Russian Revolution: was The Krondstat Naval Uprising A Spontaneous Ac :: essays research papers

History Revolutions - The Kronstadt Naval Uprising Word Count: 1997 On March 1, 1921, the sailors of the Kronstadt naval fortress rose up in an armed rebellion against Russia's totalitarian leadership, claiming that Bolshevik control of Russia had failed to achieve its promise of working class liberation, delivering only a 'new serfdom' and 'even greater enslavement of human beings'. The Kronstadt sailors, who had previously been regarded by Trotsky himself as the 'pride and glory' of the revolution, now held themselves in direct dissention with the state's communist rule. The rebels quickly adopted a self-drafted fifteen-point plan of political and social reforms that they vowed to fight by, aspiring to achieve a third and new 'toilers revolution'. At the time of the revolt, members of the Russian populace who sympathized with the Kronstadt sailors viewed them as revolutionaries 'fighting to restore the true soviet idea'. However, the Bolshevik government took the belief that the uprising was the result of a premeditated conspiracy on behalf of counter-revolutionary 'whiteguard agents,' and undertook extreme measures to propagate this view amongst the public. This was an issue that would later become a point of much contention between historians holding different theories over the causes of the event. This study shall seek to justify the view that the Kronstadt uprising was one of spontaneous revolt, brought on by discontent with the conditions experienced under the Bolshevik regime, and not the result of a precontrived outside 'White' influence. During the years preceding the Kronstadt rebellion, Russia was locked within a brutal period of civil war between the Bolshevik's 'red' army and the opposing scattered 'white' imperialist forces fighting for reinstatement of the old Tsarist rule. The war's great expense as a consequence of its need for resources was dealing a crushing blow to the already crippled Russian economy, and its constant skirmishes caused the disruption of transport around the nation. This, amongst other factors, prevented foodstuffs grown in rural areas from reaching the cities, causing widespread famine and mass exoduses from these areas. Petrograd, where the Kronstadt naval base was situated, suffered greatly during this period. Its remoteness from producing areas contributed to a dire food shortage and the departure over half its population, its numbers dropping from 2.5 million to just 750 000 between the years of 1917-20 due to workers emigrating to the countryside in search of food. One Soviet source likens the conditions of this time to 'fertile soil†¦for the intrigues of the counter-revolution'.