Page:Raymond Augustine McGowan - Bolshevism in Russia and America (1920).pdf/7

Rh a change in the land system, in contrast to the Marxian emphasis upon the industrial system. Their revolutionary character, however, drew them towards the Bolsheviki.

They prepared for the revolution by agitating among the Soviets. These were simply associations of workingmen, soldiers, or peasants. The first Soviet after the Russian revolution was formed among the workmen and soldiers in Petrograd, and from there they spread over Russia. The first Soviets of the peasants started with the poorest peasants and the soldiers, themselves peasants, gathering together at the village inn.

In the absence of a democratic Duma or Parliament, the Soviets soon became the representative organizations of their communities. Their first action, however, was to back Kerensky's Government, carry on whatever local duties were needed or desired, and express the aspirations of the Russian people in the new days.

The peasants wanted land. The city workmen wanted bread and the comforts of life and control of their work. The soldiers wanted respite from the caste discipline of the Russian army. All wanted peace. Lacking a legislative body to help them gain their ends immediately, they formed their Councils or Soviets and often took what they wanted and could get. Nevertheless they were waiting for a Constituent Assembly or Constitutional Convention to legalize what they had already done, and bring on the new era over all Russia.

The Constituent Assembly was being delayed, and the Bolsheviki used this delay for propaganda purposes. They called out for the Assembly but they did not want it to meet. It would be a body elected by all the people and if it met it would be so powerful, unless something were done first, that it would thwart the revolutionary aims of the Bolsheviki. The Bolsheviki wanted the dic-