Psr ideology Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs)
From "People's Will" (populism) to social revolutionaries
A political party is an organized group of like-minded people that represents the interests of a part of the people and sets as its goal their implementation by conquering state power or participating in its implementation. All political parties of the early 20th century, in accordance with their vision of the future of Russia, can be divided into three groups: socialist, liberal, traditionalist.
The first political parties appeared in Russian Empire even before the start of the revolution of 1905-1907. Moreover, these were parties, as a rule, of national and socialist orientation. Liberal and traditionalist-monarchist parties were formed only during the first Russian revolution.
A feature of the first multi-party system in Russia was a significant number of parties, their diversity even within the same direction. Various splits, demarcations, fragmentations and mergers have not escaped almost any organization. A very important fact was that the formation of political parties did not take place under the influence of an impulse “from below,” when more active members stood out from the ranks of a particular social group or class to defend common socialist and political interests, but, on the contrary, when representatives of virtually one social stratum - the intelligentsia - divided among themselves the spheres of authorized representation of the interests of almost all groups Russian population. Therefore, the composition of not only the leadership core of political parties, but often the rank-and-file members was predominantly intellectual. Finally, the fact that revolutionary socialist parties were the first to take shape largely reduced the chances Russian society on evolutionary development, leaving almost no alternative to the revolutionary development of the country.
Among the numerous organizations of the revolutionary socialist direction, the two largest all-Russian parties, the RSDLP and the AKP (Socialist Revolutionary Party), stood out.
In 1901-1902 Some populist circles and groups united into the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs). A major role in this unification was played by the newspaper "Revolutionary Russia", which was published first in Russia (illegally), and then abroad and became the official organ of the party. Such veterans of the populist movement as N.V. Tchaikovsky and M.A. Nathanson joined the Social Revolutionaries. The main theorist and prominent leader of the party was V. M. Chernov, a native of peasants who had been involved in underground activities since his high school years. Until 1917, the Socialist Revolutionaries were in an illegal position. They relied mainly on the kulaks; Socialist Revolutionaries - the left wing of bourgeois democracy; Party members are petty bourgeoisie.
In their program, the Socialist Revolutionaries retained the populist thesis about the peasant community as the embryo of socialism. The interests of the peasants, they said, are identical to the interests of the workers and working intelligentsia. The “working people,” the Social Revolutionaries believed, consisted of these three groups. They considered themselves to be among its vanguard. The Socialist-Revolutionaries divided the entire society into those who live on the means earned by their labor, and those who enjoy unearned income, that is, unlike the Marxists, who included only the proletariat in the concept of “working people”, the Socialist-Revolutionaries united with this concept the peasantry, wage workers, and the intelligentsia . They considered the main contradiction of the time to be the contradiction between government and society, between the peasant masses and large landowners.
The coming revolution was presented to them as socialist. Main role in it they assigned to the peasantry.
Requirements:
- democratic republic;
- universal suffrage;
— federal relations between individual nationalities;
— freedom of conscience, press, speech, assembly;
- universal primary education;
- destruction of the standing army;
— introduction of an eight-hour working day;
— transfer of land for public use;
The central point of the Social Revolutionary's agrarian policy was the demand for the "socialization" of the land, which meant the liquidation of private property in the countryside and the transfer of land to "classless rural and urban communities." The basis for the use of land, according to the Social Revolutionaries, should have been the equalizing labor principle.
The Socialist Revolutionary Party did not develop as a disciplined and centralized organization. There has always been a lot of anarchy and initiative of individual leaders and circles. For this reason, the Socialist Revolutionaries were unable to convene their first congress for a very long time (until 1905). The Central Committee, which arose almost arbitrarily, without election, did not enjoy much authority. Due to frequent arrests, its composition was constantly changing. In the first years of its existence, the unity of the party was maintained mainly by the efforts of three energetic leaders: G. A. Gershuni, E. F. Azef and M. R. Gots.
Gershuni is a modest pharmacy worker by profession; he was once interested in cultural and educational work, and then embraced the ideas of extreme radicalism and went underground. Azef combined his studies in Karlsruhe and Darmschat with participation in the work of foreign revolutionary circles. Having received an engineering degree, he completely immersed himself in matters related to the revolution and became one of the founders of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. M. Gots, the son of a millionaire merchant, was the main organizer of all the party’s foreign work and generously financed it.
Since the Socialist Revolutionary Party is a party of socialist orientation, it often entered into coalitions with parties of this kind.
On July 14, 1905, a meeting of the Social Democratic Party and the Labor Group of the Duma, the Central Committee of the RSDLP and the Central Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the All-Russian Constituent Union, etc. took place in Helsingfors. They called on the peasants to seize the land of the landowners, the entire population to fight for the Constituent Assembly, and army and navy to join the people.
The party program was attractive to the broad masses, primarily to the intelligentsia. The party's membership grew rapidly. By the beginning of the first Russian revolution it was 2.5 thousand people. Of this number, about 70% were intellectuals, approximately 25% were workers, and peasants made up just over 1.5%, although the party was created as a peasant party. From Narodnaya Volya the Socialist Revolutionary Party inherited the tactics of individual terror. The Central Committee never managed to bring the “Combat Organization” under its full control, which was “an isolated and closed group with iron discipline.” At first, the “Combat Organization” was headed by Gershuni. In 1902, the Socialist-Revolutionary militant S.V. Balmateev shot and killed the Minister of Internal Affairs D.S. Sinyagin. In 1903, the Ufa governor N.M. Bogdanovich, the main culprit of the “Zlatoust massacre,” was killed. At the same time, Gershuni was captured and sent to hard labor. The “combat organization” was headed by Azef. On June 15, 1904, Yegor Sezov threw a bomb at the carriage of the Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. Plehve. Terrorist attacks directed against the most hated figures of the regime created an exaggerated impression of the strength of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. But it was a slippery slope, which later cost the Socialist-Revolutionaries dearly. The Social Revolutionaries continued their tactics of individual terror during the years of the first Russian revolution. On February 4, 1905, I.P. Kalyaev killed the Tsar’s uncle, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich.
In August 1906, Z. V. Konoplyannikov shot and killed General G. A. Min, commander of the Semyonovsky regiment, which suppressed the Moscow uprising. In total, during the years of the revolution, the Socialist Revolutionaries committed about 200 terrorist acts.
Socialist Revolutionary agitators sent to the countryside called for “agrarian terror” (arson and destruction of landowners’ estates, logging in the lordly forests, etc.). The Socialist Revolutionaries created a whole network of peasant brotherhoods (more than one and a half thousand in total) and pushed more than one peasant uprising . However, the Socialist Revolutionaries failed to organize a general uprising in the countryside.
The activity of the Socialist Revolutionaries among the workers expanded. Particularly susceptible to their influence were workers who had not yet managed to break with the land—primarily textile workers. The Moscow Prokhorov Manufactory became a real Socialist Revolutionary citadel.
Socialist Revolutionary workers' squads and peasant brotherhoods needed weapons. Purchasing it abroad and transporting it to Russia required big money. Trying to solve this problem, some Socialist Revolutionaries showed unscrupulousness in their means.
At the end of August 1905, near the coast of Finland, the steamship John Grafton, carrying weapons and ammunition intended for Polish socialists, Finnish militants, Socialist Revolutionaries and Bolsheviks, hit rocks and crashed. The preparation for the operation was carried out by the leader of the Finnish party of “active resistance” K. Zilliakus, the Socialist Revolutionaries N.V. Tchaikovsky and F.V. Volkhovsky. The Social Revolutionary leadership could well have guessed where these three got the money to purchase weapons and equip the ship, but they preferred not to know anything, because the money was received from the Japanese military agent in Stockholm, Colonel M. Akashi.
On the other hand, however, Volkhovsky and Tchaikovsky clearly acted at their own peril and risk. Discipline was still weak in the Socialist Revolutionary Party. The central committee consisted of 30-40 people, no one fully remembered its composition and did not take it into account. On the “days of freedom”, having moved to Russia, the Socialist Revolutionary Central Committee was divided into St. Petersburg and Moscow branches, which often issued contradictory orders.
Split in the Socialist Revolutionary Party: separation of the maximalists and the Socialist Revolutionaries
The First Congress of the Socialist Revolutionary Party took place at the turn of 1905-1906. It officially approved the party program written by V. M. Chernov and the party charter, in accordance with which a Central Committee of five people was elected. Between congresses, a party council could be convened, consisting of members of the Central Committee and representatives of regional and capital committees. The party council could overturn the decision of the Central Committee. During the revolution, the number of the party reached 50-60 thousand people.
The new Central Committee tried to improve discipline, but encountered powerful resistance. Almost the entire Moscow organization went over to the opposition and disobeyed. Splits also occurred in other organizations. Socialist Revolutionary "dissidents" called themselves maximalists. The policy of the Central Committee seemed to them opportunistic, sluggish and inconsistent. They believed that the socialist system could be introduced immediately if one resolutely fought against the autocracy and the exploiting classes. Therefore, the maximalists almost did not engage in agitation, did not join legal organizations (trade unions, cooperatives, etc.), but focused on individual terror and expropriations. The recognized leader of the maximalists was M.I. Sokolov, one of the leaders of the December armed uprising of 1905 in Moscow.
Ignoring the bourgeois-democratic stage of the revolution, the maximalists insisted on the immediate implementation of the Socialist-Revolutionary Maximum program (hence the name of the group): carrying out the simultaneous socialization of both the land and factories. Decisive role in socialist revolution assigned to the “initiative minority” - an organization based on the “working peasantry”. The maximalists recognized individual terror and expropriation as the main method for destroying capitalism.
In October 1906, the first founding conference of the “Union of Maximalists” took place in Abo (Finland). But even before the conference, they announced themselves with a number of high-profile cases. In March 1906, a group of militants led by V.V. Mazurin raided the Moscow Mutual Credit Society and seized 875 thousand rubles. On August 12, the dacha of the Minister of Internal Affairs on Aptekarsky Island in St. Petersburg was blown up. The assassination attempt was carried out during opening hours, so the number of victims was large (27 people were killed, including three terrorists). Stolypin was not injured, but his children were among the wounded. “I am completely satisfied,” said Sokolov, who was present at the assassination attempt. “These “human sacrifices”? A quarrel of guards, it was worth shooting them each individually... It’s not about eliminating (Stolypin), but about intimidating them, they should know what’s coming at them strength."
The police launched a real hunt for the maximalists. Arrests and executions began. Mazurin was hanged on September 1, 1906, and Sokolov on December 2. By the end of the revolution, all that remained of the “Union of Maximalists” were scattered small groups scattered throughout the country.
Unlike the maximalists, the Socialist Revolutionary leadership tried to combine legal and illegal methods of struggle. True, a boycott was declared against the elections to the First Duma. Later, convinced of the error of this decision, the Social Revolutionaries tried to establish contacts with the Duma Labor Group. These attempts were not very successful.
After the dissolution of the First Duma in July 1906, the Socialist Revolutionaries, who had strong organizations in the army and navy, pushed military mutinies in Sveaborg, Kronstadt and Reval. The idea was to surround St. Petersburg with a ring of uprisings and force the government to capitulate. But the authorities quickly dealt with the situation. The uprisings were suppressed, after which numerous executions followed.
The Social Revolutionaries conducted active propaganda among the troops and among the intelligentsia. They actively participated in all revolutionary uprisings of 1905-1906. (in the uprisings in the navy, the All-Russian October political strike, the December armed uprising, etc.).
The Socialist-Revolutionaries sent 37 of their representatives to the Second Duma, much less than the Social Democrats and Trudoviks. The Socialist Revolutionary group submitted a project for the socialization of the land to the Duma and tried to defend it, but did not have much success. In general, the Socialist Revolutionaries did not show themselves in any way in the Second Duma. The tactics of parliamentary struggle and the technique of legislative work required completely different skills.
In the history of the First Duma, a not very noticeable but significant role was played by a small group of students of N.K. Mikhailovsky, who rallied around the St. Petersburg magazine “Russian Wealth” (N.F. Annensky, V.A. Myakotin, A.V. Peshekhonov, etc. ). Realizing that the peasants were committed to peaceful reform, with the transfer of the bulk of the landowners' land into their hands, but without general "levelling" and a general land shake-up, they helped the peasant deputies unite into the "Labor Group" and draw up a draft agrarian reform, which became known as "project 104".
During the preparation for the elections to the Second Duma, the Russian Wealth group created an illegal peasant party.
At the Socialist Revolutionary Congress in 1908, it was noted with alarm: “Any success of the government in agrarian reform causes serious damage to the cause of the revolution.”
During the period of reaction, the Socialist Revolutionaries took the path of “otzovism,” recognizing primarily “extra-parliamentary” means of struggle. In practice, this meant the development of the same terrorist activities.
The emphasis on terror gave rise to narrowly conservative views in the party. organizational forms: the activities of individual groups and certain individuals were strictly classified and carried out uncontrollably. In such a situation, the tsarist secret police managed to introduce their provocateurs into the Socialist Revolutionary Party. However, an internal party crisis ruined these plans. In 1908, the so-called “Azef case” was opened. It turned out that a member of the Central Committee and the head of the "Combat Organization" of the Socialist Revolutionaries for many years There was an agent of the Tsarist secret police, Yevno Azef. Under his leadership, the murders of Plehve and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich were organized. He enjoyed unlimited trust and complete lack of control on the part of the party. Azef’s betrayal cost the Socialist Revolutionary Party dearly: many dozens of revolutionaries were arrested and hanged. Among the rank-and-file Socialist Revolutionaries, the “Azef case” caused genuine confusion. The immediate result of the “case” was the dissolution of the “Combat Organization” and the resignation of the Central Committee. In subsequent years, the number of Socialist Revolutionary organizations, circulations and titles of printed publications continuously decreased. The party, like the RSDLP, had its own liquidators who proposed restructuring the AKP for legal activities.
Numerous terrorist acts did not prevent the onset of reaction, did not prevent harsh repressions against democratic forces. Ultra-revolutionary and ultra-terrorist views caused general disappointment. The prestige of the Socialist Revolutionary Party was dealt a severe blow.
The disagreements that arose led to a new split in the Socialist Revolutionary Party. Even during the revolution, the right wing organized itself into the party of “People’s Socialists” (Socialist Revolutionaries), which leaned toward legal forms of activity. This position brought the Social Revolutionaries closer to the Trudovik deputies of the First State Duma.
The first attempt to create a party by uniting this group with the Trudoviks was made back in May - June 1906. On June 14, participants in the founding assembly elected the Organizing Committee of the Labor (People's Socialist) Party of 28 people, including the labor group did not support this idea. The Socialist Party was created by A. V. Peshekhonov, V. A. Myakotin, N. F. Annensky, S. Ya. Elpatievsky and others.
They participated in election campaigns, organized workers' strikes, and appeared in the legal press. The Social Revolutionaries were distinguished by the confidence characteristic of liberal populism. During the years of the revolution, their views gradually shifted to the right. They were not of serious interest to the Tsarist secret police, and therefore the wave of repressions affected them little. The main part of the Socialist Revolutionary Party during the years of reaction continued to adhere to its previous positions. However, terror was dying. The Socialist Revolutionary Party actually disintegrated into disparate groups that expressed doubts about the viability of the program based on previous populist ideas. By 1910, the size of the party had been greatly reduced, and of all petty-bourgeois trends, populist movements had the most corrupting influence on the labor movement.
Viktor Mikhailovich Chernov
Chernov Viktor Mikhailovich (1873, Novouzensk, Samara province - 1952, New York, USA) - party leader Social Revolutionaries.
Born into the family of an official who served as a hereditary nobility. While studying at the gymnasium, Chernov was already involved in revolutionary circles. In 1892 he entered the law faculty of Moscow. un-ta. In 1894 he was arrested for participating in populist circles and after 8 months. imprisonment in the Peter and Paul Fortress, he was exiled for 3 years to Tambov, where he was actively engaged in journalism and conducted propaganda work among the peasants. In 1899, after the end of his exile, Chernov legally went abroad. Studying the experience of Western European socialism and communicating with leaders of the Russian emigration, Chernov began to develop an agrarian theory. In 1901 - 1902 large populist organizations united into the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs). One of the founders of the party, a member of its Central Committee, editor of the newspaper. "Revolutionary Russia" and Chernov became the leading theorist. He was the author of the program, in which he outlined his point of view on the future of the country: socialization of the land, i.e. conversion of state and landed estates into public property with subsequent equal distribution. In the political field, the demand was put forward for “the complete democratization of the entire state and legal system on the principles of freedom and equality.” In 1905 he returned to Russia illegally, actively participating in the revolution (“We seethe with life and live by the burning and thrill of the moment”). The defeat of the revolution, and most importantly, the revelation of betrayal E.F. Azef Chernov experienced it as a personal tragedy, although he continued to preach the need for individual terror. Having emigrated in 1908, Chernov lived in France and Italy, developing theoretical issues of socialism, and practically retiring from party affairs until 1914. During the First World War he opposed the defencists, participated in the Zimmerwald (1915) and Kienthal (1916) international conferences internationalists. After the February Revolution of 1917 he returned to Russia. Realizing the nature of the bourgeois-democratic revolution, Chernov considered it necessary to support the Provisional Government and in May - August 1917 Minister of Agriculture, but, having failed in the fight for agrarian legislation, Chernov resigned. He acted as an unconditional opponent of the October Revolution. In 1918 he was elected chairman Constituent Assembly, who refused to discuss the agenda imposed by the Bolsheviks and was therefore dispersed by force. Having left for Samara, he headed the congress of members of the Constituent Assembly. After the seizure of power A.V. Kolchak opposed him, was arrested, but was soon released by the Czechs. They wrote in 1919. V.I. Lenin letter: “Your communist regime is a lie - it has long degenerated into bureaucracy at the top, into a new corvee, into forced hard labor at the bottom. Your “Soviet power” is entirely a lie - the poorly hidden tyranny of one party...” In 1920, Chernov left the country illegally, lived in Estonia, Latvia, Czechoslovakia, France. With the outbreak of World War II, Chernov took part in the Resistance movement. In 1940 he left for the USA. He left behind a huge archive and memoirs (“Notes of a Socialist Revolutionary” and “Before the Storm”).
Book materials used: Shikman A.P. Figures national history. Biographical reference book. Moscow, 1997
Everyone knows that as a result of the October Revolution and the subsequent Civil War The Bolshevik Party came to power in Russia and, despite various fluctuations in its general line, remained in leadership almost until the collapse of the USSR (1991). Official historiography Soviet years instilled in the population the idea that it was this force that enjoyed the greatest support of the popular masses, while all the others political organizations to one degree or another sought to revive capitalism. This is not entirely true. For example, the Socialist Revolutionary Party stood on an irreconcilable platform, in comparison with which the position of the Bolsheviks sometimes looked relatively peaceful. At the same time, social revolutionaries criticized the “combat detachment of the proletariat” led by Lenin for usurping power and oppressing democracy. So what kind of party was this?
One against all
Of course, after many artistic images created by the masters of “socialist realistic art”, the Socialist Revolutionary Party looked ominous in the eyes of the Soviet people. The Social Revolutionaries were remembered when the story was about the 1918 murder of Uritsky, the Kronstadt uprising (rebellion) and other facts unpleasant for the communists. It seemed to everyone that they were “grist to the mill” of the counter-revolution, seeking to strangle Soviet power and physically eliminate the Bolshevik leaders. At the same time, it was somehow forgotten that this organization waged a powerful underground struggle against the “tsarist satraps”, carried out an unimaginable number of terrorist attacks during the period of two Russian revolutions, and during the Civil War caused a lot of trouble to the White movement. Such ambiguity led to the fact that the Socialist Revolutionary Party turned out to be hostile to almost all warring parties, entering into temporary alliances with them and dissolving them in the name of achieving its own independent goal. What did it consist of? It is impossible to understand this without familiarizing yourself with the party program.
Origins and creation
It is believed that the creation of the Socialist Revolutionary Party occurred in 1902. This is true in a sense, but not entirely. In 1894, the Saratov Narodnaya Volya Society (underground, of course) developed its own program, which was somewhat more radical in nature than before. It took a couple of years to develop the program, send it abroad, publish it, print leaflets, deliver them to Russia and other manipulations associated with the emergence of a new force in the political firmament. At the same time, a small circle at first was headed by a certain Argunov, who renamed it, calling it the “Union of Socialist Revolutionaries.” The first measure of the new party was the creation of branches and the establishment of stable connections with them, which seems quite logical. Branches were created in the largest cities of the empire - Kharkov, Odessa, Voronezh, Poltava, Penza and, of course, in the capital, St. Petersburg. The process of party building was crowned by the appearance of a printed organ. The program was published on the pages of the newspaper “Revolutionary Russia”. This leaflet announced that the creation of the Socialist Revolutionary Party had become a fait accompli. This was in 1902.
Goals
Any political force acts guided by a program. This document, adopted by the majority of the founding congress, declares the goals and methods, allies and opponents, the main and those obstacles to be overcome. In addition, principles of governance, governing bodies and conditions of membership are specified. The Social Revolutionaries formulated the party's tasks as follows:
1. The establishment in Russia of a free and democratic state with a federal structure.
2. Granting equal voting rights to all citizens.
4. The right to free education.
5. Abolition of the armed forces as a permanent state structure.
6. Eight-hour working day.
7. Separation of state and church.
There were a few more points, but in general they largely repeated the slogans of the Mensheviks, Bolsheviks and other organizations that were just as eager to seize power as the Socialist Revolutionaries. The party program declared the same values and aspirations.
The similarity of the structure was also evident in the hierarchical ladder described by the charter. The form of government of the Socialist Revolutionary Party included two levels. Congresses and Councils (during the inter-congress period) adopted strategic decisions, which were carried out by the Central Committee, which was considered the executive body.
Social Revolutionaries and the agrarian question
At the end of the 19th century, Russia was a predominantly agricultural country in which the peasantry made up the majority of the population. The class in particular and the Social Democrats in general were considered politically backward, subject to private property instincts, and assigned to its poorest part only the role of the closest ally of the proletariat, the locomotive of the revolution. The Socialist Revolutionaries looked at this issue somewhat differently. The party program provided for the socialization of the land. At the same time, the talk was not about its nationalization, that is, its transition into state ownership, but also not about distributing it to the working people. In general, according to the socialist-revolutionaries, true democracy should not have come from the city to the village, but vice versa. Therefore, private ownership of agricultural resources should have been abolished, their purchase and sale should have been prohibited and transferred to local governments, which would distribute all the “goods” according to consumer standards. All together this was called the “socialization” of the land.
Peasants
It is interesting that, while declaring the village the source of socialism, the Socialist Revolutionary Party treated its inhabitants themselves quite cautiously. The peasants have never really been particularly politically literate. The leaders and ordinary members of the organization did not know what to expect; the life of the villagers was alien to them. The Social Revolutionaries “sickened at heart” for the oppressed people and, as often happens, believed that they knew how to make them happy better than they themselves. Their participation in the councils that arose during the First Russian Revolution increased their influence both among peasants and workers. As for the proletariat, there was a critical attitude towards it too. In general, the working masses were considered amorphous, and much effort had to be made to unite them.
Terror
The Socialist Revolutionary Party in Russia gained fame already in the year of its creation. Minister of Internal Affairs Sipyagin was shot by Stepan Balmashev, and this murder was organized by G. Girshuni, who led the military wing of the organization. Then there were many terrorist attacks (the most famous of them are the successful assassination attempts on S. A. Romanov, uncle of Nicholas II, and Minister Plehve). After the revolution, the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party continued its murderous list; many Bolshevik figures became its victims, with whom there were significant disagreements. No political party could compete with the AKP in its ability to organize individual terrorist attacks and reprisals against individual opponents. The Social Revolutionaries actually eliminated the head of the Petrograd Cheka, Uritsky. As for the assassination attempt committed at the Mikhelson plant, this story is vague, but their involvement cannot be completely ruled out. However, in terms of the scale of mass terror, they were far from the Bolsheviks. However, perhaps if they came to power...
Azef
Legendary personality. Yevno Azef led the military organization and, as was irrefutably proven, collaborated with the detective department of the Russian Empire. And most importantly, in both of these structures, so different in goals and objectives, they were very pleased with him. Azef organized a series of terrorist attacks against representatives of the tsarist administration, but at the same time surrendered a huge number of militants to the secret police. Only in 1908 did the Socialist Revolutionaries expose him. What party would tolerate such a traitor in its ranks? The Central Committee pronounced the verdict - death. Azef was almost in the hands of his former comrades, but was able to deceive them and escape. How he managed this is not entirely clear, but the fact remains: he lived until 1918 and died not from poison, a noose or a bullet, but from kidney disease, which he “earned” in a Berlin prison.
Savinkov
The Socialist Revolutionary Party attracted many adventurers in spirit who were looking for an outlet for their criminal talents. One of them was the one who started his political career as a liberal, and then joined the terrorists. He joined the Social Revolutionary Party a year after its creation, was Azef’s first deputy, took part in the preparation of many terrorist attacks, including the most resonant ones, was sentenced to death, and fled. After the October Revolution he fought against Bolshevism. He laid claim to supreme power in Russia, collaborated with Denikin, and was acquainted with Churchill and Pilsudski. Savinkov committed suicide after his arrest by the Cheka in 1924.
Gershuni
Grigory Andreevich Gershuni was one of the most active members of the military wing of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. He directly supervised the execution of terrorist acts against Minister Sipyagin, the attempted assassination of the governor of Kharkov Obolensky and many other actions designed to achieve people's well-being. He acted everywhere - from Ufa and Samara to Geneva - doing organizational work and coordinating the activities of local underground circles. In 1900, he was arrested, but Gershuni managed to avoid severe punishment, since he, in violation of party ethics, stubbornly denied his involvement in the conspiratorial structure. In Kyiv, a failure nevertheless occurred, and in 1904 the verdict followed: exile. The escape led Grigory Andreevich to Parisian emigration, where he soon died. He was a true artist of terror. The main disappointment of his life was Azef's betrayal.
Party in the Civil War
The Bolshevikization of the Soviets, implanted, according to the Socialist Revolutionaries, artificially, and carried out by dishonest methods, led to the withdrawal of party representatives from them. Further activities were sporadic. The Social Revolutionaries entered into temporary alliances with either the whites or the reds, and both sides understood that this was dictated only by momentary political interests. Having received a majority in the party, it was unable to consolidate its success. In 1919, the Bolsheviks, taking into account the value of the organization’s terrorist experience, decided to legalize its activities in the territories they controlled, but this step did not in any way affect the intensity of anti-Soviet protests. However, the Socialist Revolutionaries at times declared a moratorium on speeches, supporting one of the fighting parties. In 1922, members of the AKP were finally “exposed” as enemies of the revolution, and their complete eradication began throughout Soviet Russia.
In exile
The foreign delegation of the AKP arose long before the actual defeat of the party, in 1918. This structure was not approved by the central committee, but nevertheless existed in Stockholm. After the actual ban on activities in Russia, almost all the surviving and free members of the party ended up in exile. They concentrated mainly in Prague, Berlin and Paris. The work of foreign cells was headed by Viktor Chernov, who fled abroad in 1920. In addition to “Revolutionary Russia”, other periodicals were published in exile (“For the People!”, “Modern Notes”), which reflected main idea, which embraced former underground workers who had recently fought against the exploiters. By the end of the 30s they realized the need for the restoration of capitalism.
The end of the Socialist Revolutionary Party
The struggle of the Chekists with the surviving Socialist Revolutionaries became the theme of many fiction novels and films. In general, the picture of these works corresponded to reality, although it was presented distortedly. In fact, by the mid-20s the Socialist Revolutionary movement was a political corpse, completely harmless to the Bolsheviks. Inside Soviet Russia, the (former) Social Revolutionaries were mercilessly caught, and sometimes social revolutionary views were even attributed to people who never shared them. Successfully carried out operations to lure particularly odious party members to the USSR were aimed rather at justifying future repressions, presented as another exposure of underground anti-Soviet organizations. The Socialist-Revolutionaries were soon replaced by Trotskyists, Zinovievites, Bukharinites, Martovites and other former Bolsheviks who suddenly became objectionable. But that's a different story...
At the beginning of the 20th century, in the colorful kaleidoscope of internal political events in Russia, a special place was occupied by the Socialist Revolutionary Party, or, as they are commonly called, the Socialist Revolutionaries. Despite the fact that by 1917 they numbered more than a million people, they failed to implement their ideas. Subsequently, many Social Revolutionary leaders ended their days in exile, and those who did not want to leave Russia fell under the merciless wheel
Development of a theoretical basis
Viktor Chernov, leader of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, was the author of the program, first published in 1907 in the newspaper Revolutionary Russia. It is based on the theories of a number of classics of Russian and foreign socialist thought. As a working document, unchanged throughout the entire period of the party's existence, this program was adopted at the first party congress, held in 1906.
Historically, the Socialist Revolutionaries were followers of the populists and, like them, preached the country’s transition to socialism through peaceful means, bypassing the capitalist period of development. In their program, they put forward the prospect of building a society of democratic socialism, in which the leading role was given to workers' trade unions and cooperative organizations. Its leadership was carried out by parliament and local governments.
Basic principles of building a new society
The leaders of the Social Revolutionaries at the beginning of the 20th century believed that the future society should be based on the basis of the socialization of agriculture. In their opinion, its construction will begin precisely in the village and will include, first of all, the prohibition of private ownership of land, but not its nationalization, but only its transfer to public ownership, excluding the right of purchase and sale. It should be managed by local councils built on a democratic basis, and remuneration will be made strictly in accordance with the real contribution of each employee or the entire team.
The leaders of the Socialist Revolutionaries considered democracy and political freedom in all its forms to be the main condition for building the future. As for government structure Russia, members of the AKP were supporters of the federal form. Also, one of the most important requirements was the proportional representation of all segments of the population in elected bodies of power and direct popular legislation.
Party creation
The first party cell of the Socialist Revolutionaries was formed in 1894 in Saratov and was in close connection with the local group of Narodnaya Volya. When they were liquidated, the socialist revolutionaries began independent activities. It consisted mainly in developing its own program and producing printed leaflets and brochures. The work of this circle was led by the leader of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs) of those years, A. Argunov.
Over the years, their movement acquired significant scope, and by the end of the nineties, its cells appeared in many major cities countries. The beginning of the new century was marked by many structural changes in the composition of the party. Its independent branches were formed, such as the “Southern Socialist Revolutionary Party” and created in northern regions Russia "Union of Socialist Revolutionaries". Over time they merged with central organization, creating a powerful structure capable of solving national problems. During these years, the leader (of the Social Revolutionaries) was V. Chernov.
Terror as a path to a “bright future”
One of the most important components of the party was their “ Combat organization", which first announced itself in 1902. The first victim was the Minister of Internal Affairs. From then on, the revolutionary path to a “bright future” was generously stained with the blood of political opponents. The terrorists, although they were members of the AKP, were in a completely autonomous and independent position.
The Central Committee, pointing to the next victim, only named the expected terms of execution of the sentence, leaving the militants complete organizational freedom of action. The leaders of this deeply secret part of the party were Gershuni and the subsequently exposed provocateur, secret secret agent of the secret police Azef.
The attitude of the Social Revolutionaries to the events of 1905
When the outbreak broke out in the country, the leaders of the Socialist Revolutionaries were very skeptical about it. In their opinion, it was neither bourgeois nor socialist, but was a kind of intermediate link between them. The transition to socialism, they argued, should be carried out gradually in a peaceful way, and it driving force can only become a union of the peasantry, which was given a leading position, as well as the proletariat and the working intelligentsia. The supreme legislative body, according to the Social Revolutionaries, was to become the Constituent Assembly. They chose the phrase “Land and Freedom” as their political slogan.
From 1904 to 1907, the party carried out extensive propaganda and agitation work. A number of legal printed publications are published, which helps attract even more members to their ranks. The dissolution of the terrorist group “Combat Organization” dates back to the same period. Since that time, the activities of militants have become decentralized, their number has increased significantly, and at the same time political killings have become more frequent. The loudest of them in those years was the explosion of the carriage of the Moscow mayor, committed by I. Kalyaev. In total, during this period there were 233 terrorist attacks.
Disagreements within the party
During these same years, the process of separation of independent structures from the party began, forming independent political organizations. This subsequently led to the fragmentation of forces and ultimately caused the collapse. Even within the ranks of the Central Committee, serious disagreements arose. So, for example, the famous leader of the Social Revolutionaries of 1905, Savinkov, proposed, despite the tsar’s manifesto, which gave citizens certain freedoms, to strengthen terror, and another prominent party figure, Azef, insisted on ending it.
When did the first one begin? world war, the so-called international trend emerged in the party leadership, supported primarily by representatives of the left wing.
It is characteristic that the leader of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, Maria Spiridonova, later joined the Bolsheviks. During the February Revolution, the Socialist Revolutionaries, having entered into a single bloc with the Menshevik defencists, became the largest party of that time. They had numerous representation in the Provisional Government. Many Socialist Revolutionary leaders received leadership positions in it. It is enough to name such names as A. Kerensky, V. Chernov, N. Avksentyev and others.
Fight against the Bolsheviks
Already in October 1917, the Socialist Revolutionaries entered into a tough confrontation with the Bolsheviks. In their appeal to the people of Russia, they called the recent armed seizure of power madness and a crime. The delegation of Socialist Revolutionaries left the meeting of people's deputies in protest. They even organized the Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution, which was headed by the famous leader of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR) of that period, Abram Gots.
In the All-Russian elections, the Socialist Revolutionaries received a majority of votes, and the permanent leader of the Socialist Revolutionary Party at the beginning of the 20th century, Viktor Chernov, was elected chairman. The Party Council identified the fight against Bolshevism as a priority and urgent, which was implemented during the Civil War.
However, a certain indecision in their actions was the reason for their defeat and arrests. Especially many members of the AKP ended up behind bars in 1919. As a result of internal party disagreements, the disunity of its ranks continued. An example is the creation in Ukraine of its own independent party of Socialist Revolutionaries.
End of AKP activities
At the beginning of 1920, the Central Committee of the Party ceased its activities, and a year later a trial took place in which many of its members were convicted of “anti-people activities.” A prominent leader of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs) in those years was Vladimir Richter. He was arrested a little later than his comrades.
According to the court verdict, he was shot as a particularly dangerous enemy of the people. In 1923, the Socialist Revolutionary Party practically ceased to exist in our country. For some time, only its members who were in exile continued their activities.
SRs members of the Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party (written: “s=r-ov”, read: “Socialist Revolutionaries”). The party was formed by uniting populist groups as the left wing of democracy in late 1901 and early 1902.In the second half of the 1890s, small populist groups and circles, predominantly intellectual in composition, existed in St. Petersburg, Penza, Poltava, Voronezh, Kharkov, and Odessa. Some of them united in 1900 into the Southern Party of Socialist Revolutionaries, others into
1 901 in “Union of Socialist Revolutionaries”. The organizers were former populists (M.R. Gots, O.S. Minor, etc.) and extremist-minded students (N.D. Avksentyev, V.M. Zenzinov, B.V. Savinkov, I.P. Kalyaev, E. S. Sozonov and others). At the end of 1901, the “Southern Socialist Revolutionary Party” and the “Union of Socialist Revolutionaries” merged, and in January 1902 the newspaper “Revolutionary Russia” announced the creation of the party. The founding congress of the party, which approved its program and charter, took place, however, only three years later and was held on December 29, 1905 and January 4, 1906 in Imatra (Finland).Simultaneously with the establishment of the party itself, its Combat Organization (BO) was created. Its leaders G.A. Gershuni, E.F. Azef put forward individual terror against senior government officials as the main goal of their activities. His victims in 1902-1905 were the ministers of internal affairs (D.S. Sipyagin, V.K. Pleve), governors (I.M. Obolensky, N.M. Kachura), as well as the leader. book Sergei Alexandrovich, killed by the famous Socialist Revolutionary I. Kalyaev. During two and a half years of the first Russian revolution, the Socialist Revolutionaries committed about 200 terrorist attacks ( see also TERRORISM).In general, party members were supporters of democratic socialism, which they saw as a society of economic and political democracy. Their main demands were reflected in the Party Program drawn up by V.M. Chernov and adopted at the First Founding Congress of the Party at the end of December 1905 and beginning of January 1906.
As defenders of the interests of the peasantry and followers of the Narodniks, the Socialist Revolutionaries demanded the “socialization of the land” (transferring it into the ownership of communities and the establishment of egalitarian labor land use), denied social stratification, did not share the idea of establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat, which was actively promoted by many Marxists at that time. The program of “socialization of the earth” was supposed to provide a peaceful, evolutionary path of transition to socialism.
The Social Revolutionary Party Program contained demands for the introduction of democratic rights and freedoms in Russia the convocation of a Constituent Assembly, the establishment of a republic with autonomy for regions and communities on a federal basis, the introduction of universal suffrage and democratic freedoms (speech, press, conscience, meetings, unions, separation of the church from state, universal free education, the destruction of the standing army, the introduction of an 8-hour working day, social insurance at the expense of the state and the owners of enterprises, the organization of trade unions.
Considering political freedom and democracy to be the main prerequisites for socialism in Russia, they recognized the importance of mass movements in achieving them. But in matters of tactics, the Socialist Revolutionaries stipulated that the struggle for the implementation of the program would be carried out “in forms corresponding to the specific conditions of Russian reality,” which implied the use of the entire arsenal of means of struggle, including individual terror.
The leadership of the Socialist Revolutionary Party was entrusted to the Central Committee (Central Committee). There were special commissions under the Central Committee: peasant and workers. military, literary, etc. Special rights in the structure of the organization were vested in the Council of members of the Central Committee, representatives of the Moscow and St. Petersburg committees and regions (the first meeting of the Council was held in May 1906, the last, tenth in August 1921). Structural parts of the party were also the “Peasant Union” (since 1902), the “Union folk teachers"(since 1903), separate workers' unions (since 1903). Members of the Socialist Revolutionary Party took part in the Paris Conference of Opposition and Revolutionary Parties (autumn 1904) and the Geneva Conference of Revolutionary Parties (April 1905).
By the beginning of the revolution of 1905-1907, over 40 Socialist Revolutionary committees and groups were operating in Russia, uniting about 2.5 thousand people, mainly intellectuals; more than a quarter of the composition were workers and peasants. Members of the BO party were engaged in the delivery of weapons to Russia, created dynamite workshops, and organized fighting squads. The party leadership was inclined to consider the publication of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905 as the beginning of the constitutional order, so it was decided to dissolve the BO of the party as not corresponding to the constitutional regime. Together with other left parties, the Social Revolutionaries co-organized the Labor Group consisting of deputies
I State Duma (1906), which actively participated in the development of projects related to land use. In II The Socialist Revolutionaries were represented in the State Duma by 37 deputies, who were especially active in debates on the agrarian issue. At that time, the left wing separated from the party (creating the “Union of Socialist-Revolutionary Maximalists”) and the right wing (“People’s Socialists” or “Enesy”). At the same time, the number of the party increased in 1907 to 50-60 thousand people; and the number of workers and peasants in it reached 90%.However, the lack of ideological unity became one of the main factors explaining the organizational weakness of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in the climate of political reaction of 1907–1910. A number of prominent figures, and above all B.V. Savinkov, tried to overcome the tactical and organizational crisis that arose in the party after the exposure of the provocative activities of E.F. Azef at the end of 1908 and the beginning of 1909. The crisis of the party was aggravated by the Stolypin agrarian reform, which strengthened the sense of ownership among the peasants and undermined the foundations of Socialist Revolutionary agrarian socialism. In a climate of crisis in the country and in the party, many of its leaders, disillusioned with the idea of preparing terrorist attacks, focused almost entirely on literary activities. Its fruits were published by legal Socialist Revolutionary newspapers “Son of the Fatherland”, “Narodny Vestnik”,
« Working people."Up to February Revolution The Socialist Revolutionary Party was illegal. The day before First World War its organizations existed in almost all large metropolitan enterprises, all in agricultural provinces. 1914 intensified the ideological differences in the party and divided the Socialist Revolutionaries into “internationalists” led by V.M. Chernov and M.A. Nathanson, who advocated ending the world war, against annexations and indemnities, and “defencists” led by N.D. Avksentiev, A.A. Argunov, I.I. Fondaminsky, who insisted on waging the war to a victorious end as part of the Entente.
In July 1915 in Petrograd, at a meeting of the Socialist Revolutionaries, Popular Socialists and Trudoviks, a resolution was adopted that the moment had come to “change the system of government.” The Labor Group headed by
A.F.Kerensky. After the victory of the February Revolution of 1917, the Socialist Revolutionary Party became completely legal, influential, mass, and one of the ruling parties in the country. In terms of growth rates, the Socialist Revolutionaries were ahead of other political parties: by the summer of 1917 there were about 1 million people, united in 436 organizations in 62 provinces, in the fleets and on the fronts of the active army. Entire villages, regiments and factories joined the Socialist Revolutionary Party that year. These were peasants, soldiers, workers, intellectuals, petty officials and officers, students who had little idea about the theoretical guidelines of the party, its goals and objectives. The range of views was enormous, from Bolshevik-anarchist to Menshevik-Enes. Some hoped to gain personal benefit from membership in the most influential party and joined for selfish reasons (they were later called the “March Social Revolutionaries”, since they announced their membership after the Tsar’s abdication in March 1917).The internal history of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1917 is characterized by the formation of three currents in it: right, center and left.
Right Socialist Revolutionaries (E. Breshko-Breshkovskaya, A. Kerensky, B. Savinkov) believed that the issue of socialist reconstruction was not on the agenda and therefore believed it was necessary to focus on issues of democratization of the political system and forms of ownership. The right were supporters of coalition governments, “defencism” in foreign policy. The Right Socialist Revolutionaries and Popular Socialists (since 1917 Labor People's Socialist Party) were even represented
in the Provisional Government, in particular A.F. Kerensky was first the Minister of Justice (March-April 1917), then the Minister of War and Navy (in the 1st and 2nd coalition governments), and from September 1917 the head of the 3rd coalition government. Other right-wing Social Revolutionaries also participated in the coalition composition of the Provisional Government: N.D. Avksentyev (Minister of Internal Affairs in the 2nd composition), B.V. Savinkov (administrator of the Military and Naval Ministry in the 1st and 2nd composition) .The Left Socialist Revolutionaries who disagreed with them (M. Spiridonova, B. Kamkov and others, who published their articles in the newspapers “Delo Naroda”, “Land and Freedom”, “Banner of Labor”) believed the current situation was possible for a “breakthrough to socialism”, and therefore they advocated the immediate transfer of all land to the peasants. They considered the world revolution capable of ending the war, and therefore some of them called (like the Bolsheviks) not to trust the Provisional Government, to go to the end, until democracy was established.
However, the general course of the party was determined by the centrists (V. Chernov and S.L. Maslov).
From February to July-August 1917, the Socialist Revolutionaries actively worked in the Councils of Workers', Soldiers' and Sailors' Deputies, considering them "necessary to continue the revolution and consolidate fundamental freedoms and democratic principles" in order to "push" the Provisional Government along the path of reforms, and at the Constituent Assembly to ensure the implementation of its decisions. If the right Socialist Revolutionaries refused to support the Bolshevik slogan “All power to the Soviets!” and considered the coalition government a necessary condition and a means to overcome the devastation and chaos in the economy, win the war and bring the country to the Constituent Assembly, then the left saw the salvation of Russia in a breakthrough to socialism through the creation of a “homogeneous socialist government” based on a bloc of labor and socialist parties. During the summer of 1917 they actively participated in the work of land committees and local councils in various provinces of Russia.
The October Revolution of 1917 was carried out with the active assistance of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. Decree on land adopted by the Bolsheviks
II The Congress of Soviets on October 26, 1917 legitimized what had been done by the Soviets and land committees: the seizure of land from landowners, the royal house and wealthy peasants. His text included Order on land, formulated by the Left Social Revolutionaries on the basis of 242 local orders (“Private ownership of land is abolished forever. All lands are transferred to the disposal of local councils”). Thanks to the coalition with the Left Social Revolutionaries, the Bolsheviks were able to quickly approve new government in the village: the peasants believed that the Bolsheviks were the very “maximalists” who approved of their “black redistribution” of the land.The Right Socialist Revolutionaries, on the contrary, did not accept the October events, regarding them as “a crime against the homeland and the revolution.” From the ruling party, after the Bolsheviks seized power, they again became the opposition. While the left wing of the Socialist Revolutionaries (about 62 thousand people) transformed into the “Party of Left Socialist Revolutionaries (Internationalists)” and delegated several of its representatives to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the right wing did not lose hope of overthrowing the power of the Bolsheviks. In the late autumn of 1917, they organized a revolt of cadets in Petrograd, tried to recall their deputies from the Soviets, and opposed the conclusion of peace between Russia and Germany.
The last congress of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in history worked from November 26 to December 5, 1917. Its leadership refused to recognize “the Bolshevik socialist revolution and the Soviet government as not recognized by the country.”
During the elections to the Constituent Assembly, the Socialist Revolutionaries received 58% of the votes, at the expense of voters from the agricultural provinces. On the eve of its convening, the right-wing Socialist Revolutionaries planned “the seizure of the entire Bolshevik head” (meaning the murder of V.I. Lenin and L.D. Trotsky), but they were afraid that such actions could lead to “a reverse wave of terror against the intelligentsia.” On January 5, 1918, the Constituent Assembly began its work. The head of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, V.M. Chernov, was elected its chairman (244 votes against 151). The Bolshevik Ya.M. Sverdlov, who came to the meeting, proposed to approve the document drawn up by V.I. Lenin
Declaration of the Rights of Workers and Exploited People, but only 146 deputies voted for this proposal. As a sign of protest, the Bolsheviks left the meeting, and on the morning of January 6, when V.M. Chernov read Draft Basic Law on Land forced to stop reading and leave the room.After the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, the Socialist Revolutionaries decided to abandon conspiratorial tactics and wage an open struggle against Bolshevism, consistently winning back the masses, taking part in the activities of any legal organizations - Soviets, All-Russian Congresses of Land Committees, congresses of women workers, etc. After conclusion Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, one of the first places in the propaganda of the Social Revolutionaries was occupied by the idea of restoring the integrity and independence of Russia. True, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries continued in the spring of 1918 to look for compromise ways in relations with the Bolsheviks, until the creation of the Committees of Poor People and the confiscation of grain from the peasants the Bolsheviks overflowed their cup of patience. This resulted in a rebellion on July 6, 1918, an attempt to provoke a military conflict with Germany in order to break the shameful Peace of Brest-Litovsk and at the same time stop the development of the “socialist revolution in the countryside,” as the Bolsheviks called it (the introduction of surplus appropriation and the forcible confiscation of grain “surplus” from the peasants). The rebellion was suppressed, the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party split into “populist communists” (existed until November 1918) and “revolutionary communists” (existed until 1920, when they decided to merge with the RCP (b)). Individual groups The left Socialist Revolutionaries did not join either one or the other newly formed parties and continued to fight the Bolsheviks, demanding the abolition of emergency commissions, revolutionary committees, committees of the poor, food detachments, and surplus appropriation.
At this time, the right Socialist Revolutionaries, having proposed in May 1918 to begin an armed struggle against Soviet power with the goal of “planting the banner of the Constituent Assembly” in the Volga region and the Urals, managed to create (with the help of rebel Czechoslovak prisoners of war) by June 1918 in Samara a Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch) headed by V.K. Volsky. These actions were regarded by the Bolsheviks as counter-revolutionary, and on June 14, 1918 they expelled the Right Socialist Revolutionaries from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
From that time on, the right Socialist Revolutionaries embarked on the path of creating numerous conspiracies and terrorist acts, participated in military revolts in Yaroslavl, Murom, Rybinsk, in the assassination attempts: June 20 on a member of the presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee V.M. Volodarsky, on August 30 on the chairman of the Petrograd Extraordinary Commission ( Cheka) M.S. Uritsky in Petrograd and on the same day on V.I. Lenin in Moscow.
The Socialist Revolutionary Siberian Regional Duma in Tomsk declared Siberia an autonomous region, creating a Provisional Siberian Government with a center in Vladivostok and a branch (West Siberian Commissariat) in Omsk. The latter, with the approval of the Siberian Regional Duma, transferred government functions in June 1918 to the coalition Siberian government headed by former cadet P.A. Vologodsky.
In September 1918 in Ufa, at a meeting of anti-Bolshevik regional governments and groups, the Right Socialist Revolutionaries formed a coalition (with the Cadets) Ufa Directory Provisional All-Russian Government. Of its 179 members, 100 were Social Revolutionaries; many well-known figures of past years (N.D. Avksentyev, V.M. Zenzinov) joined the leadership of the directory. In October 1918, Komuch ceded power to the Directory, under which the Congress of Members of the Constituent Assembly, which did not have any real administrative resources, was created. In those same years, the Government of Autonomous Siberia operated in the Far East, and the Supreme Administration of the Northern Region operated in Arkhangelsk. All of them, which included right-wing Social Revolutionaries, actively repealed Soviet decrees, especially those relating to land, liquidated Soviet institutions and considered themselves a “third force” in relation to the Bolsheviks and the White Movement.
The monarchist forces, led by Admiral A.V. Kolchak, were suspicious of their activities. On November 18, 1918, they overthrew the Directory and formed the Siberian government. The top of the Socialist Revolutionary groups, which were part of the Directory N.D. Avksentyev, V.M. Zenzinov, A.A. Argunov was
arrested and expelled by A.V. Kolchak from Russia. They all reached Paris, marking the beginning of the last wave of Socialist Revolutionary emigration there.The scattered Socialist Revolutionary groups that remained out of action tried to compromise with the Bolsheviks, admitting their mistakes. The Soviet government temporarily used them (not to the right of the center) for its own tactical purposes. In February 1919, it even legalized the Socialist Revolutionary Party with its center in Moscow, but a month later the persecution of the Socialist Revolutionaries was resumed and arrests began. Meanwhile, the Socialist Revolutionary Plenum of the Central Committee tried in April 1919 to restore the party. He recognized the participation of the Social Revolutionaries in the Ufa Directory and in regional governments as a mistake, and expressed a negative attitude towards foreign intervention in Russia. However, the majority of those present believed that the Bolsheviks “rejected the basic principles of socialism - freedom and democracy, replaced them with the dictatorship of the minority over the majority, and thus excluded themselves from the ranks of socialism.”
Not everyone agreed with these conclusions. The deepening split in the party was along the lines of recognizing the power of the Soviets or fighting against it. Thus, the Ufa organization of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, in an appeal published in August 1919, called for recognizing the Bolshevik government and uniting with it. The People group, led by former chairman Samara Komuch V.K. Volsky, called on the “labor masses” to support the Red Army in the fight against Denikin. Supporters of V.K. Volsky in October 1919 announced their disagreement with the line of the Central Committee of their party and the creation of the group “Minority of the Socialist Revolutionary Party”.
In 1920-1921 during the war with Poland and the offensive of Gen. P. N. Wrangel, the Central Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Party called on, without stopping the fight against the Bolsheviks, to devote all efforts to the defense of the homeland. He rejected participation in the party mobilization announced by the Revolutionary Military Council, but condemned the sabotage of volunteer detachments
, who carried out raids on Soviet territory during the war with Poland, in which staunch right-wing Socialist Revolutionaries and, above all, B.V. Savinkov participated.After the end of the Civil War, the Socialist Revolutionary Party found itself in an illegal position; its numbers sharply decreased, most organizations collapsed, many members of the Central Committee were in prison. In June 1920, the Central Organizational Bureau of the Central Committee was created, uniting the members of the Central Committee who survived the arrests and other influential party members. In August 1921, the last in the history of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the 10th Party Council, was held in Samara, which identified the “organization of the forces of labor democracy” as the immediate task. By this time, most of the prominent figures of the party, including one of its founders, V.M. Chernov, had long been in exile. Those who remained in Russia tried to organize a non-party Union of the Working Peasantry and declared their support for the rebellious Kronstadt (where the slogan “For Soviets without Communists” was raised).
In the conditions of the post-war development of the country, the Socialist Revolutionary alternative to this development, which provided for the democratization of not only economic, but also political life country could become attractive to the broad masses. Therefore, the Bolsheviks hastened to discredit the policies and ideas of the Socialist Revolutionaries. With great haste, “cases” began to be fabricated against former allies and like-minded people who did not have time to leave abroad. On the basis of completely fictitious facts, the Socialist Revolutionaries were accused of preparing a “general uprising” in the country, sabotage, destruction of grain reserves and other criminal actions; they were called (following V.I. Lenin) “avant-garde of reaction.” In August 1922, in Moscow, the Supreme Tribunal of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee tried 34 representatives of the Socialist Revolutionary Party: 12 of them (including old party leaders A.R. Gots and others) were sentenced to death, the rest received prison sentences from 2 to 10 years . With the arrest in 1925 of the last members of the Central Bank of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, it practically ceased to exist in Russia.
In Revel, Paris, Berlin, and Prague, the Socialist Revolutionary emigration, led by the Foreign Delegation of the Party, continued to operate. In 1926 it split, as a result of which groups emerged: V.M. Chernov (who created the “League of the New East” in 1927), A.F. Kerensky, V.M. Zenzinov and others. The activities of these groups had almost come to a standstill by the early 1930s. Some excitement was brought only by discussions about events in their homeland: some of those who left completely rejected collective farms, others saw in them similarities with communal self-government.
During the Second World War, some emigrant Socialist Revolutionaries advocated unconditional support for the Soviet Union. Some leaders of the Socialist Revolutionary Party participated in the French resistance movement and died in fascist concentration camps. Other
for example, S.N. Nikolaev, S.P. Postnikov after the liberation of Prague, they agreed to return to their homeland, but, having received “sentences”, were forced to serve their sentence until 1956.During the war years, the Paris and Prague groups of the Socialist Revolutionary Party ceased to exist. A number of leaders moved from France to New York (N.D. Avksentyev, V.M. Zenzinov, V.M. Chernov, etc.). A new center of Socialist Revolutionary emigration was formed there. In March 1952, an appeal appeared from 14 Russian socialists: three party members
- Socialist Revolutionaries (Chernov, Zenzinov, M.V. Vishnyak), eight Mensheviks and three non-party socialists. It said that history had removed from the order of the day all controversial issues that divided the socialists and expressed the hope that in the future “post-Bolshevik Russia” there should be one “broad, tolerant, humanitarian and freedom-loving socialist party" Irina Pushkareva LITERATUREAlekseeva G.D. Populism in Russia in the twentieth century. Ideological evolution. M., 1990
Jansen M. Court without trial. 1922 Socialist Revolutionary Show Trial. M., 1993
The Social Revolutionary Party (AKP) is a political force that united all the previously disparate forces of the opposition who sought to overthrow the government. Today there is a widespread myth that the AKP are terrorists, radicals who have chosen blood and murder as their method of struggle. This misconception arose because many representatives of populism entered the new force and actually chose radical methods of political struggle. However, the AKP did not consist entirely of ardent nationalists and terrorists; its structure also included moderate members. Many of them even occupied prominent political positions and were famous and respected people. However, the “Combat Organization” still existed in the party. It was she who was engaged in terror and murder. Its goal is to sow fear and panic in society. They partially succeeded: there were cases when politicians refused the posts of governors because they were afraid of being killed. But not all Socialist Revolutionary leaders shared such views. Many of them wanted to fight for power through legal constitutional means. It is the leaders of the Socialist Revolutionaries who will become the main characters of our article. But first, let's talk about when the party officially appeared and who was part of it.
The emergence of the AKP in the political arena
The name “social revolutionaries” was adopted by representatives of revolutionary populism. In this game they saw a continuation of their struggle. They formed the backbone of the first combat organization of the party.
Already in the mid-90s. In the 19th century, Socialist Revolutionary organizations began to form: in 1894, the first Saratov Union of Russian Social Revolutionaries appeared. By the end of the 19th century similar organizations appeared in almost all major cities. These are Odessa, Minsk, St. Petersburg, Tambov, Kharkov, Poltava, Moscow. The first leader of the party was A. Argunov.
"Combat Organization"
The “combat organization” of the Socialist Revolutionaries was a terrorist organization. It is by this that the entire party is judged as “bloody.” In fact, such a formation existed, but it was autonomous from the Central Committee and was often not subordinate to it. For the sake of fairness, let’s say that many party leaders also did not share these methods of warfare: there were the so-called left and right Socialist Revolutionaries.
The idea of terror was not new in Russian history: the 19th century was accompanied by mass murders of prominent political figures. Then this was done by the “populists”, who by the beginning of the 20th century joined the AKP. In 1902, the “Combat Organization” first showed itself as an independent organization - the Minister of Internal Affairs D.S. Sipyagin was killed. A series of murders of other prominent political figures, governors, etc. soon followed. The leaders of the Socialist Revolutionaries could not influence their bloody brainchild, which put forward the slogan: “Terror as the path to a bright future.” It is noteworthy that one of the main leaders of the “Combat Organization” was the double agent Azef. He simultaneously organized terrorist attacks, chose the next victims, and on the other hand, was a secret agent of the secret police, “leaked” prominent performers to the special services, weaved intrigues in the party, and prevented the death of the emperor himself.
Leaders of the "Combat Organization"
The leaders of the “Combat Organization” (BO) were Azef, a double agent, as well as Boris Savinkov, who left memoirs about this organization. It was from his notes that historians studied all the intricacies of BO. It did not have a rigid party hierarchy, as, for example, in the Central Committee of the AKP. According to B. Savinkov, there was an atmosphere of a team, a family. There was harmony and respect for each other. Azef himself understood perfectly well that authoritarian methods alone could not keep the BO in submission; he allowed the activists to determine their internal life themselves. Its other active figures - Boris Savinkov, I. Schweitzer, E. Sozonov - did everything to ensure that the organization was a single family. In 1904, another finance minister, V.K. Plehve, was killed. After this, the BO Charter was adopted, but it was never implemented. According to the recollections of B. Savinkov, it was just a piece of paper that had no legal force, no one paid any attention to her. In January 1906, the “Combat Organization” was finally liquidated at the party congress due to the refusal of its leaders to continue the terror, and Azef himself became a supporter of the political legitimate struggle. In the future, of course, there were attempts to revive her with the aim of killing the emperor himself, but Azef always neutralized them until his exposure and escape.
Driving political force of the AKP
The Social Revolutionaries in the impending revolution placed emphasis on the peasantry. This is understandable: it was the agrarians who made up the majority of the inhabitants of Russia, and it was they who endured centuries of oppression. Viktor Chernov thought so too. By the way, until the first Russian revolution of 1905, serfdom actually remained in Russia in a modified format. Only the reforms of P. A. Stolypin freed the most hardworking forces from the hated community, thereby creating a powerful impetus for socio-economic development.
The Social Revolutionaries of 1905 were skeptical about the revolution. They did not consider the First Revolution of 1905 to be either socialist or bourgeois. The transition to socialism was supposed to be peaceful, gradual in our country, and a bourgeois revolution, in their opinion, was not necessary at all, because in Russia the majority of the inhabitants of the empire were peasants, not workers.
The Socialist Revolutionaries proclaimed the phrase “Land and Freedom” as their political slogan.
Official appearance
The process of forming an official political party was long. The reason was that the leaders of the Social Revolutionaries had different views both on the ultimate goal of the party and on the use of methods for achieving their goals. In addition, there were actually two independent forces in the country: the “Southern Socialist Revolutionary Party” and the “Union of Socialist Revolutionaries.” They merged into a single structure. The new leader of the Socialist Revolutionary Party at the beginning of the 20th century managed to gather all the prominent figures together. The founding congress took place from December 29, 1905 to January 4, 1906 in Finland. Then it wasn't independent country, and autonomy within the Russian Empire. Unlike the future Bolsheviks, who created their RSDLP party abroad, the Socialist Revolutionaries were formed within Russia. Viktor Chernov became the leader of the united party.
In Finland, the AKP approved its program, temporary charter, and summed up the results of its movement. The official formation of the party was facilitated by the Manifesto of October 17, 1905. He officially proclaimed the State Duma, which was formed through elections. The leaders of the Socialist Revolutionaries did not want to remain on the sidelines - they also began an official legal struggle. Extensive propaganda work is carried out, official printed publications are published, and new members are actively recruited. By 1907, the “Combat Organization” was dissolved. After this, the leaders of the Social Revolutionaries do not control their former militants and terrorists, their activities become decentralized, and their numbers grow. But with the dissolution of the military wing, on the contrary, there is an increase in terrorist attacks - there are 223 of them in total. The loudest of them is considered to be the explosion of the carriage of the Moscow mayor Kalyaev.
Disagreements
Since 1905, disagreements began between political groups and forces in the AKP. The so-called left Socialist Revolutionaries and centrists appear. The term “Right Social Revolutionaries” was not used in the party itself. This label was later invented by the Bolsheviks. In the party itself there was a division not into “left” and “right”, but into maximalists and minimalists, by analogy with the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. The Left Social Revolutionaries are the maximalists. They broke away from the main forces in 1906. The maximalists insisted on the continuation of agrarian terror, that is, the overthrow of power by revolutionary methods. The minimalists insisted on fighting through legal, democratic means. Interestingly, the RSDLP party was divided into Mensheviks and Bolsheviks in almost the same way. Maria Spiridonova became the leader of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. It is noteworthy that they subsequently merged with the Bolsheviks, while the minimalists merged with other forces, and the leader V. Chernov himself was a member of the Provisional Government.
Woman leader
The Social Revolutionaries inherited the traditions of the Narodniks, whose prominent figures for some time were women. At one time, after the arrest of the main leaders of the People's Will, only one member of the executive committee remained at large - Vera Figner, who led the organization for almost two years. The murder of Alexander II is also connected with the name of another woman Narodnaya Volya - Sofia Perovskaya. Therefore, no one was against it when Maria Spiridonova became the head of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. Next - a little about Maria’s activities.
Spiridonova's popularity
Maria Spiridonova is a symbol of the First Russian Revolution; many prominent figures, poets, and writers worked on her sacred image. Maria did not do anything supernatural, compared to the activities of other terrorists who carried out the so-called agrarian terror. In January 1906, she made an attempt on the life of the adviser to the governor, Gabriel Luzhenovsky. He “offended” before Russian revolutionaries during 1905. Luzhenovsky brutally suppressed any revolutionary protests in his province, and was the leader of the Tambov Black Hundreds, a nationalist party that defended monarchical traditional values. The assassination attempt for Maria Spiridonova ended unsuccessfully: she was brutally beaten by Cossacks and police. Perhaps she was even raped, but this information is unofficial. Particularly zealous offenders of Maria - policeman Zhdanov and Cossack officer Avramov - were overtaken by reprisals in the future. Spiridonova herself became a “great martyr” who suffered for the ideals of the Russian revolution. The public outcry about her case spread throughout the pages of the foreign press, which even in those years loved to talk about human rights in countries not under their control.
Journalist Vladimir Popov made a name for himself on this story. He conducted an investigation for the liberal newspaper Rus. Maria’s case was a real PR campaign: her every gesture, every word she said at the trial was described in the newspapers, letters to her family and friends from prison were published. One of the most prominent lawyers of that time came to her defense: Nikolai Teslenko, a member of the Central Committee of Cadets, who headed the Union of Lawyers of Russia. Spiridonova's photograph was distributed throughout the empire - it was one of the most popular photographs of that time. There is evidence that Tambov peasants prayed for her in a special chapel erected in the name of Mary of Egypt. All articles about Maria were republished; every student considered it an honor to have her card in his pocket, along with his student ID. The system of power could not withstand the public outcry: Mary’s death penalty was abolished, changing the punishment to lifelong hard labor. In 1917, Spiridonova joined the Bolsheviks.
Other Left SR leaders
Speaking about the leaders of the Socialist Revolutionaries, it is necessary to mention several more prominent figures of this party. The first is Boris Kamkov ( real name Katz).
One of the creators AK Party. Born in 1885 in Bessarabia. The son of a Jewish zemstvo doctor, he participated in the revolutionary movement in Chisinau and Odessa, for which he was arrested as a member of the BO. In 1907 he fled abroad, where he carried out all his active work. During the First World War, he adhered to defeatist views, that is, he actively wanted the defeat of Russian troops in the imperialist war. He was a member of the editorial board of the anti-war newspaper “Life”, as well as a committee for helping prisoners of war. He returned to Russia only after the February Revolution, in 1917. Kamkov actively opposed the Provisional “bourgeois” government and the continuation of the war. Convinced that he would not be able to resist the policies of the AKP, Kamkov, together with Maria Spiridonova and Mark Nathanson, initiated the creation of a faction of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. In the Pre-Parliament (September 22 - October 25, 1917) Kamkov defended his positions on peace and the Decree on Land. However, they were rejected, which led him to a rapprochement with Lenin and Trotsky. The Bolsheviks decided to leave the Pre-Parliament, calling on the Left Socialist Revolutionaries to follow with them. Kamkov decided to stay, but declared solidarity with the Bolsheviks in the event of a revolutionary uprising. Thus, Kamkov already then either knew or guessed about the possible seizure of power by Lenin and Trotsky. In the fall of 1917, he became one of the leaders of the largest Petrograd cell of the AKP. After October 1917, he tried to establish relations with the Bolsheviks, stated that in new council People's Commissars must include all parties. He actively opposed the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, although back in the summer he declared the inadmissibility of continuing the war. In July 1918, Left Socialist Revolutionary movements began against the Bolsheviks, in which Kamkov took part. From January 1920, a series of arrests and exiles began, but he never abandoned his allegiance to the AKP, despite the fact that he once actively supported the Bolsheviks. It was only with the beginning of the Trotskyist purges that Stalin was executed on August 29, 1938. Rehabilitated by the Russian Prosecutor's Office in 1992.
Another prominent theorist of the left Socialist Revolutionaries is Steinberg Isaac Zakharovich. At first, like others, he was a supporter of rapprochement between the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. He was even the People's Commissar of Justice in the Council of People's Commissars. However, just like Kamkov, he was an ardent opponent of the conclusion of the Brest Peace. During the Socialist Revolutionary uprising, Isaac Zakharovich was abroad. After returning to the RSFSR, he led an underground struggle against the Bolsheviks, as a result of which he was arrested by the Cheka in 1919. After the final defeat of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries, he emigrated abroad, where he carried out anti-Soviet activities. Author of the book “From February to October 1917,” which was published in Berlin.
Another prominent figure who maintained contact with the Bolsheviks was Nathanson Mark Andreevich. After October Revolution in November 1917 he initiated the creation of a new party - the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party. These were the new “leftists” who did not want to join the Bolsheviks, but also did not join the centrists from the Constituent Assembly. In 1918, the party openly opposed the Bolsheviks, but Nathanson remained faithful to the alliance with them, breaking away from the Left Social Revolutionaries. A new movement was organized - the Party of Revolutionary Communism, of which Nathanson was a member of the Central Executive Committee. In 1919, he realized that the Bolsheviks would not tolerate any other political force. Fearing arrest, he left for Switzerland, where he died of illness.
Social Revolutionaries: 1917
After the high-profile terrorist attacks of 1906-1909. The Social Revolutionaries are considered the main threat to the empire. Real police raids begin against them. The February Revolution revived the party, and the idea of “peasant socialism” found a response in the hearts of people, because many wanted the redistribution of landowners’ lands. By the end of the summer of 1917, the number of the party reached one million people. 436 party organizations are being formed in 62 provinces. Despite the large numbers and support, the political struggle was rather sluggish: for example, in the entire history of the party, only four congresses were held, and by 1917 a permanent Charter had not been adopted.
The rapid growth of the party, the lack of a clear structure, membership fees, and registration of its members lead to strong disparities in political views. Some of its illiterate members did not even see the difference between the AKP and the RSDLP and considered the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Bolsheviks to be one party. There were frequent cases of transition from one political force to another. Also, entire villages, factories, factories joined the party. AKP leaders noted that many of the so-called March Socialist-Revolutionaries join the party solely for the purpose of career growth. This was confirmed by their massive departure after the Bolsheviks came to power on October 25, 1917. Almost all of the March Socialist-Revolutionaries went over to the Bolsheviks by the beginning of 1918.
By the fall of 1917, the Socialist Revolutionaries split into three parties: right (Breshko-Breshkovskaya E.K., Kerensky A.F., Savinkov B.V.), centrists (Chernov V.M., Maslov S.L.), left ( Spiridonova M. A., Kamkov B. D.).
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