July Days
Encyclopedia
The July Days refers to events in 1917 that took place in Petrograd, Russia
, between 3 July and 7 July ( Julian calendar
) (16 July - 20 July, Gregorian calendar
), when soldiers and industrial workers engaged in spontaneous demonstrations against the Russian Provisional Government
. The Bolshevik
s tried to provide leadership to the demonstrations.
The military attacked the peaceful demonstration and engaged in repression against the Bolsheviks. Lenin went into hiding, while other leaders were arrested. The outcome of the July Days represented a temporary decline in the growth of Bolshevik power and influence in the period before the October Revolution
.
, threatening the Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries (SR’s) with the breakup of the government coalition. A government crisis was the result.
Anti-war feelings were rife among the populace at that time. These feelings intensified with the news of the failed offensive. Discontented workers started protests which soon spiraled into violent riots.
The machine gunners’ appeal met with a favorable response from the soldiers of the Moscow, Pavlovsky, Grenadiers, and 1st Reserve regiments. These units marched out in a demonstration under the slogans “All Power to the Soviets”. Workers from factories joined them. The leadership of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, dominated by Mensheviks and SRs, forbade the demonstration.
The Bolsheviks decided to provide leadership to the movement in order to give it an organized and peaceful character. On the afternoon of 17 July a peaceful demonstration of 500,000 workers, soldiers, and sailors under the slogan “All Power to the Soviets” was held. Anti-government demonstrations were also held in Moscow
, Nizhny Novgorod
, Krasnoiarsk, and other cities.
The military authorities sent troops against the peaceful demonstration, leaving more than 700 people killed and wounded. The SRs and Mensheviks supported punitive measures against the people. They began to disarm workers, disband revolutionary military units, and carry out arrests. On 18–19 July the offices and printing plant of Pravda
and the headquarters of the Bolshevik Central Committee were destroyed. On 19 July the Provisional Government issued an order for the kidnapping of Lenin, who was forced to go underground. On 20 July troops loyal to the regime arrived in Petrograd from the front.
decided to take action to restrain the developing situation.
Under the pressure of what seemed like a developing mass demonstration of workers and soldiers in the streets, the leadership of the Bolshevik Military Organization, the Petersburg Committee and later on the Central Committee, reversed their decision, coming out in support of the street demonstrations. Both Trotsky and Zinoviev persistently argued that the street protests remain peaceful. After this decision, the Bolshevik Military Organization actively organized and supported the demonstration, mobilizing reinforcements from the front lines and dispatching armored cars to capture key posts including bridges and the Peter and Paul Fortress
.
No public record was ever made of the internal debates of the Bolshevik Party around the July Days. There were some within the Bolshevik Party who advocated an intensification of activity on 4 July. Most prominent among those were Nikolai Podvoisky
and Vladimir Nevsky, leaders of the Bolshevik Military Organization, V. Volodarsky
, a member of the Petersburg Committee and Martin Latis of the Vyborg
District Bolshevik Organization, who was highly critical of the Central Committee's decision to hold back the masses. Others in the Bolshevik Party, including V.I. Lenin were split on what to do. On 5 July at two or three o'clock in the morning, after the Provisional Government dispatched a number of loyal troops from the front to the streets of Petrograd and won the support of a number of previously neutral garrisons of troops, the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party decided to call off the street demonstrations.
financial backing.
Lenin successfully fled and went into hiding in Finland
, but many other Bolshevik leaders were arrested, including Trotsky and Lunacharskii who were apprehended on 22 July. They remained in prison until Kerensky released them in response to the Kornilov Affair
.
The government crisis was intensified by the resignation of Prime Minister Lvov. On 8 July Kerensky became prime minister. The SR-Menshevik leadership of the Soviets proclaimed the Provisional Government acknowledged it to have “unlimited powers.” The soviets became a powerless appendage of the government. The suppression of the demonstrations marked the end of dual power. The peaceful development of the revolution was seen as impossible.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, between 3 July and 7 July ( Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
) (16 July - 20 July, Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
), when soldiers and industrial workers engaged in spontaneous demonstrations against the Russian Provisional Government
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . On September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire was officially dissolved by the newly created Directorate, and the country was...
. The Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s tried to provide leadership to the demonstrations.
The military attacked the peaceful demonstration and engaged in repression against the Bolsheviks. Lenin went into hiding, while other leaders were arrested. The outcome of the July Days represented a temporary decline in the growth of Bolshevik power and influence in the period before 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...
.
Causes
On 15 July, 1917 the Cadets walked out of the Russian Provisional GovernmentRussian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . On September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire was officially dissolved by the newly created Directorate, and the country was...
, threatening the Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries (SR’s) with the breakup of the government coalition. A government crisis was the result.
Anti-war feelings were rife among the populace at that time. These feelings intensified with the news of the failed offensive. Discontented workers started protests which soon spiraled into violent riots.
Demonstrations
On 16 July spontaneous demonstrations broke out in Petrograd. They were started by the soldiers of the 1st Machine-gun Regiment, who were influenced by the anarchists. At a secret conference on 15 July the anarchists had decided to call the Petrograd workers and soldiers out to an anti-government demonstration.The machine gunners’ appeal met with a favorable response from the soldiers of the Moscow, Pavlovsky, Grenadiers, and 1st Reserve regiments. These units marched out in a demonstration under the slogans “All Power to the Soviets”. Workers from factories joined them. The leadership of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, dominated by Mensheviks and SRs, forbade the demonstration.
The Bolsheviks decided to provide leadership to the movement in order to give it an organized and peaceful character. On the afternoon of 17 July a peaceful demonstration of 500,000 workers, soldiers, and sailors under the slogan “All Power to the Soviets” was held. Anti-government demonstrations were also held in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
, Krasnoiarsk, and other cities.
The military authorities sent troops against the peaceful demonstration, leaving more than 700 people killed and wounded. The SRs and Mensheviks supported punitive measures against the people. They began to disarm workers, disband revolutionary military units, and carry out arrests. On 18–19 July the offices and printing plant of Pravda
Pravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
and the headquarters of the Bolshevik Central Committee were destroyed. On 19 July the Provisional Government issued an order for the kidnapping of Lenin, who was forced to go underground. On 20 July troops loyal to the regime arrived in Petrograd from the front.
Bolshevik involvement
The demands which the workers and soldiers took to the streets with in the July Days were influenced by the Bolshevik Party. 'All Power to the Soviets' and other slogans put forth by the Bolsheviks were taken up by the workers and soldiers on the streets. The demonstration was organized by the Bolshevik Military Organization without authorization from the Central Committee after pressure from rank and file soldiers. During the afternoon of 3 July the Central Committee with the support of Kamenev, Trotsky and ZinovievGrigory Zinoviev
Grigory Yevseevich Zinoviev , born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky Apfelbaum , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician...
decided to take action to restrain the developing situation.
Under the pressure of what seemed like a developing mass demonstration of workers and soldiers in the streets, the leadership of the Bolshevik Military Organization, the Petersburg Committee and later on the Central Committee, reversed their decision, coming out in support of the street demonstrations. Both Trotsky and Zinoviev persistently argued that the street protests remain peaceful. After this decision, the Bolshevik Military Organization actively organized and supported the demonstration, mobilizing reinforcements from the front lines and dispatching armored cars to capture key posts including bridges and the Peter and Paul Fortress
Peter and Paul Fortress
The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706-1740.-History:...
.
No public record was ever made of the internal debates of the Bolshevik Party around the July Days. There were some within the Bolshevik Party who advocated an intensification of activity on 4 July. Most prominent among those were Nikolai Podvoisky
Nikolai Podvoisky
Nikolai Ilyich Podvoisky was a Russian revolutionary. He played a large role in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and wrote many articles for the Soviet newspaper Krasnaya Gazeta...
and Vladimir Nevsky, leaders of the Bolshevik Military Organization, V. Volodarsky
V. Volodarsky
V. Volodarsky was a Marxist revolutionary and early Soviet politician. He was assassinated in 1918.-Early years:Moisei Markovich Goldstein V. Volodarsky was a Marxist revolutionary and early Soviet politician. He was assassinated in 1918.-Early years:Moisei Markovich Goldstein V. Volodarsky was...
, a member of the Petersburg Committee and Martin Latis of the Vyborg
Vyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
District Bolshevik Organization, who was highly critical of the Central Committee's decision to hold back the masses. Others in the Bolshevik Party, including V.I. Lenin were split on what to do. On 5 July at two or three o'clock in the morning, after the Provisional Government dispatched a number of loyal troops from the front to the streets of Petrograd and won the support of a number of previously neutral garrisons of troops, the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party decided to call off the street demonstrations.
Consequences
Kerensky ordered the arrest of Lenin and the other leading Bolsheviks, accusing them of inciting revolt with GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
financial backing.
Lenin successfully fled and went into hiding in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, but many other Bolshevik leaders were arrested, including Trotsky and Lunacharskii who were apprehended on 22 July. They remained in prison until Kerensky released them in response to the Kornilov Affair
Kornilov Affair
The Kornilov Affair, or the Kornilov Putsch as it is sometimes referred to, was an attempted coup d'état by the then Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, General Lavr Kornilov, in August 1917 against the Russian Provisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky.-Background:Following the...
.
The government crisis was intensified by the resignation of Prime Minister Lvov. On 8 July Kerensky became prime minister. The SR-Menshevik leadership of the Soviets proclaimed the Provisional Government acknowledged it to have “unlimited powers.” The soviets became a powerless appendage of the government. The suppression of the demonstrations marked the end of dual power. The peaceful development of the revolution was seen as impossible.