# Kronstadt explained — The Bolshevik Myth

> Chapter companion for The Bolshevik Myth by Alexander Berkman.

## 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.

## Character check-ins

### 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 lines

> 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._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xxxviii-kronstadt
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters