100 years ago, on March 14, 1917, the Petrograd Soviet issued the so-called Order No. 1 for the Petrograd garrison, which legalized the soldiers' committees and placed all weapons at their disposal, and the officers were deprived of disciplinary power over the soldiers. With the adoption of the order, the principle of one-man command, fundamental for any army, was violated, as a result of which a landslide fall in discipline and combat effectiveness began, and then a gradual collapse of the entire army. In the army and navy, mass lynching began against officers, their murders and arrests.
Russian army after hard trials in 1914-1916. and so she experienced a lot of problems, including a drop in discipline up to the first soldier riots and desertion, but February finished her off. So, according to General A. I. Denikin, Order No. 1 gave "the first, main impetus to the collapse of the army." And General AS Lukomsky noted that Order No. 1 "undermined discipline, depriving the officer command of the power over the soldiers." The Russian armed forces began to fall apart literally before our eyes, the army from a pillar of order itself became a source of anarchy and turmoil.
In Russia, for a long time, the liberal "white" myth was formed that the Bolshevik coup (with revolutionary consequences) on October 25 (November 7) 1917 was a fatal event in the destruction of the Russian state, which in turn led to a geopolitical civilizational catastrophe with various grave consequences, for example, demographic and great power disintegration. But this is a deliberate lie, although many influential people still broadcast about it.
The death of the old Russian state and the civilizational catastrophe became irreversible on March 2 (15), 1917, when Nikolai Aleksandrovich abdicated the throne and was published in the morning issue of the official Soviet organ "News of the Petrograd Council of Workers and Soldiers Deputies" ("Izvestia) Order No. 1. In empire with practically one well-planned blow, two main pillars were immediately destroyed - the autocracy and the army.
The order came from the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Petrograd, essentially all-Russian, Council of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, where the Bolsheviks did not play a leading role until September 1917. The direct compiler of the document was the CEC secretary, the then famous lawyer and freemason ND Sokolov (1870-1928). It is interesting that the father, Dmitry Sokolov, was an archpriest and court clergyman, confessor of the royal family. This fact very well characterizes the degree of decomposition of the then Russian society, its educated and propertied elite. The "Golden Children" - representatives of the nobility, clergy, intelligentsia, the most educated and socially significant elite of Russian society, took the path of revolution, dreaming of destroying the "damned world" to the ground.
Nikolai Sokolov took part in many political processes. He spoke on the affairs of Khrustalev-Nosar, Fondaminsky-Bunakov, the military organization of the RSDLP, editors of "Nachala", "Northern Voice", "Bulletin of Life" and others. He made a brilliant career, where he mainly defended all kinds of revolutionary terrorists. In political terms, he acted as a "non-factional social democrat." In addition, Sokolov was a Freemason. He was a member of the Supreme Council of the Great East of the Peoples of Russia, a member of the Galpern and Gegechkori lodges. Interestingly, AF Kerensky was the general secretary of the “Great East” since 1916. And Sokolov in October-November 1916, together with Kerensky, participated in conspiratorial meetings at the apartment of N. S. Chkheidze, that is, he was an active conspirator-Februaryist.
It is worth remembering that Sokolov, like Kerensky, was one of the leaders of Russian Freemasonry in those years. And Russian masons, among them were aristocrats, politicians, military men, bankers and lawyers, members of the State Duma (the elite of that time), wanted to lead Russia along the western path (matrix). That is, to destroy the autocracy and complete the westernization of Russia. They acted as the organizing force of February, tying together numerous revolutionary groups that wanted to destroy the "old Russia". In particular, Sokolov linked the social democratic and liberal camps.
Thus, Pro-Western Freemasonry became a decisive force in February, as it brought together influential figures from various parties and movements, who acted more or less scattered, but united - against the autocracy. Sealed by an oath before their and at the same time high-ranking Western European Freemasonry, these very different, it seemed often, simply incompatible figures - from moderate monarchists, nationalists and Octobrists to Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries - began to discipline and purposefully carry out a single task. Thus, a powerful fist of the Februaryist revolutionaries was formed, which destroyed the autocracy, empire and army.
It is not surprising that the first organs of central government, created during the fall of the tsarist government, were almost entirely composed of Freemasons. So, out of 11 members of the Provisional Government of the first composition, 9 (participation in Freemasonry A. I. Guchkov and P. N. Milyukov was not proven) were Masons. In total, 29 people attended the posts of ministers during the almost eight months of the existence of the Provisional Government, and 23 of them belonged to Freemasonry. A similar situation was in the Petrograd Soviet. In the then "second power" - the Central Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet - all three members of the presidium - A. F. Kerensky, M. I. Skobelev and N. S. Sokolov. Therefore, the so-called "dual power" after February was very relative, in fact, even ostentatious. Both the Provisional Government and the Petrosovet were initially run by people of the "one team". They were solving one problem - they liquidated “old Russia”. But in order to reassure ordinary people - soldiers, workers, peasants, who would not understand that only the upper classes - the bourgeois and the capitalists - benefited from February, two bodies of power were created. Provisional government for the top of society and for the West, and the Petrograd Soviet, to calm the masses of the people.
That is, the February coup was organized by Freemasonry in the interests of the masters of the West. Westerners believed that "the West will help them" in the creation of a "new Russia" - modeled on the "advanced" Western countries (England and France). But they miscalculated. The masters of the West did not need Russia - neither monarchist nor liberal-democratic. They needed the resources of Russia to create a new world order, where there is no place for the Russian people. The masters of the West had a long-term strategy, and for centuries they fought to destroy Russia-Russia. They knew that the revolution would inevitably cause a tremendous confusion, chaos, the death of millions of Russian people from continuous wars, conflicts, hunger, cold and disease. And new "leaders" - various nationalists (Finnish, Polish, Baltic, Caucasian, Ukrainian, etc.), separatists (Siberian, Cossacks), radical socialists, Basmachi (predecessors of jihadists), just bandits, replaced the Westernizing Februaryists. The Februaryists opened Pandora's box, and even destroyed the only force that could resist anarchy - the army.
The order was addressed to the metropolitan garrison, to all soldiers of the guard, army, artillery and sailors of the fleet for immediate execution, and to the workers of Petrograd for information. Order No. 1 required the immediate establishment of elected committees of representatives of lower ranks in all military units, divisions and services, as well as on ships. The main point in Order No. 1 was the third point, according to which, in all political speeches, military units were now subordinate not to officers, but to their elected committees and the Soviet. The order also provided that all weapons are transferred to the disposal and control of the soldiers' committees. The order introduced equality of rights for the "lower ranks" with other citizens in political, civil and private life, and abolished the titling of officers.
Thus, if you think about these categorical phrases, it becomes clear that things were going to the complete destruction of the most important institution of the empire, created over the centuries - the army and navy (armed forces), the backbone of Russia. The already demagogic provision that the “freedom” of a soldier cannot be limited “in anything” meant the elimination of the very institution of the army. It is also worth remembering that this order was issued under the conditions of a grandiose world war, in which Russia participated, and more than 10 million people were under arms in Russia. According to the memoirs of the last Minister of War of the Provisional Government, AI Verkhovsky, "the order was issued in nine million copies."
On March 2, Sokolov appeared with the text of the order, which had already been published in Izvestia, before the newly formed Provisional Government. One of its members, Vladimir Nikolaevich Lvov (Ober-Prosecutor of the Holy Synod as part of the Provisional Government), told about this in his memoirs: “… ND Sokolov comes up to our table with quick steps and asks us to get acquainted with the contents of the paper he brought … This was the famous order number one … After reading it, Guchkov (Minister of War - AS) immediately declared that the order was … unthinkable and left the room. Milyukov (Minister of Foreign Affairs - AS) began to convince Sokolov of the complete impossibility of publishing this order (he did not know that the order had already been published and the newspaper with its text had begun to be distributed. - AS) … Finally, Milyukov, too, is exhausted I got up and walked away from the table … I jumped up from my chair and shouted to Sokolov with my usual fervor that this paper, brought by him, was a crime against the motherland … Kerensky (then - Minister of Justice - AS) ran up to me and shouted: “Vladimir Nikolaevich, shut up, shut up! "Then he grabbed Sokolov by the hand, took him quickly to another room and locked the door behind him …"
Interestingly, Sokolov will soon receive an "answer" from his order. In June 1917, Sokolov will lead the CEC delegation to the front and, in response to the conviction not to violate discipline, the soldiers will pounce on the delegation and severely beat its members. Sokolov will go to the hospital, where he flew unconscious for several days. After that, he was ill for a long time.
The Provisional Government understood the perniciousness of Order No. 1, especially since it had already declared its loyalty to the Allies in the Entente and its readiness to continue the war until victory. However, directly canceling it meant an open conflict with the Petrosovet. To reduce the negative consequences of the order, the new Minister of War, Alexander Guchkov, issued his order with "explanations", according to which the one-man command in the army was preserved and only some articles of the military regulations were canceled. So, the officers now had to address the soldiers on "you", the concept of "lower rank" was abolished, saluting and other, as they said at the time, humiliating "old-regime orders" were abolished.
Under the influence of harsh criticism from the right, the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik members of the Executive Committee tried to dissociate themselves from Order No. 1, declaring their innocence to it and depicting the order as a document of purely soldier origin. The leadership of the Executive Committee hastened to limit the scope of Order No. 1 by issuing additional orders No. 2 of March 6 (19) and No. 3 of March 7 (20) in the "clarification" of the first order. Order No. 2, leaving in force all the main provisions established by Order No. 1, explained that Order No. 1 was about the election of committees, but not the authorities; nevertheless, all elections of officers already made must remain in force; committees have the right to object to the appointment of chiefs; all Petrograd soldiers must obey the political leadership exclusively of the Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, and in matters relating to military service - to the military authorities. It was finally established that Order No. 1 has application only within the Petrograd garrison and cannot be extended to the front. However, it was no longer possible to restore the old order. Two days after Order No. 2, the Executive Committee of the Petrosovet once again issued a brief explanation, an appeal to the troops, in which attention was drawn to the observance of discipline. True, according to Denikin, Order No. 2 was not distributed among the troops and did not affect "the course of events brought about by Order No. 1."
On the whole, the collapse process was already irreversible. Moreover, it was continued. Becoming the Minister of War on May 5, Kerensky, just four days later, issued his "Order for the Army and Navy," which was very close in content to Order No. 1. It began to be called the "Declaration of the Rights of the Soldier." Subsequently, General AI Denikin wrote that "this" declaration "of rights … finally undermined all the foundations of the army." On July 16, 1917, speaking in the presence of Kerensky (then already prime minister), Denikin, not without audacity, declared: “When they repeat at every step that the Bolsheviks were the cause of the collapse of the army, I protest. This is not true. The army was destroyed by others … ". And then the general, tactfully keeping silent about the real perpetrators of the collapse of the army, including the head of the Provisional Government, said: "The military legislation of recent months has collapsed the army." It is clear that “Sokolov and Kerensky himself were the military legislators of recent times. At the same time, Denikin himself tried to become one of the main leaders of the army of the "new Russia": on April 5, he agreed to become chief of staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and on May 31 - Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front. Only at the end of August did General Denikin break with Kerensky, but by that time, in fact, there was no army either. All the main active forces of the Civil War at this time created their own armies and armed formations.
Thus, the Westernizers, the Februaryist Masons, managed to quickly destroy the Russian state, crush the autocracy. But then, having received all the power, they turned out to be completely powerless and incompetent and in less than a year they lost it, failing to offer any resistance to the new, October coup (also with revolutionary consequences)
According to AI Guchkov, the main characters in February believed that “after the wild spontaneous anarchy, the street, falls, after that people of the state experience, the state mind, like us, will be called to power. Obviously, in remembrance of the fact that … it was 1848 (that is, the revolution in France. - AS): the workers knocked down, and then some reasonable people set up power. " However, the Westernizers-Februaryists did not know Russia, the Russian people, but only imagined themselves helluva lot of "reasonable". The Februaryists used the fundamental contradictions that existed in Russia, all the miscalculations of the tsarist government, in order to cause "spontaneous anarchy" in the capital and overthrow the current government, paralyzed by a large-scale conspiracy at the top. When the Februaryists ("reasonable people") seized power, by their actions they caused a complete collapse, a civilizational catastrophe. The "controlled chaos" caused in the capital spread to the country and the army, and the "Russian turmoil" had already begun. Russian Masons have forgotten or did not know about the unique "Russian matrix" - freedom of spirit and will. Autocracy was the last barrier that held back the Russian will. In Russia, unconditional, unlimited freedom of consciousness and behavior, that is, will, breaks out into the open with every weakening of state power. And in February-March 1917, the "legal", "sacred" power completely collapsed. This gave rise to a new Troubles. Therefore, it should not be surprising that the peasants immediately rushed to burn the landowners' estates and divide the land, the soldiers - beat the officers and go home, the Cossacks - to create their own Cossack states, the nationalists - national bantustans, criminals - to rob and rape.
It was a real civilizational disaster! The Romanovs' project collapsed and threatened to destroy the whole of Russia under its rubble. Thank God that there were people who had a goal (a new project), a program and will, who took responsibility and began the difficult and bloody path to create a Soviet civilization, which will ultimately retain all the best that was in “old Russia”.
