Tsentralka
젠트랄카
The Central Committee of the Social Democratic Organisation of the Black Sea Fleet, formed in April 1904 in Sevastopol. A secret military organ under the Sevastopol city committee of the RSDLP, it united Social Democratic circles across the fleet's ships to prepare a fleet-wide mutiny. After the Third Party Congress in London (April 1905), it set the uprising for autumn 1905, but the plan was overtaken when the Potemkin erupted prematurely in June.
In depth
Background and Formation
The first Social Democratic circles in the Black Sea Fleet appeared in 1902–1903, but were small and isolated. In April 1904, the Central Fleet Committee was formed under the Sevastopol city committee of the RSDLP, uniting Social Democratic groups from several fleet crews into a single underground organisation. Sailors called it the 'Matrosskaya Tsentralka' (Sailors' Central Committee), a name that persisted until the February Revolution of 1917.
Membership and Connections
The Tsentralka included Bolsheviks A. M. Petrov, G. N. Vakulenchuk, I. A. Chernyshev and others. It established ties with Bolshevik committees in Sevastopol, Nikolaev, Kharkov and other cities, and maintained direct contact with Lenin in Geneva, facilitated by Petrov, whose sister was married to Bolshevik A. M. Stopani and lived there at the time.
The Uprising Plan and the Potemkin
At the Third Congress of the RSDLP in London (April 1905), attended only by Bolsheviks, the party adopted a course toward armed insurrection. The Tsentralka accordingly planned a simultaneous fleet-wide mutiny for autumn 1905. The battleship Ekaterina II, which had the strongest revolutionary organisation, was to fire the first signal; pre-arranged sailor assault groups would then arrest the officers on each ship. But on 14 June 1905 (O.S.), the Potemkin erupted in mutiny over maggot-ridden meat. The Tsentralka leadership had considered the Potemkin the most 'backward' ship in revolutionary terms, and the uprising completely overturned the committee's plans. Just the day before, on 13 June, Potemkin sailor-leader Vakulenchuk had argued at a Tsentralka meeting that 'to delay means to fail the revolution' and persuaded the committee to let the Potemkin lead the Black Sea uprising.
Sources
- Russian Wikipedia, Восстание на броненосце «Потёмкин» : formation of the Sevastopol Tsentralka in April 1904, its plan for a fleet-wide uprising in autumn 1905, and the Potemkin mutiny overtaking that plan.
- Great Soviet Encyclopedia / Booksite.ru, Черноморский флот : confirms the April 1904 formation of the Central Fleet Committee ('матросская централка') and its Bolshevik connections.
- Leninism.su / Lychev memoirs : firsthand account of the 'матросская централка' formed in 1904 under the Sevastopol city committee of the RSDLP, its members (Petrov, Vakulenchuk, Chernyshev), and its Geneva connection to Lenin.
- English Wikipedia, Grigory Vakulenchuk : Tsentralka as the revolutionary sailors' organisation, Vakulenchuk's June 1905 argument for uprising and his role in convincing Tsentralka leaders to let the Potemkin lead.