thumb|Facsimile of the [[Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee proclamation of the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government]]

The Military Revolutionary Committee (Milrevcom; , ) was the name for military organs created by the Bolsheviks under the soviets in preparation for the October Revolution (October 1917 – March 1918). The committees were powerful directing bodies of revolt, installing and securing the Soviet power. They executed a role of provisional extraordinary organs the Bolshevik power.

The most notable ones were those of the Petrograd Soviet, the Moscow Soviet, and at Stavka. The Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee was created on .

Creation

The idea for organization of the armed revolt battle center belongs to Vladimir Lenin.,(Andrei Bubnov, Moisei Uritsky, Yakov Sverdlov, Felix Dzerzhinsky, Joseph Stalin) ||

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| October 31 || 12th Army MRC || Jānis Čarin (, )|| Until November 8, 1917, existed illegally in Cēsis

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| rowspan=2| November 4 || Estonia MRC || (Jaan Anvelt, Viktor Kingissepp) ||

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| Pskov MRC || || Name changed to Northern Front (from November 8, 1917)

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| rowspan=2| November 7 || Moscow MRC || Georgy Oppokov (, Nikolay Muralov, , Aleksandr Arosev, Vladimir Smirnov)||

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| Voronezh revkom || ||

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| November 8 || Ryazan MRC || ||

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| rowspan=3| November 9 || Minsk MRC || Aleksandr Myasnikyan (, Vilhelms Knoriņš, Kārlis Landers) || Renamed to Western Front and Northwestern Region

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| Samara MRC || Valerian Kuybyshev ||

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| Tula revkom || Grigory Kaminsky ||

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| November 10 || Tomsk MRC || ||

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| rowspan=2| November 11 || Kiev MRC || (Andriy Ivanov, Volodymyr Zatonsky, , ) || Recreated as Kiev revkom on January 28, 1918

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| Smolensk revkom || Semyon Ioffe ||

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| November 21 || Dagestan MRC || ||

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| November 27 || Orenburg MRC || ||

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| December 1 || Southwestern Front MRC || Grigory Razzhivin () ||

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| December 15 || Romanian Front MRC || Pyotr Baranov (, ) ||

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| December 20 || Barnaul MRC || ||

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| rowspan=5| December 23 || Kharkov MRC || Comrade Artyom (Valery Mezhlauk, Moisey Rukhimovich) ||

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| Yekaterinburg MRC || Nikolay Krestinsky ||

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| Vinnitsa MRC || ||

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| Odessa MRC || ||

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| Simferopol MRC || ||

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| December 29 || Sevastopol revkom || Yuri Gaven ||

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| rowspan=2| January || Astrakhan revkom || ||

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| Shuya MRC || Mikhail Frunze ||

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| January 10 || Caucasus Army MRC || Grigory Korganov (Boris Sheboldayev) ||

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| January 23 || Don MRC || () ||

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| January 30 || Kuban - Black Sea MRC || ||

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| March 2 || Semirechye MRC || ||

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Influence

In the weeks following the October insurrection, military revolutionary committees based on the MRC of Petrograd were set up throughout the other soviets and helped cement Bolshevik control. These other MRCs were formed by locals but agents from the Petrograd MRC were often in positions to give advice or direction. By the end of October 1917, representatives from the Petrograd MRC were on assignments in at least forty-four cities as well as 113 military units throughout Russia, Turkestan, and the Caucasus.

See also

  • Revolutionary Military Council

References

Further reading

  • Resis, Albert (July 1977). Lenin on Freedom of the Press. Russian Review, Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 274–296.
  • Rigby, T.H. (Jan. 1974). The First Proletarian Government. British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 37–51.
  • Utechin, S.V. (Oct. 1958). Bolsheviks and Their Allies after 1917: The Ideological Pattern. Soviet Studies, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 113–135.
  • Lenin, V.I. Marxism and Revolt. Full collection of articles (Марксизм и восстание, Полн. собр. соч.). Ed. 5. Vol. 34
  • Questionnaires of councils of the Central Industrial district (October 1917 – January 1918). "Historical Archives". 1960