Ten Days That Shook the World · Chapter
The Bourgeois Press on the Bolsheviki explained
This chapter presents a series of excerpts from the bourgeois Russian press in late October and early November 1917, illustrating the hostile and alarmist attitudes of conservative and liberal newspapers toward the Bolsheviks.
What happens
This chapter presents a series of excerpts from the bourgeois Russian press in late October and early November 1917, illustrating the hostile and alarmist attitudes of conservative and liberal newspapers toward the Bolsheviks. The articles call for the government to suppress Bolshevik agitation, characterize their activities as treasonous and anarchic, and question the government's inconsistent response to threats from both the right (Kornilov) and the left (Bolsheviks).
Themes in this chapter
Class Conflict and Polarization
The press excerpts highlight the deep ideological divide between the bourgeois establishment and the Bolsheviks, who are portrayed as exploiting the ignorance of the masses.
Counterrevolution and Civil War
The newspapers accuse the Bolsheviks of inciting civil war and anarchy, and call for the government to take repressive measures against them.
Struggle for Legitimacy and Power
The press questions the government's legitimacy and effectiveness, contrasting its handling of the Kornilov revolt with its perceived inaction against Bolshevik agitation.
Characters to notice
- General Lavr Kornilov
Referenced in Novoye Vremya's questioning of the government's response to the Kornilov affair.
Key passages
“The decisive moment approaches. … It is decisive for the Bolsheviki. Either they will give us … a second edition of the events of July 16–18, or they will have to admit that with their plans and intentions, with their impertinent policy of wishing to separate themselves from everything consciously national, they have been definitely defeated.”
The critical moment is near for the Bolsheviks: they will either repeat the July Days uprising or face defeat due to their divisive and unpatriotic policies.
Russkaya Volia frames the Bolsheviks' situation as a binary choice between repeating past insurrection or admitting failure.
“The Government must play its part in this affair. Supporting itself morally by the Council of the Republic, the Government must take a clearly-defined attitude toward the Bolsheviki. … And if the Bolsheviki provoke an insurrection against the legal power, and thus facilitate the German invasion, they must be treated as mutineers and traitors.”
The government, backed by the Council of the Republic, should adopt a firm stance against the Bolsheviks and treat any insurrection as treason that aids Germany.
The newspaper calls for the government to use its authority to suppress the Bolsheviks, linking them to potential German invasion.
“Now that the Bolsheviki have separated themselves from the rest of the democracy, the struggle against them is very much simpler—and it is not reasonable, in order to fight against Bolshevism, to wait until they make a manifestation. The Government should not even allow the manifestation.”
With the Bolsheviks isolated from other democratic groups, opposing them is easier; the government should preemptively prevent any demonstration rather than wait for one.
Birzhevya Viedomosti advocates for proactive suppression of Bolshevik activities.
“The appeals of the Bolsheviki to insurrection and anarchy are acts punishable by the criminal courts, and in the freest countries, their authors would receive severe sentences. For what the Bolsheviki are carrying on is not a political struggle against the Government, or even for the power; it is propaganda for anarchy, massacres, and civil war.”
Bolshevik calls for uprising and chaos are criminal offenses that would be harshly punished in any free nation; their actions are not political opposition but incitement to violence and civil war.
The newspaper characterizes Bolshevik activity as beyond legitimate political struggle, demanding legal repression.
“Why is the Government excited only about November 2nd (date of calling of the Congress of Soviets), and not about September 12th, or October 3rd? … Since it came to power, has there been a single order issued by the Government for the purpose of halting anarchy, or has anyone attempted to put out the Russian conflagration? … The Government turned its attention to a more immediate problem. It crushed an insurrection (the Kornilov attempt) concerning which everyone is now asking, ‘Did it ever exist?’”
The government is selectively alarmed about the upcoming Congress of Soviets but ignored earlier dates; it has done nothing to stop the general chaos, focusing instead on suppressing the dubious Kornilov revolt.
Novoye Vremya criticizes the government's inconsistent and ineffective response to crises, questioning the reality of the Kornilov affair.
