Steve Barrow

This is a colossal betrayal of the promise of Canada that, however flawed, was the backbone of Canadian identity for the past 80 years.

#OTD The capture of the Winter Palace, where the government sat, completes the takeover of Petrograd. The MRC announces the revolution’s success. The Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets opens with 650–670 voting delegates (about 900 present): •Around 300 Bolsheviks plus fellow travellers. •Up to 190 SRs, split into two factions, with the Left SRs stronger. •Around 70 Mensheviks. •30 Internationalists. At the First Congress in June, SRs and Mensheviks held 600 of 830 delegates. The change reflects younger, more working-class delegates replacing the middle-class intellectuals and officers who dominated in June. Over 500 back the seizure of power. The Congress elects a 14-seat Bolshevik presidium alongside seven SRs, three Mensheviks and one from Gorky’s group. The Right SRs and Mensheviks then walk out. Trotsky tells them: “You are pitiful isolated individuals; you are bankrupts; your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on — into the dustbin of history!” A new CEC is elected. The groups that walked out may send delegates on a proportional basis.