In Defence of October

Study the lessons of the Russian Revolution

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Instructions on the Procedure for Tabling Questions in the C.P.C.

Written in December 16 (29), 1917.

Every commissar tabling a question in the Council of People’s Commissars shall be required to submit a written statement specifying:

a) what the question is (briefly) [this statement cannot he confined to a mere reference to the subject, but must set forth the gist of the matter].

b) what exactly the Council of People’s Commissars is being asked to do (give money; adopt such-and- such a resolution, etc. The person introducing the question must state clearly what he wants)

c) whether the question involves departments under other commissars. If so, exactly which; whether they have given their findings in writing?[1]

Lenin

Notes

[1] Lenin’s motion was discussed at a meeting of the C.P.C. on December 18 (31), 1917; and a ruling adopted: “To endorse Lenin’s instructions and Gorbunov’s proposal to close the agenda half an hour before the appointed meeting and to oblige the People’s Commissars to fulfil this under a written engagement” (Central Party Archives of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism of the C.C.of the C.P.S.U.).

 

Source: Marxist Internet Archive.

23.02.1917
The February Revolution
Strikes and protests erupt on women's day in Petrograd and develop into a mass movement involving hundreds of thousands of workers; within 5 days the workers win over the army and bring down the hated and seemingly omnipotent Tsarist Monarchy.
16.04.1917
Lenin Returns
Lenin returns to Russia and presents his ‘April Theses’ denouncing the Bourgeois Provisional Government and calling for “All Power to the Soviets!”
18.06.1917
The June Days
Following the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets, the reformist leaders called a demonstration to show the strength of "democracy". 400,000 people attended, the vast majority carried banners with Bolshevik slogans.
16.07.1917
The July Days
Spontaneous, armed demonstrations against the Provisional Government erupt in Petrograd. The workers and soldiers are suppressed by force, introducing a period of reaction and making the peaceful development of the revolution impossible.
9.09.1917
The Kornilov Affair
Following the July days, the Bolsheviks were driven underground and the forces of reaction were emboldened. This process culminated in the reactionary forces coalescing around General Kornilov, who attempt to march on Petrograd and crush the revolutionary movement in its entirety.
26.10.1917
The October Revolution
The Provisional Government is overthrown. State power passes to the Soviets on the morningm of 26th October, after the Bolsheviks’ Military Revolutionary Committee seize the city and the cabinet surrenders.
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