The Russian Revolution полностью

What “uprising” of workers and soldiers? one might well have asked. But the intention of these words was to let the congress know that it had no choice but to acquiesce to the decisions which the Bolshevik Central Committee had “predetermined” in its name.

Lenin now made a brief appearance, welcoming the delegates and hailing “the worldwide socialist revolution,”¹⁹⁷ following which he again dropped out of sight. Trotsky recalls Lenin telling him: “The transition from the underground and the Pereverzev experience [pereverzevshchina] to power is too sudden.” And he added in German, making a circular motion: “Es schwindelt” (“It’s dizzying”).¹⁹⁸

At 6:30 p.m., the Military-Revolutionary Committee gave the Provisional Government an ultimatum to surrender or face fire from the cruiser Aurora and the Peter and Paul Fortress. The ministers, expecting assistance at any moment, did not respond: at this time rumors spread that Kerensky was approaching at the head of loyal troops.¹⁹⁹ They chatted listlessly, conversed with friends on the phone, and rested, stretched out on settees.

At 9 p.m. the cruiser Aurora opened fire. Because it had no live ammunition aboard, it shot a single blank salvo and fell silent—just enough to secure it a prominent place in the legends about October. Two hours later, the Peter and Paul Fortress opened a bombardment, this time with live shells, but its aim was so inaccurate that of the thirty to thirty-five rounds fired only two struck the palace, inflicting minor damage.²⁰⁰ After months of organizational work in the factories and garrisons, the Bolsheviks turned out to have no forces willing to die for their cause. The thinly defended seat of the Provisional Government stood defiant, mocking those who had declared it deposed. During pauses in the shelling, detachments of Red Guards penetrated the palace through one of its several entrances; inside, however, when confronted by armed iunkers, they immediately surrendered.

As night fell, the defenders of the palace, dispirited from the lack of the promised support, began to withdraw. The first to go were the Cossacks; they were followed by the iunkers manning the artillery. The Women’s Death Battalion stayed on. By midnight, the defense was reduced to them and a handful of teenage cadets guarding the Malachite Room. When no more gunfire issued from the palace, the Red Guards and sailors cautiously drew near. The first to penetrate were sailors and troops of the Pavlovskii Regiment who clambered through open windows on the Hermitage side.²⁰¹ Others made their way through unlocked gates. The Winter Palace was not taken by assault: the image of a column of storming workers, soldiers, and sailors as depicted in Eisenstein’s film Days of October is pure invention, an attempt to give Russia its own Fall of the Bastille. In reality, the Winter Palace was overrun by mobs after it had ceased to defend itself. The total casualties were five killed and several wounded, most of them victims of stray bullets.

67. Cadets (iunkers) defending the Winter Palace: October 1917.

After midnight, the palace filled with a mob which looted and vandalized its luxurious interiors. Some of the women defenders are said to have been raped. P. N. Maliantovich, the Minister of Justice, left a graphic picture of the last minutes of the Provisional Government:

Suddenly a noise arose somewhere: it at once grew in intensity and scope, drawing nearer. In its sounds—distinct but fused into a single wave—there at once resounded something special, something different from the previous noises: something final.… It became instantly clear that the end was at hand …

Those lying or sitting sprang to their feet and reached for their overcoats …

And the noise grew all the time, intensified, and swiftly, with a broad wave, rolled toward us … It penetrated and seized us with an unbearable fear, like the onslaught of poisoned air …

All this in a few minutes …

At the door to the antechamber of the room where we were holding watch one could hear sharp, excited shouts of a mass of voices, a few isolated shots, the stamping of feet, some pounding, movements, the commingled, mounting, integrated chaos of sounds and the ever-mounting fear.

It was obvious: we were under assault: we were being taken by assault … Defense was useless; victims would be sacrificed in vain …

The door flew open … A iunker rushed in. At full attention, saluting, his face excited but determined: “What does the Provisional Government command? Defend to the last man? We are ready if the Provisional Government so orders.”

“No need for this! It would be useless! This is clear! No bloodshed! Surrender!” we shouted like one without prior agreement, only looking at one another to read the same feelings and resolution in everyone’s eyes.

Kishkin stepped forward. “If they are here, this means that the palace is already taken.”*