6. _Cooperatives._ These were the workers' and peasants' Consumers'
Cooperative societies, which had several million members all over
Russia before the Revolution. Founded by Liberals and "moderate"
Socialists, the Cooperative movement was not supported by the
revolutionary Socialist groups, because it was a substitute for the
complete transference of means of production and distribution into
the hands of the workers. After the March Revolution the
_Cooperatives_ spread rapidly, and were dominated by Populist
Socialists, Mensheviki and Socialist Revolutionaries, and acted as a
conservative political force until the Bolshevik Revolution. However,
it was the _Cooperatives_ which fed Russia when the old structure of
commerce and transportation collapsed.

7. _Army Committees._ The _Army Committees_ were formed by the
soldiers at the front to combat the reactionary influence of the old
regime officers. Every company, regiment, brigade, division and corps
had its committee, over all of which was elected the _Army
Committee._ The _Central Army Committee_ cooperated with the General
Staff. The administrative break-down in the army incident upon the
Revolution threw upon the shoulders of the _Army Committees_ most of
the work of the Quartermaster's Department, and in some cases, even
the command of troops.

8. _Fleet Committees._ The corresponding organisations in the Navy.

Central Committees

In the spring and summer of 1917, All-Russian conventions of every
sort of organisation were held at Petrograd. There were national