The Bolshevik Revolution, or the October Revolution (or the Russian Revolution), occurred in Russia in 1917. It was a massive event that brought about major changes in the country’s history, from a monarchy to a communist state.
Background
Prior to the revolution, Russia was under the rule of Tsar Nicholas II. Many Russians were unhappy with his leadership, especially his handling of the first World War.
He was overthrown.
The Bolsheviks were a group of radical communists, inspired by Karl Marx, who sought to transform Russia’s political system.
They were led by Vladimir Lenin.
Here’s what happened
On the night of 16 July 1918, Bolshevik secret police killed the Tsar, his wife Alexandra, their son Alexis, and their four daughters. They were shot and bayoneted in a house where they were prisoners. Their bodies were secretly buried in the countryside.
Initially, Bolshevik leadership pretty much denied this and said that Lenin was not involved.
Meanwhile, in 1990, playwright Edvard Radzinsky published his investigation in which he found evidence that Lenin ordered the execution, which was confirmed by Lenin’s bodyguard’s account and a telegram, as well as Leon Trotsky (who was Lenin’s colleague).
Jewish influence
An interesting feature of the Bolshevik government was the pronounced presence of Jews. Even though they made up a small percentage of the country’s population, they were overrepresented in the (communist) government.
The Soviet regime, for all its revolutionary ideals, was paradoxically respsonsible for the deaths of millions of its own people.
Lenin established the Cheka, a state security organisation, to ‘combat counter-revolution and sabotage’. Its name and structure changed over time, becoming GPU, then NKVD, and finally KGB. The exact number of deaths caused by the Cheka and its later forms is unknown, but it’s estimated to be at least 20 million. This includes victims of forced collectivisation, famine, purges, expulsions, banishments, executions, and deaths in Gulags.
Speaking of famine, a severe one ‘struck’ the USSR’s main regions, including Ukraine. In the spring of 1933, about 25,000 Ukrainians were dying daily.
But here’s the thing.
It was engineered by Joseph Stalin’s policies, aimed to punish (mostly) Ukraine’s independent farmers for resisting collectivisation (state control of land and livestock).
The government didn’t deny the famine’s existence in Russia, but denied the famine’s existence in Ukraine (and even exported grain from Ukraine).
In short:
- Lenin ordered the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family in 1918.
- Jews, despite being a tiny percent of the population, were overrepresented in the Bolshevik government.
- The Soviet regime’s brutality, with Jewish involvement, led to millions of deaths.
Mark Weber is a historian and author at the Institute for Historical Review. Here’s my conversation with him.