The historical significance of the October Revolution (until 1927, even the Bolsheviks called it a coup) can hardly be underestimated; it laid the foundation for the "red project" that made it possible to implement a completely different model of social structure and build a society of social justice.
According to the canonical version, the revolution was carried out by the Bolshevik Party, which formed the Military Revolutionary Committee, organized the overthrow of the Provisional Government, raised the proletariat of Petrograd, created the Red Guard, which seized key points of the capital, the Winter Palace and took power into its own hands.
On the other hand, how could an unprepared mass of "party members", workers and soldiers be able to carry out a coup that required careful preparation, staff work and preparation of forces and means to carry out such a unique operation? How could the Military Revolutionary Committee, where there was only one military man in the leadership, only second lieutenant Antonov-Ovseenko, could prepare and successfully carry out such a unique operation?
Coincidence of interests of the Bolsheviks and generals
There was clearly another force that was purposefully preparing a coup. Lenin wrote in his note on October 24, 1917: “Who should take power? It doesn't matter now: let the Military Revolutionary Committee or "another institution" take it … Taking power is a matter of an uprising, its political goal will become clear after taking it. " Also at the 1st Congress of the Comintern in 1919, he declared: "The October coup is a bourgeois revolution." What do these words of Lenin say and what "other institution" does he mention?
According to the research of the Russian historian Fursov and the writer Strizhak, with the unconditional political leadership of the Bolshevik Party, patriotic high-ranking generals of the Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Army were directly in charge of the seizure of power. There is no direct evidence for this, there is a mass of indirect evidence supporting this version.
Why did the tsarist generals agree to a coalition with the Bolsheviks?
October had a prehistory associated with February, which ended with the overthrow of the tsar. Since 1915, four conspiracies were being prepared against the unpopular monarch: palace, military, intelligence services of England (France) and Masons, who were represented by the State Duma, Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks.
In early March 1917, after the abdication of the tsar, the Freemasons seized power in Russia. The State Duma formed the Provisional Government, which proceeded to the collapse of the state and the army. "Order No. 1" was issued, subordination to officers was abolished in the army, soldiers' committees were created, which made a decision whether to carry out orders or not. Without discipline, the front began to fall apart, the attempts of the Provisional Government under pressure from the allies to carry out an offensive ended in failure, the government changed four times before October, but all the time it was under the control of England and France, striving to destroy and weaken Russia.
Seeing the impending catastrophe, patriotic officers of the General Staff began to look for a force capable of preventing the collapse of the country. They settled on the Bolshevik party, which was gaining strength and influence, besides, with the leadership of the party there were contacts through a member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich and his brother General Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich, chief of staff of the Northern Front.
The Bolshevik party had two wings: the communist internationalists, dreaming of a world revolution, whom Trotsky later began to represent, and the revolutionaries seeking to change the system in Russia, represented by Stalin and Dzerzhinsky, who also had experience in organizing uprisings and resisting the authorities.
It should be noted that the future participants in the coup began arriving in Petrograd after February, Stalin from exile on March 12, Lenin from Switzerland on April 3, and Trotsky from the United States only on May 4, they naturally did not have time to prepare the uprising. In addition, Stalin and Lenin had disagreements about the further ways of fighting and using the army. After negotiations, they came to an agreement and the Military Bureau was created in the Central Committee of the RCP (b) in April, headed by Stalin and Dzerzhinsky.
The generals understood that the country was falling apart and it was necessary to urgently take measures to remove the henchmen of England and France from power, to end the war and conclude peace, to dissolve the decayed army and form a new one capable of defending the empire. They proposed to immediately nationalize the defense and metallurgical industries and begin rearmament of the army, since in twenty years a new war would begin and Russia should be ready for it. With such proposals, the generals went to the tsar in 1916, but he did not support the generals.
Joint action against the Provisional Government and Kornilov
The interests of the generals and part of the Bolshevik leadership coincided, and contacts began between them in May. In June, the Bolsheviks decided on the day of the opening of the 1st Congress of Soviets to start an armed uprising in order to seize power and immediately conclude peace, but the congress forbade them to hold the planned demonstration. The Bolsheviks began to be accused of treason and work for Germany, Lenin had to leave Petrograd, Stalin began to lead the party, he and Dzerzhinsky continued to prepare for the uprising.
In early July, the generals warned the Bolsheviks that a provocation was being prepared against them. The Central Committee of the CPSU (b) under the leadership of Stalin on July 3 accepts an appeal to the workers and soldiers not to go to the provocations of the anarchists, but Kamenev and Trotsky called on the soldiers to start an uprising. Bloodshed was avoided, Stalin and the head of the Intelligence Directorate, General Potapov, did not allow this. Repressions began against the leadership of the Bolsheviks, warrants were issued for the arrest of the entire leadership, including Lenin, but these lists did not contain the true leaders of the uprising, Stalin and Dzerzhinsky, the generals brought them out of under attack.
The August Kornilov revolt is also very remarkable, Kornilov was a henchman of the British and, with their patronage and support of the Provisional Government, in a few months moved from major general to general-in-chief and became the supreme commander in chief. The British and the Freemasons promoted him to dictatorship so that he would be under their control and continue the war with Germany.
Krymov's army was supposed to attack Petrograd, in which there were practically no Russian divisions, but only Don Cossacks and Caucasians, and British officers drove the armored vehicles.
The troops did not reach the capital. Until now, there are ridiculous legends that the Cossacks were raided by the Bolsheviks and they refused to go to Petrograd. In fact, the Russian generals did not allow the mutiny to take place. At the command of the commander of the Northern Front, General Klembovsky and the chief of staff of the front, General Bonch-Bruyevich, hundreds of echelons of the Krymov army were plundered along eight railways and thrown into deep forests without locomotives, food and fodder.
The Kornilov rebellion was suppressed, the conspirators were arrested. But in November the Kornilovites again declared themselves. The head of the General Headquarters, General Dukhonin, refused to carry out the orders of the Soviet government to conclude peace with Germany, freed the arrested generals and raised a mutiny. A special group of the Intelligence Directorate was sent to headquarters, Dukhonin was killed, but the Kornilovites managed to leave for the Don.
Generals plan
In the thickening situation around Russia and in the presence of a "fifth column" among the generals, a group of generals in September prepared a secret plan with the immediate conclusion of peace with Germany, demobilization of the decomposed army, putting up a "curtain" of 10 corps (half of the officer corps) against the enemy and forming new socialist army.
The generals understood that after February the people would not accept their power, only the Soviets could become such a legitimate authority instead of the corrupt regime of the Provisional Government, and they began to assist the Bolsheviks in establishing their control over the Soviets. Through the apparatus of the CPSU (b) in September, agitation and pressure began for the convocation of the 2nd Congress of Soviets, which was eventually appointed for October 20. An armed uprising was also planned for this date.
Implementation of the October coup
Information that the Bolsheviks would take power on October 20 quickly spread throughout Petrograd, and from October 14 all major newspapers introduced a daily heading "Towards the Bolsheviks' Speech." In early October, Lenin returned to Petrograd, on October 10 and 16, two sessions of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) were held, at which its members opposed the coup and seizure of power, and Kamenev and Zinoviev published a well-known article that they were against an armed uprising. To dissociate itself from the Bolsheviks and this date, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets postponed the congress to October 25.
The Minister of War, General Verkhovsky, who was in the conspiracy, tried on October 21 to convince the Provisional Government to immediately begin negotiations for peace with Germany, in response he was fired from this post. On the same day, at a meeting of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, a Practical Center was created to lead the uprising, headed by Stalin, Dzerzhinsky and Uritsky. It was decided to start the uprising on October 24 and to transfer the seized power to it by the opening of the Congress of Soviets.
What forces were used to carry out the uprising? According to the canonical version, the uprising was led by the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee headed by Trotsky, who led the revolutionary proletariat of 40 thousand armed Red Guards, who carried out the coup. Here one should immediately answer the question: who are the "Red Guards"?
At the end of April, the Bolsheviks organized the "Workers' Guards" security detachments and were well paid. These units quickly took control of the anarchists and renamed them the "Red Guard".
The main backbone of the "Red Guard" was made up of bandits and thieves who rushed into this organization. They had mandates, firearms and robbed the city with impunity. During the Kornilov rebellion, Kerensky distributed 50,000 rifles to the "people to defend Petrograd", which mostly ended up in the hands of the bandit "Red Guards".
The Military Revolutionary Committee, created by the Petrograd Soviet on October 12, headed by Trotsky, Podvoisky, Antonov-Ovseenko and Lazimir, of whom, except for Second Lieutenant Antonov-Ovseenko, no one was a military man, in principle could not lead the coup. A well-organized and bloodless seizure of power could only be organized by trained staff officers. The Military Revolutionary Committee was a screen behind which the Practical Center, under the leadership and participation of officers of the Intelligence Directorate, led the uprising.
Subsequently, these officers participated in the formation of the Red Army, and the head of the Intelligence Directorate, General Potapov, remained the chief of intelligence of the Red Army Headquarters. At the same time, none of them suffered, even during the period of repression in the 30s, Stalin knew how to value cadres.
The Military Revolutionary Committee did not dispose of anything; it sat down, called for a revolution and appealed to the bandit "Red Guard", which instead of capturing the main points of the capital, under the guise of revolution, plundered the city and the population. After the coup, the troops of the Cheka had to destroy the proliferating detachments of the "Red Guards", who were plundering not only Petrograd, but also its environs. The bandits were completely eliminated only by September 1918.
Under the leadership of intelligence officers and Dzerzhinsky, from May to October 1917, militant detachments were trained in the forests near Petrograd under the program of professional saboteurs. It was they who, together with intelligence saboteurs, captured all the key points of Petrograd on October 24, and the commander of the Petrograd military district, Polkovnikov, participating in the conspiracy, reported this to the commander-in-chief Dukhonin only in the morning of October 25, when the coup had already been carried out.
Special groups quietly took possession of the post office, telegraph, railway stations. All of them continued to work, the wiretapping and separation of unnecessary conversations was simply introduced, and letters and telegrams were censored. At the stations, the dispatchers were told which and where trains should be sent, all this was carried out by specially trained people.
The main task of the uprising was to prevent opposition from the 200-thousandth garrison of Petrograd. It consisted mainly of reserve and training regiments. The soldiers were demoralized, did not want to go to the front, they hated Kerensky and scolded the Bolsheviks, and it was easy to keep them in the barracks. The insurgents used the sailors of the Baltic Fleet to ostracize the garrison.
Almost all senior officers of the Naval Ministry and the command of the Baltic Fleet took an active part in the uprising. Under their leadership, 12 ships were brought into the water area of the Neva, including the cruiser Aurora and the destroyer Samson, which covered the Aurora, which was the reserve headquarters of the uprising.
The cruiser "Aurora" was under repair at the plant, orders were given to complete the repairs by October 20, load the cruiser with coal, oil, ammunition and withdraw to the Neva near the Winter Palace.
How could all this have been organized by the sailor of the "Tsentrobalt" Dybenko and his "sailor"? Such actions on command were performed by dozens of naval officers and hundreds of sailors, led from a single center.
Where was the headquarters of the uprising? Officially, these are Smolny and the Military Revolutionary Committee, which had nothing to do with the uprising. The headquarters must be invisible so that it cannot be eliminated, have special means of communication and the ability to quickly evacuate to a reserve command post. Such a room was provided, this building on the Voskresenskaya embankment, where the counterintelligence of the Petrograd military district was located and from where it was possible to quickly get over to the Aurora by motor boat.
Capture of the Winter Palace
Kerensky on October 24 still believed that he had the loyal troops to suppress the uprising, which he expected from the commander of the Northern Front, General Cheremisov, a participant in the conspiracy who was not going to send anyone to Petrograd. On the morning of October 25, Kerensky held a meeting with the ministers at the General Staff Building and left in the car of the US Ambassador to meet the troops and never returned to the city. By noon, the ministers went over to the Winter Palace under the protection of the cadets.
Winter was defended by troops loyal to Kerensky, Cossacks, cadets and a women's battalion. After negotiations, almost all of them left the square and the palace. When it got dark, in anticipation of the prey, the "Red Guard" pulled up, a nervous sluggish firefight began, from which two people died. Two shots from the Aurora anti-aircraft guns sounded not to start the assault, but to escalate the situation and influence the defenders of the Winter Palace, the artillery of the Peter and Paul Fortress did not open fire, the gunners took a neutral position.
There was no assault on the palace, Dzerzhinsky's groups and intelligence saboteurs entered the palace through the basement and began to clean it up. By one o'clock in the morning the palace was completely cleared, hundreds of frightened officers and junkers were gathered in the lobby and released. The honorary mission of arresting the ministers was entrusted to a detachment of the Military Revolutionary Committee under the command of Chudnovsky to present them to the Congress of Soviets in confirmation of the overthrow of power and the transfer of the ministers to the Peter and Paul Fortress. When it was all over and the palace was empty, the "storm" of the Winter Palace began, thousands of brutalized "Red Guards" rushed to plunder the palace. The new government then had to explain for a long time why the palace was plundered.
Establishment of the power of the Bolsheviks
The Congress of Soviets began its meeting at 23:00 on October 25, the Bolsheviks were in the minority, the congress did not recognize their coup, the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries left the congress in protest, giving the Bolsheviks the opportunity to adopt the "Peace Decree" and create their own government.
On the question of ending the war, Lenin and Stalin were in the minority in the Central Committee and the government. Under pressure from the generals, the convocation of the Constituent Assembly was postponed to January 3, hoping by that time to conclude a peace treaty, and negotiations began on December 3.
Taking into account the fact that the Bolsheviks in the Constituent Assembly received only a quarter of the votes, on January 3, 1918, they dissolved the assembly and declared Russia a Republic of Soviets.
Foreign Minister Trotsky was sent to sign the peace treaty, who, fulfilling the order of the United States and Britain, took the position of "neither peace, nor war" and did not sign the treaty, keeping the German troops on the eastern front. He often contacted Lenin, who replied “we must consult with Stalin,” who was in touch with the generals of the General Staff.
In response, the Germans launched an offensive on February 18, there was no one and nothing to defend Russia, the Germans freely occupied large territories and took Narva and Pskov without a fight. A military delegation led by General Bonch-Bruyevich, head of the General Headquarters, met with Lenin and Stalin on February 22 and persuaded them to sign peace on any terms. The peace was signed on March 3 on terms three times worse than in December, and on March 4 the Supreme Military Council was established, headed by General Bonch-Bruevich. Trotsky nevertheless achieved the removal of Bonch-Bruyevich on March 19 and took his place himself, and from that moment began to extol himself as the leader of the uprising and the creator of the Red Army.
Who created the Red Army
The fable "Trotsky - the creator of the Red Army" is being imposed to this day. Few people think that the Red Army was created not by the cunning politician Bronstein, but by the efforts of dozens of the best generals of the imperial army and more than one hundred thousand military officers who have gone through two wars and have colossal experience in military development. Under the leadership of the Generals of the General Staff, it was they who developed mobilization plans, prepared regulations for the branches of the armed forces, organized the production of weapons, formed military units and armies, recruited officers, developed and directed combat operations.
We know from history that the Red Army won under the leadership of Trotsky, Frunze, Blucher, Budyonny, Chapaev, second lieutenant (marshal) Tukhachevsky. And where are the glorious names of the Russian generals and officers who created and headed the Red Army? Who remembers generals Selivachev, Gittis, Parsky, Petin, Samoilo, who commanded the fronts of the Red Army? About admirals Ivanov, Altfater, Berens. Nemitze, Razvozov, Zarubaev, who were in charge of the naval forces and all the fleets of the Republic?
Generals Sheideman, Cheremisov, Tsurikov, Klembovsky, Belkovich, Baluev, Balanin, Shuvaev, Lechitsky, Sokovnin, Ogorodnikov, Nadezhny, Iskritsky also served in various positions in the Red Army; Generals-in-chief Danilov, Gutor and and the headquarters of the Red Army was created by the efforts of the colonels of the General Staff Lebedev, Vatsetis, Shaposhnikov.
In addition to the Soviet leaders of the Red Army, it is worthless to forget the names of the generals and officers of the Imperial Russian Army, who defended the Fatherland and made a lot of efforts to form the Red Army, which, twenty years later, collided with the Hitlerite military machine and broke its back.
