The peoples of Bashkiria and their traditions. Bashkir people: culture, traditions and customs

I strongly welcome you. Egor, good afternoon. Kind. Shall we continue? Yes. Finally, we are now moving on to the history of the continuation of the Russian revolution. Last year we ended with the fact that the October armed uprising was victorious, but the power that the Bolsheviks took into their own hands turned out to be extremely fragile. In general, history could have gone differently. I am deeply convinced of this. When you start immersing yourself in the sources, you come to the conclusion that there are moments when you directly feel historical forks. We left our heroes during the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets. When, after a huge scandal between the parties of moderate revolutionary democracy and the Bolsheviks, the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries decided to leave the hall where this congress was held. And, admonished by the curses of Leon Trotsky, who predicted a place for the Mensheviks in the cesspool of history, their leader, Martov, left the hall. And so, when he was practically leaving the door... One of the workers who supported not the Bolsheviks, but the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, which took power, because this is a very important point, the Bolsheviks took power not on behalf of the party, but on behalf of the Council, and this worker said to Martov in the back: “I thought someone, and Martov would stay with the workers.” And Martov froze at that moment. If he had remained at the congress at that moment and the Mensheviks had remained at the congress, they would have left themselves the opportunity to continue the dialogue and, perhaps, change something in their favor. But Martov stood there for a few seconds and left. He left because both the Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries came to the conclusion that the Bolsheviks had usurped power. And they did what they refused to do between February and October. Let me remind you that revolutionary democracy had chances and prospects to transfer power to the Soviets before. The most ideal moment was after Kornilov’s speech. When almost the entire passionate mass in Petrograd, workers and soldiers, they supported the transfer of power to the Soviets and the break with the bourgeoisie. But both the Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries did not dare to do this. And they did not dare for one simple reason: they did not believe that they could rule the country by breaking with the bourgeoisie and the bourgeois intelligentsia, who for the most part supported the Cadet Party. The Bolsheviks turned out to be the only party that was not afraid of this. “There is such a party!” And Lenin went to the end. Actually, these angry curses of Trotsky, to which Lenin fully joined, were precisely directed at the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, primarily because they, as they believed, had betrayed the cause of the revolution, revolutionary democracy, and constantly, time after time , came to an agreement with the bourgeoisie. A fault ran along this line. The Mensheviks were captivated by the idea that the Bolsheviks, for example, had seized power, but this was an adventure, not power. They cannot retain power, no one will follow them, literally in a few days the Bolshevik government will fall. Because they will not be able to govern the country, their allies will not support them. What is Petrograd? This is not all of Russia. Therefore, they went to the Petrograd City Duma, which they considered the only, at the moment, legitimate authority. And there they began to make plans for the restoration of the Provisional Government. What was the advantage of the situation for the Bolsheviks. The fact is that although the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries left, this did not deprive the Congress of Soviets of quorum. Most of the congress delegates remained. Therefore, the decisions were officially legitimate. What was the point of leaving then? I understand if they somehow cleverly spoiled things with their departure. They stopped work and all that. Why did you leave? On the one hand, it was an emotional act. On the other hand, well, that is, if they had stayed, they would have been forced to recognize the attempt to seize power as legitimate. All the actions of the Bolsheviks. Even if they continued the dialogue within the Council, they would still have to acknowledge the influence of the Bolsheviks. But there were no Bolsheviks in the provisional government. The government was temporarily headed by the Socialist Revolutionary Alexander Fedorovich Kerensky, who, they believed, was legitimate, to whom the troops should obey. The Bolsheviks looked in their eyes, firstly, as radicals, and, secondly, as adventurers. At that moment, in addition to the emotional act, the prevailing idea was that the Bolsheviks would seize power for a very short period of time. Because now loyal troops from the front will approach, and the Bolsheviks will simply be blown away. Lightning fast. TO to the same , both the Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries hoped for their influence among the working masses and among the soldiers. First of all, among the peasant masses, the Socialist Revolutionaries. And they thought that the Bolsheviks could do whatever they wanted, no one would obey them, they would simply collapse on their own. In addition, the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries knew very well that there were different currents in the Bolshevik Party. We now judge the Bolsheviks as some kind of monolith; in fact, there was no monolith. We see this even in the prehistory of the armed uprising. Who wanted what? Yes. Because within the Bolshevik party there was a very influential wing that stood for an agreement with revolutionary democracy. This wing was headed by the aforementioned Kamenev, who, together with Zinoviev, compromised himself by actually giving away the date of the armed uprising. For this he was cursed by Lenin, Lenin demanded his expulsion from the Central Committee. But the Central Committee did not agree on this point. And Kamenev continued to adhere to the point of view that a split in the entire revolutionary democracy is a hopeless path. That is, he, in principle, even took Menshevik positions. He believed that “we will not be able to govern.” And this is one interesting collision, a hidden conflict between Lenin and Kamenev, which will become one of the storylines of our program today. But Kamenev was not alone; a number of influential Bolsheviks stood behind him. This is Lunacharsky, this is Ryazanov, they certainly played their role. I’ll tell you honestly, for me listening to this is somehow wild. I, like everyone else, am firmly convinced that the Bolsheviks are a welded fist. Everything was completely wrong. The Bolsheviks were not a united fist at all. There was internal party democracy at this moment. As I already said, Lenin could have been besieged. At the decisive moment, this can be seen from the history of the preparation, everything was wild, it was unknown where it came from in this short man, energy. Lenin at some point, especially in the most critical cases, knew how to convince everyone. Lenin did not, let’s say, joke or sprinkle wit in his speeches, but he was famous for his iron logic. He knew how to convince everyone at a specific moment that they needed to act as he said. What’s more important is that he knew how to do it. And it turned out to be correct. Yes. Somehow, unexpectedly, indeed, the prospects that Lenin saw, they, at least in a tactical sense, led to success, to victory. Lenin was definitely not a “loser”. What problems did the Bolsheviks have after the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries left the congress? The quorum was preserved, but why was it preserved? Because there were left Socialist Revolutionaries who, in principle, were ready for a coalition with the Bolsheviks. And a certain number of Menshevik nationalists, such schismatics within the Mensheviks. Representatives of these movements agreed to work with the Bolsheviks, but, nevertheless, the line of splitting revolutionary democracy scared them too. And they, despite the fact that they remained, began to persuade Lenin and the Bolsheviks to create a common socialist government. In which, of course, there are no cadets, Octobrists, or Black Hundreds. But come on, there are revolutionary parties. Moreover, the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks were once one party. Let us all gather a government together and work. Well, the next day Lenin “came in with his trump cards.” Lenin thought through everything very well. There were hotheads who suggested, first of all, how the interim government was overthrown, a new government is needed, otherwise the country lives without a government, how can this be? Lenin said: “No, we won’t elect a government now. Let's start with something else." The country lived for one day without a government. Interesting fact, why did Lenin need this? Lenin needed this in order to announce the intention of the Bolshevik Party. First of all, Lenin announced the “Decree on Peace,” that is, he thus satisfied the people’s aspirations. And secondly, Lenin announced the “Decree on Land”. After this, the government naturally became Bolshevik. Trump cards, yes. Absolutely right, Mikhail Vasilyevich Popov, I listened to his broadcasts, says that what was Lenin’s position? The fact is that it is impossible to satisfy people's aspirations in a bourgeois parliament. Because the bourgeoisie will always dictate its interests. Therefore, the Bolsheviks, who are not a bourgeois party, will never be able to win the majority and, accordingly, protect the interests of the majority of the population. Therefore, they first took power in order to then announce their reforms in person, thus satisfying the people’s aspirations and winning the majority. Which, in principle, in any case, is what happened in Petrograd. Again, since childhood, it seems, no one was asked about anything and no one was interested in anything. “The water of the Kuban River flows where the Bolsheviks command.” It turns out, no, they were thinking about something, coordinating it with someone. How else? It was impossible to do otherwise. Because, I repeat, we often underestimate the movement of the masses. And the revolution, in fact, was a movement of the masses. The Bolsheviks won precisely because they did not want to remake the masses for themselves; they led them. They led this movement. They understood what the masses wanted and, accordingly, gained legitimacy due to this. Moreover, I repeat once again, they acted on behalf of the Soviets. And all these decrees were approved at the Congress of Soviets. That is, from the point of view of everyone who supported Soviet democracy, these were absolutely legitimate things. Let's talk a little about the “Decree on Peace”. Surely we will have viewers who will say that the “Decree on Peace” is a betrayal of the interests of Russia. There will probably even be those who will continue to insist that Lenin was a German spy. Viewers of the film “Storm of the Winter Palace. Refutation” they will probably tell us that Lenin even managed to go back to Berlin to receive the latest directives; he couldn’t figure out how to act, so it was necessary to urgently consult with the Kaiser, with the German General Staff. And then they threw him back. What was the “Decree on Peace”? This was a document in which the Soviet workers' and peasants' government proposed: “All warring peoples and their governments should immediately begin negotiations on a just democratic peace, on an immediate peace without annexations and indemnities, without seizures of foreign territories, without violent collection of material or monetary compensation from the vanquished. " It was stated that the continuation of the war is considered the greatest crime against humanity. These lines need to be clarified. First, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the Soviet government addresses itself first of all to the peoples, and only then to the governments. This is a very important point. Because the Bolsheviks were convinced that the war, the imperialist war, was not being waged in the interests of the peoples. They were not so wrong in this because anti-war demonstrations were going on all over Europe at that time. Anti-war movements were very strong, they were in both England and France. They were growing in Germany, and they were very strong in Austria-Hungary. Let me remind you that the Prime Minister was killed there. The prime minister was killed by the terrorist Adler, under the slogan “Down with the war!” Everywhere, in principle, people were inclined to believe that it was impossible to win this war, that the war was being waged in the interests of a handful of, so to speak, capitalist oligarchs who were artificially prolonging it to increase their earnings. And by and large, there is no reason not to stop it right now. It will be fair. This point of view was shared by large masses of people in all countries. On the one hand, of course, this point of view came into conflict with ideas about “official” patriotism. She may have come into conflict with the desire to avenge her fallen comrades. With worries that all the sacrifices were made in vain. This was a serious psychological conflict in all countries. But, nevertheless, it was a very serious pacifist movement. I remind our viewers once again that the First World War is not viewed as a romantic war in any European country. Victory in this war is seen as the end of some grand drama. It caused serious psychological trauma to all countries, which later affected the resistance of these countries during the Second World War, in particular in France. It’s just that French society was so shocked... Shell-shocked. Yes. She was shell-shocked by the First World War and did not want to fight in the Second World War. This, in part, dictated France's policy of appeasing Hitler. And Lenin, not without reason, hoped that the peoples to whom he was addressing would prompt their governments to immediately end the war. At a minimum, and at a maximum, the overthrow of the bourgeoisie. That is, a world revolution. Why did Lenin hope for a world revolution now? Because there is a world war going on. The world revolution in Lenin's view cannot be understood without a world war. Since there is a world war going on, all peoples are catastrophically tired of it. And the main culprit of the world war, the main beneficiary, is capitalism. And in order to end the war completely, so that it never happens again, it is necessary to overthrow capitalism. Because he is the cause of this war. “Now the people are so opposed to capitalism,” as Lenin thinks, “that right now they are ready to overthrow it in all countries.” This logic determines Lenin's hopes for a world revolution. Well, I guessed wrong here. I didn’t guess right here, but I must say that these anti-war and, as a consequence, anti-capitalist movements, they were in all countries and gave rise to very difficult, bloody, long civil wars in a number of countries. And where there were no civil wars, there were serious labor movements. Or anti-colonial movements. Because, despite the fact that in England, for example, there was no civil war, formally, if we approach the British Isles, the First World War provoked the very bloody Irish wars of independence. That is, formally, within the framework of the British Empire, this was also a civil war. Since Ireland was part of Great Britain, it was also a civil war. First, the “Easter Rising” of 1916, and then, in the early 1920s, when most of Ireland finally won its independence. It was not an easy walk either, it was a trauma for both. We read further: “The Soviet government abolishes secret diplomacy, expressing its firm intention to conduct all negotiations completely openly before all the people, immediately proceeding to the full publication of secret agreements confirmed or concluded by the government of landowners and capitalists from February to October 25, 1917. And he declares, unconditionally and immediately, the entire contents of these secret agreements to be cancelled.” What are we talking about here? The fact that all countries, entering the war, assumed the annexation of some territories and ensuring their geopolitical interests, which were somehow imagined by the elites of these countries. For Russia, of course, the main thing was Constantinople and the straits. I have already spoken about this several times. I consider this one of the most fatal mistakes of the tsarist government. Recently, by the way, I found confirmation of my thought. The mistake was that the annexation of these territories was proclaimed as one of the goals of the war. That is, it was a mistake of propaganda. The fact that these territories could have played a certain role in those historical circumstances, control over them, is indeed true, I talked about this at the beginning of our series. But the fact that the seizure, annexation of these territories... Moreover, Lenin explains that by annexation he means the annexation of territories without the express consent of the inhabitants of these territories. Here one viewer made a complaint to me, how come I am opposed to the annexation of the straits... But what about Crimea? What about Crimea? Yes. Everything is very simple, the residents of Crimea expressed their will clearly and unequivocally in the referendum. But the inhabitants of Constantinople, the coast of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles did not express their will. This population was predominantly Muslim, which for a long time perceived Russia as an enemy, as a historical adversary. I was brought up in this way. What was natural, the largest number of wars that Russia waged were precisely the wars with Turkey. Therefore, in the event of a real annexation of these territories, there would either be systematic deportations of this population, which would give rise to... An acute desire to return. Yes. A strong desire to return. Most importantly, I think that this would give rise to an active anti-Russian movement, including under Islamic slogans. We would be faced with Islamic fundamentalism, among all other problems. This would merge with other problems, with the agrarian question. In fact, it would be a very serious flammable material. That is, it would be a cooler atomic bomb than the one that Lenin planted. Yes. The actual publication of these treaties, according to which Russia really had to annex this territory, it, of course, under those conditions, compromised the previous government in the sense that it confirmed the thesis about the aggressive nature of the war. By the way, the Bolsheviks were very advanced people for their time; they broadcast the “Decree on Peace” on the radio. This is generally the first document in the history of mankind that was broadcast by radio. They used technical means that were modern to them. They performed here absolutely sincerely, absolutely unselfishly. Because they focused on the fact that the appeal was to all warring countries. About a world without annexations and indemnities. The Bolsheviks hoped that this would encourage all the fighting nations to put pressure on their governments to stop the war. But this idealistic calculation did not come true, although, of course, this proposal intensified the struggle for peace, so to speak. But the governments of all the warring countries... It was a threat to their security, as they interpreted it. And they made every effort to silence this proposal. And declare the Bolsheviks some kind of radicals, marginals. But inside the country, inside Russia, this proposal coincided with the aspirations of millions, dare I say it, of people. This is what the soldiers at the front and in the rear expected. What did the wives of these soldiers expect? Especially the peasant women were waiting for the men to come and start working in the fields. The mothers were waiting for the men to return from the front. Everyone is already tired of the war, although they have been saying for a long time that such a proposal should be made. Even Verkhovsky, the last Minister of War of the Provisional Government, spoke about this. But no one made such a proposal. Verkhovsky said: ‘Let’s do it to everyone. Let the Germans refuse, then we will have the motivation to send people into battle. We offer, but the Germans refuse.” The British then said: “No, no, that’s not necessary.” And the Bolsheviks were the first to make this proposal, which immediately sharply increased their rating among the masses. The same “Decree on Land”. This is generally the age-old dream of the Russian peasantry. Confiscation of landowners' lands and estates. True, the lands of peasants and ordinary Cossacks are not confiscated. “Transfer of confiscated lands and estates to the disposal of volost land committees and district Soviets of peasant deputies. The transfer of land into the property of the state with its subsequent gratuitous transfer to the peasants. All land, upon its alienation, goes to the national land fund. Distribution among workers is managed by local and central self-governments, ranging from democratically organized non-estate rural and urban communities to central regional institutions.” The most important point is “Abolition of the right of private ownership of land.” This is a tectonic shift. This was something that the peasantry categorically did not recognize at all - private property to the ground. "God's Land" A person cannot own land, it does not belong to him. It was precisely because Leo Tolstoy so accurately expressed this observation that Lenin called him “the mirror of the Russian revolution.” Because Tolstoy was the main preacher of this idea that a person cannot own land. The peasantry as a whole, in its consciousness, rejects private ownership of land. This is the conflict between Stolypin and Leo Tolstoy. The Russian peasant is a natural Bolshevik and communist. It's inside him. And a ban on the use of hired labor. This is also a very important point, this is an anti-kulak measure. “This is not true.” This program was generally a Socialist Revolutionary program, and the Socialist Revolutionaries were very unhappy that Lenin used it. Laughing infernally. For such an experienced political fighter as Vladimir Ilyich was, this was a task “by heart.” Lenin answered them: “Actually, we are a democratic party, we have become acquainted with the orders of the peasants and workers. We understood what they wanted and satisfied their aspirations. Yes, we are not some doctrinaires, we are capable of change. So, we reformed our program, having become acquainted with the real demands of the masses. And in general, the main thing is not the one who put forward the program, but the one who implemented it.” Right. Therefore, the Social Revolutionaries could not respond to this at all. Because Lenin was right on all sides. All these decrees were approved by the Congress of Soviets, and then it was possible to move on to the formation of the Council of People's Commissars. The new government abandoned the word “Government” and called itself the Council of People's Commissars. There is such a point of view that in the first Council of People's Commissars there were 85 percent Jews, I think many watched a very useful video by Boris Vitalievich about how it really was. Here Vladimir Vladimirovich said: “Who is advising him, I wonder?” Don't listen to them, Vladimir Vladimirovich. We need to understand who is telling the president this Black Hundred nonsense. Now this is difficult to establish, but it will be written in history books, with names. Indeed, the President is being misled about the most important milestones in our history. There were no 85 percent of Jews there, there was only one Jew, Lev Davidovich Trotsky. And, in fact, this day, October 26, 1917, ended very successfully for the Bolsheviks. They achieved all their goals, they put forward the most important program documents. They strengthened their legitimacy, received the support of the broad masses, and showed that the Bolsheviks’ words and deeds do not diverge. And they elected their government. The only problem was that the government was intimidated by it. Because the Left Socialist Revolutionaries refused to join it. And the government thus became a mono-party one. But it enjoyed the confidence of workers and soldiers. This was the source of his legitimacy. But, unfortunately or fortunately, it was impossible to govern the country at that time if you drew legitimacy only from the masses of workers and soldiers. The trust of the wider masses was needed. Therefore, the opposition parties to the Bolsheviks began to work with other categories of the masses in order to create problems for the Bolsheviks and win back in this political field. And we will temporarily leave revolutionary Petrograd and see how Alexander Fedorovich Kerensky is doing. Which, as viewers probably remember, on the morning of October 25, he set out to meet the troops from the front, leaving the Provisional Government to independently resolve the issue with the Bolsheviks. Alexander Fedorovich Kerensky left Petrograd in a car of the American Embassy, ​​with a flag. The deceived Red Guards released him. Alexander Fedorovich rushed to Gatchina, where, as he hoped, the units loyal to him were located. He still couldn’t go further than Gatchina because he ran out of gas and needed to refuel the car. Kerensky left and headed to the garrison, where at that time a soldiers’ meeting was taking place. Approaching the place of the meeting, Kerensky heard his name and thought that these were the units loyal to him, at the head of which he would now move to Petrograd and put a stop to the Bolshevik uprising. But as he came closer, Kerensky heard that the soldiers were going to hang him and shoot him. He didn’t hear anything pleasant about himself, so he turned around and urgently rushed back to the car. He stayed in Gatchina for no more than half an hour, they just refueled and rushed on. Like in the movie “Blind Man’s Bluff”: “We’re probably in the wrong apartment, we’d better leave.” Yes. Therefore, he rushed towards other troops. In general, he performed this whole trick several times, and surprisingly on time. He had some kind of instinct, some kind of switch went off, that it was time to get out. He eventually succeeded. Kerensky in this sense is simply lucky. Kerensky rushed to Pskov. The headquarters of the Northern Front, commanded by General Vladimir Cheremisov, was located in Pskov. General Vladimir Cheremisov, whom I mentioned earlier, is suspected by Oleg Strizhak of Bolshevism. And some readers and viewers sent me messages that it turned out that he commanded a company of Finnish rangers that stormed Zimny. That's how it happened. I repeat, Cheremisov was not a Bolshevik. He behaved, for people who are not in the know, a little strange, but we will now explain why he behaved this way. Kerensky arrived in Pskov. But after he went to a rally in Gatchina, he decided to behave more or less carefully. He came to the apartment of the Quartermaster General of the Northern Front, Baranovsky, who was known as a more or less loyal person to him. And he took cover. And Baranovsky met him and said: “Alexander Fedorovich, we already have an order for your arrest.” Kerensky says: “How can this be? I am the supreme commander in chief. We urgently need to send troops to Petrograd.” And Baranovsky tells him: “We have already formed a Military Revolutionary Committee here, people are sitting there now. Honestly, it's unlikely." Then Baranovsky informed Cheremisov that the minister-chairman had arrived. Cheremisov came to the apartment of the Quartermaster General and had a conversation with Kerensky. Kerensky tells him: “Let’s urgently abandon the troops, we need to defend the revolution.” And Cheremisov tells him: “You know, I was invited to a meeting of the Military Revolutionary Committee, the mood there is such that the troops don’t want to go anywhere at all. Troops will not go there. Moreover, you are personally in danger. I cannot personally guarantee you anything. The best outcome is to get in the car and go to Mogilev. There, at Headquarters, maybe something will be decided, but here nothing at all. Unreal". This refusal of Cheremisov to send troops to Petrograd by some, especially memoirists from white movement , are usually interpreted as hidden Bolshevism and betrayal. In fact, the documents categorically deny Cheremisov’s affiliation with the Bolsheviks, and even more so his participation in a conspiracy in favor of the Bolsheviks. You just need to understand the situation that developed by the fall of 1917. In fact, it began to take shape after February. Usually, it is the officer who heads the formation, he decides what to do, where to move, commands, in general. But after the publication of “order number 1” the situation was different in the army. These officers were hostages of soldiers, lower ranks. For them, in the full sense of the word, it was very often a matter of life. Because the same person, even a popular commander, under certain circumstances could become a victim of soldier or non-commissioned officer lynching. Simply because he could be suspected of counter-revolution, some kind of conspiracy or intent against the soldiers. Therefore, officers who had a strong instinct of self-preservation, they had to maneuver between the mass of soldiers, non-commissioned officers and their ideas of how to behave. And patriotic duty, as they imagined it. Therefore, in these conditions, Cheremisov chose, in principle, reasonable tactics. He was afraid, and not without reason, to go against the mass of soldiers. On the other hand, as documents show, he made great efforts to ensure that subsequently those units that recognized the power of the Bolsheviks did not go to Petrograd to defend them and thereby expose the front. Because the situation on the Northern Front was actually alarming. The Germans were already standing nearby and the threat of an attack on Petrograd existed. Which, in principle, is what will happen later. Therefore, Cheremisov simply maneuvered here. And the dejected Kerensky pondered for a long time what to do. Then the Commissioner of the Northern Front appeared, Voitinsky, a Menshevik who had practically personal scores to settle with the Bolsheviks and did not consider the Bolshevik revolution legitimate. He advised Kerensky to contact Pyotr Nikolaevich Krasnov, who commanded the 3rd Cavalry Corps as part of the Northern Front. Krasnov was a vehement anti-Bolshevik. Under these conditions, this was the only person who could move his unit to suppress the uprising in Petrograd. Then a coincidence happened: Krasnov himself came to Pskov. Why did this happen. The Third Cavalry Corps is the same corps that advanced on Petrograd during the Kornilov rebellion. Then they were commanded by Krymov, who later shot himself. And after that, the famous, sadly true, Pyotr Krasnov became its commander. Kerensky played cruel joke with this corps, fearing the possibility of a second offensive, he dispersed this corps over large territories of the Pskov region and even the Baltic states. Therefore, it was impossible to assemble it at lightning speed. But Krasnov had approximately 700 sabers under his command, and these 700 sabers were completely at his disposal. Kerensky, before leaving Petrograd, gave the order to advance the forces of the Northern Front to suppress the rebellion in Petrograd, but no one came. The only one who was going to come was Krasnov. It had already started loading, it was in the city of Ostrov. We have a city called Ostrov, it was located there, near Pskov. His unit has already begun to load onto the train. And then the order was cancelled. Cheremisov canceled the order under pressure from his Military Revolutionary Committee. But Krasnov suspected that something was wrong here, like Kerensky ordered to go, Cheremisov canceled the order, we need to figure it out. He and his adjutant arrived in Pskov and met with Cheremisov. Cheremisov explained his position to him. But Krasnov was not convinced, then Voitinsky told him: “Kerensky is here.” And he arranged a meeting for them. The paradox was that no one in the army liked Kerensky at all. The soldiers did not like him for his agreement with the bourgeoisie and for “war to the bitter end.” But the officers did not like him for suppressing the Kornilovsky speech. Traitor. Therefore, Kerensky's reputation was below par. There is a famous story, when Krasnov’s troops marched on Petrograd, Kerensky was very fond of shaking hands with the mass of soldiers, he believed that in this way he was increasing his authority, he approached one soldier, wanted to shake his hand, but he said: “No way.” Can". - "Why?" - “I am a Kornilovite.” My instinct was wrong. Yes. Pyotr Krasnov subsequently wrote about Kerensky in his memoirs: “I have never, not for a single minute, been a fan of Kerensky. I never saw him, read very little of his speeches, but everything about him disgusted me to the point of disgusting disgust. What was disgusting was his self-confidence, the fact that he took on everything and could do everything. When he was Minister of Justice, I was silent. But when Kerensky became Minister of War and Navy, everything in me was indignant. How, I thought, during a war does a person who understands nothing about it manage military affairs? The art of war is one of the most difficult arts because, in addition to knowledge, it requires special training of the mind and will. If amateurism is undesirable in any art, then in the art of war it is unacceptable. Kerensky - commander. Peter, Rumyantsev, Suvorov, Kutuzov, Ermolov, Skobelev, Kerensky. He destroyed the army and outraged military science. For this I despised and hated him. But here I go to him on this magical moonlit night, when reality seems like a dream. I go as to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief to offer my life and the lives of the people entrusted to me at his complete disposal. Yes, I'm coming. Because I am not going to Kerensky, but to the Motherland, to Great Russia which I cannot renounce. And if Russia is with Kerensky, I will go with him.” In general, Pyotr Krasnov was extremely unscrupulous, and his desire to fight for Russia eventually led him to the war for the Ost plan. An unnatural alliance between Krasnov and Kerensky took shape. True, Krasnov asked whether he could count on any other forces. Kerensky, who was not in the know at all, immediately announced that an infantry division, another cavalry division would come up, and the 18th Corps would definitely be there. The main thing is to start, and then our strength will catch up. In fact, no one was going to catch up. It is interesting that through Voitinsky they managed to contact Headquarters, they began to find out who could come, it turned out that there were no units on the Western Front that wanted to suppress the Bolshevik uprising in Petrograd. There were no such people found in the South-West either. True, they reported that it was possible to assemble a division on the Romanian front. According to the reviews of General Golovin, set out in his documentary work “Russia in the First World War,” the Romanian Front was the most reliable because it stood on foreign territory, in Romania. He was least affected by decay. But there, too, everything was not so rosy for Kerensky. From there the answer came that, in principle, it was possible to gather some troops, but there was a problem under what slogan to go. The troops are ready to fight for the convocation of the Constituent Assembly, but they will not fight for any personalities within the Provisional Government. It is clear that there was an allusion to Kerensky himself. No one wanted to go for Kerensky or under his leadership. Moreover, the situation was “dire” and one could only count on these forces of Krasnov. But Kerensky perked up, they boarded the trains and rushed to Petrograd. Moreover, the next morning Kerensky woke up Krasnov and told him in his pathetic style: “General, I appoint you commander of the army that will go to Petrograd.” This could only make Krasnov smile because the army was only here... However, the situation was such that a sudden attack could solve everything. By the forces of one parachute regiment. The echelons rushed past Pskov and arrived first in Gatchina. As soon as we landed, suddenly a message came that a Bolshevik unit, a Bolshevik part of the Izmailovsky regiment, which had arrived to defend Gatchina, was unloading nearby. Then a completely comical situation happened. 8 of Krasnov’s Cossacks came across this unit and arrested it in full force. There were 300 people in the unit. This was due to the peculiarity of the Russian civil war; it flared up for a very long time. We clearly recorded this both during the Kornilov speech and during the Kerensky-Krasnov speech, people didn’t really want to fight. Russians take a long time to harness. Nobody wanted a civil war at all. Therefore, if ordinary soldiers met on both sides, they very quickly agreed with each other. In total, 300 people of this Bolshevik unit were arrested, they were simply sent home because it was not clear what to do with them. They fled. And Gatchina was thus occupied without a fight. Here Alexander Fedorovich became completely cheerful. He moved in, where? To the palace? Certainly. First of all, Alexander Fedorovich moved into the palace. When Krasnov came to him for a report, he was stunned. I didn’t recognize Kerensky. Kerensky was clearly encouraged, he had dinner with his adjutants, and somehow two well-dressed and cheerful ladies were already with them. It is unclear where they came from, but Kerensky clearly felt well. And he admonished Krasnov that we were now going to Petrograd, everything would be fine. And Krasnov’s forces, obviously small, went to Tsarskoye Selo. There everything was a little more serious, there was a fight. Nevertheless, they managed to take Tsarskoe Selo with a fight. Kerensky again entered the palace and there Krasnov came across Savenkov. To Boris Savenkov, whom the viewer probably remembers from our previous meetings. Terrorism. Savenkov conducted anti-Bolshevik propaganda among the soldiers and with Krasnov they found an excellent mutual language. Savenkov did not forgive Kerensky for his intrigues during the Kornilov rebellion. And then he concocted his own intrigue against Alexander Fedorovich. The intrigue was the following: Kerensky is a complete political nonentity, there can be no trust in him, so it is necessary to arrest him urgently. And let Krasnov be a personal dictator who goes to Petrograd. But Krasnov said: “I’m not ready, let’s better get busy finding loyal troops.” And there the troops approached, some, on the contrary, did not. There, maybe 2-3 hundred approached Krasnov. It must be said that they were mortally tired and decided to rest for a day in Tsarskoe Selo. And at this time in Petrograd already knew that some kind of military force is coming. Moreover, preparations to repel this military force began in the “fear has big eyes” genre. That is, Lenin developed vigorous activity in defense. It felt like Genghis Khan was advancing. Lenin was very dissatisfied with the actions of the leader of the Bolshevik Military Organization, Podvoisky, before the storming of the Winter Palace. Therefore, he demanded that a table be installed for himself in Podvoisky’s office and decided to lead the reflection of Krasnov’s offensive himself. It must be said that, despite the fact that the main backbone of the Bolshevik forces were sailors and Red Guards, there were also officers to lead the military operations, who, in principle, carried out everything quite competently. Here we need to talk about two people important to our history. One of them is Mikhail Muravyov, a left Socialist Revolutionary and lieutenant colonel in the Imperial Army, who became commander of the Petrograd Military District. The Bolsheviks appointed him. Revolution is not only blood and dirt, but it is also opportunities. Here are a number of officers who carefully studied the history of the French Revolution, heard about a citizen named Napoleon Bonaparte, they saw the prospect of repeating his fate. One of these people was Muravyov. I must say that Muravyov was a complete “scumbag.” First of all, having taken over the leadership of the Petrograd Military District, he issued an order on lynchings. He allowed the Red Guards to kill anyone suspected of counter-revolution without trial. Even the Bolsheviks were stunned by this, and after some time the Council canceled this order. Because this would lead to the complete disintegration of the troops, but here, in fact, the city needs to be defended. Subsequently, Muravyov’s fate will not be easy. He will carry out a bloody massacre in Kyiv, which is often blamed on the Bolsheviks, and then the Bolsheviks themselves will shoot him. More precisely, they will shoot, but we will talk about this later when our conversations about the Civil War begin. And the second person, also very important, unfortunately much less known, is Colonel Pavel Borisovich Walden. Who is it. This is the Knight of St. George, a very brave officer who in 1915, during the Great Retreat, lost his leg. He was seriously wounded, but continued to serve. He served in the Tsarskoye Selo garrison and at that moment found himself in Petrograd. He actually led the troops that were supposed to repel Kerensky's offensive. Moreover, even Trotsky later wrote that: “I don’t understand what brought this man into our ranks.” But Trotsky assumed that Walden hated Kerensky so much that that was why he agreed to the post of leader of the repulse of this offensive. But I have a slightly different assumption, although this is also possible because everyone hated Kerensky. The fact is that I am now carefully studying the biographies of these officers of the Imperial Army, who subsequently fought in the Great Patriotic War. Walden was one of them, he became a major general of the tank forces of the Red Army. He was one of the very respected teachers, raised many students who later fought in the Great Patriotic War. He himself is considered a participant in the Great Patriotic War. Most of those officers whose biographies I studied, I have studied almost 1000 biographies, they have something in common that happened to them in 1917 after February. What do you think? Speak. Most of these officers after “order number 1”... You remember that after “order number 1” the officers were elected. So, all these commanders, they were commanders before, but the Soldiers' Committees simply confirmed their appointment. The Soldiers' Committees simply met and confirmed that this was the commander. And Walden was one of these officers. The situation, of course, is from the army’s point of view. The situation is absolutely absurd. The soldier will still be determined whether he is a good officer or a bad one. Of course, this is an absurd situation. It can only be understood in the context, firstly, of a reaction to a certain class inequality that existed between soldiers and officers in the old army. Secondly, the protracted nature of the war with unclear goals. These are two reasons for this order in fact. But Walden enjoyed great confidence from his soldiers. And, I repeat my thought expressed at the beginning of the conversation, the officer was a hostage of the mass of soldiers. Maybe consciously, maybe unconsciously, but he followed the desires of his soldiers. Essentially, Walden had no choice but to accept this role. He came out to command the troops to repel Krasnov's offensive. But when you look at the balance of forces, the Bolsheviks eventually collected more than 10 thousand. Solid. And Krasnov: 700 people, the armored car “Invincible”, which they recaptured. No infantry came. That is, they were only cavalrymen. They also had an armored train. Krasnov reached Pulkovo and a battle began there, which lasted almost the entire day. During the battle, Krasnov used up all the shells; he had several guns. I used up all the shells, but nothing happened, I couldn’t hit any targets. There were several inept sailor bayonet attacks made. There was an attack on one village, from which the Red Guards fled, but the revolutionary sailors remained. The sailors did not flinch and kicked the Cossacks out of there; it was a very strong psychological blow. Because they had a psychic attack, they rushed in a small number to this village, killed 18 people, and failed to take it. The Krasnovites retreated. It became clear that it was not so easy to take it, that the army was resisting. Firstly, it surpasses them significantly. Secondly, it doesn’t run away. They hoped that he would run away. For Krasnov personally, it was a big blow that in the ranks of the attackers, let’s say, Soviet troops he saw officers in uniform. It was completely unexpected for him; he had no idea. I thought that some kind of horde would resist him, but then it turned out that it was not really a horde. Maybe there were some features of the horde there, let’s be honest, but there are officers there who have an organizing influence on all this. As a result, Krasnov failed, the shells ran out, and most importantly, murmuring began among his own Cossacks. This, by the way, also turned out to be a serious psychological blow. What about the Cossacks? Were they for the whites or for the reds? Now we'll get to that. The fact is that the Cossacks at that moment had not decided at all. They had only one desire: not to fight. Nobody wanted to. It was a very serious psychological border, to fight with one’s own people. Because it is one thing to fight at the front against the enemy, and another thing to fight with your own people. And the Cossacks began to grumble for two reasons. Firstly, they considered themselves betrayed: “Why are we going if no forces are coming to us?” Everyone is against us, why is this necessary? Krasnov was directly told: “Everyone is against us.” Secondly, it became obvious that on the other side there were people just like them. It's unclear why. Kerensky is very unpleasant. Krasnov was forced to retreat, they retreated straight to Gatchina. Tsarskoe Selo was abandoned and retreated to Gatchina. In the faint hope that some military forces will come up now. Another 200 people arrived there, and they could be used to prepare defensive fortifications. Because those Cossacks who were with Krasnov refused to even dig fortifications. It was all an absolutely hopeless struggle; the very next day the Bolsheviks, forces loyal to Soviet power, entered Gatchina. They actually did not offer any resistance. Trotsky appeared to Krasnov, one might say that he found himself under house arrest. While Krasnov was negotiating with Trotsky, the Bolshevik forces, the Soviets, led by Pavel Efimovich Dybenko, decided to use public diplomacy. There is no point in talking to the generals; he will go to the Cossacks. It was at that time the most effective thing that could be invented. The sailors came to the Cossacks and there they had an amicable conversation within an hour. Graters. There was a conversation something like this: “Guys, what are we fighting about?” The question is key. And what did they answer each other? But it was not clear. It was unclear. Dybenko said: “Listen, how can you fight for Kerensky? He’s like that...” The Cossacks nodded: “But so do you, Lenin.” Dybenko didn’t mince words and said: “Let’s switch. We give you Lenin, and you give us Kerensky.” On this basis, they quickly got along, and it all ended in a drinking session. The level of discussion was very high. Yes. It all ended in drinking. After about an hour, Krasnov's parts were completely decomposed. When Krasnov saw this, he was simply shocked. True, Muravyov showed up here, and Muravyov always wanted to “put in his two cents,” so he took command and decided to arrest Krasnov. But it was not possible to arrest Krasnov because the sailors agreed with the Cossacks that everything would be fine with Krasnov. They won’t arrest him, he’s, like, his own man, we’ll forgive him. And Muravyov, although he was an officer, was forced to follow the sailor mass. Because the drunken sailors told him that they had reached an agreement with the Cossacks and Krasnov was an inviolable figure. You can take him to Petrograd, but you must speak politely; Muravyov had to apologize. And he, whose relative was Muravyov? Not a relative of the famous “hangman” Muravyov? No. Not one of those Muravyovs who hang, but one of those who shoot. He is one of those who are shot and one of those who were shot in the end. Krasnov, the only thing they did to him was arrest him and bring him to Petrograd. There he gave his word of honor that he would not fight against Soviet power , and went to the Don to fight against Soviet power. What a shame. More precisely, he did not start it right away, but after a while. He began to be very active and fought until 1945. Actually this is a funny story. For Krasnov, in fact, this fact of the quick agreement between the sailors and the Cossacks became a very serious psychological blow. At this time, the first anti-Bolshevik force on the Don became Ataman Kaledin, who refused to recognize the results of the armed uprising and the decisions of the Congress of Soviets. He declared the Don Army Region independent and began to create anti-Bolshevik forces. Moreover, Krasnov wrote him a letter, where he outlined all these experiences. He wrote that it was impossible to trust old Cossacks who had front-line experience. Because they are infected with the bacillus of pacifism, they no longer want to fight. Therefore, if you want to have combat-ready units, you must make them up from young people who are not yet tired of the war, but on the contrary, want to prove themselves. They are eager to fight. He wants to prove himself, yes, in battles. Kaledin actually did not have so many young people from whom a combat-ready army could be formed. Kaledin later encountered this; in the early stages, the Cossacks refused to fight. They didn't want to fight. In addition, the first steps of Soviet power were also attractive to the Cossacks, who had the feeling that the entire policy of the Bolsheviks was aimed at eliminating class differences. And there can be no excesses here. Therefore, Kaledin ended up in the minority, and he shot himself. He shot himself already in February 1918. That is, even before the Brest Peace. Because he turned out to be a loner, essentially. Krasnov turned out to be more psychologically stable. He continued his struggle, which eventually led him into a loop. I will repeat once again that this is a man who seemed to have fought for Russia all his life, then unexpectedly discovered that he had fought for the destruction of Russia. His brain was so clouded by the fight against the Bolsheviks that he lost the ability to understand where is good and where is evil. It should be mentioned that in parallel with the attack of Krasnov and Kerensky on Petrograd, inside the city itself there was an attempt at an armed uprising by the Salvation Committee. It was the Mensheviks who went overboard. The Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries formed the so-called Salvation Committee, which was supposed to eliminate the power of the Bolsheviks by the arrival of Krasnov. On October 29, the cadets, commanded by Colonel Polkovnikov, whom I mentioned earlier, began to march. Before the armed uprising in October, he was the commander of the Petrograd Military District. Then he was dismissed, but he remained in Petrograd. As a result, he led this desperate attempt to reverse the results of the October armed uprising. Nothing worked, although they captured for a short time telephone exchange , even Smolny was left without communication. But very quickly the Red Guards and sailors suppressed this uprising. By the way, the Bolsheviks had a reserve, this is Sveshnikov’s 106th Infantry Division, which I talked about last time. She was a combat-ready reserve that could go into battle if something happened. And, accordingly, strengthen the positions of the Soviet troops. And while all these military affairs were going on, Lenin, by the way, was very actively involved in them, another important problem was being solved. This is the last thing we will talk about today. The fact is that, it seems, the aspirations of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries began to come true. The All-Russian Executive Committee of the Union of Railway Workers, the so-called VIKZHEL, refused to submit to the Bolsheviks. VIKZHEL figures, who just belonged to this very moderate democracy, there were several people who sympathized with the Cadets, they announced that the armed uprising was illegal, the Bolsheviks are usurpers, we will not help this government, unless you immediately form a homogeneous socialist government, then we will cut off all supplies by rail. Not a single train will come to you here, neither with food, nor with troops, nor with anything. And he won’t leave here either. It was a serious challenge. Because railways in war conditions are very important. And here Lenin once again showed himself as a master of political struggle. He sent moderate Bolsheviks, the same Kamenev, Ryazanov, to negotiate with VIKZHEL. This is where this conflict began: Lenin and Kamenev. VIKZHEL became a kind of club for coordinating the interests of parties of revolutionary democracy. The Mensheviks insisted on the need to create a unified government. Lenin gave the following directives to Kamenev: “Please, let us create a unified democratic government, but only on the terms of the program that the Bolsheviks have already put forward, which was approved by the Congress of Soviets. How can we renounce this program, we approved it at the congress. You left it yourself. There was a quorum. All. If we revise anything here, we will betray the masses, we will betray those people who trust us. This means that the Bolsheviks will compromise themselves and lose the trust of workers and soldiers. Therefore, we cannot do this. If you want, let’s work on the basis of this program.” The Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, of course, could not accept this. They said: “First of all, the program needs to be revised. Secondly, what kind of government have you elected? Only Bolsheviks. And the most frostbitten people are at your head there, Lenin and Trotsky. These are actually some kind of extremists. You, Lev Kamenev, understand us. You are moderate, so adequate. You understand that you cannot rule the country. Here’s your proof – no railways.” Both Kamenev and Ryazanov agreed, they said: “Yes, yes. Fine. You're right. We somehow need...” One gets the feeling that a group of moderate Bolsheviks were in opposition to Lenin and were ready to come to an agreement with the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries at this point. I will not say that there was a conspiracy there. Because it was open, they did not hide it. But this was serious opposition. All the same, these are terrible things. Well, there was no discussion that Lenin should somehow be killed or put in prison. This is not being discussed now, but will be discussed tomorrow. Theoretically, yes. But, for example, the creation of an alternative government was discussed, in which, the Mensheviks insisted, there should not be Lenin. And in the end, they agreed on the composition of the government, and the Soviet press wrote about this as a result. Was this the Kamenev who was later shot? Yes. Somehow they tolerated him for a long time. Somehow the ferocity of the Bolsheviks is greatly exaggerated. These were different times. For now. But now events will develop quickly. They agreed new line-up government, the chairman of which will be the head of the Socialist Revolutionary Party Chernov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs will also be the Socialist Revolutionary Avksentyev, but you can, say, leave five Bolsheviks there. For example, Lunacharsky. He is a cultured man, a playwright, and acquainted with Oscar Wilde. Let him be our Minister of Education, that’s normal. He's a Bolshevik. I would not “shine” my acquaintance with Oscar Wilde. They didn't think about it then. It was not that time. Well, we can take a few more people. Let, for example, the Minister of Labor. Shlyapnikov is a good candidate. One of the leaders of the Petrograd Bolshevik Committee. Maybe he will be the Minister of Labor. In general, appoint minor figures. But the main thing is that there should be no Lenin and Trotsky in this government. Kamenev and Ryazanov agree on all this. All this becomes public material. And Lenin at this time was dealing with the advancing Krasnov, the rebellion of the cadets. And here is this behind my back. By the first of November he will know, he will have time to understand what is going on there. And he understands that some kind of game is going on behind his back, which will clearly lead to his removal from the post of head of the Council of People's Commissars. What Lenin? Lenin, naturally, assembles the Central Committee. Then his “signature” performance begins. Lenin is thundering... Watch your hands. Yes. Lenin crushes them. And he publicly declares that he is ready to leave the Central Committee. And Trotsky too. “Lev Davidovich and I are leaving.” Moderate Bolsheviks are probably already happy. Because Lenin's radicalism simply scares them. But in the end Lenin makes a “knight’s move” and says: “That’s it, we’re leaving. Form your own Central Committee. Join coalitions with whoever you want. And Lev Davidovich and I will go to the sailors.” Ilyich was cunning. Let me remind you that when there was a question about preparing an armed uprising, when the Central Committee was against it, Ilyich told them: “Okay, I’m leaving the Central Committee and will go to the grassroots organizations.” That is, this was Lenin’s favorite technique: “If you don’t want to decide here, please. I'm going to the masses. I will work with them, and here you decide what you want.” Kamenev imagined what would happen if sailors from Ilyich came to him. And in general, at that moment, everyone was afraid of the sailors. Except Lenin. Really. That is, the sailor, he was a terrible person. Because the sailors, on the one hand, were the force of the revolution, and on the other hand, they were uncontrollable. At all. We talked here with Ilya Ratkovsky, with a man who studies terror, he said that whites hated sailors most of all. Sailor, this was considered worse than a Bolshevik. A Bolshevik, no matter what, but a sailor for the whites is a person subject to unconditional destruction. And the most terrible execution. Because the sailor is simply a fiend from hell. Of course, Kamenev did not like this prospect. But that was not all. If Ilyich had simply frightened them, he, of course, would not have been such a political heavyweight. The fact is that in parallel with them, while this whole conversation was going on, Bolshevik agitators were traveling through key railway stations. That is, the news about the Bolsheviks, about the decrees, about the intentions of this party, about the intentions of Lenin, slowly spread among the railway workers. As a result, at the beginning of November, the lower echelon of railway employees was propagandized absolutely in the Bolshevik mainstream. A congress of railway workers was urgently convened. And what did this congress do? Naturally, VIKZHEL expressed distrust. That is, the Railway Workers' Executive Committee simply lost its power. He could no longer do anything, no one obeyed him anymore. Because while the chatter was going on, the Leninists propagandized them. Therefore, the railways quietly came under the authority of the Council of People's Commissars. Thus, Lenin won another political victory and strengthened his power. But at the same time, the Bolsheviks did not deviate from the canon; they acted in the same political conditions as the Provisional Government. Despite the fact that they were called differently, the character of the first Council of People's Commissars was also temporary. And the Bolsheviks still faced the need to convene the Constituent Assembly, desired by the broad masses. And since Russia was a huge country, and at that time there was no Internet, the people who would vote for the Constituent Assembly in the elections voted for their ideas, which did not correspond to the real situation. They voted for a representation of the political reality that existed several months earlier. That is, somewhere in the outback people voted for the Socialist Revolutionaries. Why? Because they did not know that the Bolsheviks had already put forward the Socialist Revolutionary program and had actually begun to implement it. This was a big problem that the Bolsheviks were going to solve in the near future. And we’ll look at what happened there, why the Constituent Assembly was dispersed, what preceded it, what happened later, what role the very fact of dispersal of the Constituent Assembly played in the political process, we will look at next time. Atas. Scarier than any thriller. Generally. Somehow, I used to not really like watching Bolshevik films. Perhaps it's time to reconsider what was there. We need to remove a new one. Preferably. At least the series is short. So that there is no “Viking” and “Admiral”, but at least they get down to business for the centenary of the revolution. Thank you, Egor. Impressive. Until next time. That's all for today.

Without meeting the summoned troops, Kerensky rushed to Pskov. And I fell into a hornet's nest. The headquarters of the Northern Front had already been handed over to the Bolsheviks and was swarming with unbridled soldiers. But in Pskov, the minister-chairman accidentally met General Krasnov. Pyotr Nikolaevich Krasnov, a fellow countryman of Sholokhov - originally from Veshenskaya, was an upright campaigner, a convinced monarchist, drilled by the Life Guards. He was a very intelligent and educated man; before the revolution he successfully worked in the field of literature, and during the Russian-Japanese war he worked as a front-line correspondent. But outwardly he liked to show his kind of “soldiering”, Cossack conservatism. In a word, the image of a real Don Cossack, rude in a Cossack way and cunning in a Cossack way. There weren’t enough stars in the sky, but he was a good commander, he always took care of his subordinates, so the Cossacks loved and appreciated him.

His building was stationed in the city of Ostrov. What a building! Instead of the separate Petrograd army planned by Kornilov, the 3rd cavalry, the beauty and strength of General Krymov, was transferred to front-line subordination. And they were taken away like reliable units among hundreds and regiments from Vitebsk to Revel. To protect headquarters, plug holes and eliminate unrest. 25.10 Krasnov received an order from Headquarters to move to Petrograd, and then an order from the front commander-in-chief not to move. I went to Pskov to find out. I didn’t find out a damn thing, but I accidentally met Kerensky, and he ordered me to move.

He promised that three more infantry divisions and one cavalry division, which were about to arrive, would be assigned to Krasnov’s subordination. In passing, he gave the orderly instructions to Krasnov to return his plundered regiments and hundreds. He still played with his toys and believed that someone would carry out his orders. Kerensky and Krasnov went to Ostrov. The existing Cossacks were loaded into the trains. The railroad workers piped their songs, not knowing who would win. Then Captain Korshunov, who had once worked as an assistant driver, boarded the locomotive with the Cossacks - and off we went. Solemnly, with pomp, Kerensky appointed Krasnov commander of the army marching on Petrograd. There were 700 Cossacks in the army with 16 guns against 200 thousand soldiers, sailors and Red Guards.

They went to save the country. And Kerensky, who imagined that he was leading them into battle, was treated disgustingly by the 3rd Cavalry Corps. After all, he recently called them traitors and destroyed his beloved commander Krymov. Therefore, for example, centurion Kartashov did not offer his ministerial hand. He explained contemptuously:

“I’m sorry, Mr. Supreme Commander-in-Chief, I cannot shake hands with you. I am a Kornilovite.”

27.10 landed near Gatchina. The city was taken without a fight. Several Bolshevik companies were disarmed and dispersed in all directions. Moreover, a team of 400 people arrived from Petrograd. eight Cossacks were forcefully forced to surrender. Kerensky immediately settled down in the Gatchina Palace, surrounded by adjutants, envoys and young ladies-admirers. Krasnov carried out reconnaissance, for which he simply called his wife on the phone in Tsarskoe Selo. I learned from her the situation in the Tsarskoye Selo garrison and Petrograd.

Kerensky still firmly believed that, upon seeing him, the masses would glow with enthusiasm and run after him. Not so. The Gatchina garrison declared neutrality. Only the flight school officers supported him and sent two airplanes to Petrograd to scatter appeals. The pilots made up the crew of an armored car captured from the Reds. They pulled up a couple of Cossack hundreds from Novgorod. They reported from Luga that the 1st siege “regiment” of 88 people supported the government and was loading onto the train. That's all. No corps or divisions were even heard of.

On the night of the 28th, 480 Cossacks went to Tsarskoye Selo (with a garrison of 16,000). We disarmed the barriers along the road and came across the first line of defense, which opened fire. They fired from a cannon - the Bolsheviks held on, their machine guns bristling. Only when 30 Cossacks attacked in a detour did they run. In Tsarskoe Selo, the entire garrison rolled out in a crowd and held a rally. 9 Cossacks of the division committee went to them. We held a rally together for half a day. Kerensky arrived and tried to make speeches. Some were persuaded to disarm. But the majority, sensing the weakness of the Cossacks, decided to kill them. They began to prepare for the attack. Noticing this, the Cossacks asked Kerensky to drive back and rolled out two cannons. As soon as the soldiers, firing from their rifles, went “with a bang,” they fired two shots of shrapnel. And the entire mass of thousands fled in panic, crushing each other and hijacking trains to Petrograd. Tsarskoe Selo was occupied. We stood there the next day, hoping for at least some help. Only a few units from their own corps arrived, an armored train from Pavlovsk and several fleeing cadets from Petrograd, a training hundred Orenburg Cossacks - even without rifles, with only swords. The siege regiment moving from Luga was intercepted by sailors and fired upon. The regiment fled.

Both the Kornilov officers and the Cossacks cursed Kerensky, who deceived them with unrealistic plans. Savinkov, who arrived, suggested that Krasnov arrest Kerensky and lead the movement himself. Krasnov refused, considering it ugly. And useless. On the morning of 10/30 we tried to move on. The road was already blocked by continuous lines of trenches. And they were occupied by the no longer decayed rear soldiers. At least 6 thousand sailors and Red Guards, 3 armored cars with artillery weapons. They did not run away from the deployed 630 Cossacks. On the contrary, they themselves jumped into attacks every now and then. The Cossacks' advantage in artillery helped. She knocked out one armored car and besieged the Bolsheviks, forcing them to keep their distance.

Krasnov decided to hold out until the evening. In the last hope that the thunder of his guns would sober up Petrograd, that some parts of the garrison would come to their senses and come to the rescue. Instead, a new column from Petrograd, about 10 thousand, tried to bypass the Cossacks. But the basis was again made up of soldiers, the Izmailovsky regiment - after the first shrapnel from the armored train they took off running. In turn, a hundred Orenburg residents, whooping and whistling, galloped to the red positions. The Red Guards ran in droves. But the sailors did not retreat; they met with fire. The commander of the hundred was killed, several Cossacks were wounded, the horses fell into a swamp, and the attack fizzled out. Kerensky rolled up in cars with his assistants and young ladies who were admirers. He was sent away without ceremony and advised to go to Gatchina.

By evening the battle died down. The Cossacks ran out of shells. And the Bolsheviks brought up naval artillery and began to hit Tsarskoye Selo. At the first explosions, the regiments of the Tsarskoye Selo garrison panicked and rallied. They demanded to stop the battle, threatening to strike from the rear. At dusk the sailors began to move around the flanks. And Krasnov ordered to retreat. The Soviet side lost more than 400 people killed during the day of battle. Cossacks - 3 killed and 28 wounded.

Soon representatives of sailors and railway workers came to Gatchina to conclude a truce and begin negotiations. There was no other way out. Kerensky's entourage feverishly tried to take advantage of this respite. I was clutching at straws. Savinkov rushed to the Polish corps, Voitinsky - to Headquarters, to look for shock battalions, High Commissioner Stankevich - to Petrograd, to look for agreements between the Bolsheviks and other socialist parties. And the Cossacks worked out their own agreements with the sailors. The first point of peace was to demand an end to the persecution of officers and cadets in Petrograd and a complete amnesty. In all seriousness, the Cossacks discussed the option “We give you Kerensky, and you give us Lenin. And we’ll make peace.”

And in all seriousness they came to Krasnov to report that soon Lenin would be brought to them for such an exchange, whom they would immediately hang near the palace. However, the sailors then did not idolize Lenin very much. They openly called him “a buffoon” and declared: “Lenin is not a decree for us. If Lenin turns out to be bad, we’ll hang him up.”

Kerensky, seeing such a turn of events, many Cossacks are inclined to hand him over; a holy cause, “because he himself is a Bolshevik,” he turned to Krasnov in a panic. The general, shrugging his shoulders, said: “No matter how great your guilt is before Russia, I consider myself not to have the right to judge you. I guarantee you half an hour of time.” And Kerensky fled. The absurd figure has disappeared from the historical arena forever.

Negotiations, truce - everything ended by itself. A 20,000-strong Bolshevik army of soldiers, sailors, and Red Guards entered Gatchina and literally dissolved a handful of Cossacks within itself. A general chaos began. The arriving Finnish regiment habitually demanded Krasnov to come to them for reprisals. But as soon as the general yelled and cursed at two dozen armed delegates, they stormed out of his office. And then they sent the commander, who apologized and asked permission to place the regiment for the night, because they were tired from the road. Boors, accustomed to commit outrages on the dumb and submissive, they themselves became sheep, receiving a rebuff. And the sailor commander Dybenko, driving away the frenzied subordinates from the officers, lectured the “Kornilovites”: “Comrades, you must deal with them skillfully. In their faces, in their faces!”

Following Dybenko, another commander appeared - Muravyov. Having burst into Krasnov's headquarters, he declared everyone under arrest. Azhogin, the chairman of the divisional committee of the Donets, ran up to him and demanded an apology. Muravyov was taken aback. We had a fight and made up. It ended with Muravyov sitting down to dinner with the Cossacks and getting drunk, remembering mutual front-line acquaintances. Trotsky himself rolled up. And he also ran to Krasnov. He demanded that he order some Cossack, who was stuck like a bath leaf, to leave him behind. And the Cossack objected that “this Jew” took away from him the arrested person whom he was guarding.

2.11 Krasnov and the chief of staff, guaranteeing security, were called to Smolny for negotiations. And yet they tried to arrest him. But by evening the entire committee of the 1st Don Division rushed to Petrograd, dragging Dybenko with them. They attacked the Bolsheviks, grabbed hold of their commander-in-chief, warrant officer Krylenko, and... Krasnov was released. And they agreed to release the Cossacks with weapons to the Don. They were afraid. They flirted with them. After all, there were rumors that Kaledin had raised the Don and was about to march on Moscow. Finally, the chief of staff of the division, Colonel S.P. Popov, was summoned to see Trotsky. Lev Davidovich was interested: how would Krasnov react if the new government offered him a high post? Popov answered frankly: “Go and propose it yourself, the general will punch you in the face.”

The question was settled.

At two o'clock in the morning on October 28, 1917, Krasnov's detachment set out on a campaign against Tsarskoe Selo. The Tsarskoye Selo garrison numbered more than sixteen thousand people, that is, it outnumbered the attacking forces many times over. Krasnov's only hope was that the defenders of Tsarskoe Selo would not risk their lives in the fight for goals that were not very clear to them. This hope was generally justified.

Halfway to Tsarskoe Selo, Krasnov’s detachment encountered a company of riflemen entrenched in hastily dug trenches. Instead of attacking the enemy, Krasnov sent parliamentarians represented by members of the division committee to the shooters. After long negotiations, or, more correctly, persuasion, the shooters laid down their arms. Everything would be fine, but this method of action required too much time. As a result, when the detachment approached the outskirts of Tsarskoe Selo, the sun had already risen. Here everything was repeated from the beginning. The infantry battalion, numbering at least eight hundred people, first met Krasnov's Cossacks with rifle shots, and then surrendered without a fight. About one and a half hundred defenders of Tsarskoye Selo did not want to surrender and retreated with weapons in their hands to the protection of outlying houses. However, two cannon shots were enough for them to flee in panic.

The day was already ending when the Cossacks entered Tsarskoye Selo. After the first successes, the attack on Petrograd did not look at all like such an adventure as at first. But there were still many issues that required urgent solutions. First of all, too slow pace promotion. Of course, persuasion was better than shed blood, but each such case dragged on for many hours. Secondly, the Cossacks were more tired from this manner of attack than from a real battle. More and more often there began to be talk that it was impossible to go further without infantry support.

It must be said that the position of the Cossacks during the days of the revolution was generally very difficult. Public opinion, fueled by the propaganda of leftist parties, branded them as “henchmen of the tsarist regime.” For this reason, the Cossacks were extremely cautious about attempts to involve them in any political combinations and agreed only if they had to act more than one. Now the Cossacks of Krasnov’s detachment have again awakened to the fear of being deceived, of finding themselves in a situation where an unjust deed is being done with their hands.

It would seem that the detachment had no shortage of agitators who could convincingly explain everything. All or almost all notable political figures visited Gatchina and Tsarskoye Selo. Chernov and Gots came here, and Stankevich and Savinkov were almost always in Krasnov’s detachment. Finally, we should not forget about the main figure - Kerensky. But the speeches became boring, and the words lost their value. In addition, it became obvious to Krasnov that Kerensky’s presence was rather a hindrance rather than a help.

The officers of the detachment did not hide their hatred of the “chief persuader.” Even on the first day of Kerensky’s stay in Gatchina, a certain Pechenkin, an officer of the local garrison, known as “a monarchist, an inveterate enemy of the revolution and a candidate for the insane asylum,” was arrested, who was planning an assassination attempt on the ex-premier. Later, Savinkov directly suggested that Krasnov arrest Kerensky, since his name repels potential supporters from the anti-Bolshevik movement. How could one not be surprised - a recent hero turned into an object of universal hatred. However, what was even more terrible was that he himself did not want to admit it.

Kerensky constantly rushed Krasnov, regardless of real possibilities. Nevertheless, Krasnov considered it necessary to give the detachment a day to rest. On this day, Sunday, October 29, events took place in Petrograd that in another situation could have greatly influenced the outcome of the case. By this time, the Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution had managed to establish contacts with most of the cadet schools in the capital. It was decided that at the right moment - when the Kerensky-Krasnov detachment approached directly to the city, the cadets would strike in the rear of the Bolsheviks. The preparation of this plan was carried out in strict secrecy - only the central bureau of the committee was aware of what was being planned, and even then the details were known only to the narrowest circle of people. Direct leadership of the preparations for the uprising was entrusted to Colonel Polkovnikov, already known to us.

In order to inform Krasnov and Kerensky about the impending uprising, Stankevich was sent to them. He reached Tsarskoye Selo by car and returned safely. On the evening of October 28, Stankevich reported on the results of his trip at a meeting of the Bureau of the Rescue Committee. After his report, it was decided to postpone the speech until Monday. But the uprising began on Sunday, the day before the scheduled date, when Krasnov’s detachment was still on vacation 25 miles from the capital.

The reasons for the postponement of the uprising are still not fully understood. According to Stankevich, Polkovnikov insisted on this, who had information that the Bolsheviks were preparing to disarm the cadet schools on Sunday. Perhaps the reason for this was the arrest of one of the bureau members, who was found in possession of detailed plan actions in case of performance.

At four o'clock in the morning on October 29, the cadets occupied the Engineering Castle, where Polkovnikov's headquarters was located. At the same time, the Mikhailovsky Manege with the armored cars located there was captured. After this, a small detachment of 75 cadets, accompanied by one armored car, was sent to capture the Central Telephone Exchange. Under the guise of changing the guard, the cadets entered the building and disarmed the soldiers at the station. Immediately after this, the telephones of Smolny and other central Soviet institutions were switched off. But this was the last success of the rebels.

The Bolsheviks found their bearings very quickly. By ten o'clock all the cadet schools were surrounded by Red Guards and soldiers. Most of them were occupied without a fight. Only the Vladimir School withstood a real siege and was occupied only by two o’clock in the afternoon. The cadets who occupied the telephone exchange held out the longest. They fired back to the last and only surrendered to superior enemy forces in the evening.

Terrible massacres began in Petrograd. Cases of sadistic abuse of the living and the dead took such perverted forms that it is impossible to put it on paper. Exact number It is impossible to count those killed that day, but there is no doubt that the number was in the hundreds, if not thousands. One can only guess how events would have developed if the performance of the cadets had coincided, as expected, with the movement of Krasnov’s detachment towards Petrograd. But by the time the detachment was ready to set out on a campaign, the uprising in the capital had already been suppressed.

During the day of their stay in Tsarskoe Selo, Krasnov’s detachment managed to replenish its forces. He was joined by less than a hundred of the Life Guards of the Consolidated Cossack Regiment, a horse battery of two field guns, which was brought from Pavlovsk by Colonel Count Rebinder (the same one who managed to become famous in the July days), and several dozen cadets from Gatchina and Petrograd. The most serious acquisition was an armored train, stolen the day before by several officers of the Gatchina Aviation School from the Baltic Station in Petrograd. Ultimately, Krasnov had at his disposal 630 mounted Cossacks, less than a hundred infantrymen (mostly officers and cadets), 18 guns, the Invincible armored car and an armored train.

October 30th arrived, a day that was destined to become decisive in history last try the ousted prime minister to regain power. In the morning it was quite cold, it was raining, but towards noon the sky cleared of clouds and it became almost summer-like sunny. At dawn, Krasnov’s detachment set out in the direction of the Pulkovo Heights, where, according to intelligence information, the Bolsheviks had fortified themselves. Not reaching the distance of a rifle shot, the Cossacks dismounted and continued to move in loose formation. Krasnov himself was located on the northern outskirts of the village of Redkoe Kuzmino, from where he had the opportunity to observe the entire theater of military operations.

The offensive in the central sector soon stalled - enemy artillery forced the Cossacks to bury themselves in the ground. The guns of Krasnov's detachment responded with rare fire, saving shells. Much better environment formed on the left flank. Here an armored train could support the attackers with its fire, and therefore Krasnov sent less than a hundred of the Life Guards of the Consolidated Cossack Regiment there. The enemy positioned on this section of the front many times superior forces. But at the very first salvos of the armored train, the soldiers fled, and the officer who was with them surrendered.

This unexpected victory greatly inspired the young cornet who commanded the hundred. He asked Krasnov for permission to attack the village ahead. “It’s still early,” he replied. “You are attacking along with everyone else.” However, passion turned out to be stronger than the habit of obeying orders, and a hundred galloped to the attack. Until the last minute it seemed that the enemy was about to flee, unable to bear the sight of the Cossack lava. But the Cossacks came across a swampy ditch. The horses began to get stuck, and the attack fizzled out. The Bolsheviks came to their senses and started using the machine gun. The reckless cornet was killed first. His comrades hastened to retreat.

By evening the battle died down. The Bolshevik losses were great, but through binoculars Krasnov could clearly see that more and more reinforcements were arriving at the enemy. This forced Krasnov to give the order to retreat to Gatchina at nightfall. There was no way to defend Tsarskoe Selo with its huge park and randomly scattered houses, but in Gatchina the detachment could remain safe for some time.

Kerensky was already expecting Krasnov in Gatchina. He seemed confused and even a little scared to Krasnov.

What to do, general?

If the infantry approaches, we will fight and take Petrograd. If no one comes, nothing will happen. I'll have to leave.

Krasnov gave the order to set up outposts with artillery at the entrance to the city, and he himself lay down to rest. But before he could close his eyes, he was awakened by the commander of the artillery division. He reported that the Cossacks refused to go to the outposts and said that they would no longer shoot at their own people. A little later, the commander of the 9th Don Regiment came with the same message. As a result, Krasnov did not have to sleep that night. He went to the artillerymen to talk to them himself. On the way, Krasnov saw Cossacks crowding in the yard. Among them walked people in black sailor peacoats. Krasnov was told that these were envoys who brought with them an ultimatum put forward by the railway workers' union.

All-Russian Executive Committee trade union railway workers (or as it was called in the spirit of the then fashion for reductions - VIKZHEL) suddenly found itself in the position of the most influential political force in the country. The VIKZHEL leadership, threatening a general railway strike, demanded that the opposing forces lay down their arms. This was very serious, since a railway strike could paralyze the country.

To discuss the conditions put forward by VIKZHEL, Kerensky convened a meeting on the afternoon of October 31 with the participation of Krasnov, his chief of staff and Savinkov and Stankevich, who were in Gatchina. The opinions of those present were divided, but Krasnov’s position was decisive. He said that a truce was needed at the moment. It will buy time, and if the promised help arrives, it will be possible to resume the campaign against the capital. Late in the evening of the same day, envoys were sent to the Bolsheviks.

An atmosphere of anxious anticipation reigned in Gatchina. Some meetings were held, proclamations and orders were written, but all thoughts were only about how successful the negotiators’ mission would be. On the morning of November 1, the envoys returned. Together with them came Bolshevik representatives led by a member of the new Petrograd government, P. E. Dybenko. “A handsome man of enormous stature with curly black curls, a black mustache and a black beard, with large languid eyes, white-faced, ruddy, infectiously cheerful, sparkling white teeth, with a ready joke on his laughing mouth, a physically strong man posing for nobility, he charmed several minutes not only of the Cossacks, but also of the officers."

Dybenko proposed, no less, to exchange Kerensky for Lenin - “ear to ear.” The Cossacks believed and went with this to Krasnov, but he reasonably answered: let Dybenko bring Lenin here, and then we can talk. This conversation caused Krasnov anxiety, and he went to Kerensky. What happened next differs significantly in the interpretations of Krasnov and Kerensky. Krasnov claims that he warned Kerensky and, having detained the Cossacks, allowed him to escape. Kerensky remained convinced to the end that Krasnov was going to hand him over to the Bolsheviks.

Kerensky was in despair and seriously considered committing suicide. Later, one of his adjutants, midshipman Kovanko, told his friend the details of these minutes. Kerensky called his adjutants and said that he had decided to shoot himself so as not to fall into the hands of the Bolsheviks. But he has a sore hand, and he is afraid that he will not kill himself, but will only cripple himself. Therefore, he asks them to cast lots to see which of them will shoot him. The lot fell on Kovanko. “And I must say that this Kovanko was a very artistic fellow: he could joke and make puns to the point. Then he said to Kerensky: “Why are we really so limp?!” He grabbed the driver’s fur jacket (back then there were open cars ), put blue glasses on Alexander Fedorovich and a cap."

Kerensky himself described the end of this scene as follows: “We began to say goodbye, and then suddenly the door opened and two people appeared on the threshold - one civilian, whom I knew well, and a sailor, whom I had never seen before. “We can’t lose a minute,” they said. They. - In less than half an hour, a brutal crowd will burst into your place. Take off your jacket - quickly." Kerensky was dressed as a sailor. He looked rather ridiculous - his hands were sticking out of his short sleeves, reddish-brown boots with leggings (there was no time to change shoes) did not at all suit the uniform. The cap turned out to be several sizes too small for Kerensky and only covered the top of his head. The prime minister's face was hidden by huge driver's glasses.

Accompanied by the sailor assigned to him, Kerensky went out into the courtyard crowded with people. A car was supposed to be waiting for him at the gate, but it was not there. Kerensky felt that everything was lost. People have already begun to pay attention to him. But then one of the officers who was in the yard suddenly fell to the ground and began to convulse. The crowd's attention was diverted, and at that time someone whispered in Kerensky's ear that a car was waiting for him at the Chinese Gate.

And their allies)

Speech by Kerensky - Krasnov- attempt to restore power Provisional Government during October revolution, organized by the Minister-President Kerensky with active assistance Don Cossacks units led by Peter Krasnov in October 1917 old style.

October 25-29. Actions of Kerensky and General Krasnov

October 25 (November 7) Kerensky fled from Winter Palace to the location of the Northern Front headquarters in Pskov. It took him great difficulty to leave the capital, since all the stations were controlled by the Bolshevik VRK. At 11 am, Kerensky managed to borrow a Renault car from the American embassy and left Petrograd under the American flag. The Pskov Soviet declared its support for the Bolsheviks.

On October 26, Kerensky unsuccessfully tried to organize the suppression of the Bolsheviks military force with the help of the 3rd Cavalry Corps of General Krasnov. However, the Cossacks did not feel much desire to fight for Kerensky, who had already managed to discredit himself.

The forces of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, commanded by General Krasnov, were scattered across different garrisons. Commander of the Northern Front General V. A. Cheremisov took a “neutral” position, not supporting Kerensky and Krasnov - he refused to withdraw units from the front to suppress the Bolshevik uprising and stated that he did not guarantee the safety of Kerensky. Therefore, for the campaign against Petrograd, Krasnov was able to gather only a few hundred of the 9th and 10th Don Cossack regiments. General Krasnov's forces amounted to only about 600 sabers, 12 guns and 1 armored car.

On October 27, Cossack units occupied Gatchina without a fight. On October 28, the Cossacks, after a small skirmish and lengthy negotiations with the soldiers of the Tsarskoye Selo rifle regiments that made up the Tsarskoye Selo garrison, occupied Tsarskoe Selo. Kerensky came from Gatchina to Tsarskoye Selo, giving a speech at the rally that arose. The main forces of the “rebels” were grouped in Gatchina, which is why in Soviet sources the uprising was sometimes called the “Gatchina rebellion.”

On Sunday, October 29, Krasnov did not take any active action, remaining in Tsarskoe Selo and giving the Cossacks rest. On this day, an unsuccessful cadet uprising took place in Petrograd.

October 26-29. Actions of the Military Revolutionary Committee

On October 26, the Bolshevik Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee ordered railway workers to block the movement of General Krasnov’s 3rd Corps, stretched across railway. On October 27, the Military Revolutionary Committee pulled forces of armed Red Guard workers and Kronstadt sailors to Krasnoe Selo and Pulkovo, Tsentrobalt sent warships to the Neva in order to cover the Bolshevik forces with naval artillery. On October 29, the Military Revolutionary Committee sent about 20 thousand people to dig the Zaliv-Neva defensive line. The main leadership of this activity was carried out by Podvoisky and Antonov-Ovseenko.

The troops aimed at suppressing the Kerensky-Krasnov speech were led by the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party Muravyov M. A.. In the fall of 1917, he was close to the Bolsheviks; some sources even call him a “Bolshevik.”

Lenin and Trotsky personally supervised the suppression of the uprising. On October 28, Lenin arrived at the headquarters of the Petrograd Military District and personally developed a plan for the placement of warships on the Neva. On October 29, Lenin and Trotsky arrived at Putilov plant to check the preparation of artillery pieces and an armored train.

29th of October. Junker performance in Petrograd

October 29 Menshevik-Right Socialist Revolutionary Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and Revolution raises a rebellion in Petrograd. The center of the uprising was Engineering lock, and the main one armed force- the cadets of the Nikolaev Engineering School stationed there. The commander of the Petrograd Military District, G.P. Colonels, who was removed by the Bolsheviks, declared himself the commander of the “salvation troops”, and by his order forbade parts of the district to carry out the orders of the Military Revolutionary Committee. For some time, the rebels managed to seize the telephone exchange and turn off Smolny, arrest some of the Military Revolutionary Committee commissars and begin disarmament of the Red Guards. However, the bulk of the troops of the Petrograd garrison did not join the uprising. Already by 11 00 on October 29, the forces of the Military Revolutionary Committee recaptured the telephone exchange and surrounded the Engineering Castle with superior forces. The protest was finally suppressed by the morning of October 30.

October 30. Combat Clash

On October 30, Krasnov’s Cossacks approached Pulkovo and entered into a clash with Bolshevik detachments Baltic sailors And Red Guards. The sailors and Red Guards, of whom there were several thousand, far outnumbered the Cossacks, but Krasnov had artillery, which the Bolshevik supporters did not have, so the battle ended without a visible advantage on either side. But without receiving reinforcements, due to the extreme small number of his forces, Krasnov entered into peace negotiations with the Bolsheviks. These negotiations exposed the Cossacks' reluctance to restore Kerensky's power. The negotiations ended with the conclusion of a truce, the terms of which were immediately violated by the Bolsheviks - their forces entered Tsarskoe Selo, surrounded and disarmed the Cossacks.

During negotiations with the Cossacks, Dybenko jokingly suggested that they “exchange Kerensky for Lenin,” after which Kerensky fled from the location of General Krasnov’s troops. According to the memoirs of Trotsky L.D., “Kerensky fled, deceiving Krasnov, who, apparently, was going to deceive him. Kerensky’s adjutants and Voitinsky, who was with him, were abandoned by him to the mercy of fate and taken prisoner by us, like Krasnov’s entire headquarters.” According to the memoirs of General Krasnov himself, he himself suggested that Kerensky flee.

October 31 - November 1. Final suppression of speech

On October 31, at 2:10 a.m., Trotsky, who at that time was personally in Pulkovo, on behalf of the Council of People’s Commissars, sent a telegram to Petrograd in which he announced that “Kerensky’s attempt to move counter-revolutionary troops to the capital of the revolution received a decisive rebuff. Kerensky is retreating, we are advancing. The soldiers, sailors and workers of Petrograd proved that they know how and want to assert the will and power of democracy with arms in their hands. The bourgeoisie tried to isolate the army of the revolution, Kerensky tried to break it with the power of the Cossacks. Both suffered a pitiful crash....Revolutionary Russia and the Soviet government have the right to be proud of their Pulkovo detachment, operating under the command of Colonel Walden.” In his memoirs, Trotsky L.D. characterizes Colonel Walden, the former head of the Rostov gendarmerie department: “This Walden was a typical colonel, and I still don’t understand what was in him when he marched for us. He was a middle-aged colonel and had been wounded many times. For him to sympathize with us, this could not happen, because he did not understand anything. But, apparently, his hatred of Kerensky was so strong that this inspired him with temporary sympathy for us.”

On November 1 (14), revolutionary troops entered Gatchina, finally suppressing the “rebellion.” The general himself Krasnov P. N. On November 1, he surrendered to the Bolsheviks on the “officer’s word of honor that he would no longer fight against Soviet power,” however, he soon left for the Don, where from March 1918 he actively participated in such a struggle.

Kerensky's further steps

Kerensky flees to the Don, and in the twentieth of November arrives Novocherkassk, however, chieftain Kaledin refuses to cooperate with him. Kerensky finally emigrated from Russia only in June 1918, secretly visiting Petrograd in January. He is going to speak unexpectedly at the meeting Constituent Assembly(where he was elected from the Saratov constituency, see List of members of the Constituent Assembly ), however, the Central Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Party prohibits him from taking this step. In May 1918 Kerensky unsuccessfully tries to join the Moscow branch of the Socialist Revolutionary Party Union of Russian Revival, and after the Czechoslovak rebellion - to the government Komucha in Samara, however, the Central Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Party forbids him even this.

Results

In parallel with the speech of Kerensky-Krasnov, there are fighting in Moscow, completed by November 2 (15), and in Petrograd itself on October 29-30 with the assistance of the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and Revolution the cadets are performing Nikolaev Engineering School.

In addition, the Bolshevik government in Petrograd faced the threat of a boycott from the executive committee of the railway trade union Vikzhel. Difficult negotiations began on the proposed creation of " homogeneous socialist government "(the government coalition of all socialist parties), which almost ended with the resignation of "Lenin and Trotsky, as the personal culprits of the October Revolution.

At the same time, employees government agencies for some time they practically paralyzed the work of the government with strikes ( cm. Boycott of the Soviet government by civil servants ), and foreign states refuse to recognize the new government ( cm. Diplomatic isolation of the Soviet government ).

Chronology of the 1917 revolution in Russia
Before:	The struggle for the legitimation of the new government: II All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies Armed struggle immediately after the Bolsheviks took power: Speech by Kerensky - Krasnov	After: Formation of a new government: Crisis of the new government: Diplomatic isolation of the Soviet government (1917-1924)