April Theses

In past times, when a conqueror returned from a campaign, he rode into the city in broad daylight, in a triumphal march, and a huge procession followed him through the streets - his entire army, and behind him were captive hostages, chained. Sometimes the procession slowed down, and the triumphants stopped in front of the shrines to bow to them and make sacrifices. There were few words, because the rulers did not feed their subjects with conversations, kept the people at a distance, and enthusiastic greetings were expressed in the fact that people showered their heroes with flowers. The triumphal procession that was organized for Lenin had no analogue in history. It took place in the most terrible days of the war, when the army collapsed, there was nothing to dream of victories, and the conqueror as such had never held a sword in his hand and had never smelled gunpowder on the battlefield. His hostages were the workers of Petrograd, and ritual actions in front of places of worship of shrines were replaced by brief rallies at street intersections, where the procession paused briefly. It was Monday of Easter week. That night, when he entered Petrograd as a conqueror, it seemed that all generally accepted norms of human behavior were abolished. There was a feeling as if history ended here and a completely different countdown of time began.

Everything that happened around this strange coming seemed to be filled with mysterious symbolism. The slate-black sky was pierced by the beams of searchlights; Red Guards lined the streets like ominous statues; Armored cars crawled slowly, as if at a funeral. At crossroads, Lenin once again climbed the turret of an armored car to once again announce to the people that the old world had been overturned and was now being replaced by a new, hitherto unprecedented one. The words were mysterious, their meaning was incomprehensible, except very vaguely. Some kind of ritual action was taking place, and the workers, thousands of whom formed a procession that night, did not fully understand what was happening.

From the Finlyandsky Station the procession headed across the Sampsonievsky Bridge to the palace of Matilda Kshesinskaya. In this magnificent palace, built in an elegant style, until two months ago, lived the prima ballerina of the imperial ballet troupe, the beloved of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich. The Bolsheviks turned her palace into their headquarters. It occupied an advantageous strategic position, being located on the banks of the Neva near the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Trinity Bridge, which led to the very center of Petrograd. Here, under the amazingly painted ceilings, under crystal chandeliers, among Chinese vases and wide marble staircases, the Bolsheviks hatched plans for their revolution. All the elegant furniture was removed from the halls and replaced with simple ones. kitchen tables, benches and chairs.

The procession covered the short distance from the station to the palace in an hour. It was half past midnight. On the top floor, everything was ready for a modest, but nevertheless solemn tea party in honor of the arrivals. One of the members of the Social Democratic Party was supposed to give welcoming speeches, and at this time young women were supposed to pour tea from boiling samovars. Lenin had no use for these ceremonies. He was impatient to get straight to the point - a discussion of revolutionary tactics. Screams were heard from the crowd around the palace - they wanted to see him, and from time to time he went out onto a narrow balcony on which red flags hung.

The soldier, who was listening to him, leaning on the barrel of his gun, shouted back to him:

Fuck such a guy! What is it? What is he saying? Just let him come down here, I’ll show him! He is definitely German himself! He needs...

But the soldier did not budge, despite his threat to “show him,” and remained standing, leaning on his gun. He, like everyone else in the crowd, was stunned and confused; the man on the balcony fascinated people. He spoke simply, in the simplest words, but his words contained so much frantic power, conviction and pressure that they involuntarily obeyed him.

The ceremonial tea party still took place. As expected, all the proper greetings were said. Lenin was greeted with thunderous applause. Zinoviev's appearance evoked only polite claps. When the stream of greetings dried up, Lenin stood up. In vain they expected a traditional response speech from him, in which he, it would seem, should have expressed gratitude to his party comrades for the warm welcome. Instead, they heard something that made everyone freeze, as if struck by thunder. They sat motionless, not breathing, just as hares running across the road freeze, huddled to the ground, caught off guard by the harsh light of car headlights.

Lenin spoke while standing against the wall, while the others sat in a semicircle in front of him. The meaning of the speech was this: not a minute should be lost; the first stage of the revolution is completed, the second must follow immediately; the republic created in February must be destroyed and all power transferred to the Soviets, which are the only possible form of revolutionary government; land and banks should be nationalized, the property of landowners and aristocrats confiscated; It’s time to discard the old, outdated name “Social Democratic Party” and call ourselves communists from now on. Sometimes he allowed himself, deviating from the topic, to make a rude joke. For example, he said that on the way to Petrograd, on the train, he and his comrades were already ready to go straight from the station to the Peter and Paul Fortress. However, things didn't turn out that way. “Let us not rest in the thought that this fate is behind us.”

Sukhanov's wife occupied a prominent position in the Bolshevik faction, and he himself was friendly with Gorky and personally knew many Bolsheviks. That is why he was allowed to attend this meeting in the Kshesinskaya palace. He, like everyone else, was stunned by Lenin’s speech with its strength and pressure, and also with the monstrous projects he outlined, the consequences of which were unpredictable. “He hit, hit, hit one target until he finally broke them all,” Sukhanov wrote. There were about thirty people in the hall, and all of them, with the exception of Sukhanov, were far from new to the party. They listened to Lenin in silence, hanging on his every word, like schoolchildren in class. As he unfolded his thoughts, their faces changed, firmness appeared in them, their eyes lit up with determination - it was clear that they were ready to fulfill his will. He taught them how to take power into their own hands, how to transfer it to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, and explained how the new leaders would achieve a “democratic” peace. Sukhanov had no idea how these Soviets would interact in exercising power. In addition, not a single Council of Peasant Deputies had yet been created, and Sukhanov doubted that they would be created. And if they do arise, how will they exercise power, the journalist wondered. But he understood perfectly well that Lenin stood for a state without a state, for a kind of community of independent communes. But half a century ago this idea was put forward by anarchists and they have always defended it. Sukhanov noted Lenin's astonishing indifference to the state of the Russian economy. “He still feels abroad,” he thought. Of course, all this was pure improvisation, fantasy, but it was obvious that every single word, every phrase, every thought was carefully thought out and formulated in advance, that these ideas occupied Lenin for a long time, that he devoted a lot of time to them and defended them more than once in disputes . In Lenin’s speech much did not add up; the theory strangely did not correspond to its practical application. It would seem that he approved of the convening of the Constituent Assembly, but at the same time rejected the idea of ​​parliamentary government. “We don’t need any parliamentary republic! We don’t need bourgeois democracy!” - he declared. Lenin spoke for two whole hours. The sun was already rising when they finally went home. Sukhanov went to his apartment, on Karpovka. “I felt like I was being hit over the head with flails. One thing was clear: I, a free man, was not on the same path with Lenin. With pleasure I inhaled the morning air, so fresh in spring. It was dawn, a new day was dawning.”

Lenin and Krupskaya were supposed to spend the night with Mark Elizarov, the husband of Lenin’s sister Anna. He lived on Shirokaya Street, right there on the Petrogradskaya side. Both Anna and Maria were already there and happily met their relatives. Anna's adopted son hung posters over their beds with the slogan from the Communist Manifesto: “Workers of all countries, unite!” Lenin and Krupskaya immediately went to bed. “Everything was so clear that words were unnecessary,” Krupskaya later wrote.

What was clear was that the party was now finally in the hands of Lenin.

The next morning, the Bolsheviks planned to hold a meeting of participants in the All-Russian Conference of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies at the Tauride Palace. In the confusion of the meeting, they forgot to tell Lenin about this, and when they realized it, they began to think: let him sleep or send a delegation to him to wake him up. But remembering how he had spoken the day before about the urgent tasks facing the party, they decided to send a delegation - after all, he is the leader of the party, and none of the delegates had such authority to speak on his behalf. In addition, the delegates to the meeting had to discuss the issue of merging all factions into one party. Lenin's views were so far known only to thirty party members who attended the meeting in the Kshesinskaya Palace, which ended early in the morning. It was necessary to bring his opinion to the attention of ordinary party members.

Lenin woke up at ten o'clock in the morning, and very soon after that a delegation arrived to see him. Until now, when speaking on a particular topic, he often improvised: he would either tell what a revolutionary state should be like, or put forward a theory of the next stage of the struggle for power. And now the need has arisen to give these ideas form, to arrange, point by point, in a logical sequence everything that has matured in his mind. In short, it was necessary to draw up a revolutionary program, which should be based on the theses that he had previously voiced, but had not yet put on paper. He immediately took up his pen and scribbled in ink the subtitles of his new program. He did not have time to develop the program in detail, and it was decided that while he spoke, two comrades would write down his words. In order not to get lost, Lenin made himself a cheat sheet - on a small piece of paper, in small handwriting, he outlined a condensed plan for the speech. It was in this piece of paper that his main thoughts were concentrated: here were recorded the stages that, as he believed, were supposed to lead humanity to a new world order.

In terms of its significance, this piece of paper can be placed on a par with the Magna Carta or the American Declaration of Independence. But the consequences... They exceeded all expectations. Like a stone thrown into a lake, after which circles disperse in the water for a long, long time, this document will constantly excite and muddy human consciousness, spreading the ideas contained in it throughout the world. In his entire life, Lenin never wrote a page like this - a page that would have such promising destructive power.

1) Attitude to war.

No concessions to “revolutionary defencism.”

2) “Demand from the Provisional Government” to “renounce conquests.” (?) Attitude to the Provisional Government. (?) Attitude to the Soviets of Workers' Deputies.

2bis) Criticism of the Soviets of Workers' Deputies.

3) Not a parliamentary republic, but a republic of Soviets of workers, farm laborers, peasants and soldiers' deputies.

(?) Destruction of the army, bureaucracy, police.

(?) Payment to officials.

4) The uniqueness of the tasks of propaganda, agitation and organization during the transition from the first stage of the revolution to the second. Maximum legality.

Conscientious but deceived by the bourgeoisie supporters only“wars of necessity” “wars not due to conquest” and their deception by the bourgeoisie.

5) Agricultural program.

(?) Nationalization. (Confiscation of all landowners' lands).

(?) “Model farms” from each large estate under the control of the Council of Farmers’ Deputies.

+(?) Center of gravity in the Soviets of farm laborers' deputies.

6. One bank under the control of the Soviets of Workers' Deputies.

6bis) Not introduction of socialism straightaway , but an immediate, systematic, gradual transition of the Soviets of Workers' Deputies to control social production and resource distribution.

Change of program and name.

International update. Creation of a revolutionary international...

“April Theses” - in his entire life, Lenin did not write a page like this, which would have such promising destructive power.

These were the theses that Lenin scribbled hastily that morning, the day after his arrival in Petrograd. He shortens the words so much that it is difficult to read them. His thoughts are scattered here and there across the page, but this impression is erroneous. It is in this way that they acquire special power. He announces a program specifically designed to outrage all other revolutionary parties, to break with them, to destroy them; after all, the revolution must flow into the channel blazed exclusively by him and no one else. And only casually, as if by the way, he announces the abolition of the army, bureaucracy, and police.

Today, this piece of paper, unique in its meaning, is exhibited as a valuable exhibit in the Central Lenin Museum in Moscow. It is framed by a heavy frame covered in red velvet. He probably deserves it. And the point is not only that none of the documents of the 20th century had such an enormous impact on humanity inhabiting our planet as this one, but also that none of his works reveals Lenin’s power with such obviousness, but at the same time his weakness. In a sense, this nervously written page is a kind of magnificent portrait of Lenin, but in an abstract style.

The “April Theses,” as they were later called, are distinguished by the fact that in them all the problems are sharpened to the extreme. This time, the formal language of socialist slogans, albeit inaccurate in places and suffering from repetition, begins to sound like a serious threat, acquiring a very dangerous meaning. Of course! On one single page Lenin orders the destruction Russian state, in which, by the way, he himself lives and breathes. The theme of destruction permeates the theses: parliament is abolished, as is the republic; the army, bureaucracy, and police are destroyed at one blow; banks are closed, land is taken away from those who own it. Socialism is also canceled or postponed indefinite time. Because the only task is control over the means of production, which will be exercised by the Council of Workers' Deputies. The Social Democratic Party ceases to exist and will now be replaced by the Communist Party. The very first phrase: “No concessions to ‘revolutionary defencism’” means that the war is also cancelled.

At noon, when he spoke at a meeting held in the choir of the Tauride Palace, the seven theses cited above grew to ten. He had to add and develop some things. Now his theses sounded like new commandments proclaimed to the people by the newly minted “Moses”. While announcing point by point, Lenin spoke slowly to allow the stenographer to accurately record his words. But at times he began to go into explanations and then hurried, forgetting about the stenographer. Therefore, the text of the transcript is incomprehensible in places, some words are missing, and the meaning of what was said can only be guessed from the context. For example, the place where he speaks out against the revolutionary government waging a defensive war with Germany is written in the verbatim report as follows: “Revolution is a difficult thing. It is impossible without mistakes. The mistake is that we (failed to expose?) revolutionary defencism in all its depth. Revolutionary defencism is a betrayal of socialism. It is not enough to limit ourselves... We must admit the mistake. What to do? - Explain. How to give... who don’t know what socialism is... We are not charlatans.”

When we read such incomplete passages, we sometimes get the feeling that even the complete passages lack clarity of thought. For some reason he repeats: “We are not charlatans.” He criticizes, attacks, hits, but all his blows seem to miss the target. He desperately swings his fists like a blind man, not knowing where his enemy is. He scolds the Bolsheviks for trusting the Provisional Government, and believes that it is time to stop this. It is better to be left alone against hundreds of enemies than to capitulate to the Provisional Government, he says. Some people like to flaunt lofty phrases. For what purpose? “The only thing that ruined all revolutions was the phrase, this flattery of the revolutionary people.” The people were deceived by the phrase. The revolutionaries themselves were deceived by pompous phrases. “We must approach people without Latin words, simple, understandable,” Lenin teaches, and the same theses are full of Latin words. He really speaks simply about the peasants: “What is the peasantry? We don’t know, there are no statistics, but we know that there is strength.” It’s strange to hear this from him, because there was a lot of statistical data on this issue, and he himself had studied statistics very thoroughly in the past. There is no talk at all about giving land to peasants. Instead, he talks about model farms created on the site of large tracts of land; they will be controlled by the Soviets of Peasants' Deputies. The Soviets will also take control of the police. His call sounded much more convincing: “...Learn to manage - there is no one to stop us...”

In some places his speech can be misleading. He speaks as if the Bolshevik revolution had already won. For example, he has a revelation of this kind: “The dictatorship of the proletariat exists, but they don’t know what to do with it. Capitalism turned into state capitalism...” But in April 1917, Russia was still far from the dictatorship of the proletariat, and state capitalism still had to live, maybe a year, or even a century. “You can’t read the art of management from any book,” he said. So it will be: Russia will turn into something like a chemical laboratory. Experiments will be carried out on her, one more unsuccessful than the other.

In the final part of his speech, he engages in slight self-flagellation, but at the same time defends his position. “On my own behalf, I propose to change the name of the party, call Communist Party", he says. It is curious that this was an exceptional case when he spoke on his own behalf, and not on behalf of the party. Further: “The majority of the Social-Democrats. all over the world they betrayed socialism and went over to the side of their governments...” So, the old name of the party no longer suits him, it has lost its meaning for him. It's like a dirty, worn-out shirt that needs to be thrown away. It’s also somehow strange, because he devoted more than half of his life to the struggle for social democracy. However, by suggesting this, he is afraid that his party comrades will be weak, prone to memories and will not want to give them up. And then he throws out: “If you want to build a new party... and all the oppressed will come to you!”

The “April Theses” were based on the same seven points that he hastily wrote on a piece of paper before the meeting in the Tauride Palace. Omitting the details, they can be stated as follows:

I. The slightest concession to “revolutionary defencism” is unacceptable. The proletariat can give its consent to a revolutionary war only if power passes into the hands of the proletariat and the poor peasantry, and also if the war is not of an aggressive nature. "Fraternization".

II. The uniqueness of the current moment in Russia lies in the transition from the first stage of the revolution, which gave power to the bourgeoisie, to its second stage, which will bring the proletariat and the poorest strata of the peasantry to power. The transition is characterized by maximum legality. Russia is now the freest country in the world of all the warring countries. The broad masses of the proletariat have only recently awakened to political life; the Bolsheviks are required to be able to adapt to the rapidly changing conditions of political life.

III. “No support for the Provisional Government, an explanation of the complete falsity of all its promises, especially regarding the refusal of annexations.”

IV. “Recognition of the fact that in the majority of Soviets of Workers’ Deputies our party is in the minority...” Therefore, the task of the Bolsheviks should be to patiently, systematically and persistently explain to the masses the errors of the tactics of the S.R.D.

V. Not a parliamentary republic, but a republic of Soviets of workers, farm laborers and peasants’ deputies “across the country, from bottom to top.”

Elimination of the police, army, bureaucracy. Regular army must replace the armed masses. Officers should receive a salary not exceeding the average wages skilled worker.

VI. Nationalization of landowners' lands; creation of model farms.

VII. Merger of all banks into a single national bank controlled by the Council of Workers' Deputies.

VIII. “Not the “introduction” of socialism, as our immediate task, but the transition... to control by S.R.D. for the social production and distribution of products."

IX. The tasks of the party: an immediate congress of the party, changing its program so that it contains the demand for building a communist state on the model of the Paris Commune. The party name should also be changed.

X. “Renewal of the International.

The initiative to create a revolutionary International, an International against social chauvinists and against the “center”.

In the discussion that followed Lenin's speech, some of the Bolsheviks expressed disagreement with his ideas, citing the fact that it was still premature to think about a socialist revolution, and if the moment was ripe, they were not sure that it should be carried out in the form , which Lenin constantly repeated, calling it “the only true one.” There was nothing left of his fiery enthusiasm from the previous night when he performed in front of a cheering crowd. Now his speech sounded dry and matter-of-fact. During this time, people had time to think and weigh his words. The impressions of the enthusiastic meeting at the Finland Station were erased.

The Bolshevik debate was still ongoing when the Mensheviks, sitting in the hall on the ground floor, announced that they did not intend to wait any longer. It was high time to begin the planned meeting of both factions, the purpose of which was to unite them. The Mensheviks sent to top floor a note marked “urgent” containing an invitation to a joint meeting, and Lenin was even invited to speak to a larger audience. Lenin could not miss such an opportunity. The last thing he wanted was a merger of the two factions; his attitude towards the Mensheviks was known, but he spoke out, and then a terrible scandal began.

From the very beginning, Lenin made it clear that he was speaking exclusively on his own behalf. He went alone against everyone, and although the Bolsheviks tried to applaud him, he felt that disagreement with his ideas was growing in their ranks. The Mensheviks were outraged to the extreme. They understood that if Lenin’s theses were accepted, further development events will lead to only one thing - to the dictatorship of Lenin. The theses were his sole creation. His whole train of thought led, bypassing Marx’s theory, directly to the trail of Nechaev, and at the same time Bakunin. This is where his ideas were “buried.” Joseph Goldenberg, a member of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik faction and Lenin's old comrade in arms, was so indignant that he openly branded Lenin as the heir to Bakunin's ideas. “The place of the great anarchist Bakunin, vacant for many years for lack of a worthy heir, is now occupied by Lenin,” he said. - Everything we have just heard is nothing more than a denial of the social democratic doctrine and scientific Marxism. What we have just heard is an obvious and unequivocal declaration of anarchism. Lenin became Bakunin's heir. Lenin, the Marxist, leader of the militant Social Democratic Party, died. Lenin the anarchist was born." But Goldenberg didn't stop there. He accused Lenin of wanting to start a civil war in the midst of the revolution. Goldenberg spoke indignantly of Lenin and his companions as “enemies who arrived from abroad under the guise of friends.”

Tsereteli was not so harsh in his speech. He still harbored hopes for the unification of the Social Democrats. Tsereteli considered it appropriate to remind Lenin of Marx’s axiom, which states that if individuals can make mistakes, then classes do not make mistakes. He even said that he was not afraid of Lenin’s errors, and extended his hand to him, offering good relations. Only Alexandra Kollontai rushed to defend Lenin. But her speech was overly passionate, illogical, confusing and sounded weak. Some of the Bolsheviks, outraged by the poisonous ridicule of the Mensheviks, left the hall. Lenin, who did not allow himself to be dealt with with his own weapons, left with them. Krupskaya was depressed. She had just witnessed her husband’s brilliant triumph and now she was witnessing his defeat. Chkheidze, who led the meeting, watched as Lenin left the hall, and then remarked: “Let him live without revolution, and we who remain here will continue to walk along the road of revolution.”

Sukhanov, who was present at the meeting at the time, thought that Lenin had made a huge mistake by announcing his theoretical theses. It seemed to him that he would reconsider his position, move away from his delusions and return to the bosom of the party. “It never occurred to us that Lenin would not deviate an inch from his abstractions,” he later wrote. “And the last thing we expected was that he would be able to prevail not only over the revolution, not only over everyone who actively participated in it, not only over the entire Soviet, but even over his own Bolsheviks.” Just last night all of Petrograd was at his feet. Now he was alone. This seemed to suit him quite well.

And yet Lenin was deeply wounded. His party attacked him no less fiercely than his enemies. As soon as the “Theses” were published in Pravda, Kamenev spoke out against them. Lenin published them in his own name, only his signature was under the publication, and this was noted; Not a single Bolshevik organization had any intention of giving a list of names under the signature “Lenin”. A few days later, a note by Viktor Chernov appeared in the newspaper Delo Naroda. This was a brief, but strikingly accurate and deep description of Lenin during the period of his return from emigration to Russia. It said: “Lenin is a man of enormous abilities, but in the conditions of an abnormal existence in the underground, his abilities did not develop, they were monstrously suppressed and disfigured. Lenin could have said about himself: “I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m going there anyway with all my determination.” Undoubtedly, Lenin is devoted to the cause of the revolution, but for him this devotion is confined to himself: “The state is me!” For him, there is no difference between his personal politics and the interests of the party, the interests of socialism. Lenin has an extraordinary intelligence, but one-sided. Lenin is an absolutely sincere person, but with a limited outlook. That is why his moral sense is dulled. Lenin's socialism is crude, primitive; he uses an ax where a scalpel should be used.”

It was an honest, unbiased opinion, and not without insight, - after all, in those troubled days, a hefty ax in the hands of a “doctor” was much more popular than a delicate scalpel, requiring a certain skill.

Meanwhile, people began to wonder: how was Lenin able to travel through Germany in a sealed train? And what did he promise the Germans in gratitude for the fact that Germany provided him with every opportunity to return to Russia? The first delight of meeting him disappeared, and many became worried: was he a traitor? Similar sentiments began to spread among the Bolsheviks, despite the fact that Lenin presented them with documents signed by the most famous socialists of Switzerland, Germany and Sweden, from which it was clear that Lenin did not enter into any conspiracy with Germany. Party comrades still suspected that Lenin was not telling something in this story.

The April Theses, which called on the people to civil war against the bourgeoisie, best suited the interests of Germany. In the High Command German troops celebrated. “Lenin’s return to Russia was successful,” reported Steinwachs, the German agent in Stockholm. “It works exactly as we would like it to.” That's how it worked out. But few of the German officials involved could seriously believe that Lenin was capable of carrying out anyone's orders.

Not so in Russia. The young officer who first met Lenin on the platform of the Finlyandsky Station declared on the pages of a Petrograd newspaper that he had made a terrible mistake. He admitted that he was overcome by a feeling of burning shame - of course, after all, he publicly, in front of everyone, greeted a traitor to his homeland. Much more serious was the response from the sailors of the Baltic Fleet, the same ones who stood on the guard of honor when Lenin met. The resolution they signed said: “Having learned that Lenin returned to Russia with the consent of His Majesty the German Emperor and the King of Prussia, we express our deep repentance for taking part in the solemn meeting. If we knew which way he returned, there would be no joyful “Hurray!” Instead, he would have heard our indignant cries: “Down with!” Go back to where you came from!’”

Lenin was no longer the people's hero of Petrograd. Overnight he turned into a spy and provocateur. Crowds gathered around Kshesinskaya's palace. People demanded that Lenin be arrested. Once or twice Lenin appeared on the balcony, trying to say something in his own defense, to refute the ridiculous rumors. Then he just stopped showing up. Lenin suffered many blows in his life. He was sure that he would survive this one too. He began to patiently and persistently convince the Bolsheviks that he was right. Explaining thesis after thesis, he proved to them that the “April Theses” were not at all the ravings of a madman, as Plekhanov said about them, but a real plan to seize power; if the goal of the Bolsheviks was to wrest power from the hands of the damned bourgeoisie, then this could not be achieved in any other way. Lenin was something of an expert on the question of power. He was the only person in the party who devoted his life to studying the phenomenon of power. They listened to him with great attention. By the time of the opening of the 7th conference of the Bolshevik Party, he managed to largely regain his lost influence among his comrades.

Meanwhile, Petrograd was shaken by one terrible event after another. There was a general feeling that none of the problems facing the country would ever be solved. A spirit of hopelessness took possession of the capital. Endless conversations about power only confirmed that there was no power and there was no party capable of finding vital solutions. People's gloomy anticipation and awareness of their own powerlessness gave way to furious anger - people could not live like this any longer, they needed a way out for the accumulated despair, and they rebelled. On May 4, riots began on Nevsky Prospekt. A crowded procession with posters on which was written: “Long live the Provisional Government!” moved along the wide street. Another procession walked towards them, with different slogans: “Down with the Provisional Government!” Both processions converged. There were many Red Guards in the crowd. Fights broke out here and there, and by the afternoon the riots had become rampant. An entire battalion of soldiers of the Finnish Machine Gun Regiment, together with sailors and soldiers from reserve detachments, marched in formation towards the Mariinsky Palace. When they were asked where they were going and why, they answered: “We are going to arrest the Provisional Government!” Chkheidze, who, as chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, enjoyed great authority, hurried to them. Chkheidze dissuaded the soldiers from arresting members of the Provisional Government, explaining that this would solve absolutely nothing, and the soldiers returned to the barracks. Lenin denied any involvement in the attempt to arrest the Provisional Government, but his assurances were viewed with skepticism. In those days, he tested the enemy's strength, sending people loyal to him into the streets to trouble the people. The next day, the unrest intensified and shootings began. The revolution received a baptism of fire.

In all likelihood, the specific reason for the unrest was a statement by Foreign Minister Miliukov, which said that the Russian people were ready to fight side by side with their allies until the final victory over Germany. The right rejoiced, but on the left this statement caused a storm of protests. It is like a catalyst in chemical process, accelerated the course of events. The government was doomed. He never managed to solve any of the pressing problems of the day - hunger, war, the question of large land ownership; it was not ready for the necessary revolutionary changes within the government itself. The Soviets took over many government functions. These two powers were in constant conflict, and this situation could no longer be tolerated. A coalition government was required, which would also include representatives of the Soviets. Miliukov resigned; Prime Minister Prince Georgy Lvov called on the Soviets to join the Provisional Government. For the first time, Socialist Revolutionaries and Social Democrats were allowed to govern the country. Tsereteli entered the government from the Menshevik faction and became Minister of Posts and Telegraphs. Socialist Revolutionary Chernov took the important post of Minister of Agriculture. The Bolsheviks were not invited to the coalition government, and they themselves would not have joined it. Lenin limited himself to caustic remarks about his new composition, from which, according to him, nothing worthwhile could be expected.

The government reigned but did not govern. Workers went on strike and took to the streets, soldiers fled from the front; Crowds of people wandered along the city streets, looking for someone to vent their displeasure on. Sukhanov, who never had any respect for the propertied classes, devotes many pages of his memoirs to describing the chaos and anarchy that reigned in Russia at that time. Lynchings, robberies, arson of palaces and mansions, disobedience to authorities became common occurrences during the spring and early summer of 1917. Of the entire cabinet of ministers, perhaps the only person with authority was Minister of War Kerensky. The other ministers took his opinion into account; he was able to maintain the morale and fighting spirit of the army; he exhausted himself, constantly making fiery speeches in which he tried to convince his fellow citizens that the revolution could survive anything, but not the loss of spirit. Meanwhile, the country was increasingly overcome by a feeling of hopelessness and despair.

Only Lenin knew what to do - add fuel to the fire until a real fire broke out. It was necessary to wipe out the existing regime from the face of the earth through an armed uprising and establish Bolshevik power on its ruins. At the beginning of April, when he returned to Petrograd, there were only fifteen thousand Bolsheviks in the capital for two million inhabitants. By early June, this number had increased significantly. The Bolshevik program was short and clearly formulated: “All power to the Soviets!”; “Down with the capitalists!”; "Down with war!" - Well, how can you not agree with such slogans? And while the government was cautious and hesitant, like a circus performer balancing on a tight wire, and tried to please all conflicting parties at once, the Bolsheviks, aimed at meeting the needs of the working class exclusively, were waiting for the moment when this wire could be cut. Time favored them, because anarchy grew every day and the situation became more and more intolerable.

In those days, Lenin hardly showed up. Sukhanov noted that Lenin, “like a real aristocrat,” nobly kept aloof. He rarely attended meetings of the Petrograd Soviet and only occasionally appeared in public, apparently more to scout out the mood of the people than to try to inflame the passions of the crowd. He did not stop writing short, poisonous articles. One of the issues of Pravda published five of his articles at once. They did not contain anything positive or encouraging; there were no serious, reasonable arguments worth mentioning. They pursued a different goal - to excite, to take away hope for the future. It was during that period that he worked tirelessly, studying the conditions necessary to raise an armed uprising. He rarely raised this topic in his works.

Almost from the first day of his return to Russia, Lenin understood that raising an armed uprising was not so difficult. It was only necessary to choose the right moment and carry out the plan with a firm, ruthless hand. The Paris Commune and the Moscow uprising of 1905 were defeated because both the people and the new government were exhausted by the war; they had no worthy leadership force; the revolutionaries were divided among themselves. It was necessary to learn lessons from these two experiences of revolutionary struggle. Main lesson was this: coordination of all forces and a unified combat plan were necessary. Yes, those attempts failed. But in the summer of 1917, the conditions for an armed uprising in Russia were the most favorable, something like this had never happened in the past. There might not have been another opportunity. Lenin himself, in his “April Theses,” spoke about the extraordinary freedom that was given to various revolutionary groups. He used the words “maximum legality,” meaning in fact the impotence of the law. The February Revolution destroyed the police, but did not introduce any replacement for it. Lenin feared that the Provisional Government would restore the police to stabilize the situation, and wondered how to create a national militia that would take over the functions of the police. If the national militia is under the control of the Bolsheviks, then dispersing the Provisional Government will not be difficult. The Petrograd Soviet could also be abolished, since supreme power would inevitably pass into the hands of those who would be at the head of the national militia.

Lenin outlined his thoughts on this matter in an article published in the Pravda newspaper on May 18. He listed in it the functions that the national militia should take on:

“National militia, this means education in democracy really masses population.

A people's militia means governing the poor not only through the rich, not through their the police, but by the people themselves, with a predominance of the poor.

Nationwide militia, this means that supervision (over factories, over apartments, over the distribution of products, etc.) capable don't stay on paper.

Nationwide militia, this means that the distribution of bread will go without “tails”, without any privileges for the rich."

But he was quite careful and did not add that the national militia would become a fighting force of the Bolshevik revolution. Speaking to the audience, he still spoke about the Soviets as an organ of revolutionary power, and the slogan “All power to the Soviets!” will remain the battle cry of the Bolshevik party until victory October Revolution.

The most far-sighted members of the Provisional Government understood that the Bolsheviks would try to seize power. But the question was when it would happen and whether it could be prevented. It was obvious that large-scale preparations were underway for an armed rebellion. On June 16, 1917, on the opening day of the 1st All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Delegates, Lenin spoke as if power was almost in his hands. Tsereteli said in his speech that there is no party that would take power into its own hands; the government must continue to represent the interests of all segments of society. The phrase was not clearly formulated, and could be interpreted as a categorical prohibition of any political party claim power, - they say, not a single party will dare to do this; an obvious blunder of the speaker, and Lenin could not help but take advantage of this. Jumping up, he shouted: “Yes!” And he continued on the podium:

“-... Citizen Minister of Posts and Telegraphs... said that there is no political party in Russia that would express its readiness to take power entirely upon itself. I answer: “Yes!” - he said confidently. “No party can refuse this, and our party does not refuse this: every minute it is ready to take power entirely.”

The soldiers and sailors in the gallery made an approving noise: they liked the courage of such a performance. Kerensky considered it necessary to warn that the collapse of the February Revolution could have dire consequences. An armed uprising will bring a dictator to power, and bloodshed will begin. But this did not stop Lenin.

The congress was still in progress when Lenin decided to test his strength again. On June 22, armed detachments of workers and Red Guards received orders to approach the Mariinsky Palace, where the Provisional Government met. Chkheidze found out about this at the last moment, but still managed, using all his authority as chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, to stop the armed people heading towards the palace. “This is nothing more than a conspiracy! - Tsereteli shouted in anger. “We managed to stop them today because we sensed what was going to happen, but they will resume their attempts tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.” There is only one way to stop them. We must disarm the Bolsheviks!” But it was too late to disarm the Bolsheviks. Almost half of the workers of Petrograd and half of the Petrograd garrison were on the side of the Bolsheviks. People did not see the Provisional Government as a force capable of controlling the situation. Now it was only a matter of time. The Bolsheviks were preparing a putsch, and on such a scale that no amount of Chkheidze’s authority would have helped.

But the coup attempt was unsuccessful. No one has been able to explain the reason for such a catastrophic failure. The performance was prepared carefully and persistently over three weeks. The sailors of Kronstadt, the battalion of the First Machine Gun Regiment and the workers of the Putilov plant stood under arms. Bolshevik agitators made every effort to win over the troops supporting the Provisional Government to the side of the rebels. They distributed weapons to factory workers. Proclamations calling for an uprising were printed. All that remained was to give the command to everyone, everyone, everyone - and go against the Provisional Government. For some reason the order was not given. For two days, sailors and soldiers marched through the streets of Petrograd, shouted slogans, dealt with those who tried to interfere with them, threatened to overthrow the Provisional Government, but never came close to the palace where the ministers were meeting, so as to cause them serious fears.

This strange uprising began on July 16th. That day, the First Machine Gun Regiment approached the Tauride Palace, threatening to take it by storm. They were joined by about twenty-five thousand workers of the Putilov plant and thousands of other artisans. But, approaching the palace, they were at a loss, not knowing what to do. It was an unorganized crowd. They began shouting: “Down with the Provisional Government! All power to the Soviets!” The traffic was stopped because of them. Trucks full of Red Guards were scurrying through the streets. “There was excitement, tinged with anger, but there was no enthusiasm,” wrote Sukhanov. It was probably this lack of enthusiasm among the people that convinced the Bolsheviks at the last moment that the time for a putsch was not yet ripe. Both Trotsky and Lenin categorically denied any involvement in the sudden outbreak of indignation among the unruly masses, but the facts spoke against them. One thing was clear: something in their plans did not work out. The power itself came into their hands, there were no obstacles. This turn of events can only be explained by the fact that the overwhelming majority of the population was against the Bolsheviks, and they were unlikely to be able to retain power in their hands for long. Realizing this, the Bolsheviks decided not to act.

From the book Feeling the Elephant [Notes on the History of the Russian Internet] author Kuznetsov Sergey Yurievich

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Chapter IV. APRIL DAYS

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ABSTRACTS FOR LECTURES AT THE FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY OF ST. PETERSBURG UNIVERSITY The theme of several of our classes can be conventionally designated “The Life of the Spirit, Talent in the State.” Perhaps it is somewhat unexpected for the philosophy department of the university. For such

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Chapter 7 April Follies 1967–1968 Love could not be saved. Catherine Deneuve's hasty marriage was bursting at the seams. They saw each other a couple of days a week anyway. Young people built careers, worked like crazy, and rushed to social events. Time to

The April Theses are the slogans of Lenin, pronounced on April 4, 1917 in the Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg at a meeting of the Bolshevik, Menshevik and Democratic parties. Probably everyone has heard about theses, but few have studied this issue seriously. The problem is that more than 4 generations of historians have grown up, for whom the events before October 1917 are a forbidden book that can be studied superficially, but cannot go into detail. Today I want to consider in detail Lenin’s Theses in the context of the historical events of that era.

Brief text of the April theses point by point:

• Immediate end to the war. Peace with all countries.
• Continuation of the revolution. Lenin believed that in Russia the moment had come for the transition of the bourgeois revolution to the socialist one.
• Non-recognition of the Provisional Government.
• Recognition of the fact that the RSDLP(b) is in the minority in the majority of Soviets.
• Creation of a republic of Soviets, not a parliamentary republic. To do this on initial stage it was supposed to get rid of officials, police and army.
• Complete confiscation of land (both landlord and church) and transferring it to the control of workers' deputies.
• Creation of a unified Socialist Bank. All other banks must be liquidated. All bank capital must be under public control.
• Party control over the distribution of products and over social production.
• Changing the program of the Bolshevik Party in accordance with the Theses.
• Large-scale popularization of the Bolshevik Party as the only structure representing the interests of the common people. To do this, it was supposed to use simple slogans that everyone could understand: “Peace!”, “Factory for workers, land for peasants!”, “Bread!” and so on.

The full text of the April theses in the newspaper Pravda dated April 7, 1917 in the article “On the tasks of the proletariat in this revolution.”

To summarize these 10 theses, Lenin said that the revolution in Russia cannot be stopped, it must be intensified until the Bolsheviks have all power.

Reaction to theses of political parties

To begin with, Lenin arrived in Russia from Switzerland only on April 3. There he prepared theses and a further plan for the development of events. But by the beginning of April 1917, a situation had developed in Russia when all the social democratic parties in the country could unite. In these conditions, Lenin, Trotsky and others would no longer be leaders, I would be “one of.” Therefore, immediately after arriving in Russia, Lenin promoted his ideas for the development of the revolution, which gradually pushed other parties towards the idea that unification was impossible. Lenin did not abandon this idea, he simply put forward conditions that other parties refused to accept. Lenin was called “crazy”, his theses “nonsense”, but he accomplished the main thing - the idea of ​​uniting social democratic parties ceased to exist.

Everything turned out to be much more complicated in the internal struggle of the Bolshevik Party. Today it is generally accepted that the April theses were negatively received by all party leaders without exception, and subsequently Lenin and Trotsky literally pushed through all decisions through force. But was it so? The main “opponents” of theses are considered to be:

• Stalin. Stalin’s famous phrase about theses: “Unsatisfactory. This is a diagram, but there are no specifics. Questions about the existence of small nations have not been addressed.” Does this mean disagreement with Lenin? Stalin, like any reasonable person, was stopped by the lack of specifics. Once it appeared, the “scheme” became satisfactory.
• Zinoviev. Almost immediately he supported Lenin. Below is a clipping from the newspaper Pravda.
• Kamenev. This man was really strongly against it.

As an example, I will cite Zinoviev’s article in the Pravda newspaper dated April 6, 1917 (only 2 days have passed since Lenin announced the directions for the development of the revolution).

You need to understand the main thing - the position of the Bolshevik leaders was not united and was not against Lenin. There was confusion and nothing more. The country and the revolution developed in a certain direction. Lenin arrives and announces that everything needs to be curtailed, continue the revolution, take back power and build socialism. Of course, this caused confusion and required some time to think about it, but there was no clearly negative reaction from everyone.

Kamenev's position

We consider Lenin's position and theses unacceptable. This scheme rejects the February revolution. It requires a socialist system. Russia is not ready for this.

Kamenev

The key moment for understanding the events of those days is the meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) party on April 6. A transcript of the meeting has been preserved, from which it follows that only Kamenev criticized Lenin’s theses, and the other members either supported them or remained neutral. Kamenev emphasized:

• In Russia there can only be a bourgeois revolution, but not a socialist one. For a socialist revolution we need preparatory stages. In France these were 1789 and 1848.
• The provisional government is the only legal authority.
• The Bolsheviks must act in the same spirit as other social democratic parties.

Why did only 1 person openly oppose Lenin? By April 1917, Lenin was the organizer of the Bolshevik Party, and Kamenev its leader. The theses and their acceptance by the party meant that leadership passed to Lenin. Therefore, Kamenev spoke not so much with criticism, but from the position of maintaining his position. In simple words- there was a struggle for power between Lenin and Kamenev. The rest of the party members, even such prominent ones as Stalin, adhered to neutrality in the early days.

Confrontation between Lenin and Kamenev

The April theses should be regarded as a step by Lenin in the struggle for power. Yes, he was the founder of the party, but during his emigration, the real leader was another person. To take power away from him, decisive action was required. These are the theses, as well as their explanations, published in Pravda on April 7. Kamenev's response came immediately. On April 8, the note “Our Disagreements” was published. In his notes, Kamenev emphasized that the theses are Comrade Lenin’s personal view of the revolution and nothing more. The party does not share his views and will defend its work from any attacks, including attacks from Lenin.

In the same issue of Pravda, Zinoviev said that power should belong to the soviets, and not to the Provisional Government. In fact, he supported Lenin. That is, on April 8, disagreements in the Bolshevik Party were made public. No one paid much attention to this, since the Bolsheviks were not even the second most popular party. After this, the “April meetings” began, which Bubnov, Kollontai and others talk about. The purpose of the meetings is to attract prominent party figures to their side. Lenin, who was helped by Trotsky, was more successful, and in the first days of the “exacerbation” Stalin and Sverdlov supported him.

Reaction to the people's theses

In their work, the Bolsheviks relied on the people. They could not say that they wanted to take power by any means, so they said what they wanted to hear among the people: “peace”, “land for the workers” and so on. It is important to note that at the same time a crisis of power was developing, which greatly contributed to the success of Lenin’s party. In Russia, prices rose sharply, there was high inflation and unemployment. The people, who had high hopes for the 1917 revolution, were deceived. The situation got worse every month. And here Lenin’s April theses came in very handy. Bolsheviks held rallies and distributed leaflets around following contents: “Don’t you want to die in war? Do you want to get land and work? Do you want to live better? Seek the transfer of power to the Soviets!”

If in February there were approximately 2 thousand Bolsheviks in Petrograd, then by mid-May there were already approximately 32 thousand people.

Our task is not to consider the consequences, but to determine the source. We will talk about one and only theoretical work- “April Theses” by Lenin. Today, more than ever, we are faced with different visions of the role of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Ulyanov) in the history of our country. Moreover, the points of view are often polar opposites. From the traditional Soviet view: “He is the leader of the world proletariat,” to direct accusations regarding the organization of repressions against the intelligentsia and peasantry. The topic for discussion about this is bottomless, like our whole history. This article is not about it at all.

Only ten conceptual ideas reflect Lenin’s “April Theses”. Summary of this document is given below.

It is difficult to write more meaningfully as well as concisely.

It is obvious that this work, in its essence, goes beyond the mainstream social democratic theory. One single person was able to feel the dynamics of development in the midst of the political, economic, social collapse of a practically ungovernable country, “like a man beaten half to death.” It is noteworthy that the start of the creation of communist parties in the world was determined by Lenin’s “April Theses”. This theoretical development briefly outlines a unique path of development, incomprehensible at first even to Lenin’s closest associates, the Social Democrats.

I would also like to draw your attention to the obvious: Lenin the theorist is at the same time an outstanding organizer, persuasive and inspiring. After all, there were principled, influential, authoritative opponents to the ideas of the “Theses”: Kamenev, Plekhanov. Having remained misunderstood by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and then by the united congress of the RSDLP, Vladimir Ilyich tripled his energy, explaining and persuading. As a result, exactly 10 days later the conference of the RSDLP(b) included Lenin’s ideas in its program.

At the first news of the abdication of the bloody Nicholas the throne, V.I. Lenin and his comrades decide immediately, by any available means, to return from emigration to Russia. Better than anyone else, he foresaw the dangers that stood in the way of the revolution. From the experience of struggle, Vladimir Ilyich knew that the main enemies of the revolution would be its imaginary “friends”, talkers from the petty-bourgeois swamp - the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, who had more than once betrayed the interests of the working class.

Before leaving Switzerland, Vladimir Ilyich manages to write and send five letters (“Letters from Far Away”, PSS Vol. 31) in which: specific examples and facts, he explained why it was impossible to trust the Provisional Government of capitalist ministers and petty-bourgeois compromisers in anything. By the time he returned to Russia, Lenin formulated a condensed plan for the socialist revolution, which became known as the “April Theses” (article “On the tasks of the proletariat in this revolution”, V.I. Lenin, PSS vol. 31). Lenin's theses consist of 10 points:

1. As long as power is in the hands of the capitalist government, the war remains imperialist and predatory. Only with the transfer of power into the hands of the proletariat and the poor peasantry, with the unconditional refusal of annexations and indemnities, with the refusal to serve the interests of capitalist entrepreneurs, can the war become defensive. To do this, it is necessary to wrest power from the hands of capitalist ministers, and without a revolution, without armed uprising, they will not give up power democratically. It is necessary to explain this to the broad masses, the soldiers of our and German armies.
Capitalism is competition and war of everyone with everyone! To stop wars, capitalism must be destroyed.

2. The overthrow of the tsar was only the first stage of the revolution, since power was seized by capitalists who had a vested interest in continuing the war. The masses are unorganized and naively trust the promises of the capitalist government. Therefore, it is necessary to make maximum use of the legal opportunities that have emerged to carry out explanatory work among the proletariat that has just awakened and become politically active.

In Ukraine we see confirmation of Lenin’s theses. Westernized liberals, united with far-right nationalists, using demagoguery and hypocrisy, provocations and the money of the oligarchs, were able to captivate part of the population with “promises” to make the government fair. This became possible only because of the weakness of the Ukrainian communists.

Soon the people will understand everything, but it will be too late; they will have to pay with poverty and degradation of the country. Any nationalists (Ukrainian, Russian, German...) always seek salvation in pitting workers against each other. It is vital for them to artificially create an enemy, whose machinations can justify the robbery of the common people by their “native” oligarchs.

3. Therefore, the next point of V.I. Lenin writes: " No support for the Provisional Government, an explanation of the complete falsity of all its promises..." It is necessary to expose the hypocrisy and naivety of the demand that this capitalist government cease to be capitalist.

4. In the Soviets of Workers' Deputies, the Bolsheviks are in the minority opposing the bloc of the petty bourgeoisie and the compromisers. Therefore, while the Soviets are under the influence of the bourgeoisie, it is necessary to patiently, persistently, using concrete facts and examples, show the fallacy of the decisions taken by such Soviets. It is necessary to help the masses get rid of their mistakes and illusions. At the same time, explain that Councils of workers' deputies are the only possible form of revolutionary government, and after getting rid of bourgeois influence, all power should pass to them.

5. Parliamentarism is a form of dictatorship of the capitalist class, since the number of votes received directly depends on the amount of money spent on elections. Only Soviets of workers, farm laborers' and peasants' deputies from bottom to top can become a form of direct proletarian democracy.
« Elimination of the police, army, bureaucracy. The pay of all officials, if all of them are elected and replaced at any time, is not higher average fee good worker" Not mercenaries, but the universal arming of the people, emphasizes V.I. Lenin. Only the proletarian army and police are capable of ensuring freedom and security for the working man. (The validity of this can be seen by comparing the life of a Soviet person with a modern one. Thus, iron doors there were none in the apartments, the keys were often under the rug, etc.).

6. Immediate nationalization of all land and confiscation of land from landowners. Transfer of the right to dispose of land to local Soviets of farm laborers and peasants' deputies. To create public collective farms from each large landowner's estate.

7. The immediate merger of all banks in the country into one national bank and the introduction of control over it by the Soviets of Workers' Deputies.

8. At the first stage, there is no immediate “introduction” of socialism, but a transition only to Soviet control over social production and distribution of products.

9. Lenin separately identified a number of priority tasks for the Bolshevik Party:
« a) immediate party congress;
b) a change in the party program, the main thing:
1) about imperialism and the imperialist war,
2) about the attitude towards the state and our demand for a “state-commune”,
3) correction of a backward program - minimum;
c) change of party name».

10. Creation of a revolutionary International against social chauvinists and petty-bourgeois compromisers.

In the 30s of the twentieth century, social chauvinists and social nationalists began to be called “national socialists” (or “Nazis”, this is an abbreviation for the name of A. Hitler’s fascist party “National Socialist German Workers’ Party”).

The difference between the ideology of Nazism and communist ideology is clearly manifested in party slogans. Communists have a call on their party cards and on the coat of arms of the USSR: “Workers of all countries, unite!” The Nazis have a slogan: “Patriots of Germany (Italy, Russia, etc.), unite!”

These slogans accurately reflect the diametrically opposed goals of the parties. The goal of the communists is a class revolution to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat (the power of working people) throughout the world, where “ in place of the old bourgeois society with its classes and class oppositions comes an association in which the free development of everyone is a condition for the free development of all "(K. Marx and F. Engels. "Manifesto of the Communist Party"). Soviet Union was just such an international state.

The goal of the Nazis is class peace, with the requirement for the working person to come to terms with and endure the robbery of “their” capitalists for the sake of the growth of their capital, for the sake of victory over the capitalists of other nationalities. Capital has long become international; the capitalists themselves (oligarchs, entrepreneurs) easily change passports and citizenship. Today he is some kind of Russian “Chubais”, and tomorrow he is already an American or Israeli “Chubais”.

In order to increase profits, capitalists start wars, and hypocritically demand that workers and peasants give their lives in war, supposedly for the “fatherland.” These wars and military coups carried out by competing clans of oligarchs (as in Ukraine) cannot give anything to the working people; one robber-capitalist is replaced by another robber-capitalist.

The April Theses are a plan for the coming Socialist Revolution, left to us by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

Long live the coming socialist revolution!

V.G. Pyzhikov, Krasnoyarsk

Alexander Maysuryan

100 years ago. April Theses

On April 4 (17), 1917, the leader of the Bolshevik Party, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, who arrived in Russia the day before, spoke with the famous “April Theses”. These theses initially produced a shock impression on the Bolshevik leaders themselves: almost no one understood or supported them.

Menshevik Nikolai Sukhanov, who listened to the “April Theses” on the night of April 4, in the Kshesinskaya Palace, wrote: “I will not forget this thunderous speech, which shocked and amazed not only me, an accidental heretic, but also all the faithful. I affirm that no one expected anything like this. It seemed that all the elements had risen from their lairs, and the spirit of all-contrition, knowing neither barriers, nor doubts, nor human difficulties, nor human calculations, was rushing through the Kshesinskaya hall over the heads of the enchanted students. - not a speaker of a complete, round phrase, or a bright image, or captivating pathos, or a sharp word, - but a speaker of enormous pressure, strength, decomposing right there, before the eyes of the listener, complex systems on the simplest, generally accessible elements and hammering with them, hammering, hammering into the heads of the listeners - “to the point of insensibility,” to the point of bringing them to obedience, to the point of being taken prisoner.” As Lenin himself put it, he tried to “interpret the hell out of it.”

With his first words, Lenin poured a tub of cold water on the heads of his enthusiastic comrades.

“I believe, comrades,” he remarked sternly, “that it’s enough for us to congratulate each other on the revolution.”

The listeners began to look at each other in confusion.

“When I and my comrades were traveling here,” said Lenin, “I thought that we would be taken straight from the station to Petropavlovka. As we see, we turned out to be very far from this. But let us not lose hope that this will not pass us by, that We can't avoid this..."

This, by the way, is an example of a typical Leninist paradox, with which Vladimir Ilyich almost every day never tired of stunning those who communicated with him. The Bolsheviks effusively celebrated the “great revolution”, and then their leader set them as the next promising goal... prison! And that’s how it happened - very soon many leaders of the left side of the RSDLP (Kamenev, Kollontai, Trotsky and others) found themselves behind bars, while others were on the run...

Soviet poster commemorating Lenin's arrival in Russia in 1917

Boris Kustodiev. The threshold of October (speech by V.I. Lenin at the Finlyandsky Station)

Lenin on an armored car. One of the early projects of the monument to Lenin at the Finlyandsky Station

Alexander Samokhvalov. Speech from an armored car

Irakli Toidze. The leader's call. 1947

“Even our Bolsheviks are showing trust in the government,” Lenin said on April 4. “This can only be explained by the frenzy of revolution. This is the death of socialism. You, comrades, are trusting of the government. If so, we are not on the road. It’s better to remain in the minority ".

The two-hour speech, of course, was applauded, but somehow embarrassed. According to Sukhanov, Vladimir Ilyich’s comrades, “applauding for a long time and unanimously, somehow strangely looked at one point or wandered with unseeing eyes, demonstrating complete confusion.”

“I went out into the street,” Sukhanov recalled. “It felt as if that night they were hitting me on the head with flails. Only one thing was clear: no, with Lenin, I, the wild one, was not on my way...”

Vyacheslav Molotov recalled: “I was never against Lenin, but neither I nor any of those who were always with Lenin really understood him right away. All the Bolsheviks talked about a democratic revolution, but here it is a socialist one!”

Yes, this happens, - Lenin himself said, - many people do not always immediately know how to grasp what exactly needs to be done at the moment... Later this will become clear to everyone...

But hostility towards Lenin also grew. “You walk along the St. Petersburg side,” Krupskaya recalled, “and you hear some housewives saying: “What should we do with this Lenin, who came from Germany? Should I drown him in a well?"

The leader of the liberals, Pavel Milyukov, was asked at one of the rallies:

What to do with Lenin and his like-minded people?

“I was asked this question more than once,” he answered firmly, “and I always answered it with one word: arrest!”

And Vladimir Ilyich had no doubt that sooner or later the Bolsheviks would actually be arrested. “Almost every evening,” noted Zinoviev, “he said: “Well, today we weren’t imprisoned, which means they will imprison us tomorrow.” He never tired of giving his comrades a “cold shower”:

“Why did we come to Russia? To take part in the revolution? And this is our highest duty. Not one of those present here will have to end their lives during this revolution. But while we are still talking and publishing a newspaper...” Summarizing all of the above, we can recall the words of Trotsky: “If Lenin with a group of comrades and, most importantly, with his deeds and authority had not arrived in Petrograd at the beginning of April, then the October Revolution... that revolution that took place on October 25 of the old style would not have existed in the world.” .

Moving on to our time, we have to note that we, citizens former USSR, also now there is an urgent need for new “April Theses”, which will clearly and clearly formulate what and how the left should fight for in the conditions of the post-Soviet Atlantis slowly sinking into oblivion. Even if the first and immediate practical goal of these theses coincides with the not very joyful task that Lenin set for his comrades 100 years ago - to end up in prison... :) And it is also desirable that these theses be formulated by a person with “action and authority” Lenin, because otherwise, no matter how true they are, no one will hear them. And if they hear it, they will laugh as they tried to laugh at Lenin 100 years ago. But where can you find such a person...

http://maysuryan.livejournal.com/501325.html