From Tsar to Soviets : the Russian people and their revolution, 1917-21

Written from the perspective of the factory worker and peasant at the ground level, this study of Russia during the Revolution 1917-21 aims to shed light on the realities of living through and participating in these tumultuous events. The book is intended for undergraduate courses in history, Soviet studies, and politics. Humanities Book Cover 1 Title 2 Copyright 3 Contents 4 Dedication 5 Preface 6 Note on conventions and transliteration 7 Introduction 8 PART ONE Collapse of a society 12 CHAPTER ONE Why was Russia revolutionary? 13 Rural crisis 13 Industrial innovation 16 Political immobility 20 Russia and the world economy 20 CHAPTER TWO The revolution of 1905 and after 23 The warning 23 From war to collapse 26 CHAPTER THREE The contours of national politics: Petrograd, the Provisional Government and the Soviet 32 First steps: the honeymoon that did not last 32 A swing to the left 33 Power sharing in disarray 34 Right-wing counter-attack 35 Defending the February revolution: the drive for Soviet power 37 CHAPTER FOUR Streets, factories, workshops, mines 40 Revolution and the workplace 43 The Putilov factory 43 The mines of the Donbas 44 The textile workers of Ivanovo 45 Reactivity and worker radicalism 45 Workers, parties, politics, consciousness 47 Broadening the picture: patriotism, ethnicity, gender and other aspects of worker identity and activity 50 Patriotism and ethnicity 50 Women workers 51 Artisans 52 Popular violence and lynch law 52 Tsarist values and religion 54 Conclusion: issues rather than parties 54 CHAPTER FIVE Fields, forests, villages, estates 56 The peasantries of the Russian Empire 56 Former serf-owning regions 56 The non-serf-owning periphery 57 War on two fronts—national and local enemies 58 National enemies—the state, the market and the agricultural surplus 58 Local enemies—landowners, entrepreneurs, separators 60 The early stages of the peasant revolution 61 The Provisional Government and the landowners respond 63 Autumn uprising? 64 How extensive was the peasant revolution? 66 The moral economy of the peasant movement 67 The peasant contribution to the revolution in 1917 69 CHAPTER SIX Barracks, battleships, the line 71 Democratization—the army committees 71 The revolutionary movement at the front 73 The Romanian Front: the Kagul mutiny 74 The Caucasus Front 75 From committees to front-wide organizations 77 Radicalization of the revolutionary movement in the army and navy 78 Ethnic tensions 78 Economic crisis 79 Reactivity: fending off the counter-revolution in the armed forces 79 PART TWO Constructing a new order 83 CHAPTER SEVEN The popular movement and the political parties 84 Political parties in 1917—leaders and led 84 The popular movement, the centre and the right 86 The popular movement and the left 87 Lenin’s revolutionary practice: the path to October 87 Bolshevik dreams 92 Lenin’s campaign for an insurrection 96 CHAPTER EIGHT The contours of national politics 1917–21 101 The Provisional Soviet Government 101 The “triumphal march” of soviet power 102 From Constituent Assembly to Brest-Litovsk 107 The Russian revolutionary war 108 CHAPTER NINE The Bolshevik dictatorship 113 The Cheka 114 From militia to Red Army 118 Power and the party: consciousness versus bureaucratism 119 The Soviet system 123 CHAPTER TEN The popular movement in the revolutionary war 126 Agrarian policies 126 The revolution in the villages 128 Productionism: the highest stage of Bolshevism 133 The revolution in the factories 136 Worker unrest and party discontent 141 CHAPTER ELEVEN Anti-Bolshevik insurrections 144 The Makhno movement 144 The Tambov rebellion 148 The Kronstadt rising 151 CHAPTER TWELVE The end of the revolution 154 The Tenth Party Congress 154 CHAPTER THIRTEEN Conclusion: revolutions in collision 157 Multiple revolutions 157 National and regional variations 157 Class conflict 158 The Russian Revolution in historical context: “in my beginning is my end” 160 Chronology 163 Notes 170 Select bibliography 180 Index 185 By examining the 1917 revolution in the light of the experiences of the ordinary population rather than the activities of central parties and politicians, this book presents a challenging and fresh interpretation