Appeal of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets. The Great October Socialist Revolution or the October Revolution Appeal to the working soldiers and peasants legal content

Appeal of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets to the workers, soldiers and peasants about the victory of the revolution and its immediate tasks, October 25 (November 7), 1917

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Information updated:01.01.2008

Note: Reconciled according to the edition: Decrees of the Soviet Power. T. I. M., State. Publishing House Polit. Literature, 1957. Full text of the document:
TO WORKERS, SOLDIERS AND PEASANTS!
Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers'
deputies opened. It represents the vast majority
Soviets. The congress is also attended by a number of delegates from the peasant
Soviets. The powers of the conciliatory Central Executive
The committees are over. Relying on the will of the vast majority
workers, soldiers and peasants, relying on what happened in
Petrograd victorious uprising of workers and garrison, congress
takes power into his own hands.
The provisional government is overthrown. Majority members
The provisional government has already been arrested.
Soviet power will offer an immediate democratic peace
to all peoples and an immediate truce on all fronts. She
will ensure the gratuitous transfer of landowners', appanage and
monastery lands at the disposal of the peasant committees,
will defend the rights of the soldier by carrying out a complete democratization of the army,
establish workers' control over production, ensure
timely convening of the Constituent Assembly, will attend to the delivery
bread to the cities and basic necessities to the countryside,
will ensure to all the nations inhabiting Russia the true right to
self-determination.
Congress decides; all local power passes to the Soviets
workers', soldiers' and peasants' deputies, who must
ensure a genuine revolutionary order.
The congress calls on the soldiers in the trenches to be vigilant and steadfast.
The Congress of Soviets is confident that the revolutionary army will be able to defend
revolution from all encroachments of imperialism, until the new
The government will not achieve the conclusion of a democratic peace,
which it will directly offer to all peoples. New
The Government will take all measures to ensure
revolutionary army with everything necessary, through a resolute policy
requisitions and taxation of the propertied classes, as well as improve the situation
soldier families.
Kornilovites - Kerensky, Kaledin and others - are making attempts
lead troops to Petrograd. Several squads, fraudulently
moved by Kerensky, went over to the side of the insurgent people.
Soldiers, actively resist Kornilov
Kerensky! Be on the lookout!
Railway workers, stop all trains sent
Kerensky to Petrograd!
Soldiers, workers, employees - the fate of the revolution is in your hands
and the fate of the democratic world!
Long live the revolution!

All-Russian Congress of Soviets
workers' and soldiers' deputies.
Delegates from peasant councils.

The first legal acts of the Soviet state.

Plan:

I. Introduction. - one

II. The most important legal acts of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies:

1) The appeal "To the workers, soldiers and peasants!", - 2.

4) "Decree on the formation of a provisional workers' and peasants' government", - 7.

III. Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia. - 8.

IV. Decree on workers' control. - nine.

V. Conclusion. - eleven.

VI. Bibliography. - eleven.

I. Introduction.

Political opponents of the Bolsheviks called their seizure of power in October a political adventure. But Lenin and his associates believed that the political situation in Russia was the best suited for the implementation of the ideas of communism.

The revolution in Russia was conceived as part of a world revolution that would take place simultaneously in many developed countries, and the working class of the more advanced states would help their Russian brethren.

The policy of the Bolsheviks was determined by two factors: external and internal.

The external factor was the expectation and pushing of the world revolution. Although the revolution will be global, initially it will take place in a single country, in that country where interclass contradictions are stronger and have more explosive potential. Lenin called such a country “a weak link in the chain of imperialism,” and the Russian Empire, in his opinion, was just that. Having begun in Russia, the revolution must necessarily continue in other countries. The task of the Russian proletariat, which has taken power into its own hands, is to push the world social revolution, to pass on the experience of the struggle to the proletarians of other countries.

The internal factor was dictated by a comprehensive crisis, when all the threads of government in the state were cut off. The Bolshevik Party was created as a party of struggle, as a fighting fist capable of destroying the autocracy. The Bolsheviks, even at the beginning of 1917, did not suspect that events in Russia would develop so rapidly. After the October Revolution, they managed to turn from a party of struggle and destruction into a party of state administration, which was supposed to solve previously unknown tasks for building a new society.

These two principles were reflected in the first legal acts of the Soviet state.

II. The most important legal actsIIAll-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies

The II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies was held on November 7-8 (October 25-26) in the building of the Smolny Institute. As a result of the victory of the armed uprising of the St. Petersburg proletariat and the garrison, by the time the Congress opened, power in Petrograd had passed to the Military Revolutionary Committee.

1) Appeal "Workers, peasants, soldiers!"

The first adopted document, which in a concise form explained the meaning and purpose of what was happening, was the appeal written by Lenin "To the workers, peasants, soldiers!"

Here is an excerpt from the document.

“Relying on the will of the vast majority of the workers, soldiers and peasants, relying on the victorious uprising of the workers and garrison that took place in Petrograd, the Congress takes power into its own hands. Provisional government overthrown...

The Soviet government will offer immediate democratic peace to all peoples and an immediate truce on all fronts. It will ensure the free transfer of landlord, appanage and monastic lands to the disposal of the peasant committees, defend the rights of the soldier by carrying out the complete democratization of the army, establish workers' control over production, and ensure the timely convocation of the Constituent Assembly. It will take care of the delivery of bread to the cities and essential items to the countryside, and will ensure to all the nations inhabiting Russia the true right to self-determination. – Decrees of the Soviet power. T.1.– M., 1957.

In the “appeal”, Lenin confirmed his readiness to solve a number of urgent problems: ending the war, the land issue, and the ruined economy. The promise to solve these problems attracted many supporters to the side of the Bolsheviks in the period between the February Revolution and the October Revolution. In addition, the document marked the beginning of the construction of a new system of power. The decrees adopted by the Congress were a further study of these issues.

2) Peace Decree. International politics.

By the time of the October Revolution, the war had already lasted for the fourth year. Many segments of the country's population were tired of the hardships of the war, did not understand its goals and stood up for its end. By that time, the soldiers were making mass escapes from their positions and fraternizing with the Germans. The slogan of the Bolsheviks "Down with the war!" liked them. The Soviet government sacrificed four years of the war and gave the Allies the opportunity to use "abundant German fruits" alone.

In addition, the Bolsheviks expected a worldwide victory for the proletariat and were confident that the imperialist war would soon turn into a series of civil wars for the power of the proletariat in the major Western countries, in particular Germany. Lenin was sure that after Russia in one of the major countries, an explosion was about to happen, which would cause a chain reaction. The traditions of proletarian solidarity had existed since the days of Marx's First International, and the conscious proletarians of other countries had to have their say, to support the Russian comrades.

So, the aims of the foreign policy of the Bolsheviks were the following: ending the imperialist war and approaching the world social revolution. They found their reflection in the policy document of the foreign policy of the Bolsheviks - the Decree on Peace.

Here is an excerpt from the document:

“The workers' and peasants' government ... invites all the belligerent peoples and their governments to begin immediately negotiations for a just democratic peace.

A just and democratic peace, which the vast majority of the exhausted, exhausted and war-torn workers and laborers yearn for... - the peace that the Russian workers and peasants demanded in the most definite and persistent way after the overthrow of the tsarist monarchy - such a peace the government considers an immediate peace without annexations... and contributions.

Such a peace is proposed by the Government of Russia to be concluded immediately by all warring peoples, expressing its readiness to do so without the slightest delay...

Under the annexation or seizure of foreign lands, the Government understands, in accordance with the legal consciousness of democracy in general, and of the working classes in particular, any accession to a large or strong state by a small or weak nationality without the precisely, clearly and voluntarily expressed consent and desire of this nationality ...

To continue this war over how to divide the weak nationalities captured by them between strong and rich nations, the Government considers it the greatest crime against humanity and solemnly declares its determination to immediately sign the terms of peace ending this war ...

The government is abolishing secret diplomacy, expressing its firm intention to conduct all negotiations completely openly before the whole people, proceeding immediately to the full publication of the secret agreements confirmed or concluded by the government of the landowners and capitalists from February to October 25, 1917.

The entire content of these secret treaties, in so far as it is directed, as in most cases, to delivering benefits and privileges to the Russian landowners and capitalists, to retaining or increasing the annexations of the Great Russians, the Government declares unconditionally and immediately cancelled.

…For its part, the government expresses its readiness to conduct these negotiations both through written communications, by telegraph, and through negotiations between representatives of different countries or at a conference of such representatives ...

The government proposes to all the governments and peoples of all the belligerent countries to immediately conclude an armistice, and for its part considers it desirable that this armistice be concluded for no less than three months, that is, for such a period during which it is quite possible, as the completion of peace negotiations with the participation of representatives of all, without exception, peoples or nations drawn into the war or forced to participate in it, as well as the convocation of plenipotentiary assemblies of people's representatives of all countries for the final approval of peace conditions.

Addressing this proposal of peace to the governments and peoples of all the belligerent countries, the Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government of Russia also appeals in particular to the class-conscious workers of the three most advanced nations of mankind and the largest states participating in the present war, England, France and Germany. – right there.

The Decree on Peace, designed to stimulate revolutionary processes in Europe, made a strong impression on the ruling circles and the working masses of the warring countries. The proposal to make peace without territorial claims did not win the support of the ruling circles of the Entente, since this would mean abandoning the goals that were the cause of the war. However, Germany, exhausted by the war on two fronts, entered into peace negotiations. The peace treaty was concluded on March 3, 1918. Lenin called this world "obscene". In addition to significant territorial concessions, the Bolshevik government had to demobilize the army and was obliged to pay Germany an indemnity of 6 billion marks. This is all the more insulting, because just a year later, Russia's allies celebrated the victory over Germany and shared its generous "pie" among themselves, which they then "choked on."

An important role in stimulating the revolution was to be played by the publication of the secret treaties concluded by the imperialist powers. In such agreements, it was, as a rule, about the division of spheres of influence. The publication of these documents exposed the true aims of the war and caused an explosion of discontent among the workers.

In conclusion, it must be said that in a few years the Soviet government returned to its arsenal all the traditional methods of diplomacy and mastered them to perfection.

3) Decree on the Earth. Domestic policy.

The Soviets in the first years of power were supported by the most massive stratum of Russian society - the peasants. The land question, as it seemed to them, was decided in their favor. The Decree on Land proclaimed the abolition of all private property, and the transfer of land to the peasants without any preconditions.

Developing the decree, the Bolsheviks took as a basis the agrarian program of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. The Leninists were brought closer to the Socialist-Revolutionaries by the denial of landownership, however, they represented socialism in the countryside in different ways. The Social Revolutionaries believed that the land could not be anyone's property, it should be in the use of those who cultivate it. The Bolsheviks believed that the land should be nationalized, that is, transferred to the hands of the state, and then large collective peasant farms should be created on it. Nevertheless, the Bolsheviks proposed a program of the Socialist-Revolutionaries at the Congress and received - the sympathy of the peasantry and a split among the Socialist-Revolutionaries. The decree was considered by them as the first step towards the implementation of their own program. Unfortunately, they later succeeded.

From the report of V.I. Lenin on the tasks of the power of the Soviets at a meeting of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies on October 25 (November 7), 1917 (newspaper report): “Comrades! The workers' and peasants' revolution, the necessity of which the Bolsheviks have been talking about all the time, has taken place.

What is the significance of this workers' and peasants' revolution? First of all, the significance of this revolution lies in the fact that we will have a Soviet government, our own organ of power, without any participation of the bourgeoisie. The oppressed masses themselves will create power. The old state apparatus will be radically smashed and a new administrative apparatus will be created in the person of Soviet organizations.

V.I.Lenin. Full coll. op. T. 35. S. 2.

From the resolution of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies “To the Workers, Soldiers and Peasants!” written by V.I. It represents the vast majority of the Soviets. A number of delegates from the Peasant Soviets are also present at the congress. The powers of the compromising Central Executive Committee ended. Relying on the will of the vast majority of the workers, soldiers and peasants, relying on the victorious uprising of the workers and garrison that took place in Petrograd, the congress takes power into its own hands.

The provisional government is overthrown. Most of the members of the Provisional Government have already been arrested.

The Soviet government will offer immediate democratic peace to all peoples and an immediate truce on all fronts. It will ensure the free transfer of landlord, appanage and monastic lands to the disposal of the peasant committees, defend the rights of the soldier by carrying out the complete democratization of the army, establish workers' control over production, ensure the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, attend to the delivery of grain to the cities and necessities to the countryside, provide all nations inhabiting Russia, the true right to self-determination.

The congress decides: all power in the localities passes to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, which must ensure genuine revolutionary order.

V.I.Lenin. Full coll. op. T. 35. S. 11.

Meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on November 4 (17), 1917 From V. I. Lenin's response to the request of the Left Social Revolutionaries: “The living creativity of the masses is the main factor of the new public. Let the workers set about creating workers' control in their factories and mills, let them supply the countryside with manufactured goods and exchange them for grain. Not a single product, not a single pound of bread should be left out of account, for socialism is above all accounting. Socialism is not created by orders from above. Official-bureaucratic automatism is alien to his spirit; socialism is alive, creative, is the creation of the masses of the people themselves.

V.I.Lenin. Full coll. op. T. 35. S. 57.

From V.I. Lenin’s work “The childhood illness of “leftism” in communism”: “Now we already have before us a very decent international experience, which speaks with complete certainty that some of the main features of our revolution are not local, not nationally special, not only Russian, but international significance. And I am speaking here of international significance not in the broad sense of the word: not some, but all the main and many secondary features of our revolution have international significance in the sense of its impact on all countries. No, in the narrowest sense of the word, i.e., understanding by international significance the international significance or the historical inevitability of a repetition on an international scale of what we had, one has to recognize such significance for some of the main features of our revolution.

Of course, it would be the greatest mistake to exaggerate this truth, to extend it beyond some of the main features of our revolution...

But at the present historical moment, the situation is precisely such that the Russian model is showing all countries something, and a very significant one, from their inevitable and not too distant future. The advanced workers in all countries understood this a long time ago—and even more often they did not so much understand it, but seized it with the instinct of the revolutionary class, they sensed it.”

V.I.Lenin. Full coll. op. T. 41. S. 3-4.

On the eve of the first anniversary of October (1918), I.V. Stalin recalled: “The most important events that accelerated the October uprising were: the intention of the Provisional Government (after the surrender of Riga) to surrender Petrograd, the preparation of the Kerensky government to move to Moscow, the decision of the commanding staff of the old army to transfer the entire garrison of Petrograd to the front, leaving the capital defenseless and, finally, the feverish work of the black congress, headed by Rodzianko, in Moscow - the work of organizing the counter-revolution. All this, in connection with the growing economic ruin and the unwillingness of the front to continue the war, determined the inevitability of a quick and strictly organized uprising, as the only way out of the situation.

Already at the end of September, the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party decided to mobilize all the forces of the party to organize a successful uprising. To this end, the Central Committee decided to organize a Military Revolutionary Committee in St. Petersburg, to achieve the leaving of the Petrograd garrison in the capital and to convene the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. Such a congress could be the only successor to power. The preliminary conquest of the Soviets of Deputies of Moscow and Petrograd, the most significant in the rear and at the front, was undoubtedly part of the general plan for organizing the uprising.

The Central Organ of the Rabochy Put party, following the instructions of the Central Committee, began to openly call for an uprising, preparing the workers and peasants for a decisive battle.

The first open skirmish with the Provisional Government took place on the basis of the closure of the Bolshevik newspaper Rabochy Put. By order of the Provisional Government, the newspaper was closed. By order of the Military Revolutionary Committee, it was opened in a revolutionary way. The seals were broken, the commissars of the Provisional Government were removed from their posts. It was October 24th.

On October 24, in a number of important state institutions, the commissars of the Military Revolutionary Committee forcibly removed representatives of the Provisional Government, as a result of which these institutions fell into the hands of the Military Revolutionary Committee, and the entire apparatus of the Provisional Government was disorganized. On that day (October 24) the entire garrison, all the regiments in Petrograd decisively went over to the side of the Military Revolutionary Committee, with the exception of only some cadet schools and an armored division. Indecisiveness was noticed in the behavior of the Provisional Government. Only in the evening it began to occupy the bridges with shock battalions, having managed to separate some of them. In response to this, the Military Revolutionary Committee moved sailors and Vyborg Red Guards, who, having removed the shock battalions and dispersed them, occupied the bridges themselves. From that moment began an open uprising. A number of our regiments were sent with the task of encircling the entire area occupied by the headquarters and the Winter Palace with a ring. The Provisional Government met in the Winter Palace. The transition of the armored division to the side of the Military Revolutionary Committee (late on October 24) hastened the favorable outcome of the uprising.

On October 25, the Congress of Soviets opened, to which the conquered power was transferred by the Military Revolutionary Committee.

Early in the morning of October 26, after the Aurora shelled the Winter Palace and headquarters, after a shootout between Soviet troops and cadets in front of the Winter Palace, the Provisional Government surrendered.

The inspirer of the coup from beginning to end was the Central Committee of the Party, headed by Comrade Lenin. Vladimir Ilyich then lived in Petrograd, on the Vyborg side, in a secret apartment. On October 24, in the evening, he was summoned to Smolny to lead the movement.

An outstanding role in the October uprising was played by Baltic sailors and Red Guards from the Vyborg side. With the extraordinary courage of these people, the role of the Petrograd garrison was reduced mainly to moral and partly military support for the advanced fighters.

I.V. Stalin. Op. T. 4. S. 152-154.

From the work of I.V. Stalin “The October Revolution and the Tactics of the Russian Communists”: “Three circumstances of an external order determined the relative ease with which the proletarian revolution in Russia managed to break the chains of imperialism and thus overthrow the power of the bourgeoisie.

Firstly, the fact that the October Revolution began during a period of desperate struggle between the two main imperialist groups, the Anglo-French and the Austro-German, when these groups, being engaged in a mortal struggle among themselves, had neither the time nor the means to devote serious attention to the struggle with the October Revolution. This circumstance was of tremendous importance for the October Revolution, for it enabled it to use the fierce clashes within imperialism to strengthen and organize its forces.

Secondly, the fact that the October Revolution began in the course of the imperialist war, when the working masses, exhausted by the war and thirsting for peace, were led by the very logic of things to the proletarian revolution as the only way out of the war. This circumstance was of the greatest importance for the October Revolution, for it placed in its hands a powerful instrument of peace, made it easier for it to combine the Soviet revolution with the end of the hated war, and, in view of this, created for it mass sympathy both in the West, among the workers, and in the East. among the oppressed peoples.

Thirdly, the presence of a powerful working-class movement in Europe and the fact that a revolutionary crisis is brewing in the West and East, created by a prolonged imperialist war. This circumstance was of inestimable significance for the revolution in Russia, for it provided it with faithful allies outside of Russia in its struggle against world imperialism.

But in addition to external circumstances, the October Revolution also had a number of internal favorable conditions that facilitated its victory.

First, the October Revolution had behind it the most active support of the vast majority of the Russian working class.

Secondly, she had the undoubted support of the peasant poor and the majority of the soldiers, who were thirsty for peace and land.

Thirdly, it had at its head, as a guiding force, such a tried and tested party as the Bolshevik Party, strong not only in its experience and discipline developed over the years, but also in its enormous ties with the working masses.

Fourthly, the October Revolution had before it such relatively easily overcome enemies as the more or less weak Russian bourgeoisie, the class of landowners completely demoralized by peasant "revolts", and the conciliatory parties (Menshevik and Socialist-Revolutionary parties) completely bankrupt during the war.

Fifthly, she had at her disposal the vast expanses of the young state, where she could freely maneuver, retreat when the situation required it, take a break, gather her strength, etc.

Sixth, the October Revolution could rely in its struggle against the counter-revolution on the availability of a sufficient amount of food, fuel and raw materials within the country.

The combination of these external and internal circumstances created that peculiar situation which determined the relative ease of the victory of the October Revolution.

This does not mean, of course, that the October Revolution did not have its drawbacks in terms of the external and internal situation. What is worth, for example, such a minus as the well-known loneliness of the October Revolution, the absence of a Soviet country near it and in its neighborhood, on which it could rely?

* On October 25, 1917, when the bourgeois Provisional Government was overthrown as a result of an armed uprising, V.I. Lenin wrote the Appeal "To the citizens of Russia!". It was the first official document of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks) and the Soviet government.

The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies has opened. It represents the vast majority of the Soviets. A number of delegates from the Peasant Soviets are also present at the congress. The powers of the compromising Central Executive Committee ended. Relying on the will of the vast majority of the workers, soldiers and peasants, relying on the victorious uprising of the workers and garrison that took place in Petrograd, the congress takes power into its own hands.

The provisional government is overthrown. Most of the members of the Provisional Government have already been arrested.

The Soviet government will offer immediate democratic peace to all peoples and an immediate truce on all fronts. It will ensure the free transfer of landlord, appanage and monastic lands to the disposal of the peasant committees, defend the rights of the soldier by carrying out the complete democratization of the army, establish workers' control over production, ensure the timely convocation of the Constituent Assembly, take care of the delivery of bread to the cities and necessities to the countryside, provide everyone nations inhabiting Russia, a genuine right to self-determination.

The congress decides: all power in the localities passes to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, which must ensure genuine revolutionary order.

The congress calls on the soldiers in the trenches to be vigilant and steadfast. The Congress of Soviets is confident that the revolutionary army will be able to defend the revolution against all encroachments of imperialism until the new government achieves the conclusion of a democratic peace, which it will directly offer to all peoples. The new government will take all measures to provide the revolutionary army with everything necessary, through a resolute policy of requisitions and taxation of the propertied classes, and will also improve the condition of the soldiers' families.

The Kornilovites - Kerensky, Kaledin and others - are making attempts to lead troops to Petrograd. Several detachments, deceptively moved by Kerensky, went over to the side of the insurgent people.

Soldiers, actively resist Kerensky, the Kornilovites! Be on the lookout!

Railway workers, stop all trains sent by Kerensky to Petrograd!

Soldiers, workers, employees - in your hands is the fate of the revolution and the fate of the democratic world!

Long live the revolution!

All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies

Delegates from Peasants' Soviets

Published according to the text of the Complete Works of V.I. Lenin. T. 35. S. 11-12.

DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF THE WORKING AND EXPLOITED PEOPLE*

* "Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People" On January 3 (16), 1918, it was introduced by Lenin at a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The text of the "Declaration" adopted unanimously at a meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee differed somewhat from the original Leninist text. On January 4 (17), 1918, the "Declaration" was published in the newspaper "Pravda" No. 2. On January 5 (18), the "Declaration" was proposed by the Bolshevik faction on behalf of the Soviet government for discussion by the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly refused to discuss the "Declaration", after which the Bolshevik faction left the Constituent Assembly. On January 12 (25), 1918, the "Declaration" was approved by the III All-Russian Congress of Soviets.

early January 1918

The Constituent Assembly decides:

I.1. Russia is declared a republic of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. All power in the center and locally belongs to these Soviets.

2. The Soviet Russian Republic is established on the basis of a free union of free nations as a federation of Soviet national republics.

II. Setting as its main task the abolition of all exploitation of man by man, the complete elimination of the division of society into classes, the merciless suppression of the resistance of the exploiters, the establishment of a socialist organization of society and the victory of socialism in all countries, the Constituent Assembly decides further:

1. Private ownership of land is abolished. All land, with all buildings, implements and other accessories of agricultural production, is declared the property of all the working people.

2. The Soviet law on workers' control and on the Supreme Council of the National Economy is confirmed in order to ensure the power of the working people, over the exploiters, and as the first step towards the complete transition of factories, plants, mines, railways and other means of production and transport into the property of the workers' and peasants' state.

3. The transfer of all banks to the property of the workers' and peasants' state is confirmed as one of the conditions for the liberation of the working masses from the yoke of capital.

5. In order to ensure full power over the working masses and eliminate any possibility of restoring the power of the exploiters, the arming of the working people, the formation of a socialist red army of workers and peasants, and the complete disarmament of the propertied classes are decreed.

III. 1. Expressing its inflexible determination to wrest humanity from the clutches of finance capital and imperialism, which have flooded the earth with blood in this most criminal of all wars, the Constituent Assembly fully subscribes to the policy pursued by the Soviet government of breaking secret treaties, organizing the widest possible fraternization with the workers and peasants of the armies now fighting among themselves and achieving, by revolutionary measures, by revolutionary measures, a democratic peace among peoples, without annexations and without indemnities, on the basis of the free self-determination of nations.

2. For the same purpose, the Constituent Assembly insists on a complete break with the barbaric policy of bourgeois civilization, which built the welfare of the exploiters in a few selected nations on the enslavement of hundreds of millions of the working population in Asia, in the colonies in general and in small countries.

The Constituent Assembly welcomes the policy of the Council of People's Commissars, which proclaimed the complete independence of Finland*, began the withdrawal of troops from Persia**, declared freedom of self-determination for Armenia***.

* All-Russian Central Executive Committee December 22, 1917 (January 4, 1918) according to the report of I.V. Stalin on the independence of Finland adopted the "Declaration of the revolutionary government on the independence of Finland".

** The proposal to the Persian government to develop a general plan for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Persia was made by the Soviet government in the second half of December 1917.

*** The Decree "On "Turkish Armenia", written by I.V. Stalin, was discussed at a meeting of the Council of People's Commissars on December 23, 1917 (January 5, 1918) and approved by the Council of People's Commissars on December 29, 1917 (January 11, 1918). The decree was published in the newspaper "Pravda" No. 227 of January 13, 1918 (December 31, 1917).

3. As a first blow to international banking and financial capital. The Constituent Assembly is considering the Soviet law on the annulment (destruction) of loans entered into by the governments of the tsar, the landlords and the bourgeoisie, expressing confidence that the Soviet government will firmly follow this path until the complete victory of the international workers' uprising against the yoke of capital.

IV. Being elected on the basis of party lists drawn up before the October Revolution, when the people could not yet revolt en masse against the exploiters, did not know all the strength of their resistance in defending their class privileges, had not yet taken up the practical task of building a socialist society, the Constituent Assembly would consider fundamentally wrong, even from a formal point of view, to oppose Soviet power.

In essence, the Constituent Assembly believes that now, at the moment last fight people with their exploiters - there can be no place for exploiters in any of the organs of power. Power must belong wholly and exclusively to the working masses and their plenipotentiary representation - the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies.

Supporting Soviet power and the decrees of the Council of People's Commissars, the Constituent Assembly considers that its tasks are limited to establishing the fundamental foundations for the socialist reorganization of society.

At the same time, striving to create a really free and voluntary, and therefore all the more close and lasting, union of the working classes of all the nations of Russia, the Constituent Assembly limits its task to establishing the fundamental principles of the federation of the Soviet republics of Russia, leaving the workers and peasants of each nation to make an independent decision on their own plenipotentiary Soviet congress, whether and on what grounds they wish to participate in the federal government and in other federal Soviet institutions.

The published resolutions were prepared by V.I. Lenin and contained statements about the establishment of Soviet power, about the name and personal composition of the first Soviet government.

Appeal of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets. October 26, 1917

Workers, soldiers and peasants!

The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies has opened. It contains the vast majority of advice. A number of delegates from peasant soviets are also present at the Congress. The powers of the compromising Central I. K.ended. Relying on the will of the vast majority of the workers, soldiers and peasants, relying on the victorious uprising of the workers and garrison that took place near Petrograd, the Congress takes power into its own hands.

The provisional government is overthrown. Most of the members of the Provisional Government have already been arrested.

The Soviet government will offer immediate democratic peace to all peoples and an immediate truce on all fronts. It will ensure the free transfer of landlord, appanage and monastic lands to the disposal of the peasant committees, defend the rights of the soldier by carrying out the complete democratization of the army, establish workers' control over production, ensure the timely convocation of the Constituent Assembly, take care of the delivery of bread to the cities and necessities to the countryside, will ensure to all the nations inhabiting Russia the true right to self-determination.

The congress decides: all power in the localities passes to the soviets of workers', soldiers' and peasants' deputies, which must ensure genuine revolutionary order.

The congress calls on the soldiers in the trenches to be vigilant and steadfast. The Congress of Soviets is confident that the revolutionary army will be able to defend the revolution from all encroachments of imperialism until the new government achieves the conclusion of a democratic peace.which it will directly offer to all peoples. The new government will take all measures to provide the revolutionary army with everything necessary through a resolute policy of requisitions and taxation of the propertied classes, and will also improve the condition of the soldiers' families.

Kornilovites - Kerensky, Kaledinand others - make attempts to lead troops to Petrograd. Several detachments, deceptively moved by Kerensky, went over to the side of the insurgent people.

Soldiers, actively resist Kerensky, the Kornilovites! Be on the lookout!

Railway workers, stop all trains sent by Kerensky to Petrograd!

Soldiers, workers, employees, the fate of the revolution and the fate of the democratic world is in your hands!

Long live the revolution!

All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies

Delegates from the Peasants' Councils

Decree of the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies on the establishment of the Council of People's Commissars. October 27, 1917

To form for the administration of the country until the convocation of the Constituent Assembly a provisional workers' and peasants' government, which will be called the Council of People's Commissars. The management of individual branches of state life is entrusted to commissions, the composition of which should ensure the implementation of the program proclaimed by the Congress, in close unity with the mass organizations of workers, working women, sailors, soldiers, peasants and employees. Government power is vested in the collegium of chairmen of these commissions, i.e., Council of People's Commissars.

Control over the activities of People's Commissars and the right to dismiss them belongs to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies and its Central Committee. Use Committee.