Dilution of the Problem

Seatbelts, Cigarettes and Sexual Abuse – What our history should teach us

October 31, 2017 Respvblica 1

Juda Engelmayer for Respvblica There is something to be said about the different ideals from one generation to the next, and it is not a simple […]

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July 17, 2018 | 1917: Massive Protests Shake the Russian Capital

On this day in 1917, a three-day stretch of fighting in the streets peaks in Pyetrograd after the provisional government falls temporarily amid anger and frustration within and outside the army due to the continuing hardships caused by Russia’s participation in World War I.

Despite devastating losses on the Eastern Front in 1916, the provisional Russian government — which succeeded to power after the abdication of Tsar’ Nicholas II on March 15 — had rejected all calls for peace. Alyeksandr Kyeryenskiy, appointed minister of war in the spring of 1917, was determined to reinvigorate the Russian war effort, installing the victorious General Alyeksyey Brusilov as commander-in-chief of the Russian forces and making plans to go back on the offensive within months. The disintegration and despair within the army continued, however, as some 30,000 deserters were reported from the front every day. At Kyeryenskiy’s command, Brusilov launched another major offensive on July 1, the same day a massive peace demonstration was held in Pyetrograd.

Though the new offensive resulted in heavy losses for the Russians, it was at home where the provisional government received its greatest threat. On July 15, 1917, an uprising in Pyetrograd encouraged by Lyeon Trotskiy, an official of the Bol’shyevik Party — the radical Communist movement led by Vladimir Lyenin, recently returned from exile due to German help — succeeded in briefly toppling the provisional government. The Bol’shyeviks saw their opportunity and attempted to seize power in Pyetrograd, as fighting broke out in the streets. The violence peaked on July 17. The following day, officers loyal to the provisional government destroyed the offices of the Bol’shyevik newspaper, Pravda (meaning “Truth”). Lyenin, sensing the time was not yet ripe for revolution, went into hiding — albeit temporarily — and Kyeryenskiy took charge, restoring order and continuing his efforts to salvage the Russian war effort.

Months later, however, Lyenin emerged again, as the Bol’shyeviks succeeded in wresting power in Russia from the army in November amid massive strikes and rebellions in the streets; almost immediately after taking power, the Bol’shyeviks moved towards an armistice with the Central Powers, ending Russia’s involvement in World War I.

Adapted from “1917: Fighting in the streets of Petrograd, Russia,” History.