The Permanent Revolution Lives On! - Trotskyist AAR

[RustyHunter]

A very interesting teaser once more, although it looks like the text got copied two or three times. Are the character screenshots at the end showing possible Soviet leaders in game?

I also like the discussion of heroes of the revolution being purged. I've always wondered how Stalin effectively sidelined so many other major figures and concentrated power in himself.

 

[ThaHoward]

A very interesting teaser once more, although it looks like the text got copied two or three times. Are the character screenshots at the end showing possible Soviet leaders in game?

I also like the discussion of heroes of the revolution being purged. I've always wondered how Stalin effectively sidelined so many other major figures and concentrated power in himself.

Thanks for the heads up, it was indeed abnormally long!

And yes they are possible leaders in game. But they are also characters that have been either allied and/or enemies of Trotsky, and that may, or may not, play a crucial role once more when Trotsky returns. Of course if Trotsky perish in the attempt they may become a leader of the Soviet Union, what exactly their relation to our titular character is, will be revealed in the future. You should also be open to the possibility that Trotsky may not win, or that if his "side" wins, he may not survive.

And yes, we will make further investigation into what happened after the revolution and Lenin's death and the power struggle that resulted in Stalin's total victory. But something tells me he hasn't quite won yet, and that his position is not as secure as it was OTL.

 

[ThaHoward]

The Lost Revolution

Artistic impression of Bloody Sunday.

We have covered in detail the events leading up to 1905. Freed peasants struggled to toil their land, were indebted, and were not allowed to sell or mortgage their lands. Following the increasingly Russo-Chuvinistic regime of the Empire was a process of Russification that alienated the many minorities within the vast dominion - especially that of the Polish who was judged a danger to the very well-being of the Tsardom. Meanwhile, with a booming economy, the population nearly doubled, with the urban centers taking the brunt of the growth. Both the prosperous and liberal middle class along with students, after relaxing several university laws, became more conscious and in turn, were subject to radical ideas that spread like wildfire in the intellectual renaissance. Meanwhile, the nascent working class resented the government, and the government in turn made it illegal to form unions of their own and organize strikes. This was coupled with the humiliation of the Russo-Japanese War, which also led to troop protests, an economic crisis with inadequate pay for factory workers, along shortages. This was only on top of the famine experienced only a few years earlier with social unrest five years prior to 1905. The, now, assassinated Plehve pointed fingers, not at the structural problems at hand, instead, he said that "minorities, the schools, and the workers in that order" was the root of the issues that plagued the country.

Individually these problems would be enough for a revolt or revolution, together they formed a deadly cocktail. 1905-1906 proved to not only be the dress rehearsal for Lenin and his Bolsheviks, but a certain man named Lev Trotskij also took to the national scene.

Through the late 1904 liberals attended to several banquets, modeled after the ones preceding the 1848 February revolution, to circumnavigate laws against political gatherings. The banquets called for political and social reform, and soon several city dumas and progressive Zemstovs made resolutions demanding a constitution, full freedom of the press, full free speech, full freedom of religion, and most crucially a national legislative body. The Tsar met some of the demands, but most crucially he would not accept to promulgate a constitution and to share power with a legislative assembly.

Among the working class, general strikes became commonplace in the Caucasus and Southern Russia from 1902-1905, while these strikes were met by massacres, the gathered masses were exposed to radical socialist ideas. According to Rosa Luxembourg, all of southern Russia was aflame. While these strikes were quickly dispersed, they inspired similar strikes in St. Petersburg in December of 1904 and January of 1905 - a total of 140 000 strikers - strikes that would lead to a dramatic event.

"Bloody Sunday" 22. of January 1905. Contemporary drawing in "The Illustrated News London". The Priest Gapon leads 30 000 peaceful protestors toward the Winter Palace in St. Peterburg and is met with the Tsar's troops. Around 1000 protestors were killed, while 2000 more were wounded. Gapon escaped to Switzerland, but in 1906 when he returned he was shot by the revolutionaries on the grounds of treason.

Sunday 22nd of January 1905 a formidable demonstration procession marched through the streets of St. Petersburg. 140 000 men and women (it is claimed), mostly workers, converged to make a united formation to march to Tsar Nikolai and deliver him a plead. What they asked for was not modest terms: the creation of a legislative assembly, separation of state and church, progressive income taxation, worker's protection laws, and a cessation of hostilities with Japan.

In front of the procession, a man marched onward draped in a priest's kaftan. His name was Georgij Gapon, a clergyman, but he also had other functions. He was the foreman in the Russian Assembly of the Russian Factory and Mill Workers of the City of St. Petersburg - a government-sponsored workers' association - that had over 30 000 members in St. Petersburg alone and Social-Revolutionary. Furthermore, he is a police spy. He was a member of the secret police - more on that later. Anyway, this Sunday at the beginning of 1905 he dared to set a bold plan in motion. He wanted to become the great Russian people's leader. Those who marched did not think for a second that something dangerous could befall them. Still, they felt a special bond to their sovereign and believed they were under the Tsar's protection. They trusted that their Emperor would understand and care for them.

But once they reached the square outside of the Winter Palace it was not the Tsar that greeted them - he was already in place in another castle countryside. Instead, they were met by lines and lines of his military forces. Suddenly cracked the sound of a gunshot. Then salvo after salvo followed each other. The workers were gripped by panic. They fled for their very lives. But the soldiers followed them well into the night.

The morning after St. Petersburg was a dead city. Trains were not departing, and telephones, telegraphs, and electrical lights were out of function. On each street corner, there were military sentries and guard posts. The mood was threatening and grim.

Government officials claimed 96 dead, while revolutionaries claimed over 4000 men were killed, Trotsky said deaths were in the hundreds with the government secretly burying many of the victims, however moderate estimates say around 1000 were killed and two thousand wounded during this "Bloody Sunday" in St. Petersburg. Gapon fled to Switzerland. There he met Lenin, who listened to him with great interest to what this curios - and ambiguous - man had to say about the Russian situation. Gapo returned to Russia and resumed contact with Okhrana (the secret police), he promised to spill certain revolutionary secrets against a hefty sum of gold. Only to be found dead one day. The revolutionaries had liquidated him in retaliation.

The Bloody Sunday was the prelude to what is called the First Russian Revolution. The war against Japan was greatly unpopular among great swaths of the population, especially since it had made the prices of all ware groups climb up, up, and up in the air. Violent displeasure spread amongst the poor, and even the more affluent of the liberal middle-class. It fumed in city and countryside alike. Strikes were called, estates were set to fire, and assassinations rose to even greater numbers. At end of January of 1905 400.000 Polish workers - and later 93.2% of the workers in Poland - went to strike, resulting in the Polish Revolution of 1905-1907, and more than half of European Russian workers were on strikes. In Riga, 130 protestors were shot dead, and in Warsaw, a few days over 100 were gunned down in the streets. By February the Caucasus went out on strike, by April in the Urals and beyond. In March all higher education institution was closed for the remainder of the year, adding radicalized students into the strikes and demonstrations along with downtrodden workers.

Even in the barracks and bases of Army and Navy in equal parts, there was revolutionary grumbling. Rumors of desertion and mutiny in the Army of Manchuria soon spread, and between man to man, there were talks of privates murdering their officers on the frontlines. And mutinies proved to be correct, Sevastopol, Vladivostok, and Kronstadt rose up in open rebellion, and the battleship Potemkin was captured by her mutinying sailors. However, while dissatisfied, the Armed Forces proved to be apolitical and were used as a tool to repress the uprisings.

"You are afraid of revolution", the Tsar said to one of his ministers a few weeks after Bloody Sunday. "Your Majesty, he answered, "the revolution has already begun".

Locomotive overturned by strikers during the general strike of 1905.

Nikolai 2nd did not grasp the enormous gravity of the situation had become. He only knew he abhorred all that was named liberalism and democracy and everything that had anything to do with it. These were terms he found "disturbing" and "absurd". However, events were out of his control and he was forced to address them. In October of 1905, a railway worker strike soon developed and spread across the vast country, a general strike was called. A short-lived Menshevik dominated St. Petersburg Soviet was set up, led by Trotskij who organized strikes in some 200 factories. However, despite later claims by Trotskij, the Soviet was quite moderate, with its most radical actions was to call for workers to not pay taxes and withdraw their bank deposits, and failing to call for a second general strike in November, while the October General Strike was a spontaneous event not directed by neither the Soviet nor Mensheviks, Bolsheviks or Social-Revolutionaires. The Soviet soon dissolved when Trotskij and the other leaders were arrested.

Anyhow, back to the October general strike. All workers ceased to function in their employment, everything came to a full stop. This was an argument that even Nikolai understood. He capitulated. In the October Manifesto, he promised a constitutional system would be implemented, with basic civil rights, extending the franchise, allowing the formation of political parties, but most importantly establishing the Dum. This was the single most important day in Russian history since 1861, that year when serfdom was abolished, some have argued. The Tsar was not without reservation, however. He argued for three days with Sergei Witte before signing the manifesto, later regretting and saying he felt "sick with shame at this betrayal of the dynasty ... the betrayal was complete"

The Duma's - the Russian parliament's - first meeting in the Winter Palace in St. Peterburgs 10th of May 1906. Nikolai 2nd followed by the entire court witnessed the solemn opening together with the 497 elected representatives.

In November Witte rushed from the peace conference in Portsmouth, where he led the Russian side of the negotiations. He was appointed Minister-President - the first in Russian history - and readied himself to wrestle the complicated and disturbing situation. A month earlier another person of importance arrived in St. Petersburg. It was Lenin who left his sanctuary in Switzerland to see firsthand how the revolution developed. Any grander role he did not play this time. However, before he left again for Switzerland he had learned a lot that he would come to have use for in the future.

The revolutionary attempt of 1905 ended with a bloodbath in Moscow come December. Here there was another general strike. The strikers applied violent methods, and Witte sent troops there to quell it. In six bloody days, urban battle raged on; whole quarters were rampaged by artillery, and on the 30th of December, it was all over. On the 10th of May, the Dume convened, that national assembly the force was forced and out of necessity, promised to constitute. Here demands of democratic elections were forwarded, that the ministers would be responsible to the Duma (and not the Tsar), that the Duma had the right to legislate and propose and approve of budgets, and demand of agricultural reform. Nevertheless, despite all its optimism - or rather because of it - the first Duma proved to be short-lived. When it allowed itself to direct a proclamation to the Russian people, it was - in July of 1906 - dissolved by Tsar Nikolai. Proclamation to the people proved to be a red line. That was reserved for the Tsar and his person alone.

The dissolution of the Duma created new waves of unrest in society. And to the detriment of all progress that was made, the new Minister of Interior Pjotr Stolypin ruthlessly cracked down on any and all dissent. He discontinued hundreds of papers and journals, arrested editors, and put several processes in motion. Consequential were deportations and executions en masse. Russia experienced a six weeks period of "the Days of Freedom", however, this window of opportunity also saw a surge in violent activity with the socialist movement called for armed struggle against the Tsar. This prompted the beforementioned crackdown by Stolypin. Meanwhile, the Tsar navigated to eclipse the power of the Duma to be nothing more than a glorified debate club and returned himself as the absolute monarch with the same powers as before 1905. The Revolution was crushed.

 

[ThaHoward]

Here is the next chapter, as promised it is shorter. I contemplated adding more in detail to what Trotsky did during this revolution, along with two more parts detailing his life prior to 1905 and his life from 1906 after the revolution leading up to 1917. What to take from this chapter? In short, there was a failed revolution that first gave promising results and then the Tsar backtracked on them. One vital lesson was then learned, the Tsar would not shy away from using force to repress his population and he would be needed to be rid of to pave the way for either liberal democracy or a socialist revolution.

I have decided that I will instead make one chapter of Trotsky from 1905-1917 together. Now, I believe what will come next is the time jump to 1917, and after we have passed the Russian Civil War I will make the Trotsky Chapter from his birth to the end of the Russian Civil War. Then we will get a recap of Book One, and we will see more in detail what our titular character was up to during Book One, and better get to know him that will smooth the transition into Book Two.

I have also decided on the format of Book Two. It will be a chapter detailing in general Soviet politics leading up to ca. game start. Then there will be chapters detailing the various political alliances of the Soviet Union, that were either allied or against Trotsky, and that may again in one shape or the other again be relevant as he tries to regain power. There will then also be, during these chapters, parts about the central figures of said alliances, that may again be vital to help or prevent Trotsky's return. Through that, we will examine the factionalism of the USSR, how Trotsky was outmaneuvered, how Stalin consolidated his power. Fear not, however, as these shifting alliances and persons will be highly relevant in Book Three, where many of them will return as Trotsky return.

 

[RustyHunter]

That's very interesting to see that the Tsar made some concessions and reneged on them pretty quickly. I don't know if his instinct was entirely wrong (he promised to create a constitution and assembly, not give every power over to them), but his reaction seems way over the top. Nicholas II certainly doesn't have the best reputation, and this AAR is really just worsening my opinion of him.

I think the chapter on Trotsky will be very interesting, as well as a jump to 1917. I really liked this chapter and look forward to what comes next!

 

[ThaHoward]

Teaser #07

"Groups like the Red Shirts will help us destroy the enemies of the people who seek to subvert the Revolution by exploiting it for personal profit. They will help us root out secret supporters of the Church, counter-revolutionaries who seek to see this country returned to the Dark Ages".

"... only the proletariat, organized and armed as a class army, will be able to defend and propagate the ideals of the Revolution ... "

"The Church will become a thing of the past! The priests are counter-revolutionaries and peddlers of superstitious nonsense, designed to control the masses. We will press even harder to become a bastion of rationalism and science!"

"After the death of Lenin, a corrupt bureaucracy led by Stalin has formed a Bonapartist regime in the Soviet Union, stealing power from the toilers. The USSR has therefore devolved into a degenerated worker's state which perverts the ideals of the Revolution".

"Our Revolution has become a wind of freedom pushing the workers of the world to greater feats of bravery. The Fourth International will liberate mankind from the chains of fascist, bourgeois, and Bonapartist reaction!"

"The oppressive demagogue is gone! True power has been restored to the people of our nation. All are now able to pursue their interests independently and without compromise. We are forever changing. The Permanent Revolution is a triumphant revolution!"

 

[Sovereign Levander]

Been following this with great interest. When I first saw it, I thought "Oh, another Trotsky AAR? What even happened to the last one?" before realizing it was the same person. The history lessons are also neat; the basics are covered well enough in school where I'm from (Finland), but not in too much detail.

Out of curiosity, is there a particular philosophy to your romanization system of choice? Doesn't seem like it's a personal conviction or anything, since you still say e.g. Trotsky instead of Trotskij in your in-between posts. Stylistic choice for the history segments in particular?

 

[Bullfilter]

In order to execute him they attempted to impute who knows what responsibility in the assassination of Kirov. But the day Kirov fell Nikitich had already inhabited a prison cell in Souzdal for two years!

So Kafkaesque

While at the other end of Europe a General Franco is sticking a knife in worker’s Spain, to spill the blood of such men, the blood of the founders of the USSR, is a strange, horrible aberration!

A very apposite observation.

"After the death of Lenin, a corrupt bureaucracy led by Stalin has formed a Bonapartist regime in the Soviet Union, stealing power from the toilers. The USSR has therefore devolved into a degenerated worker's state which perverts the ideals of the Revolution".

Yes - a far more vicious Bonaparte in red trappings.

 

[ThaHoward]

That's very interesting to see that the Tsar made some concessions and reneged on them pretty quickly. I don't know if his instinct was entirely wrong (he promised to create a constitution and assembly, not give every power over to them), but his reaction seems way over the top. Nicholas II certainly doesn't have the best reputation, and this AAR is really just worsening my opinion of him.

I think the chapter on Trotsky will be very interesting, as well as a jump to 1917. I really liked this chapter and look forward to what comes next!

Ah yes, he is an interesting figure. Too young when he took power, and he wanted to be a hard man as his dad, but he was not up to the task. And he geniuinley believed he was a ruler with divine rights. Witte (a liberal) was also quite frustrated that the Tsar really believed in these rights and would not do anything before the 1905 revolution. It didn't help with his reactionary replacement. So it went against everything Nikolai stood for, moreover, he knew that his father had several attempts on his life, and his grandfather who wanted to implement the Duma as an advisory body was also assassinated. From his perspective, it was evil and against his person, he saw his chance and took it. The October Manifesto was promised to end the revolts and strikes, but once the Duma was in place with press rights, etc. the Duma took liberties Nikolai did not agree on, moreover, the socialist violence and assassinations continued so it did not end the revolts as promised.

But yes, when you really read into the story you will soon see that Nikolai was an incompetent ruler. Also, keep in mind he was starting to seclude himself to focus on his heir's sickness.

Been following this with great interest. When I first saw it, I thought "Oh, another Trotsky AAR? What even happened to the last one?" before realizing it was the same person. The history lessons are also neat; the basics are covered well enough in school where I'm from (Finland), but not in too much detail.

Out of curiosity, is there a particular philosophy to your romanization system of choice? Doesn't seem like it's a personal conviction or anything, since you still say e.g. Trotsky instead of Trotskij in your in-between posts. Stylistic choice for the history segments in particular?

Welcome back! Life happened, hopefully, you will like this new iteration!

I thought of it some days ago actually, it didn't occur to me I was doing it. I believe since my language the transliteration is Trotskij, and I know Russian and how to read it, it is on default Trotskij for me. I keep it in that style in the history book posts, because I am then more focused and often translate things and have landed on using Trotskij for consistency.

Now in between posts I do say Trotsky, and I think the reason is really that when I write here it is much more casual and I "think" in English, and I have been used to reading Trotsky in English. Now I have no personal preference, and my main goal is to make you able to read first and foremost. No Step Back will also use Lev Trotskij and Iosif Stalin, so I am also doing it to keep it in line with future chapters where Лев Троцкий is written as Lev Trotskij and not Leo Trotsky - and it is also my preferred way to write it. But again, I have no personal opinion on the matter, although I know it may be important to some.

So Kafkaesque

A very apposite observation.

Yes - a far more vicious Bonaparte in red trappings.

But Bonaparte was, and still is for many, a hero of France and liberty. How can he dare to move against such a grand hero?

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter Five: The Russian Revolution

Note: All dates will be in the Julian Calendar unless specified.

Panic in a Russian formation! The soldiers have tossed away their guns and turn-tails after a traitor shouted German cavalry is approaching. Photography from 1917.

Part I: Rot and Decadence.

House Romanov ruled absolute in Russia, defied resurrection, plots, and assassinations through three hundred years. Less than three years of war made it ripe for the downfall and created a situation where it went down like a house of cards from the first winds of revolution that began by chance and planless, not different from hundreds of different revolts the secret police and troops were able to crack down on without any particular difficulty. Now the Tsar's position so undermined, by external strain, of his own incompetence, his own mistakes, and those the closest to him, that not a single hand would lift in the defense of the regime. The colossal structure, Peter the Great's and Katarina's Imperial Russia, crumbled slowly under its own weight, frail of age, full of rot.

Turmoil and disaffection had for a long time been established in the vast realm with an isolated and small upper class, just as reactionary as wealthy and wasteful, with a middle class of industrialists, merchants, civil servants, and intellectuals who still only made thin strata in society, with two million industrial workers living under terrible conditions and was very recipient to revolutionary propaganda - in an ocean of simple, ignorant, dissatisfied, men nearly apathetic peasants; they made up 90% of the population. After all, Russia had been in many ways seen growth and progress the last decades before the war; industries were developed, communications and education likewise, but the task to absolve previous generations of neglect in the underdeveloped country was not yet even solved in half-measures. The results of progress had not yet trickled down to the working class and the peasantry, and the regime opposed with neurotic anxiety any political reform, and all attempts to democratize the almost medieval society. The Duma, the national assembly that was the result of the revolutionary attempt of 1905, no longer played any meaningful role, transformed into an almost weak-willed tool to the Tsar's government's, and court's hands.

The declaration of war and the patriotic wave that brushed over the nation at first meant a strengthening of the Tsarist regime. Unity, which was the natural response to external peril, had its traditional center in the monarchy. Nationalism and the expectations of military triumph were something the aristocracy mostly handled well. The liberal middle-class was also firstly controlled by patriotic currents, but secondly welcomed a war where their allies were the democratic western powers, and their adversaries the reactionary, militaristic monarchies of Germany and Austria-Hungary; this struggle would stimulate the democratic forces in Russia, they meant. In regards to the labourer and peasant masses, they were first captivated by the nationalist propaganda that was preached by the clergy; the ancient, traditional, quasi-religious devotion to the Tsar, the peasants "little father", flared up again for the last time among the common man.

The Russian Tsar family. Photography from just before the onset of World War One. In front of the heir Tsarevitsj Aleksej, behind him Alexandra and Emperor Nikolai. From left to right his daughters Maria, Tatjana, Olga, and Anastasia.

All the same, it was soon proved that the war merely meant a reprieve for the regime, that it - as soon as the first patriotic intoxication subdued - sped up the process of disintegration. The military triumphs that were expected, was yet to come or were short-lived; instead, Russia faced a number of grueling losses. In short time it was evident that neither politician, nor general, nor administration, nor the production apparatus could handle the great tasks a modern great war demanded. The government was isolated from the population, lacked vigor, oversight, knowledge, and administrative abilities, in addition, it was full of corruption. The result was a complete failure in nearly every area, first and foremost when it came to logistics, supplying troops, and the population alike. The Army, which was already before the war greatly handicapped that it lacked equipment, also had an officer corps that often showed a disturbing lack of proficiency and in addition was out of touch with their subordinates, without compassion for their grief and the bloody losses they suffered under desperate offensives. This only resulted in increasing demoralization among the troops, despite the peasant soldiers' incredible resilience, endurance, and patience.

It was not much better on the homefront; mass mobilization and prevalent disorganization led to production in both industry and agriculture shrinking, and the failure of the usually lacking transport system strengthened to a great degree the recession. In many cities and major regions it there was a constant lack of foodstuffs and fuel, and factories did not get even close to what they needed of raw materials, coal, and oil. Misery came in even greater contrast to the irresponsible upper class that continued their decadent living, with an administration that become more corrupt, and war profiteers that could make fortunes doing shady transactions with bribed civil servants. To a degree, there was relief from the western powers, but it did not help much; in part, they had too little war material to spare, and most importantly the two major naval routes through the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea was cut off by the enemy.

If the regime's leading figure, "Sovereign of All Russians", had been a significant and vigorous personality, he may yet, despite everything, saved the situation, the monarchy still had a substantial reserve capital of loyalty. He could take advantage of the slow development that embossed all facets of Russian society, he still an awe-inspiring power apparatus, while on the other side, his adversaries were split, clueless, missed a unifying, constructive program and they were ridden by internal conflict.

Ra-ra-Rasputin, Russia's greatest love machine.

But more seldom have an absolute monarch been more inconsequential and weaker than Nikolai 2. He was without a touch of reality, lived in an isolated in a mock reality, without comprehension of what happened outside of his palace and headquarters. He was fickle and indecisive to the apathetic, and when he was in a while - often driven by the reactionary, bigoted, and superstitious Tsarina - tried to voice his will, he inevitable chose the most hopeless of standpoints, fought with tooth and nail for solutions that the time had passed away from a long time ago, with a stubbornness that was really just a form of the will-less fatalism that embodied him.

Other factors strongly contributed to weakening the Tsardom, and partly to directly compromise it - even in the circles that were loyal and close to the throne, and that least of all was revolutionary. The Tsarina, Alexandra, was full of medieval fantasies about the absolute monarchy, and unfruitfully tried to turn his husband into becoming a Peter the Great, and an Ivan the Terrible, was German-born, and even if she in all her impudence was loyal to her new motherland, rumors blamed Russian defeats in battle squarely on her and other alleged or even real German friendly circles in the court. The monarchy was truly scandalized through their association with Grigorij Rasputin, a rough, ignorant, and exiled "monk" - in reality just some form of lay brother - from Siberia. He swung between some form of primitive, ecstasy religiosity, to the worst excesses, orgies of drunkenness and lascivious, but he had a strange power over other human beings. It is speculated if it was hypnotic.

In 1907 he gained entry in the capital's aristocracy, whose ladies were particularly weak for him, and through them the Tsar-dynasty. He had a reputation as a miracle man and claimed that with prayer and the touch of his hand he could cure the heir to the throne, who suffered of hemophilia. In their natural sorrow and concern, the parents clung to any form of hope, and Rasputin soon exerted great influence over them, mostly over the superstitious Tsarina Alexandra, men also - least not because of her - over Nikoli. The Tsarina believed wholly Rasputing was a "holy man" and that he could both alleviate and, with time, cure her son, so she would not hear a single word about his excesses. Contrary, with time he got a substantial influence even in matters of state; appointments of ministers were largely dependant on his mood, his sympathies, and antipathies. He did not develop any real and substantial political line, but he had some concepts of a mission where he was building bridges between the impoverished peasants he hailed from, and the Tsardom by the grace of God; on the other hand, he hated the liberal middle-class and despised the moderate conservative aristocracy. He was also, all along against the war. Many among the leading political and military circles saw it as their sacred duty to set a full stop to his mission, both in regards to national considerations and for the sake of the monarchy. On the 17th of December 1916, the young Prince Felix Yusupov and two coconspirators murdered Rasputin. "The Monk" had then eaten two poisoned cakes, drank two poisoned glasses of wine, with potassium cyanide enough to murder four men, but five more gunshots and one kick to the side of his temple was needed before he was dead and could be tossed into the river Neva.

From the February Revolution in Petrograd. Rebel soldiers with a red flag on their bayonets patrol the streets.

Part II: The February Revolution.

The death of Rasputin brought around no change in the line the Tsr followed, and the monarchists despaired; some endeavored to warn him, others contemplated a coup. This was the situation when strikes and hunger riots broke out among the working class in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) during the closing of winter 1917. On the 23rd of February (8th of March, Gregorian Calendar) thousands of striking workers swarmed together in the streets and called for bread; the day after they also cried "Down with the Tsar!" It was no proper revolutionary uprising under a unified command, however; it was primarily a spontaneous hunger-revolt, sporadic, planless riots, looting of one and another bakery. The police, nonetheless, did not manage to restore law and order, and when the government dispatched armed forces (those so instrumental in 1905), they proved they could not be trusted; they outright refused to fire, they fraternized with the protestors, and great swaths of the soldiers soon joined ranks with the insurgents. Now, the flames of revolution were lit all across the city; police stations and prisons were stormed, and the masses pushed on into arsenals to seize weapons. Soldiers and workers alike assaulted policemen, officers were lynched, and some reactionary politicians were taken, hostage. On February 27th the city's commander had no other choice but to report to the Tsar quartered in Moghilev that he was unable to restore law and order.

Finally, the Tsar realized his position was precarious. He ordered reliable troops to march toward Petrograd and even embarked on a trip himself to the capital to survey the ongoing situation. He never reached his destination. Night to the 1st of March his train was halted because rebels had cut off the railway line, and His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias, was forced to turn around and return to Pskov, the headquarters for the North Front. In Petrograd the revolution was now victorious, the Winter Palace was in the possession of the revolutionaries and the battles ceased. Everything had in a way happened blindly, without direction; it was like an earthquake, a volcanic eruption or some other natural disaster. You name it. It had been an uprising against the regime, but not for a particular set of rules, ideology, any specific party, any agreed-upon program. Therefore, on the 27th of February not one but two centers of powers were created. One of them naturally had its source in the national assembly; the Duma was a matter of fact no representative body of the population at large, but even that came in opposition and at odds with the regime, and the Tsar decreed on February the 26th that it was to be dissolved - as he had done so many times before. The members of the Duma met, albeit as "private citizens" in another of the Tauride Palace's halls, another one where the Duma usually held its meetings, and elected provisional committee, where practically every party was represented. It was a sort of emergency government that sought to take leadership during the chaos and vacuum the collapse of the Tsarist regime left, and the Duma-committee's first order of business was to send Nikolai 2. a telegram asking him to abdicate.

In July of 1917 big spontaneous demonstrations took place in Petrograd, and it put the Bolsheviks in a pickle. They found it too early to overthrow the government but were also afraid to lose their influence among the masses if they were not in front of the demonstrations and riots. The Provisional Government cracked down on these riots, hundreds of people were killed, and the Bolshevik's positions were weakened for a long time after. The picture show a dramatic situation in one of the open squares of Petrograd, at the time the government's troops open fire on the crowd.


However, in addition to the Provisional Committee, another body of power rose, built upon a quite different basis, in the coming weeks and months it would increasingly get greater power, in the end giving the name to a totally new regime, a magic word for millions all over the globe in decades ahead: soviet. Soviet is a Russian word meaning council and the political meaning it now contains, first came during the Revolution of 1905; led by, among others, Trotskij workers' and soldiers' councils tried to take power. The Soviet was improvised, revolutionary organs, not parliamentary assemblies built upon universal suffrage and party systems; the foundation was the election of representatives from the factories and barracks; it was a wholly direct representation for the masses, something Russian governance had yet to know. Now, back to 1917, more radical elements went back to this tradition, and on February 27th the Petrograd Soviet was made, a direct successor to the St. Petersburg Soviet of 1905, based upon elections in the factories and barracks - of note the majority of votes went to Mensheviks and Social-Revolutionaries, not Bolsheviks. The Soviets was not yet in any form a communist body because the communists or bolsheviks played on this stage no role whatsoever; still, it was clear to all that this body, in contrast to the Duma, enjoyed a direct connection with the masses and in would more extensively than the Provisional Committee to make a common cause with the masses and stood ready enforce their demands. While the Provisional Committee in their first proclamation encouraged to restore law and order, the Soviets spoke of continuing the struggle, removing the ancien regime at large, and installing a "people's government". It was the voice of revolution.

Prince Gregorij Lvov and Pavel Miljukov. Prince Lvov, a Kadet, and a liberal, well-meaning, but not especially strong man, was the head of the first government following the Tsar's fall. He stepped down from the government in July 1917, over disagreements of the soil question, left Russia after the October Revolution, and died in exile in 1925. Pavel Miljukov, foreign minister of the Provisional Government and its leading personality, was a historian by trade but was an active participant in the political life as the founder and leader of the Kadet Party. Already in May 1917, he had to step down as the Provisional Government did not agree on his foreign policy, and traveled abroad where he lived to his death in 1943.

But, for the time being, it was the Provisional Committee that held the cards. With the support of the General Staff, they made it absolutely clear for Tsar Nikolai 2. that he had to step down, and conceded the day after he arrived in Pskov, March 2nd. First, he tried to abdicate in favor of his son Aleksej with his younger brother Grand-Duke Mikhail as Regent, but changed his mind during the evening and abdicated in favor of Mikhail. The plan was stillborn. Time and events had run past from such a solution, a mere week after the Revolution started. Power was transferred to the Provisional Government formed on the day of abdication, appointed by the Duma Committee, with the moderate-liberal Prince Gregorij Lvov as its head. He was a fine, noble, and well-meaning, but not particularly strong man. The leading man in the government was the Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavel Miljukov, leader of the constitutional democrats, the "Kadets" that was also called after the initials K. D., ka-de. Among the ministers was also a young, radical lawyer, Aleksandr Kerenskij; he was a member of the Trudoviks, who was close to the Social-Revolutionaries; he was also a member of the Petrograd Soviet, and could function as a bridge to it, without directly representing it in government.

 

[ThaHoward]

And that was the February Revolution. The period of the government under Kerensky should come out tomorrow, and then the October Revolution with the Civil War on Friday. Trotsky special should come out during the weekend, and it will address some points that have been missing and flesh out events, especially during the revolutions and civil war. Then hopefully we will be finished with book two by the time of NSB release, its chapters will be shorter and more focused.

And I hope @RustyHunter has not gotten his view on Nikolai 2nd completely ruined by now.

 

[RustyHunter]

And I hope @RustyHunter has not gotten his view on Nikolai 2nd completely ruined by now.

Maybe just a bit, but that's OK. I knew he was ineffective going into it, and it's not like I actually like him as a person. I will be disappointed if it turns out Pyotr von Wrangel was actually a terrible person though, since he seems like one of the most professional of the Whites.

On that note, how do you plan to handle the Civil War? It's undeniable that both sides were incredibly brutal, but are we going to be getting the pro-Red spin a bit? It's fine either way, I'm just curious whether this is being written from a modern perspective or Trotsky's?

 

[ThaHoward]

Maybe just a bit, but that's OK. I knew he was ineffective going into it, and it's not like I actually like him as a person. I will be disappointed if it turns out Pyotr von Wrangel was actually a terrible person though, since he seems like one of the most professional of the Whites.

On that note, how do you plan to handle the Civil War? It's undeniable that both sides were incredibly brutal, but are we going to be getting the pro-Red spin a bit? It's fine either way, I'm just curious whether this is being written from a modern perspective or Trotsky's?

I must admit I am harsher on Nikolai, and especially Alexandra than I normally would be. This is a Trotskyist AAR, and so it is spun to make him look better and his adversaries worse off. It is, however, not meant to a piece of propaganda or decisively pro Trotsky. He will still be criticized when it is due, along with the Soviets in general. And it is good that you question if I spin it in one way or another, always remember to try and see if an author is taking one side subtly or overt. And I think it is fitting, as Trotsky was against the whole cult of personality, both in regards to Lenin and Stalin. More on this later!

The Russian Civil War will also have a more Trotskyist spin, but it will again not be propaganda. And yes both sides were bad, and it was very complicated alliances at times. Take Finland, I am going out of the top of my head, but when Entente Forces invaded Arctic Russia, they did so only to get Russia back into the war, this led to them cooperating with the Finnish Red Guard, and being opposed to the Finnish White Guard, meanwhile also being against the Bolsheviks, but not really because of their ideology (a country run by some workers and sailors councils? Surely it must implode soon) but only because they wanted Russia back in the war. I digress, all sides perpetuated crimes, and some of them can't be presented here due to forum rules. This also applies to several of the former chapters, there are many key details that are left out since it is very touchy subjects and not allowed on this forum.

But it will be gritty, it will be brutal. And we will see if the Second Russian Civil War will be just as bad - or even worse.

 

[ThaHoward]

Chapter Six: The Kerenskiade

Coat of Arms of the Provisional Government

Part I: All Power to the Soviets!

Kerenskij's first cabinet.

The question of the form of government in Russia was to be decided by a constitutional assembly, elected on the basis of universal suffrage. Meanwhile, the country was de-facto a bourgeois republic, where the Provisional Government strived to implement liberal democratic governance as soon as possible. Accordingly, they proclaimed freedom of speech, religious freedom, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and a right to strike, and amnesty for any political crimes was offered. Achieving democracy in Russia that had always been autocratic just like that with the snap of a finger, in a country where the vast majority was illiterate, would in every case be a difficult assignment, even if the ancien regime was swept away in a few days with the loss of "just" a few hundred lives. To do it during the situation at hand, when the nation was at the brink of collapse, with chaos in the administration, widespread famine knocking at the doorstep, with the masses in revolutionary movements, was an outrageous task. And the situation became nigh impossible when they declared boldly the war will continue - until Russia was victorious. Simply put, that could not be accomplished. The cost of the war had shaken Russian society to its very core and caused the collapse of the Empire. A continuation of the war well exceeded the country's already exhausted forces and would tear down the foundation of any regime no matter how well-meaning they were. Consequently, the debate over the question of war or peace became one the most vital in the greater struggle of who wielded Russia.

The formation of the Petrograd Soviet, not yet controlled and dominated by the Bolsheviks.

A fateful complication for the new governance in Russia was also the dualism that emerged because of the Revolution, tensions between on one side the Provisional Government, the forces that wanted a bourgeois, democratic republic and consolidate the gains that were won because of the Tsardoms fall, on the other side the Soviets - that was now organized across the entire country - which wanted to make a clean slate for Russia and execute a social revolution. The more long-term goals were not as clear for anyone in the soviets, but the concrete and prevailing demands the majority could support primarily demanded to end the war, to improve a lot of the masses, and redistribution of the large lands held by the estates. They were so far-flung that neither the conservatives nor the liberals - that dominated the Duma and, in turn, the Provisional Government - could come to such terms. However, in the soviets, these parties were not in power; there the various radical groupings reigned, what one could name the Russian Workers' Movement; the Social-Revolutionaries (heirs to the Narodniks), the Trudoviks (center-left breakaway from the former), the Menshevik and the Bolshevik fractions within the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP). Initially in no way did the Bolsheviks, the later Communists, dominate within the soviet-movement; they constituted a small minority, battling with the majority composed Social-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, but just like the Soviets slowly expanded their power within society, the Bolsheviks increased their influence within the Soviets. It was a double-bladed knife: As the Soviets more or less made themselves spokesmen for the demands of teh masses, and continued to promote a more radical than the government, likewise the Bolsheviks within the Soviets appealed to the masses, and promulgated a much more radical line, much more sweeping demands, than their adversaries.

The 1903 Congress of the RSDLP.

The Bolsheviks were the radical, uncompromising revolutionary wing of the RSDLP, a party whose leaders had to work illegally or in exile. Bolsheviks quite simply means majority and is derived from Russian "bolshintsvo", Mensheviks minority, and derived from "menshintsvo". The terms came after the party held a congress in London in 1903, where the ultra-radical wing under Lenin attained a majority. Albeit, this is somewhat misleading. Among the delegates, the Bolsheviks secured a small majority, while ironically among the party at large a secure majority supported the Mensheviks. Anyway. What separated the two sides, was originally was primarily the question of tactics and methods. The Mensheviks wanted the socialist movement to be a broad mass party that would cooperate with the liberal bourgeois circles to overthrow the Tsardom and introduce political democracy. The Bolsheviks, on the other hand, meant they could not achieve anything by cooperating with the middle-class and liberals, only through revolution, led by laborers, and supported by peasants. Hence they also outright rejected the plans to form a mass party; they wanted a small, tightly organized, and disciplined elite party of true revolutionaries, by people who married their lives to the cause of revolution, who worked illegally, and aimed at leading the masses - and when the situation was ripe - take leadership in a revolutionary uprising. The Bolsheviks would be the Revolution's vanguard, and not to mention its professional specialists.

After a while, however, the separation between these two directions became more profound, both when it came to tactics and methods and the principle political policies. Early on during the war, the exiled Bolsheviks introduced the parole of transforming the war into civil war, while other groups within the workers' movement either supported the war or at the very least demand a "peace without annexation and reparation". In 1917 both Mensheviks and Social-Revolutionaries believed it was not possible to come any further in Russia than to have a liberal political revolution, i.e to relieve the absolute monarchy with a democratic, middle-class led society. The Workers' Movement needed to support the Liberals in their uphill struggle for such a society and work to preserve class interest within the frames of liberal democracy. The Bolsheviks, contrary, wanted the working man and peasants masses, the proletariat, themselves should seize power and rule through the Soviets, achieve a social revolution and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. Naturally, their slogan became "All Power to the Soviets!", all the while they put in every effort to take control of the Soviets by appealing to the masses longing after peace, bread, and land.

When the Bolsheviks initially after the February Revolution was a mere footnote, the revolution itself was spontaneous by the masses and not led by an elite vanguard, it was not only as a result that most looked upon their politics as fantasies, but the party also sorely lacked leaders; most of them was either in exile in Siberia or abroad. Nonetheless, they soon arrived in Petrograd, hardened, robust, and well-trained politicians, orators, organizations, men with a burning passion, clear and unpromising program, men with training and experience in conspiracy, tactics, and propagandists - mostly people with a will to take power, will take responsibility and a will to act. Little by little as disintegration spread across Russia and pure anarchy loomed, gradually as the new Provisional Government demonstrated its weakness, its discord, their lack of energy and - least but not last - the continued war that made goals that were too ambitious for depleted Russia, with backlash and increased chaos as a result, the Bolsheviks would remain as the only consequent, strongwilled, and action-orientated group, with leaders, that a clear cut, no-compromise line, and put all their efforts into following that. Fra Siberia came, among others, Iosif Stalin, Lev Kamenev, and Jakob Sverdlov; from Canada Lev Bronstein., better known under his alias Trotskij, from Switzerland came Vladimir Iljitsj Uljanov, better known under his alias Lenin. He towered a head above all others; with an iron fist, he took the reins of the party - and the revolution.

Lenin travelling through Stockholm on his way to Finland, and revolution.

Lenin was 47 years old when the Russian Revolution broke out; he was born in Simbirsk, where his father was a school inspector When Vladimir Iljitsj was 17 years, his older brother was hanged because he, as part of the Narodniks, had been part of a conspiracy to assassinate Alexander 3rd. This made a lasting impression on the young boy and contributed to forming his character. He joined at a young age a revolutionary movement, later on, became a convinced Marxist (albeit he was not always so, as Soviet histography led us to believe) and as a young jurist, he organized a socialist group in St. Petersburg. After one year in prison, and three years in Siberia, he went into exile abroad, returned during the Revolution of 1905, only to again live abroad from 1907-1917, as a poor emigree, tirelessly consumed on Marxist studies, political debates, and works of propaganda. He was always the uncompromising far left's man under the theoretical debates, preached the "pure" revolutionary teachings, never wanted to compromise - and was, therefore, more or less isolated. When war came around he saw an opportunity that it would make Russia ripe for revolution, and tirelessly hammered down slogans about transforming the war into a civil war. He was in Switzerland when news of the February revolution reached him, and could not control his impatience to return to his home and put his ideas into life under a real revolution. Germany, who believed that all revolutionaries that arrived in Russia, would contribute to weakening the country's war effort, let him travel from Switzerland, through Germany, to neutral Sweden, with his party comrades, among them Karl Radek and Grigorij Zinoviev. Via Finland, he then traveled to the Russian capital, the holy Peter's city, that later would be named after the apostle and prophet Lenin. The Germans did not miscalculate when they sent him, a hostile insurgent, through their country in a sealed-off train, "like a deadly virus delivered in an organism with an injection needle".

Lenin arrived in Petrograd, April 3rd. In reality, he was not greeted by masses only the vanguard listened to him, few knew who he was and he was initially a backbencher in the Petrograd Soviet. Once more he was exiled, On the 5th of July he hid in Finland, but returned for good on the 26th of October.

Lenin was by far the most significant of all the characters in the Russian Revolution, both intellectually and as a politician he was able to force through his will. He made Revolution his life study, being in the existence of illegality and exile, struggle, work, and renunciation galvanized him against most human weaknesses. He was in wedlock with the Revolution, and everything else was secondary. He desired nothing - other than a lust for power, of course in the name of revolution. Humans and humane considerations played no role to him. He was ruthless when he wanted to promote his cause, and his only scale bar was practical. Indeed he was a fanatic, but he was an ice-cold calculating fanatic, as void of vanity as of sentimentality. And while he was controlled by his own ideas, his theories, rigid, almost scholastic in his adherence to Marxism (or rather his own version of Marxism), he possessed a metric of common sense and grounded view on reality when faced with practical issues. In a way, he was rigid and inflexible when it came to principles, but as an administrator and a practical politician he understood very well when he had to make a tactical retreat, accept a compromise, and choose a way around. He was a politician to his very fingertips, and as such aware that ideology and logic are not sufficient, that in politics you must realistically assess adversity and difficulties, stay in touch with the masses, lead them on as long as it is possible, but not so much that you become isolated.

Lenin's great strength was that he is a peculiar way knew how to unite opposites: On one hand the crystal clear idea, the inflexible logic, the will of steel - on the other hand, the grounded sense of reality, courage to face the naked truth, the ability to adapt. Without second thoughts he sacrificed human lives when he deemed it necessary when it was suitable.

April 3rd he returned to Petrograd. He was uncomfortable once deputies of the Soviets gave him flowers. The leader, Nikolaj Tsjeidsje, hopefully spoke of unity and cooperation with the aim of defending the revolution Lenin replied by greeting the deputies as the vanguard of the world's proletarian army, spoke of the Revolution that heralded a new age and would end with the creation of a socialist world revolution. It would later become apparent that Lenin would not confine himself to what was already won, to preserve the revolution in its February stage. He wanted to advance the Revolution, overthrow the entire old society and replace it with a Soviet-ruled society. Hence the parole of "All Power to the Soviets!" - and the Bolshevik would need to gain all power in the Soviets. The last part would be done by being the spokesmen consistently for the radical demands, that would resonate with the masses, to redistribute land to peasants (although, they mostly did not support the Bolsheviks), give the Soviets control over the banks and industry, and make an end to the "imperialistic bandit's war".

Lev Davydovitsj Bronstein, better known under his alias Trotskij, a fervent revolutionary and an excellent organizer, Lenin's right hand and the executor of the coup of October 1917, the military leader of the Red Army during the Civil War. During the power struggle in the party after Lenin's death, he was, however, with little effort on Stalin's part eclipsed and expelled first to Central-Asia, and then into exile in Turkey, France, Norway, and finally Mexico. There he would plot his return...

With a talent for leading, Lenin led the Bolsheviks - or the Communist Party, as it was now called as a homage to the Communist Manifesto and the February Revolution of 1848 - in this campaign supported by experienced party comrades: Trotskij, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Stalin, Radek, Molotov, among others. The one who during the Revolution would take center stage and become a front figure, the only one whose position and influence was equal to that of Lenin, was Trotskij; Stalin was completely in his shadow along with many of the other Old Bolsheviks. Trotskij, whose real name was Lev Davydovitsj Bronstein, was nine years the junior of Lenin, and came from a solidly middle-class family; his father was a wealthy farmer from Ukraine. Like Lenin, Trotskij was introduced to the revolutionary movement early on, was imprisoned and banished to Siberia, took part in the Revolution of 1905, when he for a time was the leader of the St. Petersburg Soviet, the very first soviet, and had since 1907 lived in exile. He was originally not a Bolshevik, but had for a long time - as the pronounced individualist he was - been in no-man's land between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks; he often fiercely clashed with Lenin, who railed against him, but the two had later moved closer to each other, and when he returned to Petrograd Trotskij stepped into the role of the Bolsheviks and soon became a leading figure. His personality was in many ways the opposite of Lenin's - and could therefore brilliantly fill in in his role. While Lenin was thoroughly cold and sober, Trotskij was impulsive and fiery, an artist temperament, the born insurgent, a brilliant, colorful orator, and a writer full of passion and pathos, with rich artistic abilities in the service of propaganda. He was also a notable organizational force, and possessed the ability to electrify his supporters and associates and push them to their outermost and meet their full potential; here his great personal courage also played an essential role. But he lacked Lenin's balance, calm, and judgment, he was not void of vanity and theatrical gestures, and his cooperation with others was often made difficult with his stubborn, and arrogant person, while he needed to brilliance and dominate. Anyway, we will revisit Trotskij in the future, let us move on.

Part II: The Revolutionary Lawyer

Aleksandr Kerenskij member of the Trudovik Party, and later on the Social-Revolutionary Party, was from Simbirks, the same city as Lenin. Kerenskij was a lawyer, member of the Duma, member of the Petrograd Soviet, and Minister of Justice in Prince Lvov's Cabinet. May of 1917 he became Minister of War and soon became the strong man of the government. In July he became the leader of the Provisional Government, a position he held until he was overthrown by the Bolshevik October Revolution. He then spent the rest of his days in Western Europe and the USA.

It was not simply just the Bolshevik's own efficient and systematic skilled work that made their group lead the resistance to the government and in opposition to the soviet-politicians who felt bound to support the government, it was also the development in Russia. The February Revolution was in many areas across the country followed by spontaneous peasant uprisings against the estate lords, whose land was redistributed and were often killed. Suffering and poverty in the cities contributed to the continuous radicalization of the populace, and the government was increasing, from day by day, unable to maintain law and order, not to speak of that they were incapable of leading their nation to new heights in production and warfare. It was in one part because the change of guard was done so late in the troubles that they became overwhelming, and in part, because of the friction between the Provisional Government and the Soviets, in part, it also owed to the fact that the forces who wanted to stabilize the developments on the bourgeois, democratic society stadium, was split, had vague ideas of the new, and lacked political capital that could translate into political action, and most importantly lacked the ability to face the unpleasant realities at hand i.e that Russia was simply not capable of continuing the war. They also sorely missed leaders with necessary statesmanship, with the sheer authority and willpower the situation demanded.

For a time they believed they had found just the right man in Aleksandr Kerenskij, the radical lawyer from the Petrograd Soviet, made Minister of Justice and later Minister of War, who soon became the leading figure of the Provisional Government in July of 1917. He was from Simbirsk, the same place as Lenin, and eleven years his junior. The party Kerenskij was part of, the Trudoviks, was somewhere in between the center - with the Kadets - and the socialist movement - mainly represented at this point by the Social-Revolutionaries. As a leader he had many talents, i.e he was an excellent orator and could display restless energy, with an ability to impress. But he was also vain, full of theatrical gestures, lacked keen political senses, administrative experience, and grounded judgment. Consequently, he went on from misstep to misstep, from defeat to defeat. A major offensive, the Kerenskij Offensive no less!, pathetically broke together. When "Order no. 1" the Petrograd Soviet issued during March - it called for soldiers councils in all units, that the government's orders and directives should only be followed if it did not contradict that of the Soviets, that arms should be disposed of by the councils, not the officers and so on - it naturally contributed to weakening the already faltering and fragile discipline in the army, that being said, the soldiers would anyway lack any substantial fighting power to maintain a major offensive. Desertion took completely overhand.

A revolutionary parade during the July Days. Workers advocate for the overthrow of the Provisional Government.


The beginning of July also saw unrest, and violent, but leaderless, demonstrations in Petrograd. Neither Bolsheviks nor the other soviet politicians dared to take leadership over the unruly masses and at this time, give the uprising a revolutionary direction, revolutionary goals. The government could without any major obstacles restore law and order, and the interlude - that claimed hundreds of human lives - meant serious blowbacks for the Bolsheviks and other revolutionaries. The government soon lost their fright, found new confidence, and cracked down on the rebels with a sledgehammer. Trotskij was among the arrested, Lenin and others had to go into hiding; Lenin and Zinoviev went into hiding for a time in Finland. Kerenskij, who became prime minister after the "July Days", could nevertheless not restore authority at society at large, as he could conjure a miracle at the front, and come September an episode took place that decisively weakened the government in the masses eyes, simultaneous the outcome contributed to restoring the Bolsheviks waned prestige after the "July Days". Cossack General Lavr Kornilov, who was a most effective field officer, but completely lacked any political sense, was made Commander-in-Chief by Kerenskij, decided to take matters in his own hands once there was new unrest in Petrograd in September, and the Germans threatened to take Riga and from there Petrograd and Kornilov sent troops to the capital to conduct a good old putsch and once and for all end the influence of the revolutionary soviet. It is possible Kornilov, who had negotiated with Kerenskij, was under the impression that such a coup would not be unwelcome by the prime minister, regardless, Kerenskij made his moves against him and deposed the general. As for Kornilov, he complied. No, he did not, instead, he marched on, but his whole affair ended up in a fiasco. The troops proved to be anything but reliable, and across Petrograd, a wind of revolutionary defensive will swept across the capital; workers took to arms, raised barricades, and revolutionary agitators infiltrated the cossacks formations, who in large swaths either deserted or outright joined the Petrograd Soviet. More importantly, several arrested soviets - be it Bolsheviks, Social-Revolutionaires, or Mensheviks - were released. Most notable of them was, Trotskij who was charged with the defense of Petrograd, and under him was several Bolsheviks and militias now armed by Kerenskij himself. It was to these ranks the deserting soldiers of Kornilov would join forces with.

The Cossack-General Lavr Kornilov (1870-1918). When Kornilov had a fallout with Kerenskij, he was arrested. A few months later he would be freed and led the armed struggle against the Bolshevik coupmakers. He was shortly after killed in a skirmish.

The Kornilov Affair had threefold consequences. First of all, it gave the revolutionaries new zeal after their defeat during the July Days. Secondly, it compromised the provisional government in the eyes of the workers. Admittedly Kerenskij had opposed and moved against Kornilov, but to many, there was no clear thing that distinguished the government and the Tsarist forces, the Old Russia that the Cossack General represented. Thirdly Trotskij and Bolsheviks, that was imprisoned ever since the July Days, were released and the government had armed the Bolshevik Military Organization, which now refused to hand back the weapons. In soviet-circles and in the working-class masses a concept became prevalent, that the old aristocracy, perhaps in alliance with the government, wanted to put down the revolution, and that only further compromised the old regime that it was not able to see their plans through. One of the consequences of the interlude was the populace's trust in the Kerenskij Cabinet plummeted, while the Soviets - and with it, the Bolsheviks - became stronger by the day. It should be noted, that with the increase of polarization of society and increased radicalization of the Soviets, many socialists and revolutionaries abandoned the Soviets and instead supported Kerenskij. Anyway, in September it was for the first time a Bolshevik majority in both Petrograd and Moscow Soviets, and by the end of the month, Trotskij got the key position as Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet. Lenin was still underground in Finland, but in letters and articles, safe in his hiding spot and far away from the frontlines, he now argued to go on the offensive. He saw how the Provisionals Government crumbled, how lawlessness spread, how the disintegration of the army created a situation where the government (who had just handed over 40.000 rifles to the workers of Petrograd) no longer had a monopoly on violence. While on the other side, workers forming "Red Guards" under the leadership of Trotskij and after the mobilization against Kornilov played an increasingly vital role. Now was the time, in Lenin's opinion, the situation was matured and the historical moment was here, now the Bolsheviks had to strike, take power through a "revolution" and hold it, supported by the Soviets. Would they not seize their moment now, it would elude them and be forever lost.

Lenin in disguise, without his shades on.

On the 7th of October 1917, Lenin was once more in Petrograd, where he still lived underground; he shaved his mustache and beard and had a dark umbrella to hide in addition to a dark wig and glasses when he was out in the streets. All he missed was a fake nose. With fanatic will he forced his party comrades to action. Many were still reserved of a coup, frightened of the prospects of another setback as the aftermath of the July Days, anxious the government would strike first and crush the nascent communist party. As late as October the 10th, when the final decision was voted over in the central committee, Stalin, Zinoviev, and Kamenev voted against seizing power through an armed uprising. They opposed it so much they leaked the plan to seize power to the press. Lev Trotskij and Ivar Smilga were the most vigorous when it came to advocating another revolution. Lenin, with the help of Trotskij, Smilga and others, pushed his plan through the Central Committee, and the deed was meticulously planned by Trotskij down to the very details. The decision on the political plane was done by Lenin; the responsibility of the execution of the coup itself primarily rested on Trotskij, a task that fit him perfectly thanks to his organizational skills, his courage, and his revolutionary zeal. It was actually no secret they were planning a coup; aside from the aforementioned leak to the press, the Bolsheviks openly made propaganda calling for an uprising against the government, but the countermeasures Kerenskij did, were numb and ineffective - meanwhile, they were sufficient enough that it gave the optics that the Bolsheviks was the ones protecting the people against counter-revolution, from a looming palace coup from the old upper-class' side. First against Kornilov, and now Kerenskij.

 

[ThaHoward]

And that is what happened in Petrograd between the February and October Revolutions. We're nearing the end of book one now! Wrapping it all up with the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War.

Book Two will, as promised, be shorter and have more focused chapters. Then soon we will dive right into the proper AAR and hopefully by the time NSB releases!

 

[Sovereign Levander]

Bold of you, by the way, to be committing to a long AAR on a newly released Paradox DLC straight off the presses, and one with such a huge overhaul of surely fragile base mechanics at that.

 

[RustyHunter]

Accordingly, they proclaimed freedom of speech, religious freedom, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, and a right to strike, and amnesty for any political crimes was offered.

I wonder how much this would lead to the Provisional Gov't's eventual downfall. My initial guess is it wouldn't have made a huge difference since they couldn't enforce most of their laws anyways, but I suspect they regretted pardoning all political crimes.

Hence they also outright rejected the plans to form a mass party; they wanted a small, tightly organized, and disciplined elite party of true revolutionaries, by people who married their lives to the cause of revolution, who worked illegally, and aimed at leading the masses - and when the situation was ripe - take leadership in a revolutionary uprising. The Bolsheviks would be the Revolution's vanguard, and not to mention its professional specialists.

And every party leader gets a Dacha on the Black Sea?

There he would plot his return...

So Trotsky actually loses with Stalin but doesn't have an unfortunate visit with an ice pick. I had thought he would win the power struggle after Lenin's death, but this sounds more interesting.

When "Order no. 1" the Petrograd Soviet issued during March - it called for soldiers councils in all units, that the government's orders and directives should only be followed if it did not contradict that of the Soviets, that arms should be disposed of by the councils, not the officers and so on - it naturally contributed to weakening the already faltering and fragile discipline in the army, that being said, the soldiers would anyway lack any substantial fighting power to maintain a major offensive.

Do you think the Soviets were already trying to sabotage Kerensky's government? It seems like the Bolsheviks ultimately planned to take control, so it wouldn't surprise me.

revolutionary agitators infiltrated the cossacks formations, who in large swaths either deserted or outright joined the Petrograd Soviet.

That's something I've always found interesting - the early Volunteer Army was almost entirely officers because the common soldiers weren't interested in fighting the Soviets. That changed of course, as Soviet policy became more clear, but I think it shows how much the old order had failed Russia by that point.

 

[ThaHoward]

Bold of you, by the way, to be committing to a long AAR on a newly released Paradox DLC straight off the presses, and one with such a huge overhaul of surely fragile base mechanics at that.

Who dares wins But yes, I have thought about it, so I am actually contemplating if I am to start the "proper" AAR around the release, or when I am familiar with the mechanics and the game has less no bugs. I am currently leaning toward the former, which will also make for a more challenge when it comes to overthrowing Stalin and being in a world war.

I wonder how much this would lead to the Provisional Gov't's eventual downfall. My initial guess is it wouldn't have made a huge difference since they couldn't enforce most of their laws anyways, but I suspect they regretted pardoning all political crimes.

I think so, but they were caught between a rock and a hard place. If they did not release political prisoners they would be seen as just another version of the old regime, remember the whole Kornilov affair. It would just play right into the socialists in the Soviet, and would deligitimize the Kadets and liberals who advocated for political freedom and had members that were political prisoners too.

And every party leader gets a Dacha on the Black Sea?

There is no corruption in the glorious soviet society! As a sidenote, I think it is funny that some literally say there was no corruption in the Soviet Union, and then use Stalin as an exmple as he only had his uniform and tobaccoo. That gloss over his personal Dacha, that was oficially state property, that only he used and was refurbished several times. Not to speak of that he had a quite lavish lifestyle the state payed for. It was of course not limited to him, but he is used as an anectode for no corruption, but indeed top party members became the new upper class.

Now, will Trotsky do something about this, or does he simply want Dachas of his own?

So Trotsky actually loses with Stalin but doesn't have an unfortunate visit with an ice pick. I had thought he would win the power struggle after Lenin's death, but this sounds more interesting.

Ice Picks are still a very real and hazardous object! Especially in Mexico.

Up until 1936 history will be somewhat as in OTL, but with some minor alterations that will be obvious in Book Two, and once Book Three starts. And that is why Trotsky might fail to return as he is plotting his return in a faraway land. And we might even end up with Trotsky dying and someone else taking up the mantle and take the fight to Stalin.

So there will be plenty more episodes of A Game of Thrones Soviets!

Do you think the Soviets were already trying to sabotage Kerensky's government? It seems like the Bolsheviks ultimately planned to take control, so it wouldn't surprise me.

Indeed they were. Mensheviks and Social-Revolutionaries not so much as in an outright coup. But even then, early on Menshevik-Internationalists and Left Social-Revolutionaries were initially more numerous than the Bolsheviks, and even they supported a revolution. But they set up an alternate power structure, some wanted to sabotage it to make the new government reform into a better society, and others, not only Bolsheviks as this AAR and history gives you the impression of, wanted revolution and get rid of the Provisional Government altogether. To add further confusion into the mix, as you could see several key Bolsheviks didn't want a revolution either. It wasn't until Trotsky and more radical bolsheviks was released from prison (again) coupled with Lenin's writings, but to be honest the action of men that is actually there is more impactful than letters from someone hiding that can be ignored, that they managed to push them (and left Mensheviks and left social revolutionaries) toward revolution.

Because of the radicalization of the Soviets many of the former "moderate" Mensheviks and Social-Revolutionaries, and Popular Socialists (another splinter group of the SR) left the Soviets and instead formed a government coalition with Kerensky. Yes, after the July Crisis Kerensky had a government based upon Kadets, Progressives, SR, and Popular Socialists. Now it should be noted, Kerensky himself was a revolutionary, who wanted to overthrow the Tsardom and old society. The SRs and Progressive Socialists were the heirs of the Narodniks and Agrarian-Socialists (Lenin's brother was hanged for conspiring with them against the Tsar) and was by no means moderate and had decades of experience doing bomb-throwing, assassinations, and so on. But compared to the Bolsheviks, Internationalist-Mensheviks, and Left-SR was even more radical. We will examine this more in the next update, and you will see that the Left-SR might even be more radical than the Bolsheviks and more dominant in the Soviets.

That being said, I am also harsher on Kerensky than I would otherwise be. But he was caught between a rock and a hard place. To the liberals and conservatives, he became too radical and revolutionary, at least he was a socialist revolutionary, meanwhile, as the radical elements of the Soviets became the dominant force he become too moderate and conservative for their liking. And while he formed a government with the broader left, they were now not the leading forces in the socialist movement.

That's something I've always found interesting - the early Volunteer Army was almost entirely officers because the common soldiers weren't interested in fighting the Soviets. That changed of course, as Soviet policy became more clear, but I think it shows how much the old order had failed Russia by that point.

Indeed! And just how fed up they were with the war. They had major supply issues and major moral issues, with famines looming. This topped with memories of everything the Tsar had done for them. That reminds me, during the coronation of the Tsar, he wanted a big party and celebration for the peasants. Everything good so long, only that he did a Travis Scott only that is was even more severe, where depending on sources 1400-4000 people died and was trampled to death with many injured. The Tsar continued the Coronation and the festivities, much to the anger of the population.

Old Russia had failed them, and they wanted peace, bread, and land. Another reason why Kerensky's government became unpopular. He failed to provide for peace and redistribute land and nationalize industries that he promised (remember, he is a revolutionary socialist), instead of continuing the war. Many of the peasant uprisings I mentioned in the chapter were soldiers deserting, executing their officers, and then finding the nearest estate, lynching the owner(s), proceeding to redistribute land forcefully.

 

[ThaHoward]

Teaser #08.

"I started working as soon as I learned how to walk. Until the age of fifteen, I worked as a shepherd. I tended, as the foreigners say when they use the Russian language, "the little cows," I was a sheepherder, I herded cows for a capitalist, and that was before I was fifteen. After that, I worked at a factory for a German, and I worked in a French-owned mine, I worked at a Belgian-owned chemical factory, and [now] I'm the First Secretary of the great Ukrainian-Soviet And I am in no way ashamed of my past because all work is worthy of respect. Work as such cannot be dirty, it is only conscience that can be."

"Everyone who rejoices in the successes achieved in our country, the victories of our party led by the great Stalin, will find only one word suitable for the mercenary, fascist dogs of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite gang. That word is execution."

"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!"

 

[RustyHunter]

That being said, I am also harsher on Kerensky than I would otherwise be. But he was caught between a rock and a hard place. To the liberals and conservatives, he became too radical and revolutionary, at least he was a socialist revolutionary, meanwhile, as the radical elements of the Soviets became the dominant force he become too moderate and conservative for their liking. And while he formed a government with the broader left, they were now not the leading forces in the socialist movement.

It does seem like he was in an impossible political position, so I don't entirely see it as an indictment of his character.

Old Russia had failed them, and they wanted peace, bread, and land.

I suppose part of the Civil War was when the Soviets actually had to rule and alienated certain groups (i.e. Cossacks, small landowners, etc.). It's easy to be popular when you're in the opposition and the ruling party isn't doing well.

"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!"

Well, the Stalinists won't be going down without a fight! I wonder what lane Trotsky will find to attempt his return to Russia. It seems like Stalin did a good job consolidating his power in the 30s, so I'll enjoy what you come up with.