Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:18 Page 1

Source: Sputnik

THE IMPACT OF THE

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
ON THE COURSE AND OUTCOME OF
WORLD WAR 1 1917-1922
Professor Mary Davis
& Tommy Hodgson
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:18 Page 2

Timeline of the
RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
The ‘Dress Rehearsal’:
1905 • Revolutionary disturbances led to Bloody Sunday - the Tsar ordered troops to clear
the streets. Over a thousand were killed. This was the trigger for revolution:
Troops mutinied. Mass strikes spread. Committees of workers, soldiers and
peasants, called Soviets, seized control of towns and cities. Tsarist forces
repressed the revolution. The Bolshevik party was forced underground but the
memory of the mass power exercised by the Soviets remained.

• Russia, as part of the Triple Entente with Britain and France, became heavily
1914 involved in WW1.

By this point, over two million Russian soldiers had died as a result of the war and
1917 almost as many civilians. Alone the Bolsheviks opposed the war. There were two
revolutions in 1917.
FEBRUARY The First Revolution:
On International Women’s Day (23 Feb), women textile and munitions workers
demonstrated. The Tsar ordered the troops to clear the streets but the troops
mutinied. The following day the capital was in the hands of the people.
FEBRUARY-OCTOBER ‘Dual Power’ Period:
The Tsar resigned. Power was handed to a Provisional Government composed of
existing ministers but parallel to this, Soviets were elected across Russia as an
alternative source of power. The Provisional Government continued the war.
APRIL Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders returned from exile. Lenin published the
Bolshevik program ‘The April Theses’ arguing for the end of dual power and a
people’s revolution based on opposition to the war and an alliance between peasants
and workers.
JULY The Provisional Government sought to halt the rising influence of the
Bolsheviks. Britain and France demanded a new Russian offensive to relieve pressure
on the Western Front, as the pro-war Kerensky was made Prime Minister. The July
military offensive proved to be a disaster. Troops mutinied across the front. Kerensky
ordered the suppression of the Bolsheviks, with Lenin and other leaders once more
forced into exile.
AUGUST Kerensky gave military command to Kornilov to rally the officer corps
behind the government. Kornilov then attempted a coup d’état. Kerensky was forced
to enlist the support of the Soviets and the Red Guards to thwart the Kornilov revolt.
Kornilov was defeated and imprisoned, but Kerensky’s reliance on the Bolsheviks
highlighted the ever-growing weakness of the Provisional Government. The following
weeks saw mass desertion in the army, the decline of the Menshevik party in the
Soviets and a split in the Socialist Revolutionary party. The popular mood was
gravitating towards the Bolsheviks and their policies, summarised in the slogan
‘Peace, Bread and Land’.
SEPTEMBER The Petrograd Soviet adopted a Bolshevik motion calling for the
formation of a Soviet government and the ending of dual power. Similar motions won
support in the Soviets across Russia and in the armed forces.

2
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:18 Page 3

OCTOBER The Second Revolution:

1917 • 7 October: Lenin returned once again to Petrograd.
• 9 October: The Petrograd Soviet voted to create a Military Revolutionary
Committee.
• 10 October: The Bolshevik Central Committee voted for immediate preparations to
take state power, which would take place over the next two weeks.
• 24 October: Kerensky made a final unsuccessful attempt to hold on to power.
• 25 October: On a signal from the Cruiser Aurora, Soviet detachments moved to
take over the telephone exchanges, the electricity stations and transport. The
ministers of the Provisional Government were later arrested during the storming of
the Winter Palace.
The revolution was almost entirely peaceful. An entirely new type of state power
had to now be created. The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets endorsed
Lenin’s motions of land to the peasants, the formation of a workers and peasants’
government and the immediate opening of peace negotiations.
• 30 October: Kerensky attempted a counter-attack in Petrograd; the Russian Civil
War had begun.
DECEMBER Negotiations began with German High Command.
The White Russian army was created under General Kaledin in the south to counter
the revolution. This was established along with a ‘government in-exile’.

MARCH The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed ending Russia’s participation in

1918 WW1. This treaty was unpopular among many because it gave away too much
Russian land especially in Ukraine. Anti-Bolsheviks seized on this dissatisfaction to
whip up support for their (White) side in the Civil War. The Red Army was created to
defend the revolution. British forces landed in Murmansk to aid the Whites.
APRIL British and Japanese forces landed in the Far East at Vladivostok.
MAY US and French forces landed at Archangel.
JULY The new Russian constitution renamed the country the Russian Socialist
Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR).
AUGUST US troops landed in the Far East. The Civil War waged on.
OCTOBER The short-lived German Revolution began, inspired by the Russian
example.
NOVEMBER Armistice ended WW1.

MARCH The First Congress of the Third International, or the Comintern, was held in
1919 Moscow, attended by representatives from over twenty countries.
The short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic was established.

NOVEMBER The majority of the White Army surrendered - the Red Army was
1920 ultimately victorious by this point, though pockets of resistance remained for years
afterwards. The Civil War and the Wars of Intervention, which included fourteen
countries sending troops, armaments and money to aid the Whites, resulted in 10.5
million dead, as well as widespread devastation and starvation. The policy of foreign
intervention in Russia was opposed by socialists and workers in many European
countries.

NOTE: Throughout 1917 until January 1918 we have used the Julian calendar, then in use in Russia. There is a difference
of 13 days between that calendar and our (Gregorian) calendar. An example is the day of the first revolution of 1917.
It is dated as having occurred on International Women’s Day which then in Russia was February 23rd, whereas for us it is
March 8th. Soviet Russia abandoned the use of the Julian calendar in February 1918.

3
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:18 Page 4

SOVIETS
The first Soviet (or Council) was
established in 1905 during a textile strike
in Ivanovo (about 250 miles from
Moscow). It began as a strike committee
but developed into an elected body of the
town's workers. During the 1905 revolution
such Soviets of Workers’ Deputies, formed
as an alternative workers’ government,
were established in around fifty different
towns including Moscow, St. Petersburg
and Odessa. However, the defeat of the
revolution and the re-imposition of the
Tsarist autocracy led, inevitably, to the
crushing of the Soviets.
Nonetheless the tradition of direct Tsarist propaganda posters (above and opposite) in support of Russia’s involvement in
WW1 (Source: Sputnik)
workers’ democracy lived on, and hence
Soviets were re-established during the
February Revolution of 1917 and
continued thereafter. The most important
of these was the Petrograd Soviet of
WORLD WAR 1 (WW1)
In 1914, WW1 broke out. This was not a ‘Great War’; it was a
Workers' and Soldiers’ Deputies. Every
conflict between rival imperialisms, and despite the fact that all
battalion (250 men) had the right to elect
participating governments appealed to patriotic sentiment, there
one deputy in Petrograd (formerly St.
was significant opposition to it, particularly in Russia. The war
Petersburg; its Germanic name was
was fought initially between two power blocks; the Triple
changed in 1914), whereas there was one
Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) and the Triple
deputy for every 1,000 workers. (It should
Entente (Britain, France and Russia). These alliances were not
be noted that by this time 15 million men
stable. Turkey joined the Triple Alliance in October 1914, Italy
had been conscripted into the Russian
changed sides in April 1915 and the USA declared war on
Army). During the period of the ‘dual
Germany in 1917.
power’ (February-October 1917),
Bolsheviks did not have a majority on the There have been unending debates among historians about the
Petrograd Soviet. cause(s) of the war citing such issues as the thirty year Balkan
crisis, the alliance system itself, massive investments in
By June 1917 there were 400 Soviets in
armaments (including the Dreadnought submarine race) and
existence with Mensheviks and Socialist
most importantly rival imperialisms. By 1914 the world had been
Revolutionaries (SRs) dominating at least
divided up by the richest powers, with Britain, France and
three-quarters of them. This fact is borne
Germany having grabbed the lion’s share. Any dissatisfaction
out by looking at the figures of the
about the apportionment of the world and its resources among
respective parties at the First Congress of
the Great Powers (Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary
Soviets in June 1917. 1,090 delegates
and Russia) could only be settled by re-division: inevitably this
attended, of which 285 were Socialist
meant war. Whichever side won would be able to re-divide the
Revolutionaries, 248 were Mensheviks
world in their favour as was clearly shown in the series of treaties
and 105 Bolsheviks.
ending the war which addressed the dismemberment of the
However, by the time of the October vanquished Ottoman, German and Austro-Hungarian Empires.
Revolution things had changed. The This drive for territory helps to explain the lack of war aims, the
Mensheviks and SRs were increasingly shifting alliances and the secret treaties extant during WW1.
unpopular mainly because of their
War disrupts society. WW1 was no exception, but far from
continued support for World War 1
disrupting the existing trends within the labour movement it had
(WW1). By now there were over 900
the effect of stimulating them. The pre-war militancy of sections
Soviets in Russia and the discrediting of
of the working class, women’s and labour movements in many
the rival parties enabled the Bolsheviks to
European countries continued unabated, whilst the exigencies of
gain majority control in all the Soviets in
war gave some labour leaders the chance to become fully
the major towns and cities. This included
enmeshed within the state apparatus. The gulf between the two
those in Petrograd and Moscow. This was
widened to such an extent that it was difficult for both to co-exist
a critical factor in ensuring the victory of
within the same organisations, and hence there was a split in
the Bolshevik revolution and the
many European Social Democratic parties on the issue of
establishment of the Russian Socialist
support versus opposition to the war.
Federated Soviet Republic (RSFSR).
4
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:18 Page 5

others. After four years of bitter battles on the eastern

and western fronts, the total number of military and
civilian casualties was more than 38 million. It is
estimated that there were over 18 million deaths and
20 million wounded, ranking it among the deadliest
conflicts in human history.

RUSSIA AS PART OF THE

TRIPLE ENTENTE
The Triple Entente was formed between France, Great
Britain and Russia as a response to Germany, Austria-
Hungary and Italy's Triple Alliance (the Central
Powers). After Russia went to Serbia's defence during
the final Balkan crisis, it then became embroiled in
hostilities against Germany and Austria-Hungary who
had shared aims in the Balkans in opposition to
Russia. This was the spark which inevitably led, via
the alliance system, to the greater war against the
Central Powers. As the war dragged on, however,
Russian people, including the soldiers themselves,
began to question the undeclared aims of the war and
the colossal devastation and senseless human
sacrifice engendered by it. In short, the call for peace
became an ever more persistent rallying cry. Russia's
participation in the war left millions of their own
soldiers dead. The campaign was chaotic, as many of
the soldiers were dispatched without enough arms or
food, leading not only to war weariness, but to
This division was not reflected in the stance of the outright opposition to the conflict. The Provisional
Second (Socialist) International (1889-1916) which Government when appointed after February 1917,
failed to live up to its earlier anti-war declarations. The continued Russian involvement in the war.
resolutions of the Second International, in
condemning colonialism (1907 Stuttgart Congress)
and calling for workers to oppose war (1910
Copenhagen Congress), were promptly forgotten in
the rush to arms. In consequence, the International
itself collapsed during WW1.
However, divisions over the issue of the war were
especially marked in many individual countries
whose labour movements had affiliated to the
Second International. This was particularly the case
in Russia where it was a significant factor in
accounting for the success of the Bolshevik
revolution in 1917. The war also divided the labour
‘Entente under the mask of peace’ (Source: Sputnik)

movement, the women’s movement and socialist

parties in Germany and Britain. In Britain, the
'unofficial' opposition, reflecting the chasm between
the leaders and the led, generated its own structures
in the form of the Shop Stewards and Workers'
Committees Movement. Although no longer unofficial,
the shop stewards of today can trace their origins to
this wartime period during which rank and file
workers kept effective trade unionism alive in the face
of their leaders' surrender.
Thus, WW1 with its devastating number of casualties
polarised opinion to such an extent that it led to
revolutions in three countries and uprisings in many

5
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:18 Page 6

THE FIRST REVOLUTION:

FEBRUARY 1917
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S
DAY (IWD) IN RUSSIA AND
THE FEBRUARY
REVOLUTION
Although International Women’s Day had been
inaugurated in 1910, it was not celebrated in Russia
until 1913. The issue of support versus opposition to
the war accentuated the class divisions in the already
fractured women’s movement. The bourgeois feminist
movement supported WW1, whereas working women,
influenced by their Bolshevik sisters were opposed to
it. This led in 1917 to IWD marking the first revolution.
By 1917 a vast number of women were working in
factories replacing conscripted men. On February
23rd, 1917 (March 8th in our Gregorian calendar),
IWD was marked by strikes and huge demonstrations
of women. The Bolshevik paper Pravda reported that
this led to revolution:
‘…the first day of the revolution was women’s
day…the women…decided the destiny of the
Source: MML
troops; they went to the barracks, spoke to the
soldiers and the latter joined the revolution…
Women, we salute you.’
SYKES-PICOT The result was the overthrow of the Tsar and the
AGREEMENT 1916 AND establishment of a bourgeois Provisional Government
REVELATION OF THE under the leadership of Prince Lvov and later, Kerensky.

SECRET TREATIES 1917

Britain and France concluded a secret LENIN’S ARRIVAL IN
agreement in May 1916 known as the Sykes-
Picot agreement, after the British and French PETROGRAD AND THE
representatives who negotiated it. The APRIL THESES
agreement related to the Arab territory in the
The day after his arrival in Petrograd from exile, Lenin
Ottoman Empire which Britain and France
published an important document, known as the April
aimed to dismember after WW1 and divide the
Theses. This set out the Bolshevik policy to transform
vast territory ruled by the Turks between them,
the current Russian bourgeois republic into a socialist
as shown in the map above. Russia was made
state. In effect, it turned into the demands around
privy to this secret treaty partly because it was
which revolutionary workers, soldiers and peasants
as one of the Entente powers, but also because
rallied. These were the main points:
it had an interest in Jerusalem as a ‘protector’
of Orthodox Christians. A copy of the secret • Oppose WW1.
Sykes-Picot treaty was shared by France and • The February revolution is a transitional stage to
Britain with Russia’s Foreign Office. When the a full socialist revolution and thus a Soviet
Bolsheviks took power in Russia in November republic must be established.
1917, Trotsky, as Commissar for Foreign Affairs,
discovered the Sykes-Picot treaty in Tsarist • The unelected Provisional Government should
files. Realising the potential impact of not be supported.
disclosure, he published a summary of the • Landed estates and banks will be confiscated
Sykes-Picot text in the government newspaper and nationalised.
Izvestiya on November 22nd, 1917. The
disclosures created a sensation both inside • Production and distribution to be under the
and outside the corridors of power. control of workers’ Soviets
• A new International will be established

6
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:19 Page 7

Government announced a crackdown on the

DUAL POWER Bolsheviks and many were attacked or arrested by
(February-October 1917) those troops still loyal to the government. This led to
the banning of the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda.
Lenin referred to the period between the February
Lenin disappeared into hiding. Kerensky became
and October revolutions of 1917 as the phase of the
Prime Minister and continued participation in the war.
‘dual power’. Although the unelected Provisional
Government de facto ruled Russia after the overthrow
of the tsarist autocracy, at grass roots level the
elected Soviets of workers and soldiers, within the
towns especially, were exercising an increasingly
important influence on the daily lives of the Russian
people. This is clearly seen in the mass
demonstrations that took place on May Day and in
July 1917.

Shooting of Bolsheviks in Petrograd on July 5th, 1917 (Source: MML)

ATTITUDE OF RUSSIAN
SOLDIERS
The Provisional Government continued the war, which
was now extremely unpopular amongst troops and
May Day 1917 in Petrograd (Source: MML) civilians. After the devastating failure of the July
Offensive, morale amongst Russian soldiers was even
‘In what does this dual power consist? In the fact lower and soldiers refused to move to the front lines or
that side by side with the Provisional simply deserted. More and more soldiers joined the
Government, the government of the bourgeoisie, Soviets, demanding peace. The Bolshevik promise of
there has developed another government, weak peace negotiations gave them majority support
and embryonic as yet, but undoubtedly an amongst soldiers. Thus, the Bolshevik recognition of
actually existing and growing government — the the need to end the war was a key factor in the
Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies.’ success of the October Revolution.
(Lenin)
RABOTNITSA & THE ROLE
THE JULY OFFENSIVE AND OF WOMEN
THE JULY DAYS
Persuaded by his Entente partners, war minister
Kerensky launched a military offensive in Galicia in
July 1917 which had disastrous consequences. Its
objective was to strengthen the weak Eastern Front
and to improve troop morale and discipline. On both
counts it had the opposite effect. The Russian army
was forced to retreat from the German advance.
Source: MML

Russian soldiers mutinied in protest against their

appalling conditions and calamitous military
leadership. In early July, the refusal of a machine-gun
regiment to be dispatched to the front lines began a
protest during which workers and soldiers in
Lenin actively supported campaigning among
Petrograd staged armed demonstrations calling for
working women and was among those who
the Provisional Government to step down. The
advocated the publication of a new paper, Rabotnitsa
Bolsheviks were reluctant to support these calls as
(The Woman Worker) which first appeared in 1914.
they were not yet in a position to take power. In
However, the outbreak of WW1 meant that it was
response to the demonstrations, the Provisional
7
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:19 Page 8

supressed. In 1917 Bolsheviks were heavily engaged The Bolshevik slogan ‘Peace, Bread and Land’
in agitational work among women assisted by the re- summarised their programme and was increasingly
appearance of Rabotnitsa which came out several popular. They established their headquarters in the
times a month with a circulation of 40 – 50,000. Smolny Institute. This was a former girls' convent
school which also housed the Petrograd Soviet. The
A commonly accepted view is that Russian women
Provisional Government now headed by Kerensky,
featured only twice in 1917. The first time was in
was still officially in power and under pressure from
Petrograd on February 23rd as harbingers of the
the nobility and industrialists, Kerensky was
revolution which established the Provisional
persuaded to take decisive action against the
Government.
Bolsheviks. Thus, on October 22nd he ordered the
The second time, bourgeois women played a arrest of the Bolshevik Military Revolutionary
reactionary role as part of a battalion defending the Committee (MRC) which had been established
Winter Palace, the seat of government, against within the Petrograd Soviet on October 12th and
Bolshevik attack on October 25th. was led by Trotsky. The government was aware of
Both these events occurred, but lazily citing only them the unstated purpose of the MRC which it feared,
fails to do justice to the enormously important role of correctly, was to prepare for armed insurrection.
women throughout the revolutionary process as The next day, October 23rd, the government
midwives of the revolution. They were present at the attempted to close down the Bolshevik newspapers
birth and were crucial in the final stages of delivery. In and cut off the telephones to the Smolny Institute.
addition, they played a vital role in defending the However, soldiers and Red Guards ultimately
revolution during the Civil War. thwarted all Kerensky’s plans.
Following this, a long debate took place at a secret
meeting of the Bolshevik Central Committee. At this
THE SECOND (SOCIALIST) meeting the main issue centred around Lenin’s
proposal that the Bolsheviks should take action
REVOLUTION; OCTOBER before the elections for the Constituent Assembly;
1917 in other words, the socialist revolution should
proceed without delay. Zinoviev and Kamenev
The October Revolution was the culmination of
dissented, but importantly the MRC had already
popular sentiment directed against the Provisional
deployed commissars to all garrison units. In
Government which was achieving little for the
essence this was both a measure of defence and,
majority of people to satisfy their need for change
at the same time, a preparation for attack.
from its Tsarist past. In particular, the unelected
body continued to participate in the very unpopular Lenin, Trotsky and others urged the overthrow of
WW1 opting, as seen in the July Offensive, for the Provisional Government. Thus, orders were
participation in further military campaigns which given for the Bolsheviks to occupy the railway
had provoked outrage amongst soldiers and stations, the telephone exchange and the State
workers alike. Bank. In the early morning of October 25th, armed
workers started occupying key points of Petrograd
After the February Revolution which had
in conjunction with pro-Bolshevik sailors landing at
established the Provisional Government, the
the city's harbour. Power stations were seized and
Bolsheviks gradually gained in strength and
strategic bridges were held. These instances
influence during the period of the dual power,
produced very little resistance and were not met
especially in the Soviets and in the army after July.
with violence.
Women’s Militia 1919 (Source: SCRSS)

8
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:19 Page 9

just and democratic peace’; and the Decree on

Land, which proposed to transfer land away from
landowners and the church to peasant committees.
In addition, the Council of People's Commissars
nationalised the banks, and workers control of
factory production was also introduced. ‘Peace,
Bread and Land’ was thus transformed from a
slogan into a living reality.
The army was demobilised in December and the
Soviet Government announced that it planned to
seek an armistice with Germany. In the same month,
Trotsky led the Russian delegation at Brest-Litovsk to
Source: MML
negotiate peace terms with representatives from
A blank shot from the Cruiser Aurora (pictured Germany and Austria-Hungary. Thus it was that the
above) in the evening signalled the siege of the full Bolshevik programme, as outlined in Lenin’s
Winter Palace, which was to be the final offensive ‘April Theses’ was implemented within three months
of the revolution. Crowds of Red Guards and of the successful socialist revolution.
insurgents surrounded the palace and secured
entry, leading to the surrender of the remaining
government officials in the early hours of the DECREE ON PEACE
morning. Members of the Provisional Government (abridged translation from Izvestia article)
that had not already fled the capital were ‘The workers’ and peasants’ government,
imprisoned. Kerensky had managed to escape created by the Revolution of October 24-25th …
from the city. … calls upon all the belligerent peoples and
The revolution itself was brief, being almost entirely their governments to start immediate
peaceful in its execution. Posters were distributed negotiations for a just, democratic peace. [This]
across the city declaring that ‘the Provisional means an immediate peace without
Government is overthrown’ and ‘Long live the annexations…. and without indemnities. The
Revolution of Workers, Soldiers and Peasants!’ government considers it the greatest of crimes
Lenin emerged from the revolution as one of its against humanity to continue this war over the
most notable strategists and a potential leader in issue of how to divide among the strong and rich
the new era. nations the weak nationalities they have
conquered… At the same time the government
On October 26th 1917, the second All-Russian
abolishes secret diplomacy, … and [will]
Congress of Soviets met and handed over power to
conduct all negotiations quite openly in full view
the Soviet Council of People's Commissars. Lenin
of the whole people.’
was elected chairman. Among other appointments,
Trotsky was appointed Commissar for Foreign Affairs
and Alexandra Kollontai Commissar for Social
Welfare. Two decrees were adopted at the first BREST-LITOVSK
session: the Decree on Peace, which authorised
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was the peace treaty
negotiations with Germany to enable Russia’s
signed on March 3rd, 1918, between the new
withdrawal from the war in order to bring about ‘a
Bolshevik government of Russia and the Central
Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and
Turkey). It ended Russia's participation in WW1. The
chief negotiator was Trotsky. This treaty was
unpopular among many because it gave away too
much land especially in the Baltic States and Ukraine,
thereby losing almost a third of its rich agricultural
production and almost a quarter of its total territory.
The Soviet Government, despite deep dissatisfaction
with the German terms, had no option but to accept;
they had no troops able or willing to continue an
unpopular war. Anti-Bolsheviks seized on this
discontent at the loss of territory to whip up support
for their (White) side in the Civil War.
The Storming of the Winter Palace (Source: Sputnik)

9
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:19 Page 10

Defend Petrograd 1917 (Source: Sputnik)

‘Solemn Promise on Joining the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army,1919’

(Source: Sputnik) Registration for active service
(Source: Henry Sara collection, MRC)

RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR aided by foreign powers. Indeed, the survival of the
It was almost inevitable that the October Revolution
revolution appeared inconceivable at this stage.
would lead to a devastating Russian Civil War waged
by forces hostile to socialism. Indeed, Lenin had However, despite the initial successes of the Whites,
predicted this very outcome. At the end of October by March 1919, the Red Army could record some
1917, a military advance by troops loyal to Kerensky victories. They had defeated Kolchak's forces in the
reached the outskirts of Petrograd but was defeated east, although General Denikin, having captured
by Red Guards organised by the MRC. much of the south and Ukraine pushed northwards in
conjunction with General Yudenich (assisted by
Just after October 1917, with Bolshevik power Estonian troops). These armies reached the outskirts
apparently secured in Petrograd and other cities, a of Petrograd from different directions by October
coalition of monarchists, anti-Bolsheviks, liberals and 1919. The Red Army managed to repel both these
regional forces came together to form the White Army. attacks. This would prove to be the closest the Whites
The Whites established a 'government in-exile' in the would come to tipping the war in their favour.
east under the command of Kolchak. In the Northern In Ukraine, Denikin deliberately carried out anti-
Caucasus, the Whites were supported by some Semitic pogroms, linking Jews to the ‘evil’ of
Cossack troops and attacked newly-established communism and presuming that targeting them could
Bolshevik strongholds. The Bolsheviks defended the be used to appeal to the local population. A British
revolution using the newly formed Red Army. war correspondent, John Hodgson, who travelled with
The Whites, with the help of the Czech Legion (a unit Denikin's forces, noted:
of the Russian Imperial Army during WW1), began ‘I had not been with Denikin more than a month
gaining important territory and mobilising other forces. before I was forced to the conclusion that the
The Red Army grew to over a million men owing to the Jew represented a very big element in the
introduction of conscription in June 1918. (By 1920 it Russian upheaval. The officers and men of the
had grown to over four million). But by late 1918, the Army laid practically all the blame for their
situation for this new army was looking bleak, as their country's troubles on the Hebrew.’ J.E. Hodgson
strongholds were being surrounded by the Whites With Denikin’s Armies (Temple Bar, 1932), p.32.

10
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:19 Page 11

Russia Allied White Offensive Map

(Source: J Swettenham Allied Intervention (George Allen and Unwin, 1967)).
WARS OF INTERVENTION
By the end of 1919, most of the Whites in the east Immediately after the October Revolution, the
surrendered. Kolchak was handed over to the Reds Bolsheviks kept to their promise of peace by opening
and executed. Wrangel replaced Denikin as leader of negotiations at Brest-Litovsk with Germany to secure
the White Army, but their numbers were now Russian withdrawal from WW1. This was a blow for the
dwindling. In late 1920, remnants of the White Army remaining Entente powers who were reliant on Germany
fled, leaving the Bolsheviks to conquer the remaining having to fight on two fronts – west and east. With
regions. Pockets of resistance to Bolshevik control Russia now out of the war, the Allies drew up plans to
remained but the bloodiest parts of the Civil War were intervene militarily in Russia. As early as December
over by 1922. 23rd 1917, the Allied Supreme War Council suggested
that anti-Bolshevik troops, and any other forces who
The Whites failed for a number of reasons, having less wanted to continue the fight against Germany in Russia,
political unity and general organisation than the Reds should be fully supported. The British War Cabinet
for much of the period. In addition, they failed to decided to provide the White General Kaledin, and
represent all anti-Bolshevik forces in a unified front. other successive white forces, with financial support.
The Reds' build-up of a tightly-run army with strict For their own reasons the Germans agreed with an anti-
discipline gave them the advantage in most battles Russian interventionist policy and participated fully until
against the Whites, leading to their ultimate victory November 1918; the end of WW1.
against a variety of opposing forces which included
intervening world powers. The Red Army suffered Thus, surprisingly, during the first six months of the
devastating losses too, but despite this and many intervention, the two opposing sides although still
other problems, morale amongst the Reds remained locked in conflict in WW1, were nonetheless united in
high during this destructive war. The Civil War and the their desire to crush Bolshevism. The Germans, having
parallel Wars of Intervention were seen as a gained vast swathes of Russian territory (including the
necessary defence of the October Revolution. The Baltic States and Ukraine) as a result of the treaty of
Bolshevik victors were then faced with the enormous Brest-Litovsk, were anxious to capitalise on their
task of rebuilding a ravaged and starving country. territorial advantages by exploiting Russian weakness.
However, this alarmed the Allies, who gained support
from like-minded anti-Bolshevik countries. By the
11
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:19 Page 12

Germans at Kiev 1918 (Source: MML) Send off ceremony for the Red Army going to the Polish front, August
1920 (Source: Sputnik)

spring of 1918, Britain, France, the United States, years, as they had gained disputed land which they
Japan and ten other nations were actively sending laid claim to for many years afterwards.
troops into Russia to intervene in support of the White Of the major powers, Britain put the most effort into the
Army. Britain, assisted by American troops, occupied Wars of Intervention. This was not popular even among
Murmansk and Archangel in the north and together some of the higher echelons of the British State who
proceeded southward towards the Caucasus regions were in charge of administering government policy in
where White Armies had a stronghold. Japanese Russia. This was revealed in January 1919, when The
forces occupied Vladivostok and, aided by the Czech Times published a correspondence between Rear-
Legion spread across large parts of the Far East and Admiral J. W. Kemp and the British Consul at
Siberia. Allied pressure intensified after the armistice Archangel, Douglas Young. Archangel was the Russian
ended WW1. The French fleet entered the Black Sea port where Britain was officially attempting to channel
and French troops landed at Odessa and the Crimea. its armed forces into an offensive against the Red
Of equal importance to the deployment of troops was Army. Kemp repeated the establishment line that
capitalist allies’ mass supply of arms, equipment and Britain should continue attempts to intervene against
cash to the Whites. Thousands of tons of supplies and the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War. The Consul,
equipment were sent to the White Army, to General Young, denounced the British Government's policies in
Denikin in the south and to Kolchak in the east, Russia. His outspoken critique of British state policy led
originating mainly from Britain. to attempts by the Foreign Office to stifle his protests
The aim of these interventionist powers in assisting and eventually he was forced to resign from the
the Whites was three-fold. Initially, it was predicated Diplomatic Service. For Young's honesty in exposing
on the assumption that ousting the Bolsheviks would Britain's intervention in Russia, writer Andrew Rothstein
mean that Russia would re-enter WW1 and thus dubbed him The Consul Who Rebelled in a later book.
ensure that, once again, German troops would be British soldiers also displayed opposition to the
forced to fight on two fronts. Secondly, and more government’s intervention policy. Again, Andrew
importantly, after WW1 ended the interventionist Rothstein chronicled this in his book The Soldiers'
capitalist countries were motivated by the desire to Strikes of 1919. Rothstein, the son of exiles from
prevent the spread of communist ideology and Tsarist Russia, had been drafted to serve the British
practice, which was becoming popular and influential Army as a corporal from 1917-19. Upon news that his
within sections of the labour movement in their own unit was to be dispatched to the port of Archangel to
countries. Finally, those capitalist countries which had fight the new Soviet government, he refused and the
invested heavily in the industrialisation of Russia majority of his regiment followed his lead. This was
during the Tsarist years were anxious to recoup their the first of many soldiers' rebellions and mutinies
massive financial speculation. against British Army intervention in Russia.
Ultimately it became clear to the interventionist Churchill (then Secretary of State for War) personally
powers that their efforts were not able to overthrow viewed communism as a dangerous threat to Western
Soviet Russia. Not being prepared to intervene on a society, infamously stating in 1919 that the Bolsheviks
much larger scale, the French withdrew their soldiers ‘have driven man from the civilisation of the 20th
in April 1919. Towards the end of 1919, the Red Army century into a condition of barbarism worse than
pushed the Whites out of many areas and had them the Stone Age, and left him the most awful and
on the retreat. By 1920, the last British and American pitiable spectacle in human experience,
troops had left Russia, unsuccessful in their task of devoured by vermin, racked by pestilence, and
bringing the White Army to victory. Japanese deprived of hope.’
occupation in the Far East remained for a further two
12
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:19 Page 13

A war-weary British public, and especially its labour 1919 witnessed the
movement, were increasingly disinclined to support broadest and most
intervention. Ultimately this meant that material aid serious strike wave yet
and troop support was withdrawn. However, a last seen. Thirty-five million
attempt at ousting the Bolsheviks was made by proxy working days were lost
via Poland’s ambitious aggression. in strike action - six
Poland had been re-constituted as an independent times as many as in the
country by the Treaty of Versailles. Its new head of state, previous year. This
Pilsudski, was not only fiercely anti-communist but also included strikes of those
wished to re-establish Poland’s pre-partition 1772 normally relied upon to
borders. This included parts of Ukraine and Belarus: carry out the repressive
Soviet territory. In April 1920, the Poles in alliance with functions of the state -
White Ukrainians launched a devastating attack, backed the police and the
with British munitions, and by May had captured Kiev, armed forces. Miners,
Source: MML transport workers,
Ukraine’s capital. However, the Red Cavalry counter-
attacked with great success and pushed the Poles back printers joined those
almost as far as Warsaw. Poland conceded the battle who had been taking action throughout the war. Their
and made peace with the Bolsheviks, with stipulations mood was influenced by the news of the workers'
that Poland would remain independent but Belarus and risings in Germany and Hungary and their strong
Ukraine would fall under Soviet control. support for the fledgling Soviet Russia. At the forefront
was, once again, the CWC which organised the mass
strike in January 1919, accompanied by mass
THE IMPACT OF THE picketing, for the forty-hour working week.
RUSSIAN REVOLUTION Unlike the wartime strikes, this one was not defensive
- it was a political offensive against the power of
OUTSIDE RUSSIA capital. It was all the stronger for its well-established
While capitalist countries opposed the Bolshevik links with discharged soldiers and sailors. Women too
revolution, this was in sharp contrast to the attitude of were fully involved in the action and on the picket
labour movement organisations. There was lines. The huge demonstration in George Square,
widespread support for the Russian Revolution in Glasgow, resulted in a battle with the forces of law
many countries especially in Europe. This took several and order, supported by young troops sent there by a
forms. In some countries, notably Hungary and panic-stricken government anxious to nip the
Germany the Russian example inspired similar, albeit Bolshevik spirit in the bud. Strike leaders were
short-lived revolutions. In many countries, the left in arrested and Glasgow fell under virtual military
the trade union and labour movement, stimulated by occupation. That is not to say that the CWC was not a
the Russian example, was strengthened, resulting in highly political organisation, but its limitations were
challenges to the existing order and the labour inherent in the fact that it remained a loose federation
leadership itself. There was also extensive opposition of workplace organisations which, while having a
to the Wars of Intervention waged against Soviet clear line on the daily struggles, had little in the way of
Russia by fourteen capitalist countries. a clear revolutionary perspective beyond a general
support for socialist principles. This point was later
BRITAIN: expressed thus by Gallacher:
‘We were carrying on a strike when we ought to
SHOP STEWARDS, STRIKES have been making a revolution.’ W. Gallacher
& SCOTLAND Revolt on the Clyde (Lawrence & Wishart, 1936).
In defiance of the leadership of the British labour
movement who supported WW1 and supported the PEOPLES’ RUSSIA
government’s ban on strikes, rank-and-file trade
unionists elected shop stewards who played an
INFORMATION BUREAU
increasingly important role during the war. A national (PRIB)
network of shop stewards’ committees was formed on One of the first organisations in Britain to support the
the model of the inaugural and most militant one – the Russian Revolution was the Peoples’ Russia
Clyde Workers Committee (CWC), in which Willie Information Bureau established in September 1918 by
Gallacher and John MacLean played prominent roles. the veteran women’s suffrage campaigner and
The CWC was strongly anti-war and enthusiastically socialist feminist, Sylvia Pankhurst. As early as 1917,
supported the Russian Revolution. In fact, MacLean’s the weekly paper she edited, The Workers’
agitational and educational role led to his being Dreadnought, carried articles wholeheartedly
appointed by Soviet Russia as the Bolshevik Consul supporting the October Revolution. The purpose of
for Scotland. the PRIB was to publish reliable and supportive
13
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:19 Page 14

information about Soviet Russia. In fact it was the only ‘The strike on the Jolly George had won its
body in Britain to do so. Much of the information it greatest victory. It was the action which
published came from Soviet Russia and was completely changed the international situation-
translated into English. Weekly newsletters and at a change that was forced on the British
least a hundred (possibly more) pamphlets were Government’.
published on different aspects of Soviet politics,
economics and ideology including a unique first; a
smuggled edition of an English translation of the COUNCILS OF ACTION
Russian Socialist Federated Socialist Republic The consequence of the Jolly George success was
(RSFSR) inaugural Constitution. The PRIB was a an intensification of the anti-intervention campaign
broad left organisation which included affiliates from a which ultimately, by August 1920, drew in official
range of labour movement organisations. Labour Party and TUC support. The reason for the
volte-face was the increasing strength of the Hands
off Russia movement. But it was also due, ironically, to
the success of the Red Army which by July 1920 had
driven the Poles out of Russia. The British and French
governments, alarmed by this Soviet success,
announced that they would declare war on Russia if
the latter invaded Poland thus engendering the

Source: MML
widespread fear that munitions would be
supplemented by sending troops. They warned that
the danger of war was ‘extremely menacing’.
Therefore the Labour and TUC leaderships were at
HANDS OFF RUSSIA last prompted to take action. They called upon the
industrial power of the labour movement to prevent
The founding conference of Hands off Russia (HoR) war. The chosen means for organising such a
was held on January 18th 1919 at the Memorial Hall, response was the establishment of Councils of Action
Farringdon Street, London, attended by 350 in August 1920. The national Council of Action
delegates from various socialist organisations. Its authorised the formation of local bodies and around
purpose was to call a General Strike to oppose 400 were formed throughout the country largely on
continued military and economic intervention by the initiative of local Trades Councils, or sometimes by
Britain and other allied countries against Soviet the Labour Party branch in the area.
Russia. Although HoR attracted widespread support,
this did not include the leaderships of either the
Labour Party or the TUC which both ardently
supported WW1 and thus opposed Russia’s
withdrawal from it. In fact, the Labour Party even
invited Kerensky, the former head of the Russian
Provisional Government, deposed by the October
Revolution, to address their 1918 conference. As a
consequence, the TUC and the Labour Party held
aloof at this stage from either supporting the
revolution or opposing Allied Intervention. It took them
some while to change their minds on intervention but
when they did it was owing to pressure from below.

JOLLY GEORGE
Pressure from below was the critical factor in inducing
a change of attitude by labour movement leaders.
The most important trigger for this was the refusal of
the London dockers and coal heavers, in May 1920,
to load the Jolly George, a munitions ship bound for
Poland for use against the Red Army. Harry Pollitt,
who helped to lead the Hands off Russia movement,
along with Sylvia Pankhurst, led the dockers in their
action. Pollitt (in his autobiography Serving My Time)
Source: MRC

noted that it had proved difficult to persuade trade

unionists to take strike action beforehand but:

14
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:19 Page 15

German Communist Party (KPD). The split between left

1920 BRITISH LABOUR and right was so intense that the right social democrats
DELEGATION (now in power) were determined to crush the revolution
and used a private mercenary army (Freikorps) to do
Acting in response to a resolution passed at a special
this. In January 1919 the Freikorps murdered
Trades Union Congress on December 10th 1919 for ‘an
Luxemburg and Liebknecht, and the army commenced
independent and impartial inquiry into the industrial,
the brutal suppression of the workers’ revolution.
political and economic conditions in Russia’, a
delegation of representatives from the TUC and Labour
Party visited Russia in May 1920. According to Sylvia HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION
Pankhurst, the labour delegation did not leave ‘a good After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
impression in Russia’. Not only did they demand to go Hungary transitioned into a Republic with a very
where they wanted ‘and to see what and whom they active Communist party. Against a background of
chose without interference’ but one of them ‘bolstered popular unrest, in March 1919, the liberal President of
up her prejudices by visits to counter-revolutionaries Hungary resigned and a Communist coalition came
and anti-communists’. Sylvia Pankhurst Soviet Russia into power. Known as the Hungarian Revolution of
as I Saw It (Workers' Dreadnought Publishers, 1921). 1919, it was a short-lived attempt at a socialist state,
led by Béla Kun. The Hungarian Red Army was
formed and attempted to win back some of the land
THE IMPACT OF THE lost as a result of WW1. After some military
RUSSIAN REVOLUTION successes, the Communist government became
vulnerable internally and the hostility of the Romanian
OUTSIDE BRITAIN Army led to its downfall a few months later.

GERMAN REVOLUTION THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL

In 1918 Germany was in turmoil with strikes, mutinies The Third International, also known as the Communist
and uprisings in almost all cities. Inspired by the International (Comintern), was established as a result
Russian Revolution, Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils of the victory of the 1917 October Revolution in Russia.
were formed. This led to the formation of a Republic Its purpose was to assemble revolutionary movements
with Ebert (SPD) as Chancellor in alliance with the worldwide that could work together to ‘hasten the
Independent Social Democrats (USPD). This was victory’ of international socialism and the dismantling of
opposed by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht who capitalism. It was created as a response to the failure
led a left breakaway from the USPD - the Spartacus of the Second International, which broke up by 1916
League - in November 1918. It was later the core of the over the issue of WW1, with the revolutionary wing
opposing it and the reformists supporting it.
The First Congress of the Comintern was held in
Moscow March 2nd-5th 1919, whilst the Russian Civil
War was ongoing. Thirty-five organisations from over
twenty countries were represented at this founding
congress, despite many logistical difficulties.
The Second Congress of the Comintern occurred in
July 1920, and over sixty organisations were
represented from forty countries, including many from
outside Europe. Here, the twenty-one conditions on
German Communist Party poster, 1919 (Source: Sputnik)

being admitted to the Third International were

established, and a solution was sought on how to reach
the international proletariat who sympathised with the
Russian Revolution but still followed centrist leaders.
Historian E. H. Carr described this congress as
‘the crowning moment in the history of the
Comintern as an international force, the moment
when the Russian revolution seemed most
certainly on the point of transforming itself into a
European revolution.’ Carr The Bolshevik
Revolution 1917-1923 Vol. 3 (Macmillan & Co,
1953), p. 196.
The Comintern continued to hold meetings until it was
formally dissolved in 1943.
15
Newdnhversion full_Layout 1 08/06/2017 00:19 Page 16

‘Year of the Proletarian Dictatorship, October 1917-1918’ (Source: Sputnik)

‘Keep the Revolutionary Pace, Restless Enemy is Not Asleep’ (Source: Sputnik)
‘Four Years’ (Source: Sputnik)
‘Under the Flag of Lenin, Forward to World revolution!’ (Source: MML)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project would not have been possible without a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the support and accommodation of Marx
Memorial Library (MML). We have been given generous access to archive material and images from MML, the Society for Co-operation in
Russian and Soviet Studies (SCRSS), Sputnik, RIA Novosti and the Modern Records Centre (MRC) at the University of Warwick. We record
our grateful thanks to these immensely valuable sources. Final thanks go to Claire Weiss who painstakingly proof read this document. Should
there be any remaining errors, they are those of the authors!