The Russian Revolution, 1917 (Uncovered Editions) - Softcover

Coates, Tim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0117024244 ISBN 13: 9780117024243

Publisher: Tim Coates, 2000

Synopsis

By November 1917, Russia had lost more than 20, 000 000 people in the war. Lenin's Bolshevik party had overthrown the Tsar and had called for an end to all capitalist governments. Government files contain a number of detailed documents describing the nature of the Bolshevik Revolution and the government of Lenin, which was observed to be not only abhorrent but also menacing because of the international implications. This book is compiled from two of these files, one of which describes the events leading up to the revolution and how the Bolsheviks came to power in October 1917. The other contains a series of eye-witness accounts of the frightening days of the Bolshevik regime from the summer of 1918 to April 1919.

About this title

Review:

Britain looked anxiously on as the Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia gave way to a terror of torture, assassination and mass purge during the first half of 1918. This Stationery Office edition of information collected and published originally by the Foreign Office shows how quickly British concern passed from pompous irritation at diplomats being questioned by Soviet commissars, to horror as hundreds were imprisoned in the Peter and Paul fortress prison, the Tsar and his family were assassinated, and across the Russian empire opponents of the Bolsheviks were killed off. Driving nails into the shoulder straps of army officers was a favourite torture, and using Chinese and Mongolian rank-and-file soldiers to carry out execution was a preferred system of killing. British diplomats, unsurprisingly, took the high moral ground, although now and again their real dilemma--the crippling of the Russian economy, especially the grain supply--slips into their discussions. Humanitarianism, as so often is the case, gave way to economic realpolitik.--Miles Taylor

About this edition

• Publisher: Tim Coates
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0117024244
• ISBN 13: 9780117024243
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256