The turning point in the history of Russia of the twentieth century with confidence can be called the Great Russian Revolution of 1917, which consisted of two parts - these are the February and October stages. The events that took place in October brought to power the Bolshevik party led by V. I. Lenin.
For the development of the new state, the Bolsheviks needed a calm atmosphere on the external borders of the country. V.I. Lenin insisted on the conclusion of peace with Germany, moreover, on conditions that were completely unfavorable for Russia. But the so-called Left Communists believed that the country needed a revolutionary war, without any negotiations with Germany.
Revolution Events
The February revolution began with the protests of the Petrograd workers on February 23 (March 8). Throughout the country, people's fatigue from war and worsening living conditions increased, because of this there were mass demonstrations and protests, the demand of which was the overthrow of the tsarist government and the cessation of hostilities. The February Revolution resulted in the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne, but the war continued.
In March 1917, an interim committee of the State Duma formed a cabinet in which there were no supporters of Russia's withdrawal from the war. The interim government considers it his goal to bring the war to victory. A few days later, the Petrograd Council adopts the manifesto "To the peoples of the whole world." The aim of the council is to oppose imperialist politics and the appeals of the peoples of Europe to peace. The so-called dual power appeared in the country.
The October Revolution took place on October 25, 1917. In February 1918, Russia switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as a result, the date of the October Revolution falls on November 7th. The coup that took place on the night of October 24–25 was unexpected for many.
The Petrograd Soviet for a long time worked to end the dual power in the country, and as a result, the sailors of the Baltic Fleet and the Red Guard detachments brought this work to an end. Having seized control of the telegraph, telephone exchanges, train stations and other strategic facilities, we reached the Winter Palace, where the Provisional Government was located. As a result, on October 26 at 2 a.m., the Winter Palace was taken during the assault by armed workers and sailors, and the Provisional Government was arrested.
Disagreements in the leadership of the Bolsheviks
For the development and transformation of Russia, the Bolsheviks are going to cease hostilities and conclude a peace treaty with Germany, and on very humiliating and unfavorable conditions for the country. This event caused heated debate and disagreement in the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b). V.I. Lenin and his supporters insisted on concluding peace at all costs to save Soviet power in Russia, which they regarded as a socialist outpost for the coming world revolution. But the bulk of the Central Committee members believed that the truce could delay the development of the world revolution and that as a result of the power of the Soviets, the end would come.
L. D. Trotsky and his supporters advocate the refusal to sign a peace treaty. They considered this option possible only with the threat of German offensive, which could lead to the death of Soviet power. That is, Trotsky proposed to adhere to the formula "neither war, nor peace."
Left-wing Communists, led by Bukharin, believed that one should not enter into negotiations with Germany, but that a revolutionary war should be waged, and only in this way can a world revolution be achieved. And what is the slogan put forward by the Left Communists? It is better to die with honor and a high banner, than to sign a predatory peace with Germany, that is, "Death or the world revolution."
What is communism?
The word "communism" in translation from French means "general" or "public". Communists strive for social equality and common ownership. There should be no division into social classes, states. Communism assumes a lack of money and puts forward the slogan "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." But in real life such a society did not exist, it is a theoretical social system.
Communist ideas assumed social equality, which was based on common property. Famous thinkers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels developed the Communist Party Manifesto , in which they heralded the death of capitalism and proposed a program for the transition from capitalism to communism.
Some theorists of communism who approved and supported the significance of the October revolution in Russia, but were dissatisfied with its further development, comparing Bolshevism with state capitalism, began to be called left-wing communists. The leader of the Left Communists in Russia was Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin.
Concept of left and right
The political division into left and right occurred during the French Revolution, which began in 1789. The national assembly formed three political directions:
- To the right are the felians (they stood for the constitutional monarchy - the conservatives).
- In the center are the Girondins (supporters of the republic).
- To the left are the Jacobins (radicals - advocating for changes in society). Liberals who advocate freedom and departure from tradition also belong to the left.
Thus, in the question of whether the communists are left or right, the unequivocal answer will be that they are left. They belong to the radical Social Democrats, the main one for which is social equality and common property. Adolf Hitler, who promised his people freedom, justice, work and other benefits, first of all cracked down on the Communists and the left social democrats, depriving the people of freedom and equality. That is why the communists are leftist and the Nazis are rightist.
Left Communism as a Political Doctrine
Left-wing communists are the opposition that has emerged within the Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks. RCP (b) existed from 1918 to 1925. The leader of the Left Communists in 1918 became Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich. What the Left Communists advocated could be read in the newspaper they published. The newspaper Communist called for accelerating nationalization, that is, the speedy transfer of enterprises, banks, land, transport, and other private property to state ownership. The term "left communism" refers to the criticism of some communists regarding Leninism.
Recognizing the importance of the revolution, the Left Communists condemned its development. Many of the opposition members saw in socialist Bolshevism state capitalism, including the leader of the left communists, Bukharin. In his work, "The Children's Disease of Leftism in Communism," V. I. Lenin critically analyzes the theory of left-wing communists. Lenin believed that trade unions and parliamentarism should be used for revolution. The uprising in Kronstadt in March 1921 against the dictatorship of the Bolsheviks and its defeat finally pushed the left communists. By 1930, they began to consider the USSR an accomplice of capitalism and came to the conclusion that a new revolution was needed.
Military opposition
By the fall of 1918, a group of left-wing communists confessed to Lenin their fallacies and ceased to exist as an organized opposition. And at the eighth congress of the Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks, left-wing communists degenerated into military opposition. They opposed the involvement of bourgeois military experts, the creation of a regular army and greetings between the rank and file and army commanders, considering it a relic of the autocracy.
Who was the Left Communist
In addition to the leader of the Left Communists, N. I. Bukharin, the opposition included:
- F. E. Dzerzhinsky;
- I. Arman;
- A. M. Kollontai;
- G.I. Myasnikov;
- M.S. Uritsky;
- V.V. Obolensky;
- M.V. Frunze and others.
Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin
N. I. Bukharin was born in 1862. His parents were school teachers. Nikolai Ivanovich himself graduated from the first gymnasium of the city of Moscow and began studying at the university. He enters the Faculty of Law to study the profession of an economist. But in 1911 he was expelled from an educational institution in connection with revolutionary activities and arrest. He took part in demonstrations of the revolution of 1905-1907.
At the age of 19, he organized a youth conference, from which the Komsomol organization was subsequently created. In 1908-1911 he became a member of the Moscow Committee of the RSDLP and works with trade unions. In 1911, after his arrest, he fled from exile to Austria-Hungary. His acquaintance with V.I. Lenin takes place in 1912, in Krakow. While in exile, Nikolai Ivanovich is engaged in self-education. He studies Marxism and the writings of Utopian socialists. In 1916, abroad, he met Leo Trotsky, and a little later he met Alexandra Kollontai.
In 1918 he became the leader of the Left Communists. In 1919, he was wounded during a terrorist attack launched by anarchists. From 1918 to 1921 he wrote the books "The ABC of Communism" and "The Economy in Transition," which were created under the influence of war communism.
Bukharin's work under Stalin
In 1924, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin dies, and Bukharin draws closer to Stalin. Friendship is established between them. Nikolai Ivanovich calls Stalin Koboy and refers to him as "you." In turn, Stalin calls him Bukharchik or Nikolasha. In the struggle of Stalin against Leo Trotsky, Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev, Bukharin provides significant support to his friend.
As a result of this struggle, the founder of the Comintern, Lev Trotsky, was removed from all posts in 1927 and sent into exile, and two years later he was expelled from the USSR, having subsequently lost Soviet citizenship. Trotsky died in 1940 at the hands of an NKVD agent in Mexico.
History of the NEP
In 1926, Bukharin took the post of leader in the Comintern. He becomes a supporter of the NEP, realizing the mistakes of war communism. The goal of the NEP (the new economic policy created by V.I. Lenin in March 1921 to replace the policy of war communism) was to develop private enterprise and market relations.
Thus, Lenin wanted to raise the national economy, which was completely destroyed by 1920. Workers left the city, the factories did not work, the volume of industry was reduced, and as a result, agriculture fell into decay. There was a degradation of society, the intelligentsia fled the country or was destroyed. Peasant uprisings took place everywhere, and then the army began to rebel. On March 1, 1921, an uprising of the Red Army in Kronstadt took place under the slogan "For advice without communists!" Authorities were able to crush the uprising by March 18, while some people died, while others fled to Finland.
NEP and capitalism
The main objective of the NEP was to replace the surplus appraisal (a tax at which the peasants lost up to 70% of the grain) with a tax in kind (tax reduction to 30%). It was the most successful economic project of the time. But later, Lenin had to admit that this restoration of capitalism was necessary for the development and survival of the policy of the Bolsheviks. Therefore, gradually, the authorities began to curtail the new economy, eliminating private capital.
In 1927, there was a breakdown of state grain procurements. The so-called fists began to seize grain stocks. All this served to completely curtail the NEP, and the authorities headed for collectivization and industrialization. But only in 1931, private trade in the USSR was completely banned.
Condemnation of Bukharin
Nikolai Ivanovich in 1928 began to speak out against collectivization and the destruction of the kulaks as a class. He believed that the only way for the development of the economy is through cooperation, which will gradually supplant the individual economy and level the kulaks with ordinary villagers. But this approach was completely contrary to the policy of Stalin, who pursued a course towards collectivization and industrialization in the country.
The Politburo sharply negatively reacted to Bukharin’s speech and demanded to stop braking collectivization. In the spring of 1929, Bukharin was removed from his posts. From 1929 to 1932, Nikolai Ivanovich became the publisher of the journal "Socialist Reconstruction and Science"
The death of Bukharin
In 1936 and 1937, a number of charges were brought against Nikolai Ivanovich against anti-Soviet activities. And in March 1938, the military collegium declared Bukharin guilty and passed a sentence: the death penalty is execution. He was rehabilitated in 1988 and posthumously reinstated in the ranks of the Communist Party.
Bukharin was an amazing person. A friend of Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin and their enemy at the same time. He was a very educated and talented person. He knew several languages, was a journalist and at one time edited such newspapers as Pravda and Izvestia. Companions respected and feared Bukharin. Nikolai Ivanovich realized that his death was inevitable, he knew the system very well and understood that it was useless to resist it.