All-Russian Democratic Conference

Background

After the suppression of General Lavr Kornilov's rebellion in August 1917, the coalition government that included the Kadets (Constitutional Democrats) collapsed. On September 1 (O.S.), a five-member Directory headed by Kerensky was formed as a temporary measure, but it lacked legitimacy. On September 3, a joint meeting of the Soviet Central Executive Committee (chairman Nikolai Chkheidze) and the Executive Committee of the All-Russian Council of Peasant Deputies (chairman Nikolai Avksentiev) decided to convene a congress of "all of organized Russian Democracy."

There were disagreements among the initiators about its purpose. Menshevik Fedor Dan aimed to create a homogeneous democratic government excluding the bourgeoisie, while his party comrade Irakli Tsereteli emphasized creating a representative body (the Pre-Parliament) to hold the Provisional Government accountable. Kadet leader Pavel Milyukov charged that the Conference effectively capitulated to the Bolshevik slogan "All Power to the Soviets," while Trotsky countered that it was a "Compromisers' scheme" to dilute the real power of the Soviets through artificial vote allocation.

Composition and Proceedings

The Conference opened at the Alexandrinsky Theatre on September 14 (27). A total of 1,582 delegates attended, including 230 from the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, 230 from the Peasants' Soviets, 100 from trade unions, 500 from local government bodies (dumas and zemstvos), 125 from army and navy organizations, and 158 from cooperatives. By party: 532 Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs), 172 Mensheviks, 136 Bolsheviks, 55 Popular Socialists (Trudoviks), and 400 non-partisan delegates.

Two issues dominated. First, should the new government be a homogeneous democratic one excluding the bourgeoisie, or a coalition including the Kadets? Voting was contradictory: a majority favored a coalition with the bourgeoisie, but a majority also voted against including the Kadets, the main bourgeois party. Under pressure from Tsereteli and Kerensky, the Conference ultimately passed a resolution permitting a coalition with the Kadets. The Bolsheviks walked out in protest.

Second was the creation of the Pre-Parliament (All-Russian Democratic Council, Временный совет Российской республики). Launched on September 20 (October 3), it allotted only 58 of 555 seats to the Bolsheviks, and the Provisional Government later added representatives from "qualified" (property-owning) institutions, further shifting the balance rightward. Contrary to initial plans, the Pre-Parliament was stripped of oversight power over the government and reduced to a consultative body.

Lenin's Response and Historical Significance

From hiding in Finland, Lenin wrote "From a Publicist's Diary — The Mistakes of Our Party" (September 22-24), denouncing Bolshevik participation as a "shameful" and "blatant mistake." He insisted that the Pre-Parliament's "sole purpose is to distract the workers and peasants from the growing revolution" and demanded immediate boycott and preparation for armed insurrection. Under Lenin's pressure, the Bolshevik Central Committee reversed its position. On October 7 (20), the opening day of the Pre-Parliament, Trotsky read a declaration on behalf of the Bolshevik faction stating that "with this government of popular betrayal we have nothing in common" and led the walkout. The All-Russian Democratic Conference was the last attempt to reconstitute power within the framework of revolutionary legality; its failure decisively opened the path to armed uprising.