Experience of the two-party system: the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries in the Central Executive Committee Presidium of II - IV convocations

This article is devoted to the study of the interaction between the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs in the framework of the Central Executive Committee Presidium of II-IV convocations, which influenced the formation of the Soviet governmental institutions in 1917-1918. The aim of this study is to determine the characteristics of the interaction between the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs in the CEC Presidium, as well as the degree of participation of the two parties in the formation of the Soviet state-political system. The main objective of my research is a comprehensive review of the participation of these two parties in the organization and functioning of the CEC Presidium and the study of the principles of their joint activities in this state body on the basis of archival documents and sources of personal origin. In the Soviet period researchers have paid considerable attention to this issue, however, they investigated the process of the formation of the Soviet political system only through a prism of the struggle between the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs. In modern studies of this problem the political activities of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries in the СЕС Presidium has not become the subject of a separate study. In this connection, investigation of participation of these two parties in the Soviet government is the most actual issue. The joint work of the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs in the СЕС Presidium was a characteristic feature of the Soviet state in the post-revolutionary period that proves the existence of the two-party system. When interacting with each other, they were forced to make compromises. The CEC Presidium of III - IV convocations, which included only two parties, became the public authority, which made state decisions. The adoption of these decisions was accompanied by discussions between the representatives of the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs on various issues. The two-party system emerged at the end of 1917 - beginning of 1918 that allowed the Bolsheviks to neutralize political opponents of the Council of People's Commissars. The conflict between the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs on the question of the Brest peace treaty was the cause of the first crisis in the two-party system. The change in the party composition of the CEC in the spring of 1918 led to the Bolshevik's number and its influence increase in the CEC Presidium. Due to the beginning of the food dictatorship policy the confrontation between these two political forces became constant. This led to the collapse of the Soviet two-party system in the CEC Presidium. On the basis of archival documents we can conclude that their cooperation in the first post-revolutionary months was the most successful. Subsequently, this interaction acquired a character of crisis that was accompanied by the increase of conflicts among the leaders of the Bolsheviks and the Left SRs. Despite of contradictions between the parties, the two-party system in the CEC of II - IV convocations was very important for the Soviet political system development.

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