The Russian Revolution, 1905-1921

399 Pages·2016·2.09 MB·English

by  Mark D. Steinberg

OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,22/9/2016,SPi
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, 1905–1921
SERIESADVISORS
GeoffEley,UniversityofMichigan
LyndalRoper,UniversityofOxford
MarkD.Steinberg, a professor of history at the University of Illinois in
Urbana-Champaign,istheauthorofmanybooksandarticles,includingThe
Fall of the Romanovs: Political Dreams and Personal Struggles in a Time of
Revolution (), Voices of Revolution,  (), Proletarian Imagin-
ation:Self,Modernity,andtheSacredinRussia,–(),Petersburg
Fin-de-Siècle(),andrecenteditionsofthelateNicholasRiasanovsky’s
A HistoryofRussia. Hisresearch and teachinginterests includehistories of
cities,working-classculture,emotions,violence,revolutions,andutopia.
The Russian
Revolution,
1905–1921
MARK D. STEINBERG
1
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,22/9/2016,SPi
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Liketherevolutionitself,thehistoryofthisbookhasdeeproots.Itbegan
with an intriguing invitation from Christopher Wheeler, an editor at
OxfordUniversityPress,tosubmitaproposalforanewseriesofbooks
that sought authors with “something fresh to say” about major events
andtopicsinhistoryandwhowouldcommunicatetobothstudentsand
lay readers the excitement of our changing understandings of the past.
Iwashonoredandstimulatedbytheinvitationtowritesuchabookon
theRussianRevolutionandamgratefultohimforaskingme.
Allscholarship,ofcourse,standsontheshouldersofworkthathasgone
before (even if we often kick at those past authors’ heads a bit). This is
doubly true of books on topics like the Russian Revolution, which must
considertheworkofdozensofaccomplishedhistorians.Ihavetriedtosay
somethingdifferentandfresh,tobringadistinctive“attitude”totheproject
(as Wheeler asked for in his first announcement), while trying to avoid
the convention of demonstrating originality by dissing my elders and
colleagues.Icouldnothavewrittenthebookwithoutthehugebodyofexisting
researchandinterpretation,fromwhomIhaveborrowedandreworkedagreat
deal.In this sense, the notes and the bibliography can be seen as a type of
acknowledgmentofpeopletowhomIamindebtedandgrateful.
More immediately, I have been reminded again of the generosity of
scholars in taking time from their own full lives of research, writing,
teaching,andotherworktoreadandcritiquetheworkofothers(wedo
so much for so little pay). This book is many times better and more
interesting thanks to their criticisms, suggestions, and encouragement.
These critical readers include historians and literary scholars, graduate
v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
students,andindependentauthors.Somecritiquedearlydraftsofchap-
tersatworkshops,especiallytheRussianStudiesCircle(Kruzhok)atthe
UniversityofIllinoisandthebiannualMidwestRussianHistoryWork-
shop.Morerecently,anumberofindividualswerekindenoughtoagree
toreadthewholemanuscriptorpartsofchapters.DianeKoenker,Boris
Kolonitsky,RoshannaSylvester,and(SteveSmithasanonymousreader
forOxfordUniversityPress)offeredwiseandessentialcriticalreadingsof
theentiremanuscript.HeatherColeman,BarbaraEngel,GregoryFreidin,
NinaGourianova,AdeebKhalid,HarrietMurav,andChristineWorobec
read chapters where they have particular expertise. I am very grateful to
themall.ThatIdidnotalwaystaketheirgoodadviceshouldunderscore
thefactthat,whileIhavebeeninspiredbysomanyscholars,Iamalone
responsibleforwhateveryoumightnotlikeoragreewithinthisbook.
Ialsowanttothankmygraduateresearchassistants—AndyBruno,Maria
Cristina Galmarini, Stephen Jug, and Jesse Murray—who helped enor-
mouslywiththetime-consumingandchallengingtaskofreadingthrough
endlessmicrofilmcopiesofRussiannewspapers.Thetalentedlibrariansat
theUniversityofIllinoisandtheSlavicReferenceService,especiallyChris-
topherCondillandJosephLenkart,solvedmanyresearchproblems,large
andsmall,withskillandgenerositywiththeirtime.Iamalsogratefultothe
staffattheRussianNationalLibraryinStPetersburg,especiallyAlexander
Sapozhnikov,AlexanderKashtaner,andtheircolleaguesin the newspaper
division,whereIhavespentagreatdealoftimeovertheyears.
At Oxford University Press, Christopher Wheeler, Matthew Cotton,
Robert Faber, andCathryn Steele have been a pleasure toworkwith—
I thank them all for their intelligence, encouragement, and patience.
I am also very grateful for the fine editing, proofreading, indexing,
and production work by Jane Robson, Linda Miller, R. A. Marriott,
andManikandanChandrasekaran.
Finally,thisbookisdedicatedtothememoryofJaneTaylorHedges
(–),anextraordinaryscholarlyeditorandmybelovedpartner
inlifeformorethanthirty-fiveyearsuntilcancerovercameherstrength
andvitality,whichstillsustainsme.SheandIdiscussedeveryideainthis
book and she is deeply part of it. And I thank our fabulous son Sasha
(also a sharp critic of ideas), and my friends, who have all kept me
lookingandlivingforward.
vi
CONTENTS
ListofIllustrations ix
Introduction:ExperiencingtheRussianRevolution 
PART I. DOCUMENTS AND STORIES
. SpringtimeofFreedom:WalkingthePast 
PART II. HISTORIES
. Revolution,Uncertainty,andWar 
.  
. CivilWar 
PART III. PLACES AND PEOPLE
. PoliticsoftheStreet 
. WomenandRevolutionintheVillage 
. OvercomingEmpire 
. Utopians 
Conclusion:AnUnfinishedRevolution 
Bibliography:SelectedReadingsinEnglishonthe
RussianRevolution,– 
Index 
vii

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
. Soldiersposingbyarmoredvehicle,February.
RussianStateArchiveofFilmandPhotographic
Documents(Rossiiskiigosudarstvennyiarkhiv
kinofotodokumentov),Moscow. 
. Postcard“FreedomofRussia,”Easter.Department
ofPrints,RussianNationalLibrary,StPetersburg.Iamalso
gratefultoBorisKolonitskyandEllaSaginadzefor
helpinobtainingprintsandpermissionsforFigures
and. 
. Postcard“LongLivetheRepublic,”Easter.
DepartmentofPrints,RussianNationalLibrary,
StPetersburg. 
. Women’smarch,March.RussianStateArchive
ofFilmandPhotographicDocuments,Moscow. 
. Soldiers’wivesatwomen’smarch,March.“The
RussianRevolution—EventsandPersonalities:AnAlbum
ofPhotographs.CollectedbyBessieBeatty.”Unpublished.
TheNewYorkPublicLibrary,p.(dateincorrectlystated
asApril).SlavicandBalticDivision.TheNewYork
PublicLibrary,Astor,LenoxandTildenFoundations. 
. NikolaiKogout,“Withweaponswedefeatedtheenemy,
withlaborwewillwinbread.Everyonetowork,comrades.”
Poster,.Publicdomain.CourtesyofVictoriaBonnell. 
ix