Сергей Девятов – The XXth Century Political History of Russia: lecture materials (страница 9)

On February 17, 1919, with reference to the decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, the VTsIK declared the transfer of the right of adjudication from the extraordinary commissions to revolutionary tribunals. But this did not mean that these measures put an end to the manifestations of the «extreme emergency» regime. The Cheka kept its full powers in the regions where Soviet power had proclaimed martial law, and in 1919 such regions prevailed. Revolutionary tribunals were not, and could not be, a model of justice. Extraordinary commissions issued their judgments at the end of a trial, and revolutionary tribunals examined the cases on the basis of these judgments. Moreover, members of extraordinary committees were required to be members of the revolutionary tribunals. Standing orders on the revolutionary tribunals, which were adopted by VTsIK on April 12, 1919, prescribed that they were to be governed only by the conditions of the case and revolutionary conscience while judging.

Revolutionary tribunals were formed in the Military Revolutionary Councils at the fronts, and in the armies and corps as well; they were called Military Revolutionary Tribunals. Not only military men and prisoners of war were under their jurisdiction, but all criminals who had committed crimes within the zone of military operations as well. The sentences were enforced immediately. Death sentences were executed after two days; their enforcement could be stopped by the corresponding Military Revolutionary Council.

All extraordinary committees underwent organizational changes. This was, perhaps, the main sign of a return to the regime of regular emergency measures. Indicative in this context were the warnings by Petr Kropotkin, the anarchist theorist, in his letter to Lenin dated September 17, 1918, that the extraordinary bodies were on the eve of a serious trial. Like all other theorists of the revolution, Kropotkin appealed to the experience of the French Revolution. He tried to show how the terrorists of the Committee of General Security (the National Guard) became its grave-diggers in 1794. His studies of the literature made Kropotkin conclude that along with the Committee of General Rescue and particularly with the Paris Commune founded in 1793, «along with this revolutionary force, which was already partly constructive, another type appeared that was a police force, presented by Committee of General Security and its police departments. At first, this police force that had achieved momentum during the Reign of Terror, demolished the Sections (agencies of the People’s Revolution that appeared in large cities – G. B.), then the Commune and finally the Committee of General Security itself,» he wrote to Lenin.

Kropotkin did not conceal from Lenin the reason why he needed to examine this period of history: «Your comrades/terrorists are about to do the same in the Soviet Republic.» The Russian people have a great reserve of creative potential. Hardly had these forces begun to rebuild life on a new foundation from the complete ruin brought on by the war and revolution, when «the police, with their duties imposed on them by the Terror, commenced their corrosive and pernicious activity». They paralyzed any kind of construction and appointed completely inadequate people. Police cannot be a «builder» of a new life. But nevertheless it was the police who were becoming the supreme power in all small towns and villages. «Where will such a situation lead Russia?» asked Kropotkin. «I believe it will provoke the fiercest reaction.» The first signal of understanding this danger was «The decree on the All-Russian and local extraordinary committees» adopted by VTsIK in October 28, 1918. The document stipulated the controlled status of the local Chekas and their subordination to the Soviets and executive committees. In January 1919, Political Bureaus replaced local extraordinary committees in the districts. They were headed by the chiefs of the local police departments. Beginning February 17, 1919, in accordance with the decree of VTsIK, the All-Russian Extraordinary Committee had the right to administer punishment only in regions under martial law.

However, regulation of the activity of all extraordinary committees as well as of revolutionary tribunals had an ambiguous character and in reality its effect was minimal. Their activity was directly subordinate to Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party through Dzerzhinsky’s office; to be more precise, it was subordinated to Lenin personally.

All of these contradictions in reforming the structure of the extraordinary bodies caused new surges of the «extreme emergency regime» throughout the Civil War. It would be enough to mention how they tried to solve the food problem of February and April of 1919, the summer punitive expedition of 1919 to Ukraine, the Crimean events in late 1920, and the events in Tambov guberniya in 1920–1921.

The dissolution of the Ukrainian Rada at the end of 1918 and the foundation of the Ukrainian State in place of the Ukrainian People’s Republic signaled the dictatorial tendency of numerous newly organized state formations which were out of Bolshevik control. «The law on the interim state structure of the Ukrainian government» vested hetman Skoropadski with dictatorial authority.

The situation in the North of Russia was almost the same. At the end of 1918, in Archangelsk, Soviet power was overthrown and a «socialist» supreme government of the North region was formed. The city was opened to the troops of interventionist countries. However, after a failed military coup undertaken by the «Rightists», contradictions between «democratic» authorities and the occupation administration finally led to the formation in early October of a new «neosocialist» Provisional government. Socio-political powers were reorganized toward the «Rightists» and a regime of «hard power.»

In August, political organizations such as «The Unity of Renaissance» and «The National Center» – masterminds of the «White cause» – formed a consolidated platform, the meaning of which was articulated in the following statement: «In the process of state formation and until the moment the state structure is completed, authority […] must be vested in an authorized, strong, and independent supreme body capable of acting. Its structure will consist of a directorate of three: a Commander-in-Chief of counterrevolutionary armies and two representatives of socialist and non-socialist movements».

When in September the destiny of the Committee of Russian Constituent Assembly members was called in question due to the activity of the Red Army, state power started to concentrate in Omsk. The Council of Ministers was deprived of its decision-making function, which was delegated to the Administrative Council. It embodied the heads of all ministries of the Siberian regional government and their deputies. On September 8, the Siberian regional Duma came under full jurisdiction of the Administrative Council, which even had the right to dissolve it.

At the same time Grishin-Almazov, a moderate defense minister, was removed from office and replaced by Ivanov-Rinov. The latter did not just quickly restore the signs and symbols of the former regime but also gave the army absolute freedom of action by his directives. The army was permitted to do with civilians whatever it wished. Any semblance of civilian control over the military was eliminated.

The Directory of Ufa shared the same fate. Finally, in September 1918, during a meeting of merchants and manufacturers in Omsk the following statement was announced: «We’ve seen all the political parties in power, but the only result has been the destruction of Russia. We need a strong reasonable authority with a heart of stone to keep Russia alive. Russia is at war, every piece of its territory is a theater of operations, so there cannot be two ruling powers, there has to be only one, and that one should be the military.»

It was Admiral Kolchak who was entrusted with the mission of creating a strong power structure. As a consequence of the coup d’etat of November 1918, he became Supreme Leader of the Russian State. He stated then: «They call me a «dictator» – so be it… I’m not afraid of this word and I always remember that from the earliest times dictatorship has been a republican institution. As well as the Senate of ancient Rome, which appointed a dictator to rule the country passing through hard times, the Council of Ministers of Russia named me to the Supreme Governor during the most difficult period of the state.»

The extraordinary bodies formed in Kolchak’s administration (under such generals as Denikin, Yudenich and others), strongly resembled «state power,» though under the generals’ jurisdiction. Military bodies played a particular role in the machinery of punishment and repression. Those military bodies were represented by front-line and military field courts, but particularly by the counter-intelligence agencies that appeared haphazardly and everywhere. These departments of military control never were as much applied as during the Civil War. They were created by the main headquarters, military governors, in almost every military unit, political organization and governmental authority. Like extraordinary committees in the Soviet Republic, they symbolized the lack of trust and suspiciousness that reigned all over the country.