This Week in History

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CWA # 1275, 17 April 2024
This Week in History
16 April 1917: Lenin issues “April Theses”

  Ramya B

On 16 April 1917, Vladimir Lenin arrived in Petrograd (3 April, according to the old Russian calendar) from Switzerland through Germany. At the Finland Station, he delivered a speech that formed the basis for his ‘April Theses’. He read his theses at two meetings of the All-Russia Conference of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies on17 April. His ten directives were subsequently published on 20 April 1917, in Pravda No 26.

A brief background
On 2 March 1917, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne, paving the way for the formation of a provisional government. It was a remarkable victory for the Mensheviks. The liberal tenets by which the Provisional Government seeks to rule are announced, including the granting of amnesty to political prisoners, enhancing civil rights and freedoms, and setting up elections for a Constituent Assembly. However, the zeal of the February Revolution and the removal of the Tsar was short lived. The ongoing First World War and worsening of economic conditions engulfed the Russian populace. Inflation increased the animosity of the proletariat and peasants against their owners and pressured the provisional government. Workers formed committees to advocate for workers' control over factory management and sought the backing of the Soviets. Peasants petitioned the Provisional Government to revise land ownership and initiated rent strikes and the seizing of the property of landowners. 

The Petrograd Soviets exerted pressure on the Provisional Government by releasing an "Appeal to All the Peoples of the World" on 14 March, which rejected expansionist military objectives in favour of "revolutionary defensism." 

The return of Lenin and the April Theses
Amidst the tensions between the two key institutions of "dual power," the provisional government and Petrograd Soviet,” Vladimir Lenin arrived in Petrograd on 16 April  aboard a sealed train that had taken him from Switzerland through Germany. At the Finland Station, he delivered the famous speech that formed the basis for his ‘April Theses’. He read his theses at two meetings of the All-Russia Conference of Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies on April 17th, 1917 (old calendar April 4th). His ten directives were published on April 20, 1917, in Pravda No. 26.

The theses condemned the ‘Capitalist war’ promulgated by the ‘Bourgeoisie Government’ and denied support for the provisional government that has become an imperialist entity. He demanded that all powers be transferred to ‘Soviets of Workers Deputies’ that is, power to the hands of the proletariat and the poorest sections of the peasants. He elaborated on the future plans: to establish a Republic of Soviets of Workers’, Agricultural Labourers', and Peasants’ Deputies throughout the country from top to bottom; the abolition of the police, the army, and the bureaucracy; the confiscation and nationalisation of all landed estates; and the announcement to bring all forms of social production and the distribution of products under the control of the Soviets of Workers’ Deputies. He proposed the immediate union of all banks in the country into a single national bank under the control of the Soviets of Workers Deputies, a change in party name from social democracy to a communist party, and the establishment of a new revolutionary international.

He ended the theses by justifying the need for change as promulgated by Marx and Engels in the 1870s. “Without the Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, the convocation of the Constituent Assembly is not guaranteed, and its success is impossible". He condemns Plekhanov and Kerensky as ‘Russian social-chauvinists—socialists in word and chauvinists in deed’.

Highlights of the April Theses
•    Denied support for the provisional government (an imperialist entity
•    All powers to be transferred to ‘Soviets of Workers Deputies’ (Power to the hands of the proletariat and the poorest sections of the peasants)
•    Establish a Republic of Soviets of Workers’, Agricultural Labourers’ and Peasants’ Deputies throughout the country from top to ground 
•    Abolition of the police, the army and the bureaucracy
•    Confiscation and Nationalization of all landed estates
•    Announced to bring all forms of social production and the distribution of products under the control of the Soviets of Workers’ Deputies.
•    Immediate union of all banks in the country into a single national bank controlled by the Soviets of Workers Deputies
•    Proposed the change of party name (to replace social democracy to communist party)
•    Creation of a new revolutionary International 

The legacy of Lenin’s April Theses
The theses laid the ideological foundation for the October Revolution that resulted in the formation of the USSR. April's theses promised everything people wanted to hear. It led to the ‘July Days’ uprising of workers and soldiers in Petrograd, demanding the Soviets or the Bolsheviks take power, ultimately paving the way for the October Revolution and the rise of Lenin to power. 

Within a span of eighteen hours after taking control, Lenin released two important decrees. The first decree, known as the Decree on Land, advocated for private ownership elimination. The second decree, called the Decree on Peace, urged an immediate halt to hostilities and the negotiation of peace. The newly established administration eliminates all ranks, titles, and perks associated with the tsarist regime. In November, the elections for the Constituent Assembly begin, and a delegation of Bolsheviks initiates peace negotiations with German officers at Brest-Litovsk to bring an end to Russia's participation in the First World War.

Lenin’s April Theses can be accessed at https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/apr/04.htm#fwV24P024F02

Source: Lenin’s Collected Works, Progress Publishers, 1964, Moscow, Volume 24, pp. 19-26.

About the author
Ms Ramya B is an Associate Professor, Department of History at the Kristu Jayanti College, Bengaluru

In the series:
04 April 1968: Martin Luther King Jr assassinated
18 March 2014: Russia annexes Crimea
14 March 1879: Albert Einstein born in Germany
14 March 1849: The Sikh Army surrenders to the British
12 March 1918: Lenin shifts the capital to Moscow
11 March 1985: Mikhail Gorbachev becomes the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

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