as well as the rapid radicalization of politics, the Provisional Government could not last.
Lenin, who had returned from European exile in April 1917, masterfully helped to engineer the great Russian Revolution of November 1917. The Russian Revolution has drawn vast attention. In recent years, leading historians such as Richard Pipes, Orlando Figes, and Rex Wade have written major studies on the Revolution and its effects. Points of interpretation aside, the inescapable conclusion remained there for the world to see. Russia became the first communist nation with all that would entail.
This did not come easily. Russia underwent a devastating Civil War (1918– 1920) aggravating the destruction and dislocation of World War I. Lenin, ably aided especially by Trotsky, quickly moved to consolidate power in this period, frequently referred to as “war communism.” The nature of the Soviet system was clearly marked and imposed. The very first months of the new reign saw the formation of the Cheka, the implementation of the “Red Terror,” the creation of ravaging “food battalions,” and the removal of individual rights as well as those of freedom of the press. In 1919, the first decree creating concentration camps was issued. The capacity of the world to fully comprehend the extremes of the new dictatorial model is still open to debate.
Lenin, the pragmatist, was never to be underestimated. With the nation reeling from the effects of World War I, the Civil War, and government decrees (Trotsky had openly stated that Russia was in a state of collapse unprecedented in history), Lenin proclaimed the New Economic Policy (NEP) in the spring of 1921. This substantially lowered economic restrictions and allowed the nation to recover rapidly. Though seen as a retreat from communist ideology, NEP proved to be necessary in saving the country.
This period, 1921–1927, also set the stage for the creation of the Soviet State. It was the political and organizational incubation for Stalin who used the years craftily to create his personal power base. This was accomplished through his detailed work in building the party structure and the attendant levels of personal loyalty. Painstaking and laborious, this was an organizational effort which more flamboyant leaders did not have the comprehension or tenacity to undertake. When Lenin died in 1924, with technically no formal heir, Stalin’s political base, coupled with an ability for intrigue, proved a major determinant in his successful drive for supreme authority.
Nickolas Lupinin
Georgii Altaev, How I Became a Cub Scout
This short piece tells a boy’s story of the early years of the Russian Scouts organization. The creation of Russian scouting belongs to Oleg Pantiukhov who formed the first group in Tsarskoe Selo in 1909. Other units were soon organized in the larger cities. From them, the movement spread to smaller towns and outlying regions. A primary motive of scouting was patriotism. This was reflected in the motto of the scouts: “Be prepared—for Russia.” With the vast Russian diaspora following the Revolution, organizations of scouts established themselves in practically every country which Russians inhabited. Taken from Georgii Altaev, “Kak ia stal volchonkom” [How I Became a Cub Scout] in
The year 1917 brought many new things to us, the boys of Gomel. The revolution took place in February. Suddenly everything was permitted: freedom. “Free-ee-dam.” But in March, after a short exchange of rifle fire, Gomel was taken by German troops. The garrison was small and the Germans hardly interfered in the routine of the town.
The life of the civilian population went on as usual, but it was a totally different kind of life. Everything had gone off the tracks. Even we, children, felt this. Almost every one of our fathers and elder brothers was gone. Some were slain in the war, others were wasting away as prisoners, and those still in the army were cut off from us by the war security zone. Values and customs were quickly crumbling everywhere. Even we, first-year
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“freedom.” The teachers became far less demanding and even the inspector, a terror to the underclassmen, went soft and the golden buttons on his uniform lost their luster. With the coming of spring we would simply walk out of the afternoon classes and avoid going to [mandatory] church services altogether. It was such fun to use this freedom and slip away to the river Sozh, skip stones on the water and clamber up hawsers into empty barges.
The street began to rule our lives, and with the street, gang leaders appeared, rough boys with a devil-may- care attitude. They were ready for trouble anywhere and at any time. They would break windows in houses, especially if no one lived there; injure dogs with a well-aimed stone; tie a can to a cat’s tail and chase the terrified animal with shrieks and yelps. When adults appealed to our conscience we had one answer for them: “It’s our freedom, too.” Gradually all adults, except for immediate family, became our adversaries and even enemies.
I was eight years old. I came, as it was said back then, from a good family. My father, who worked in private business, was drafted into the army and wounded in the shoulder. At his request he was placed in a military hospital near Gomel for recuperation. My mother had to take care of me and my two brothers, aged two and four. I was bored with their company and constantly listened for the summoning whistle of our chief, Stepka K. [diminutive of Stepan/Stephen]. He was a twelve-year-old hoodlum who had subjugated the wills and aspirations of all the kids on our street. Stepka was covered in scrapes and bloody bruises. He had a freckled face, pug nose, and steely gray eyes. With him at our head we fearlessly attacked gangs from neighboring streets. Stepka’s father and older brother were killed in the war and his mother was struck down by paralysis. Perhaps this was why in Stepka’s speech, movements, and habits there was a constant challenge, a desire for revenge, to force his pain on others. He stopped going to school, paid scant attention to his mother, who lived on a minuscule pension, and spent all his days in the street where he was the true boss. I knew that it was wrong to be in Stepka’s gang, but there was such compelling power in his stare and in his body, that none of us had any control over ourselves. I would tell mother that I was going to my school chum’s to do homework, but then, once with Stepka, I’d always be on the lookout for her.
Stepka was always thinking up new capers, but they did not always work out and some of the boys felt burdened by his doings. One fine day toward evening at the end of May 1917 Petka T., who had lived on our street, ran up to us shouting with excitement that young men were being rounded up on the town square and that they were to be sent to the front. Petka’s excitement was so evident and the news so staggering that we all sprinted for the town square which was on the high right bank of the Sozh. It was true. On the green quad-
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rangle of the town square boys were lined up in a U-shaped formation. They were in strange outfits, greenish shirts and pants only down to the knees, black socks and boots. They wore broad-brimmed hats with the left brim
