# Appendix to Chapter XII explained — Ten Days That Shook the World

> Chapter companion for Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed.

## What happens

This appendix contains an official instruction to peasants from the Council of People's Commissars, signed by Lenin, explaining the transfer of power to local Soviets and the abolition of landlord titles. It also describes the subsequent Peasants' Congress, which shifted from hostility to support for the Soviet government under the influence of Maria Spiridonova, leading to a split and the dissolution of the right-wing faction.

## Themes in this chapter

### Peasant Question and Land Reform

The instruction directly addresses the transfer of land to peasant Soviets and the abolition of landlord titles, central to Bolshevik agrarian policy.

### Struggle for Legitimacy and Power

The Peasants' Congress illustrates the shifting political allegiances and the eventual Bolshevik consolidation of authority over peasant institutions.

## Character check-ins

### Vladimir Lenin

Signed the instruction to peasants as President of the Council of People's Commissars.

### Victor Tchernov

Mentioned as the leader of the moderate wing initially supported by the Peasants' Congress.

### Maria Spiridonova

Her faction eventually gained the majority in the Peasants' Congress.

## Key lines

> All landlords’ titles to the land are cancelled by the second All-Russian Congress of Soviets.

The Second Congress of Soviets abolished all property rights of landowners.

_Key decree legitimizing land redistribution._

> At first the great majority of the delegates were hostile to the Soviet Government, and supported the reactionary wing. Several days later the assembly was supporting the moderates with Tchernov. And several days after that the vast majority of the Congress were voting for the faction of Maria Spiridonova...

The Peasants' Congress rapidly shifted from opposing the Bolsheviks to backing Tchernov, then finally endorsing Spiridonova's pro-Bolshevik faction.

_Illustrates the volatile political realignment among peasant delegates._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/appendix-to-chapter-xii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters