Universal suffering was the hallmark of trench warfare during World War I. As millions died from the innovations in warfare and technology, a more subtle affliction plagued the overwhelmingly peasant population of Russia: food shortage. While the roaring machine guns needed only to be fed yet more bullets to the carnage it produced, the millions …
Category: Comrade’s Corner
2nd stop: Alexander Palace
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I decide to make my next stop the Alexander Palace, the last home of the last czar, Nicholas II and his family, to better understand some of the problems surrounding the February and October revolutions of 1917. I decided to get on a plane from Zindan to Saint Petersburg. While waiting for my connecting flight, I watch Anastasia […]
Revolution within the Russian Army
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Russian soldiers take to the streets to protest in Petrograd in April 1917 By 1917, three years into World War I, Russia had drafted nearly 15 million men to serve in the army; a majority of them being peasants. After years of fighting, soldiers would question why they were even fighting and just wanted to … Continue reading Revolution within the Russian Army
Episode 2: Attack of the Bolsheviks
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Unrest in the Provisional Government! Several political parties had declared their intentions of mistrust and disapproval towards the newly formed government. After the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the Provisional Government attempted to contain order and bring about change to the economically suffering Russia. However, workers, peasants, and soldiers alike felt change was moving too […]
The Effects of War on Civilians
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During World War I in Russia, soldiers and civilians alike, were fighting a battle that they did not understand. Men were being drafted, leaving families at home with little to no help in their survival. Although Russia entered the war with plans for victory, “the multi-lateral conflict soon developed into a protracted war of … Continue reading The Effects of War on Civilians →
The “Opium of the People”
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And then there were two… February 1917: Bolshevik law separates church and state. Starting with the February Revolution, the contention between the Orthodox Church and the Bolsheviks escalated. The Bolsheviks who came into power after the 1917 October Revolution were atheists who considered religion to be “opium of the people,” working against the interests of […]
I Want You for Red Army
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This poster has hung on my brother’s wall for as long as I can remember. Every time I see it I think: America, Army, and Service to Nation; Never have I thought of Russia, until today. What I find to be so perplexing about this poster is that it is modeled after the posters of …
Christianity and the Church Before the Revolution
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This photograph, taken from the Prokudin-Gorskii collection at the Library of Congress shows the Cathedral of St. Nicholas towering over residential structures in the outskirts of Mozhaisk, an ancient town 68 miles west of Moscow. I chose the photograph because of the striking contrast between the imposing, brightly-colored cathedral and the quaint scene of a … Continue reading Christianity and the Church Before the Revolution
Greek Tea Farmers before the 1917 Revolution
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Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii. A Group of Workers Harvesting Tea, ca. 1907-1915. Digital color rendering. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsc-04430 (32) History of the Nilova Monastery
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