ORDER NО 1 OF THE PETROGRAD COUNCIL

the first after the victory of Feb. Revolution of 1917 order for the Petrograd garrison. military district, adopted on March 1 (14), 1917 at a joint meeting of the workers' and soldiers' sections of Petrograd. advice on the initiative and directly. the participation of the soldiers' deputies, who expressed indignation at the demands of Rodzianko and Milyukov for the disarmament of the revolutionaries. soldiers and returning them to the barracks. P. No. 1 was drafted by a commission elected by the Council (presiding officer N. D. Sokolov, member of the Council). Item No. 1 legitimized army committees (or Soviets) that had arisen spontaneously in the army. He found that military units in all political. speeches are subordinate to the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies and elected soldiers' committees; military orders. commissions of the State Dumas were ordered to be carried out only in those cases when they did not contradict the orders and resolutions of the Council. According to the order, the weapon was to be at the disposal and under the control of company and battalion kits and in no case be issued to officers. Thus, attempts were thwarted by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma to restore in parts unlimited. the power of the officers. The order endowed the soldier with civil. rights, put them on an equal footing with officers out of service and formation, forbade rough treatment of soldiers, canceled titles.

The effect of the order extended far beyond the garrison. He contributed to the democratization of the army and the organization of the soldier masses into an active political. strength. At the same time, P. No. 1 did not reflect the main requirement of the soldiers - election commanders in the army; this was a manifestation of the conciliatory policy of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. However, despite the absence of a clause on election in the order, the soldiers pl. parts displaced reaction. officers, electing supporters of the revolution to command posts. On 4 (17) March, at a meeting of the soldiers' section of the Soviet, they demanded a decree on the election of commanders. But the conciliatory leadership of the Soviet, yielding to the pressure of the bourgeoisie and the generals, did not agree to expand the rights of the soldiers' committees. Order No. 2, adopted by the Council on March 5 (18), limited the operation of P. No. 1: it did not confirm the unconditional right of control of soldiers' kits over the use of weapons and strictly limited the operation of P. No. 1 outside the petrogr. garrison.

Published: Revolutionary. movement in Russia after the overthrow of the autocracy, M., 1957, p. 189-90.

Lit .: Vel. Oct. socialist. revolution. Chronicle of events, vol. 1, M., 1957; Shlyapnikov A., Seventeenth year, vol. 1, M.-P., 1923; Miller, V., From the History of Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet, "Military History Journal", 1966, No. 5; Drabkina F., Order No 2, "KA", 1929, No 6.

S. I. Sidorov. Moscow.

Soviet historical encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. Ed. E. M. Zhukova. 1973-1982 .

- ... Wikipedia

Order No. 1 was adopted by the Petrograd Soviet late in the evening on March 1, 1917. It was addressed to the capital's garrison, to all soldiers of the guard, army, artillery and sailors of the fleet for immediate execution, and to the workers of Petrograd for information. In the order ... ... Wikipedia

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The first victorious social revolution in history, accomplished in 1917 by the working class of Russia in alliance with the poorest peasantry under the leadership of the Communist. party headed by V. I. Lenin. As a result, V. O. s. R. power was overthrown in Russia... Soviet historical encyclopedia

The operation of parallel social systems in Russia between the February and October revolutions: (1) the system associated with official authority bodies of the Provisional Government, regional and city government, political and ... ... Wikipedia

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M.V. Vasiliev

1st Petrograd women's battalion in the events of 1917

annotation
The article reveals the history of the creation and training of the 1st Petrograd women's battalion. Through the prism of revolutionary events in Russia, the issues of the social composition, the size of this military unit are studied, and the history of its existence is built in chronological order.

Keywords
First World War, women's battalions, revolution, Petrograd, Winter Palace.

M.V. Vasilyev

1st Petrograd Women's Battalion in the Events of 1917

Abstract
The article reveals the story of creation and training of the 1st Petrograd Women's Battalion. Through the prism of revolutionary events in Russia examines issues of social structure, number of military units, in chronological sequence builds the story of his life.

key words
World War I, women's battalions, revolution, Petrograd, the Winter Palace.

The most tragic and difficult for the Russian army of all four years of the First World War was 1917. Fatigue from the war and an incredible overstrain, the February Revolution and socialist propaganda in military units and at the front did their job, the mass of soldiers seethed, more and more often getting out of control of the officers. But if the rear units and the capital's garrisons from the first days of the revolution were drawn into the whirlpool of political and revolutionary events, then at the front in the first months of the revolution, relative calm continued to be maintained. The masses of soldiers in wartime conditions were able to maintain relative discipline and took a wait-and-see attitude. The leader of the party of cadets P.N. Milyukov subsequently wrote: "that the army remained healthy for the first month or one and a half after the revolution." It was at the front that the Provisional Government hoped to gain support from the masses of soldiers and victoriously end the war. But the fiery revolutionary speeches of the agitators about brotherhood and equality were no longer enough; fundamentally new transformations were required in the army, capable of rallying the mass of soldiers and raising their morale. For these purposes, already in April-May 1917, proposals began to be received from different fronts on the creation of new military formations - shock battalions, formed on the principle of voluntariness. The idea received the support of the Provisional Government and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General A.A. Brusilov, who declared himself the first drummer and urged other front-line soldiers to follow his example. The Minister of War began to receive letters and telegrams from individuals and entire groups of military internal districts with a request to be transferred to the battalions that were being created. Sometimes the situation reached absurd moments, when even former deserters were found in the ranks of the drummers. From the end of May 1917, not only “shock”, “assault” and revolutionary battalions were created in the army, but also units formed according to some separate principle - exclusively from junkers or St. George Cavaliers, prisoners of the Austro-Hungarian army of Yugoslavs. A shock battalion of volunteer workers from the Obukhov factory was organized in the capital, shock battalions were formed from students, cadets, and even disabled soldiers. In mid-July 1917, the number of volunteers was about two thousand people, and by the end of October - already 50 thousand. In general, the formed "shock", "assault" and other battalions did not significantly change the situation at the front, representing the last hope of the Provisional Government, which, if necessary, counted on relying on the new shock detachments that were being formed.

In the inexorable stream of turbulent events of 1917, one of the most extravagant and, undoubtedly, politically motivated events was the organization of women's shock battalions and teams. A number of women's organizations came up with the initiative to create such detachments before the military department. In letters addressed to A.F. Kerensky pointed out that “Love for the Motherland and the desire to bring fresh intellectual forces into the ranks of our army, weary of a long war, calls us to join the ranks of the defenders of Russia. We will go into the army, forming exclusively female detachments, we hope by our example to raise the fallen energy of the troops. Various paramilitary public organizations played an important role in the formation of women's units, one of which was the Organizing Committee of Women's March Detachments. On May 20, he turned to A.F. Kerensky with a request to allow the formation of "exclusively female detachments." The same idea was supported by the military and naval minister A.I. Guchkov, who believed that the women's battalions were capable of "carrying the rest of the mass" of soldiers to the feat.

IN national historiography the fate of M.L. Bochkareva, the only female military team that took part in the hostilities at the front of the Molodechno region. The fate of other women's detachments is much less reflected, which is explained by the actual absence of archival documents and the extremely short period of their existence. If the detachment of M.L. Bochkareva in the amount of 200 people was formed mainly from women who had already taken part in hostilities in various sectors of the front or Cossack women with experience in using weapons, then other volunteers arriving in Petrograd still needed to be taught the basics of military art. For these purposes, all women who signed up for the women's volunteer battalion were sent to a military camp near the Levashovo station of Finland railway, where their military training began on August 5, 1917.

Speaking of women's battalions, it is necessary to dwell on their appearance and social composition. One of the brightest characteristic features of these teams was the intelligence of female volunteers, of whom about 30% turned out to be female students (including graduates of the "Bestuzhev" courses of the Alexandrovskaya Women's Gymnasium, which was considered one of the most prestigious women's educational institutions Russia), and up to 40% had a secondary education. Women's battalions brought together women of completely different professions and social status. Military uniforms were worn by university graduates, teachers, sisters of mercy and domestic servants, peasant women and bourgeois women. Shock worker of the 1st Petrograd Battalion M. Bocharnikova wrote in her memoirs: “The first impression was that I seemed to be in a meadow dotted with bright flowers. Bright sundresses of peasant women, kerchiefs of sisters of mercy, multi-colored chintz dresses of factory workers, elegant dresses of young ladies from society, modest outfits of city employees, maids, nannies ... There was just no one here! ... A hefty woman of thirty years of age strongly sticks out her breasts, which are already terrible in size, and her thin neighbor is not at all visible behind her figure. The nose is up. He throws his hands forward with ferocity. And there, further on, grinning, every minute bending her head to look at her legs, with which she strenuously beats her step, apparently a bourgeois swims. Some march like real soldiers. Almost without touching the ground, as if dancing, a pretty blonde moves. Isn't it a ballerina? .

Speaking about such a diverse social composition of women's formations, it is necessary to pay attention to the question of what made women voluntarily join the army and become soldiers. Answering this question, we must understand that many women sincerely believed that by their act they could change the mood in the soldiers' ranks, shame them, and thereby help bring victory closer. The very atmosphere of the revolutionary upsurge and democratic transformations in the country in 1917 only contributed to the emergence of such idealistic positions. Others simply fled from the troubles and problems of a hard and hopeless life, seeing in the army a way to change something in their existence for the better. One of the strikers commented on her entry into the battalion in the following way: “And I from my (husband - M.V.) ran away. Oh, and beat me, damn it! Pulled out half of my hair. As soon as I heard that women were being taken as soldiers, I ran away from him and signed up. He went to complain, and the commissar said to him: “Now, after the Left Revolution, you weakling. You don’t dare to touch a woman if she goes to the front to defend Russia! So she left." An American writer and journalist who worked in Russia at that time and communicated with the shock women of the Bochkareva detachment wrote: “Many went to the battalion because they sincerely believed that the honor and very existence of Russia were under threat, and that her salvation was human self-sacrifice. Some, like Bochkareva herself from the Siberian village, one day came to the conclusion that this was better than the bleak and hard life they lived. Personal suffering has brought some of them to the front lines. One of these girls, a Japanese woman, whom I asked about what brought her to the battalion, tragically said: “There are so many reasons that I probably won’t talk about them.” Another American journalist Rita Dorr in her publications cited another case from the life of volunteers: “One of the nineteen-year-old girls, a Cossack girl, pretty, with dark eyes, was completely abandoned to her fate after her father and two brothers died in battle, and her mother died during the shelling of the hospital where she worked. Bochkareva's battalion seemed to her a safe place, and the rifle the best way protection". Other women utopically dreamed of showing heroism on the battlefield and becoming famous, and even making a career in the military - the ideas of feminism were also fueled by the revolution. There were a huge number of reasons for the activation of the women's movement in 1917, each volunteer had her own fate and her own motives in order to decide on such a desperate step.

However, let us return to the Levashovsky military field camp, set up on the outskirts of Petrograd. For a month and a half, the women of the 1st Petrograd shock battalion began military everyday life with a tough schedule and discipline, drill on the parade ground, the study of weapons and target shooting. The first officers sent to the battalion as instructors, in fact, did not engage in combat training. “The company commander, who was invariably accompanied by some “mademoiselle”, apparently “not heavy” behavior, did more with her than with us. The half-company warrant officer Kurochkin, nicknamed the wet chicken, is a match for him. He, like the first one, was fired, which we were incredibly happy about, ”recalled M. Bocharnikova. Discipline and order were established only with the arrival of new company commanders, officers of the Nevsky Regiment, Lieutenant V.A. Somov, Lieutenant O.K. Faithful and warrant officer of the Semenovsky regiment K. Bolshakov. The assistants to the company commanders were also replaced. So, the sergeant major of the second company, an intelligent lady completely unsuitable for this position, was replaced by a 23-year-old Don Cossack Maria Kochereshko. Having managed to take part in the battles at the front, having two wounds, the holder of the St. George Cross with a forelock under K. Kryuchkov, the Cossack M. Kochereshko immediately brought order and discipline to the company.

However, in addition to military and drill training and other soldier's routine, there was also time for various kinds of fun in the Levashovsky camp. So, once the company commander decided to arrange a game of leapfrog, otherwise called "goats and rams." At a distance of ten paces, some stood bent over, while others had to jump over them with a run. “I have never seen a man laugh like that in my life! Bending over with a groan, he clutched at his stomach, like a woman in labor before childbirth, and tears flowed from his eyes. Yes, and there was a reason! One, instead of jumping over, gave in with her knee, and both flew to the ground. The second one mounted with a swing, and those suffered the same fate. The third, without jumping, got stuck on them, and while one plowed the ground with its nose, the second, flattened like a swallow, flew over its head. We ourselves were so weak from laughter that we could not run, ”recalled a contemporary.

Despite the patriotic impulse and sincere readiness of women to serve Russia, the Petrograd battalion, like other women's formations, was completely unprepared for military service, and even more so for military operations, and at best could be used as a security team. At firing practice, when a volley was fired by the entire battalion, only 28 bullets hit the targets, but the shooters killed a horse that came out from behind a hillock and broke a window in a train passing in the distance. Fortunately, there were no human casualties. Situations sometimes reached ridiculous curiosities, when sentry volunteers fired at crickets at night, sincerely believing that someone was sneaking up on them with a cigarette, or enthusiastically saluted "generals in uniforms embroidered with gold", who in reality turned out to be just Petrograd porters. The officers, sometimes checking the women's guards, took away rifles or bolts, which the guards themselves naively gave away. Many women subsequently admitted that under the phrase “standing on duty, no one should be given personal weapons,” they understood the whole world, with the exception of their officers.

Despite the abundance of similar moments in the life of the battalion, its preparation was completed by October. Headquarters General Staff reported to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief that the formation of the 1st Petrograd Women's Battalion was completed, and it could be sent to the army on October 25. It was supposed to be sent to the Romanian front. However, further events in Petrograd dramatically changed the plans of the command. On October 24, the women's battalion was instructed to board the wagons and arrive at Palace Square for a solemn parade. On the eve of the departure, Lieutenant Somov, secretly from others, rehearsed the passage of the company, bristling bayonets. The non-commissioned officer of the second company recalled: “... they cleaned themselves, washed themselves and wrote farewell letters home. A few days before the performance, the battalion commander tested our knowledge. The battalion was lined up in the field, and the 1st company under his command did all the rebuilding, scattered into a chain, made dashes and went on the attack. He was satisfied with the result of the training. October 24th arrived. Loaded into the wagon, and mounted scouts on foot, we moved to Petrograd with songs. From one car rushed “Hey, well, you guys! ..” with a dashing refrain of “I-ha-ha, i-ha-ha!”. From the second - "Dust swirls along the way ...". The sad story of an orphan Cossack returning from a raid. From the third - daring "Oh, let the river flow on the sand, yes!". They called to each other like roosters at dawn. At each stop, passengers and employees poured out onto the platform to listen to our singing. Feeling the tense situation in Petrograd, the Provisional Government headed by A.F. Kerensky used the women's battalion blindly, planning, if necessary, to enlist it to fight the Bolsheviks. That is why, immediately upon arrival in Petrograd, the women were given clips of cartridges in case riots broke out during the parade. It should be noted that the solemn parade on Palace Square did take place, and Kerensky himself greeted the shock women. At this time, the real purpose of the battalion's stay in the capital became clear. Having soberly assessed the situation, the battalion commander, staff captain A.V. Loskov decided to withdraw the women's battalion from the capital, realizing the futility of his participation in revolutionary events. Minister of Railways A.V. Liverovsky in his diary recorded a conversation between the Minister of Trade and Industry A.I. Konovalov and the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Petrograd Military District Ya.G. Bagratuni: Konovalov - “Why did yesterday (October 24 - M.V. ) were women's battalions withdrawn from Petrograd?"; Bagratuni - “According to the conditions of quartering. In addition, I owed that they willingly go to the front, but do not want to interfere in the political struggle. Most of the battalion was withdrawn from Petrograd in the capital. The Provisional Government managed to keep only the 2nd company of the battalion, consisting of 137 people, under the pretext of delivering gasoline from the Nobel plant. “The 1st company went straight to the station, and ours was led back to the square with the right shoulder. We see how the entire battalion, having passed through a ceremonial march, also follows the 1st company to the station. The area is empty. We are ordered to make rifles into "goats". From somewhere there came a rumor that at the plant, it seems, "Nobel", the workers rebelled and we were sent there to requisition gasoline. Dissatisfied voices are heard: "Our business is the front, and not to interfere in urban unrest." The command is given: "In the gun!" We dismantle the rifles, and they lead us to the gates of the palace, ”M. Bocharnikova recalled in her memoirs. On the evening of October 24, the headquarters of the Petrograd Military District ordered the company commander, Lieutenant V.A. Send Somov to guard the bridges: Nikolaevsky - half a platoon, Dvortsovsky - half a platoon and Liteiny - a platoon. The task of the shock women was to facilitate the construction of bridges in order to cut off the working areas from the center and prevent any attempt to build them again with fire. However, these actions of the junkers and the 2nd company of the women's battalion ended in failure. The revolutionary sailors and Red Guards firmly held the bridges. By the evening of October 25, female shock workers, together with the junkers, took part in a skirmish defending the barricades near the Winter Palace. “... we receive an order to go to the barricades built by the junkers in front of the Winter Palace. At the gate, high above the ground, a lantern burns. "Junkers, break the lantern!" Rocks flew, glass shattered with a clatter. A successfully thrown stone extinguished the lamp. Complete darkness. You can hardly tell your neighbor. We scatter to the right behind the barricade, mingling with the junkers. As we later learned, Kerensky secretly left for the scooters, leaving Minister Konovalov and Dr. Kishkin in his place, but the scooters had already "blushed" and were taking part in the attack on the palace. At nine o'clock the Bolsheviks issued an ultimatum to surrender, which was rejected. At 9 o'clock suddenly thundered "Hurrah!" ahead. The Bolsheviks went on the attack. In one minute, everything around rumbled. Rifle fire merged with machine-gun bursts. A gun swelled from the Aurora. The junkers and I, standing behind the barricade, answered with frequent fire. I looked right and left. A continuous band of flashing lights, as if hundreds of fireflies fluttered. Sometimes the silhouette of someone's head loomed. The attack faltered. The enemy is down. The shooting calmed down, then flared up with renewed vigor. At this time, complete confusion and confusion was going on in the palace itself, some teams continued to fight, others laid down their arms and declared neutrality, conflicting information came from everywhere. No one dared to take over the overall leadership of the defense. Almost all participants in the defense recalled the orgy that took place in the Winter Palace on the last day of the Provisional Government. At twelve o'clock in the morning on October 25, the women's battalion was ordered to withdraw to the Palace. In her memoirs, striker M. Bocharnikova wrote: “The women’s battalion [was ordered] to return to the building!” — swept through the chain. We go into the courtyard, and the huge gates are closed with a chain. I was sure that the whole company was in the building. But from the letters of Mr. Zurov I learned, from the words of the participants in the battle, that the second half-company defended the door. And when the junkers laid down their arms on the barricade, the volunteers still held out. How the Reds broke in there and what happened, I don’t know. We are taken to an empty room on the second floor. “I'll go and find out about further orders,” the company commander says, heading for the door. The commander does not return for a long time. The shooting stopped. A lieutenant appears at the door. The face is gloomy. "The palace has fallen. We were ordered to hand over our weapons." His words echoed in my soul like a death knell ... ". After the defenders of the Winter Palace laid down their arms, the women were sent to the Pavlovsk barracks, and the next day to the Levashovo station. The women's battalion, after returning to the barracks of the officers, was again armed from the reserves of the arsenal and dug in, preparing for defense. And only the lack of the required amount of ammunition saved the battalion from complete destruction in a shootout with revolutionary soldiers. On October 30, the battalion was disarmed by the Red Army soldiers who arrived in Levashovo. 891 rifles, 4 machine guns, 24 checkers and 20 revolvers, as well as various equipment were seized. Women scouts delivered boxes of ammunition half an hour after the Red Guards left the military camp.

After the disarmament, the 1st Petrograd Women's Battalion continued to exist for another two months, by inertia, discipline was maintained, guards were posted and various outfits were performed. Losing all hope of being sent to the front, the volunteers began to go home or make their way to the front. It is known that some of the women still managed to get to the front in various units, mostly in the women's company of the Turkestan division, some began to care for the wounded in military hospitals. Most of the personnel of the battalion dispersed in various directions in November-December 1917. The Petrograd battalion finally ceased to exist on January 10, 1918, when staff captain A.V. Loskov submitted a report on the dissolution of the battalion and the surrender of property to the commissariat and the headquarters of the Red Guard.

The history of volunteer shock battalions (not only women's) has developed in such a way that in the last months of the existence of the Provisional Government, it was they who became the main lever for maintaining order and discipline, thereby causing a storm of indignation and hatred from the rest of the soldier mass against them. In the troops, the bulk of the lower ranks perceived volunteers negatively, and often hostilely, while the command staff saw in them the only hope for a change in the mood of the army and the possibility of bringing the war to a victorious end. The hostility of the soldiers was due, among other things, to the fact that the Kornilov shock regiment and many shock battalions, especially the cadet ones, in addition to or instead of directly combat use were used by the command as barrage detachments and punitive teams. Soldiers' hatred for units of this type naturally spread to the women's battalions, many soldiers demanded the arrest and even execution of the "Kornilovka bitches." The women's battalions were never able to fulfill their main role - the awakening of patriotism and fighting spirit on the fronts. In the mass of soldiers, the creation of women's military teams evoked only a dull feeling of irritation and hatred. Despite the sincere desire of women to serve the Fatherland and their willingness to die for it, the military women's teams and remained just a bright surrogate for the degrading army of 1917.

Gailesh K.I. Protection of the Winter Palace // Resistance to Bolshevism. 1917-1918 M., 2001. S. 9-15; Sinegub A.P. Protection of the Winter Palace (October 25 - November 7, 1917) // Resistance to Bolshevism. 1917 - 1918 pp. 21-119; Pryussing O.G. Protection of the Winter Palace // Military Story. 1956. No. 20. September; Malyantovich P.N. In the Winter Palace on October 25-26, 1917 // Past. 1918. No. 12. pp. 111-141.

Vasiliev M.V. Member of the Russian Association of World War I Historians.

By the garrison of the Petrograd district to all soldiers of the guard, army, artillery and navy for immediate and precise execution, and to the workers of Petrograd for information.

The Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies decided:

1) In all companies, battalions, regiments, parks, batteries, squadrons and individual services of various military directorates and on ships of the navy, immediately select committees from elected representatives from the lower ranks of the above military units.

2) In all military units that have not yet elected their representatives to the Soviet of Workers' Deputies, elect one representative from the companies, who will appear with written certificates in the building of the State Duma by 10 o'clock in the morning on March 2.

3) In all its political actions, the military unit is subordinate to the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies and its committees.

4) The orders of the military commission of the State Duma should be carried out, except in cases where they contradict the orders and resolutions of the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

5) All kinds of weapons, such as: rifles, machine guns, armored vehicles, etc., must be at the disposal and under the control of company and battalion committees and in no case be issued to officers even at their request.

6) In the ranks and in the performance of their duties, soldiers must observe the strictest military discipline, but outside the service and in the ranks in their political, general civil and private life, soldiers cannot be diminished in any way in those rights that all citizens enjoy. In particular, rising to the front and the obligatory salute outside the service are canceled.

7) The title of officers is also canceled: Your Excellency, Nobleness, etc., and is replaced by the appeal: Mr. General, Mr. Colonel, etc.

Rough treatment of soldiers of all military ranks and, in particular, addressing them as “you” is prohibited, and any violation of this, as well as all misunderstandings between officers and soldiers, must be brought to the attention of the company committees.

Read this order in all companies, battalions, regiments, crews, batteries and other combat and non-combat teams.

Petrogradsky workers' council and soldiers' deputies

Proceedings of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers

Declaration of the Provisional Government on its composition and tasks

March 3, 1917

Citizens!

The Provisional Committee of the members of the State Duma, with the assistance and sympathy of the capital's troops and the population, has now achieved such a degree of success over the dark forces of the old regime that it allows it to proceed to a more stable organization of executive power.

For this purpose, the Provisional Committee of the State Duma appoints the following persons as ministers of the first public cabinet, the confidence in which the countries have been ensured by their past social and political activities.

Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of the Interior

Prince G.E. Lvov.

Minister of Foreign Affairs - P.N. Milyukov.

Minister of War and Naval - A. I. Guchkov.

Minister of Railways - N.V. Nekrasov.

Minister of Trade and Industry - AI Konovalov.

Minister of Finance - M.I. Tereshchenko.

Minister of Education - A. A. Manuilov.

[Chief Prosecutor] of the Holy Synod - V.L. Lvov.

Minister of Agriculture - A. I. Shingarev.

Minister of Justice - A.F. Kerensky.

In its present activities, the Cabinet will be guided by the following principles:

1) Full and immediate amnesty for all political and religious cases, including: terrorist attacks, military uprisings and agrarian crimes, etc.

2) Freedom of speech, press, unions, meetings and strikes, with the extension of political freedoms to military personnel within the limits allowed by military technical conditions.

3) Cancellation of all class, religious and national restrictions.

4) Immediate preparations for the convocation of a Constituent Assembly on the basis of a universal, equal, secret and direct vote, which will establish the form of government and the constitution of the country.

5) Replacing the police with a people's militia with elected leaders subordinate to local self-government bodies.

6) Elections to local self-government bodies based on universal, direct, equal and secret suffrage.

7) Non-disarmament and non-withdrawal from Petrograd of military units that took part in the revolutionary movement.

8) While maintaining strict military discipline in the ranks and when carrying military service- elimination for the soldiers of all restrictions in the use of public rights granted to all other citizens.

The Provisional Government considers it its duty to add that it does not at all intend to take advantage of military circumstances for any delay in the implementation of the above reforms and measures.

Chairman of the State Duma M. Rodzianko.

Chairman of the Council of Ministers book. Lvov. Ministers:

Milyukov, Nekrasov, Manuilov, Konovalov,

Tereshchenko, V. Lvov, Shingarev, Kerensky.

Proceedings of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and

Order text:

Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet was adopted on March 1, 1917 at a joint meeting of the workers' and soldiers' sections of the Soviet. A special commission was formed to develop the order.

It was headed by a member of the Executive Committee of the Petrosoviet N. D. Sokolov, who left interesting memoirs about how the text of the order was created.

By the garrison of the Petrograd district to all soldiers of the guard, army, artillery and navy for immediate and precise execution, and to the workers of Petrograd for information.

The Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies decided:

In all companies, battalions, regiments, parks, batteries, squadrons and individual services of various military directorates and on ships of the navy, immediately select committees from elected representatives from the lower ranks of the above military units.

In all military units that have not yet elected their representatives to the Soviet of Workers' Deputies, elect one representative from the companies, who will appear with written certificates in the building of the State Duma by 10 o'clock in the morning on March 2.

In all its political actions, the military unit is subordinate to the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies and its committees.

Orders military commission The State Duma should be executed, except in cases where they contradict the orders and resolutions of the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

All kinds of weapons, such as: rifles, machine guns, armored vehicles, etc., must be at the disposal and under the control of company and battalion committees and in no case be issued to officers even at their request.

In the ranks and in the performance of official duties, soldiers must observe the strictest military discipline, but outside the service and in formation, in their political, general civil and private life, soldiers cannot be diminished in any way in those rights that all citizens enjoy. In particular, rising to the front and the obligatory salute outside the service are canceled.

Similarly, the title of officers is canceled: your excellency, nobility, etc., and is replaced by an appeal: Mr. General, Mr. Colonel, etc.

Rough treatment of soldiers of all military ranks and, in particular, addressing them as "you" is prohibited, and any violation of this, as well as all misunderstandings between officers and soldiers, the latter are obliged to bring to the attention of company commanders.

Read this order in all companies, battalions, regiments, crews, batteries and other combat and non-combat teams. »

Conclusion: By agreement with the Petrograd Soviet, a radical democratization of the army was carried out. It was carried out on the basis of Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet of March 1, 1917 for the garrison of the Petrograd Military District. The Petrograd Soviet decided to elect soldiers' committees in all subdivisions, units and on ships, to elect one representative from each company to the Council of Workers' Deputies, stressed that military units in all their political speeches are subordinate to the Council and their committees, and all orders of the military commission of the State Duma were subject to execution only if they did not contradict the orders and decisions of the Council. The soldiers were required to observe the strictest military discipline in the ranks and during the "dispatch of official duties", and outside the service and the ranks they could not be "diminished in those rights that all citizens enjoy." Order No. 1 abolished the titles of officers who were not allowed to issue weapons that were at the disposal and under the control of company and battalion committees. One of the members of the Petrosoviet, I. Goldenberg, later admitted that Order No. 1 was “not a mistake, but a necessity,” since “we realized that if we do not crush the old army, then it will crush the revolution.” Despite the fact that the order applied only to the troops of the Petrograd garrison, it became widespread in the army and in the rear, causing the disintegration of the troops and a drop in their combat effectiveness. The military field courts were abolished in the army, the institute of commissars was introduced to control the activities of officers, about 150 senior ranks were dismissed into the reserve, including 70 division chiefs. By decree of March 12, the government abolished the death penalty, reinstating it on July 12, and established revolutionary military courts. The basic rights of military personnel were set out in the Order of the Minister of Military and Naval A.F. Kerensky dated May 9 on the introduction of the Declaration of the Rights of a Soldier of the Provisional Government. The order noted that all military personnel enjoy all the rights of citizens, have the right to be members of political, national, religious, economic and trade union organizations, the obligatory salute, corporal punishment, and so on are cancelled.

1. 2. Cavalry attack on capital and the first steps \r\ntoward a new economic \r\nmodel
2. Why the Presnya militants were better armed than the police, but could not win
3. Why did the Provisional Government decide that Russia did not need the army, police and state apparatus
4. Digression 4. About individual historical facts that led the country to all sorts of upheavals, upheavals and revolutions. Those. prehistory of that, without which our present life-existence would not have developed.
5. 35. RUSSIAN STATE ORGANIZATION AFTER THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION OF 1917
6. 1.1. HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE FORMATION OF CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES
7. Transformation of judicial chambers in the context of the territorial collapse of the Russian Empire
8. § 2. Improving the functioning and reorganization of the special services of the imperial guard under Alexander III and Nicholas II

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Order N1 of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies transferred all power in military units to elected committees from representatives of the lower ranks, which greatly contributed to the disintegration of the army and the decline of discipline among the soldiers. In Soviet historiography, this order has always been evaluated positively, because. he, according to Soviet historians, played an important role in revolutionizing the Russian army and strengthening the positions of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. This material contains an article by G.I. Zlokazov "New data on Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies" (1981) and "Information on "Order No. 1"" (News of the Petrograd Council R. and S. D .. Pg., 1917. No. 125, July 23 (August 5)).

Information about "Order No. 1". // Proceedings of the Petrograd Council of R. and S. D .. Pg., 1917. No. 125, July 23 (August 5), p. 6-7.

In view of the fact that last days in various institutions and meetings, the content of "Order No. 1" of the Petrograd Soviet and the circumstances that accompanied its publication were transmitted and covered incorrectly - the Executive Committee recognizes it necessary to reprint this order as a reference material and outline the history of the emergence of this document in the most concise terms , who, according to the Committee, played a large positive role in organizing the Russian army in the conditions of the revolution.
Here is the full text of the order:

March 1, 1917.
According to the garrison of the Petrograd District to all soldiers of the guard, army, artillery and navy for immediate execution, and to the workers of Petrograd for information.
The Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies decided:
1) In all companies, battalions, regiments, parks, batteries, squadrons and individual services of various military directorates and on ships of the navy, immediately select committees from elected representatives from the lower ranks of the above military units.
2) In all military units that have not yet elected their representatives to the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, elect one representative from the companies, who will appear with written certificates in the building of the State Duma by 10 o'clock in the morning on March 2.
3) In all its political actions, the military unit is subordinate to the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies and its committees.
4) The orders of the Military Commission of the State Duma must be carried out, except in cases where they contradict the orders and resolutions of the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.
5) All kinds of weapons, such as: rifles, machine guns, armored vehicles, etc., must be at the disposal and under the control of company and battalion committees and in no case be issued to officers even at their request.
6) In the ranks and in the performance of official duties, soldiers must observe the strictest military discipline, but outside the service and ranks, in their political, general civil and private life, soldiers cannot be diminished in any way in those rights that all citizens enjoy.
In particular, rising to the front and the obligatory salute outside the service are canceled.
7) Similarly, the title of officers is canceled: your excellency, nobility, etc., and is replaced by the appeal: Mr. General, Mr. Colonel, etc.
Rough treatment of soldiers of all military ranks and, in particular, addressing them as “you” is prohibited, and any violation of this, as well as all misunderstandings between officers and soldiers, must be brought to the attention of the company committees.
Read this order in all companies, battalions, regiments, crews, batteries and other combat and non-combat teams. Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

The order was issued on March 1st, i.e. even before the creation (by agreement between the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and the Executive Committee of the Council) of the Provisional Government, and therefore cannot be considered an order competing with the power of the latter.

The order addressed exclusively to the Petrograd garrison.
The order was signed by the "Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies" and drafted at the first meeting of the Soviet of the Whole, i.e. with the participation of not only the workers, but also the soldiers of his section.

The deputies of the Petrograd garrison wished at their first meeting to formulate the foundations of the social organization of soldiers and submitted to the meeting a number of proposals on regimental and company committees, on the abolition of the obligatory salute, on the general civil rights of the soldier, etc. These proposals, discussed and adopted by the meeting, in their entirety constituted "Order No. 1".

Neither the Executive Committee as such, nor its individual members (as can be seen from the minutes of the meetings published in Izvestia on March 2) submitted to the meeting neither the whole draft order, nor even the draft of its individual paragraphs.

Therefore, the statements of some members of the State Duma (as well as the statements of some press organs, already refuted on behalf of the Committee at the meeting of the All-Russian Conference on March 30) that the “author” of “Order No. 1” is one or another member of the Committee does not correspond to reality. The "author" of the order was the plenary meeting of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, at that time the only organ of revolutionary democracy. And the Executive Committee, taking into account the will of the Soviet and recognizing the complete correspondence of the order to the tasks and needs of the revolutionary army and the revolutionary moment, published this order.

It is, of course, not possible to disclose the specified correspondence in full in this brief reference, but, in order to evaluate individual points of the order from this point of view, the following must be borne in mind:

The order was issued on the third day of the revolution, when its military-technical period had not yet been fully completed. And in "Izvestia" of March 1, on the first page, an "announcement" was printed about the need to collect all armored vehicles to the Mikhailovsky Manege "to eliminate shelling from the roofs."

Even the first of March, individual military units that were subjected to such “shelling” did not feel calm and were not sure of the favorable outcome of the uprising they had begun. This must be said all the more in relation to February 28, the second day of the revolution. Meanwhile, on February 28, signed by the chairman of the Provisional Committee, an appeal was published to the soldiers of Petrograd ordering them to return to their barracks. The soldiers of the Petrograd regiments, who raised an uprising almost everywhere without officers, and sometimes even with their direct opposition, did not know who now owns the barracks and were afraid to return there. The order of the chairman of the Provisional Committee to return to the barracks gave rise to alarm among the soldiers; many of them were perplexed and loudly expressed fear that they would not be arrested and disarmed in the barracks.

This anxiety was further intensified by rumors that in some regiments the officers had already begun to disarm the soldiers. How real these rumors were at that time a real factor in the public mood is shown by the following "announcement" published and pasted on the streets of Petrograd on March 1st on behalf of the chairman of the Military Commission under the State Duma:

Announcement.
This March 1, a rumor spread among the soldiers of the Petrograd garrison that officers in the regiments were taking away the weapons from the soldiers. These rumors were checked in two regiments and turned out to be false. As chairman of the Military Commission of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, I declare that the most decisive measures will be taken to prevent such actions on the part of officers, up to the execution of the guilty.
Member of the State Duma B. Engelhardt.

It is natural, therefore, that the representative body of the Petrograd soldiers also wished, on the one hand, to calm the masses of soldiers, and on the other, to ensure the non-disarmament of its main military force. This desire resulted in the 5th paragraph of the order.

It should also be noted here that by that time the attitude of a significant part of the Petrograd officer corps towards the revolution had not yet been fully determined. And on March 1, on behalf of the Military Commission under the Provisional Committee and the Chairman of the State Duma, an order was published for officers who did not have specific instructions from the Commission to report to the Commission and to their units on March 1 and 2, indicating that “the delay in the appearance of y.g. officers to their units will inevitably undermine the prestige of the officer rank.

The unclear attitude towards the revolution on the part of the officer corps, as well as the former regime in the army, of course, created serious obstacles to the correct attitude of the soldier part of the troops towards those officers who resolutely and openly went over to the side of the revolution.

The Petrograd Soviet took steps to eliminate or weaken these obstacles as far as possible.

Comrades and citizens! The complete victory of the Russian people over the old regime is approaching. But for this victory, enormous efforts are still needed, exceptional endurance and firmness are needed. Disunity and anarchy must not be allowed. It is necessary to stop immediately all atrocities, robberies, breaking into private apartments, plundering and damaging all kinds of property, aimless seizures of public institutions. The decline of discipline and anarchy ruin the revolution and people's freedom.
The danger of a military movement against the revolution has not yet been eliminated. To warn her, it is very important to ensure friendly coordinated work with officers. The officers, who cherish the interests of freedom and the progressive development of their homeland, should make every effort to organize joint activities with the soldiers. They will respect the soldier's personal and civic dignity, and will carefully treat the soldier's sense of honor. For their part, the soldiers will remember that it is impossible to stigmatize the entire officer corporation for the bad behavior of individual officers, that the army is strong only by the alliance of soldiers and officers. For the sake of the success of the revolutionary struggle, it is necessary to show tolerance and forget the insignificant offenses against democracy of those officers who joined the decisive and final struggle that you are waging against the old regime.

In addition, when some socialist organizations, following Order No. 1, filed their proclamation, which could increase the hostile attitude of the unconscious part of the soldiers towards the officers as such, the Executive Committee immediately published in Izvestia of March 3 an appeal to the officers and soldiers, in which he stated the following:

Officers and soldiers. Order No. 1 of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, cited in the last issue of Izvestia, quite accurately defines the relationship between soldiers and officers. Nevertheless, there are people who, at a crucial historical moment, seek to destroy the unity achieved at the cost of so many sacrifices. We are talking about a proclamation, which, fortunately, did not receive much circulation, signed by the names of two socialist parties.
Let's compare these documents.
The order puts officers in their place, giving them power only during official hours: in the ranks, during training time, during hostilities, soldiers and, in general, all military ranks observe military discipline. Outside the service, out of order, the officer does not use any power in relation to the soldier.
A soldier becomes a citizen, ceasing to be a slave - this is the meaning of the order. As a citizen, he is allowed to arrange his life independently, participate in unions and parties, form company and battalion committees, which have at their disposal and control all kinds of weapons that are not issued to officers even according to their requirements, because weapons are the property of all soldiers, all citizens . From now on, the soldiers must form a self-governing artel, which manages its economy (food, etc.) completely independently. It is also undoubted that this artel, in the special military field, needs educated leaders, and these leaders are the officers. Under such a situation, those relations between soldiers and officers, which constituted one of the dark sides of the pre-revolutionary system of the Russian army, are impossible. Even if there were any misunderstandings, they would be easily resolved by the authority of the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.
So, quite clearly, the New Soldier looms before us. Soldier-citizen, independent and independent, soldier-warrior, consciously submitting in the name of the interests of the cause to combat discipline and the leadership of authoritative officers.
If in the "Order" we see a correct and clear understanding of the position of a soldier and an officer, then in the above-mentioned proclamation we notice a strange bitterness against all officers, indiscriminately, without exception. Even the officers who went over to the side of the people, our real friends, are suspected by the authors of the appeal.

On March 4, the Military Department, through General Potapov, notifying that order No. 1 was subject to misinterpretations in some cases, turned to the Executive Committee with a request to publish such an explanation of the order, which would eliminate the possibility of any false interpretations. At the same time, General Potapov asked that this explanation, for the sake of his greater authority, be also published in the form of an “order”.
To edit the requested clarification, the Committee elected the Commission, which, together with the Military Commission, under the chairmanship of General Potapov, developed an explanatory order No. 2.
Here is the text of this order:

From the Executive Committee of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.
Order number 2.
March 5, 1917.
According to the troops of the Petrograd District, to all soldiers of the guard, army, artillery and navy for exact execution, to the workers of Petrograd for information.
In order to clarify and supplement Order No. 1, the Executive Committee of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies decided:
1) Order No. 1 of the Council of Workers' Deputies proposed to all companies, battalions and other military units to elect the appropriate Committees for each unit (company, battalion, etc.), but the "Order" did not establish that these committees elect officers for each unit. These committees must be elected in order for the soldiers of the Petrograd garrison to be organized and to be able, through representatives of the Committees, to participate in the general political life of the country and, in particular, to declare to the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies about their views on the necessity of adopting certain measures. The committees must also be in charge of the social needs of each company or other unit.
The question is, to what extent are interests military organization can be combined with the right of soldiers to choose their own commanders, transferred to the consideration and development of a special commission.
All officer elections made up to now, approved and submitted for approval by the military authorities, must remain in force.
2) Until the time when the question of elected commanders is resolved quite precisely, the Council recognizes the right of the Committees of individual parts to object to the appointment of this or that officer. These objections must be sent to the Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers' Deputies, from where they will be submitted to the Military Commission, where, along with other public organizations representatives of the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies also participate.
3) Order No. 1 establishes the significance of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies as an institution that directs all political actions of the Petrograd soldiers. Soldiers are obliged to obey this elected body in their public and political life.
As far as the military authorities are concerned, the soldiers are obliged to obey all their orders relating to military service.
4) In order to eliminate the danger of an armed counter-revolution, the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies put forward a demand for the non-disarmament of the Petrograd garrison, which had conquered Russia. political freedom, and the Provisional Government assumed the obligation not to allow such disarmament, which it announced in its government declaration.
In accordance with this declaration, the company and battalion committees are obliged to ensure that the weapons of the Petrograd soldiers are not taken away from them, which was indicated in Order No. 1.
5) Confirming the requirements set out in paragraphs. 6 and 7 of Order No. 1, the Executive Committee notes that some of them are already being implemented by the Provisional Government.
Read this order in all companies, battalions, regiments, crews, batteries and other combat and non-combat teams.
Executive Committee of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

Finally, the Executive Committee returned to Order No. 1 in the appeal with which it addressed (by telegraph) to the armies at the front on March 7th.
Here is the invocation:

The Executive Committee informs the troops of the front about the decisive victory over the old regime.
We are confident that the troops of the front are with us and will not allow any attempts to bring back the old regime.
Its strengthening may be hindered by internal enmity among the army, strife between officers and soldiers, and it is now the duty of all citizens to promote the improvement of relations between soldiers and officers who have recognized new system Russia. And we appeal to officers with an appeal to show respect for the personality of a citizen soldier in their official and non-official relations.
In the expectation that the officers will hear our call, we invite the soldiers in the ranks and in the performance of military service to strictly fulfill military duties.
At the same time, the Committee informs the armies of the front that orders 1 and 2 apply only to the troops of the Petrograd district, as stated in the heading of these orders.
As for the armies of the front, the Minister of War promises to work out without delay, in agreement with the Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, new rules for the relationship between soldiers and command personnel.
For the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies - Comrade Chairman M.I. Skobelev.
Chairman of the Military Commission of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma Gen.-m. Potapov.
War Minister A. Guchkov.

In conclusion, the Executive Committee notes that most of the points of Order No. 1 already received the force of law in part during the tenure of Minister of War A.I. Guchkov, partly during A.F. Kerensky. As for the regimental, company and other committees, the idea of ​​which was first expressed in Order No. 1, not only public institutions, but also many representatives of the highest command personnel spoke of a positive, organizing role.
Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

G.I. Zlokazov. New data on Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies

(Initial publication: Source study of national history: collection of articles. 1981 / Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Institute of History of the USSR; editor-in-chief V.I. Buganov, secretary V.F. Kutiev. M., 1982. S. 62- 71.)

The history of the creation of Order No. 1, which played an important role in revolutionizing the Russian army and strengthening the position of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies in 1917, is considered in some detail in the historical literature, especially in the works of V. I. Miller and Yu. S. Tokarev (1 ). However, the researchers did not use some of the materials that make it possible to more fully reveal the participation of the soldier masses in the publication of Order No. 1, as well as the attitude of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and the conciliatory Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet towards it. An attempt is made to analyze these materials below.

It is known that Order No. 1 was a response action of the Petrograd Soviet to the order of the Chairman of the State Duma M. V. Rodzianko dated February 27, which aimed to divide the revolutionary masses and isolate the insurgent soldiers of the Petrograd garrison from the working class. Usually, information about the order of M.V. Rodzianko is given according to the memoirs of contemporaries. We managed to find the original of this order, which clearly reveals the counter-revolutionary intentions of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma. Printed as a separate leaflet, he ordered all the lower ranks and military units to immediately return to their barracks. In turn, the officers should have returned to their units and taken measures "to restore order." The unit commanders were ordered to arrive at the State Duma to receive orders by 11 am on February 28 (2). According to the memoirs of an eyewitness of the events, the Bundist M. Rafes, Rodzianko's order also ordered the soldiers to hand over their weapons (3), but the original text of the order does not directly say anything about this. One of the participants in the February Revolution, a member of the Union of Republican Officers B. Lyubarsky, recalling the events, wrote that attempts to take away weapons from the soldiers, “to drive them back from the street to the barracks” caused a rebuff from the latter. They began to disarm the officers, expel from the units those of them who had tormented the soldiers in the past, and also began to hold elections for commanders who had won the confidence of the soldier masses, to organize regimental and company committees, which became soldiers' self-government bodies. According to B. Lyubarsky, the behavior of the soldiers was also strongly influenced by the message received on February 28, 1917, that a punitive expedition of General N.I. Ivanov had been sent to Petrograd with the aim of bloody pacification of the revolutionary capital. “This news,” wrote B. Lyubarsky, “quickly spread throughout St. Petersburg, penetrated into the barracks, into the masses of soldiers and immediately made them alert” (4).

M. V. Rodzianko's order also evoked a stormy reaction from the deputies of the Petrograd Soviet, who at the plenum of the Soviet on February 28 angrily condemned the provocative undertaking of the Duma Committee (5). This reaction also had an impact on the conciliatory Executive Committee of the Soviet, which was forced to take retaliatory measures in order to keep the Petrograd garrison in the hands of the Soviet. There is a mention of this in Yu. M. Steklov's speech to the military delegates who visited the Executive Committee on April 4. He bluntly noted that Order No. 1 was a response to Rodzianko's "unsuccessful order by preventing a direct clash between soldiers and officers", and added that Order No. 1 saved the revolution. Recognizing the participation of the Executive Committee of the Council in the issuance of Order No. 1, Steklov simultaneously tried to justify the actions of the Compromisers in the eyes of bourgeois circles, who accused the Council that Order No. 1 allegedly caused the decomposition of the army and undermined military discipline (6).

The influence of Rodzianko's order on the events connected with the issuance of Order No. 1 is also evidenced by the "Information on Order No. 1", published by the Compromisers in July 1917 (7). It says that Rodzianko's order to return to the barracks gave rise to anxiety among the soldiers. They feared that upon returning to the barracks they might be arrested and disarmed. However, the authors of the reference kept silent about the powerful pressure exerted on the Executive Committee of the Soviet by the soldiers themselves, who insisted on securing the rights they had won. According to B. Lyubarsky, delegations from units arrived in the Tauride Palace, demanding to secure the rights of soldiers, to sanction the spontaneously organized soldiers' committees, and to repulse the reactionary officers (8).

The relationship between Rodzianko's order and the publication of Order No. 1 was pointed out by the Bolshevik A.D. Sadovsky, who was directly involved in its development. In his memoirs, he wrote: “At that time, the mass of soldiers was excited about the order of the military commission of the State Duma, which restored officer power in the units. Naturally, all this threatened the insurgent mass of soldiers with reprisals, and therefore the speeches of the soldiers in the Soviet touched on this exciting issue and the Soviet even instructed the soldiers elected to the Executive Committee to draw up a kind of notification. At first, this was not called an order, but a notification or otherwise, but going in opposition to the order of the State Duma ”(9).

Speaking about the position of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet in connection with Order No. 1, Yu. S. Tokarev correctly wrote that the Socialist-Revolutionary Mensheviks provided forced support for the revolutionary initiative of the soldiers of the Petrograd garrison. The Compromisers were afraid of deals between the Duma Committee and the tsar in order to suppress the revolution. They wanted to persuade the Duma Committee to form a bourgeois government, but they were afraid of attempts to establish the undivided power of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma over the garrison of Petrograd (10).

In the light of the foregoing, it is quite possible to make the assumption that the SR-Menshevik leadership of the Petrograd Soviet, in an effort to make bourgeois politicians more accommodating, deliberately informed them of Order No. 1 belatedly. Such an assumption suggests itself when reading the memoirs of V. N. Lvov, who held the post of Chief Prosecutor of the Synod in the Provisional Government of the first composition. He wrote that the Provisional Committee of the State Duma became aware of the appearance of Order No. 1 only on the evening of March 2, 1917, when the Provisional Government had already been formed. They learned about Order No. 1 from N. D. Sokolov, a member of the Executive Committee of the Council, who participated in its preparation. Sokolov insisted on issuing an order on behalf of the Provisional Government, but was refused by A. I. Guchkov and P. N. Milyukov. However, no consent was actually required. “Soon I learned,” V. N. Lvov continued, “that on the morning of March 2, Order No. 1, by order of the Council of the Republic of Dagestan, had already been printed. Therefore, Sokolov came to us post factum "(11)

Yu. M. Steklov, who in those days occupied a prominent position in the leadership of the Soviet, also recognized the responsibility of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet for the appearance of Order No. 1. In connection with the campaign of bourgeois circles against the Soviets, launched after the July events, Steklov sent a letter to the editors of the newspaper " New life". He denied his authorship in the creation of Order No. 1, since, according to him, he was at that time busy negotiating with the Provisional Committee of the State Duma on the formation of the Provisional Government. Steklov wrote that he saw this document only when it had already been adopted by the Soviet and printed. But further Steklov pointed out that he, like other members of the Council, bears political responsibility for this document, as well as for all other documents issued on behalf of the Council (12).

After the publication of the “Information on Order No. 1” in the press, the Provisional Committee of the State Duma issued its own commentary, which spoke of the active role in the creation of Order No. 1 of the soldier masses and the participation of the Petrograd Soviet in this matter. As indicated in the report of the Provisional Committee, late in the evening of March 1, when it became clear that all of Petrograd was in the hands of revolutionary troops, soldiers' representatives from about 20 units of the garrison came to the State Duma and turned to the chairman of the military commission of the State Duma, commandant of Petrograd B. A. Engelgardt with the statement that they cannot trust their officers who did not take part in the revolution. The soldiers demanded the issuance of an order for the election of officers in companies, squadrons, batteries and teams.

The draft of this order concerned the election of junior officers, and also established some supervision of the soldiers over the economy in the units of the troops. According to the Provisional Committee, this document "touched less on the foundations of the old military discipline." Engelhardt informed the Provisional Committee about his negotiations with military delegates. Its members, as well as A. I. Guchkov, who was present here, categorically opposed the issuance of such an order, "recognizing it as impossible to hastily resolve such a very serious issue." But a little later, an unknown member of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, dressed in a soldier's uniform, appeared to Engelhardt and offered to take part in the drafting of an order aimed at regulating the relationship between officers and soldiers on new principles. Engelhardt replied that the Provisional Committee of the State Duma found the publication of the projected order premature, to which he received the answer: "So much the better, we will write it ourselves." And on the afternoon of March 2, Order No. 1 was published (13).

The Provisional Committee did not establish a direct relationship between Rodzianko’s order of February 27 and Order No. 1, but its members nevertheless considered the Petrograd Soviet guilty of issuing Order No. 1, although in the “Information on Order No. I” the Compromisers denied their initiative in preparing the order.

Until now, the historical literature has not resolved the question of whether the text of Order No. 1 before its publication contained a clause on the election of command personnel. According to Yu. S. Tokarev, at the negotiations of the delegation of the Executive Committee of the Council with the Provisional Committee of the State Duma on the formation of the Provisional Government, which took place on the night of March 1-2, the question of the election of command personnel by soldiers already appeared. It was raised by a delegation of the Petrograd Soviet, but rejected by the Provisional Committee (14). He came to this conclusion by deciphering a draft secretarial record of the plenary meeting of the Petrograd Soviet of March 2, which reproduces the text of Yu. The entry is very vague, but it does include a clause about the election of commanders.

It is very difficult to establish firmly the positions of the parties on this issue from the text of the entry, but it is possible that the Executive Committee of the Council insisted on the election of commanders. It is also possible that a clause on the election of officers was included in Order No. 1, but then, during its printing, was removed at the insistence of the Executive Committee of the Council. To some extent, this is confirmed by the memoirs of the Social Revolutionary Yu. A. Kudryavtsev about the February Revolution (15). They have not yet been used by historians, although they provide a number of new information on the issue under consideration here. Kudryavtsev drew up Order No. 1 together with the Bolsheviks A. N. Paderin (16), A. D. Sadovsky and other soldier deputies. He writes that the appeal of the soldiers' representatives to the military commission of the State Duma with a demand to issue a manifesto on the civil rights of soldiers, to assign the army to the revolution, to stop taking weapons from the soldiers did not produce any result. (Let us recall that the report of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, quoted above, also spoke of the arrival of soldiers' delegates to the military commission.)

The chairman of the military commission, B. A. Engelhardt, met the soldiers' representatives, among whom was Kudryavtsev, with hostility. He refused to issue such a manifesto, demanded the return of the soldiers to their units and submission to the command staff. As Kudryavtsev writes, this forced "the soldiers' activists of the February Revolution to look for another way out in the interests of the revolution." The soldiers gathered for their first meeting in the Soviet (meaning the meeting of the plenum of the Petrograd Soviet on March 1, at which deputies from military units were widely represented for the first time). Under the influence of the revolutionary masses of soldiers, Engelhardt was forced to issue an order, on pain of being shot, to stop taking weapons from the soldiers (17).

At the same time, the return to the barracks of the command staff, who hid during the uprising of the garrison, could not restore normal relations between soldiers and officers.

Further, Kudryavtsev wrote that in room No. 12 of the Tauride Palace, during a meeting of the "working part of the Executive Committee," a mass of delegates from military units appeared. The meeting was stormy. A number of soldiers spoke out with demands for civil rights for soldiers, continued participation of military units in the revolution. These sentiments were based on the need to create organizational stability of the units of the Petrograd garrison, to stop the officers' attempts to isolate the soldiers in the barracks and take away their weapons, and also to resolve the food crisis in the units. Among the speakers, in addition to himself, the author of the memoirs named A.P. Borisov, F.F. Linde, N.D. Sokolov. Kudryavtsev remembered that the speakers delivered heated, excited speeches, although sometimes "clumsy in their language." As a result, a decision was made: the soldiers should not be given weapons to anyone; propose to the soldiers to elect their representatives to the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, one per company. In their political speeches, the soldiers had to obey only the Petrograd Soviet.

The decision provided that the soldier and officer are equal citizens outside the service. It was established that the subordination of soldiers to the orders of the military commission of the State Duma is carried out only as long as they do not disagree with the decisions of the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. “By these decisions,” Yu. A. Kudryavtsev wrote, “the army ... was assigned to the revolution.”

Kudryavtsev quite accurately reproduced the course of the meeting of the Petrograd Soviet on March 1, at which the draft of the future Order No. 1 was basically drafted. Kudryavtsev's memoirs are generally confirmed by documentary data (18) and clarify some details.

Yu. A. Kudryavtsev believed that at the meeting of the Council on March 1, "on the basis of an indisputable consideration of the real situation ... civil freedom and civil rights were obtained by the soldiers."

A. D. Sadovsky, A. N. Paderin, V. I. Badenko, F. F. Linde, Sokolov, Yu. A. Kudryavtsev, A. P. Borisov, Klimchinsky, I. G. Barkov, Vakulenko. A commission was also created to formulate the decisions of the meeting of the Council on March 1, which met in room No. 13 of the Tauride Palace. Unlike the authors of other memoirs, Yu. A. Kudryavtsev mentions Yu. M. Steklov among the members of the commission. As far as the memoirist remembers, at first under the dictation of the soldiers, members of the commission, the text was written by Yu. M. Steklov, but soon he was replaced by N. D. Sokolov. In addition, the recording was made by 2-3 more people, whose names were not named in the memoirs. Presenting this information, Kudryavtsev believed that the memoirs of A. G. Shlyapnikov and N. N. Sukhanov did not accurately convey the details of the meeting of the soldiers' commission for the development of Order No. 1 (19).

As a result of the work of the soldiers' commission, Order No. 1 was created, which applied to the garrison of the Petrograd district and was brought to the attention of the workers of Petrograd.

The memoirs of B. Lyubarsky already mentioned by us also report the creation by the Soviet of a soldiers' commission to develop an order that would consolidate the rights of soldiers obtained in a hard struggle. B. Lyubarsky named almost completely the composition of the commission for the development of a soldier's order. He confirmed that it included Yu. M. Steklov. In addition to him, the commission included the Bolshevik M. Yu. Kozlovsky, the Menshevik M. M. Dobanitsky, the Social Revolutionary V. N. Filippovsky, the soldier of the Lithuanian regiment Menshevik A. P. Borisov, the soldier of the Finnish regiment F. F. Linde (internationalist), as well as several people from the Union of Republican Officers, whose names were not named. Complementing the known facts, B. Lyubarsky reported some interesting details of the work of the soldiers' commission for the preparation of Order No. 1. This commission worked from 3 pm on March 1 in the library of the Tauride Palace. Delegates from military units also took part in its work. Almost without any disputes, all points of the order were quickly accepted. According to B. Lyubarsky, the final editing of the document was entrusted to M. M. Dobranitsky, and at 7 pm on March 1, the order was submitted for approval by the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet (other authors of memoirs do not report in such detail either on the work of the commission or on the meeting of the Executive Committee) .

Thus, before the publication of Order No. 1, its text was also considered by the Executive Committee of the Council, which once again confirms the deep interest of the Compromisers in this document. The meeting was chaired by N. S. Chkheidze. Representatives of the Officers' Union were invited: ensign Shakhverdov and the captain of the 6th reserve regiment, the Menshevik-defensive Sachs. The order was read out and there were no objections. The officers present stated that they considered it necessary to issue such an order in order to restore calm in the garrison units and restore confidence in the officers. The meeting of the Executive Committee of the Council lasted only 15 minutes, and on the same evening Order No. 1 was sent to the parts of the garrison (20).

B. Lyubarsky's story about the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, which unanimously approved Order No. 1, shows that the Compromisers perceived Order No. 1, proceeding, of course, from their own interests. Apparently, by the fact of its publication, they wanted to demonstrate to the leaders of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma the real influence that the Petrograd Soviet had at that time. In this way, the petty-bourgeois politicians sought to win concessions from the bourgeoisie in the negotiations on the creation of the Provisional Government. As is known, the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries did not even think of creating a government on the basis of the Petrograd Soviet, being opponents of the further progressive development of the revolution.

The memoirs of Yu. A. Kudryavtsev contain the assertion that the published document was called an order at his personal suggestion, but it is not possible to verify the authenticity of this statement. Order No. 1 was then brought to the attention of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and simultaneously sent to the printing house of Izvestia of the Petrograd Soviet. The text of the order was transferred to the newspaper by Kudryavtsev himself, which is also confirmed by the memoirs of A. D. Sadovsky. He wrote that Kudryavtsev went to some printing house, where Order No. 1 was printed at night and distributed to military units in the morning (21).

In the printing house "Izvestia", which was in charge of the Bolshevik V. D. Bonch-Bruevich, they decided to publish Order No. 1 in a large circulation. It was about 1-2 million impressions. According to Kudryavtsev, about 1 million copies were actually printed then.

The memoirist further cited an important fact about the exclusion from the text of Order No. 1 during its printing of one of the points. He recalled that there was talk about the right to withdraw the lower command staff, which the soldiers of military units insisted on. However, Kudryavtsev could not more accurately recall the content of this paragraph. This item, which, judging by the recollections, concerned the right to elect the lower commanding staff by the soldiers themselves, was struck out by the members of the Executive Committee of the Council N. D. Sokolov, Yu.

Order No. 1 was printed on the morning of March 2 and was quickly transported around the city by cars from the automobile unit where Kudryavtsev worked.

Thus, giving a number of new information about the development of Order No. 1, the memoirs of Yu. A. Kudryavtsev to some extent concretize the question of the elective beginning: was there or was not such a clause in his text. Judging by the content of the memoirs, he could have been before printing, and in the process of printing he was excluded by the Compromisers under pressure from the Provisional Committee of the State Duma. However, the memoirs of Yu. A. Kudryavtsev do not give a firm answer to the question of whether the clause on the election of officers in Order No. 1 was in full.

Yu. A. Kudryavtsev, like other memoirists, defends the version that N. D. Sokolov only wrote down the text of Order No. 1, allegedly showing complete passivity. This version is refuted by the Left Social Revolutionary SD Mstislavsky, who was a participant and witness to the events of the February Revolution. He drew attention precisely to the interest of the members of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet in weakening the influence of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma. Mstislavsky noted that N. D. Sokolov actually wrote Order No. 1 under the dictation of the soldiers' deputies, who had just been introduced to the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, but at the same time he nevertheless introduced paragraphs 3 and 4 (22) into the text of the order.

As you know, paragraph 3 of the order established that in all their political speeches, military units are subordinate to the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies and their committees, and paragraph 4 stated that the orders of the military commission of the State Duma should be executed only in cases where they are not contradict the orders and resolutions of the Petrograd Soviet. This once again confirms the compelled participation of the Compromisers in the drafting of Order No. 1, dictated by the political motives that guided the petty-bourgeois parties, who ultimately sought to retard the development of the revolutionary process in the country after the overthrow of the autocracy.

The materials cited in the article, thus, concretize the history of the creation of Order No. 1, clarify the circumstances and reasons for its creation.

1. Miller V. I. The beginning of the democratization of the old army in the days of the February Revolution - History of the USSR, 1966, No. 6; He is. From the history of order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet. - Military History Journal, 1966, No. 2; He is. Soldiers' committees of the Russian army in 1917. M., 1974; Tokarev Yu. S. Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. - Auxiliary historical disciplines. L., 1973, no. 5; He is. Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies in March - April 1917. L., 1976.
2. State Museum of the Great October Socialist Revolution in Leningrad, f. 2: (Leaflet Fund), No. 10771/1-2.
3. Past, 1922, No. 19, p. 193.
4. Lyubarsky B. Order No. 1: (According to notes). - Red Star, 1924, March 12. Despite the importance of the information provided by the author, his memoirs were not used in the literature and remained little known. Meanwhile, as their name shows, they were written not only from memory, but also on the basis of notes that the author had, made, obviously, in the wake of events. This enhances the degree of reliability of the memoirs of B. Lyubarsky. No information was found about his party affiliation, but he was in close contact with the Social Revolutionaries in the Union of Republican Officers and, apparently, was close to this party. B. Lyubarsky is also the author of the pamphlet The Truth About Order No. 1, published in Petrograd in 1917 on behalf of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. The brochure was of an agitational and propagandistic nature and justified the actions of the Executive Committee of the Council.
5. Zlokazov G. I. On the meeting of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies on February 28, 1917 - In the book: October and the Civil War in the USSR. M., 1966.
6. State. archive of the October Revolution and socialist construction in Leningrad (hereinafter: TsGAORL), f. 7384, op. 9, d. 196a, l. 2 vol.-3. The reactionary military clique constantly talked about the “demoralizing” influence of Order No. 1. So, at an emergency meeting of the council of the “Military League”, together with representatives of the “Union of the Cavaliers of St. , "Unity", "Death Battalions", "Honor of the Motherland and Order" and other obviously counter-revolutionary-monarchist organizations, which took place on July 31, 1917, the speaking officers furiously attacked "the initiators of Order No. 1, civilians who took up someone else's spirit and work matter, ”and accused them of having brought the army to demoralization. They welcomed the activities of L. G. Kornilov as Minister of War, calling him a staunch fighter “for a healthy beginning in the army” (Army and Navy of Free Russia, 1917, August 2).
7. News of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, 1917, July 23.
8. Red Star, 1924, March 12.
9 Central Party Archive of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU (hereinafter: TsPA IML), f. 124, op. 1, d. 1699, part II, l. 268 rpm; see also: Ibid., part III, l. 8.
10. Auxiliary Historical Disciplines, vol. 5, p. 55.
11. Lvov VN "Revolutionary democracy" and its leaders in the role of leaders of the policy of the Provisional Government. Omsk, 1919, p. 3.
12. New life, 1917, 1 Aug.
13 Speech, 1917, July 30.
14 Tokarev Yu. S. Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies in March-April 1917, p. 64-65; see also: TsGAORL, f. 1000, op. 73, d. 3.
15. CPA IML, f. 71, op. 15, d. 401, l. 13-18. Memoirs written in 1929.
16. A. N. Paderin spoke about his participation in the drafting of Order No. 1 in his memoirs, published in the journal Proletarian Revolution (1924, No. 8/9).
17. According to Lyubarsky, this order was issued at the insistence of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet (Red Star, 1924, March 12).
18. The transcript of the draft protocol of the meeting of the Petrograd Soviet on March 1, 1917 was made by V. I. Miller (History of the USSR, 1966, No. 6).
19. Yu. A. Kudryavtsev meant A. Shlyapnikov's book "The Seventeenth Year" and N. Sukhanov's memoirs "Notes on the Revolution".
20. Red Star, 1924, March 12.
21. CPA IML, f. 124, op. 1, d. 1699, part II, l. 268 rev.
22. CPA IML, f. 70, op. 3, d. 583, l. 5. The memoirs of SD Mstislavsky were written in 1928. SD Mstislavsky (Maslovsky) later became a Soviet writer.