Red Petrograd: Revolution in the Factories, 1917-1918 (Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies)

This book explores the impact of the 1917 Revolution on factory life in the Russian capital. It traces the attempts of workers to take control of their working lives from the February Revolution through to June 1918, when the Bolsheviks nationalised industry. Although not primarily concerned with the political developments of the Revolution, the book demonstrates that the sphere of industrial production was a crucial arena of political as well as economic conflict. Having discussed the structure and composition of the factory workforce in Petrograd prior to 1917 and the wages and conditions of workers under the old regime, Dr Smith shows how workers saw the overthrow of the autocracy as a signal to democratise factory life and to improve their lot. After examining the creation and activities of the factory committees, he analyses the relationship of different groups of workers to the new labour movement, and assesses the extent to which it functioned democratically. Frontmatter Acknowledgements (page x) Introduction (page 1) 1 A profile of the Petrograd working class on the eve of 1917 (page 5) 2 The tsarist factory (page 37) 3 The February Revolution: A new dispensation in the factories (page 54) 4 The structure and functions of the factory committees (page 80) 5 Trade unions and the betterment of wages (page 103) 6 The theory and practice of workers' control of production (page 139) 7 Deepening economic chaos and the intensification of workers' control (page 168) 8 The social structure of the labour movement (page 190) 9 The October Revolution and the organisation of industry (page 209) 10 The economic crisis and the fate of workers' control: October 1917 to June 1918 (page 230) Conclusion (page 253) Notes (page 266) Bibliography (page 308) Index (page 328) S.a. Smith. Began Life As A Ph. D. Thesis Undertaken At The Centre For Russian And East European Studies At The University Of Birmingham--p. X. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 308-327.