To the Citizens of Russia (Lenin's Proclamation)
러시아 시민들에게 (레닌의 포고)
A proclamation drafted by Vladimir Lenin at Smolny and issued at 10 a.m. on 25 October 1917 in the name of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee. First published in the newspaper Rabochiy i Soldat and then disseminated via telegraph, multiple newspapers, and the wireless of the cruiser Aurora, it declared the Provisional Government deposed and Soviet power established as a fait accompli before the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets convened that afternoon. In just three short paragraphs, it compressed the Bolsheviks' core pledges: democratic peace, abolition of landed proprietorship, workers' control, and a Soviet government, into the October Revolution's first official document.
In depth
Original Russian Text
К гражданам России!
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Временное правительство низложено. Государственная власть перешла в руки органа Петроградского Совета рабочих и солдатских депутатов, Военно-революционного комитета, стоящего во главе петроградского пролетариата и гарнизона.
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Дело, за которое боролся народ: немедленное предложение демократического мира, отмена помещичьей собственности на землю, рабочий контроль над производством, создание Советского правительства – это дело обеспечено.
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Да здравствует революция рабочих, солдат и крестьян!
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Военно-революционный комитет при Петроградском Совете рабочих и солдатских депутатов.
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25 октября 1917 г. 10 ч. утра.
Korean Translation
러시아 시민들에게!
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임시정부는 타도되었다. 국가권력은 페트로그라드 프롤레타리아트와 수비대를 이끄는 군사혁명위원회, 즉 페트로그라드 노동자·병사 소비에트 대표 기관의 수중에 넘어갔다.
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민주적 평화의 즉각적 제안, 토지에 대한 지주 소유권의 폐지, 생산에 대한 노동자 통제, 소비에트 정부의 수립: 이 네 가지, 곧 인민이 투쟁해 온 위업은 이제 보장되었다.
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노동자, 병사, 농민의 혁명 만세!
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페트로그라드 노동자·병사 소비에트 부속 군사혁명위원회
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1917년 10월 25일 오전 10시
English Translation
To the Citizens of Russia!
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The Provisional Government has been deposed. State power has passed into the hands of the organ of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies: the Revolutionary Military Committee, which heads the Petrograd proletariat and the garrison.
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The cause for which the people have fought, namely, the immediate offer of a democratic peace, the abolition of landed proprietorship, workers' control over production, and the establishment of Soviet power: this cause has been secured.
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Long live the revolution of workers, soldiers and peasants!
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Revolutionary Military Committee of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies
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10 a.m., October 25, 1917.
Drafting and Dissemination
Lenin drafted the proclamation himself on the morning of 25 October (7 November N.S.) at the Bolshevik headquarters in the Smolny Institute. Issued under the name of the Military Revolutionary Committee, it was sent to press at 10 a.m. and first appeared in the evening newspaper Rabochiy i Soldat (Рабочий и Солдат) No. 8. It was subsequently reprinted in Derevenskaya Bednota, Izvestiya TsIK, and other newspapers, and transmitted nationwide via telegraph and the wireless station of the cruiser Aurora.
Political Function
The proclamation's core function was to create a fait accompli. By announcing the overthrow of the Provisional Government and the establishment of Soviet power before the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets had even convened, it confronted the delegates who would assemble that afternoon with a completed transfer of power that they could only ratify. The four pledges it enumerated: democratic peace, abolition of landed proprietorship, workers' control, and a Soviet government, were the Bolsheviks' consistent programmatic demands since Lenin's April Theses.
At 2:35 p.m. the same day, Lenin opened the emergency session of the Petrograd Soviet with the words: "Comrades, the workers' and peasants' revolution, about the necessity of which the Bolsheviks have always spoken, has been accomplished," reaffirming the proclamation's content.
Related historical events
Sources
- hist.msu.ru Full Russian text of the proclamation as verified against Декреты Советской власти, Т.I (1957), plus header identifying it as the VRK appeal of 25 October 1917.
- Marxists Internet Archive Official English translation from Lenin's Collected Works, Vol. 26 (1972). Confirms authorship, date, time (10 a.m.), and first publication in Rabochy i Soldat No. 8.
- doc20vek.ru Russian text with archival source note (ЦАОР, Газетный отдел, фонд листовок, № 1294). Commentary confirms Lenin's authorship, transmission via Aurora radio, and republication chain. Cross-referenced to Орлов, Георгиева, Георгиев, Исторический словарь (2012).
- Wikipedia (RU) Russian Wikipedia: the October Revolution article confirms the proclamation was issued at 10 a.m., quotes its key lines, and describes the military situation at issuance.
- Wikipedia (EN) English Wikipedia: confirms Lenin wrote the proclamation as Kerensky fled, that it was sent by telegraph, and that its purpose was to present the Soviet congress with a fait accompli.
- politpros.com Russian journal source: reprints the full text from Rabochiy i Soldat No. 8, adds publication history and VRK organizational context.