The Bolshevik Myth · Chapter
Kronstadt explained
The chapter details the Kronstadt uprising of March 1921, where sailors and workers demanded free elections, freedom of speech, and an end to Communist Party monopoly, leading to a violent government crackdown.
What happens
The chapter details the Kronstadt uprising of March 1921, where sailors and workers demanded free elections, freedom of speech, and an end to Communist Party monopoly, leading to a violent government crackdown. The narrator describes the political tension, the failed arbitration attempt by anarchists including Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman, and the eventual fall of Kronstadt with mass executions.
Themes in this chapter
Revolutionary Idealism vs. Reality
The Kronstadt sailors, once celebrated as the 'pride and glory of the Russian Revolution,' are now attacked by the same government they helped establish, highlighting the betrayal of revolutionary ideals.
Terror and Violence
The chapter describes the artillery bombardment of Kronstadt, summary executions of prisoners and hostages, and the government's use of hostages as 'pledges.'
Betrayal of Revolutionary Ideals
The Bolshevik government's violent suppression of workers and sailors demanding democratic reforms represents a clear betrayal of the revolution's promises.
Characters to notice
- Zinoviev
Zinoviev chairs the Petro-Soviet meeting, urges hearing opposition but lacks conviction, and denounces strikers as enemies of the Soviet regime.
- Kalinin
Kalinin declares Kronstadt the headquarters of General Kozlovsky's plot and votes against the Kronstadt resolution.
- Trotsky
Trotsky issues an ultimatum to Kronstadt to surrender, threatens to 'shoot you like pheasants,' and later denounces Thiers and Gallifet while celebrating the Paris Commune.
- Kamenev
Kamenev is named as Commander-in-Chief alongside Trotsky in the ultimatum to Kronstadt.
- Alexander Berkman
Berkman co-signs an arbitration proposal to Zinoviev urging a peaceful commission to settle the Kronstadt dispute.
- Emma Goldman
Goldman co-signs the same arbitration proposal to Zinoviev, advocating for a peaceful resolution.
- Lenin
Lenin is mentioned as having been saved by the same sailors now denounced as traitors, and he declares the Kronstadt resolution counterrevolutionary.
Key passages
“Kronstadt demands only honest elections, he declared. He was not allowed to proceed.”
A sailor stated that Kronstadt simply wanted fair elections, but he was silenced.
Illustrates the suppression of dissent during the Petro-Soviet meeting.
“I’ll shoot you like pheasants.”
Trotsky threatened to kill the Kronstadt rebels like birds.
Shows the brutal tone of the government's ultimatum.
“Thousands of sailors and workers lie dead in its streets. Summary execution of prisoners and hostages continues.”
After Kronstadt fell, many rebels were killed and executions of captives went on.
Highlights the violent aftermath of the uprising.