PRACTICES OF THE REVOLUTIONARY DUAL-PARTY SYSTEM: COALITION OF BOLSHEVIKS AND LEFT SRS IN THE AUTHORITIES OF MOSCOW AND MOSCOW REGION

Abstract

The article examines the problem of interaction between the representatives of the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries in the institutions of Soviet power in Moscow and the Moscow region in the first half of 1918. The author introduces new archival documents into scientific circulation, which serve as an important source for studying the conflicts between the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs in Moscow government institutions. Using specific examples of ideological and administrative clashes, the author studies the practices of interaction between the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs within the framework of a dual-party coalition. The author proves that the interaction of representatives of the two parties in the Moscow authorities included both conflicts between the Bolshevik and the Left socialist revolutionary commissars, and joint state work, which consisted of organizing the management of the territory of Moscow and the Moscow region. Archival documents show that among the Bolsheviks there was no single point of view on the need for the existence of separate Moscow authorities. Representatives of the left communists, as well as the Left socialist revolutionaries, advocated the preservation of independent state institutions in the Moscow region, which created the possibility of an alliance between them and the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. However, the active actions of Vladimir Lenin prevented a split among the Moscow Bolsheviks. The emergence of a dual-party system in Soviet state institutions was a unique phenomenon in modern history of Russia, since representatives of the neo-populist socialist party could influence managerial decision-making. This situation led to the “power sharing” between the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs, which became a characteristic feature of the “long” revolution of 1917.