The Petrograd Workers and the Fall of the Old Regime: From the February Revolution to the July Days, 1917

232 Pages·1983·10.385 MB·English

by  David Mandel

THE PETROGRAD WORKERS AND THE
FALL OF THE OLD REGIME
This is a study of the first months of the Russian Revolution as seen
from the factory districts of Petrograd, the 'red capital'. Starting from a
description of political culture in the different strata of the working
class, the author proceeds to analyse the workers' conception of the
revolution both in the Russian state and in the factory system. Making
systematic use of the vast published and archival material now availa
ble, he shows that the workers greeted February as a national demo
cratic revolution, albeit one with certain social goals that alone made
political freedom meaningful. But these social demands posed no
direct threat to capitalism, nor were they intended to. In this light, the
radicalisation that followed, culminating in the July demonstrations
aimed at forcing the moderate Soviet leaders to take power, appears as
an essentially defensive reaction based upon the growing realisation by
the workers that the propertied classes and their liberal representa
tives in the coalition were hostile to their aspirations and had turned
against the revolution.
An attempt at understanding the revolution 'from below', this book
is intended to fill a gap in the Western literature that has paradoxically
focused mainly on institutions, parties and leaders in a period marked
precisely by the active participation of the broadest layers of society,
and the workers in particular, in shaping their own collective fate.
Basing himself as far as possible on primary sources emanating directly
from the workers, the author questions the prevailing view of the
workers as essentially unconscious, manipulated actors, anarchisti
cally-inclined prey of unscrupulous demagogues. He concludes that
the workers were certainly no less conscious politically than the more
educated members of society and that they constituted a vital, creative
and dynamic force in the Russian revolutionary process.
David Mandel was born in Toronto in 1947. He took his BA at the
Hebrew University and PhD at Columbia University, where he was
appointed Senior Research Fellow in the Russian Institute (1977-8).
In the course of his research for this book he spent a year in Leningrad
as a Canada-USSR Exchange Scholar (1975). He has taught at the
Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of
Birmingham, the Departments of Political Science at McGill Univer
sity and l'Universit~ du Qu~bec Ii Montr~al, and the Department of
Sociology at l'Universit~ de Montr~al. He is the author of several
articles on the Russian revolutionary period and labour movement.
STUDIES IN SOVIET HISTORY AND SOCIETY
General Editor: R. W. Davies
The series consists of works by members or associates of the inter
disciplinary Centre for Russian and East European Studies of the
University of Birmingham, England. Special interests of the Centre
include Soviet economic and social history, contemporary Soviet
economics and planning, science and technology, sociology and edu
cation.
John Barber
SOVIET HISTORIANS IN CRISIS, 1928-1932
Philip Hanson
TRADE AND TECHNOLOGY IN SOVIET-WESTERN
RELATIONS
Jonathan Haslam
SOVIET FOREIGN POLICY, 1930-33
Nicholas Lampert
THE TECHNICAL INTELLIGENTSIA AND THE SOVIET
STATE
Robert Lewis
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRIALISATION IN THE USSR
Neil Malcolm
SOVIET POLITICAL SCIENTI~TS AND AMERICAN
POLITICS
David Mandel
THE PETROGRAD WORKERS AND THE FALL OF THE
OLD REGIME
THE PETROGRAD WORKERS AND THE SOVIET
SEIZURE OF POWER
Roger Skurski
SOVIET MARKETING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
J.N. Westwood
SOVIET LOCOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY DURING
INDUSTRIALIZATION, 1928-1952
Further titles in preparation
THE PETROGRAD
WORKERS AND THE
FALL OF THE OLD
REGIME
From the February Revolution
totheJulyDays, 1917
David Mandel
M
MACMILLAN
in association with the
Palgrave Macmillan
© M. David Mandel 1983
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1983 978-0-333-30936-0
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission
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First edition 1983
Reprinted 1990
Published by
MACMILLAN ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-1-349-05892-1 ISBN 978-1-349-05890-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-05890-7
For I. K. N. and R. J.
v
This book was sponsored by the
Russian Institute of Columbia University
in the City of New York
vi
Contents
List of Tabla and Map ix
Glossary xi
Acknowledgements xii
1 INTRODUCTION 1
2 TYPES OF POLITICAL CULTURE IN THE
INDUSTRIAL WORKING CLASS OF PETROGRAD 9
The Skilled Workers 9
The Unskilled Workers 23
The 'Worker Aristocracy' 33
The Generational Factor 40
3 THE SOCIAL COMPOSmON OF THE INDUSTRIAL
WORKING CLASS OF PETROGRAD AND ITS
DISTRICTS 44
The Geographical Factor-Social Composition of the
Districts of Petrograd 48
4 THE HONEYMOON PERIOD-FROM THE
FEBRUARY TO THE APRIL DAYS 61
Background to February-The Labour Movement
During the War 62
The February Revolution-The Birth of Dual Power 63
The Workers' Attitudes on State Power and Their
Relationship to Census Society 66
Dual Power in the Light of pre-February Attitudes 73
Why Dual Power in February? 79
S THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION IN THE
FACTORIES 8S
The Eight-hour Day 86
Wages 89
The Press Campaign Against 'Worker Egotism' 92
Worker-Management Relations-The
Democratisation of Factory Life 9S
vii
viii Contents
6 FROM THE APRIL TO THE JULY DAYS 111
The April Days 111
The First Coalition 120
The Break with Census Society 122
Underlying Causes of the Shift to Soviet Power 129
7 THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER IN THE
FACTORIES IN APRIL-JUNE 149
8 THE JULY DAYS 158
The Workers and the Soviet Majority 158
The Demonstrations of 3-4 July 161
The Aftermath 166
CONCLUSION: FOUR MONTHS OF
REVOLUTION-RESULTS AND PROSPECTS 177
Notes and References 181
Selected Bibliography 205
Index I.1
Page-numbering of the companion volume The Petrograd Workers and
the Soviet Seizure ofP ower will follow on consecutively from this book.
List of Tables and Map
2.1 Literacy of industrial workers in European Russia by type
of industry, August 1918 10
2.2 Average monthly wage of Petrograd workers by industry,
in rubles, 1913 and 1916 14
2.3 Literacy of women textile workers, metalworkers and all
industrial workers, by age, August 1918 2S
2.4 Participants in economic and political strikes in 1914 in
European Russia in metalworking and textiles 29
2.S Literacy of Petrograd metalworkers by age and sex, early
1918 41
3.1 Distribution and average concentration of Petrograd
workers by industry, 1January1917 4S
3.2 Changes in number of workers employed in Petrograd by
industry, 1January1914-1January1917 4S
3.3 Changes in number of industrial workers in Petrograd, by
age and sex, 1914-17 46
3.4 Distribution of industrial workers and metalworkers by
district, 1January1917 S2
3.5 Industrial workers employed in districts as percentage of
total district population S3
3.6 Social background of identified Bolshevik district com-
mittee members, March-June 1917 S6
6.1 Petrograd district duma election returns 126
Map The Districts of Petro grad in 1917 S 1
ix