Soviet History S18 Comments

It is an interesting situation especially in terms of irony. It really does come down to the age old saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. In trying to go against both of these powers he ended up getting the wrath of both. It also says a lot about being in tune with how the people are feeling and which way they are swaying. So often coups lead to unstable interim change and certainly without the backing the masses coups can often fall apart so quickly and leave a power vacuum. I definitely thing that this event contributed in sway some of the masses who might have been previously neutral.

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I think Soviet Russia’s withdrawal from World War I is a really interesting moment in history and I like how you dove into it. I think that it’s interesting to look at how the people reacted; even some people who supported the revolution were unsure about such a big decision on the world stage. Although Russia had already lost so much in the war, it they lost a lot in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk as well. I think this shows the desperation and turmoil that they were going through at this time, and you did a great job highlighting that.

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I agree, this post is very clear and cogent. I think the argument Bryan makes is also important –that the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly marks the end of a major chapter in revolutionary change and would have far-reaching consequences.

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Katelyn, this post was so interesting! I love how you focused on the cultural effects of the revolution and included so many interesting visuals. I’ve always been fascinated by how the Soviets changed not only the political climate, but really took hold of all the cultural aspects as well. I noticed that you took the last picture from Lithuania, which is really awesome! I’d love to hear more about that.

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That photo from the Bundesarkhiv of the delegation is really cool. Your post highlights how punitive this peace was for the Bolsheviks, but also (rightly) points out that Lenin’s government really didn’t have much choice. Why do you think this decision was so devastating in terms of the unity of the left? Lots of revolutionaries saw this as a real betrayal. Why?

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I really liked this post! I know we touched a little on this in class previously, I enjoyed how your post went more in depth with how these changes affected individuals in the military. We always think of military as having ranking officers that are honored as such. It’s interesting to look at a military where honorifics are eliminated and equality is embraced more-so than normal. I also like how you ended your discussion with the concept that these advances towards equality among military officers led to other changes within Russia as well.

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