In Defence of October

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Answers to Questions Put by a Workers’ Delegation of Alexandro-Grushevsky District

"Our troops are moving in the direction of Kaledin’s troops in sufficient numbers."

1) Re the sequestration of mines and works in the Alexandro-Grushevsky District.

Mines and works may be confiscated only after the district is liberated from Kaledin’s troops and influence.

2) Should the workers now quit the mines and go away to Central Russia?

They should not quit but go on working as long as possible. Resolution on this question by the Council of People’s Commissars: the workers of the Alexandro-Grushevsky District to be instructed to contact Kharkov for the arming of the Red Guard. The comrades to be asked to hold out to the last, as long as they can, and not throw up their work.

3) On sending guards to the mines.

Our troops are moving in the direction of Kaledin’s troops in sufficient numbers.

4) Re a subsidy of 3,000,000 rubles to carry on the work.

The question of Monotop{2} will be settled on the arrival of Comrade Artyom from Kharkov.

5) Are the bank-notes issued by Kaledin’s government to be considered valid?

The bank-notes are to be considered invalid.

V. Ulyanov (Lenin)

Chairman, Council of People’s Commissars

Notes

{1} The question of Alexandro-Grushevsky Mining District was dis-cussed at a meting of the C.P.C. on December 9 (22), 1917

{2} Monotop-Russian abbreviation for Donets Fuel Monopoly Trade Council, which was set up by the Provisional Government in 1917. After the October Revolution Monotop pursued a policy of sabotage in the matter of supplying fuel to the railways and industrial enterprises in the central part of Soviet Russia.

 

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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