THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
AOS2 CREATING A NEW SOCIETY
The Kronstadt Uprising
1920: Bolshevik control
over Civil War
ECONOMIC CRISIS:
SOCIAL CRISIS
War Communism
Kronstadt Uprising
IDEOLOGICAL CRISIS:
New Economic Policy
(NEP)
1921: The Critical Year
Learning Intention: Explain the causes and
characteristics of the Krondstadt Uprising
• Outline why the Krondstadt sailors rebelled in
Feb - March 1918
• Explain why and how they revolted
• Explain how the Bolshevik’s responded to the
uprising
• Analyse the meaning of the uprising
SOCIAL
CRISIS
The Kronstadt Uprising:
What happened?
•Economic crisis sparked peasant wars and general industrial strikes
•This was compounded when sailors from the Kronstadt garrison
attacked the legitimacy of the Soviet Government
•A political attack through a civil rights petition (1 March 1921) and a
military attack (26 February to 17 March 1921)
•Highly trained military who had been loyal to the Bolsheviks since
1905: They posed a serious threat to the regime
SOCIAL
CRISIS
The Kronstadt Uprising:
Analysis activity
The grievances of the Kronstadt petition (p.183)
Complete question 1 in your workbooks
SOCIAL
CRISIS
The Kronstadt Uprising:
Response
•Counter attack by Red Army and Cheka: Lenin clearly realised the
depth of the threat
•After two days of cannon fire, Bolshevik forces attacked the Kronstadt
garrison across the ice on 17March and were successful
•16,000 sailors at Kronstadt naval base were attacked by 60,000 Red
Army troops led by Trotsky
•12,000 sailors fled across the ice to Finland; 2000 were executed by the
Red army
SOCIAL
CRISIS
The Kronstadt Uprising:
Analysis of the Threat
•Trotsky’s justification for the attack was that they had always been an
undisciplined and unreliable group since October Revolution
•The proletariat had become an enemy within: Peasants, workers,
soldiers and sailors were prepared to die in the opposition of the
Bolsheviks
•Notable Bolshevik leaders, such as Alexandra Kollantai, were for the
revolt arguing there was a divide between party leadership and the
proletariat
Summary
•The Kronstadt uprising, support by striking
industrial workers posed a serious threat, and
according to Figes, was the verge of another
revolution
•The Red Army, led by Trotsky, was able to
contain the uprising