Workers' militia (Russia)

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The workers 'militia refers to the armed organizations of workers in industrial plants in Russia , which were formed in most cities and workers' settlements after the February 1917 Revolution .

As a rule, their task was to maintain order on the initiative of the Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies and to serve as organs of struggle against the counter-revolutionaries. The formation of the workers' militias of Petrograd ( Saint Petersburg ) was decided on the night of February 28 (March 13) 1917. From March to April, the social-revolutionary-humanist leadership of the Soviets adopted resolutions on the union of the workers' militias with formations of the so-called people's militia , which consisted of bourgeois groups.

It was formed by the Provisional Government on April 17th (30th) 1917 and was subordinate to the city administrations and the main administration of the militia at the Ministry of the Interior. As a result of the unification, the workers' militia ceased to exist as an independent organization to maintain order in almost all cities. In Petrograd, however, it was not possible to disband the workers' militia, although here too it was formally united with the people's militia by a resolution of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet of March 7 (20) 1917. The membership of the workers' militias decreased from 10,000 to 12,000 in March to 2,500 to 3,000 in June 1917.

The worker militiamen carried out their duties during their regular working hours in the factories and received their average wages from their main place of work. The Petrograd workers' militia took part in the July armed demonstrations against the government. For this purpose, the majority of the workers 'militia officers were dismissed from the militia and the workers' commissariats, which the Provisional Government considered undisciplined, and the council of the Petrograd People's Militia were dissolved.

With the dismantling or dissolution of the workers' militia, the Bolsheviks were faced with the task of forming revolutionary combat units , the Red Guards . Many worker militiamen joined the departments and groups of the Red Guard. A specific form of the workers' militia were the works militias for the protection of the factories. After the July days of 1917, the militia departments essentially joined the Red Guards.