Essay about the Russian Civil War

[The Cheshire Cat]

Hello everyone,

I have to write some sort of Final Essay which will be really important for my final exam. If I fail on this, I will have to redo my whole last year! Or give up my current level of education, which I refuse under any circumstance.

As a subject for my Final Essay, I chose the Russian Civil War. To gather information about this subject, I will probably start some topics about the RCW with some questions in the coming weeks. I will also read some books about it, so if anyone has some suggestions, please let me hear it!

Another thing I plan to do (if my parents allow me, at least) is making a trip to Moscow for maybe three or four days. If I were to make that trip (I really hope so), what would be good places to visit so I can learn about the RCW? If I will be able to make this trip and acually learn something from it, it would greatly boost my grade. So if anyone maybe has some experience with educational trips to Moscow, or lives in Moscow, please tell me what I must visit when I am in Moscow. Besides the Kremlin, ofcours, I will definitely go there. And Lenin's mausoleum.

Thank you!

[Blanquist]

Depending where you come from, Moscow is very expensive and there isn't much to learn.

But if your parents are loaded then go for it.

[Book O'Dead]

There's the Central Armed Forces Museum:
http://www.cmaf.ru/

Then there's the State Historical Museum:

http://www.shm.ru/

And you might find something relevant at the Hermitage but that's in St. Pete.

Here's a list of Museums in Moscow:

http://www.russianmuseums.info/

[The Cheshire Cat]

Depending where you come from, Moscow is very expensive and there isn't much to learn.

But if your parents are loaded then go for it.

There must be musea and such about the USSR? Besides, I think the trip would worth it if I only get to see the Kremlin. And as long as I don't sleep in the most expensive hotels and eat caviar for breakfast, we will be able to afford it.

[The Cheshire Cat]

There's the Central Armed Forces Museum:
http://www.cmaf.ru/

Then there's the State Historical Museum:

http://www.shm.ru/

And you might find something relevant at the Hermitage but that's in St. Pete.

Here's a list of Museums in Moscow:

http://www.russianmuseums.info/

Thanks! If I hop on the train in Moscow I will arrive in St. Petersburg 4 hours later, so I guess I could do that.

[A Marxist Historian]

There's the Central Armed Forces Museum:
http://www.cmaf.ru/

Then there's the State Historical Museum:

http://www.shm.ru/

And you might find something relevant at the Hermitage but that's in St. Pete.

Here's a list of Museums in Moscow:

http://www.russianmuseums.info/

Also RGASPI, the old Communist Party archive, is a great place to go--provided that your Russian is good.

On the Russian Civil War, I'd definitely recommend Trotsky's military writings, several volumes of which have been posted to MIA.

Here's the URL for Vol. 1.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1918/military/index.htm

-M.H.-

[The Cheshire Cat]

I am afraid my Russian is not good at all. I am learning it, but I certainly can't have a difficult conversation about the history of the RCW. And thanks for the link! It will come in handy.

[Nox]

I am afraid my Russian is not good at all. I am learning it, but I certainly can't have a difficult conversation about the history of the RCW. And thanks for the link! It will come in handy.

Yeah, Russia isn't one of those countries where "everyone speaks English", you can't get around in Russia unless you speak Russian :)

Also, there's no doubt in my mind that the information on display in RCW museums will be very biased.

[MrCool]

3-4 days isn't enough to see most of Moscow. I was there for 5 days, and i only saw a slice of what i wanted to see. (I did get to see Lenin)

[The Cheshire Cat]

Well, I knew not nearly everyone in Russia speaks English, but I kind of hoped there would be a vast amount of people in Moscow who did. It is also too bad that the information is biased. However, I think that even if I went to Moscow and did absolutely nothing there, besides visiting the Red Square and the Mausoleum and stuff like that, it would already boost my grade. And maybe I will find some interesting musea or memorial places, I don't know.

[Peoples' War]

http://www.marxists.org/archive/serge/1930/year-one/ch11.htm

You could probably use the whole work, but here is a piece on war communism, from a Bolshevik.

[A Marxist Historian]

Well, I knew not nearly everyone in Russia speaks English, but I kind of hoped there would be a vast amount of people in Moscow who did. It is also too bad that the information is biased. However, I think that even if I went to Moscow and did absolutely nothing there, besides visiting the Red Square and the Mausoleum and stuff like that, it would already boost my grade. And maybe I will find some interesting musea or memorial places, I don't know.

No, Russians, at least the kind of Russians you want to talk to, just about pride themselves on not speaking English--especially at the archives, where they can speak English and refuse to. I think the Lenin Library may still be open in Moscow, if they haven't closed it yet. But there was talk of closing it last time I was there, a good while ago.

Do you speak German? I've heard that more Russians speak German than English.

For revolutionary memorabilia, St. Pete is actually better than Moscow. Make sure that you at least take the tour on the Aurora.

-M.H.-

[A Marxist Historian]

http://www.marxists.org/archive/serge/1930/year-one/ch11.htm

You could probably use the whole work, but here is a piece on war communism, from a Bolshevik.

A first rate recommendation, and definitely read th whole thing. Serge BTW was an anarchist won over to Bolshevism during the revolution. Later a Trotskyist, for a long time anyway.

Great writer too, won various literary prizes in France, where most of his stuff was published.

-M.H.-

[Omsk]

Be sure to visit the "Dom Knigi" (Дом книги) on the Arbat street.

If you want to but any non-fiction books, be sure to send me the name or the author, so i can check if he/she is some kind of a White-Guardist/Vlasovite revisionist or something like that.

[The Cheshire Cat]

No, Russians, at least the kind of Russians you want to talk to, just about pride themselves on not speaking English--especially at the archives, where they can speak English and refuse to. I think the Lenin Library may still be open in Moscow, if they haven't closed it yet. But there was talk of closing it last time I was there, a good while ago.

Do you speak German? I've heard that more Russians speak German than English.

For revolutionary memorabilia, St. Pete is actually better than Moscow. Make sure that you at least take the tour on the Aurora.

-M.H.-

Why would they refuse to speak English? :S That's not nice at all.

The Lenin Library is still open I believe. I can't find anything about it being closed.

I do speak a little German. I've had it for two years in school, so my German is not perfect, but it will be good enough to have a conversation. Also, German has lots of similairities with Dutch, so if the people at the archives are willing to speak German that should not be a big problem.

[The Cheshire Cat]

Be sure to visit the "Dom Knigi" (Дом книги) on the Arbat street.

If you want to but any non-fiction books, be sure to send me the name or the author, so i can check if he/she is some kind of a White-Guardist/Vlasovite revisionist or something like that.

Thanks, I will send you some names as soon as I have found some books. Some authors will be of the modern days though.

[Omsk]

Just stay away from conspiracy theories about Beria and Stalin/Lenin. There are millions of such trash works. There is a lot of nationalism and anti-semitism. You should look for books which have a moderate price,(and at least one review or a comment from an actual historian, although that still isn't enough) because the garbage is cheap and useless for actual historiographical research. Books about WWII are cheap and common to find, the same goes for the works about the October Revolution.

[A Marxist Historian]

Why would they refuse to speak English? :S That's not nice at all.

The Lenin Library is still open I believe. I can't find anything about it being closed.

I do speak a little German. I've had it for two years in school, so my German is not perfect, but it will be good enough to have a conversation. Also, German has lots of similairities with Dutch, so if the people at the archives are willing to speak German that should not be a big problem.

Because the staff at RGASPi in particular are (or were anyway, last time I was there was almost a decade ago) embittered former Communists who have an aversion to English and Americans left over from the Cold War. In general, for the older generation in the ex-USSR, and staffers at leftish archives are generally pretty long in the tooth and getting longer, the USA was the enemy in the Cold War, and learning English was not encouraged when they were growing up.

Of course, the 90 year olds, if any are left, dislike Germans even more.

-M.H-

[The Cheshire Cat]

Well, I hope they are willing to speak it now then, or else I can't learn anything from them.

[Omsk]

What M.H. said is true, look for younger people, they usually know English very well.

[The Cheshire Cat]

Okay, thanks.