Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee

(Petrograd MRC), a subsidiary body of the Petrograd soviet of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies; the legal military and operational headquarters during the period of preparation for the Great October Socialist Revolution. From the victory of the revolution until December 1917 the Petrograd MRC was the highest extraordinary body of state power. Its offices were at the Smol’ny Institute. Lenin suggested the creation of an insurrectionary center of this kind in September 1917 in the letter “Marxism and Insurrection,” which was addressed to the Central Committee of the RSDLP (Bolshevik) (Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 34, pp. 242-47). The work of the Petrograd MRC was under the personal direction of Lenin, who was one of its members; it was also supervised by the Central Committee. From the very beginning, the work of the Petrograd MRC was nationwide in scope.

On September 21 (October 4) the Petrograd soviet of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies passed a decision to establish insurrectionary headquarters in the capital and in other cities. On October 9 (22) the Plenum of the Petrograd soviet began to draft a resolution on the establishment of a combat body. On October 11 (24) the collegium of the Military Section of the executive committee of the Petrograd soviet completed a detailed draft resolution, which was discussed by the members of the executive committee on October 12 (25). Taking into consideration the additions proposed by representatives of the Central Committee, the Petrograd committee, and the military organization of the party, the members of the executive committee approved the Statute on the Insurrectionary Body and Its Name. Under the terms of the statute, the Petrograd MRC was to establish military forces and auxiliary means necessary for the defense of the capital and not subject to transfer. Moreover, it was to work out a plan for the city’s defense and take measures to strengthen revolutionary discipline among the workers and soldiers. The main task of the Petrograd MRC, as defined in resolutions of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(B), was to mobilize revolutionary forces for an armed uprising; guarantee the military and technical preparedness of these forces; and provide for operational coordination between the Red Guard, the soldiers of the garrison, and the sailors of the Baltic Fleet. The establishment of the Petrograd MRC was approved by the Congress of Soviets of the Northern Region (Petrograd, October 11-13 [24-26]), the soldiers’ section of the Petrograd soviet (October 13 [26]), and the Plenum of the Petrograd soviet (October 16 [29]).

The Petrograd MRC was made up of representatives from the Central Committee and the Petrograd Committee of the RSDLP(B), the party’s military organizations, and the presidiums of the Petrograd soviet and its soldiers’ section. It also included representatives from the Red Guard, Tsentrobalt (the Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet), Tsentroflot (the Central Committee of the Navy), the trade unions, factory committees, the railroad union, and the postal and telegraph union. The Petrograd MRC also included representatives from the Finnish regional committee of the army, navy, and workers’ organizations, as well as representatives of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries (SR’s) and other revolutionary groups. At first, the chairman of the Petrograd MRC was P. E. Lazimir, a member of the Left SR’s who became a Bolshevik in 1918. Later, N. I. Podvoiskii became chairman. At a meeting of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(B) held on October 16 (29), a party Military Revolutionary Center was elected, consisting of A. S. Bubnov, F. E. Dzerzhinskii, Ia. M. Sverdlov, J. V. Stalin, and M. S. Uritskii. It joined the Petrograd MRC and became its main nucleus.

The composition and structure of the Petrograd MRC changed frequently. Various sections established at different times functioned under the committee. Among them were sections on the press and information (headed by V. A. Avanesov), armaments (A. D. Sadovskii and V. V. Fomin), food and supplies (N. A. Skrypnik and D. G. Evseev), and agitation (V. M. Molotov). There was also an information desk and a section for internal and external communications (F. I. Goloshchekin), a section for receiving reports (Lazimir), and a section of juridical investigation (P. I. Stuchka). The Petrograd MRC also included a medical and sanitary section (M. I. Barsukov); a motor-vehicle section (V. M. Iudzentovich and I. V. Balashov), which later became the transportation section, headed by A. D. Sadovskii; the general staff, which consisted of Podvoiskii, V. A. Antonov-Ovseenko, and N. V. Krylenko; the bureau of commissars (M. I. Latsis); and the secretariat (S. I. Gusev).

On October 18 (31) the Petrograd MRC held its first organizational session, in which Lenin participated. A garrison conference was also held. At a meeting of the capital’s party activists, the Petrograd MRC’s program for combat operations was explained by three of its members—Sverdlov, Dzerzhinskii, and Podvoiskii. The Petrograd MRC entered a period of intensive activity after October 20 (November 2). On October 21 (November 3) the committee established a special body of plenipotentiary commissars—the Bureau (Presidium) of the Petrograd MRC, which consisted of the Bolsheviks Podvoiskii, Antonov-Ovseenko, and Sadovskii and the Left SR’s Lazimir and G. N. Sukhar’kov. (Subsequently, the bureau’s membership changed.) The commissars played a major role in ensuring the victory of the uprising. More than 60 commissars were sent to military units, staffs, arsenals, railroads, enterprises, and institutions. No order of the command or the administration was implemented without their authorization. Thus, the Provisional Government, the headquarters of the Petrograd Military District, and the reactionary forces in general were paralyzed.

On the morning of October 24 (November 6) the Central Committee of the RSDLP(B), relying on the overwhelming preponderance of the revolutionary forces and using the Petrograd MRC as the headquarters of the insurrection, launched the October armed uprising in Petrograd. At midday a struggle broke out for control of the bridges. The situation called for more decisive measures, but under the influence of L. D. Trotsky, L. B. Kamenev, and G. E. Zinoviev, the Petrograd MRC procrastinated. On the evening of October 24, Lenin arrived at the headquarters. Under his direction the armed forces of the Petrograd MRC engaged in offensive operations. By the morning of October 25 (November 7), Petrograd was under the control of the Petrograd MRC.

On the morning of October 25 the Petrograd MRC issued the proclamation “To the Citizens of Russia,” which had been written by Lenin. This historic document told of the overthrow of the Provisional Government and the transfer of state power to the Petrograd MRC. On October 25 a field headquarters of the Petrograd MRC was established, consisting of Podvoiskii, An-tonov-Ovseenko, G. I. Chudnovskii, A. S. Bubnov, K. S. Ere-meev, and G. I. Blagonravov. The first task of the Petrograd MRC was to ensure favorable conditions for the work of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets. The field headquarters completed the capture of the Winter Palace and arrested the Provisional Government (2:10 A.M., October 26). On Lenin’s orders, the Petrograd MRC telegraphed all cities and the front that the socialist revolution had been victorious.

After the formation of the Soviet government, the Petrograd MRC, seven members of which were among the 15 members of the Council of People’s Commissars, became the chief operational body for destroying the old machinery of state and creating a new, Soviet state apparatus. Special attention was paid to the struggle against counterrevolution and sabotage. On October 29 (November 11) the All-Russian Central Executive Committee assigned 13 representatives to the Petrograd MRC. The committee was officially transformed from a subsidiary body of the Petrograd soviet into a nationwide body and was renamed the Military Revolutionary Committee under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

Having secured the victory of the insurrection in the capital, the Petrograd MRC helped to establish and consolidate Soviet power throughout the country. From October to December 1917, hundreds of MRC commissars, emissaries, and agitators were sent to the localities, where they helped to mobilize the masses for the seizure of power, established local military revolutionary committees, explained the decrees and resolutions of the Soviet government and the Petrograd MRC, and struggled to democratize the army.

The committee played a major role in suppressing the mutiny of the military cadets and the Kerensky-Krasnov Rebellion of 1917 and issued the order for General Kornilov’s arrest. It shut down many bourgeois newspapers and established control over the press. Having reorganized the militia and the commandant’s office, it organized the guarding and operation of enterprises, stores, warehouses, power plants, the water supply, museums, and the public library. In addition, it established control or surveillance over the activities of foreign diplomats. With the people’s commissariats and factory committees, the Petrograd MRC took measures to ensure the delivery of fuel and raw materials; organized food supplies for Petrograd, Moscow, and the front; and prevented sabotage and speculation.

As the central state agencies grew stronger, the Petrograd MRC transferred its commissars and sections to appropriate bodies of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Council of People’s Commissars, the Petrograd soviet, and district soviets. On December 5 (18) the Petrograd MRC publicly announced the termination of its activities.