Defenders of the Motherland The Tsarist Elite in Revolutionary Russia

by Rendle, Matthew

• ISBN13: 9780199236251
• ISBN10: 0199236259
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-01-18
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Defenders of the Motherlandstudies how the most powerful social groups in tsarist Russia reacted to the challenges posed by the Russian Revolutions of 1917. Arguing that elite groups-especially nobles, landowners, and officers-played an important role in these events, Matthew Rendle shows how the alienation of tsarist elites from the tsar during the First World War and their support for the new Provisional Government in February 1917 secured the initial success of the revolution. Elites engaged actively with revolutionary politics, serving in the government and forming unions to promote their interests and gather wider support. In doing so, they fostered fears of counter-revolution amongst the lower social classes, radicalizing the popular mood and paving the way for the Bolsheviks. Although increasingly disillusioned with events, elites were not solely counter-revolutionary and were far from united. A poorly-supported military revolt in August 1917 demonstrated different aspirations for the future, whilst as many served the Bolshevik regime after October 1917 as opposed it. The divisions that had existed prior to 1917, exacerbated by the revolution, consequently undermined the White armies' opposition to Bolshevism during Russia's civil war. Nevertheless, the Bolsheviks' fear of "class enemies" was endemic, and their obsession with removing the threat that former elites posed laid the foundations of the violent and repressive Soviet regime

Author Biography

Matthew Rendle is Lecturer in Eastern European History, Aberystwyth University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
Notes on the Text	p. ix
Maps	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
The First World War	p. 12
The Impact of 1905	p. 12
The Impact of the War	p. 18
On the Eve of Revolution	p. 26
The February Revolution	p. 33
The Emergence of Revolution	p. 33
Officers as 'Revolutionaries'	p. 38
Wider Reactions	p. 46
Nobles	p. 53
The Provisional Government	p. 53
Local Government	p. 61
War to the Palaces!	p. 67
The Union of Homeowners	p. 74
The Society of Nobles	p. 80
Landowners	p. 84
Agrarian Policies	p. 85
Reforming the Union of Landowners	p. 90
Forging a Landed 'Movement'	p. 95
The Union and the Government	p. 102
Growing Social Conflict	p. 110
Officers	p. 115
The Union of Republican Officers	p. 117
The Soviet of Officers' Deputies	p. 120
The Baltic Fleet	p. 124
The May Congresses	p. 127
The Union of Officers	p. 137
The Military League	p. 144
The Union of George Cavaliers	p. 147
Unity and Conflict	p. 152
Counter-Revolution	p. 157
The 'Conservative Movement'	p. 158
Strong Government Versus Dictatorship	p. 165
The August Meetings	p. 173
The Kornilov Revolt	p. 180
Post-Kornilov: The Officers	p. 186
Post-Kornilov: The Landowners	p. 190
On the Eve of October	p. 195
The October Revolution	p. 199
Bolshevism in Practice	p. 201
Nobles	p. 208
Landowners	p. 215
Officers	p. 221
The Emergence of Civil War	p. 228
Conclusion	p. 230
Bibliography	p. 243
Index	p. 267
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