Avram Gots
Encyclopedia
Avram Rafailovich Gots was a Russian Socialist-Revolutionary leader, active in the Revolutions of 1905 and 1917.
(1866-1906), a revolutionary active in the populist ('narodnik
') movement and instrumental in organising the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
(PSR). Avram Gots studied at various universities in Germany, becoming one of the 'Heidelberg SRs', like his friends N.D. Avksentiev
, V.M. Zenzinov
, V.V. Rudnev
and I.I. Fondaminsky
. These SRs were influenced by Marxism and Neo-Kantian philosophy as well as by the older Russian populist tradition. (That was also true of V.M. Chernov, the party's chief theoretician.)
A.R. Gots participated in the Russian Revolution of 1905
and for a time served in the 'Fighting Organisation' of the PSR, which was responsible for acts of `political terror' and 'expropriations'. In 1906, Avram's brother Mikhail died. In 1907, A.R. Gots was arrested and sentenced to hard labour in Siberia. He was in Siberi when World War I
broke out and initially joined the anti-war, 'Internationalist
' faction of the PSR. Freed by the February Revolution
of 1917, he returned to Petrogad and became a leading member of the Petrograd soviet. He also served as chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, which was elected by the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies in June 1917. He now supported a 'Revolutionar Defencist' position, supporting war in defence of the revolution but not for imperialistic aims. This brought him closer to the right wing of the PSR and led him into conflict with the SR 'Internationalists' around Chernov and M.A. Natanson
. Gots also collaborated with Menshevik
leaders in the soviet, particularly F.I. Dan, M.I. Liber
and I.G. Tsereteli
.
Gots opposed the October Revolution
and tried to organise armed resistance to the Bolsheviks. He was a member of the anti-Bolshevik 'Committee of Salvation of the Homeland and the Revolution'. When Admiral Kolchak overthrew the coalition 'Directorate', Gots sided with those SRs who suspended military action against the Bolsheviks, for fear of aiding the anti-democratic counter-revolution.
In 1920, Gots and 33 other SR leaders were arrested. He was the main defendant at the so-called 'Trial of the Right SRs' in 1922, sometimes described as the first 'show trial' in Soviet Russia. The trial that became a cause celèbre among Western socialists. Theodor Liebknecht
, brother of the assassinated German Spartacist
leader Karl
, acted as a lawyer for the defence; the venerable anarchist P.A. Kropotkin
appealed personally to Lenin to spare the lives of the defendants, Karl Kautsky
wrote impassioned pamphlets about the trial and American trade unionists demonstrated for the release of the SRs. The Bolseviks countered with massive demonstrations and courtroom disruptions demanding the death penalty. In the end, Gots and eleven of his co-defendants were sentenced to death, but the sentences were suspended and the SRs were kept as 'hostages'.
After a period of imprisonment Gots was deported to Alma-Ata, where he worked in industry. He was re-arrested in 1937, and according to V.M. Zenzinov he was shot that year. Other sources claim he survived until 1940.
Biography
Avram R. Gots came from a very wealthy family in Moscow. His older brother was Mikhail R. GotsMikhail Gots
Mikhail Rafailovich Gots was a Russian revolutionary, member of 'The People's Will' and one of the founders of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party . He as the older brother of Avram R. Gots.- Biography :...
(1866-1906), a revolutionary active in the populist ('narodnik
Narodnik
Narodniks was the name for Russian socially conscious members of the middle class in the 1860s and 1870s. Their ideas and actions were known as Narodnichestvo which can be translated as "Peopleism", though is more commonly rendered "populism"...
') movement and instrumental in organising the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
(PSR). Avram Gots studied at various universities in Germany, becoming one of the 'Heidelberg SRs', like his friends N.D. Avksentiev
Nikolai Avksentiev
Nikolai Dimitrovich Avksentiev was a leading member of the Russian Socialist-Revolutionary Party . He was one of the 'Heidelberg SRs' , like V.M. Zenzinov...
, V.M. Zenzinov
Vladimir Zenzinov
Vladimir Mikhailovich Zenzinov was a member of Russia's Socialist-Revolutionary Party, a participant of the First , Second , and Third Russian Revolutions, and an author of a number of books.-Biography:...
, V.V. Rudnev
Vadim Rudnev
Vadim Viktorovich Rudnev was a Russian politician and editor.-In Russia:Vadim Rudnev studied medicine at Moscow University, but in 1902 was exiled to Siberia for his revolutionary activities. Amnestied in 1905 with other political prisoners, he became a member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party...
and I.I. Fondaminsky
Ilya Fondaminsky
Ilya Isidorovich Fondaminsky was a Jewish Russian author and political activist, in 1910s one of the leaders of the ultra left SR party, in 1917 a senior member of the Alexander Kerensky’s Provisional government.In 1918 Fondaminsky took part...
. These SRs were influenced by Marxism and Neo-Kantian philosophy as well as by the older Russian populist tradition. (That was also true of V.M. Chernov, the party's chief theoretician.)
A.R. Gots participated in the Russian Revolution of 1905
Russian Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies...
and for a time served in the 'Fighting Organisation' of the PSR, which was responsible for acts of `political terror' and 'expropriations'. In 1906, Avram's brother Mikhail died. In 1907, A.R. Gots was arrested and sentenced to hard labour in Siberia. He was in Siberi when World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out and initially joined the anti-war, 'Internationalist
Internationalist/Defencist Schism
The terms 'Internationalist' and 'Defencist' were commonly used to describe the broad opposing camps in the international socialist movement during and shortly after the First World War. Prior to 1914, anti-militarism had been an article of faith among most European socialist parties...
' faction of the PSR. Freed by the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1917, he returned to Petrogad and became a leading member of the Petrograd soviet. He also served as chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, which was elected by the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies in June 1917. He now supported a 'Revolutionar Defencist' position, supporting war in defence of the revolution but not for imperialistic aims. This brought him closer to the right wing of the PSR and led him into conflict with the SR 'Internationalists' around Chernov and M.A. Natanson
Mark Natanson
Mark Andreyevich Natanson was a Russian revolutionary and one of the founders of the Circle of Tchaikovsky, Land and Liberty, and the Socialist-Revolutionary Party...
. Gots also collaborated with Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
leaders in the soviet, particularly F.I. Dan, M.I. Liber
Mikhail Liber
Mikhail Isaakovich Liber .M.I. Liber, sometimes known as 'Mark Liber', was a leader of the General Jewish Workers' Union . He also played a role in the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party and among the Mensheviks...
and I.G. Tsereteli
Irakli Tsereteli
Irakli Tsereteli was a Georgian politician, one of the leaders of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party and later the Georgian Mensheviks....
.
Gots opposed the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
and tried to organise armed resistance to the Bolsheviks. He was a member of the anti-Bolshevik 'Committee of Salvation of the Homeland and the Revolution'. When Admiral Kolchak overthrew the coalition 'Directorate', Gots sided with those SRs who suspended military action against the Bolsheviks, for fear of aiding the anti-democratic counter-revolution.
In 1920, Gots and 33 other SR leaders were arrested. He was the main defendant at the so-called 'Trial of the Right SRs' in 1922, sometimes described as the first 'show trial' in Soviet Russia. The trial that became a cause celèbre among Western socialists. Theodor Liebknecht
Theodor Liebknecht
Theodor Liebknecht was a German socialist politician.-Biography:Born in Leipzig in 1870 as the son of Wilhelm Liebknecht and the brother of Karl Liebknecht, Theodor Liebknecht studied law and worked as a lawyer in Berlin from 1899 on, becoming politically active after his brother's murder in...
, brother of the assassinated German Spartacist
Spartacist
Spartacist may refer to:*an ancient supporter Spartacus, who led a slave rebellion against the Roman Empire*The Spartacus League, a left-wing Marxist revolutionary movement in Germany during and just after World War I...
leader Karl
Karl Liebknecht
was a German socialist and a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. He is best known for his opposition to World War I in the Reichstag and his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919...
, acted as a lawyer for the defence; the venerable anarchist P.A. Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
appealed personally to Lenin to spare the lives of the defendants, Karl Kautsky
Karl Kautsky
Karl Johann Kautsky was a Czech-German philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theoretician. Kautsky was recognized as among the most authoritative promulgators of Orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels in 1895 until the coming of World War I in 1914 and was called by some the "Pope of...
wrote impassioned pamphlets about the trial and American trade unionists demonstrated for the release of the SRs. The Bolseviks countered with massive demonstrations and courtroom disruptions demanding the death penalty. In the end, Gots and eleven of his co-defendants were sentenced to death, but the sentences were suspended and the SRs were kept as 'hostages'.
After a period of imprisonment Gots was deported to Alma-Ata, where he worked in industry. He was re-arrested in 1937, and according to V.M. Zenzinov he was shot that year. Other sources claim he survived until 1940.