Kronstadt: Relevant Literature

[Lamanov]

- Mett, Ida, The Kronstadt Uprising, Solidarity, 1967. (in original: La Commune de Cronstadt, Paris 1938.)
- Thorndycraft, Lynne, The Kronstadt Uprising of 1921, Left Bank Books, Seattle 1978.
- Barnel, Cajo, Kronstadt: Proletarischer Ausläufer der Russischen Revolution, english translation by Joseph Fracchia as Kronstadt: Proletarian spin-off of the Russian Revolution, transcript: Libertarian Communist Library (libcom.org/library)
- Ciliga, Ante, The Kronstadt Revolt, Freedom Press, London 1942.
- Berkman, Alexander, The Kronstadt Rebellion, Fifteen Cents, 1922.
- Remember Kronstadt, Wildcat (UK), 1991.
- Serge, Victor, Memoirs of a Revolutionary 1901-1944, Oxford University Press, London 1963.

- Izvestia of the Provisional Revolutionary Committiee of Sailors, Soldiers and Workers of the town of Kronstadt, english translation by Scott Zenkatsu Parker, trascript from Libertarian Communist Library (libcom.org/library)

- Goldman, Emma, My Disillusionment in Russia, Doubleday, Page & Company, New York 1923.
- Goldman, Emma, Trotsky Protests Too Much, Vanguard, New York, july 1938.
- Makhno, Nestor, The Struggle Against the State and Other Essays, AK Press, Edinburgh - San Francisco 1996. (english translation by Paul Sharkey from Dyelo Truda, broj X, mart 1926.)

- The Military Writings and Speeches of Leon Trotsky, IV: The Years 1921-23, How The Revolution Armed, New Park Publications, London
- Trotsky, Leon, Hue and Cry Over Kronstadt, The New International, issue IV, 15. january 1938.
- Lenin, Collected Works, 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow 1971.
- Kollontai, Alexandra, The Workers' Opposition, Solidarity, issue VII, London 1961. (taken from Workers' Drednought, 22. april - 19. august, published by Sylvia Pankhurst)
- Vanzler, Joseph, The Truth about Kronstadt, The New International, issue II, february 1938.
- Serge, Victor, Once More: Kronstadt, The New International, issue IV, july 1938.
- Macdonald, Dwight, Once More: Kronstadt, The New International, issue IV, july 1938.

- Brinton, Maurice, Bolsheviks and Workers' Control, Solidarity
- Jones, R.M., The Expirience of the Factory Committees in the Russian Revolution,


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Anything else I could use?

[chimx]

most of your secondary sources are either very old, and thus not written as history books but more like polysci books, or are by left wing publishing company's, like left bank out of seattle. get some contemporary historical analysis of the uprising.

I'm very surprised you don't have Paul Avrich's work Krondstadt, 1921. Avrich is one of the more reputable anarchist historians and he traveled to russia to do most of his research.

also scope out Kronstadt 1917-1921: The Fate of a Soviet Democracy by professor Israel Getzler. He draws the focus back to 1917 and 1918, and does a good job of drawing continuity from the soviet experience at the start of the russian revolution, to the attempt by the sailors to bring that "golden age" of soviet power in 1921.

[Lamanov]

Yes, I really need Paul Avrich, Kronstadt 1921! But I can't just find it. I live in Bosnia. If there is an online version, that would be very helpfull.

Also, I could use Emma Goldman, Living My Life. If there's an online version of that text also, let me know.

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By the way, I have a text about Kronstadt from Anarchist FAQ.

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Please, if someone knows where I can find Avrich, It'd be really helpfull.

[Leo]

I think the Ida Mett book is the best piece written on the subject. The ICC also has several articles on the subject:

http://en.internationalism.org/inter/123_kronstadt.html

http://en.internationalism.org/inter/124_kronstadt.html

http://en.internationalism.org/ir/104_kronstadt.html

And there was a thread on Libcom that was pretty informing, which I can't find the link now.

[Leo]

Yes, I really need Paul Avrich, Kronstadt 1921! But I can't just find it. I live in Bosnia. If there is an online version, that would be very helpfull.

If you have access to JSTOR (I think almost all universities provide access to it) you can read the book. I unfortunately don't have access to JSTOR, but if you don't have access to it I will ask to the librarian in the university I am attending, and I will try to send you the text. Here's the link for it:

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6779...%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2 (http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-6779(197103)30%3A1%3C150%3AK1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-2)

Also, here's links to two texts written by Avrich to give you an opinion on his style:

http://libcom.org/library/russian-anarchis...war-paul-avrich (http://libcom.org/library/russian-anarchists-civil-war-paul-avrich)

http://libcom.org/library/anarchists-russi...ion-paul-avrich (http://libcom.org/library/anarchists-russian-revolution-paul-avrich)

[YKTMX]

When the first shots of the Russian Civil War were fired, the anarchists, in common with the other left-wing opposition parties, were faced with a serious dilemma. Which side were they to support?

I think that says it all.

A serious fucking dilemma? The fascist hoardes vs. the Revolutionary working class and it's a "dilemma"?

You're all morally bankrupt class traitors.

[Leo]

When the first shots of the Russian Civil War were fired, the anarchists, in common with the other left-wing opposition parties, were faced with a serious dilemma. Which side were they to support?

I think that says it all.

A serious fucking dilemma? The fascist hoardes vs. the Revolutionary working class and it's a "dilemma"?

You're all morally bankrupt class traitors.

Did anyone say that they agreed with Avrich at all? No. Avrich is a historian, his political opinions are irrelevant.

Now take your baseless insults elsewhere.

[YKTMX]

Originally posted by Leo [email protected] 26, 2006 04:05 pm

When the first shots of the Russian Civil War were fired, the anarchists, in common with the other left-wing opposition parties, were faced with a serious dilemma. Which side were they to support?

I think that says it all.

A serious fucking dilemma? The fascist hoardes vs. the Revolutionary working class and it's a "dilemma"?

You're all morally bankrupt class traitors.

Did anyone say that they agreed with Avrich at all? No. Avrich is a historian, his political opinions are irrelevant.

Now take your baseless insults elsewhere.
Avrich isn't stating an opinion. He's merely reiterating the dilemma that others felt they faced. And we know it's a dilemma, because the anarchists frequently "changed their mind".

And, besides, we're all well aware of the way Avrich swings.

To be honest, I think he's a decent historian and his book on Kronstadt is a good one.

[Leo]

Avrich isn't stating an opinion. He's merely reiterating the dilemma that others felt they faced. And we know it's a dilemma, because the anarchists frequently "changed their mind".

Some did, some didn't - which gave an accurate glimpse of the difference between true proletarian anarchists and others. There was no "dilemma" for real proletarian anarchists.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Kronstadt 1921: Bolshevism vs. Counterrevolution (http://www.icl-fi.org/english/esp/59/kronstadt.html). Dispells alot of lies about what happened.

[chimx]

Originally posted by [email protected] 26, 2006 04:00 pm
When the first shots of the Russian Civil War were fired, the anarchists, in common with the other left-wing opposition parties, were faced with a serious dilemma. Which side were they to support?

I think that says it all.

A serious fucking dilemma? The fascist hoardes vs. the Revolutionary working class and it's a "dilemma"?

You're all morally bankrupt class traitors.
if resenting the suppression of soviet power makes me a class traitor, than someone call in the red army plz. kthx

[YKTMX]

Originally posted by chimx+October 26, 2006 04:26 pm--> (chimx @ October 26, 2006 04:26 pm)
[email protected] 26, 2006 04:00 pm
When the first shots of the Russian Civil War were fired, the anarchists, in common with the other left-wing opposition parties, were faced with a serious dilemma. Which side were they to support?

I think that says it all.

A serious fucking dilemma? The fascist hoardes vs. the Revolutionary working class and it's a "dilemma"?

You're all morally bankrupt class traitors.
if resenting the suppression of soviet power makes me a class traitor, than someone call in the red army plz. kthx [/b]
The "Soviets" were not in favour the fascist putsch (for obvious reasons). The working class of Petrograd actually stopped a strike when they heard about the attempted coup. The only people representing Soviet Power at Kronstadt were the Red Army soldiers, 10,000 of whom were martyred by the White Guard defending the base.


So, just stop pretending you've got a clue, Chimx, it doesn't wash.

[Alf]

This is an extract from another ICC article on the Kronstadt events, originally published in 1975: http://en.internationalism.org/specialtexts/IR003_kron.htm

It shows the real relationship between the Petrograd strikes and the Kronstadt revolt. The revolt was in many ways a direct response to the Petrograd movement and was in complete solidarity with it. The Kronstadt workers and sailors sent delegates to the strikers to find out what was going on. And the movement in Petrograd was brought to an end by a mixture of repression and concessions, not because the workers there were opposed to the Kronstadt sailors.

I have left in the famous "Petropavlovsk" resolution which became the 'platform' of the revolt because it underlines the fact that the Kronstadt movement was raising essentially proletarian demands in the face of the bureaucratisation of the Soviet state. It was therefore a deadly error on the part of the Bolshevik leadership to unleash repression against it, as we explain in the article and the others cited by Leo.

"But in between the wave of peasant rebellions and the uprising in Kronstadt, a series of events occurred which gives the action of the Kronstadt rebels a very different character from that ascribed to it by the Bolshevik leadership. In the middle of February 1921, spontaneous factory meetings, strikes and demonstrations took place in Moscow, demanding higher rations, an end to the methods of 'forced labour' instituted by War Communism, and a return to 'free trade' with the countryside. Troops and officer cadets had to be called in to restore order.

Almost immediately afterwards, a far bigger series of wildcat strikes swept through Petrograd. Beginning at the Trubochny metal factory, the strike rapidly spread out to include many of the largest industrial enterprises in the city. At factory meetings and demonstrations, resolutions were passed demanding increases in food and clothing rations, since most of the workers were both hungry and freezing. Alongside these economic demands, more political demands appeared also: the workers wanted an end to travel restrictions in and out of the city, release of working class prisoners, freedom of speech, etc. The Soviet authorities in the town, with Zinoviev at their head, responded by denouncing the strikes as playing into the hands of the counter-revolution, and they put the city under direct military rule, forbidding street meetings and imposing an 11pm. curfew. Undoubtedly some counter-revolutionary elements like the Mensheviks and the Social Revolutionaries did intervene in these events with their own fraudulent schemes for 'salvation', but the Petrograd strike movement was essentially a spontaneous proletarian response to intolerable living conditions. The Bolshevik authorities, however, could not bear to admit that the workers could be striking against the 'Workers' State', and characterized the strikers as idlers, self-seekers, and provocateurs. They also sought to break the strike by means of lockouts, deprivation of rations, and the arrest of prominent speakers and 'ringleaders' by the local Cheka. These repressive measures were combined with concessions: Zinoviev announced the dismantling of the roadblocks around the city, the purchase of coal from abroad to ease the fuel shortage and plans to end grain-requisitions. This combination of repression and conciliation led most of the already weak and exhausted workers to abandon their struggle in the hope of better things to come.

But the most important outcome of the Petrograd strike movement was the effect it was to have on the nearby fortress-town of Kronstadt. The Kronstadt garrison, one of the main bastions of the October Revolution, had already been engaged in a fight against bureaucratisation before the Petrograd strikes. During 1920 and 1921 the rank and file of the Red Fleet in the Baltic had been fighting against the disciplinarian tendencies of the officers and the bureaucratic actions of the POUBALT (the Political Section of the Baltic Fleet, the party organ which dominated the soviet structure of the navy). Motions were passed at sailors' meetings in February 1921, declaring "P0UBALT has not only separated itself from the masses but also from the active functionaries. It has become transformed into a bureaucratic organ, enjoying no authority among the sailors". (Ida Mett, The Kronstadt Commune, Solidarity pamphlet, no.27, p.3)

Thus when news came of the Petrograd strikes and of the declaration of martial law by the Petrograd authorities, the sailors were already in a state of ferment. On 28 February they sent a delegation to the factories of Petrograd to discover what was going on. On the same day the crew of the battleship Petropavlovsk met to discuss the situation and passed the following resolution:

'Having heard the report of the representatives sent by the general meeting of ships crews to Petrograd to investigate the situation there, we resolve:

1. In view of the fact that the present Soviets do not express the will of the workers and peasants, immediately to hold new elections by secret ballot, with freedom to carry on agitation beforehand for all workers and peasants;

2. To give freedom of speech and press to workers and peasants, to anarchists and left socialist parties;

3. To secure freedom of assembly for trade unions and peasant organizations;

4. To call a non-party conference of the workers, Red Army soldiers and sailors of Petrograd, Kronstadt, and Petrograd province, no later than 10 March 1921;

5. To liberate all political prisoners of socialist parties, as well as all workers, peasants, soldiers and sailors imprisoned in connection with the labour and peasant movements;

6. To elect a commission to review the cases of those being held in prisons and concentration camps;

7. To abolish all political departments because no party should be given special privileges in the propagation of its ideas or receive the financial support of the state for such purposes. Instead, there should be established cultural and educational commissions, locally elected and financed by the state;

8. To remove immediately all roadblock detachments;

9. To equalise the rations of all working people, with the exception of those employed in trades detrimental to health;

10. To abolish Communist fighting detachments in all branches of the Army, as well as the Communist guards kept on duty in factories and mills. Should the guards be found necessary they are to be appointed in the Army from the ranks and in the factories and mills at the discretion of the workers;

11. To give the peasants full freedom of action in regard to the land, and also the right to keep cattle, on condition that the peasants manage with their own means, that is without employing hired labour;

12. To request all branches of the Army, as well as our comrades the military cadets (kursanty), to endorse our resolution;

13. To demand that the press give all our resolutions wide publicity;

14. To appoint an itinerant bureau of control;

15. To permit free handicrafts production by one's own labour.

Petrichenko, Chairman of the Squadron Meeting
Pererelkin, Secretary" "

[YKTMX]

Do we really need to see dread "demands" again?

They're so inconsequential it's untrue. Of course they demanded "nice" things, things that any self-respecting anarchist warrior would like. The demands were issued for the express purpose of raising support amongst the workers (which they failed to do).

But I offer my support to groups and movements based on what social forces they represent, not on the basis of their propaganda.

By this standard, the Americans are in the middle of bringing democracy to the Middle East, Hitler invaded the Sudetenland for the good of the people and three rainbows were spotted when Kim-Jong Il was born.

It's post-modern hackery of the most pointless type.

[Lamanov]

Originally posted by Leo [email protected] 26, 2006 03:53 pm
...but if you don't have access to it I will ask to the librarian in the university I am attending, and I will try to send you the text.

That would be fantastic. :banner:

[Karl Marx's Camel]

Kronstadt 1921: Bolshevism vs. Counterrevolution.

Uhm, when I pushed that one I received some 90 windows popping up... :blink:

[black magick hustla]

ytmx why are you so passionate about the kronstadt uprising, did your grandma died in it

[YKTMX]

Originally posted by [email protected] 28, 2006 09:31 pm
ytmx why are you so passionate about the kronstadt uprising, did your grandma died in it
I wish...

I don't know that I'm any more or less passionate than anyone. Lots of the anti-Bolsheviks on here are really obcessed by it so, I guess I feel it's incumbent upon me to dispute their skewed history.

Why?

[black magick hustla]

Originally posted by YKTMX+October 29, 2006 12:24 am--> (YKTMX @ October 29, 2006 12:24 am)
[email protected] 28, 2006 09:31 pm
ytmx why are you so passionate about the kronstadt uprising, did your grandma died in it
I wish...

I don't know that I'm any more or less passionate than anyone. Lots of the anti-Bolsheviks on here are really obcessed by it so, I guess I feel it's incumbent upon me to dispute their skewed history.

Why? [/b]
Well, I just think it is kinda stupid to shred each other because of some conflict that happened 80 years ago. Obviously, both parties have a different perspective of what happened. I personally do not think that because of of the krostadt leaders (only one of them) would later ally himself with whites--in order to form an anti-bolshevik alliance--is enough to dismiss the uprising as "fascist".

Regardless, it is obvious that one of the two parties is misinformed, and it doesnt means they are "class traitors".

I also find all that historical shit about "lol bolshies evil" idiotic and unscientifical.

[Lamanov]

Where can I find the alleged advance news of the revolt by the French press?

In [original] French, if possible!

[chimx]

history archives.

[Lamanov]

History archives, in France. Yeah, probaly.

But I need to know what I'm looking for. Since it's the bolsheviks who claim that there was an advance news, they should be able to tell me which journal published it. Was it Le Figaro?

Come on now!

[ern]

Hi

YKTMX, there were Left Communist in the Party at the time who opposed the suppression of the Kronstadt. The best example being Miasnikov, a real 'counter-revolutionary' who struggled against the degeneration of the revolution and party with all his power along with his comrades in the Workers' Group.
YKTMX what is your opinion of the struggle against the degeneration within the party?

[YKTMX]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16, 2006 05:14 pm
Hi

YKTMX, there were Left Communist in the Party at the time who opposed the suppression of the Kronstadt. The best example being Miasnikov, a real 'counter-revolutionary' who struggled against the degeneration of the revolution and party with all his power along with his comrades in the Workers' Group.
YKTMX what is your opinion of the struggle against the degeneration within the party?
I support the suppression of the rebellion as a neccessary defence against reaction. So, of course I disagree with anyone who opposed it.

The workers' group are interesting area of discussion, but not the one we're focusing on here.