresting an ambassador and signing an armistice or a
Peace Treaty with him? But they are strange folk, these ambassadors.
They keep silent just as if they had heard nothing. Hola, hola,
England, France, Germany! We have signed an armistice with you! Is it
possible that you know nothing about it? Nevertheless, it has been
published in all the papers and posted on all the walls. On a
Bolshevik's word of honour, Peace has been signed. We're not asking
much of you; you just have to write two words….

"The ambassadors remain silent. The Powers remain silent. All is
empty and silent in the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"'Listen,' says Robespierre-Trotzky to his assistant Marat-Uritzky,
'run over to the British Ambassador's, tell him we're proposing
peace!'

"'Go yourself,' says Marat-Uritzky. 'He's not receiving.'

"'Telephone him, then.'

"'I've tried. The receiver's off the hook.'

"'Send him a telegram.'

"'I did.'

"'Well, with what result?'

"Marat-Uritzky sighs and does not answer. Robespierre-Trotzky spits
furiously into the corner….

"'Listen, Marat,' recommences Trotzky, after a moment. 'We must
absolutely show that we're conducting an active foreign policy. How
can we do that?'

"'Launch another decree about arresting Neratov,' answers Uritzky,
with a profound air.

"'Marat, you're a blockhead!' cries Trotzky. All of a sudden he
arises, terrible and majestic, looking at this moment like
Robespierre.

"'Write, Uritzky!' he says with severity. 'Write a letter to the
British ambassador, a registered letter with receipt demanded. Write!
I also will write! The peoples of the world await an immediate peace!'

"In the enormous and empty Ministry of Foreign Affairs are to be
heard only the sound of two typewriters. With his own hands Trotzky
is conducting an active foreign policy…."

6.

ON THE QUESTION OF AN AGREEMENT

To the Attention of All Workers and All Soldiers.

November 11th, in the club of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, was held
an extraordinary meeting of representatives of all the units of the
Petrograd garrison.

The meeting was called upon the initiative of the Preobrazhensky and
Semionovsky Regiments, for the discussion of the question as to which
Socialist parties are for the power of the Soviets, which are
against, which are for the people, which against, and if an agreement
between them is possible.

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