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present
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Italy, 1917
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In June of 1917 the last advance of the Russian army
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at the front of the First World War took place and ended in a complete defeat.
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The news about it flew around Europe and reached Italy in no time.
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The Russian philosopher Boris Yakovenko wrote about that defeat the following:
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“That lightning-fast crush of the entire front that happened
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solely for the reason of spiritual degradation that engulfed the soldiers
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stroke a hard and irreparable blow at the Russian revolution.
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It started the internal collapse, its sliding into the violence and anarchy”.
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The Russian revolution was the topic of the research
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done by Boris Yakovenko and became the theme of his book.
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The revolution that started in February of 1917
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approached its terrible fratricidal final by the summer of the same year.
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The Real History of the Russian Revolution. October. Episode Six
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The power in Russia formally belonged to the Temporary Government
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but in reality, there were no real authorities in the country.
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In the cities, at the plants and military units councils and committees
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of the deputies from workers and soldiers were elected.
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The councils were immediately blocking any decisions of the government
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that they didn’t like.
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If the government insisted on executing its demands,
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the councils led thousands of armed people into the streets.
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There were no police in the state.
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The troops submitted not to their commanders but to the regiment committees
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that were deciding which orders to execute. In a result of that,
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the authorities had no means of keeping order in the country.
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That power was doomed for overthrowing.
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The Temporary Government was functioning
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only because its opponents were too numerous and couldn’t unite.
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However, if any party took single-handed control
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over the councils and the armed crowd that listened to the councils,
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the government would seize to exist.
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By summer of 1917, the Russian revolution had mercilessly swept
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off the path of history yesterday’s idols and rulers of minds
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whose names had been in all newspapers for years in a row.
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Few people remembered about Rodzyanko, Guchkov and Milyukov…
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The socialists played the main parts in the politics now:
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the socialist revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Mensheviks-internationalists,
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Social Democrats, “inter-district Mensheviks”, Bolsheviks and the like.
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Representatives of those parties worked at the Councils of the Deputies
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from the Workers, Soldiers, Peasants and so all.
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Their ideas appealed to people especially when they were talking
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about the re-distribution of the land or the end of the war.
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They all dreamt of having their country renewed according to their own visions
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but all of them saw it united.
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However, there were other opinions too.
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The Georgian Mensheviks,
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Armenian socialist revolutionaries dashnaks,
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the musavatists from Azerbaijan decided
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to rule over their territories independently.
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The ideas of full independence hadn’t gained wide support yet.
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In most cases, they only demanded national autonomy.
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The Central Rada (“Council”) in Kiev was the most decisive in that respect.
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It consisted of over 700 people though they had no authority
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to represent the interests of the Ukrainian state.
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Both the bodies of the Temporary Government
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and its own Council of the Deputies went on working in Kiev too.
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Still, it was the Central Rada that declared itself
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to be the only representative of the interests of the Ukrainian people
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and demanded power.
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At the beginning of summer of 1917, the Rada sent a delegation to Petrograd
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and demanded the Temporary Government to give Ukraine autonomy
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and to recognize the Rada as its highest authority.
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The government refused.
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Almost at once, a military convention was called upon in Kiev.
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Kerenskiy prohibited it, but it still took place.
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At the convention, two directions of the Ukrainian nationalist movement met.
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The so-called “independence-seekers” demanded the separation of Ukraine
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and the creation of its own armed forces.
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The other side was represented by the autonomists
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who vouched for the autonomy of Ukraine as a part of the Russian state.
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They constituted the majority in the Rada.
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On June 10, the Central Rada published the so-called First Universal Act –
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a manifest like those that had been issued by the Kazaks’ atamans.
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By it, the Rada undertook the responsibility for the present state of affairs,
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introduced new taxes and declared that the Ukrainian people
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should be in command of its own fate.
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It didn’t mention the separation from Russia just yet.
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However, it founded its own government –
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the General Secretariat headed by the writer Vladimir Vinnichenko.
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Former accountant Simon Petlyura got the post
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of the Secretary of the Military Affairs.
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It was a direct challenge to the Temporary Government.
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Three Ministers - Tereschenko, Kerenskiy and Tsereteli – were sent to Kiev.
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To press on the guests from the capital and demonstrate the strength
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of the new power, the Central Rada carried out a military parade.
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The real military force it had at its disposal was minimal –
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just two incomplete regiments
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named after Bogdan Khmelnitskiy and Hetman Polubotok.
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However, the Ukrainian politicians found a way out of the situation.
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The soldiers at the parade moved in a circle.
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After marching in front of the Pedagogical Museum
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where the Central Rada was meeting, they ran to the parallel street
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and in a few moments paraded in front of the guests from Petrograd again.
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They failed to cheat anybody with that trick.
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Kerenskiy and the other ministers guessed what was going on.
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However, the Rada didn’t concede at the negotiations.
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Finally, the sides reached a compromise –
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the guests from Petrograd recognized the Central Rada
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as a legitimate power, and it agreed not to discuss the issue of autonomy
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until the convention of the Constituent Assembly.
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The Central Rada published the Second Universal Act in which it stated
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that it was always supporting the unity of Ukraine and Russia.
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After the delegates from Petrograd had left,
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the regiment named after Hetman Polubotok revolted.
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The authorities attempted to send the regiment to the front
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a couple of times before, but the soldiers kept refusing to go,
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and finally, the military authorities stopped allotting the supplies for them.
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Officially, the regiment demanded to hand the power over to the Central Rada
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but what they wanted in reality was to avoid the front.
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The rebels occupied the Kiev fortress and the military plant “Arsenal”.
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They were disarmed and later sent to the front.
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However, the revolt of the Ukrainian regiment
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went almost unnoticed in Petrograd.
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More dangerous events were brewing there.
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The Bolsheviks decided to test the strength of the Temporary Government.
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Italy, 1917
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From the book of Boris Yakovenko “History of the Great Russian Revolution”:
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“The Anarchy and attempts at the state order didn’t stop or die out.
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The disturbances took place in Rostov-on-the-Don, in Stariy Petergof,
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in Nizhniy Novgorod, in Yelets, in Ryazan,
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and in Petrograd itself the mood remained very tense…”
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At the time, the extraordinary investigation commission
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of the Temporary Government instigated a criminal case
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against Lenin and the Bolsheviks and was investigating their activities
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on suspicions of espionage for the benefit of Germany.
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However, the leaders of the Bolsheviks were still free.
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Lenin kept to his chosen tactics – first of all, to gain influence
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and then to seize the control over the Councils.
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After that, he planned to use the masses of soldiers and workers
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who were the main forces of the Councils,
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to arrest the Temporary Government and usurp the power.
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In March of 1917, the influence of the Bolsheviks in the capital
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was close to zero, but at the beginning of summer it noticeably grew.
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And in July Lenin and the Bolsheviks made the first attempt to seize the power.
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During the first days of July, incomprehensible and scary chaos
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was reigning in the streets of Petrograd.
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The passers-by watched with surprise as trucks filled with armed people
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drove along the streets. Posters with a short and clear slogan
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“The First Bullet is for Kerenskiy” were flying above them.
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The agitators of the Bolsheviks kept visiting the caserns.
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The soldiers listened to them attentively and favourably.
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Their appeals were easy to understand:
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“Get Rid of the Minister-Capitalists”,
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“Say “No” to the War Until Victorious End”,
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and “Peace Without Annexations and Contributions”.
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The soldiers of the capital’s garrison didn’t want to fight,
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and there was only one party that promised immediate peace – the Bolsheviks.
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Lenin published his work called “The April Thesis”,
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the first point in which was justification of the need to stop the war.
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Lenin’s program also stipulated confiscation of all the landowners’ estates.
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However, the leader of the Bolsheviks stated that peace was unattainable
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while the Temporary Government held the power.
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The 1st Machine Gun Regiment which was as large as a division
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and included 11,300 soldiers and 300 officers was considered
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to be the least reliable in Petrograd.
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It was formed as a training team which was sending
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a new marching company to the front every single week.
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The soldiers hated to be sent to the front and didn’t want to fight at all.
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The regiment was stationed in a district of Petrograd
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called “Vyborgskaya Storona” where industrial enterprises
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and large capital plants were also situated.
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The French journalist Claude d’Anna said the following about it:
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“Lenin and Trotskiy feel like hosts here”.
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Because of the proximity to the working district,
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the soldiers were constantly under the influence of the socialistic propaganda.
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In June, the Russian army attempted a decisive advance at the German front.
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However, the lack of discipline and command in the troops,
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the influence of the socialists, and pacifistic mood
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led to the complete failure of the attack.
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Thousands of soldiers died in vain;
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at the same time, the Bolsheviks’ ideas
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about the end of the war ruled the minds in the rear.
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During those days the commandment demanded to send
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a couple of marching companies of the 1st Machine Gun Regiment to the front.
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The troops at the front were coughing up blood
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but the machine gunners in Petrograd didn’t want to lose their free existence.
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Their regiment committee approved a resolution not to go to the front
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until the war became “revolutionary”.
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Nobody could answer what they meant by that;
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however, it gave them a good pretext to stay at the rear.
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After the resolution had been approved,
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the Bolsheviks together with the regiment committee carried out a meeting
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and called for the end of the cruel violence against the revolutionary troops.
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It was the attempt to finally send the machine gunners to the front
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that was perceived as “violence”.
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On July 3, a revolutionary committee was elected in the regiment.
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It sent the delegates to the capital’s plants at once.
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The soldiers were shouting the same text:
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“All the workers and soldiers of Petrograd have already revolted,
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you’re the only ones left!”
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The machine gunners believed them,
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and the workers were ready to go out into the streets.
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The representatives of the regiment arrived in Kronstadt
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where a huge crowd had already gathered on the square.
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The seamen were listening to passionate speeches:
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“The blood of your brothers might already be spilling in Petrograd.
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Will you refuse to support your comrades?
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Won’t you defend the revolution”?
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That was how the seamen of Kronstadt joined the revolt.
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The situation became tenser.
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No blood had been spilt in Petrograd yet,
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but the meetings were on all about the city.
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The speakers criticized the Temporary Government
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and some people were running from one casern to another
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summoning people up for an armed rebellion.
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Lenin wasn’t in the city – he went to the summer cottage
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of his comrade and publisher Bonch-Bruyevitch.
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Other leaders of the Bolsheviks were hesitating.
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Finally, they decided not to go for the armed revolt
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and to call upon their supporters to remain calm.
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The next day, only a peaceful demonstration was planned;
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the leaders of the Bolsheviks announced it publicly.
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Meanwhile, they kept nudging their people to overthrow the government.
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When the member of the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks Stalin
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got a call from Kronstadt with a question
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of whether people should take rifles to the demonstration, he joked:
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“The rifles? You know better, comrades!
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We’re writers, so we always have our weapons with us - like a pencil.
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You should know what to do with your arms yourselves…”
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Josef Vissarionovitch Stalin (Dzhugashvili) came from a poor Georgian family.
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He graduated from an Orthodox Religious Collage
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and at the age of 16 entered the Tiflis Religious Institute.
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At that time, he got involved in the revolutionary activities
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and was expelled from the Institute.
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He joined the Bolsheviks and met Lenin in 1905.
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He was arrested and exiled and imprisoned a couple of times.
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During the February revolution,
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he had already been at the top of the Bolsheviks’ party.
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He supported the Temporary Government at first
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but after Lenin’s return to Petrograd
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accepted his idea of a new socialistic revolution.
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The cars with armed people were still riding all about the city.
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The situation in Petrograd grew more and more alarming.
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In the Tavria Palace which was filled to the brim
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with soldiers and armed workers
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the Central Executive Committee of the Councils held endless meetings.
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Deputies, representatives of the regiments, and delegates of the plants
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00:17:23,559 --> 00:17:27,619
were delivering speeches. They all wanted to save the revolution.
241
00:17:27,990 --> 00:17:30,472
The opponents of the Bolsheviks believed that a new revolt
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00:17:30,727 --> 00:17:34,405
would sweep they off together with the Temporary Government.
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00:17:34,650 --> 00:17:37,382
The government itself was idling.
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Brothers, let’s go to Lenin!
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00:17:51,823 --> 00:17:54,754
On July 4, the seamen of Kronstadt went to the main headquarters
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00:17:54,983 --> 00:17:58,997
of the Bolsheviks, the former estate of ballerina Kshesinska.
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00:18:03,917 --> 00:18:06,585
The seamen were accompanied by trucks with machine guns;
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00:18:06,838 --> 00:18:09,040
people were shooting into the air.
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00:18:09,255 --> 00:18:12,026
On reaching Kshesinska’s house, the Kronstadt seamen demanded
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00:18:12,210 --> 00:18:15,170
to see Lenin who had already returned to Petrograd.
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00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:36,538
Lenin! Lenin!
252
00:18:36,885 --> 00:18:47,425
Comrades, calm down. Comrade Lenin will now go out to you.
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00:18:47,865 --> 00:18:52,353
He came out to the demonstrators and delivered a passionate if vague speech.
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00:18:52,637 --> 00:18:55,223
The chief ardently criticized both the Temporary Government
255
00:18:55,439 --> 00:19:01,227
and the Petrograd Council but avoided the direct appeal to start the revolt.
256
00:19:14,184 --> 00:19:17,846
After listening to Lenin, the seamen went to the Marsovo Field.
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00:19:18,281 --> 00:19:22,111
When they entered the Liteyniy Avenue, the fire was opened at them.
258
00:19:23,188 --> 00:19:25,900
The Kronstadt seamen started firing back.
259
00:19:27,535 --> 00:19:30,121
It’s still unknown who had opened fire at the seamen.
260
00:19:30,633 --> 00:19:33,828
However, at that time the counter-revolutionaries were blamed.
261
00:19:34,114 --> 00:19:38,800
The wilful searches and even pogroms started in the nearby houses.
262
00:19:50,221 --> 00:19:54,608
The incidents with mysterious shootings happened that day in other places too.
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00:19:54,942 --> 00:19:59,486
There were dozens of dead and hundreds of wounded.
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00:20:00,039 --> 00:20:02,009
Nobody knew what was going on.
265
00:20:02,196 --> 00:20:05,450
Rumours about the soldiers’ mutiny and the executions on the rebels
266
00:20:05,637 --> 00:20:07,461
started to circulate about the city.
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00:20:07,693 --> 00:20:10,591
People said that the soldiers had their heads cut off -
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00:20:10,769 --> 00:20:13,497
allegedly, by the Kazaks whom Kerenskiy called from the front.
269
00:20:13,732 --> 00:20:15,773
In reality, the Military Minister was not in Petrograd at all
270
00:20:15,954 --> 00:20:18,944
and the other ministers behaved passively.
271
00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,586
At first, the government hid at the apartment of the Prime-Minister
272
00:20:22,759 --> 00:20:26,961
Prince Lvov and then at the headquarters of the Petrograd military district.
273
00:20:27,294 --> 00:20:31,053
The ministers claimed that they were holding official meetings.
274
00:20:31,259 --> 00:20:33,814
However, everybody knew that they were simply begging
275
00:20:33,990 --> 00:20:37,945
the commander of the military district General Polovtsev for protection
276
00:20:38,089 --> 00:20:42,374
though he had few reliable troops at his disposal.
277
00:20:44,326 --> 00:20:47,269
The events were developing lightning-fast.
278
00:20:48,867 --> 00:20:51,596
By 4 o’clock, an enraged crowd of the Kronstadt seamen
279
00:20:51,895 --> 00:20:54,336
reached the Tavria Palace.
280
00:21:11,652 --> 00:21:13,544
The situation was absurd.
281
00:21:14,170 --> 00:21:16,346
The seamen wished to hand all the power over to the council
282
00:21:16,538 --> 00:21:21,429
and at the same time were going to rout the Petrograd Council.
283
00:21:21,971 --> 00:21:23,875
The soldiers of the 1st Machine Gun Regiment
284
00:21:24,114 --> 00:21:27,528
who became the instigators of those events were defending the Council.
285
00:21:28,029 --> 00:21:30,450
However, the confrontation was avoided.
286
00:21:30,663 --> 00:21:34,134
After short hesitation, the machine gunners joined the seamen.
287
00:21:35,638 --> 00:21:37,106
On bursting into the building,
288
00:21:37,294 --> 00:21:39,493
the Kronstadt seamen seized the Minister of Agriculture
289
00:21:39,667 --> 00:21:42,410
and the representative of the socialist revolutionaries’ party Viktor Chernov.
290
00:21:47,559 --> 00:21:51,408
The crowd was ready to tear him apart but Lev Trotskiy interfered
291
00:21:51,601 --> 00:21:54,368
and delivered a passionate speech:
292
00:21:54,931 --> 00:21:58,789
“Comrades Kronstadt seamen, the beauty and pride of the Russian Revolution!
293
00:21:59,201 --> 00:22:01,863
I’m sure that nothing will cloud today’s solemn parade
294
00:22:02,105 --> 00:22:06,807
of the revolutionary forces with unnecessary arrests.
295
00:22:07,592 --> 00:22:11,153
Who is for violence? Raise your hand!”
296
00:22:12,050 --> 00:22:17,291
…with unnecessary arrests. Who is for violence?
297
00:22:17,536 --> 00:22:19,686
While Trotskiy was communicating with the seamen,
298
00:22:19,837 --> 00:22:21,492
Chernov was led out of the building.
299
00:22:21,696 --> 00:22:23,605
Thus, the life of the Minister was saved.
300
00:22:29,743 --> 00:22:32,000
In the evening, the commander of the district General Polovtsev
301
00:22:32,148 --> 00:22:35,368
received an order from Kerenskiy to put an end to the unrest.
302
00:22:35,673 --> 00:22:38,382
However, the General didn’t have enough soldiers.
303
00:22:39,431 --> 00:22:42,549
It resembled the days the of February Revolution.
304
00:22:43,724 --> 00:22:47,078
The inactivity of the government, the lack of the forces loyal to it,
305
00:22:47,230 --> 00:22:50,479
a huge city taken over by an armed crowd…
306
00:22:51,611 --> 00:22:54,321
The power was lying under everybody’s feet again.
307
00:22:55,031 --> 00:22:57,884
However, it all changed on the following day.
308
00:23:02,992 --> 00:23:06,954
On the morning of July 5, the Temporary Government made public
309
00:23:07,101 --> 00:23:10,300
the murderous information that the leaders of the Bolsheviks
310
00:23:10,443 --> 00:23:13,126
headed by Lenin were the German spies
311
00:23:13,319 --> 00:23:15,883
and received money from the German secret services.
312
00:23:17,886 --> 00:23:20,610
The authenticity of their evidence was dubious,
313
00:23:20,832 --> 00:23:25,167
and almost all the newspapers refused to publish those revelations.
314
00:23:25,663 --> 00:23:29,851
Only one of them agreed – the newspaper “Zhivoye Slovo” (“The Live Word”)
315
00:23:30,201 --> 00:23:33,002
that was in effect the yellow press.
316
00:23:33,790 --> 00:23:36,763
The law-enforcement officials also took some action.
317
00:23:37,045 --> 00:23:40,170
On July 8, the Temporary Government issued an order
318
00:23:40,345 --> 00:23:43,169
to arrest Lenin, Zinovyev and other leading Bolsheviks
319
00:23:43,324 --> 00:23:48,438
on suspicions of treason and organization of the armed revolt.
320
00:23:50,260 --> 00:23:53,473
In two days, the Special Investigation Commission
321
00:23:53,630 --> 00:23:57,390
for investigation of the level of involvement of the garrisons
322
00:23:57,555 --> 00:24:00,206
of Petrograd and its suburbs in the armed disturbances was formed.
323
00:24:00,631 --> 00:24:04,229
At the same time, the Prosecutor of the Petrograd Court Chamber
324
00:24:04,357 --> 00:24:07,534
entrusted the investigator of cases of particular importance
325
00:24:07,699 --> 00:24:11,345
with “instigating an investigation of the revolt of July 3-5
326
00:24:11,494 --> 00:24:16,000
on suspicions of a crime stipulated by Articles 100 and 108
327
00:24:16,153 --> 00:24:19,953
of the Criminal Code”. In essence, it was the continuation
328
00:24:20,067 --> 00:24:22,442
of the criminal case that had been instigated
329
00:24:22,547 --> 00:24:24,591
against the Bolsheviks back in April.
330
00:24:24,952 --> 00:24:27,433
Lenin and the Bolsheviks weren’t the German spies
331
00:24:27,613 --> 00:24:29,969
in the direct sense of these words.
332
00:24:30,190 --> 00:24:33,417
It’s just the interests of Germany and the Bolsheviks conveniently coincided –
333
00:24:33,630 --> 00:24:37,205
both wanted Russia to lose the war.
334
00:24:38,226 --> 00:24:41,010
Still, the majority of researchers believe that the German government
335
00:24:41,201 --> 00:24:45,819
did finance the Bolsheviks through a couple of channels.
336
00:24:46,511 --> 00:24:50,974
The first one – through Alexander Parvus (Alexander Lvovitch Gelfand)
337
00:24:51,208 --> 00:24:55,567
who cooperated with the German secret services and Lenin’s confidants.
338
00:24:56,317 --> 00:24:59,748
The second source – through the mediation of the Swiss Social Democrat
339
00:24:59,921 --> 00:25:03,094
and German-Austrian agent Karl Moor
340
00:25:03,304 --> 00:25:08,530
who was handing the money over to the Bolsheviks in 1917-1918.
341
00:25:10,623 --> 00:25:17,009
The message that Lenin is…
342
00:25:17,230 --> 00:25:19,134
After the Bolsheviks had been accused of espionage,
343
00:25:19,304 --> 00:25:21,932
the mood of the people started to change.
344
00:25:22,259 --> 00:25:24,463
Just yesterday many soldiers of the Petrograd garrison
345
00:25:24,613 --> 00:25:27,302
were ready to support the Bolsheviks.
346
00:25:27,682 --> 00:25:29,798
However, on finding out about the German money
347
00:25:29,957 --> 00:25:32,574
they hastily turned away from the traitors.
348
00:25:32,798 --> 00:25:34,984
It became much easier for General Polovtsev to talk the soldiers
349
00:25:35,151 --> 00:25:37,757
into defending the Temporary Government.
350
00:25:38,619 --> 00:25:42,383
Besides, the troops were summoned from the front to restore the order.
351
00:25:49,006 --> 00:25:53,764
During the day the crowds that seemed to be innumerable melted like snow.
352
00:25:54,148 --> 00:25:56,441
The troops surrounded the headquarters of the Bolsheviks –
353
00:25:56,632 --> 00:25:59,416
the house of Kshesinska. Stalin held the negotiations.
354
00:25:59,749 --> 00:26:02,300
They agreed that the Bolsheviks would leave the building
355
00:26:02,479 --> 00:26:05,120
if they were permitted to go freely.
356
00:26:07,643 --> 00:26:10,010
The troops from the front arrived in the city,
357
00:26:10,221 --> 00:26:12,546
and the restoration of the order commenced.
358
00:26:12,739 --> 00:26:15,172
Kerenskiy returned from the army too.
359
00:26:15,355 --> 00:26:18,196
The regiment that arrived with him was 40 times less numerous
360
00:26:18,340 --> 00:26:20,550
that the capital’s garrison.
361
00:26:20,729 --> 00:26:24,008
However, the Petrograd units let it disarm themselves without resistance.
362
00:26:24,189 --> 00:26:26,821
The troops detained the soldiers of the 1st Machine Gun Regiment
363
00:26:26,987 --> 00:26:30,701
and led them to the Palace Square where some kind of a filter camp
364
00:26:30,867 --> 00:26:35,714
was opened. 45 instigators of the revolt were arrested.
365
00:26:35,990 --> 00:26:38,823
The rest was sent to the front or to the other rear garrisons –
366
00:26:38,964 --> 00:26:40,925
as far from the capital as possible.
367
00:26:41,157 --> 00:26:45,021
The seamen hid in the Fortress of Peter and Paul.
368
00:26:45,258 --> 00:26:47,252
After the negotiations, they surrendered.
369
00:26:47,474 --> 00:26:51,522
The seamen were disarmed and sent home, to Kronstadt.
370
00:26:54,088 --> 00:26:57,350
Repressions began against the Bolsheviks’ party members.
371
00:27:03,967 --> 00:27:07,387
The leaders of the Russian Social Democratic Working Party
372
00:27:07,596 --> 00:27:10,311
were to be arrested.
373
00:27:12,773 --> 00:27:15,203
Alexander Fedorovitch, we believe that you’re prejudiced
374
00:27:15,345 --> 00:27:17,644
towards the Bolsheviks. They are real revolutionaries…
375
00:27:17,865 --> 00:27:19,903
The Petrograd Council tried to save them
376
00:27:20,027 --> 00:27:23,507
and present them as mistaken but honest revolutionaries.
377
00:27:23,699 --> 00:27:25,851
I don’t think so…
378
00:27:29,603 --> 00:27:33,894
Amidst the debates with the delegation Kerenskiy received a telegram –
379
00:27:34,188 --> 00:27:37,493
the German-Austrian troops broke the front by Tarnopol.
380
00:27:39,130 --> 00:27:42,023
“The German advance that started on July 6
381
00:27:42,194 --> 00:27:45,737
has developed into a real catastrophe that might threaten
382
00:27:45,894 --> 00:27:48,888
the revolutionary Russia with death.
383
00:27:49,211 --> 00:27:53,201
The mood of the units that had been sent forward
384
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:57,445
has drastically changed through of the efforts of the minority.
385
00:27:57,722 --> 00:28:01,954
Our attack stalled fast.
386
00:28:02,256 --> 00:28:08,588
The majority of the units are now in a state of profound degradation”.
387
00:28:09,351 --> 00:28:12,332
I hope you won’t object to the arrests anymore?
388
00:28:26,344 --> 00:28:29,283
Bolsheviks Trotskiy, Lunacharskiy and Kamenev
389
00:28:29,417 --> 00:28:32,969
whom the soldiers almost tore apart were arrested in Petrograd.
390
00:28:33,445 --> 00:28:36,533
In total, a few dozens of the leading members of the Russian
391
00:28:36,696 --> 00:28:40,971
Social Democratic Working Party of the Bolsheviks were arrested.
392
00:28:41,137 --> 00:28:44,615
Frightened Lenin kept repeating during those days:
393
00:28:44,977 --> 00:28:49,695
“Now they’ll shoot all of us. For them, it’s the most convenient moment”.
394
00:28:51,051 --> 00:28:52,725
He almost guessed it right.
395
00:28:52,921 --> 00:28:55,096
There was a plan to kill Lenin during his arrest.
396
00:28:57,435 --> 00:28:59,563
He had to change five secret addresses
397
00:28:59,748 --> 00:29:02,537
and then hide together with the other leader of the Bolsheviks
398
00:29:02,718 --> 00:29:08,233
Grigoriy Zinovyev close to Petrograd – in a hut by the Lake Razliv.
399
00:29:10,315 --> 00:29:16,741
Grigoriy Alexeyevitch, honey… shall we start the fire?
400
00:29:17,318 --> 00:29:20,538
In August, he moved to the territory of the Great Princedom of Finland
401
00:29:20,756 --> 00:29:23,130
where he was hiding in Yalkal up to the beginning of October,
402
00:29:23,374 --> 00:29:26,562
then in Helsingfors and in Vyborg.
403
00:29:32,343 --> 00:29:35,728
It seemed that the Bolsheviks were done with for good.
404
00:29:48,817 --> 00:29:52,177
The July revolt culminated in the burial of the Kazaks.
405
00:29:52,530 --> 00:29:55,719
Two hundred Kazaks from the Don were the trifling force
406
00:29:55,887 --> 00:30:00,084
that General Polovtsev could rely on during the first days of the disturbances.
407
00:30:00,295 --> 00:30:03,358
A couple of the Kazaks paid for that with their lives.
408
00:30:03,696 --> 00:30:06,774
The Temporary Government arranged solemn funerals for them.
409
00:30:07,898 --> 00:30:12,396
During the July revolt, 20 Kazaks and 4 artillerists were killed,
410
00:30:12,540 --> 00:30:16,662
and 70 people wounded. The rebels lost 16 people dead,
411
00:30:16,795 --> 00:30:19,942
and about 700 people were wounded.
412
00:30:21,035 --> 00:30:24,461
Kerenskiy delivered a passionate speech by their open coffins:
413
00:30:25,163 --> 00:30:28,104
“In front of all of you, I openly claim that all attempts
414
00:30:28,297 --> 00:30:33,250
of instigation of anarchy and disturbances, no matter where they derive from,
415
00:30:33,451 --> 00:30:37,762
will be mercilessly suppressed. Before the bodies of the dead,
416
00:30:37,928 --> 00:30:40,582
I urge you to swear that together with us,
417
00:30:40,676 --> 00:30:45,685
you’ll spare no efforts to save the state and the freedom”.
418
00:30:47,136 --> 00:30:50,134
The crowd carried the Military Minister to his car on their arms.
419
00:30:53,288 --> 00:30:55,516
New changes were introduced in the Temporary Government.
420
00:30:55,698 --> 00:31:00,967
That time, they were radical – Prince Lvov left the post of the Prime-Minister
421
00:31:01,096 --> 00:31:03,777
and the Minister of Internal Affairs.
422
00:31:03,938 --> 00:31:07,437
Alexander Kerenskiy became the head of the government.
423
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,445
The new Prime-Minister settled in the Winter Palace.
424
00:31:12,771 --> 00:31:16,764
When he was leaving his residence, the red banner above it was taken down.
425
00:31:16,971 --> 00:31:18,641
The same thing was done for the Tsar –
426
00:31:18,834 --> 00:31:21,057
when the Emperor used to leave the Winter Palace,
427
00:31:21,221 --> 00:31:24,057
his Imperial banner was taken down the flagstick.
428
00:31:24,483 --> 00:31:28,922
Kerenskiy made rounds of the soldiers on a white horse from the Tsar’s stables
429
00:31:29,165 --> 00:31:32,230
and rode a car from the Tsar’s garage.
430
00:31:32,606 --> 00:31:35,258
Some people seriously believed that Alexander Fedorovitch
431
00:31:35,502 --> 00:31:38,336
was planning to marry one of the daughters of Nicolay II
432
00:31:38,635 --> 00:31:42,182
and in that way, get the Emperor’s crown.
433
00:31:43,013 --> 00:31:46,329
The Emperor and his family were sent away from Tsarskoye Selo
434
00:31:46,522 --> 00:31:50,278
to Tobolsk in Siberia. Kerenskiy gave Nicolay his word
435
00:31:50,450 --> 00:31:54,151
that it was temporary and that in December he would be able to come back.
436
00:31:54,613 --> 00:31:59,025
However, the last Russian Tsar never saw his capital again…
437
00:32:01,909 --> 00:32:04,305
Italy, 1917
438
00:32:04,713 --> 00:32:08,855
From the book of Boris Yakovenko “History of the Great Russian Revolution”:
439
00:32:11,843 --> 00:32:15,102
“The Petrograd Bolshevik mutiny became a new and powerful push
440
00:32:15,308 --> 00:32:17,378
to the further degradation and downfall of the order
441
00:32:17,596 --> 00:32:19,796
and organization in the country”.
442
00:32:28,836 --> 00:32:31,316
After the Bolsheviks’ mutiny had been suppressed,
443
00:32:31,528 --> 00:32:34,128
the situation in the capital changed radically.
444
00:32:34,367 --> 00:32:37,450
The supporters of a “strong hand” now felt more confident.
445
00:32:37,782 --> 00:32:40,454
Among them, there were the most different people –
446
00:32:40,667 --> 00:32:43,175
politicians swept off by the whirlpool of the revolution,
447
00:32:43,359 --> 00:32:48,696
large industrialists, army generals and lower-ranking officers.
448
00:32:49,824 --> 00:32:52,422
Kerenskiy couldn’t unite or head those forces.
449
00:32:52,682 --> 00:32:55,494
That’s why they looked up to General Kornilov.
450
00:32:57,141 --> 00:32:59,200
Lavr Georgiyevitch Kornilov was an ideal candidature
451
00:32:59,373 --> 00:33:03,595
for the restoration of order. Brave and popular at the army,
452
00:33:03,836 --> 00:33:07,080
he wasn’t an old-regime retrograde.
453
00:33:07,811 --> 00:33:10,638
The General was sympathetic with the revolutionary causes
454
00:33:10,823 --> 00:33:13,595
but he hated the anarchy that had engulfed the country
455
00:33:13,721 --> 00:33:16,583
and the army from the bottom of his heart.
456
00:33:17,038 --> 00:33:20,860
The 8th army he headed was in fact the only one
457
00:33:21,097 --> 00:33:25,858
that did well during the infamous June advance.
458
00:33:26,048 --> 00:33:31,244
In summer of 1917, he was appointed the commander of the South-Western Front,
459
00:33:31,445 --> 00:33:36,490
and in two weeks he already was the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army.
460
00:33:37,883 --> 00:33:41,440
The army was in a dire state – the discipline was low,
461
00:33:41,624 --> 00:33:45,791
the soldiers kept refusing to fight, they didn’t listen to their officers,
462
00:33:45,999 --> 00:33:48,079
and the latter blamed that on the soldiers’ committees
463
00:33:48,318 --> 00:33:51,944
formed after the February Revolution.
464
00:33:56,259 --> 00:33:58,403
Kornilov was an ardent opponent to the committees
465
00:33:58,608 --> 00:34:02,535
and believed that politics had no place in the army.
466
00:34:03,459 --> 00:34:05,999
After heading the front, he demanded the government
467
00:34:06,172 --> 00:34:09,688
to reintroduce the martial court and death penalty in the army
468
00:34:09,873 --> 00:34:13,221
to restore discipline in the troops.
469
00:34:13,987 --> 00:34:16,856
In a result of that, General gained many enemies;
470
00:34:17,088 --> 00:34:19,957
however, he gained a lot of supporters too.
471
00:34:20,177 --> 00:34:23,545
A part of them was ready to follow their leader until the end;
472
00:34:23,710 --> 00:34:26,630
the others counted on using his power
473
00:34:26,786 --> 00:34:29,821
to become the politicians of the highest level.
474
00:34:30,086 --> 00:34:32,532
Boris Savinkov was one of them.
475
00:34:34,438 --> 00:34:37,726
Boris Viktorovitch Savinkov, a revolutionary, founder and head
476
00:34:38,043 --> 00:34:40,856
of the “Battle Organization of the Socialist Revolutionaries”.
477
00:34:41,114 --> 00:34:43,117
He participated in preparation of the terroristic acts
478
00:34:43,293 --> 00:34:48,441
of which the Minister of the Internal Affairs of Russia Vyacheslav Pleve,
479
00:34:48,644 --> 00:34:52,672
Moscow General Governor Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovitch
480
00:34:52,873 --> 00:34:55,927
and Minister of Internal Affairs Petr Durnovo fell victims.
481
00:34:56,257 --> 00:35:00,792
In 1906, he was sentenced to death but escaped from prison.
482
00:35:01,135 --> 00:35:05,720
Lived in the emigration and returned to Russia in 1917.
483
00:35:06,425 --> 00:35:10,982
Savinkov was appointed the commissar of the 7th, and then the 8th army,
484
00:35:11,215 --> 00:35:13,574
then the commissar of the South-Western Front.
485
00:35:14,206 --> 00:35:16,675
Kerenskiy who was heading the Military Ministry
486
00:35:16,858 --> 00:35:20,052
effectively handed it over under Savinkov’s control.
487
00:35:20,467 --> 00:35:23,853
Despite his past of a fighting terrorist, Savinkov despised anarchy
488
00:35:24,063 --> 00:35:28,137
and the power of the crowd and saw himself as a saviour of Russia
489
00:35:28,284 --> 00:35:31,317
from the revolutionary elements. He became one of those
490
00:35:31,485 --> 00:35:36,610
who supported Kornilov’s appointment to the post of the Commander-in-Chief.
491
00:35:40,617 --> 00:35:43,357
Kornilov accepted the post with some reservations.
492
00:35:44,070 --> 00:35:46,619
He insisted that politicians shouldn’t interfere
493
00:35:46,797 --> 00:35:50,297
into the affairs of the military and wanted to reorganize the army.
494
00:35:50,521 --> 00:35:52,699
The socialistic newspapers got alerted.
495
00:35:53,364 --> 00:35:55,542
They perceived the attempts to restore discipline in the army
496
00:35:55,675 --> 00:36:00,246
as a manifestation of counter-revolution and a ghost of dictatorship.
497
00:36:15,201 --> 00:36:18,489
Kornilov did have a plan to restore order.
498
00:36:24,099 --> 00:36:26,211
He made a report to the Temporary Government
499
00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:31,246
in which he demanded to apply the war times laws to the rear,
500
00:36:31,472 --> 00:36:33,871
liquidate the majority of the committees in the army
501
00:36:34,021 --> 00:36:37,286
and hand the railways over under the tough military control.
502
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,554
His report looked like an ultimatum,
503
00:36:40,773 --> 00:36:44,318
and relations between Kornilov and Kerenskiy spoilt in no time.
504
00:36:44,969 --> 00:36:49,233
Savinkov’s intention to make them work together failed.
505
00:36:49,862 --> 00:36:54,766
Meanwhile, on August 12 the State Convention opened in Moscow.
506
00:36:55,199 --> 00:36:57,563
Not only the socialists but also other political parties
507
00:36:57,829 --> 00:37:01,635
and public organizations of the country took part in it.
508
00:37:01,876 --> 00:37:04,077
The Convention took place in the Bolshoy Theatre
509
00:37:04,262 --> 00:37:07,072
and started with a long speech of the Prime-Minister Kerenskiy.
510
00:37:07,579 --> 00:37:10,614
The next day, Kornilov arrived in Moscow.
511
00:37:10,998 --> 00:37:13,066
The officers carried their Commander-in-Chief
512
00:37:13,286 --> 00:37:15,439
to the Railway Station in their arms.
513
00:37:16,001 --> 00:37:18,983
The crowd shouted to him: “Please save Russia!”
514
00:37:19,291 --> 00:37:22,155
Ovations met Kornilov at the Bolshoy Theatre too.
515
00:37:22,487 --> 00:37:26,849
The socialists and soldiers refused to applaud the Commander-in-Chief.
516
00:37:29,407 --> 00:37:34,246
The very first words of Kornilov raised the alarm.
517
00:37:35,077 --> 00:37:38,802
“With deep sadness I must openly claim
518
00:37:39,025 --> 00:37:43,143
that I have doubts that the Russian army will fulfil its duty
519
00:37:43,376 --> 00:37:47,420
before the Motherland without hesitation”.
520
00:37:47,643 --> 00:37:50,163
The General listed the main points of his report
521
00:37:50,335 --> 00:37:54,336
and demanded to immediately undertake decisive measures.
522
00:37:55,469 --> 00:37:59,420
After him, the chair went to Kaledin, the Ataman of the Don Kazak Troops.
523
00:37:59,728 --> 00:38:01,210
He urged to establish strong power in the country
524
00:38:01,382 --> 00:38:04,924
that would be able to act without consulting with the councils and committees;
525
00:38:05,141 --> 00:38:07,711
in effect, he was calling for dictatorship.
526
00:38:08,481 --> 00:38:12,150
Kerenskiy replied that the government Wouldn’t succumb to pressure.
527
00:38:12,614 --> 00:38:15,117
The State Convention ended without achieving anything.
528
00:38:15,512 --> 00:38:18,286
However, it demonstrated that the division in the country remained strong,
529
00:38:18,429 --> 00:38:20,671
the contradictions were hard to reconcile
530
00:38:20,869 --> 00:38:22,746
and the government was very weak.
531
00:38:24,175 --> 00:38:26,791
Italy, 1917
532
00:38:29,333 --> 00:38:32,324
“The Moscow State Convention was the last significant attempt
533
00:38:32,538 --> 00:38:34,713
of the revolutionary power to overcome
534
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:39,962
the advancing political and social anarchy...”
535
00:38:45,460 --> 00:38:50,471
A new catastrophe at the front became a tragic epilogue to the Moscow Convention.
536
00:38:51,036 --> 00:38:54,108
In a couple of days after the Convention had been closed,
537
00:38:54,288 --> 00:38:57,023
the Germans broke through the front and seized Riga.
538
00:38:57,302 --> 00:38:59,164
The Russian army surrendered that very important city
539
00:38:59,358 --> 00:39:01,161
almost without any resistance.
540
00:39:01,432 --> 00:39:04,293
Only a few regiments and the Latvian Shooters were fighting.
541
00:39:04,764 --> 00:39:09,538
The downfall of Riga opened the way for the German army towards Petrograd.
542
00:39:17,945 --> 00:39:20,382
General Kornilov is accused of the retreat!
543
00:39:20,646 --> 00:39:23,048
General Kornilov is accused of the retreat!
544
00:39:23,304 --> 00:39:26,741
A decision was taken to declare the state of defence emergency in the capital.
545
00:39:26,929 --> 00:39:30,105
The socialists immediately started a propaganda campaign in the mass media.
546
00:39:30,396 --> 00:39:32,644
Kornilov was accused of surrendering Riga to the Germans
547
00:39:32,786 --> 00:39:37,836
and alleged readiness to surrender Petrograd too to strangle the revolution.
548
00:39:38,076 --> 00:39:40,007
The situation exacerbated again.
549
00:39:40,298 --> 00:39:43,288
Murders of the officers recommenced at the front.
550
00:39:45,914 --> 00:39:49,608
Meanwhile in Kazan, explosions blew up the powder plant.
551
00:39:49,925 --> 00:39:53,474
About 12,000 machine guns and almost a million of shells
552
00:39:53,583 --> 00:39:56,157
were destroyed in the stores.
553
00:39:56,599 --> 00:40:00,136
Artillery stores exploded in Petrograd too.
554
00:40:00,384 --> 00:40:01,987
The organizers were never fund.
555
00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:04,877
The country was plunging deeper into the chaos.
556
00:40:05,623 --> 00:40:11,435
For many in those days, General Kornilov was the only hope of salvation.
557
00:40:12,740 --> 00:40:14,983
At that time, rumours about monarchist conspiracies
558
00:40:15,199 --> 00:40:17,483
circulated the country constantly.
559
00:40:17,820 --> 00:40:21,056
Those rumours weren’t confirmed though secret agreements did exist,
560
00:40:21,239 --> 00:40:24,455
although they weren’t monarchist.
561
00:40:24,938 --> 00:40:27,280
The Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief
562
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:30,304
became the centre of attraction for the dissatisfied.
563
00:40:30,617 --> 00:40:32,494
In Mogilev, an organization called
564
00:40:32,726 --> 00:40:35,420
“The Union of Officers of the Army and Fleet” was founded.
565
00:40:35,601 --> 00:40:37,224
Its goal was simple and clear –
566
00:40:37,438 --> 00:40:39,817
a military coup headed by Kornilov.
567
00:40:40,373 --> 00:40:43,005
There were also other undercover organizations.
568
00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:56,013
Kerenskiy wasn’t idling too.
569
00:40:56,380 --> 00:40:59,815
He sent Savinkov to Mogilev to discuss some measures of restoration of order
570
00:40:59,938 --> 00:41:03,074
and strengthening the defence of the capital with Kornilov.
571
00:41:03,663 --> 00:41:07,094
They agreed to send some troops from the front to Petrograd.
572
00:41:07,309 --> 00:41:10,532
They also discussed a formation of a new government.
573
00:41:11,168 --> 00:41:13,636
All those measures were agreed with Kerenskiy.
574
00:41:20,173 --> 00:41:22,634
When Savinkov was leaving, Kornilov told him:
575
00:41:23,224 --> 00:41:25,615
“Please tell Alexander Fedorovitch that I’ll support him
576
00:41:25,766 --> 00:41:29,856
in everything if it’s necessary for the sake of our Motherland”.
577
00:41:36,139 --> 00:41:40,098
Don’t worry. I’ll tell everything to Alexander Fedorovitch.
578
00:41:44,525 --> 00:41:48,094
People in Mogilev were sure that everything was going on
579
00:41:48,322 --> 00:41:51,247
as it should be. However, when Savinkov returned to Petrograd,
580
00:41:51,500 --> 00:41:53,751
he unexpectedly met Kerenskiy’s resistance.
581
00:41:54,030 --> 00:41:56,327
The Prime-Minister refused point-blank
582
00:41:56,527 --> 00:41:58,925
to sign the papers brought from the Headquarters.
583
00:41:59,764 --> 00:42:01,992
A new hero appeared on the stage at that moment –
584
00:42:02,318 --> 00:42:06,444
the former member of the Temporary Government Vladimir Lvov.
585
00:42:07,244 --> 00:42:10,653
He was a very emotional and easily disturbed person.
586
00:42:10,974 --> 00:42:14,813
The events in the country had a depressing influence over him.
587
00:42:21,692 --> 00:42:23,867
Lvov Vladimir Nicolayevitch.
588
00:42:24,117 --> 00:42:26,168
The surname was the only thing he shared
589
00:42:26,349 --> 00:42:29,257
with the former head of the Temporary Government.
590
00:42:29,813 --> 00:42:33,623
He came from a noble family and was a deputy of the State Duma.
591
00:42:33,884 --> 00:42:36,507
He held a post of an Ober-Prosecutor of the Holy Synod
592
00:42:36,652 --> 00:42:39,476
during the first and the second Temporary Governments
593
00:42:39,704 --> 00:42:43,471
and was unduly rude and unfavourable towards the bishops
594
00:42:43,677 --> 00:42:47,815
of the Orthodox church. In Kerenskiy’s government,
595
00:42:47,936 --> 00:42:51,932
he didn’t get any position and felt extremely insulted.
596
00:42:53,085 --> 00:42:55,817
Lvov came to Kerenskiy and started to hint vaguely
597
00:42:55,987 --> 00:42:58,664
at some influential forces he allegedly represented
598
00:42:58,797 --> 00:43:03,306
and claimed that the government had to be changed.
599
00:43:03,793 --> 00:43:06,333
Kerenskiy didn’t answer anything concrete.
600
00:43:06,501 --> 00:43:08,975
However, from that moment on Lvov kept saying
601
00:43:09,119 --> 00:43:13,035
that he was acting on the orders of the head of the government.
602
00:43:13,860 --> 00:43:15,950
Vladimir Nicolayevitch went to Mogilev
603
00:43:16,123 --> 00:43:19,420
where he met Kornilov at the Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief.
604
00:43:19,617 --> 00:43:23,619
Lvov offered the Commander-in-Chief to take the power into his own hands,
605
00:43:23,827 --> 00:43:26,934
although nobody gave him the authority to discuss that.
606
00:43:28,110 --> 00:43:31,180
Kornilov knew that Kerenskiy and Lvov used to be friends,
607
00:43:31,353 --> 00:43:34,289
so he believed him. The General suggested
608
00:43:34,500 --> 00:43:37,027
that Kerenskiy and Savinkov should come to Mogilev
609
00:43:37,226 --> 00:43:39,460
where he would be able to guarantee their safety
610
00:43:39,621 --> 00:43:44,159
and also promised a post of a Military Minister to Savinkov
611
00:43:44,317 --> 00:43:47,561
and of the Minister of Justice to Kerenskiy.
612
00:43:52,496 --> 00:43:53,838
Before leaving for Petrograd,
613
00:43:54,115 --> 00:43:57,105
Lvov talked to Vasiliy Zavoyko, Kornilov’s adjutant.
614
00:43:57,519 --> 00:44:01,344
Zavoyko said that Kerenskiy would be murdered at the headquarters,
615
00:44:01,539 --> 00:44:03,791
and Kornilov wouldn’t be able to prevent that.
616
00:44:06,302 --> 00:44:10,579
Tell to Alexander Fedorovitch that he shouldn’t come.
617
00:44:10,898 --> 00:44:15,496
He is in danger, and we won’t be able to protect him.
618
00:44:18,177 --> 00:44:19,590
What do you mean?
619
00:44:22,264 --> 00:44:23,931
Have a safe journey!
620
00:44:24,777 --> 00:44:27,208
Later the adjutant claimed that he had been joking;
621
00:44:27,456 --> 00:44:29,836
however, Lvov was appalled by what he heard.
622
00:44:34,014 --> 00:44:37,844
While overwhelmed Lvov was going to the capital, the life went on.
623
00:44:38,398 --> 00:44:42,051
Fulfilling his agreements with Savinkov, Kornilov issued an order
624
00:44:42,253 --> 00:44:45,043
to form a Separate Petrograd Army.
625
00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:51,091
He sent the units of the 3rd Cavalry Corps (headed by General Krymov)
626
00:44:51,307 --> 00:44:55,579
and some units of the Aboriginal (“Wild”) Division to Petrograd.
627
00:44:55,757 --> 00:44:58,703
The Headquarters discussed the new authority to be formed –
628
00:44:58,856 --> 00:45:00,802
the Council of the People’s Défense.
629
00:45:01,588 --> 00:45:07,476
He asked to tell Alexander Fedorovitch that he shouldn’t come…
630
00:45:07,771 --> 00:45:09,623
On returning to Petrograd, Lvov told Kerenskiy
631
00:45:09,827 --> 00:45:12,155
that Kornilov had demanded the full authority
632
00:45:12,380 --> 00:45:16,198
and that the life of the Prime-Minister was in danger.
633
00:45:16,768 --> 00:45:21,601
…that they won’t be able to guarantee…
634
00:45:23,882 --> 00:45:26,275
At Kerenskiy’s request, Lvov wrote a report on the demands
635
00:45:26,519 --> 00:45:28,474
he had heard in Mogilev.
636
00:45:28,786 --> 00:45:32,116
Later, Kerenskiy claimed that it was Kornilov’s ultimatum.
637
00:45:33,619 --> 00:45:36,030
-Are you sure he meant it? -I am.
638
00:45:39,411 --> 00:45:40,246
Write.
639
00:45:43,896 --> 00:45:45,199
What shall I write?
640
00:45:45,398 --> 00:45:47,361
Put down everything you heard there.
641
00:45:47,541 --> 00:45:48,851
-Everything? -Everything.
642
00:45:51,534 --> 00:45:53,148
After listening to Lvov’s report,
643
00:45:53,416 --> 00:45:55,585
Kerenskiy went to the telegraph and wrote to Kornilov.
644
00:46:01,396 --> 00:46:02,766
Will it take much longer?
645
00:46:03,150 --> 00:46:04,812
Kornilov confirmed the fact of negotiations
646
00:46:05,023 --> 00:46:08,132
and asked Kerenskiy to come to Mogilev.
647
00:46:08,681 --> 00:46:11,989
Having a false ultimatum and a telegram of the Commander-in-Chief
648
00:46:12,175 --> 00:46:15,273
at his disposal, Kerenskiy arrested Lvov and sent him
649
00:46:15,452 --> 00:46:17,852
to the Fortress of Peter and Paul.
650
00:46:18,086 --> 00:46:20,773
Kornilov was dismissed from the commandment.
651
00:46:23,900 --> 00:46:26,271
The historians are still arguing about the reasons
652
00:46:26,445 --> 00:46:28,846
behind Lvov’s weird actions.
653
00:46:29,679 --> 00:46:33,152
Was it a wish to avenge on Kerenskiy, or did he simply go crazy?
654
00:46:34,378 --> 00:46:36,417
However, it was that weird episode
655
00:46:36,632 --> 00:46:40,068
that had a decisive influence on the further course of events.
656
00:46:40,266 --> 00:46:43,646
Its consequences turned out to be catastrophic.
657
00:46:47,300 --> 00:46:52,444
After Kornilov refused to leave his post, he was declared a rebel.
658
00:46:52,867 --> 00:46:55,707
Submission to him equalled treason.
659
00:46:56,409 --> 00:46:58,903
Kornilov issued the following announcement:
660
00:46:59,208 --> 00:47:02,656
“Russian people! Our Motherland is dying.
661
00:47:02,936 --> 00:47:06,806
I have to stand out openly. I’m General Kornilov,
662
00:47:06,987 --> 00:47:09,682
and I claim that the Temporary Government
663
00:47:09,855 --> 00:47:13,927
under the pressure of the Bolsheviks’ majority is acting in full agreement
664
00:47:14,128 --> 00:47:17,382
with the plan of the German General Headquarters,
665
00:47:17,597 --> 00:47:20,759
that together with the upcoming landing of the troops on the Riga shores
666
00:47:20,936 --> 00:47:24,748
will destroy the army and ruin the country from within.
667
00:47:25,273 --> 00:47:29,108
I’m General Kornilov, a son of a Kazak and peasant, and I claim –
668
00:47:29,329 --> 00:47:33,772
I personally don’t need anything except for the salvation of the Great Russia,
669
00:47:33,981 --> 00:47:37,046
and I swear to keep the people going until the Constituent Assembly
670
00:47:37,233 --> 00:47:40,385
during which the people will independently determine their fate”.
671
00:47:41,610 --> 00:47:44,536
The new commander-in-chief appointed by the Temporary Government
672
00:47:44,735 --> 00:47:49,542
General Lukomskiy refused to accept his post and remained loyal to Kornilov.
673
00:47:49,838 --> 00:47:52,148
A couple of other generals also refused to accept the position
674
00:47:52,356 --> 00:47:55,552
and supported the rebellious general.
675
00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:58,864
Savinkov turned sides and supported Kerenskiy.
676
00:47:59,101 --> 00:48:01,577
Appointed the Military Governor of Petrograd,
677
00:48:01,840 --> 00:48:05,291
he started to organize the resistance to the advance of General Kornilov
678
00:48:05,581 --> 00:48:08,665
which he himself had recently arranged.
679
00:48:09,311 --> 00:48:12,248
The 3rd Cavalry Corps and the Aboriginal Division
680
00:48:12,481 --> 00:48:14,460
that was going towards the capital immediately turned
681
00:48:14,713 --> 00:48:19,171
from the forces for restoration of order into the rebellious troops.
682
00:48:24,619 --> 00:48:28,387
-Give me some more fish soup. -Yes, sure.
683
00:48:28,655 --> 00:48:31,550
Kerenskiy didn’t have a choice but to turn for help
684
00:48:31,755 --> 00:48:34,904
to his political opponents from the Petrograd Council.
685
00:48:35,684 --> 00:48:38,092
It started distributing arms among the workers in the city
686
00:48:38,278 --> 00:48:40,882
as many of them were supported by the Bolsheviks.
687
00:48:41,393 --> 00:48:42,765
Lenin’s party was still illegal
688
00:48:43,047 --> 00:48:48,532
but now it got a chance to return to the political arena.
689
00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:51,889
Vladimir Ilyitch, hello. I brought a letter for you.
690
00:48:52,126 --> 00:48:55,144
-Come in. Will you have some soup? -No, thanks.
691
00:48:57,498 --> 00:49:01,505
Well, let’s see… What are they writing?
692
00:49:05,923 --> 00:49:10,278
Well, Grisha? The fishing trip is cancelled.
693
00:49:10,498 --> 00:49:12,465
We’re going back to Petrograd.
694
00:49:26,550 --> 00:49:30,322
Meanwhile, the troops of General Krymov were moving towards Petrograd.
695
00:49:30,739 --> 00:49:32,298
The movement was slow.
696
00:49:32,557 --> 00:49:35,481
When agitators came to the echelons and started to talk the Kazaks
697
00:49:35,659 --> 00:49:39,085
and Caucasian highlanders out of “strangling the revolution”
698
00:49:39,300 --> 00:49:41,688
the troops stopped completely.
699
00:49:42,369 --> 00:49:46,005
Kerenskiy offered to solve the issue peacefully and without the blood-spilling,
700
00:49:46,235 --> 00:49:48,683
so he summoned Krymov to Petrograd. The latter agreed.
701
00:49:48,891 --> 00:49:53,191
It’s still unknown what had happened in the office during their meeting.
702
00:49:53,483 --> 00:49:56,326
What is known is that Kerenskiy accused the General of a mutiny
703
00:49:56,539 --> 00:49:58,251
and organizing a conspiracy.
704
00:49:58,697 --> 00:50:02,088
So, in a few hours after leaving the Prime-Minister,
705
00:50:02,387 --> 00:50:07,016
Krymov shot himself in his comrade’s apartment.
706
00:50:09,097 --> 00:50:13,194
That suicide put a dot in the story of Kornilov’s advance.
707
00:50:13,858 --> 00:50:18,353
The ex-Commander-in-Chief refused to escape from Mogilev and was arrested.
708
00:50:19,023 --> 00:50:21,892
Together with him, his closest supporters were arrested.
709
00:50:22,255 --> 00:50:24,582
Among them, was the commander of the South-Western Front
710
00:50:24,820 --> 00:50:28,478
General Denikin who had been supporting Kornilov.
711
00:50:29,018 --> 00:50:31,358
After staying in Mogilev for a couple of days,
712
00:50:31,585 --> 00:50:35,624
the arrested were transferred to a small Belorussian town of Bykhov.
713
00:50:37,266 --> 00:50:44,795
Arrested… General Kornilov is arrested.
714
00:50:45,123 --> 00:50:48,393
Alexander Fedorovitch Kerenskiy could feel triumphant.
715
00:50:49,217 --> 00:50:53,114
Again, as during the July events, he was a winner.
716
00:50:53,708 --> 00:50:56,697
The Minister and the Head of the Temporary Government
717
00:50:56,902 --> 00:50:58,737
was at the top of the power.
718
00:50:59,855 --> 00:51:02,338
His enemies seemed to have perished:
719
00:51:02,552 --> 00:51:05,289
Lenin was in hiding, and Kornilov was arrested.
720
00:51:05,494 --> 00:51:08,552
Kerenskiy thought that he had won;
721
00:51:08,713 --> 00:51:12,302
however, the revolutionary elements were still in turmoil around him.
722
00:51:12,539 --> 00:51:14,835
Just a few days ago, his union with Kornilov
723
00:51:15,034 --> 00:51:17,596
could bury the Bolsheviks’ movement for good
724
00:51:17,849 --> 00:51:21,630
and define a completely different way of development for Russia.
725
00:51:36,931 --> 00:51:39,304
The paradox of the story is that the mutiny
726
00:51:39,507 --> 00:51:42,260
which aimed at destroying the Bolsheviks’ danger,
727
00:51:42,532 --> 00:51:44,782
gave Lenin and his party possibly the last chance
728
00:51:45,005 --> 00:51:47,780
to appear on the political stage.
729
00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:52,304
The Bolsheviks didn’t let that chance go…
68303
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