Libmonster ID: RU-8072
The largest class battles of 1920 in Italy occupy a prominent place in the history of the first revolutionary crisis in the poisons of Europe, which erupted after the end of the first wide-ranging imperialist war under the direct influence of the Great October Revolution socialist revolution. In the beginning of the seizure of factories by workers and land by peasants, the height of the revolutionary upsurge in Italy and the influence of the October Socialist Revolution were most clearly expressed. In these heroic battles, the working people of Italy were defeated. But they did not pass without a trace. These battles brought rich experience to the world communist movement Their conquest is the birth of the Italian Communist Party, one of the glorious sections Communist International, holding high the great banner of Marx - Engels - Lenin - Stalin. This party is the guarantee of the coming death of fascism and the victory of socialism in Italy.
On the eve of the war, Italy was an industrially backward country. The agricultural population in it was twice as large as the population associated with industry.
According to the 1911 census, the population of Italy by type of activity was distributed as follows: 9,085,597 people were employed in agriculture; in the mining and manufacturing industries - 4,401,753 people. The majority of Italy's rural population was the agricultural proletariat and semi-proletariat (rural poor).
IN Southern Italy and in Sicily, where large landownership predominated, the exploitation of the peasantry was especially strong. The situation of the rural poor and, above all, farm laborers here was extremely difficult. Earnings were negligible, the working day was very long (during harvesting campaigns it reached 19 - 20 hours), the majority lived in miserable shacks. Even worse was the situation of temporary workers hired by the day.
Among the numerous peasant tenants, the so-called lads predominated, who rented as much land as they were able to cultivate with their family without hiring workers. Half of the harvest in kind, and sometimes from one third to two thirds of the rented land belonged to the landowner. In Southern Italy, polovnichestvo took on forms that were especially enslaving to the peasantry.
The difficult situation of the Italian countryside and its surplus of labor caused strong emigration from Italy, since the slowly developing industry did not absorb the population thrown out of agriculture.
The emigration of the “surplus” population was also due to the extreme backwardness of agriculture. Productivity in Italy was lower than in most European countries; about 6 million hectares of land remained uncultivated.
By 1910, out of a population of 36 million in Italy, 5.5 million people were in exile.
Italy was a country of terrible poverty, a country of mass illiteracy and cholera riots.
The main focus of industrial development was Northern and partly Central Italy. The uneven development of individual parts of Italy made it a country of contrasts. Along with highly developed industrial enterprises, small-scale craft production was very common. A common type of handicraft production was a small craft workshop, where the owner himself works with the help of 2 - 3 students and journeymen. Such workshops were especially common in artistic crafts, such as the production of furniture, majolica, porcelain and glassware.
The development of heavy industry was delayed to a large extent by the fact that Italy did not have its own industrial raw materials and, above all, coal, oil and iron ore. Production coal in Italy in 1913 reached only 0.7 million tons. The total annual value of the mining industry's output was only £10 million. 427 thousand tons of cast iron were produced, and 489 thousand tons of steel per year.
True, Italian capitalism made quite major successes on the eve of the war.
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hi in shipbuilding, automobile and cotton manufacturing, artificial silk production and in some branches of the metalworking industry. Great development The electrical engineering industry also received Italy was covered with a network of hydroelectric power stations, compensating for the lack of black coal with “white coal”.
But despite these successes, Italy remained an economically backward country in comparison with the advanced capitalist states of Europe; The petty bourgeoisie was still a very large stratum of the Italian population.
The industrial proletariat, concentrated mainly in northern Italy, almost doubled in 12 years (from 1,275,109 in 1900 to 2,206,565 in 1912). The standard of living of the Italian proletariat remained just as low.
The working day of industrial workers reached 10 hours. They lived from hand to mouth, eating mainly bread and corn, or, at best, pasta with vegetable oil.
Along with the growth of the industrial proletariat in Italy, the workers' socialist movement developed. In 1892, at a congress in Genoa, the Italian Socialist Party took shape. The growth of its influence is evidenced by the results of parliamentary elections: in 1892, 26 thousand voters voted for deputies nominated by the Socialist Party; in 1897, the number of voters voting for the Socialist Party reached 150 thousand.
In Italy, with its large petty bourgeoisie and reserve army of frameless intelligentsia, the Socialist Party found itself overrun by petty bourgeois intelligentsia. There were so many lawyers and professors in the party, especially in command posts, that it began to be called the “professorial party.”
From the beginning of the 20th century, the reformist decay of the Italian Socialist Party, which had among its midst numerous bourgeois and petty-bourgeois fellow travelers, began to manifest itself more and more sharply. True, the layer of labor aristocracy within the Italian proletariat was represented much weaker than in the more developed capitalist countries of Europe. However, the growth of opportunism and reformist illusions was greatly facilitated by specific gravity petty-bourgeois elements in the country, as well as the government’s policy of flirting with the working class through partial concessions, a policy caused by the fear of the bourgeoisie and its social lackeys of the revolutionary labor movement. This fear of the bourgeoisie especially increased after the Russian Revolution of 1905, under the influence of which the growth of revolutionary sentiments in the Italian working class noticeably intensified.
Under the influence of the Russian Revolution, the front of the strike struggle expanded. From 1906 to 1909 there were 800 strikes in Italy.
The Giolitti ministry, which came to power in 1906, began to pursue a policy of “sincere affection for the working class,” which was essentially a clever political game, a “fox tail” policy. Concessions were expressed in the introduction of social insurance and some reduction in taxes. In 1912, an electoral reform was carried out, significantly increasing the number of voters.
The right wing of the Socialist Party, led by Bissolati, pursued typically reformist tactics and called for an end to the fight against the monarchy.
Italian centrists united on the platform of so-called integralism. According to this opportunistic “theory,” it was recommended to use old ones before taking care of new reforms, and in matters of tactics, to combine intransigence with agreements and “integrate in a timely manner, find a middle ground.”
In 1903, a left wing arose in the party, which reflected the movement to the left of the workers and which, on a number of tactical issues, defended revolutionary class policies, in particular on the issue of the party’s attitude to the imperialist policies of the government. But the left in Italy, like the left in the German Social Democratic Party, was distinguished by a semi-Menshevik ideology and organizational weakness.
In the Italian labor movement, anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist movements arose as a reaction to the right-wing opportunist tactics of the socialist party. Both of these movements were based on the craft proletariat, which constituted a significant layer of the Italian proletariat and lumpenproletariat. Within the Socialist Party, the syndicalist wing, led by Labriola, advocated “direct action” and criticized parliamentarism. At the 1908 congress, the syndicalists were expelled from the socialist party. Subsequently, the leader of the syndicalists Labriola, like Herve in France, turned from anti-parliamentarianism into a full-blown social-chauvinist.
During the imperialist Tripolitan War of 1911 - 1912, which was waged by Italy with the aim of capturing Tripoli and Cyrenaica from Turkey, within the socialist
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The struggle of currents intensified again in the political party.
This war met with open support from the right wing of the party, led by Bissolati. Anarcho-syndicalists and Labriola called on the workers of Italy to support the war, assessing it as “a war between poor Italy and rich capitalist Europe.” Anarcho-syndicalism found itself in this chauvinistic position, subsequently taken up by the fascists, during the imperialist war; the “integralists” essentially took the position of social chauvinism, but with the caveat: “we could have supported the war if it had been better prepared, but since she is poorly prepared, we must act against her.”
The pressure of the workers on the socialist party, their decidedly hostile attitude towards the imperialist adventures of the Italian government, was so strong that the centrist leadership went to the exclusion of the Bissolati troupe, which took an openly chauvinistic position, from its composition.
The growth of the influence of the socialist party was revealed in the elections of 1913, which gave the socialist party 58 mandates, against 49 in the previous elections.
In Italy's growing trade union movement, socialists, syndicalists and anarchists fought among themselves. In 1906, at the meeting of trade unions in Milan, the General Confederation of Labor was organized, uniting the majority of organized workers. In 1908, at the congress of the Italian CGT in Modena, the connection between the CGT and the socialist party was consolidated. Thus, unlike in France, where the syndicates declared themselves independent of the party, in Italy the trade union movement was formally associated with the socialist party.
At the time of the announcement of the war for Tripoli, the CGT tried to hold a general strike as a protest against the war. This could not be accomplished due to the resistance of the troupe of syndicalists, supporters of support for the war. The vacillating centrist wing of the CGT, which entered into a bloc with the reformists, won. The struggle within the Italian trade union movement led to the split from the CGT of the anarcho-syndicalists, who formed their own “Syndicalist Union” in 1914.
Along with the CGT, there was a “National Federation of Land Workers” in Italy, which united 200 thousand agricultural workers by 1911. The Federation set itself the goal of “being a representative of the interests of the agrarian proletariat, developing mutual solidarity in the struggle, defending the right to strike and boycott, etc.” to unite the work of cooperative organizations on the basis of class struggle."
On May 24, 1915, Italy (part of the "before the war" Triple Alliance"Central European powers, but in violation of its agreement with them, maintaining neutrality for more than 9 months) entered the imperialist war on the side of the Entente.
Nine plus; The months that passed from the beginning of the imperialist war to Italy's entry into it showed that the Italian proletariat was resolutely against Italy's participation in the war. The centrist leadership of the Socialist Party and the General Confederation; labor under pressure: workers were protected by Italy's policy of neutrality. Subsequently, however, the reformists, led by Bissolati, took an openly social-patriotic and social-imperialist position and began to unequivocally speak out for fighting on the side of the Entente.
Back in the fall of 1914, the editor of the central organ of the socialist party - "Avatti" - Mussolini (the current fascist dictator of Italy) began his chauvinistic agitation with French money for Italy's entry into the war on the side of the Entente. His undisguised propaganda of zoological chauvinism and war caused such indignation among the masses that the centrist leadership of the party was forced to remove Mussolini from the post of editor of Avanti, and later expel him from the ranks of the party.
From the first days of Italy's entry into the war, right-wing opportunists and some anarchists switched to direct support of Italian imperialism. Bissolati entered the government. The “centrist” Turatti and Treves also sided with the social chauvinists under the demagogic guise of “defense of the fatherland.”
Italy's entry into the war, imposed on the Italian people by the Salandra government, was accompanied by an extreme increase in terror against the labor movement.
At the end of 1915, Lenin wrote: “Those who say (Kautsky included) that the “masses” of the proletarians have turned to chauvinism are lying: the masses were not surveyed anywhere (with the exception, perhaps, of Italy - 9 months of disputes before about) phenomena of war - and in Italy the masses were against the Bissolati party). The masses were stunned, beaten down, unified, crushed under martial law.
1 V. I. Lenin. Op. T. XVIII, p. 343.
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As the war dragged on, the attitude of the masses towards it became increasingly hostile. Already at the beginning of 1916, strikes broke out almost everywhere in Italy. Under pressure from this movement, the party leadership (Modigliani, Lazzari, Serrati, etc.) refrained from openly supporting the war, taking a typical centrist position.
“In fact, the centrists supported the war, because the proposal of the centrists not to vote against war credits and to limit themselves to abstaining when voting on war credits meant support for the war. They, like the social chauvinists, demanded a renunciation of the class struggle during the war, so that do not interfere with your imperialist government’s war.”1
The influence of the February revolution in Russia was reflected in Italy in the growth of anti-war, revolutionary sentiments among the broad masses of the working class and in the Italian army. The most striking expression of this influence is the general strike of workers in Turin in August 1917, which developed into an armed uprising, which the police and gendarmerie were able to cope with only after considerable effort.
In the fall of 1917, analyzing the growth revolutionary situation in the countries at war, Lenin wrote: “The protest against the war intensified - the number of victims of government persecution increased. The prisons of countries famous for their legality and even for their freedom, Germany, France, Italy, England, began to be filled with tens and hundreds of internationalists, opponents of the war, supporters of the workers revolution.
Now the third stage has come, which can be called the eve of the revolution."2
Italy did not win a single significant victory in the war. “Italy was victorious” - this catchphrase aptly defines the position of Italy after the world imperialist war of 1914 - 1918.
The severe defeat of the Italian army at Caporetto in October 1917 was prepared by all the previous inglorious activities of the Italians on the Austrian front. The breakthrough of the Italian front at Caporetto, which began on the night of October 23-24, in the very first three days of the development of hostilities led the Italian army to a panicked flight. “Huge masses of people, horses, guns and convoys of all kinds now rushed across the plain of Frioul in the direction of Tagliamento,” wrote Villari, “along with the troops went crowds of citizens - men, women and children, fleeing from the enemy, from whose cruelty they had to suffer "3
During the days of the defeat at Caporetto, new mass protests of workers took place in Turin, which were brutally suppressed by the government. Lenin, assessing the situation in Italy after Caporetto, writing: “We have nothing to be afraid of telling the truth about fatigue, for what state is not tired now, what people does not speak openly about it? Take Italy, where, on the basis of this fatigue, there was a long revolutionary movement that demanded stopping the massacre"4.
The Great October Socialist Revolution, its first decrees, especially the November 8 decree on peace, its example of the revolutionary emergence of the peoples of Russia from the imperialist war, had a huge influence on the revolutionary movement in Italy. This influence further intensified during the overthrow of the Habsburg monarchy in Austria-Hungary and the Hohenzollern monarchy in Germany.
Imperialist Italy was taken in tow by its more powerful allies: England, France and the USA. It received not only military and financial assistance from the wholesale allied countries, but also “moral” support from the social-chauvinist parties of the Entente. In Italy, the head of the American Federation of Labor, Gompers, appeared, who, with the money of the Entente powers, with the help of the entire Italian bourgeoisie and social patriots, traveled to all the cities of Italy, calling on workers everywhere to fight to the bitter end.
At the cost of great effort, the Italian front on the Piave River was stabilized.
The "glory" of Vittorio Veneto5, so inflated by Italian fascism, is a fiction aimed at proving that the Italian army, which launched an offensive against Austria-Venu in October 1918,
1 "Short course on the history of the CPSU (b)", p. 159.
2 V. I. Lenin. Op. T. XXI, p. 235.
3 L. Villari "War on Italian front 1915 - 1918,” p. 135.
4 V. I. Lenin. Op. T. XXII, p. 19.
5 The Battle of Vittorio Veneto began on the 24th and ended on October 30, 1918 with the entry of the Italian army into Vittorio Veneto, followed by the surrender of Austria.
Demonstration of striking metal workers. Milan. 1918
Museum of the USSR Revolution.
Greece, achieved the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian army and forced it to surrender. In reality it's not military victory Italy opened the road to Trieste and Trentino, and the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy and its army arose.
As a result of the collapse and collapse of Austria-Hungary, Italy on November 3, 1918 managed to conclude a truce with it on the following conditions: Austrian troops must leave all the territory allocated to Italy by the Entente when it entered the war; most of the artillery and navy transferred to Italy; all prisoners of war trafficked by the Austrians are released without any mutual deception.
Lloyd George notes one curious fact in his war memoirs. The capitulation of Austria was such a stunning surprise for the Italian government that upon receiving a telegram that Austria had accepted all the demands of the Entente, the Italian Prime Minister Orlando, in front of his colleagues, being in a state of extreme excitement, burst into tears for a long time. The beaming Clemenceau burst out with a characteristic phrase: “We left to the Austrian Emperor only trousers and nothing else!” If this was the end of the Austrian monarchy, then the division of its heritage carried out by the Entente powers was far from satisfying, as we will see later, the imperialist desires of Italy.
At the end of the World War, Italy presented a demand to the peace conference, which met in Paris, to fulfill the points of the agreement it signed with the allies on April 26, 1915. On the basis of this agreement, Italy was promised the lands of “unredeemed Italy,” i.e. Trieste and Trestino, South Tyrol, the Dodecanese islands, Carniola, Istria, most of Dalmatia, as well as significant territorial compensation outside Europe during the division of Turkey.
The inter-allied treaty of August 21, 1917 established that Italy would be given West Side Anatolia with Adalia and Smyrna. However, the bill issued to Italy by its allies was not fully paid. Italy's solicitations met a decisive rebuff from the triumvirate: Wilson, Lloyd George and Clemenceau.
According to the Treaty of Saint-Germain (Article 27), Italy received the southern part of Tyrol, Hertz, Gradisk, Istria, small parts of Carinthi and Carniola, as well as the city of Zara. According to the Treaty of Sèvres, Türkiye ceded the Dodecanese islands to Italy. The Italian imperialists were particularly indignant at Italy's exclusion from sharing the colonial spoils of the victors. “We are robbed by Clemenceau, we are deceived by Wilson” - such was the indignant cry of the Italian imperialists.
The war brought enormous misfortune to the Italian working people. More than half a million killed were sacrificed by Italian workers on the altar of imperialism. Italy was sinking into deep economic ruin. The working masses of Italy found themselves faced with severe unemployment. In 1919, after demobilization, there were 320 thousand unemployed in Italy.
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The government deficit reached almost 17.5 billion liras. The result of the shortage was the increased production of paper money. Italy's foreign debts, settled by the Washington and London agreements in 1925, reached 25 billion gold lire. The Italian people became tributaries of Anglo-American finance capital for many years. The depreciation of money gave rise to high prices, which grew continuously. Real wages for most workers have fallen by 40 to 50%.
To this must be added the appalling living conditions of Italian workers. During the war, the interests of tenants were protected by a series of laws that prohibited landlords from increasing rents and evicting tenants. But as soon as the war ended, the most rampant speculation began.
After peace was concluded, the government of Orlando and then Nitti continued the policy of over-protectionism, providing generous subsidies to entrepreneurs and banks associated with industry. The transfer of state funds into the pockets of the bourgeoisie through these channels further aggravated the ruinous consequences of inflation and sharply intensified social contrasts.
In 1919, the Nitti ministry was in power in Italy, relying mainly on the industrial bourgeoisie and banking circles. Nitti, like Lloyd George in England, is trying to fight the growing revolutionary upsurge: through a demagogic policy, sustained in the spirit of “sacred ideas about a new democracy of labor” (from his declaration of July 9, 1919). This policy is dictated by animals fear of revolution, was hidden behind the idea of an agreement between labor and capital and was designed to weaken the revolutionary activity of the proletariat mainly by flirting with the socialists.
The Italian bourgeoisie, unlike the English, had fewer objective opportunities to maneuver, hence the rapid collapse of this policy in Italy. The masses responded to this policy with a revolutionary attack on entrepreneurs and the bourgeois state.
Already in February 1919, metallurgical enterprises were forced to conclude a collective agreement with the General Confederation of Metalworkers recognizing an 8-hour working day. The struggle for an 8-hour working day involved workers in all branches of industry, as well as the agricultural proletariat. By mid-1919, about 5 million urban and rural workers had achieved the de facto establishment of an 8-hour working day. Agricultural workers were especially fierce and stubborn. In the province of Mantua, in the rice fields, where work is especially harmful to health, workers were forced to introduce a 6-hour working day.
But the movement didn't stop there. In the summer of 1919, major strikes began in the metallurgical and textile industries in order to establish a minimum wages. More than 200 thousand metalworkers in Lombardy, Emilia, and Liguria went on strike for two months, seeking the establishment of a minimum wage, and achieved their goal. Strikes soon broke out among 60,000 wool workers in Belleuse. 100 thousand farm laborers and small tenants went on strike in the agricultural and wine-growing districts. Textile workers also went on strike in Lombardy and Piedmont, where about 100 thousand textile workers were left without work. Printing house workers in Rome, Turin and other large cities went on strike for a long time. Italy was experiencing an unprecedented rise in the revolutionary mass movement simultaneously in cities and countryside.
At the congress of the Federation of Land Workers, a demand was adopted for the confiscation of land and its socialization. The village launched a broad front attack on the latifundia. In a number of localities, landowners, gripped by fear, agreed to a “voluntary” purchase of land by peasants. Where the landowners persisted, the unrest ended in the destruction of estates and the revolutionary seizure of landowners' estates. A class struggle developed within the peasantry; The kulak village elite, for whom the purchase of landowners' land was a desirable and affordable matter, was opposed by the bulk of the peasants and the rural proletariat, interested in a revolutionary solution to the agrarian question.
The government tried to suppress the revolutionary upsurge of the peasantry with partial concessions, but half-hearted measures could not bring into the banks a powerful, wide stream of the revolutionary peasant movement, which, under the influence of October, had already risen to the point of placing historical tasks on the agenda. Lenin’s slogan of an alliance of the working class with the peasantry under the leadership workers to destroy the remnants of feudalism, for the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat gained wide popularity in Italy. Soviet Russia, Lenin and the Bolsheviks were for the Italian proletariat, for all workers
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Italy was the beacon that called them to a decisive revolutionary assault.
The economic struggle of the Italian proletariat quickly developed into a political struggle. Back in February 1919, a grandiose demonstration took place on the streets of Milan, demanding “factories for the workers and land for the peasants.” Somewhat later, in April, the Italian proletariat organized a demonstration in honor of Lenin. The workers of the industrial centers of Italy responded to the ban on this demonstration with a protest strike, which was especially violent in Milan.
In July, commemorations of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht took place, and a general strike broke out in Turin. The general strike of protest against the Entente attack on Soviet Russia, announced on July 21, 1919 by the Italian General Confederation of Labor in agreement with the Socialist Party, took place with enormous enthusiasm.
In the context of the ensuing revolutionary upsurge, the masses flocked to the socialist party and other workers' organizations, hoping that they would lead them along the same path along which the Bolsheviks led the Russian proletariat in victory. The number of members of the socialist party rose from 47 thousand (in 1914 ) up to 300 thousand (in 1919). The General Confederation of Labor, which had only 300 thousand members in 1914, in 1919 already united 2.5 million members. In the Federation of Land Workers, the number of members increased from 140 thousand in 1914 to almost 600 thousand in 1919. The Italian Socialist Youth League had 6,500 members in 1912, and 35,000 in 1919.
The leaders of the Socialist Party and the General Confederation of Labor were forced to pretend to be supporters of the revolution and even of Soviet power, so as not to be swept away by the masses. In March 1919, the executive committee of the socialist party decided to join the Third International, and in October of the same year, at the party congress in Bologna, a resolution was adopted recognizing the need for revolution and proclaiming the slogan of councils and the struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat. “We must begin a revolutionary the struggle of the proletariat,” the resolution said, “with the aim of an energetic attack on the bourgeoisie, with the organization of the proletariat as the ruling class.”
However, the adopted resolution did not mean the party’s readiness to become the head of the revolution that had begun to flow through the river. Those who hesitated and pulled the party from revolution to compromise remained in the party and even at its head. They double-dealingly recognized the revolution and were preparing to betray it.
But still, the decisions of the congress in Bologna testified to the strength of the revolutionary onslaught of the masses. Lenin assessed them as brilliant victory communism." However, immediately with brilliant insight, in a letter to the Italian communists, Lenin warned: "Do not doubt that there are open or secret opportunists - and there are many of them in the Italian Socialist Parliamentary Group! - they will try to annul the decisions with the trip to Bologna.
The fight against these trends is not over yet, but a victory in Bologna will make other victories easier for you."1
Major achievement The Italian revolutionary movement of 1919 was the formation of a communist core within the Socialist Party. The center where the communists consolidated was the city of Turin. The organ of the nascent communist party was the weekly newspaper "New Order" ("Ordine nuovo"), published at the end of 1919 in Turin, headed by Gramsci. The pages of this weekly advocated the need to organize communist cells and establish workers' councils. This call met with a heated ebb among the Turin workers.
Communist cells soon appeared at the Fiat automobile plant and other enterprises. The "New System" also promoted the idea of workers' control over production and led the largest strikes of 1919.
The activities of the Turin organization as the core of the future communist party were especially clearly manifested in the development of a truly revolutionary program, which was adopted by the Second Congress of the Comintern as the basis for the unification and ideological cohesion of the revolutionary elements of the Italian socialist party.
In the face of a steadily growing revolutionary movement, Nitti's government was losing ground.
In search of a way out of the current impasse, the government scheduled parliamentary elections for November 16, 1919 under a new, more democratic electoral law. More than 11 million people went to the polls during the November election. The election results were a new blow for the government and an indicator of the further revolutionization of the masses. Socialists almost
1 V. I. Lenin. Op. T. XXIV, p. 504.
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doubled the number of deputies, gaining 156 seats in parliament.
It is interesting to note that Italian fascism, which then took its first steps and came out with a broad demagogic program designed to deceive the masses, suffered a severe defeat in the elections of 1919: it did not manage to win a single deputy.
The country's economic situation continued to deteriorate month by month. The lightning of the approaching civil war began to glow more and more brightly. There was a revolutionary crisis in Italy.
The period of the highest revolutionary upsurge in Italy should be considered the summer and autumn of 1920. At the beginning of the year, menacing strikes of postal, telegraph and railway employees broke out. July was marked by a military mutiny in Ancona. The labor movement grew rapidly. At the end of May in Genoa, At the meeting of the metalworkers' federation, a new program for further struggle against entrepreneurs was developed. On June 18, the Metalworkers' Federation presented a demand to entrepreneurs general increase wages by an average of 35%, participation of workers in profits, carrying out real workers' control, organizing parity commissions, etc. For almost two months, entrepreneurs hesitated to respond, waiting for the most favorable situation to announce a lockout. In August, a representative of the owners handed the workers' delegation a decisive answer, which read: “Given the present state of industry, the demands for economic improvements cannot be satisfied.” Following this, they declared a lockout.
In response to this, the action committee of the metalworkers' federation convened a congress of delegates from the sections and addressed an appeal to the workers (the metalworkers' federation united about half a million workers in its ranks). The congress that gathered decided to begin an obstruction (an "Italian strike"), proposing at the same time, if the factory owners: try to resort to a lockout, to take over the enterprises into their own hands.
On August 30, the board of the Romeo automobile plant issued a resolution to close the plant. Milan This section of metalworkers immediately issued an order for workers to occupy all the metallurgical factories in Milan and its environs. About 300 enterprises were seized by armed workers. Then entrepreneurs declared a lockout at metallurgical enterprises throughout Italy.
The Italian proletariat responded to blow with blow. Workers captured all steel, machine-building, iron-rolling and other factories. At the captured enterprises, workers' guard units were created to protect the factories from sudden police attacks. These detachments later turned into the Red Guard. Regional flags were raised on factory buildings.
The discipline among the workers who seized the factories was exemplary. The work was in full swing despite the enormous difficulties encountered during new organization made: banks stopped accounting for bills and issuing money to checks signed by representatives of workers; Foreign suppliers of coal and oil stopped supplying fuel from their warehouses, foreign orders were canceled, and bourgeois specialists organized widespread sabotage.
The struggle of the metalworkers, who were at the forefront of the heroic struggle, was supported by workers throughout the country. The movement grew far beyond Milan and Piedmont. Railway workers delivered raw materials to factories, and workers from arsenals and arms factories supplied ammunition, rifles, and machine guns. Postal officials handed over correspondence addressed to factory owners to workers. Strikes broke out everywhere; a number of factories in other industries were also seized by workers.
In the countryside, the massive seizure of landowners' lands by agricultural workers and peasants continued.
At the height of the revolutionary events taking place in Italy, in June 1920, I destroyed Nitti's ministry. This fall was prepared by the November 1920 elections. The general failure of the policy of “appeasement” alienated the ruling classes of Italy from Nitti. Giolitti reappeared as prime minister instead of the departed Nitti.
It was not without reason that they wrote about Giolitti that “democratic gestures veil the despotic nature of a bureaucrat,” a flexible servant of the bourgeoisie, whom it brought to the forefront at the most critical moment for it.
True to his tactics, Giolitti tried in every possible way to disguise the class orientation of his policy, allegedly defending the interests of workers to the detriment of capitalists. He declared the implementation of a law on the confiscation of military surplus profits and promised to transfer to parliament the right to declare war and make peace.
But the government’s attempts to stabilize the ecology by flirting with the masses
Arrest of communists in Milan. 1919
Museum of the USSR Revolution.
Italy's economic and political position suffered complete collapse. The flow of inflation plunged Italy deeper and deeper into the abyss of ruin. The dollar exchange rate for 1920 rose from 13 to 28 liras. The trade balance for 1921 was expressed at 20 billion imports to 9 billion exports.
The bourgeois government apparatus was disorganized. The troops were clearly unreliable: the soldiers sent to pacify the workers and peasants fraternized with the latter. It became unsafe for officers to walk through city streets in uniform. Things got to the point that the Minister of War was forced, by means of a secret circular, to order the heads of some military districts to inform officers that they should refrain from wearing uniforms in public places.
Requisitions, taxes or forced distribution of food in favor of the poor part of the population - all these measures were carried out arbitrarily by workers' organizations in many urban and rural centers. Road and rail traffic was controlled by workers. Genoa, one of the most important ports in Italy, was in the hands of a union of sailors and dock workers: not a single ship could leave the port without the permission of the union. Steamships with cargo heading against Soviet Russia were detained by the sailors' union.
There was paralysis of the entire military-police-bureaucratic apparatus of royal Italy.
Industry magnates and banking kings called for decisive action. They demanded that the full power of the state be directed against the rising masses of town and countryside; they demanded the decisive suppression of strikes and the protection of bourgeois property rights.
“The forcible cleansing of factories from the armed workers who have seized them,” Giolitti answered in the Senate, “so passionately demanded by the bourgeois parties, is impossible on both technical and legal grounds.” As for the “legal grounds,” they, of course, were not an obstacle for Giolitti: the government, without the help of social traitors, was powerless to suppress the revolution. The whole art of Giolitti's politics boiled down to gaining time and relying on traitorous opportunists within the socialist party and trade unions.
This whole situation created the conditions for the revolutionary overthrow of the bourgeois state, for the conquest of power by the proletariat. But for this to happen, Italy lacked the decisive condition: it lacked a truly revolutionary organization of the working class, it lacked a communist party.
In November 1920, Lenin wrote in the article “False speeches about freedom”: “Now the most necessary and absolutely necessary for the victory of the revolution in Italy is
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"The idea is that the real vanguard of the revolutionary proletariat in Italy should become a completely communist party, incapable of wavering and showing weakness at a decisive moment - a party that would gather in itself the maximum fanaticism, devotion to the revolution, energy, selfless courage and determination."
The Italian reformists, in alliance with the centrists, were not slow in betraying the working class. On September 9, the Central Committee of the Socialist Party and the Executive Committee of the General Confederation of Labor met at a joint meeting in Milan to decide on further tactics.
When discussing this issue, a dispute arose over who should lead the movement: the Central Committee of the party or the executive committee of the CGT.
At the height of the conflict, the reformist trade union leader D'Aragon, an outspoken social traitor, declared on behalf of the Confederation that its leaders would resign if the Central Committee took the leadership of the metalworkers' movement into its own hands. The Socialist Party gave in and handed over leadership to the opportunist trade union bureaucracy of the CGT. On September 10, at an enlarged plenum of the executive committee of the CGT, to which representatives of all trade unions and central workers' councils, as well as representatives of the Central Committee of the Socialist Party were invited, D'Aragona declared that the Italian proletariat was not yet ripe for revolution and that the transition to a revolutionary uprising would be suicide for the working class, he demanded that the workers’ struggle not be taken beyond the economic framework. By putting forward the slogan of establishing workers’ control throughout Italian industry, D’Aragona hoped to win over the workers who associated this Bolshevik slogan with the revolution.
But the slogan of workers’ control over production without a struggle for the conquest of power by the proletariat, as D’Aragon’s question was posed, could only sow harmful illusions and meant the inevitable defeat of the proletariat.
At this decisive moment, D'Aragon was supported not only by open opportunists, right-wing Turatians, but also by Serrati supporters, i.e., centrists.
Italian centrism in the person of Serrati and his supporters played a role in the issue of the transition to direct revolutionary actions in Italy, a decisive counter-revolutionary role, covered up the defeatist tactics of D'Arato.
Trade union bureaucrats from the All-Union Confederation of Labor, exaggerating the difficulties that arose in the process of workers' exploitation of the enterprises they had seized, prepared the ground for an agreement with the government.
On September 19, an agreement was concluded, confirmed by a government decree, which established the principle of workers' control, guaranteed the return of all personnel to work and payment according to a special calculation for the days of the seizure of factories. Enterprises were returned to their owners. Salaries increased by 20%. This agreement, which contained some concessions to the workers, was only a stage in the transition of the bourgeoisie from defense to offense.
Having achieved their goal, the bourgeoisie soon launched a broad offensive against the workers, with the goal of crushing the revolutionary front at any cost. Lockouts began, massive export of capital abroad, collapses of banks and industrial enterprises. Lyra fell steadily. The bourgeoisie sought the capitulation of the Italian proletariat, trying to strangle it with the bony hand of hunger.
The expropriation of the landowners' land, cultivated under enslaving lease conditions, was the most burning issue in the Italian countryside. However, the socialists opposed the division of the latifundia and the slogan “Land for the working peasants.” By doing so, they also betrayed the interests of the peasantry and increased the danger of famine.
The revolution has entered a decisive stage of its development. The gangs of fascism sharpened their axes against it. The Italian bourgeoisie launched a counter-offensive, hiding behind its fascist vanguard.
In 1920, Lenin wrote: “The bourgeoisie of Italy and all countries of the world will do everything possible, will commit all crimes and atrocities, in order to prevent the proletariat from giving power, to overthrow its power.”2
The betrayal of the reformists and centrists had a decisive influence on the outcome of the struggle, predetermined the defeat of the proletariat, and facilitated the victory of fascism.
The young Communist Party was still weak: it was not yet a party of the broad masses. She could not yet take into her own hands the leadership of the revolutionary struggle of the Italian proletariat and lead it to victory, walking at the head of all the working masses of Italy.
The revolutionary battles in Italy in 1920 - 1921 showed especially convincingly that “...The most important and fundamental condition for success at the moment of the eve proletarian revolution there is liberation, there is freedom for the parties of the revolutionary proletariat from
1 V. I. Lenin. Op. T. XXV, p. 464.
2 V. I. Lenin. Op. T. XXV, p. 468.
Barricades on the streets of Parma. 1920
Museum of the USSR Revolution.
opportunists and "centralists", from their influence, from their prejudices, weaknesses, hesitations"1.
Although the moment for a revolutionary uprising had passed, the possibilities for the further development of the proletarian revolution in Italy were still present. Branding centrist traitors (Serratians), Lenin wrote in November 1920: “Serrati did not understand the peculiarities of the transitional moment that is evident in Italy, where, admittedly, things are moving towards decisive battles the proletariat with the bourgeoisie due to the seizure of state power. At such a moment, not only is it absolutely necessary to remove the Mensheviks, reformists, and Turatians from the party, but it may even be useful to remove excellent communists who are capable of wavering and who show hesitation towards “unity” with the reformists, and removal from all responsible posts.”2
In order for the party to successfully lead the proletariat to victory, it had to, first of all, clear its ranks of open and hidden traitors. When Lenin wrote this article, the Italian Socialist Party split into three factions: 1) communists led by Gramsci, Gennari and others; 2) “unitarian communists” (centrists), led by Serrati, who spoke under the demagogic slogan of defending party “unity”, which had already been destroyed by social traitors; 3) the right-wing opportunist faction of “socialist concentration” led by Turatti.
At the meeting of the Turatti faction in Reggio Emilia (October 10-11, 1920), a resolution was adopted that approved the party’s joining the Third International, however, subject to the “exclusion from the section of the International of anarchist and syndicalist groups,” but the exclusion of opportunists was not Not a word was said, which revealed the hypocritical nature of the entire decision to join the Comintern. The dictatorship of the proletariat was recognized as “not an obligatory requirement of the program, but a temporary measure, the necessity of which is caused by special conditions.”
The final part of the resolution stated: “The revolution in Italy in a violent and destructive form, with the immediate introduction of a Soviet system on the model of Russia, as the extreme elements desire, is doomed to rapid collapse in the absence of active assistance of an economic and political nature from the proletariat of some kind.” one of the richer states during a period of inevitable economic ruin."3
The entire resolution as a whole was at odds with the “21 conditions” adopted by the Second Congress of the Comintern.
Lenin assessed this resolution as a defiant manifestation of reformism, as proof that reformism had not laid down its arms. WITH with good reason Lenin concluded: “Having reformists, Mensheviks in your ranks, you cannot win the proletarian revolution, you cannot defend it. This is obviously fundamental.
1 V. I. Lenin. Op. T. XXV, p. 472.
2 Ibid., p. 463.
3 "The Italian Socialist Party and the Communist International" (collection of materials). Ed. K.I. 1921.
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This is clearly confirmed by the experience of both Russia and Hungary."1
The Serrati faction convened its congress in Florence (November 20 - 21, 1920). In the adopted resolution, despite all the warnings of the Communist International, the group refused to break with the Turatians, declaring that “the party has finally established a revolutionary and absolutely irreconcilable direction.” How blurred in this resolution, the task of the struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat is clear from the following, obviously false statement: “The party has already won the real political power, the bearers of which are the various and varied organs of its constant activity." The conquest of the majority in the municipality of Milan and in some other places was "the conquest of power.
In Imola, on November 27 - 28, 1920, a congress of the communist faction took place. Following the main decisions of the Second Congress of the Comintern, the congress adopted fully 21 conditions, a decision to join the Communist International and announced the renaming of the party to the Italian Communist Party - Section III, Communist International." Along with these major decisions Of particular importance was the decision requiring the exclusion of opportunists of all stripes from the party.
The final division between the individual factions of the Italian Socialist Party occurred at the congress in Livorno (January 15 - 21, 1921).
At this congress, which was of enormous importance, future fate the Italian labor movement, centrists, supporters of Serrati, and rightists, supporters of Turatti and Treves, formed a bloc against the communists. Serrati made hostile attacks against the Communist International and openly identified himself with Turatti. The latter, encouraged by Serrati's position, threw off his mask and made a brazen counter-revolutionary speech in defense of reformism and the treacherous tactics of his party.
Representatives of the ECCI (Rakosi and Kabakchiev) were present at the congress, who read out a declaration in which the ECCI accepted the resolution proposed by the communist faction (adopted at the congress in Imola) as consistent with the principles and tactics of the Third International. Whoever wants to remain in the Comintern must, together with the communists, rebel against reformism and with all those who stand on the basis of the inviolable decisions of their world congress, this resolution said.
The further behavior of the Serratians once again confirmed that the most harmful and dangerous trend for the cause of the revolution were the centrists. The Serratians agreed to unite with 14 thousand reformists and break with 58 thousand communists.
The communists left the meeting. On January 21, 1921, at the San Marco Theater in Livorno, the assembled communist delegates finally formed the Italian Communist Party.
The bourgeoisie of Italy, finding itself faced with a revolutionary movement of the proletariat that threatened the very existence of Italian capitalism, saw its salvation in the establishment of a dictatorship of the most reactionary, the most chauvinistic, the most imperialist elements of capitalism.
The Italian proletariat was defeated in the battles of 1920. But in these battles the Communist Party of Italy was born - a sure guarantee of future victories of the working class.
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Events in Europe after the First World War are beginning to take on a revolutionary character. Let's look at what happened in Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, as well as labor movements in other European countries.
Revolutions in Germany
On November 3, 1918, a performance by military sailors began in the city of Kiel. The immediate reason for him was the desire to free his comrades who had been arrested the day before. At the same time, demands were made for an end to the war, the abdication of the Kaiser, etc. The next day, sailors' and soldiers' councils and the city's workers' council arose, which called for a general strike. Covering the main industrial cities, the revolutionary wave reached Berlin in a matter of days. On November 9, the abdication of the Kaiser, the appointment of a regent, and elections to the National Constituent Assembly were announced.
On November 10, a “revolutionary government” declared itself - the Council of People's Representatives, headed by the Social Democrats F. Ebert and G. Haase. Germany was proclaimed a socialist republic. The government program included some changes - the introduction of universal suffrage, the establishment of an 8-hour working day, the introduction of unemployment benefits, as well as the abolition of the semi-feudal law “on servants”.
Left Social Democrats, primarily the Spartak group led by K. Liebknecht and R. Luxemburg, considered these measures only “bourgeois political reform” and advocated more decisive revolutionary actions.
From the appeal of the conference of the German left (October 1918):
“...the proletariat must demand:
- Cancellation of all military loans without any remuneration.
- Expropriation of all banking capital, all mines and mines, a significant reduction in the working day and the establishment of a minimum wage.
- Expropriation of all large and medium-sized land holdings, transfer of production management to deputies of rural workers and small peasants.
- Radical transformation military service, namely:
- granting soldiers the right of unions and meetings in both official and non-official matters;
- the abolition of the right of superiors to disciplinary sanctions, discipline will be maintained by soldiers' deputies;
- abolition of military courts;
- removal of superiors by decision of the majority of subordinates.
- Transferring the business of distribution of products into the hands of authorized workers.
- Abolition of individual German states and dynasties.
Proletarians, achieving these goals is not yet achieving your goal; this is only a touchstone that will show how real is the democratization that the ruling classes and their agents are fooling you with. The struggle for true democratization is not a struggle for parliament, voting rights or a responsible ministry and other deception. It is directed against real basics domination of all enemies of the people: against ownership of land, capital, power over armed force and justice."
During further developments The division between reformist and revolutionary movements in German Social Democracy deepened. Reformist leaders, having entered into an agreement with entrepreneurs, achieved some concrete results: recognition of the rights of trade unions, the introduction of an 8-hour working day and a system of collective agreements between workers and owners of enterprises. Entrepreneurs made these concessions to prevent the worst - the nationalization of plants and factories. The reformists also managed to achieve an advantage in the Soviets that arose in the first days of the revolution. In December 1918, the Congress of Soviets decided to transfer all legislative and executive power government - the Council of People's Representatives.
Left Social Democrats - Spartacists and other groups - created the Communist Party of Germany at the end of December 1918. Its program set the tasks of establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat and the transition to socialism.
At the beginning of January 1919, the confrontation between revolutionary-minded workers and the government resulted in a direct clash. A general strike broke out in Berlin, and calls were made to overthrow the government and seize power. Armed work detachments appeared in the city. However, at this moment the workers did not have a single leadership center. The troops brought to the capital brutally suppressed the uprising. The communist leaders K. Liebknecht and R. Luxemburg were captured and killed by counter-revolutionary officers.
In February - April 1919, a new wave of workers' protests arose in the country. Strikes of many thousands took place in the main industrial areas of Berlin.
A Soviet republic was proclaimed in Bavaria on April 13. The revolutionary government made decisions to introduce workers' control at enterprises, nationalize banks, form Red Army detachments, etc. But two weeks later, the republic was defeated by order of Minister of War G. Noske (a right-wing Social Democrat by party affiliation). About a thousand of its defenders died in battle.
The government sought to pacify the workers' protests not only by force, but also by promises to take into account their most important demands in the constitution being created at that time (the National Constituent Assembly in the city of Weimar had been working on it since February 1919). In the summer of 1919, the constitution was adopted, it was called Weimar.
The first article of the constitution read: “ German state is a republic." The constitution stated that " government comes from the people,” universal suffrage and “popular representation” were introduced. At the same time, greater powers were granted to the president. He appointed and dismissed the head of government and ministers, could dissolve the Reichstag (parliament), was commander-in-chief, had the right to introduce emergency measures and suspend certain articles of the constitution, etc. Rights legislature(Reichstag) were limited to both the president and the Imperial Council. The constitution reflected the democratic achievements of the working people, while at the same time taking into account the desire of a certain part of the Germans to establish strong power and control of the state machine over society.
The adoption of the constitution did not eliminate many social and political contradictions. The events of 1918 - early 1920s showed that in the German revolution the interests of various classes and estates, political movements and parties were intertwined. At some stage of the revolution they coexisted, and then diverged and even collided. What was won in the struggle suited some, but seemed insufficient to others. The camp of the revolution split, its participants entered into confrontation with each other. The last splash revolutionary wave in Germany there were workers' uprisings in the summer - autumn of 1923, culminating in an attempted uprising in Hamburg (October 23-25). The protests were suppressed.
Revolutionary events took place in 1918-1919. and in other European countries, including the states formed after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. One of them was Hungarian Republic, proclaimed in November 1918 The new government introduced some political freedoms, but failed to change anything in the economic and social relations. Meanwhile, masses of people expected solutions to pressing problems and changes for the better. In this situation, the Communist Party of Hungary (created in November 1918) demanded radical (decisive) changes, a transition to a socialist revolution. Having received the support of the workers and predominant influence in the Soviets and united with the Social Democrats into a single Socialist Party, the Communists moved into action.
On March 21, 1919, the bourgeois government was overthrown in Budapest and the Hungarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed. The new government introduced suffrage for all citizens, except those who exploited the labor of others, dissolved the old courts and police and created new ones law enforcement agencies. Banks were nationalized industrial enterprises, transport. Landowners' lands, which made up the majority of cultivated land, became state property. The wages of workers and employees increased. Working people's families moved into the mansions of the rich.
The proclamation of a Soviet republic in Hungary and the subsequent transformations received the full support of the leaders of Soviet Russia. However, in Hungary itself, the government’s radical measures were not only negatively perceived by the propertied strata, but were also not accepted by the peasantry, who dreamed of their own land. The fragility of the positions of the new government increased due to the actions of external forces.
The leaders of the Entente sent troops from Romania and Czechoslovakia to suppress the Soviet republic. On August 1, 1919, the Soviet government in Hungary fell. In January 1920, as a result of parliamentary elections, Admiral M. Horthy came to power. The monarchy was restored in the country. Horthy, who took the post of regent (ruler), established a dictatorial regime. Nationalist organizations, including youth ones, served as his ideological and political support. Although the multi-party system was preserved, the National Unity Party became the real ruling party, in which the leading role was played by the elite of entrepreneurs, landowners, and officials.
The proclamation of a Soviet republic in Slovakia is connected with the events in Hungary. This happened on June 16, 1919. after the entry of the Hungarian Red Army into Slovak territory. The new government adopted resolutions on the nationalization of banks, industrial and commercial enterprises, the confiscation of landowners' estates, the introduction of an 8-hour working day, etc. Three weeks later, Slovakia was occupied by Czechoslovak government troops. The Soviet Republic fell.
Labor and socialist movement
Simultaneously with these revolutionary events in 1918 - early 1920s, there was a rise in the labor movement in many European countries. It gained especially significant scope in Italy. The workers demanded higher wages, the introduction of an 8-hour working day, and expanded trade union rights. At the same time, the call “Let’s do it like in Russia!” gained great popularity. In the summer of 1919, a general strike was held in defense of Soviet Russia and Soviet Hungary.
In 1920, several nationwide strikes took place, and factory councils were created at enterprises. In the summer of this year, workers in the metallurgical and then some other industries began to seize enterprises. They themselves organized the production and marketing of products, the payment of wages, the security of factories, etc. In a number of cities in Northern Italy, workers also took control of the activities local authorities management - municipalities.
Events of 1919-1920 (“Red Biennium”, as defined by historians) raised the question of the goals and methods of struggle before the Italian socialists. Reformist leaders were against the overthrow of the existing order and radical methods of struggle. Seeing this, revolutionary socialists led by Antonio Gramsci and Palmiro Togliatti separated from the Socialist Party and founded the Communist Party in January 1921.
In general, the events of 1918 - early 1920s became a touchstone for all trends of the labor and socialist movements, which should not only in theory, but also in practical activities define and defend their positions. Some were satisfied with what had been achieved in democratic revolutions and saw the meaning of further movement in gradual social reforms. Supporters of the left, revolutionary movement, who advocated the transition from bourgeois revolutions to socialist ones and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, began to create communist parties.
Organizational design communist movement occurred in March 1919 at the Founding Congress of the Third Communist International in Moscow. The first documents of the Comintern set the tasks of the struggle for world revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of soviets. The Third International was viewed as a single world communist party, the “headquarters of the world revolution.” This initially presupposed the unquestioning subordination of national parties to the governing body - the Executive Committee of the Comintern, which was located in Moscow.
For their part, the right-wing Social Democrats revived the Second International (in Bern) in 1919, and centrist groups created the so-called II 1/2 International in Vienna in 1921. In 1923, these organizations united to form the Workers' Socialist International. Thus, two opposing currents took shape in the socialist movement - communist and social democratic.
Figures and facts
Number of workers' parties and organizations in the world (data at the beginning of 1921):
- communist parties (without the RCP(b)) - 760 thousand people;
- social democratic and socialist parties - about 3 million people;
- International Federation of Trade Unions (“Amsterdam International”) - almost 22 million people.
References:
Aleksashkina L.N. / General history. XX - early XXI centuries.
The world after the First World War. Versailles-Washington system
Formation of new states. The First World War brought enormous trials to peoples and states. At its final stage, the largest multinational empires fell - Russia, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. As a result, a whole group of sovereign states appeared on the map of Europe. Finland was one of the first to declare its independence on December 6, 1917, and in the same month the Soviet government recognized this status.
Without exaggeration, 1918 could be called the “year of independence” due to the particularly significant number of newly proclaimed states.
For some countries, for example Poland, Lithuania, it was about the revival of the once lost independence, others appeared on the map for the first time under their national names- Finland, Estonia, etc. A special group was made up of states that united several related Slavic peoples - Czechoslovakia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes (Yugoslavia).
The formation of a sovereign state was a turning point in the life of each of the peoples. However, the legacy of the war was economic devastation and strained social relations. The energy of liberation revolutions did not exhaust itself with the acquisition of independence, but turned to solving internal problems. The discussion was about choosing ways for further development. Thus, in Finland, already in January 1918, the Council of People's Representatives was created, which proclaimed itself a “revolutionary power.” An armed struggle began between the units of the Finnish Red Guard, which enjoyed the support of the Russian Bolsheviks, and government troops under the command of General K. G. Mannerheim. In the spring of 1918, the revolutionary forces were defeated with the help of German troops brought into the country at the request of the Finnish government. Events in Finland demonstrated both the severity of internal class confrontation and the significant role of external forces, and ultimately, the close intertwining of what was happening in a particular country with the general processes of that turning point.
December 1 - formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes (since 1929 - the Kingdom of Yugoslavia).
Revolutionary events of 1918 - early 1920s.
The second revolutionary wave in the history of the 20th century arose in European countries. The events of 1917 in Russia were followed by revolutions in Germany and the vast possessions of Austria-Hungary.
The revolution in Germany began on November 3, 1918 with a demonstration of military sailors, during which demands were made for an end to the war, the abdication of the Kaiser, etc. The next day, sailors' and soldiers' councils and a workers' council were created, which called for a general strike. Covering industrial cities, the revolutionary wave quickly approached Berlin. On November 9, the abdication of the Kaiser, the appointment of a regent and elections to the National Constituent Assembly were announced.
The first “revolutionary government” - the Council of People's Representatives was headed by Social Democrats Friedrich Ebert (head of the right wing of the SPD) and Hugo Gase (left wing of the SPD). Germany was proclaimed a “socialist republic”. The government program provided for the introduction of universal suffrage, the establishment of an 8-hour working day, unemployment benefits, and the abolition of the semi-feudal law “on servants”. Left Social Democrats, primarily the Spartacus group led by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, considering these measures only “bourgeois political reform,” advocated more decisive action.
In the course of subsequent events, the division between the revolutionary left and reformist right movements deepened. Reformist leaders achieved recognition of trade union rights, the introduction of an 8-hour working day and a system of collective agreements between workers and enterprise owners. These were concrete results that corresponded to the ideas of the right-wing Social Democrats about the goals of the struggle. However, the left Social Democrats created the Communist Party of Germany at the end of December 1918, the program of which put forward the tasks of establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat and the transition to socialism.
At the beginning of January 1919, the confrontation between revolutionary-minded workers and the government resulted in a direct clash. A general strike broke out in Berlin, calls were made to overthrow the government and seize power, and armed workers' detachments appeared. However, at this moment the workers did not have a single leadership center. The troops brought to the capital brutally suppressed the uprising. The communist leaders K. Liebknecht and R. Luxemburg were captured and killed by army officers.
In February - April 1919, a new wave of workers' protests arose. Many thousands of strikes took place in the capital and the main industrial regions of the country. A Soviet Republic was proclaimed in Bavaria on April 13. The revolutionary government led by the communist Eigen Levin decided to introduce workers' control at enterprises, nationalize banks, form Red Army detachments, etc. But two weeks later the republic was defeated.
The government sought to suppress workers' protests, both with the help military force, and promises to take into account the most important demands of the workers in the constitution being created at that time. In the summer of 1919, the constitution was adopted by the National constituent assembly in the city of Weimar. Universal suffrage and “representation of the people” were introduced. At the same time, greater powers were granted to the president. He appointed and dismissed the head of government and ministers, could dissolve the Reichstag (parliament), was the commander-in-chief and had the right to introduce emergency measures and suspend the operation of certain articles of the constitution, etc. The rights of the legislative body - the Reichstag were limited by both the president and the Imperial Council. Thus, the Weimar constitution reflected not only the democratic achievements of the working people, but also the desire of a certain part of the Germans to establish strong power and control of the state machine over society.
The last powerful surge of the revolutionary wave in Germany was the workers' uprisings in the summer - autumn of 1923, the culmination of which was the attempted uprising in Hamburg (October 23-25), organized by the communists led by Ernest Thälmann. The demonstrations were suppressed, their leaders and many participants were arrested.
Dramatic events took place in 1918-1919. and in other European countries. A republic was proclaimed in Hungary in October 1918. The new government introduced a number of political freedoms, but was unable to change anything in economic and social relations. In this situation, the Communist Party of Hungary (established in November 1918) put forward demands for radical changes, a transition to a socialist revolution. Having received the support of the workers and predominant influence in the Soviets and united with the Social Democrats into a single Socialist Party, the Communists moved to action. On March 21, 1919, the bourgeois government was overthrown in Budapest and the Hungarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed. The new government introduced suffrage for all citizens, except those who exploited the labor of others, dissolved the old courts and police and created new law enforcement agencies. Banks, industrial enterprises, transport, as well as landowners' lands, which made up most of the cultivated land, were nationalized. The wages of workers and employees increased. Working people's families moved into the mansions of the rich.
The leaders of the Entente countries sent troops from Romania and Czechoslovakia to suppress the Soviet Republic.
On August 1, 1919, the Soviet government in Hungary fell. In January 1920, as a result of parliamentary elections, Admiral Miklos Horthy came to power. The monarchy was restored in the country. Horthy, who took the post of regent, established a dictatorial regime.
The emergence of the Soviet Republic in Hungary was connected with the events in Hungary. Slovakia, proclaimed on July 16, 1919, after the entry of the Hungarian Red Army into Slovak territory. The new government adopted resolutions on the nationalization of banks, industrial and commercial enterprises, the confiscation of landowners' estates, the introduction of an 8-hour working day, etc. Three weeks later, Slovakia was occupied by Czechoslovak government troops. The Soviet Republic fell.
In 1918-1919 Soviet governments and Soviet republics were also proclaimed in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Despite military support from the Russian Bolsheviks, they were soon destroyed.
In 1918 - early 1920s. There was a rise in the labor movement in many European countries. It reached a particularly significant scale in Italy. The workers demanded higher wages, the introduction of an 8-hour working day, and expanded trade union rights. The call “Let’s do it like in Russia!” has gained great popularity. In the summer of 1919, a general strike was held in defense of Soviet Russia and Soviet Hungary. In 1920, several nationwide strikes took place, and factory councils were created at enterprises. Workers in the metallurgical industry, and then some other industries, began to seize their enterprises. They themselves organized the production and marketing of products, the payment of wages to workers, the security of factories, etc. (such “strikes in reverse” were called “Italian”). In a number of cities in Northern Italy, workers took control of the activities of local governments - municipalities. Revolutionary-minded socialists led by Antonio Gramsci and Palmiro Togliatti founded the Communist Party of Italy in January 1921.
Events of 1918 - early 1920s. became a touchstone for all currents of the labor and socialist movement, which had to define and defend their positions not only in theory, but also in practice. Some were satisfied with what had been achieved in democratic revolutions and saw the meaning of further movement in gradual social reforms. Others advocated “the transition from bourgeois to socialist revolutions and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat.” Revolutionary-minded socialists began to create communist parties.
The organizational formation of the communist movement took place in March 1919 at the Founding Congress of the Third Communist International in Moscow. The first documents of the Comintern set the tasks of the struggle for world revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of Soviets. The Third International itself was viewed as a single world communist party, “the headquarters of the world revolution.” This implied the subordination of national parties to the governing body - the Executive Committee of the Comintern, which was located in Moscow.
For their part, the right-wing Social Democrats revived the Second International in 1919 (in the city of Bern), and centrist groups created the so-called
"Two-Half" International. In 1923, these organizations united to form the Workers' Socialist International. This is how the final split of the socialist movement took place into two opposing currents.
Versailles-Washington system. On January 18, 1919, a peace conference opened at the Palace of Versailles near Paris. Politicians and diplomats from 32 states had to determine the outcome of the war. Soviet Russia did not receive an invitation to the conference.
The main role at the conference belonged to representatives of the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan, but the real main proposals were made by the members of the Big Three - US President William Wilson, British Prime Minister D. Lloyd George and the head French government J. Clemenceau. They imagined the conditions of the world differently. V. Wilson back in January 1918 proposed the “14 points” - a program for a peaceful settlement and post-war organization of international life in accordance with democratic principles, in in a certain sense competing with foreign policy initiatives Russian Bolsheviks.
The provisions included in the “14 points”: the establishment of a just peace and the renunciation of secret diplomacy; freedom of navigation; equality in economic relations between states; arms limitation; settlement of colonial issues taking into account the interests of all peoples; liberation of occupied territories and determination of borders of a number of European countries; the formation of an independent Polish state, including “all lands inhabited by Poles” and with access to the sea; creation of an international organization guaranteeing the sovereignty and integrity of all countries.
The French Prime Minister J. Clemenceau took a different position. He pursued more practical purposes: to achieve compensation for all French losses in the war, maximum territorial and monetary compensation, as well as the complete economic and military weakening of Germany.
The experienced and flexible politician D. Lloyd George, too, sought to balance the positions of the parties and avoid extreme decisions. He considered three goals to be the most important: to recognize Germany as responsible for starting the war; establish peace conditions feasible for Germany; by “a real settlement of the European problem” to eliminate the danger of a new war.
On June 28, 1919, a peace treaty between the Allied powers and Germany was signed in the Hall of Mirrors at the Grand Palace of Versailles. The text of the treaty also included provisions on an international organization promoting the maintenance of peace - the League of Nations and its Charter.
Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany transferred Alsace and Lorraine to France, the regions of Eupen and other Belgium, part of Upper Silesia to Poland, and the northern part of Schleswig to Denmark. A demilitarized zone was established on both banks of the Rhine (it was forbidden to build fortifications and maintain armed forces here). The Saar coal basin was transferred to the control of the League of Nations for 15 years. Danzig (Gdansk) was declared a “free city”, the city of Memel (Klaipeda) seceded from Germany (later it was included in Lithuania). In total, 8 parts of the territory, on which a tenth of the country's population lived, were torn away from Germany. In addition, Germany was deprived of its colonial possessions, and its rights to the Shandong province in China were transferred to Japan. Restrictions on numbers (no more than 100 thousand people) and weapons were introduced German army. Germany also had to pay reparations.
Later they were signed peace treaties With former allies Germany - Austria (September 10, 1919), Bulgaria (November 27, 1919), Hungary (June 4, 1920) and Ottoman state(10 August 1920). They determined the borders of these countries, introduced restrictions on the size of the armed forces, and provided for the payment of reparations to the victors.
The newly created League of Nations took part in the redistribution of colonial possessions. The so-called “mandate system” was introduced, according to which colonies taken from Germany and its allies under the mandate of the League of Nations were transferred under the guardianship of primarily Great Britain and France. The United States of America, whose president put forward the idea and actively promoted the creation of the League of Nations, did not join this organization and did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles. This indicated that the new system eliminated some contradictions in international relations, but gave rise to others.
The post-war settlement also affected the Far East, where the interests of the British and French, who had previously penetrated into this region, and new contenders for influence - the United States and Japan - collided. To solve existing problems, a conference was convened in Washington (November 1921 - February 1922), which was attended by representatives of the USA, Great Britain, Japan, France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Portugal and China. Soviet Russia, whose borders were in this region, did not receive an invitation to the conference this time either.
As a result of the discussions, several treaties were adopted, which secured the rights of the United States, Great Britain, France and Japan to certain territories (for Japan this meant recognition of its rights to the seized possessions of Germany). The ratio of the naval forces of individual countries in Pacific Ocean. The issue of China was especially considered. On the one hand, the principle of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China was proclaimed, and on the other, the provision of “equal opportunities” for the great powers in this country. Thus, a monopoly takeover of China by one of the powers was prevented (a similar threat existed from Japan), but hands were freed for the joint exploitation of a huge country.
Established by the early 1920s. The balance of power and mechanisms of international relations in Europe and the world were called the Versailles-Washington system. This system lacked a very important participant - Soviet Russia.
Soviet Russia in international relations of the early 20s. From 1920-1921 The Soviet state began to establish relations with other countries. Peace treaties were signed with Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland, which included provisions on mutual recognition and borders. Treaties of friendship and cooperation were concluded with our southern neighbors - Iran, Afghanistan, and Turkey. They were based on the recognition of the independence of the named states, the equality of partners, and in this way they differed from the agreements that the Western powers imposed on the countries of the East.
At the same time, after the signing of the Anglo-Soviet trade agreement (March 1921), the establishment of economic ties between Russia and European countries began. In 1922, representatives of Soviet Russia were invited to an international economic conference in Genoa (it opened on April 10). The Soviet delegation was headed by the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs G.V. Chicherin. Western powers hoped to gain access to Russian natural resources and markets, as well as find ways to economically and political influence to Russia. The Soviet state was interested in establishing economic ties with outside world and diplomatic recognition.
The issue of external debts became a means of pressure on Russia from the West. Tsarist Russia and the Provisional Government and compensation for the property of foreign citizens nationalized in Soviet Russia. Soviet country was ready to recognize the pre-war debts of Russia and the right of former foreign owners to receive in concession property that previously belonged to them, subject to legal recognition Soviet state and providing him with financial benefits and loans. Russia proposed canceling war debts. At the same time, the Soviet delegation made a proposal for a general reduction in armaments.
It was not possible to reach a general agreement at the conference. But Soviet diplomats were able to hold separate negotiations with representatives of the German delegation in Rapallo (a suburb of Genoa). On April 16, a Soviet-German agreement was concluded on the resumption of diplomatic relations. Both countries refused to compensate each other for losses caused during the war. Germany recognized the nationalization of German property in Russia, and Russia refused to receive reparations from Germany. The agreement came as a surprise to international diplomatic and political circles, both because of the very fact of its signing and its content. This was a success for diplomats of the two countries and an example for others. It became increasingly obvious that the problem of relations with Soviet Russia had become one of the main problems of international politics of that time.
1. Describe the significance of the formation of new states in Europe after the First World War.
2. Explain why the proclamation of many independent states was accompanied by an intensification of internal political struggle.
3. What was the expression and what consequences did the disengagement have during the events of 1918-1919? two currents in the social democratic movement?
4. Assess the influence of the 1917 revolution in Russia on the events of 1918 - early 1920s. in other countries.
5. Explain what may have been the reason for the nomination of communist leaders in 1919 and the early 1920s. ideas of the world proletarian revolution. Why, in your opinion, was this idea not realized either at that time or subsequently?
6. What were the differences in the positions of the Big Three during the Paris Conference? What was their explanation?
7. Indicate which contradictions were eliminated and which arose as a result of the creation of the Versailles-Washington system.
Questions and tasks
1. Describe the positions of the main currents of German social democracy in the revolution of 1918 - 1919. What were the differences between them?
There were two main currents in German Social Democracy: reformist and revolutionary.
Supporters of the reformist movement collaborated with entrepreneurs and achieved some concrete results: recognition of trade union rights, the introduction of an 8-hour working day and a system of collective agreements between workers and owners of enterprises. Entrepreneurs made these concessions to prevent the worst - the nationalization of plants and factories.
Supporters of the revolutionary movement (primarily the Spartak group led by K. Liebknecht and R. Luxemburg) advocated the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the transition to socialism.
The main differences between these two movements were in the methods of achieving the goal - building socialism. Reformists believed that this was a long-term process and socialism must be built gradually and peacefully. The revolutionaries believed that the goal could be achieved through violent means.
2. What are the main results of the revolution of 1948-1919? in Germany. What interests social strata did they answer?
The main result of the revolution of 1918 - 1919. Germany adopted a constitution. In this constitution German government tried to take into account the democratic gains of the working people.
3. Describe the Weimar Constitution. What features of Germany’s situation at that moment were reflected in this document?
The Weimar Constitution stated that “state power comes from the people,” and introduced universal suffrage and “popular representation.” At the same time, greater powers were granted to the president. He appointed and dismissed the head of government and ministers, could dissolve the Reichstag (parliament), was commander-in-chief, had the right to introduce emergency measures and suspend certain articles of the constitution, etc. The rights of the legislative body (Reichstag) were limited by both the president and the Imperial Council.
This constitution reflects the desire of a certain part of the Germans to establish strong power, control of the state machine over society.
4. *What would you classify as the general results of the events of 1918 – early 1920s in European countries?
The general results of the events of 1918 - early 1920s in European countries include the growing importance of social democratic parties, the adoption of democratic constitutions (Germany, etc.) in the interests of the working class. In general, the events of 1918 - early 1920s became a touchstone for all movements of the labor and socialist movements, which had to define and defend their positions not only in theory, but also in practice. Some were satisfied with what had been achieved in democratic revolutions and saw the meaning of further movement in gradual social reforms. Supporters of the left, revolutionary movement, who advocated the transition from bourgeois revolutions to socialist ones and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, began to create communist parties. As a result, there was a final split in the socialist movement into two opposing currents - communist and social democratic.
The establishment of Soviet power in Russia in 1917 had a huge impact on revolutionary events in European countries in 1918 – early 1920s. It was the example of Soviet Russia, where one party was able to seize power and begin to carry out radical changes, that served as a kind of “inspiration” for European revolutionaries who wanted to deepen the revolution. In addition, Soviet Russia was the only one who supported the proclamation of Soviet power in Hungary and Slovakia.
6. Explain when, under the influence of what events, the final demarcation of currents in European social democracy occurred.
The final demarcation of currents in European social democracy occurred due to the fact that supporters of the left, revolutionary current, who advocated the transition from bourgeois revolutions to socialist ones and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, began to create communist parties.
After this, the communist movement received organizational form in March 1919 at the Founding Congress of the Third Communist International in Moscow. The Third International was viewed as a single world communist party, the “headquarters of the world revolution.” This initially implied the unquestioning subordination of national parties to the governing body - the Executive Committee of the Comintern, which was located in Moscow.
For their part, the right-wing Social Democrats revived the Second International (in Bern) in 1919, and centrist groups created the so-called II 1/2 International in Vienna in 1921. In 1923, these organizations united to form the Workers' Socialist International. Thus, there was a final split of the socialist movement into two opposing currents - communist and social democratic.
3. Revolutionary movement in 1919-1920
Both internal and foreign policy The Dashnak government caused sharp discontent among broad sections of the Armenian people. The revolutionary struggle of the working people for Soviet power intensified. In the spring and especially summer of 1919 peasant movement in Armenia experienced a noticeable rise, indicating the discontent of the broad peasant masses agricultural policy government. In many villages of Armenia, peasants began to take decisive action, refused to pay taxes, took away land from large landowners. Peasants' uprisings against the authorities and landowners took place in a number of villages in Zangezur, Dilijan, Alexandropol, Karklis and other districts. The labor movement also revived. There were strikes by printers in Yerevan, railway workers in Alexandropol, and employees of state institutions went on strike. The Bolshevik organizations of Armenia intensified their activities among the masses. In September 1919, the first meeting of the communist organizations of Armenia took place in Yerevan, which became an important milestone towards the unification of the country's communist organizations. At the meeting, the governing body of the Bolshevik organizations in Armenia was elected - the Armenian Committee of the RCP (Armenkom). Work to unite the Bolshevik organizations of Armenia was continued at the first conference of communist organizations of Armenia, which took place in January 1920 in Yerevan. Having considered the issue of the political situation in the country, the conference recognized the priority task of the Bolshevik organizations to expand the revolutionary struggle, overthrow the Dashnak government and establish Soviet power in Armenia. The conference completed the unification of the disparate communist organizations of Armenia around a single leadership center and thereby created important prerequisites for completing the organizational formation of the Communist Party of Armenia. The Armenian Committee of the RCP (b) elected by the conference included S. Kasyan, A. Mravyan, S. Alaverdyash and others. Seeing the growing activity of Bolshevik organizations, the government resorted to drastic measures to suppress the revolutionary movement. In February 1920, repressions against Bolshevik organizations intensified, and a number of their leaders were expelled from the country. The government sought to outlaw the Communist Party of Armenia. But these measures were unable to prevent the brewing of a revolutionary crisis in the country. Young people took an active part in the revolutionary movement in Armenia. Young workers and students, imbued with communist ideas, fought against the ruling system and social injustice. In the spring of 1919, the organization of young communists of Yerevan - “Spartak” was created, which established close ties with the revolutionary youth organizations of Tbilisi and Baku. The leadership core of the Spartak organization included Gukas Ghukasyav and Agasi Khanjyan. “Spartak” is the first Komsomol organization in Armenia. The strengthening of the revolutionary movement in Armenia was largely due to the change general situation in Russia and Transcaucasia in favor of the revolution. By the beginning of 1920, Soviet Russia had defeated the main forces of internal counter-revolution and foreign interventionists, and was confidently moving toward a victorious conclusion to the civil war. In April of the same year, the working people of Azerbaijan, with the help of units of the Red Army of Soviet Russia, overthrew the Musavatist government and established Soviet power. These events stimulated the rise of the revolutionary movement in Armenia. The revolutionary crisis reached its climax in May 1920. The May Day demonstrations and rallies held in Yerevan, Alexandropol, Karei, Sarikamysh, Karaklis and other cities were held under anti-government slogans and showed the determination of the masses to fight for the victory of Soviet power. The performances in Alexandropol, which actually became the center of the movement, acquired a more stormy and organized character. Here the Bolshevik organization took control of the uprising. On May 2, 1920, the armored train “Vardan Zoravar” (“Commander Vardan”), stationed at the Alexandropol station, under the command of Sarkis Musayelyan, refused to obey the government, went over to the side of the revolutionary masses and became the headquarters of the uprising. The Military Revolutionary Committee was elected to lead the uprising, which on May 10 addressed the working people, declared the Dashnak government overthrown and proclaimed Soviet power in Armenia. Alexandropol fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks. However, they showed slowness, switched to defensive tactics, and entered into negotiations with government representatives. This allowed the government to send troops loyal to it to Alexandropol, which captured the city. Soviet power in Alexandropol fell, which had crucial for the progress of the uprising in other regions of Armenia. Following Alexandropol, the uprising began in Karei, then in Sarikamysh. But here, too, the uprisings were suppressed by government troops. In mid-May, the uprising swept Norbayazet district, where the rebels held many villages until the end of May. For more than a month and a half, the rebel workers of Kazakh and Shamshadin, where the uprising also began in mid-May, resisted government troops. Then the uprising spread to the villages of Ijevan district, and at the end of May to Zangezur. Thus, the uprising became widespread, although it was predominantly in the nature of isolated actions. It was precisely this fragmentation and lack of coordination of actions that made the task of the government easier, which managed to suppress the May armed uprising of the working people of Armenia. The outcome of the uprising was also influenced by the fact that Soviet Russia, busy at that time with a brutal struggle against Wrangel and the White Poles, was deprived of the opportunity to provide direct assistance to the Armenian rebels. The Dashnak government carried out brutal reprisals against the participants in the uprising. Hundreds of people were thrown into prison, many participants in the uprising were forced to leave Armenia and flee to Soviet Azerbaijan. During the Uprising, hundreds of workers gave their lives for Soviet power, including the leaders of Bolshevik organizations Ghukas Ghukasyan, Hovhannes Sarukhanyan and others. After the suppression of the uprising, S. Alaverdyan, S. Musayelyan, B. Gharibjanyan, A. Panyan, E. Sevyan and others were executed. The heroic May armed uprising clearly showed that the Dashnak government does not enjoy the support of the working masses. And although the uprising ended in defeat, the days of the Dashnak government were already numbered. The establishment of Soviet power in Armenia became the primary task of the working people.
4. Establishment of Soviet power in Armenia
The government of Soviet Russia closely followed developments in Armenia. It was clear that the Entente countries were making every effort to use Armenia in the fight against Soviet Russia, which was especially important for them after Soviet power won in Azerbaijan. Taking this into account, Soviet Russia made attempts to tear Armenia away from the Entente countries, establish normal relations with it, and prevent Armenia from becoming an anti-Soviet springboard. To this end, the government of Soviet Russia made a proposal to begin negotiations between the RSFSR and Armenia. At the initiative of the Soviet government, at the end of May 1920, negotiations began in Moscow between the government delegations of Soviet Russia and Armenia. The delegation of Soviet Russia included people's commissar Foreign Affairs G. Chicherin and his deputy L. Karakhan; The Armenian delegation was headed by the Armenian writer Left Shant. The Soviet side proposed concluding an agreement between the two countries. Soviet Russia offered its mediation in resolving border issues between Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan and in regulating Armenian-Turkish relations. 5 The Armenian delegation delayed the negotiations in every possible way because its government pinned its hopes on the Western powers, which at that time were negotiating with Turkey regarding the conclusion of a peace treaty with it. The Dashnak government hoped that the Entente countries would force defeated Turkey to satisfy the interests of Armenia. The Soviet government showed consistent persistence in negotiations with Armenia and offered to continue negotiations in Yerevan, repeatedly stating that Soviet Russia was guided by a selfless desire to provide assistance to the Armenian people. “All actions of Soviet Russia in the Caucasus,” stated the Soviet government, “are aimed at providing friendly action to the further calm development of the Armenian people, just like their neighboring peoples. During the difficult trials experienced by the Armenian people and other peoples of the Middle East, Soviet Russia stands as a selfless friend of workers of every nationality.” Boris Legrand, plenipotentiary representative of the RSFSR in Armenia, was appointed head of the Soviet delegation to continue negotiations in Yerevan. But the Dashnak government, which had pinned its hopes on the Treaty of Sèvres, again delayed the resumption of negotiations. It soon became clear, however, that the delay in negotiations was very costly for the Armenian people. The short-sighted policy of the Dashnak government led to the fact that Armenia found itself isolated, face to face with Turkey. Carrying out an aggressive policy, Türkiye launched an invasion of Armenia. In September 1920, Turkish troops went on the offensive and occupied Sarikamysh and Kagygzvan on the 20th of the same month. On October 30, the Turks occupied Kare, and on November 6, Alexandropol. In vain did representatives of the Dashnak government in Europe turn to the allied governments and the League of Nations for help; all these appeals yielded nothing, no help came. The Soviet government assessed the Turkish invasion as aggression. In October 1920, V. I. Lenin noted that the Turks, having launched an attack on Armenia, had the intention of capturing the entire Transcaucasus. The war with Turkey brought new suffering to the Armenian people. In the occupied territory of Armenia, the Turks committed atrocities, destroyed Armenian population, robbed villages. Streams of refugees poured into the central regions of the country. General position has become catastrophic in the country. The war with Turkey consumed the last material resources of the country and left agricultural production without workers. The country was dominated by anarchy, robbery and arbitrariness. The government was unable to control the situation within the country; even army units were no longer subordinate to the authorities. On November 24, the government of A. Ohanjanyan resigned. On the same day, a new Dashnak government was formed, headed by Simon Vratsyan. In its declaration, the new government was forced to admit stalemate The country, however, was unable to indicate a way out of it. The salvation of the country, which was on the verge of destruction, was taken into their own hands by the masses under the leadership of the Communist Party. Back in June 1920, the organizational formation of the Communist Party was completed