It is necessary to periodically remind of this in order not to succumb to speculation on this topic by the liberals and their allies. Today, not only the media, but also the Russian authorities are actively raising the issue of the Constituent Assembly, the dissolution of which they are trying to present as a crime of the Bolsheviks and violation of the "natural", "normal" historical path of Russia ... But is it?

The very idea of ​​the Constituent Assembly as a form of government similar to the Zemsky Sobor (which elected Mikhail Romanov tsar on February 21, 1613) was put forward in 1825 by the Decembrists, then, in the 1860s, it was supported by the organizations "Land and Freedom" and "People will ", and in 1903 the demand for the convocation of the Constituent Assembly was included in its program of the RSDLP. But during the First Russian Revolution of 1905-07. the masses proposed a higher form of democracy - the Soviets. “The Russian people have made a giant leap — the leap from tsarism to the Soviets. This is an irrefutable and nowhere else unprecedented fact ”(V. Lenin, vol. 35, p. 239). After the February Revolution of 1917 The Provisional Government, which overthrew the tsar, until October 1917 did not resolve a single sore issue and in every possible way delayed the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, the election of whose delegates began only after the overthrow of the Provisional Government , 12 (25) November 1917 and continued until January 1918. On October 25 (November 7), 1917, the October Socialist Revolution took place under the slogan "All Power to the Soviets!" Before her, a split occurred in the Socialist-Revolutionary Party into left and right; the left followed the Bolsheviks who led this revolution (that is, the balance of political forces changed). On October 26, 1917, the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopted the Declaration of the Working and Exploited People. Decrees of the Soviet government followed, resolving the most painful issues: the decree on peace; on the nationalization of land, banks, factories; about an eight-hour working day and others.

The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly opened on January 5 (18), 1918 in the Tauride Palace of Petrograd, where they gathered 410 delegates out of 715 elected (i.e. 57.3%)... The Presidium, which consisted of Right Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, refused to consider the Declaration and to recognize the decrees of the Soviet government. Then the Bolsheviks (120 delegates) left the hall. Behind them are the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (150 more). Only 140 out of 410 delegates remained (34% of the participants or 19.6% of the elected). It is clear that in such a composition the decisions of the Constituent Assembly could not be considered legitimate, so the meeting was interrupted at five o'clock in the morning on January 6 (19), 1918 by a guard of revolutionary sailors. On January 6 (19), 1918, the Council of People's Commissars decided to dissolve the Constituent Assembly, and on the same day this decision was formalized by a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, which, in particular, said: “The Constituent Assembly severed all ties between itself and the Soviet Republic of Russia. The departure from such a Constituent Assembly of the Bolsheviks and Left SR factions, which now constitute a deliberately overwhelming majority in the Soviets and enjoy the confidence of the workers and the majority of peasants, was inevitable ... It is clear that the remainder of the Constituent Assembly can therefore play the role of only a cover for the struggle of the bourgeois counter-revolution for the overthrow of the power of the Soviets. Therefore, the Central Executive Committee decides: the Constituent Assembly is dissolved. "

This decree was approved on January 19 (31), 1918 by the delegates of the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets - 1647 with a casting vote and 210 with an advisory vote. In the same Tauride Palace of Petrograd. (By the way, the speakers were the Bolsheviks: according to the Report - Lenin, Sverdlov; by education of the RSFSR - Stalin).

Only on June 8, 1918, in Samara, "liberated" from Soviet power as a result of the uprising of the Czechoslovak corps, five delegates from among the right SRs (I. Brushvit, V. Volsky - chairman, P. Klimushkin, I. Nesterov and B. Fortunatov) were educated The Committee of Members of the All-Russian Constituent Assembly (Komuch), which played a truly "outstanding" role in fomenting the civil war in Russia... But even during the period of the highest prosperity of Komuch, at the beginning of autumn 1918, it included total 97 out of 715 delegates (13,6%) ... In the future, the "opposition" delegates to the Constituent Assembly from among the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks did not play any independent role in the "white" movement, since they were considered, if not "red", then "pink", but some of them were shot by the Kolchakites for "revolutionary propaganda".

These are the historical facts. From which it follows that p The real logic of the revolutionary and political struggle in general is very far from the logic of "crocodile tears" of domestic liberals who are ready to mourn the “death of Russian democracy” in January 1918, successfully and without any damage to themselves “digesting” the results of the “victory of Russian democracy” in October 1993, although the sailor Zheleznyak and his comrades did not at all shoot their political opponents with machine guns ( we are not even talking about tank guns here).

In conclusion, one can only repeat the well-known Lenin's words: "The assimilation of the October Revolution by the people has not yet ended" (V. I. Lenin, vol. 35, p. 241). They are still very relevant today.

Convocation and dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.

1) The idea of ​​the Constituent Assembly (CA) originated in 1905. US - a parliamentary institution, elected by all the people on the basis of party lists. Universal, equal, direct, secret ballot.

The problem of the US determine the social and state structure of Russia.

2) In its first declaration of 03/02/1917, the Provisional Government stated that it considers its main task to convene the US. March 13, a special meeting was established to create the "US Election Regulations" The elections were postponed to 12.11, and the convocation to 28.11. 3) Selected 715 members of the US 412 of them are Socialist-Revolutionaries, 183 Bolsheviks, 17 Mensheviks, 16 Cadets, 81 deputies from national groups. 12.12 the theses of the RSDLP (b) were published. The author is Lenin. "The interests of the revolution are above the formal rights of the US." On November 28, the interim chairman of the U.S. Chernov was elected. In late November, the Union for the Protection of the United States was formed. On 01/05/1918, in the Tauride Palace, the US was opened. chaired by Chernov. Sverdlov proposed to support the Soviet government and all its decrees, or to disperse. Since the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs who supported them were in the minority, this meant that they were threatened with the loss of power. In view of the fact that the majority of the delegates refused to recognize the Provisional Workers 'and Peasants' Government and demanded the transfer of all power to the United States, on the night of January 5-6, 1918, Lenin, at a meeting of the SNK members, proposed to let the delegates speak out to the end, but in the morning do not let anyone into the meeting. By order of the People's Commissar for Maritime Affairs, Dybenko, the guard dispersed the US, and many of its members were arrested and then shot. On January 6, 1918, Sverdlov, as chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, signed a decree on the dissolution of the United States.

Third Congress of Soviets

The dissolved "constituent assembly" was opposed by the III Congress of Soviets, which opened on January 10, 1918. It began work as a congress of workers 'and soldiers' deputies, but on the 13th it merged with the All-Russian Peasant Congress. On 13-18.01 the 3rd Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies is already working. 60% of the deputies were Bolsheviks.

Congress decisions:

1) The Congress approved Lenin's "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People", in which Russia was defined as "the republic of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies." This was the first constitutional act, which later constituted the 1st section of the first Soviet Constitution.

2) The congress approved the measures taken by the Soviet government aimed at achieving universal democratic peace.

3) The congress adopted a resolution on the federal institutions of the Soviet republic. The Russian republic was established on the basis of the union of nations, as a federation of Soviet national republics.

4) Approval of the policy of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars.

5) The law on the socialization of the land was adopted.

6) All decrees have been put into effect, i.e. are no longer temporary. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets was announced as the supreme body of power. In the intervals between congresses - the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

Single meeting

The Social Revolutionaries appointed a demonstration in support of the Constituent Assembly on the day of the opening of the Constituent Assembly, to the defense of which they planned to involve the soldiers of the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments, who at critical moments in 1917 remained neutral or even opposed the Bolsheviks. The chairman of the Constituent Assembly, Socialist Revolutionary Viktor Chernov, recalled: "The Preobrazhentsi and Semenovites adopted resolutions in favor of the Constituent Assembly. They did not want to believe in the possibility of its defeat. But in case of violent measures against the people's representatives, they agreed to go to its defense, especially if they were supported by an armored division, also repeatedly spoke in favor of the Constituent Assembly. The armored division was going to demonstrate this loyalty on the day of its opening. " However, Chernov continues, "on the night before the opening of the Constituent Assembly, the repair shop workers organized by the Bolsheviks did the job entrusted to them. Through skillful" technical sabotage "the armored vehicles were turned into motionless, like paralyzed piles of iron." The result was logical: "In the barracks of the Transfiguration and Semenovites, the mood is gloomy and depressed. They were waiting for the arrival of armored cars and were ready to go with them to the Tauride Palace, hoping that under such conditions the Bolsheviks would retreat without bloodshed. The armored cars did not come. The mood fell."

Thus, only unarmed peaceful crowds remained on the side of the opponents of the Bolsheviks. "Pravda" threatened the day before: "This will be a demonstration of the enemies of the people. On January 5, saboteurs, the bourgeoisie, and servants of the bourgeoisie will demonstrate on the streets of Petrograd. Not a single honest worker, not a single conscientious soldier will take part in this demonstration of enemies of the people. Every attempt to penetrate by groups of counterrevolutionaries" in the area of ​​the Tauride Palace will be energetically stopped by military force. "

However, these threats did not work. From the morning of January 5 (18), many, many thousands of "saboteurs" and "servants of the bourgeoisie" walked from different parts of the city to the Tauride Palace.

However, already on the distant approaches to it, they were stopped by armed patrols. What happened next is best described by an eyewitness: "A Red Guard in a gray jacket and white hat tore out the banner from the old man and beat him with his saber. The old man cried, but did not give the banner. Some woman rushed to his aid. She began to ask the Red Guard to leave the old man. The Red Guard responded by hitting the woman on the arm with a saber. Blood spurted from under the coat. Having snatched the banner from the old man, the Red Guard burned it along with other taken away banners. "

None of the demonstrations in support of the Constituent Assembly ever made their way to the Tauride Palace that day.

According to official data, on January 5 (18), nine people died in Petrograd. They were buried on January 9 (22), on the 13th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, next to his victims. In Moscow, on the day of the opening of the Constituent Assembly, six people also became victims of the dispersal of a demonstration in support of it. There were victims in other cities as well. For example, as a result of the shooting of a demonstration in the city of Kozlov (now Michurinsk in the Tambov region), at least 20 people were killed the next day after the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly.

Pravda wrote the day after the demonstration in Petrograd: "Only the most insignificant groups of workers joined this counter-revolutionary demonstration, and, unfortunately, several casual victims were snatched from their ranks."

The opening of the Constituent Assembly itself was scheduled for noon. Viktor Chernov recalled: “The opening of the meeting was supposed to take place at noon: but the Bolsheviks and their allies still continue to confer. An hour passes in the afternoon: they are not ready. The second hour expires: the same. gain a quorum ".

As a result, the meeting of the Constituent Assembly was nevertheless opened at about four o'clock in the afternoon. And already at the stage of its opening it became obvious that its fate was a foregone conclusion.

In the "Conclusion of the Legal Conference on the Procedure for Opening the Constituent Assembly ..." it was suggested, by tradition, "to recognize the oldest deputy as the temporary presiding officer." However, on November 26 (December 9), the Council of People's Commissars adopted its decree on the conditions for the opening of the Constituent Assembly, which stated that "the meeting is opened by a person authorized to do so by the Council of People's Commissars."

The SRs, who had a majority in the Constituent Assembly, decided to adhere to the conclusion of the legal conference. The oldest deputy was the Socialist-Revolutionary Yegor Lazarev, however, obviously, given the severity of this mission in the circumstances, the Socialist-Revolutionaries opted for the second oldest, but physically stronger Sergei Shvetsov. Here is how Viktor Chernov describes what follows: "The figure of SP Shvetsov rises to the podium. And at once, at the signal, a terrifying cacophony is heard. Stamping feet, clattering of music stands, screams, a cat's concert. The Left Socialist-Revolutionary sector is competing with the Bolsheviks.

Yakov Sverdlov
Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee

Choirs join. Knocks the butts on the floor of the guard. He takes the bell. You can see how he dangles in his hand. But no sound is heard. He puts the bell on the table - a figure immediately takes possession of it and carries it away to hand it to Sverdlov who enters the hall. Taking advantage of the momentary lull, Shvetsov manages to utter the sacramental phrase: "The meeting of the Constituent Assembly is opening." Another explosion of deafening din. Shvetsov leaves the podium and returns to us. His place is taken by Sverdlov to open the meeting for the second time in the name of the Council of People's Commissars. "

Chernov is biased, but he does not misrepresent the facts. This is what the Bolshevik Fyodor Raskolnikov recalled about this moment with some pride: “Seeing that Shvetsov is seriously going to open the meeting, we start a frenzied obstruction: shouting, whistling, stamping our feet, banging our fists on thin wooden music stands. When all this does not help, we jump up from their seats and shouting “Down with!” we rush to the chairman’s rostrum. Right SRs rush to the defense of the oldest. A light hand-to-hand fight takes place on the parquet steps of the rostrum. ”

The audience in the choir, which Chernov mentions, did indeed play a significant role in disorganizing the only meeting of the Constituent Assembly. As Chernov wrote, "tickets to the galleries were distributed by Uritsky. And distributed ..." Obviously, as a result of this distribution, the majority of the audience in the choirs were supporters of the Bolsheviks. There are memoirs of a typist from the apparatus of Uritsky E.P. Selyugina under the unambiguous title "How I Dispersed the Constituent Assembly", in which she tells how, equipped with rattles and whistles, on command, the audience raised a noise and shouted what the prominent party worker Sergei Gusev, hiding behind the curtain, suggested to them. “We gathered on this day for a meeting, like in a theater, we knew that there would be no action today, there would be only a spectacle,” wrote the Left Socialist-Revolutionary Sergei Mstislavsky, who was not himself a deputy.

Victor Chernov
Leader of the Social Revolutionaries-centrists

Maria Spiridonova
One of the leaders of the Left Social Revolutionaries

However, let us return to the question of the presiding officer, since Yakov Sverdlov only had to open the session. The Social Revolutionaries nominated Viktor Chernov as chairman, who had previously been elected head of the dispersed private meeting of the members of the Constituent Assembly. As the secretary of the Constituent Assembly Mark Vishnyak wrote, the former chairman of the Pre-Parliament, also dispersed by the Bolsheviks, Nikolai Avksentyev, would have been a much better candidate, but "there was no choice - the natural chairman Avksentiev was in the Peter and Paul Fortress." "Moreover, Chernov was less affected by the Bolshevik slander and falsehood than other Socialist-Revolutionary leaders," added Vishnyak.

The Bolsheviks nominated, in defiance of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, and in the hope of pulling off some of their votes, the candidacy of the left-wing Socialist-Revolutionary Maria Spiridonova, famous for her terrorist past, but their plan failed: Chernov was nevertheless elected by a large margin as chairman of the Constituent Assembly.

The very fact that the Constituent Assembly had one chairman, and not a full-fledged presidium, was caused by the fear of the Socialist-Revolutionaries that the Bolsheviks would be able to disrupt the meeting, leaving it and thus making the incomplete presidium illegitimate. The "Constituent Assembly could" occupy "the presidium elections and kill the entire meeting.<...>It was necessary to end the first session by all means so that after it something would be left.<...>Hence the special "First Day Commission" formed by the Bureau of the Socialist-Revolutionary faction.<...>Her plan was simple. Yielding and retreating in front of the enemy, do not under any circumstances accept a battle at disadvantageous positions, "wrote Mark Vishnyak. However, as you know, these tricks did not save the Constituent Assembly." and the non-parliamentary cynicism of the Bolsheviks, "Vishnyak stated.

Already in the speech preceding Spiridonova's nomination as a candidate for chairperson, the Bolshevik Ivan Skvortsov-Stepanov said: “Citizens sitting to the right, the gap between us has long been completed. You were on one side of the barricade with the White Guards and cadets, we were on the other side of the barricade with the soldiers , workers and peasants. Everything is over between us. You are in one world - with the Cadets and the bourgeoisie; we are in another world - with peasants and workers. "

The Bolsheviks "went out" to the Constituent Assembly with the "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People" written by Lenin with the participation of Stalin and Bukharin, which, among other things, said:

The Constituent Assembly resolves:

Russia is declared a republic of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. All power in the center and in the localities belongs to these Soviets.

Supporting Soviet power and the decrees of the Council of People's Commissars, the Constituent Assembly recognizes that its tasks are limited to a general elaboration of the fundamental foundations of the socialist reorganization of society.

As Mark Vishnyak wrote, "Lenin could formulate his conditions in a simpler and shorter way: let the anti-Bolsheviks become Bolsheviks, and the Constituent Assembly will be recognized as competent and, perhaps, even sovereign." However, no one, primarily the Bolsheviks themselves, had the illusion that the non-Bolshevik part of the Constituent Assembly would never accept this document, which was a pretext to leave it. A few days later, the "Declaration ..." was adopted by the III Congress of Soviets with minimal changes. Where the "Constituent Assembly Decides" was previously printed, now there was "The Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies Decides".

Viktor Chernov wrote: "Whoever reads the verbatim record of this meeting will not have even the remotest impression of what actually happened." Indeed, the transcript of the only meeting of the Constituent Assembly looks oddly short given that it lasted about 12 hours. However, if you start reading it and know a few additional facts, it no longer seems strange. Firstly, the meeting was full of bedlam, and the speech of almost every speaker was constantly interrupted by shouts from their seats, if not worse. So, for example, in the transcript there is such a moment:

Efremov. Citizens are members of the Constituent Assembly. Before I say something that is torn from my heart and from my soul, I want to ... (Voice: There will be murder! A revolver is being taken from a member of the Constituent Assembly.)

Perhaps the transcript reflects this situation described by Viktor Chernov: "The Left SR men are rebelling: they have been ordered from the Constituent Assembly to obtain a peasant labor right to land. There is disorganization and bickering in their ranks. One Left SR suddenly grabs a revolver and threatens another."

Chernov himself was shouted from the audience during his speech: "You cannot do without a bullet!" Left SR Aleksey Feofilaktov almost shot Irakli Tsereteli on the rostrum - at the last moment he was disarmed by one of the leaders of the faction, Vladimir Karelin. This is how Mark Vishnyak describes this episode: "The revolvers were taken out and almost put into action in another place - on the Left SR and Ukrainian benches. All you can see are facial expressions, gestures and a revolver selected by Karelin, the" senior "in the Left SR faction. forgiveness, bastard! "

Secondly, a huge part of the meeting was occupied by the introductory part. It is known that the presidential election alone lasted three (!) Hours. Another two hours took Viktor Chernov's speech, which was interrupted more than 60 times. Speech, by the way, was extremely weak. “It was not that. It was one of many, everyday and ordinary-routine speeches - far from the best even for Chernov,” wrote Mark Vishnyak. Even worse, in the opinion of many, was the fact that in his speech Chernov seemed to flirt with the Bolsheviks and left a loophole for the possibility of further joint work with them.

Irakli Tsereteli
Member of the Menshevik faction in
Constituent Assembly

The remaining time was spent on recriminations and demagoguery. Against this background, the brilliant speech of the Menshevik Irakli Tsereteli, who in the summer of 1917 was perhaps the most authoritative figure in the Soviets, stands out sharply. "Met by a roar and howl, unusual even for this meeting: -" Traitor! .. Executioner! Traitor! .. Death penalty! (I mean support for the restoration of the death penalty at the front by the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets, which included Tsereteli - note. TASS) "- by the end of his speech, he managed to force himself to listen to the Bolsheviks," Vishnyak wrote. However, even this brilliant speech could not influence the course of the one who was striving for the obvious end of the meeting.

As a result, at about 11 pm, at the request of the Bolsheviks, a break was announced in the meeting. During this break, a meeting of the Bolshevik faction took place, at which, after Lenin's speech, the decision to leave the Constituent Assembly was approved.

Fyodor Raskolnikov
Member of the Bolshevik faction in
Constituent Assembly

It is interesting that Lenin himself was extremely nervous on the eve of the opening of the meeting and at the initial stage of its meeting. Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich wrote that Lenin "was worried and was deathly pale as never before." However, very soon, seeing what was happening, Lenin calmed down, collapsed in his chair, and then completely "reclined on the steps (tribune - TASS note) now with a bored look, now laughing cheerfully." "Lenin in the" government box "demonstrates his contempt for the" Constituent Assembly ", lying down at full length and taking the form of a man who has fallen asleep from boredom," - confirmed Viktor Chernov. However, after a few hours, the stress suffered by Lenin still made itself felt. Nikolai Bukharin recalled: “On the night of the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, Vladimir Ilyich called me over. I had a bottle of good wine in my coat pocket, and we sat at the table for a long time. he suddenly laughed. He laughed for a long time, repeated to himself the words of the narrator and kept laughing, laughing. Cheerfully, infectious, to tears. Laughed. We did not immediately understand that it was hysterics.

After the end of the break, only two Bolsheviks returned to the hall. One of them, Fyodor Raskolnikov, read out the following declaration on behalf of his faction:

The overwhelming majority of working Russia - workers, peasants, soldiers, presented to the Constituent Assembly a demand to recognize the gains of the great October Revolution - Soviet decrees on land, peace, workers 'control, and above all to recognize the power of the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers 'and Peasants' Deputies.

The All-Russian Central Executive Committee, fulfilling the will of the vast majority of the working classes of Russia, proposed to the Constituent Assembly to recognize this will as binding on itself. The majority of the Constituent Assembly, however, in accordance with the claims of the bourgeoisie, rejected this proposal, challenging all working Russia.

The debate during the whole day showed firsthand that the party of the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, like under Kerensky, feeds the people with promises, in words promises him everything and everyone, but in fact decided to fight against the workers', peasants' and soldiers' Soviets, against socialist measures, against the transfer of lands and all equipment without redemption to the peasants, against the nationalization of banks, against the cancellation of state debts.

Not wishing for a minute to cover up the crimes of the enemies of the people, we declare that we are leaving this Constituent Assembly in order to hand over to the Soviet power the final decision on the question of the attitude towards the counter-revolutionary part of the Constituent Assembly.

According to the memoirs of Mark Vishnyak, "she (the declaration read out by Raskolnikov - TASS note) made a tremendous impression on the soldiers of the guard. Many of them took their rifles at the ready", preparing to shoot the rest of the Constituent Assembly. Further stay in the hall of the Tauride Palace finally began to pose a danger to the life of the members of the congregation:

“After the Bolsheviks left, more and more often, in order to pass the time,“ for entertainment, ”they raised their rifles and took aim at either one of those on the podium, or the glossy skull of old man Minor (Socialist-Revolutionary Osip Minor - approx. TASS) ... Shotguns and revolvers threatened to discharge themselves every minute, hand bombs and grenades - to explode on their own. ”Some sailor, recognizing in Bunakov-Fundaminsky (SR Ilya Fondaminsky - approx. And only the frenzied cry of a random neighbor “brother, come to your senses!”, accompanied by a blow on the shoulder, stopped the mischievous sailor.

Some of the members of the assembly are trying to convince the soldiers of the correctness of the Constituent Assembly and the crime of the Bolsheviks. I hear:

And a bullet for Lenin if he deceives him! ..

The commandant's office helpfully informs that the authorities do not guarantee the deputies from being shot in the meeting room. "

After leaving the Constituent Assembly, the Bolsheviks held a meeting of the Council of People's Commissars right there, in the Tauride Palace, at which Lenin sketched the theses of the decree on the dissolution of the meeting, which was adopted by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee a day later.

Soon after the Bolsheviks, the Left SRs also left the meeting. The "counter-revolutionary part" of the Constituent Assembly that remained in the hall, despite the behavior of the audience in the choirs, tried to move towards the adoption of the long-awaited laws on peace, land and state structure in Russia.

However, pretty soon the famous scene took place, which already in the transcript itself is so eloquent that it does not need additional comments:

"Chairman (reads)." The right of ownership of land within the Russian Republic is now and forever canceled ... "

Citizen sailor. "I received instructions to inform you that everyone present should leave the meeting room because the guard is tired."

Anatoly Zheleznyakov
Head of the Tavrichesky
palace

The "citizen sailor" was the same anarcho-communist Anatoly Zheleznyakov appointed by the head of the security, who went down in history with this phrase. A few days later, speaking from the same rostrum of the Tauride Palace, Zheleznyakov, who became a celebrity, proclaimed: "We are ready to shoot not just a few, but hundreds and thousands, if a million is needed, then a million."

How crumpled the rest of the meeting of the Constituent Assembly was, is, again, quite eloquently evidenced by the transcript:

Chairman. The following proposal was made: to end the meeting of this meeting by adopting the read part of the basic law on land without debate, and transfer the rest to the commission for submission within seven days. (A ballot.) The proposal was accepted. The peace resolution was also adopted. So, citizens, members of the Constituent Assembly, you have adopted the main provisions that I announced about the land issue ... on an equal footing ... (inaudible) ... within seven days.

A statement on appeal to the civilized world is adopted, read and announced by the chairman on the convocation of a socialist conference in Stockholm, an international conference on behalf of the Constituent Assembly of the Federal Russian Republic is proposed to be adopted together with a declaration by the allied and other powers. (A ballot.) Accepted ... One more addition on behalf of the Social Democratic (Menshevik - TASS) faction. I propose the following addition: "The Constituent Assembly declares ..." (Reads.) (Ballot.) Accepted.

At 04:40 on January 6 (19), the meeting of the Constituent Assembly was closed. The next meeting was scheduled for 17:00 on the same day. "Comrades soldiers and sailors" were ordered by Lenin "not to allow any violence against the counter-revolutionary part of the Constituent Assembly and, freely letting everyone out of the Tauride Palace, not to let anyone into it without special orders." However, evidence has survived that Anatoly Zheleznyakov considered the possibility of disobeying Lenin's orders and that well-wishers warned Viktor Chernov not to get into his car, near which a group of sailors crowded. The chairman of the Constituent Assembly left on foot in the opposite direction.

When the next day the first deputies approached the Tauride Palace at the appointed time, they found guards with machine guns and two field guns in front of the sealed doors, on which hung a notice: "By order of the commissar, the building of the Tauride Palace is closed."

A day after the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, on the night of January 7 (20), the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopted a decree on its dissolution, written by Vladimir Lenin, which stated:

The Constituent Assembly, elected from the lists drawn up before the October Revolution, was an expression of the old correlation of political forces, when the Compromisers and the Cadets were in power.

The people could not then, voting for the candidates of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, make a choice between the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, supporters of the bourgeoisie, and the Left, supporters of socialism. Thus, this Constituent Assembly, which was supposed to be the crown of the bourgeois parliamentary republic, could not but stand in the way of the October Revolution and Soviet power.

Any refusal from the full power of the Soviets, from the Soviet Republic conquered by the people in favor of bourgeois parliamentarism and the Constituent Assembly would now be a step back and the collapse of the entire October workers 'and peasants' revolution.

The Constituent Assembly, which was opened on January 5, gave, due to circumstances known to all, the majority of the party of the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, the parties of Kerensky, Avksentiev and Chernov. Naturally, this party refused to accept for discussion an absolutely precise, clear proposal that did not allow any misinterpretation of the supreme body of Soviet power, the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets, to recognize the program of Soviet power, to recognize the "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People", to recognize the October Revolution and Soviet power. Thus, the Constituent Assembly severed all ties between itself and the Soviet Republic of Russia. The departure from such a Constituent Assembly of the Bolshevik and Left Socialist-Revolutionary factions, which now constitute an admittedly overwhelming majority in the Soviets and enjoy the confidence of the workers and the majority of peasants, was inevitable.

It is clear that the rest of the Constituent Assembly can therefore play the role of only covering up the struggle of the bourgeois counter-revolution for the overthrow of the power of the Soviets.

Therefore, the Central Executive Committee decides:

The Constituent Assembly is dissolved.

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ALL-RUSSIAN ESTABLISHMENT MEETING. The convocation of the Constituent Assembly as the organ of the supreme democratic power was a demand of all socialist parties in pre-revolutionary Russia - from the People's Socialists to the Bolsheviks. Elections to the Constituent Assembly took place at the end of 1917. The overwhelming majority of voters who participated in the elections, about 90%, voted for the socialist parties, the socialists accounted for 90% of all deputies (the Bolsheviks received only 24% of the votes). But the Bolsheviks came to power under the slogan "All power to the Soviets!" They could maintain their autocracy, obtained at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, only relying on the Soviets, opposing them to the Constituent Assembly. At the Second Congress of Soviets, the Bolsheviks promised to convene the Constituent Assembly and recognize it as the authority on which "the solution of all major issues depends," but they did not intend to fulfill this promise. On December 3, at the congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies, Lenin, despite the protest of a number of delegates, declared: “The Soviets are above any parliaments, any Constituent Assembly. The Bolshevik Party has always said that the supreme body is the Soviets. " The Bolsheviks considered the Constituent Assembly their main rival in the struggle for power. Immediately after the elections, Lenin warned that the Constituent Assembly would “doom itself to political death” if it opposed Soviet power.

Lenin used the fierce struggle within the Socialist-Revolutionary Party and entered into a political bloc with the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. Despite disagreements with them on issues of a multi-party system and the dictatorship of the proletariat, a separate peace, freedom of the press, the Bolsheviks received the support they needed to stay in power. The Central Committee of the Social Revolutionaries, believing in the unconditional prestige and invulnerability of the Constituent Assembly, did not take real steps to protect it.

The Constituent Assembly opened on January 5, 1918 at the Tauride Palace. Ya.M. Sverdlov, who, by agreement of the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, was supposed to open the meeting, was late. Lenin was nervous because the question was decided: to be or not to be his government.

Taking advantage of the confusion on the left of the deputies, the Socialist-Revolutionary faction tried to seize the initiative and invited the oldest deputy, the Socialist-Revolutionary S.P. Shvetsov, to open the meeting. But when he went up to the podium, he was greeted by a furious noise, the whistles of the Bolsheviks. Confused, Shvetsov announced a break, but Sverdlov, who arrived in time, snatched the bell from his hands and, on behalf of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets, suggested continuing the Constituent Assembly. 244 votes against 151 elected the Socialist-Revolutionary V.M. Chernov as its chairman. In his speech, Chernov declared the desirability of working with the Bolsheviks, but on condition that they would not try to "push the Soviets against the Constituent Assembly." The Soviets, as class organizations, "should not claim to replace the Constituent Assembly," Chernov emphasized. He announced his readiness to put all the main questions to a referendum in order to put an end to the undermining of the Constituent Assembly, and in his person - under the rule of the people.

The Bolsheviks and Left SRs took Chernov's speech as open confrontation with the Soviets and demanded a break for factional meetings. They never returned to the conference room.

The members of the Constituent Assembly nevertheless opened the debate and decided not to disperse until the discussion of the documents prepared by the Social Revolutionaries on land, the state system, and peace was completed. But the chief of the guard, sailor Zheleznyak, demanded that the deputies leave the meeting hall, saying that "the guard was tired."

On January 6, the Council of People's Commissars adopted the theses on the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, and on the night of the 7th All-Russian Central Executive Committee approved the decrees.

On January 10, the third congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies opened in the Tauride Palace, convened in opposition to the Constituent Assembly. From the rostrum of the congress, sailor Zheleznyak told how he and a group of military men dispersed the "cowardly Constituent Assembly." The speech of Lenin's comrade-in-arms, LD Trotsky, sounded like class intransigence: “We know the Constituent Assembly by its deeds, by its composition, by its parties. They wanted to create a second chamber, the Chamber of Shadows of the February Revolution. And we in no way hide or conceal the fact that in the fight against this attempt we violated formal law. We also do not hide the fact that we used violence, but we did it in order to fight against all violence, we did it in the struggle for the triumph of the greatest ideals. "

The dispersal of the Constituent Assembly was not accepted by a significant part of the country's population, who pinned great hopes on the democratically elected institution.

Lenin's opponent in the struggle for power, Chernov, addressed him with an open letter, reminding him of his "solemn and oath promises to obey the will of the Constituent Assembly," and then dispersed it. He called Lenin a liar, "who stole the people's trust with deceitful promises and then blasphemously trampled on his word, his promises."

The Constituent Assembly was an important stage in the struggle of Lenin and the Bolsheviks against their political opponents in the socialist camp. They gradually cut off its most right-wing parts - first the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks in the days of the October Revolution of 1917, then the Socialists in the Constituent Assembly, and finally, their allies - the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries.

Efim Gimpelson

Application

The Russian revolution, from the very beginning, put forward the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies as a mass organization of all working people and exploited classes, the only one capable of leading the struggle of these classes for their complete political and economic emancipation.

During the entire first period of the Russian revolution, the Soviets multiplied, grew and strengthened, outliving from their own experience the illusion of compromise with the bourgeoisie, the deceitfulness of the forms of bourgeois-democratic parliamentarism, practically coming to the conclusion that it was impossible to liberate the oppressed classes without breaking with these forms and with any conciliation. Such a break was the October Revolution, the transfer of all power into the hands of the Soviets.

The Constituent Assembly, elected from the lists drawn up before the October Revolution, was an expression of the old correlation of political forces, when the Compromisers and the Cadets were in power.

The people could not then, voting for the candidates of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, make a choice between the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, supporters of the bourgeoisie, and the Left, supporters of socialism. Thus, this Constituent Assembly, which was supposed to be the crown of the bourgeois parliamentary republic, could not but stand in the way of the October Revolution and Soviet power. The October Revolution, having given power to the Soviets and through the Soviets to the working and exploited classes, evoked desperate resistance from the exploiters and in the suppression of this resistance fully revealed itself as the beginning of the socialist revolution.

The working classes had to be convinced by experience that the old bourgeois parliamentarism outlived itself, that it is completely incompatible with the tasks of realizing socialism, that not national, but only class institutions (such as the Soviets) are able to defeat the resistance of the possessing classes and lay the foundations of a socialist society.

Any refusal from the full power of the Soviets, from the Soviet Republic conquered by the people in favor of bourgeois parliamentarism and the Constituent Assembly would now be a step back and the collapse of the entire October workers 'and peasants' revolution.

The Constituent Assembly, which was opened on January 5, gave, due to circumstances known to all, the majority of the party of the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, the parties of Kerensky, Avksentiev and Chernov. Naturally, this party refused to accept for discussion an absolutely precise, clear proposal that did not allow any misinterpretation of the supreme body of Soviet power, the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets, to recognize the program of Soviet power, to recognize the "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People", to recognize the October Revolution and Soviet power. Thus, the Constituent Assembly severed all ties between itself and the Soviet Republic of Russia. The departure from such a Constituent Assembly of the Bolshevik and Left Socialist-Revolutionary factions, which now constitute an admittedly overwhelming majority in the Soviets and enjoy the confidence of the workers and the majority of peasants, was inevitable.

And outside the walls of the Constituent Assembly, the parties of the majority of the Constituent Assembly, the Right Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, are waging an open struggle against Soviet power, calling in their bodies to overthrow it, thereby objectively supporting the resistance of the exploiters to the transfer of land and factories into the hands of the working people.

It is clear that the rest of the Constituent Assembly can therefore play the role of only covering up the struggle of the bourgeois counter-revolution for the overthrow of the power of the Soviets.

Therefore, the Central Executive Committee decides: the Constituent Assembly is dissolved.

Constituent Assembly in Russia (1917-1918). Convocation and reasons for dissolution

The convocation of the Constituent Assembly as the organ of the supreme democratic power was a demand of all socialist parties in pre-revolutionary Russia - from the People's Socialists to the Bolsheviks. Elections to the Constituent Assembly took place at the end of 1917. The overwhelming majority of voters who participated in the elections, about 90%, voted for the socialist parties, the socialists accounted for 90% of all deputies (the Bolsheviks received only 24% of the votes).

But the Bolsheviks came to power under the slogan "All power to the Soviets!" They could maintain their autocracy, obtained at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, only relying on the Soviets, opposing them to the Constituent Assembly. At the Second Congress of Soviets, the Bolsheviks promised to convene the Constituent Assembly and recognize it as the authority on which "the solution of all major issues depends," but they did not intend to fulfill this promise. The Bolsheviks considered the Constituent Assembly their main rival in the struggle for power. Immediately after the elections, Lenin warned that the Constituent Assembly would “doom itself to political death” if it opposed Soviet power.

Lenin used a fierce struggle within the Socialist-Revolutionary Party and entered into a political bloc with the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries... Despite disagreements with them on issues of a multi-party system and the dictatorship of the proletariat, a separate peace, freedom of the press, the Bolsheviks received the support they needed to stay in power. The Central Committee of the Social Revolutionaries, believing in the unconditional prestige and invulnerability of the Constituent Assembly, did not take real steps to protect it.

The Constituent Assembly was convened on January 5, 1918. Socialist-Revolutionary Chernov was elected chairman of the Constituent Assembly. Of the three main groups of political parties, the Socialists won the majority (Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries - about 60% of the vote), the Bolsheviks - 25%, and the bourgeois parties - 15%. Thus, under a parliamentary system, the Socialist-Revolutionary Party could form a government. On the whole, the elections reflected a nationwide turn towards socialism. However, the bulk of the population (peasants) understood socialism not as Bolsheviks (from private property and the market), but in their own way - as a just system that would give them peace and land.

The Constituent Assembly opened on January 5, 1918 at the Tauride Palace. In his speech, Chernov declared the desirability of working with the Bolsheviks, but on condition that they would not try to "push the Soviets against the Constituent Assembly." The Soviets, as class organizations, "should not claim to replace the Constituent Assembly," Chernov emphasized. He announced his readiness to put all the main questions to a referendum in order to put an end to the undermining of the Constituent Assembly, and in his person - under the rule of the people. The Bolsheviks and Left SRs took Chernov's speech as open confrontation with the Soviets and demanded a break for factional meetings. They never returned to the conference room.

The members of the Constituent Assembly nevertheless opened the debate and decided not to disperse until the discussion of the documents prepared by the Social Revolutionaries on land, the state system, and peace was completed. But the chief of the guard, sailor Zheleznyak, demanded that the deputies leave the meeting hall, saying that "the guard was tired."

On January 6, the Council of People's Commissars adopted the theses on the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, and on the night of the 7th All-Russian Central Executive Committee approved the decrees.

Lenin's opponent in the struggle for power, Chernov, addressed him with an open letter, reminding him of his "solemn and oath promises to obey the will of the Constituent Assembly," and then dispersed it. He called Lenin a liar, "who stole the people's trust with deceitful promises and then blasphemously trampled on his word, his promises."

The Constituent Assembly was an important stage in the struggle of Lenin and the Bolsheviks against their political opponents in the socialist camp. They gradually cut off its most right-wing parts - first the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks in the days of the October Revolution of 1917, then the Socialists in the Constituent Assembly, and finally, their allies - the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries.