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in
russia the dictatorship of the proletariat took the form of a
republic of soviets, and the tsarist empire was transformed into the
union of soviet socialist republics (ussr), or soviet union for
short. |
the origins of soviets as proletarian governing bodies go back to the events of
the revolution of 1905. during the general strike of that year, st. petersburg
workers set up the soviet of workers?deputies to coordinate the strike action
in the imperial capital. this quickly became the model of a new working-class
organization that was reproduced across the empire. the russian word soviet
means advice or counsel, and was also applied to meetings, such as the peasant
commune.
just as communes consisted of all heads of
households in the village, so a soviet was elected from all workers
in the town. in 1905 soviets were set up in towns and cities across
the country. in some places they gained much wider powers than
simple strike committees, spreading their control from working-class
districts to entire towns and effectively acting as city councils or
the local administration. the st. petersburg soviet was by far the
most important of them. it existed for about three months and was
eventually suppressed by the tsarist government.
twelve years later, following the collapse of tsarism in february
1917, soviets were resurrected. after the abdication of nicholas ii,
two governments simultaneously had emerged contending for the right
to provide political leadership: the official liberal provisional
government and the unofficial government in the form of the
petrograd soviet of workers?and soldiers?deputies supported by the
armed workers and soldiers of the capital. the provisional
government had the support mostly of russia抯 traditional elites,
including the remnants of the tsarist bureaucracy and the high
command in the army. the petrograd soviet commanded the loyalty of
urban workers and peasants, and spread its authority over other
soviets that sprang up in the towns and villages and at the front.
between february and october 1917 lenin emphasized that the soviets
were the 搊nly possible form of revolutionary government.?he
vehemently castigated the idea of a parliamentary system and
insisted that what russia needed was 搉ot a parliamentary
republic梩o return to a parliamentary republic from the soviets of
workers?deputies would be a retrograde step梑ut a republic of
soviets of workers?and peasants?deputies throughout the country,
from top to bottom.?lenin understood that the bolsheviks stood
little chance of becoming a ruling party as a result of elections to
a western-style parliament. they had, however, a very good chance of
coming to power by seizing control of the soviets. lenin抯 strategy
was vindicated in october, when the bolshevik-led insurrection in
petrograd toppled the provisional government. by that time the
bolsheviks had already gained a majority in the soviets.
