User:Kirbykarpan/sandbox

Individual Contributions So far, I have been focusing on finding good sources and seeing where we might be able to add additional information. Because the October Revolution is already a well-developed article, it's going to be hard to make contributions that are lengthy, but there are certainly areas where we'll be able to develop the ideas more. I have been toying with the idea of adding a section specifically about women, but am worried that this might be too specific and possibly unneeded. If I choose to go forward with this, certainly a great source will be Steinberg's Russian Revolution and the chapter we just read about women in the village.

I have made one significant edit so far, and it was in the "Outcome" section of the October revolution. The edit can be found at the bottom of this page, but essentially, I just added a little more information about the constituent assembly and the ratio of men to women that were present in the suggested candidates.

In addition, I made a smaller edit in correcting "constituent," which was originally misspelled in this section of the article.

Some future plans include adding a better source for a section of the article that talks about "protototalitarianism". When I followed the citation for this section, the reference doesn't use this word once, so I am hoping to find an additional source that might give this section of the article some credibility.

In addition, there are a few other "citation needed" issues within the article that my group and I plan to respond to.

I also just made another edit, seen below about peasant unrest.

Update: Nov 8th

I've made a few significant edits so far, and in the space below you'll be able to see areas that I copied and pasted from the original article, and then added my own information. I apologize because it's not perfectly well organized, but I'll try to summarize what I've done so far here.

I made two edits in the unrest by workers, peasants, and soldiers section about peasant uprisings specifically, using Steinberg as a source. In the second edit, I added a section about the importance of soldiers' wives in political uprisings, and cited examples from this -- also from Steinberg.

In addition, I have made a lot of tense corrections in the "Outcome" section. These edits were suggested by a wikipedia user on the talk page as well as by Cassandra, so they were a nice addition to the page.

Another edit I made was under the outcome section, that provided more information ont he election of the constituent assembly and the relative genders involved.

I also added a substantial paragraph to the "historiography" section based on the Smith reading that we did at the beginning of class, and added about the recent "anthropological turn" in Soviet historians, as I thought this was interesting.

I also added information on 3 dates in the "Outcomes" section from Steinberg's "Voices of Revolution"

I also added sources for all of these materials, as well as resolving what "Citation Needed" issues that I could.

Other Miscellaneous Notes/Future Edits

Historiography[edit]
Few events in historical research have been as conditioned by political influences as the October Revolution. The historiography of the Revolution generally divides into three camps: the Soviet-Marxist view, the Western-Totalitarian view, and the Revisionist view.

Soviet historiography[edit]
Soviet historiography of the October Revolution is intertwined with Soviet historical development. Many of the initial Soviet interpreters of the Revolution were themselves Bolshevik revolutionaries. After the initial wave of revolutionary narratives, Soviet historians worked within "narrow guidelines" defined by the Soviet government. The rigidity of interpretive possibilities reached its height under Joseph Stalin.

Soviet historians of the October Revolution interpreted the Revolution with regard to establishing the legitimacy of Marxist ideology, and also the Bolshevik government. To establish the accuracy of Marxist ideology, Soviet historians generally described the Revolution as the product of class struggle. They maintained that the Revolution was the supreme event in a world history governed by historical laws. The Bolshevik Party is placed at the center of the Revolution, exposing the errors of both the moderate Provisional Government and the spurious "socialist" Mensheviks in the Petrograd Soviet. Guided by Vladimir Lenin's leadership and his firm grasp of scientific Marxist theory, the Party led the "logically predetermined" events of the October Revolution from beginning to end. The events were, according to these historians, logically predetermined because of the socio-economic development of Russia, where the monopoly industrial capitalism alienated the masses. In this view, the Bolshevik party took the leading role in organizing these alienated industrial workers, and thereby established the construction of the first socialist state.

Although Soviet historiography of the October Revolution stayed relatively constant until 1991, it did undergo some changes. Following Stalin’s death, historians such as E. N. Burdzhalov and P. V. Volobuev published historical research that deviated significantly from the party line in refining the doctrine that the Bolshevik victory "was predetermined by the state of Russia’s socio-economic development". These historians, who constituted the "New Directions Group", posited that the complex nature of the October Revolution "could only be explained by a multi-causal analysis, not by recourse to the mono-causality of monopoly capitalism". For them, the central actor is still the Bolshevik party, but this party triumphed "because it alone could solve the preponderance of ‘general democratic’ tasks the country faced" (such as the struggle for peace, the exploitation of landlords, and so on.)

Following the turn of the 21st century, some Soviet historians began to implement an "anthropological turn" in their historiographical analysis of the Russian Revolution. This method of analysis focuses on the average person's experience of day-to-day life during the revolution, and pulls the analytical focus away from larger events, notable revolutionaries, and overarching claims about party views. In 2006, S. V. Iarov employed this methodology when he focused on citizen adjustment to the new Soviet system. Iarov explored the dwindling labor protests, evolving forms of debate, and varying forms of politicization as a result of the new Soviet rule from 1917 to 1920. In 2010, O. S. Nagornaia took interest in Russian prisoners of war taken by Germany, examining Russian soldiers and officers' ability to cooperate and implement varying degrees of autocracy despite being divided by class, political views and race. Other analyses following this "anthropological turn" have explored texts from soldiers and how they used personal war experiences to further their political goals, as well as how individual life-structure and psychology may have shaped major decisions in the civil war that followed the revolution.

During the late Soviet period, the opening of select Soviet archives during glasnost sparked innovative research that broke away from some aspects of Marxism–Leninism, though the key features of the orthodox Soviet view remained intact.

Western historiography[edit]
During the Cold War, Western historiography of the October Revolution developed in direct response to the assertions of the Soviet view. The Soviet version of the October Revolution conditioned historical interpretations in the United States and the West. As a result, these Western historians exposed what they believed were flaws in the Soviet view, thereby undermining the Bolsheviks' original legitimacy, as well as the precepts of Marxism.

These Western historians described the revolution as the result of a chain of contingent accidents. Examples of these accidental and contingent factors they say precipitated the Revolution included World War I's timing, chance, and the poor leadership of Tsar Nicholas II as well as liberal and moderate socialists. According to Western historians, it was not popular support, but rather manipulation of the masses, ruthlessness, and the superior structure of the Bolsheviks that enabled it to survive. For these historians, the Bolsheviks’ defeat in the Constituent Assembly elections of November–December 1917 demonstrated popular opposition to the Bolsheviks’ coup, as did the scale and breadth of the Civil War.

Western historians saw the organization of the Bolshevik party as proto-totalitarian. Their interpretation of the October Revolution as a violent coup organized by a proto-totalitarian party reinforced to them the idea that totalitarianism was an inherent part of Soviet history. For them, Stalinist totalitarianism developed as a natural progression from Leninism and the Bolshevik party’s tactics and organization.

Effect of the dissolution of the USSR on historical research[edit]
The dissolution of the USSR affected historical interpretations of the October Revolution. Since 1991, increasing access to large amounts of Soviet archival materials made it possible to re‑examine the October Revolution. Though both Western and Russian historians now have access to many of these archives, the effect of the dissolution of the USSR can be seen most clearly in the work of historians in the former USSR. While the disintegration essentially helped solidify the Western and Revisionist views, post-USSR Russian historians largely repudiated the former Soviet historical interpretation of the Revolution. As Stephen Kotkin argues, 1991 prompted "a return to political history and the apparent resurrection of totalitarianism, the interpretive view that, in different ways…revisionists sought to bury".

In our article, there are a few times where it states "reference needed," and another where it states "who?". Hopefully, we'll be able to find these sources and mitigate some of these issues. In addition, there was one source I found where it talks about proto-totalitarianism and cites a source that doesn't mention this concept at all, and I think I may have found a better source to add instead which talks about this concept in the context of the Russian Revolution.

TO BE INSERTED INTO WIKI UNDER "Background - Unrest by workers, peasants, and soldiers" SECTION:

Original paragraph on peasants:

By October 1917, there had been over 4,000 peasant uprisings against landowners. When the Provisional Government sent punitive detachments, it only enraged the peasants. The garrisons in Petrograd, Moscow, and other cities, the Northern and Western fronts, and the sailors of the Baltic Fleet in September declared through their elected representative body Tsentrobalt that they did not recognize the authority of the Provisional Government and would not carry out any of its commands.

Updated paragraph on peasants:

By October 1917, there had been over 4,000 peasant uprisings against landowners. While the uprisings varied in severity, complete uprisings and seizures of the land were not uncommon. Less robust forms of protest included marches on landowner houses and government offices, as well as withholding and storing grains rather than selling them as a result of the economic crisis. When the Provisional Government sent punitive detachments, it only enraged the peasants. The garrisons in Petrograd, Moscow, and other cities, the Northern and Western fronts, and the sailors of the Baltic Fleet in September declared through their elected representative body Tsentrobalt that they did not recognize the authority of the Provisional Government and would not carry out any of its commands.

TO BE INSERTED INTO WIKI UNDER "Outcome" SECTION:

Original:

On 12 November, a Constitutent Assembly was elected, giving a majority to the Socialist Revolutionary Party, which no longer existed as a full party by that time, with the Left SR Party in coalition with the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks dissolved the Constituent Assembly in January 1918, when it came into conflict with the Soviets.

Edited:

On 12 November, a Constituent Assembly was elected. In these elections, 26 mandatory delegates were proposed by the Bolshevik Central Committee and 58 were proposed by the Socialist Revolutionaries. Of the mandatory delegates, only one and seven were women, respectively. The outcome of the election gave the majority to the Socialist Revolutionary Party, which no longer existed as a full party by that time, as the Left SR Party was in coalition with the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks dissolved the Constituent Assembly in January 1918, when it came into conflict with the Soviets.

CITATION ADDITION:

By October 1917, peasant uprisings were common. While the uprisings varied in severity, complete uprisings and seizures of the land were not uncommon. Less robust forms of protest included marches on landowner manors and government offices, as well as withholding and storing grains rather than selling them as a result of the economic crisis. When the Provisional Government sent punitive detachments, it only enraged the peasants. The garrisons in Petrograd, Moscow, and other cities, the Northern and Western fronts, and the sailors of the Baltic Fleet in September declared through their elected representative body Tsentrobalt that they did not recognize the authority of the Provisional Government and would not carry out any of its commands.

TO BE ADDED UNDER ANTIWAR DEMONSTRATIONS

In a diplomatic note of 1 May, the minister of foreign affairs, Pavel Milyukov, expressed the Provisional Government's desire to continue the war against the Central Powers "to a victorious conclusion", arousing broad indignation. On 1–4 May, about 100,000 workers and soldiers of Petrograd, and after them the workers and soldiers of other cities, led by the Bolsheviks, demonstrated under banners reading "Down with the war!" and "all power to the soviets!" The mass demonstrations resulted in a crisis for the Provisional Government.[8] 1 July saw more demonstrations, as about 500,000 workers and soldiers in Petrograd demonstrated, again demanding "all power to the soviets", "down with the war", and "down with the ten capitalist ministers". The Provisional Government opened an offensive against the Central Powers on 1 July, which soon collapsed. The news of the offensive and its collapse intensified the struggle of the workers and the soldiers. A new crisis in the Provisional Government began on 15 July.

Antiwar demonstrations[edit source]
In a diplomatic note of 1 May, the minister of foreign affairs, Pavel Milyukov, expressed the Provisional Government's desire to continue the war against the Central Powers "to a victorious conclusion", arousing broad indignation. On 1–4 May, about 100,000 workers and soldiers of Petrograd, and after them the workers and soldiers of other cities, led by the Bolsheviks, demonstrated under banners reading "Down with the war!" and "all power to the soviets!" The mass demonstrations resulted in a crisis for the Provisional Government. 1 July saw more demonstrations, as about 500,000 workers and soldiers in Petrograd demonstrated, again demanding "all power to the soviets", "down with the war", and "down with the ten capitalist ministers". The Provisional Government opened an offensive against the Central Powers on 1 July, which soon collapsed. The news of the offensive and its collapse intensified the struggle of the workers and the soldiers. A new crisis in the Provisional Government began on 15 July.

Unrest by workers, peasants and soldiers[edit source]
Throughout June, July, and August of 1917, it was common to hear working-class Russians speak about their lack of confidence and misgivings with those in power in the Provisional Government. Many of these citizens would take place in crowd violence where groups of people would carry out prosecution and executions for those who had committed crimes, often completely ignoring police. Many rich and influential individuals, such as elites in positions of power, were labelled as opponents of the Revolution and called words such as "bourgeois, capitalist, and imperialist.”

In September and October 1917, there were mass strike actions by the Moscow and Petrograd workers, miners in Donbas, metalworkers in the Urals, oil workers in Baku, textile workers in the Central Industrial Region, and railroad workers on 44 railway lines. In these months alone, more than a million workers took part in strikes. Workers established control over production and distribution in many factories and plants in a social revolution.

By October 1917, peasant uprisings were common. While the uprisings varied in severity, complete uprisings and seizures of the land were not uncommon. Less robust forms of protest included marches on landowner manors and government offices, as well as withholding and storing grains rather than selling them as a result of the economic crisis. When the Provisional Government sent punitive detachments, it only enraged the peasants. The garrisons in Petrograd, Moscow, and other cities, the Northern and Western fronts, and the sailors of the Baltic Fleet in September declared through their elected representative body Tsentrobalt that they did not recognize the authority of the Provisional Government and would not carry out any of its commands.

Poor access to food and resources as a result of the war led to "subsistence riots," also referred to as "hunger riots," "pogroms," or "baba riots". In these riots, citizens seized food and resources from shop owners who they believed to be charging unfair prices. Upon police intervention, protesters responded with "rakes, sticks, rocks and fists". Particularly influential in these riots were the wives of soldiers. From 1914 to 1917, almost 50% of healthy men were sent to war, and many were killed on the front. As a result, the functioning household heads were often soldiers' wives. These riots were led by soldiers' wives when appeals to government officials for on-time allowances and other benefits were ignored.

Soldiers' wives were key players in unrest in the village. From 1914 to 1917, almost 50% of healthy men were sent to war, and many were killed on the front, often resulting in a female occupation of the position of household head. When government allowances were often late and were not sufficient to match the rising costs of goods, soldiers' wives sent masses of appeals and letters to the government, which largely were left unanswered. Frustration resulted, and these women were influential in inciting "subsistence riots" – also referred to as "hunger riots," "pogroms," or "baba riots". In these riots, citizens seized food and resources from shop owners who they believed to be charging unfair prices. Upon police intervention, protesters responded with "rakes, sticks, rocks and fists".

The following day, 26 October, the Congress elected a new cabinet of Bolsheviks, pending the convocation of a Constituent Assembly. This basis for the new Soviet government was known as the Council (Soviet) of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), with Lenin as leader. Lenin allegedly approved of the name, reporting that it "smells of revolution". The cabinet quickly passed the Decree on Peace and the Decree on Land. This new government was also officially called "provisional" until the Assembly was dissolved. Posters were pinned on walls and fences by the Right Socialist Revolutionaries, describing the takeover as a "crime against the motherland and revolution".

On 10 November 1917 (23 November new style), the government sought to label its citizens as "citizens of the Russian Republic," and make them equal in all possible respects. This was accomplished by the nullification of all "legal designations of civil equality, such as estates, titles, and ranks."

On 16 December 1917 (29 December 1917 new style), the government ventured to eliminate hierarchy in the army, removing all titles, ranks, and uniform decorations. The tradition of saluting was also eliminated.

On 20 December 1917 (2 January 1918 new style), the Cheka was created by the decree of Vladimir Lenin. These were the beginnings of the Bolsheviks' consolidation of power over their political opponents. The Red Terror was started in September 1918, following a failed assassination attempt on Lenin's life. The Jacobin Terror was an example for the Soviet Bolsheviks. Leon Trotsky had compared Lenin to Maximilien Robespierre as early as 1904.

References: