Category: 2nd Weekly Edition

1917 Revolutions

    In 1917 the relationship between the Tsar and the people of Russia had been completely destroyed. The Tsar had removed the Russian parliament (which was the main driving force behind the 1905 revolution), and created mass amounts of dissatisfaction to the people of Russia. The stresses that came along with World War I …

Continue reading “1917 Revolutions”

The July Days

The July Days, a string of insurrections in Petrograd, Russia during the first week of July in 1917, quickly became a flashpoint for the already coming tide of revolution. In the masses protesting the newly organized provisional government were soldiers and workers who were met with force by the provisional governments loyal troops. As seen … Continue reading The July Days

Making Red Warriors out of Peasants

(photo) “ I, son of the laboring people, citizen of the Soviet Republic, assume the title of warrior in the Worker-Peasant Army” (Solemn Oath on Induction into the Worker-Peasant Red Army). Lenin and his Comrades wholeheartedly believed that a general standing Army was detrimental and only a characteristic of conformist nations. Therefore, the Imperial Russian Army … Continue reading Making Red Warriors out of Peasants

Leon Trotsky

    Leon Trotsky, born November 7th, 1879 in Ukraine under his given name Lev Davidovich Bronstein. The name change occurred after he had been exiled to Siberia in 1898 for being one of the founding members of the South Russia Worker’s Union, an early Russian Marxist party. He remained in exile in Siberia from … Continue reading Leon Trotsky

The Soldiers’ Revolution

When the Russian Empire entered World War I in August of 1914, the Tsarist regime viewed it as a chance to renew patriotic fervor and confidence in the government. Since the institution of a weak constitutional order after the 1905 Russian Revolution, the Russian autocracy existed in a constant state of peril. A victory against … Continue reading The Soldiers’ Revolution

April of Discontent

It would seem intuitive perhaps, that the revolution which led to the establishment of Communism in Russia happened with a bang, not a whimper. But when Lenin in his April Theses called for “all power to the soviets” there was no great conflagration–the Red Guards seized key government buildings and infrastructure, Kerensky fled, and the … Continue reading April of Discontent

Order No. 1

Russia has always had a massive army.  It currently has about 1,000,000 active members with another 2.5 million in reserve.  Back during the February Revolution, however,  it was even bigger.  The Imperial Russian Army was roughly seven and a half million strong in 1917, most of whom were peasants.  This huge organization underwent massive changes … Continue reading Order No. 1

Out of the War and into the Revolution

  Following over 3 years of war with over 1.5 million military deaths belonging to the Russian Empire, Soviet Russia formally removed itself from World War I on March 3, 1918 with the Treaty of Bresk-Litovsk (Centre-robert-schuman). The preparations for the Treaty of Bresk-Litovsk began in December, 1917 with an armistice in the then German-occupied … Continue reading Out of the War and into the Revolution