The Kronstadt rebellion was an armed conflict between the bolsheviks and sailors and ukrainian farmers on the island of Kronstadt. The conflict began as a series of peaceful protests opposing bolshevik, communist, rule. The soviets took control of the farming industry resulting in mass famines. Farmer rebellions occurred throughout Russia but were put down by the bolshevik military. Due to instability and famines farmers, including ukrainian farmers dispersed and a significant amount settled in the island of Kronstadt. Similar to the Bolshevik revolution that ushered in the communist party, the people living in the Kronstadt strip waged their protest turned failed revolution on the ideology of workers rights. Under the communist revolution the right for people to organize has been dissolved because separate organized factions with different goals will undermine the whole communist political structure. The Bolshevik revolution boosted the Russian government and in doing so dissolved any potential threats, including unionization to the government.
On March 1st, 1921 15,000 people living in Kronstadt gathered to peacefully oppose Soviet control. The next day Soviets agreed to meet with Kronstadt representatives when it was reported that rebels were armed and planning to execute delegates. This narrative is most likely false as the Kronstadt sailors were intending to work diplomatically by meeting with the bolsheviks. Despite the unreliability of Moscow’s claim the Soviets employed the military to kill anyone who openly defied or was accused of defying the government. Kronstadt civilians took up arms to defend themselves and their home, but the Soviets ended up taking the territory.
The Kronsdadt revolution gained attention in America and showed up in US newspapers. US papers reported on the island because of the tension between the US and Russia. The United States is a capitalist country anxiously watching a communist revolution in hopes that the forces in Kronstadt can overpower the Bolshevik revolution, “Considerable fighting is said to have taken place in Kronstadt.” The Herald makes an assumption that the Bolsheviks lost in Kronstadt because the United States does not support the communist revolt. While the US does not support the Bolsheviks the Bolsheviks successfully gained control of Kronstadt. Another US newspaper, The Sun, published an article examining how and why the Kronstadt rebellion occurred, and why the rebellion failed. The cause of rebellion was attributed to man made famines meant to suppress the freedom of people living in Kronstadt, “…when Trotsky at the end of February cut food supplies (in Kronstadt) to a minimum.” The failure of the rebellion was attributed to the unorganized structure of the rebels, and in particular the ineffectiveness of Kronsdadt’s naval force, “In Kronstadt the sailors lived in officer’s private villas and idled in officers’ clubs, avoiding all drills and enjoying a paradise as long as they were supplied with food and clothing from Petrograd.” The newspaper goes on explaining that Kronsdadt’s weak navy forced rebels to fight the Soviets, Bolsheviks, on the ground where the rebels were outnumbered and out gunned.
Within the context of the 1920s and looking into the 1930s the Kronstadt revolution reveals the turmoil within Russia and the unification of the country under a dictatorship. The Soviet’s successful control over the Russian government and nationalization of resources allowed the Soviet government to rebuild the country’s arsenal and economy. Come the end of the decade and the start of World War II the events in Kronstadt revealed that the Soviet government was organized and brutal. Stalin’s takeover of the country’s agriculture caused mass famines across the Union and in particular Ukraine farmers were once again faced with death because of Soviet rule. The battle of Stalingrad in addition to Stalin’s purges highlighted the Brutality of the Soviet regimes and the worthlessness of Soviet lives.
Current day issues between Russia and Ukraine, and Russia and the world stem from the 1920s and the Kronstadt rebellion reveals this. After the Soviets took control of the country the rights of Ukrainian farmers were slashed and the country was made part of the Soviet union. The Russians have access to key oil reserves, and when the Soviets nationalized the Oil industry the government can control oil prices for foreign and domestic exports. In the current year, 2023, the Russian government is attempting similar tactics to the Soviets of taking over and dominating Ukraine which is the reason for the current war. The spike in oil prices is a result of the Soviets nationalizing and seizing key oil reserves allowing the Kremlin to control the market.
Sources Consulted:
Daniels, Robert V. “The Kronstadt Revolt of 1921: A Study in the Dynamics of Revolution.” American Slavic and East European Review 10, no. 4 (1951): 241–54. https://doi.org/10.2307/2492031.
Mutinous Sailors From Kronstadt Engage Bolsheviki in Petrograd Successfully, The Evening Herald. February 09, 1921. https://www.newspapers.com/image/754974863/?terms=Kronsdadt&match=1
Anti Bolshevik Revolution Now Spreads Rapidly, The Evening Herald, March 05, 1921.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/754975195/?terms=Kronsdadt&match=1
Lazy Sailors Cause Revolt, The State, March 27, 1921.
newspapers.com/image/748252803/?terms=Kronstadt Match=1
Lenine Red. The Richmond Palladium and Sun Telegram, January 22, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/246725595/?terms=Kronsdadt&match=1
Ramapo College senior majoring in history. My concentration is in the 1920s machine politics in major cities. In particular the unsustainability of the machine politic model.
