Global War, Global Catastrophe by Maartje Abbenhuis;Ismee Tames;

Author:Maartje Abbenhuis;Ismee Tames;
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK

ILLUSTRATION 7.1 Alexander Kerensky, as head of Russia’s provisional government, standing in front of a giant map of Russia and the Caucasus in 1917.

Source: Wikipedia.org.

The ensuing months witnessed many extraordinary developments, which underscore the spontaneity and enthusiasm with which many individuals across the empire (and even across the world) embraced the potential for political rejuvenation. The first Russian revolution was so powerful because it inspired so many to reimagine their futures. As an example, Russian anarchist dissidents, who had fled the Romanov empire to escape its secret police after 1905, returned to Russia in 1917 to turn their ambitions into a reality. As the ‘Freedom for Art’ manifesto, signed by 1,500 Russian anarchist artists, proclaimed at the time:

The great Russian Revolution calls us to act. Unite, fight for the freedom of art. Fight for the right of self-determination and autonomy. The Revolution creates freedom. … Only in a free democratic republic is democratic art possible.21

Many Russian soldiers were equally inspired to advocate for their rights as soldiers and veterans. They called for the implementation of universal suffrage, monetary support for their fallen comrades’ widows and a peaceful end to the war. Importantly, outside of Petrograd, Moscow and the Baltic cities, most of these soldier soviets agreed not to abandon their frontline posts. They would not fight in an aggressive capacity, but they would hold their lines against any attack that might come from the Austrian, German or Ottoman side. They had lost too many of their comrades to fail them at this hurdle.22 This ongoing loyalty to the sacrifices made during the war highlighted that the issues at play were far more complex than a mere desire to change the government or to assert democratic rights. These soldiers wanted their war service to continue to have meaning, whichever version of Russia eventually appeared. The same can be said for Russia’s other multifarious communities, many of which set up their own soviets, mobilizing industrial workers, garrisoned troops and peasant communities alike, all seeking representative democracy and recognition of their unique needs and wants. In the ‘waiting space’ between the collapse of the Tsarist state in March and the much-vaunted November election, the jostling for power in aid of a particular vision for the future of a democratic Russia evolved in a variety of oppositional ways. Yet almost all of these people considered their future in terms of the ongoing war and in anticipation of peace.

For the Provisional Government, for example, the revolution was already won. Kerensky fervently believed that the March revolution had achieved what most Russians desired, namely the establishment of a democratic state and their recognition as citizen-voters in it. Looking back to the French Revolution of 1789 as a point of reference, Kerensky also expected Russia’s new citizen-soldiers to willingly continue fighting for their new nation-state.23 In so doing, Kerensky (and many of his liberal supporters) failed to recognize that what brought the end of the Tsarist regime was not a universal demand for ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’ but rather a universal demand for ‘peace, bread and a return to the land’.

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