The Bolshevik Myth · Chapter
IX: The Club on the Tverskaya explained
The narrator visits the Universalist Club on Tverskaya Street, encountering Buford deportees struggling with poverty and corruption.
What happens
The narrator visits the Universalist Club on Tverskaya Street, encountering Buford deportees struggling with poverty and corruption. The Club hosts a diverse array of revolutionary factions, and the narrator attends an Anarchist Conference where Rostchin defends cooperation with the Bolsheviks. Debates rage over Bolshevik policies, the Cheka, and the persecution of leftist elements. The narrator joins a committee to present a resolution to Krestinsky, the Communist Party secretary, advocating for the release of imprisoned Anarchists and greater cooperation.
Themes in this chapter
Revolutionary Idealism vs. Reality
The Anarchist Conference debates the gap between revolutionary ideals and the Bolshevik regime's repressive practices, with Rostchin arguing for pragmatic cooperation while others decry persecution.
Betrayal of Revolutionary Ideals
Anarchists and Left Social Revolutionists feel betrayed by the Bolsheviks, who imprison former comrades and suppress non-Communist revolutionary bodies despite shared struggles.
Terror and Violence
The Cheka's terrorism, punitive expeditions against peasants, and the suppression of the Anarchist Club with artillery highlight the regime's reliance on violence.
Economic Collapse and Survival
Buford deportees struggle with meager rations, corruption, and black markets; peasants face grain requisitioning that leaves them without seed for sowing.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
Attends the Anarchist Conference at the Club, participates in the committee to present a resolution to Krestinsky, and expresses surprise at the imprisonment of leftists.
- Rostchin
A popular university lecturer and old Anarchist who gives an impromptu speech eulogizing Lenin and urging Anarchists to work with the Bolsheviks.
- Askarev
A Universalist and member of the Moscow Soviet who explains the Anarchist stance toward the Bolsheviks and argues for the release of imprisoned Anarchists before Krestinsky.
- Krestinsky
Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, who receives the delegation and dryly questions the possibility of cooperation, promising to submit the matter to the Central Committee.
- K⸺
A former Schlüsselburgets who harangues workers and soldiers at the Club, arguing that Bolshevik policies have alienated the masses and driven peasants to revolt.
- Vladimir
A Buford deportee who complains about corruption among Chekists and militiamen, and the low exchange rate for dollars.
- Barmash
A prominent old katorzhane who had been sentenced to death by the Tsar and later played a role in the 1917 revolutions, mentioned as a Club figure.
Key passages
““It’s solely a question of serving our purpose,” Krestinsky remarked. “Some of the prisoners may be dangerous. Perhaps the Cheka has something against them.””
Krestinsky states that the release of imprisoned Anarchists depends on whether it serves the Communist Party's interests, suggesting the Cheka may have evidence against them.
Krestinsky's pragmatic and dismissive response to the delegation's plea for leniency.
““The safety of the Revolution is in the masses being vitally interested in it,” he is saying. “There was no counterrevolution when we had free Soviets; every man stood on guard of the Revolution then, and we needed no Cheka.””
K⸺ argues that the Revolution was secure when Soviets were free and the masses were invested, implying the Cheka's terrorism has undermined that support.
K⸺'s critique of Bolshevik centralization and the Cheka's role in alienating the populace.
““He’s a Sovietsky Anarchist,” came sarcastically from the audience.”
An audience member mockingly labels Rostchin a 'Soviet Anarchist' for his pro-Bolshevik stance.
The sarcastic remark reflects the tension between Anarchist factions over cooperation with the Bolsheviks.
