The revolution events and the forming of the Soviet regime
Translated by Nikiforova Svetlana Gennadievna +7(8482) 680-950
The end of the XIXth – the beginning of the XXth century was rather a turbulent period. The public sense began awakening and as a result, numerous political groupings and parties that used the poor people’s displeasure in their own interests sprang up.
In the 70’s of the XIXth century the Central part of the Land along the Volga became an arena of the active political activity of populists-revolutionists. Some of them – S.L. Perovskaya, I.M. Krasnoperov, S. Chubarov – did the propaganda in the adjacent villages. In 1872 they taught on the courses for rural women-teachers, which were organized by the local liberalist Maria Turgeneva. Sophia Perovskaya was 19 at that time, Ivan Krasnoperov had been under prison – had been arrested on suspicion of a plot. The young teachers tried to find their adherent-students to widen agitation into other villages. But the police learnt it and closed the courses.
In her letters from Stavropol Sophia Petrovna wrote that it went hard with a thing, they have not got money, and the agitation gave no positive result. It was extremely difficult to make contact with peasants. Thus, the idea of “going to folk”, one of the most notable representatives of which was also Porphyry Voinaralsky, suffered a defeat. Some members of the movement got under law prosecution, some were sentenced to penal servitude; others changed their tactics. Sophia Perovskaya was put to death for having to do with the murder of the emperor in 1881. Porphyry Voinaralsky spent 15 years in penal servitude. Many of the revolutionists left their attempts to raise peasant revolution.
Nevertheless, at the beginning of the XXth century the revolution situation had arisen in Russia. Economical crisis and bad harvest conduced to defeat of the Russian forces in the war between Russia and Japan. The inhabitants of the Stavropol district (for instance, Maxim Rodionov) also participated in that dishonorable to our country war.
The January 22 (9) 1905 entered into the history of Russia as one of the most tragic and terrible events, for thousands of workers in Saint-Petersburg shed their blood during the revolution. On the very day barricades with slogans “Down with the autocracy!” were set in the city. That was the way the first Russian revolution started.
These years the Stavropol district was the only one where peasants’ movements were active. Such state of thing was caused by problems with land in the district. Large arias of land that stretched to some tens of thousands of dessiatinas and belonged to landowners had small peasant lots (land granted to freed peasants by the former masters) on their neighborhood, which in average made up just 6,3 dessiatinas per a yard.
The first peasants’ movements started already in February 1905. However, all these movements were disorganized and arose from time to time. The movement achieved its top in November-October 1905. The peasants who leased the land from counts the Orlovs-Davydovs were the most active. For instance, at the end of November 1905 the inhabitants of the villages of Russian and Mordvinian Borkovka and Nikolskoie ruined two count hamlets, and destroyed their possession. The caused damage formed about 2 million rubles. Peasants set on fire all the buildings, took cattle and inventory. Just in 1905 10 landowners’ estates and farm-steads were ruined in the Stavropol district. All these events were caused by the agitation among the peasants by sisters the Chirikovs and Alex Buyanov.
The independent organization of RSDLP (the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party) had not been formed yet in Stavropol at that time. The most part of cultured classes and peasants were under the influence of the members of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (S.R.). In November 1905 the educated inhabitants of the town arranged two meetings devoted to the issue of “the Manifesto of October 17”, where it was approved.
Peasants had taken up arms to struggle for their rights. More than a hundred of decrees had got to the Duma from the peasants of the province where they expressed discontent with the conditions they had to live in. A few of same decrees were registered in the Stavropol district. In April 1907 the participants of rural meeting in the village of Central Yakushkino discussed and adopted a decree, where its authors demanded to pass all the lands in folk’s possession, to cancel division into classes, to bring democratic freedoms and general elective right. This document reflected all political and economic goals of the bourgeois-democratic revolution.
People learnt much from the first Russian revolution, but the problems that caused it still were not solved. That was why the second revolutionary situation had arisen in the country in 10 years. The First World War also played a great part in developing of a new crisis. During these years a hospital was distributed in sanatorium “Woody”. Millions of peasants including our fellow country-men found themselves far away from their families and their farms. The children grew up in their fathers’ absence.
War defeats, crippling of the agriculture of the country, dissension in government conduced to the revolution. As the result of the events in February 1917 the power got into hands of bourgeoisie. Nikolay I abdicated the crown.
Different Councils of Labor Deputies headed by the members of the Socialist Party and Menshevists sprang up here and there for a short time. With their interference the bourgeois Provisional government with prince Lvov at the head was started in Petrograd on March 2. Thus, diarchy formed in Russia. Simultaneously there sprang up various bourgeois government organizations that had different names.
On March 2 the Council of Labor Deputies that included 15 persons was elected in Samara. On March 1 the Town Council formed the so-called “Select provisional committee of town security” that contained 14 persons. The Council of Labor Deputies offered the committee collaboration and since March 3 it got the name of “the Public government committee”.
At once after the Samara Public government committee was formed, alike ones were arranged in other districts including Stavropol. The county council of the town headed by M. Tresviatsky still was in session, one of the richest inhabitants of Stavropol Benedict Voinatovsky was the head of the town. The local court and police also remained the same. Just a member of the Provisional government took the place of the provincial leader of Nobility S.A. Sosnovsky.
On April 25 1917 with the interference of the representatives of the Samara Council of Labor and Soldiery deputies Sheinman and Petrovsky the Council of Peasants’ Deputies was formed in Samara, and on May 5 with the help of the representatives of the Samara town council of the Bolshevik Party V.A. Gronin and I.A. Petrovsky another Council of Labor Deputies was set up. At the very first meeting the Council proposed for enterprisers to set a working day lasting 8 hours.
There was also started the Town Executive Committee Council at the head of which was a local hospital assistant Basil Vasilievich Banykin. Though formally he was not regarded a member of the Bolshevik Party, and was in the Socialist Party, Banykin never refused Bolsheviks in his support and help. Banykin wished to continue getting education and entered the Yuriev (nowadays the Tartu-) medical institute. But he got no money to pay for study, and then he turned to the local government to let him study at the expense of the town Treasury. But the government refused him and Banykin had to leave the institute when he was in his second year.
However, the Councils of Labor and Peasants’ Deputies seldom came to unanimous opinion, and not always their decisions were right.
On October 25 1917 working people, soldiers and sailors of Petrograd stand up disputed against Provisional government and overthrew it. The second All-Russian congress of Councils claimed to hand on the authority in Russia to the Councils of Labor, Soldiery and Peasants’ Deputies, and formed the Labor-Peasant Soviet government headed by V.I. Lenin.
One of our fellow country-men Andrei Stepanovich Zhuikov also was a participant of the revolution. He was born and brought up in the family of old believers, and was the 12th child. On his mother wish Andrei was apprenticed to a deacon. At the age of 14 he got a job at a brick plant. During the First World War, Zhuikov was called up to the army. On February 27 1917 the soldiers of his regiment refused to put down a strike, and later discharged the prisoners of a fine-battalion.
On April 3 1917 Zhuikov met Lenin who came back from the emigration at the Finnish station. On October 25 1917 he was present in session of the Council that took place in Smolny at 10 o’clock in the morning as a deputy of the Petrograd Council. After the session finished Zhuikov and Kalina Ozhegov, the inhabitant of the same village where Andrei Stepanovich was born, made their way to the Palace Square, where they joined the sailors who tried to take the Winter Palace by storm.
Within a few days after the Great October Socialist Revolution ended, Zhuikov was regarded a member of the Extraordinary Commission (for fighting against counter revolution and speculation) for taking foodstuffs away from speculators. In summer 1918 he joined the Red Army as volunteer, and in 1920 he was in command of a company. In 1926 worked as the head of political instruction of the Busuluk district of the Samara region. Zhuikov also participated in the Great Patriotic War, where he was a commissar of the front military-hospital train. In 1967 Andrei Stepanovich Zhuikov was rewarded with Lenin order.
The Councils of Samara amicably took power on October 27 1917. The inhabitants were glad to here about the beginning of the revolution, though Menshevists and members of the Socialist Party still maintained their position. For that reason the revolution committee included V.V. Kuibyshev, A.A. Maslennikov, A. Galaktionov and L. Mitrophanov was elected in Samara.
In Stavropol the struggle for power was harsh. There were about 500 workers, and the Bolsheviks’ organization was formed just at the beginning of October 1917, but had few members. On the bolshevists’ initiative the Council of Labor Deputies set up a revolutionary committee, but the Bolsheviks still were too weak to catch the power.
At that period there were a great number of the kulaks in the district and town, and they rendered much support to the members of the Socialist Party and the Menshevists. To except the passing of power to the folk’s hands, leaders of the Socialist Party and the Menshevists formed a committee of public security on November 4 1917 and gave the militia over to it. The bourgeoisie began gradually taking up arms and arranging an armed detachment. The Council of Labor Deputies set up a revolutionary committee and the Red Guards division to it commanded by S.A. Sungurov.
On November 12 1917 elections to the Constituent Assembly of Russia were arranged in Stavropol and all over the district. The elections were made by lists of parties. 86,131 persons gave their votes to the list of the Socialist Party, and the Bolsheviks collected just 3,983 votes. The IV provincial peasant congress that took place just after the elections stated to replace the Soviet regime into the government of the Constituent Assembly.
V.V. Banykin repeated his attempts at persuading the representatives of the local Bourgeoisie to admit Councils. To help the Council and liquidate the counter-revolutionary committee the Samara government sent the Red Guards division. Nonetheless, the Bourgeoisie still hoped to get support of the local inhabitants and attempted to arrange a large meeting in the building of female gymnasium. V.V. Banykin who took part in it said the following: “The Town Duma protects the interests of merchants and nobles, that is why it must be broken up”. The commander of the Red Guards division ordered to shoot up. After that the Duma ran away, and power passed to Councils.
On January 28 1918 the county congress of Councils was held in Stavropol. It proclaimed that power was handed on to Councils and the local government was terminated. 52 deputies from Stavropol, Melekess and 13 volosts of the district attended the congress. The congress elected the Executive committee and regarded G.I. Karelin the chairman, and M.A. Mineev the chairman substitute. M.N. Kozhevnikov, V.G. Danilov, V.S. Demidov, I.D. Balakin and G.A. Limonov also became its members.
For its part, the local government summoned congress in the village of Nikolskoie-upon-Cheremshan on February 2. Well-to-do peasants, representatives of volost local authorities and credit companies attended it. But the congress was considered counter-revolutionary, and V.G. Danilov who was a representative of the Executive committee came there with the Red Guards division headed by Sungurov and broke it up.
The land was shared out among peasants. Before, it had been counted how much of arable, meadow and intended for pasture land per a person there is in each volost. In some volosts it was too much, in some it was under the norm. Land surplus were given to the districts where the land aria was too small.
The Town Executive committee worked out its own position on the issues of internal and external policy of the Soviet state. The inhabitants of Stavropol, for example, spoke against concluding the Brest peace and at one of the meetings the Town Executive committee passed a resolution: “To repulse spoliators of German imperialism, and prevent our country from concluding a shameful peace”.
On March 1918 in Melekess started the IId county congress of Councils where 400 delegates of all 36 volosts of the Stavropol district were present. The delegates stated to admit the Councils’ authority the only one and everywhere.
There was one problem: a new government had no means to hold farming, and it put the population on a tax of 3 rubles per a person. The tax was taken mostly for keeping schools and hospitals. Though poor people could be exempted from taxation, and the sum they were to pay was assessed on the rich. Such merchants as Klimushkin and Dudkin were rather well-to-do persons, that was why the largest per cent of tax was assessed just on them: Klimushkin was to pay 50 thousand rubles, and Dudkin – 20 thousand rubles. Some time later all the incomes of Klimushkin and of another merchant Bubunkina were arrested, “for these persons got their money by exploitation of labor of the poorest inhabitants of Stavropol” (114 thousand were arrested from Klimushkin, and 171 thousand from Bubunkina). This money was employed for building kindergartens and nursery playgrounds.
The enemies of the Soviet regime could not take up with losing their lands and properties. The Czechoslovak corps was the most active in the fight against the Soviet regime. This corps was formed at the time of Provisional government of captives, the Czechs and the Slovaks who voluntarily passed over to Russia and included 40 thousand well armed and taught soldiers and officers. After Russia and Germany concluded peace, the Soviet government let the Czechoslovaks to leave through Vladivostok for France. The staff of the corps was taught in way of hatred to the Bolsheviks, that was why the corps was successfully used in fight against Councils.
60 echelons of the Czechoslovak corps stretched along railway from Penza to Vladivostok. On May 30 the White Guards’ soldiers (counter-revolutionaries) occupied Syzran creating a true danger to Samara. The campaign broke out in June, and on June 8 1918 interventionists entered the town by force. White guards did the Bolsheviks and the supporters of the Soviet regime terrible cruelty: shot them away and imprisoned.
After Samara was taken, the Executive committee of Stavropol made preparations for evacuation, for it had not the necessary number of soldiers and ammunition to defend. Two heavy loaded steamers “Irmak” and “Helena” left a wharf just two hours before counter-revolutionaries entered the town.
Unfortunately, the Red Guards’ armies were few in number and they could not repel the enemy; the detachment commanded by Paradizov had to retreat in Melekess’ direction, where he joined other parties.
The chairman of the Executive committee Banykin was the last who left the town when the white guards had already entered. He missed the steamers, and tried to make his way through the forest, but was killed by a soldier of the White Guards. For a long while the soldiers were jeering at the body of the chairman and just in the evening his relatives were let to bury the killed.
On July 18 after Comuch’s armies occupied Melekess; the soldiers of the White Guards shot away Paradizov. On July 12 in the village of Yagodnoie was killed the leader of the Stavropol circle of the revolutionary youth and the editor of the first youth journal “the Meteor” Kuzma Krasnov.
The members of the Socialist Party making use of the presence of the White Guards’ armies in Stavropol tried to establish their authority, and on September 1018 they held elections to the Town Duma. Though the Duma did not chance to start its activity, for the 5th Kursk regiment of the 24 division commanded by Trunov was approaching Stavropol. Retiring in a hurry the White Guards’ soldiers were robbing and killing the local population.
The white guards’ fate was sealed. The 1st Samara division of the IVth army commanded by M.V. Frunze approached Samara in the south. By that time the staff of the IVth army had gained information of Komuch’s intentions to evacuate Samara. That was a dreadful period. Robberies started up in the town; seized by panic the bourgeoisie ran away to the west. The arrested Bolsheviks who were in the Samara prison were sent by echelons to Siberia. These echelons got the name of “death trains”. The train of 50 waggons was sent from Samara at night from October 5 to 6 1913. White guardsmen did intolerable cruelty towards the prisoners. The goods-vans used for transporting coal and lime were cool and held 60-75 persons each who could not even be seated, cause there were no plank-beds at all. The captives had not even stoves for heating and warm clothes; the last were taken off. For several days the prisoners did not get food. Having fun, drunk officers shot away the captives just here in the waggons. A great part of the prisoners died of hunger and cold; corpses were thrown off from the moving train onto the road. “Death train” had been on journey for two months. The Siberia gaols were overfilled and did not admit captives any more, and then the train went back, plying between stations, there and back. In Irkutsk by requisition of the American Red Cross plank-beds at last were set in waggons, on which alive and died captives lay together.
Due to the data given by historians more than 2,700 communists, peasants, women, old people, children and teenagers were the captives of “death trains”; among them 5 inhabitants of Stavropol – P.S. Shlutov, V.G. Danilov, Gerasimov, P. Shcherin and V.P. Tentyakov.
On October 7 the forces of the IVth army followed by the 1st army supported by vessels of the Volga military flotilla entered Samara. For war actions the 24th Simbirsk division was assigned the calling of the Simbirsk Iron Red-Bannered and was rewarded with the Red Banner Order.
After the White Czechs and white guardians were driven away, the Revolutionary Committee headed by I.N. Rumyantsev and the Staff of the Town Defense were formed in Stavropol. There was a great scarcity of the necessaries that year: salt, matches, soap, and kerosene; besides, scurvy raged in the town. That was why the possessions of ran away counter-revolutionaries distributed among the poor.
With the help of political workers of the Iron Division the organization of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was set up in Stavropol. A.S. Grigorieva was elected the chairman, and Lev Popov became her substitute. The committee of the Party started publishing a newspaper “The needy of Stavropol”. On December 3 the Extraordinary Commission was formed.
The situation in the line was alarming, for the Kolchak approached from the Westside. At the same time the rebellion broke out in the rear of the 5th army of the Western line and seized over 5 adjacent districts: the Samara, Syzran, Singhiley, Stavropol and Melekess ones. This armed opposition entered the history under the name of the Chapan Revolt, as the participants of it wore chapans –peasant upper caftans. The insurgents thought that if they struck the Soviet government from the rear line, Kolchak and his forces easily got to the Volga. The arming of the insurgents was rather interesting: pikes, harpoons, scythes, axes, hoes, stakes, shot-guns, rifles, machine-guns and even cannons!
The revolt started in the rich kulaks’ village of Novodevichiye of the Senghiley district and later approached Stavropol. The town became a center of rebellion. The insurgents formed their own government, stated that “they stand on the platform of protection of the Soviet regime, but with all might and main protest against communists’ violence”. Later the rebels began publishing a newspaper “The Proceedings”, the front page of which announced that the Soviet regime was temporarily canceled and called up soldiers of the Red Army to join the rebellion. Commandant of Stavropol A.V. Dolinin issued an order of recruiting into the kulaks’ forces upon pain of military execution of all the inhabitants of the district at the age of 13 to 50.
On March 7 1919 the Revolutionary-Field Staff for putting down the revolt was formed at the meeting of the Presidium of the Provincial Executive Committee. Its MPs became Tronin, Shevardin who was a commander of all the military forces, and Nagibin.
It was decided to strike the insurgents in four directions – from Samara, Syzran, Senghiley and Melekess. At last, on March 14 1919 the riot was repressed.
A peaceful life again set up in the province. It was necessary to re-establish farming, and on August 3 the Executive committee of Stavropol decreed to organize voluntary Sunday work on harvesting in all villages, and the inhabitants of the town must have taken an active part in the measure. In all villages there were arranged flour and rusks offerings for workers from Moscow and Petrograd. On August 15 a ship loaded with 20 thousand poods of rye sailed off from the wharf of Petrograd.
The inhabitants of Stavropol shed their blood not only for the native land; they also battled in other lines during the Patriotic War. When the Denikin began advancing, the Samara Provincial Executive Committee carried on the mobilization, and more than 50 persons left the Stavropol district for the line. Wrangle was another enemy from whom the inhabitants of Stavropol also defended their land.
Inside the town and about the district was strengthened an activity at establishing of the Soviet regime. Gradually the peasants’ distrust to the Soviet government changed into collaboration. Soon after the Soviet regime was established the government started reforming agriculture. On February 1919 there was formed the first agricultural commune in honor of Rose Luxemburg.
The life had been little by little bringing up to the right way, but a great damage was brought to the population and agriculture of the Stavropol district by dreadful hunger that seized the whole Land along the Volga. More than 20 thousand people had been starving only in the Stavropol district.The inhabitants of 21 of 50 volosts all completely died out and only the help of the whole country and good harvest of 1922 let gradually liquid the hunger and its consequences.
By 1935 Stavropol already had 2 technical schools, 2 comprehensive schools, a rest home, a collective farmer house, agricultural departments of “the Organization for the Grain Stocking”, “the Organization for the Export of Furs”, and the resort administration. At that time the population of the town made up 6 thousand people.
Museum of regional studies of Togliatti: Sergeeva Viktoria Mihaylovna phone: +7(8482) 481-070 e-mail:serjiov@rambler.ru
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