1. THE SECOND DUMA 1 AND THE TASKS OF THE PROLETARIAT.
Remember, comrades, that the Second Duma must inevitably lead to battle, to insurrection. Do not waste your strength on trifles.
2. LARIN AND KHRUSTALEV.1,2
You will recall what Y. Larin was advocating in his pamphlet, A Broad Labour Party and a Labour Congress. A broad labour party, as conceived by Larin, should embrace something like 900,000 out of the 9,000,000-strong Russian proletariat. The "signboard" has to come down—the party must not be Social-Democratic. The Social-Democrats and the Socialist-Revolutionaries must merge. The new party must be, in point of fact, a "non-partisan party" (Larin's own words). The Social-Democrats and Socialist-Revolutionaries must play the role of "propaganda bodies within a broad party."
Larin's plan, as anybody can see, is perfectly clear-cut, and his idea for a labour congress is distinguished by the absence of anything left unsaid or of the vagueness Axelrod's plan abounds in.4 For this clarity of thought we Bolsheviks have given praise to the guileless Comrade Larin and contrasted his clarity with the vagueness of "hidebound Menshevism" (Larin's words). At the same time we say that Larin's plan is an opportunist adventure because merger with the Socialist-Revolutionaries or a "non-partisan party" cannot lead to anything but confusion in the minds of workers and to difficulties for the Social-Democratic organization.
[...]
Comrade Khrustalev writes: "The organizations built up by Zubatov 5 and Gapon 6 rapidly got rid of their police flavour and conducted a purely class policy." They got rid of that because of the politically conscious participation of the organized Social-Democratic party which would never agree to handing over the political leadership of the proletariat to non-party organizations. It would seem that Comrade Khrustalev draws a distinction between "purely class" politics and Social-Democratic politics. We should very much like him to explain this idea candidly.
"There will be a labour congress," Comrade Khrustalev enjoins us, "and the Social-Democrats will participate in it." Of course we shall, if there is a congress. We participated in the Zubatov and Gapon workers' movements in order to fight for Social-Democracy. We shall participate in the Trudovik labour congress in order to fight for Social-Democracy against the Trudoviks and Trudovik non-party ideas. This argument is not to the advantage of the old Gapon trend or of the new non-party spirit.
Comrade Khrustalev appeals to "Bolshevik workers" and in so doing tries to set them at loggerheads with the Bolsheviks who have been agitating against the Soviet of Workers' Deputies.7 We do not intend to make any answer to that sally. We refer to Trotsky who is "non-group". Let Comrade Khrustalev read his book, In Defence of the Party; let him open it at the article entitled, "Mr. Prokopovich's Malignant Impartiality," page 82. When Comrade Khrustalev has read that article he will be ashamed of having hidden factional sallies behind a non-factional labour congress.
In two words we shall show politically conscious workers that the leading role of non-party committees in the politics of the proletariat (the election campaign, etc.) is a purely intellectualist whimsicality that would lead to excessive squabbling and bickering and thereafter back to Social-Democracy.
In conclusion let us again thank Comrade Khrustalev for the clarity and completeness of his propaganda for the labour congress. Larin and Khrustalev are the Bolsheviks' best allies against Axelrod.
His revolutionary activities began on "Bloody Sunday" (Old Style January 9, 1905) when he spoke in a hall of the "Assembly of Russian Factory Workers" and made an appeal to fight the autocracy (Chapter 6, Item 5, Inciting them to vengeance). In the evening he distributed the revolutionary messages of Father Gapon and over the next several days handed out donations to the families of striking workers.
I and my closest worker friends created the Council of Workers' Deputies. The official Social Democracy did not take any part in its creation. The genesis of the Soviet refers to the strike committee that we formed on January 9 (22) and of which I was the chairman until my arrest.
Compelling corroboration of Khrustalev's assertion is the fact that he was unanimously elected to be the first chairman of the St. Petersburg Council of Workers' Deputies (i.e., the Soviet) seven months later on October 14 (27). In addition the fact that Khrustalev was Ukrainian-born assists the hypothesis of Kharkov being the first Russian city to install a Soviet-style government (Chapter 7, Item 6, El Correo Gallego of October 27, 1905).
Khrustalev took part in the Fifth Congress of the R.S.D.L.P. (London: April 30 to May 19, 1907). Surely together with Axelrod and Larin, he proposed convening a non-Party Workers' Congress to broaden the base of the working-class movement. V. I. Lenin criticized the motion harshly and the congress voted it down.
In 1910 Khrustalev quit the R.S.D.L.P. and helped to organize a group of Russian syndicalists in Paris. He held that syndicalism was the sole healthy political option for the proletariat.
Later he became interested in the search for God (Chapter 2, Item 6, On the so-called religious seekings in Russia) and gave lectures on the religious character of the Russian people.
After the October Revolution he returned to his hometown of Pereiaslav (Ukraine) and there was executed in 1919 for anti-Soviet activities.
Russian sources: Wikipedia 1 and Wikipedia 2.
3 The journal Trud was banned the following day.
4 Pavel Axelrod was an early Russian Marxist member of the Emancipation of Labour Group. He belonged to the Menshevik faction from 1903 until his death in 1928. At the Fifth Party Congress (London: April 30 to May 19, 1907) Axelrod floated the idea of convening an all-Russian workers' congress and creating a legal workers' party. Source: Wikipedia.
5 Sergei Zubatov was a police administrator best known for advocating the creation of legal trade unions supervised by the police. Source: Wikipedia.
6 Chapter 6, Items 10 and 11.
7 Attests Khrustalev's claim on footnote 2 that a St. Petersburg Soviet of Workers' Deputies existed which rivalled the Social-Democratic Party.
3. THE DISSOLUTION OF THE SECOND STATE DUMA.
Moscow: A skirmish between strikers and police left some workers hurt and many arrested.
London: A conspiracy against the Czar has been uncovered. The plan was to bribe a Cossack officer to let place several dynamite bombs inside Tsarskoye Selo Palace. The plan failed when the officer denounced the plotters to the authorities. The number of conspirators is quite oversize. A conspiracy against Stolypin was also unearthed.
St. Petersburg (via Madrid 2, 8 PM): The Minister of Commerce inaugurated the first Russian AutoShow.
St. Petersburg (via Madrid 6, 10 PM): The squadron guarding Tsarskoye Selo Palace the residence of the Czar mutinied. The soldiers were imprisoned.
Russia (via Madrid 7, 10 PM): Police have made many arrests linked to the rebellion of the squadron guarding Tsarskoye Selo Palace.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 10): Brawls broke out among striking workers. Police intervened charging into the mêlée and making arrests. Several workers were hurt.
The Hague (Madrid 16): The news that the Czar has dissolved the Duma made a deep impression on the delegates of the powers attending the Peace Conference. It is believed that the news will affect the stance of the Russian delegate. Significant importance is imputed to the dissolution. It is said the Czar decreed it heeding to the advice of distinguished counsellors with the goal of forestalling chaos.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 16): The Czar dissolved the Duma. The Third Duma is convoked for the first days of September.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 16): Oskol the Duma representative was detained accused of conspiracy.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 17): The published ukase adjourns all Supreme Council sessions until November 14.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 18): The Duma president, fatigued by the debates, will go abroad; it is averred that he will not seek reelection.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 18): The government ordered the arrest of twenty-six deputies accused of conspiracy. Four were arrested as they boarded a train bound for Berlin.
Siberia (Madrid 23): Several individuals disguised as soldiers assailed the prison of a Siberian town with the object of freeing the inmates. The guards on duty repelled the assailants, killing several and apprehending three. The guards' captain was killed in the combat.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 24): A passenger train derailed at "Merlobow" (?) killing the two locomotive engineers, the stoker and six passengers. The derailment wrecked sixteen coaches and left two hundred and ten passengers injured.
Moscow (Madrid 25): A large number of workers went on strike. The proletarians are very upset. All manner of precautions were enacted to maintain law and order.
Tiflis (Madrid 27, 10 PM): Ten dynamite bombs were hurled onto the gardens of Erivan Plaza when it was full of people [Erivan Plaza today is called Freedom Square]. The bombs exploded with a loud report. Many people died. The number of wounded is substantial. Public access to the plaza is prohibited. The authorities are actively investigating to find the culprits.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 28): Forty-seven thousand people have been detained for political reasons since dissolution of the Duma.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 9): The Czar has left on a summer holiday to Norway. There he will hold talks with the Emperor of Germany.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 9): Revolutionaries threw a dynamite bomb at a military train, causing much damage to the rails.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 12): Revolutionaries lobbed a grenade into a police building. Fortunately the bomb did not explode. There would have been many casualties if it had. Detentions were made in connection with this incident.
St. Petersburg (Madrid 15): A formidable blaze in "Mobilley" (?) reduced a hundred and fifteen homes to ashes. Twenty inhabitants were scorched to death, forty hurt. The damage is substantial.
Odessa (Madrid 15): A bomb exploded at a factory killing eight people and wounding sixteen.
Tiflis (Madrid 17): Revolutionaries lobbed two grenades at General "Alitebanoff" (?) the former governor-general of the city. The general was accompanied by his family. He and his wife died.1 Several soldiers and one son of General "Alikianoff" (?) were injured.
Moscow (Madrid 23): The revolutionaries orchestrated disturbances. The police pounced on the rabble-rousers several times. There were several wounded and many arrests made.
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