This article was downloaded by: [University of Guelph]On: 05 August 2012, At: 23:21Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Revolutionary RussiaPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/frvr20

Competing Voices from the RussianRevolutionMatthew Rendle aa University of Exeter

Version of record first published: 18 Jun 2012

To cite this article: Matthew Rendle (2012): Competing Voices from the Russian Revolution,Revolutionary Russia, 25:1, 102-104

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546545.2012.671459

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representationthat the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of anyinstructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primarysources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings,demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

The interlocking strands of anecdote, narrative, interpretation and historiographicaldebate generally work quite well, even if, in places, it appears that Dowler undermineshis thesis by the evidence he marshals. My main disappointment, however, concerns theexpectations raised by the title of the book itself. While Dowler’s portrait of an emer-gent civil society whose further development was thwarted by war and revolution is notnew, the promise of a book covering a single year in the life of the Russian Empire couldmake for an original study and certainly a rewarding read. The year 1913 was witness toa number of key events, the significance of which might have provided Dowler with aframework to explore aspects of Russian politics and culture in a more original way. Thedominant news story, which Dowler recounts in the introduction, is the celebration ofthe three hundredth anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. But there are many others,each of which potentially affords insights into the different facets of Dowler’s leadingargument. For example, the Beilis affair could be a starting point for addressing ques-tions of socio-cultural prejudice and the problems of instituting rigorous legal practices.And there are other episodes that arguably deserve more than the anecdotal treatmentthey are given: the first celebration of International Women’s Day; the test flight of the‘Russian Warrior,’ the first multiengine aircraft (with, we are told, 15 members of theDuma onboard); the construction of the Tercentenary Church in St Petersburg; theopening of the modernist Target exhibition. Regrettably, Dowler ignores their potentialas cues for exploring political, social, economic or cultural change and continuity in alonger time frame, and, regrettably again, underplays their function as windows ontothe turbulent world of Russia in 1913 that he wished to immerse himself in.

Frances NethercottUniversity of St. Andrews

Email: fn4@st-andrews.ac.uk# 2012, Frances Nethercott

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546545.2012.671458

Michael C. Hickey, Competing Voices from the Russian Revolution.Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2010. Pp. 576; chronology; map;biographical glossary; notes; bibliography; index. £57.00 (hardback).ISBN 978-0-31338-523-0

When reading the multitude of speeches, appeals, petitions and newspapers thataccompanied the Russian Revolution, what is most noticeable is their diversity.Every imaginable group expressed views that filled every conceivable part of the pol-itical spectrum. It is this cacophony of voices that is the focus of Michael Hickey’sexcellent collection of sources. Rather than providing readers, yet again, withcopies of decrees or policies, Hickey concentrates on conveying the vast range ofopinions and ambitions that drove the revolutionary process. Over the course of226 documents, most of which are translated into English for the first time, thereader not only obtains a sense of the rigorous (and often vicious) debates that charac-terised the congresses of well-known political parties, such as the Bolsheviks orKadets, but also of the views of often ignored but important groups such as theanarchists. As well as appeals from workers, soldiers and peasants, one also gains a

102 R E V O L U T I O N A R Y R U S S I A

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

uelp

h] a

t 23:

21 0

5 A

ugus

t 201

2

sense of what industrialists, civil servants, landowners and others felt. Thus, Hickey isnot concerned with the events of the revolution per se, but with the discourse thatsurrounded these events, those participating in it, and how this influenced the direc-tion of events.

The volume is divided into four sections: the First World War; February to July1917; July to October 1917; and the first four months of Soviet rule to the dissolutionof the Constituent Assembly in January 1918. Each section starts with a concise and judi-cious discussion of the key events and developments alongside an outline of the changingnature of the historical debate. More references to the expanding literature on the FirstWorld War would not have gone amiss, but references elsewhere generally directreaders to the most obvious secondary literature. Hickey is particularly concerned tohighlight areas simplified or ignored in popular textbooks, thereby providing avaluable corrective for students. Within the first and the last section there are twochapters, whilst the two sections covering 1917 each have five chapters. Each chapteris thematic, either focusing on particular social groups or examining the debates sur-rounding ‘flashpoints’ such as the April Crisis, the Kornilov Affair or the ConstituentAssembly.

The documents in each chapter present public not private voices; thus newspaperarticles, appeals, minutes, resolutions and cartoons, for example, not memoirs ordiaries. Apart from newspapers, most have been published before in various Russian-language collections, but there are a few archival documents from Hickey’s ongoingresearch into Smolensk province. Mostly Hickey deliberately eschews well-known docu-ments that are easily available elsewhere. There are a few exceptions – the April Thesesor Kornilov’s appeal – but even here Hickey adds to existing collections by publishingfuller versions. The April Theses, for instance, have their interesting introduction,which is usually omitted. There are also fuller versions of other famous speeches.The industrialist, P. P. Riabushinskii, gave an infamous speech in early August referringto the ‘bony hand of hunger’ bringing soviets and committees to their senses. Thisspeech is usually cited as an example of belligerent conservatism, but when read infull is a more nuanced expression of industrialists’ concerns. Similarly, Trotskii’sspeech at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets during the October Revolution,of which his famous dismissal of the Mensheviks into ‘the dustbin of history’ isusually the only part cited, is a more informative account in its entirety of the verbaldebates of these tumultuous days.

Indeed, much of the value of this collection lies in the different types of documentsthat it makes available in English for the first time. Numerous examples could be usedbut five will have to suffice. First, the minutes from a meeting of Smolensk provincialcouncil in May 1917 convey a sense of local events and concerns. The debate overwhether local officials should be appointed or elected, for instance, went to the heartof the relationship between ordinary Russians and the Provisional Government, high-lighting different visions of revolution. Second, Smolensk militia’s crime statistics for1916 and 1917 from the archives provide a vivid, if incomplete, picture of the decliningimpact of law and order. Third, the debates of the executive committee of Saratov sovietduring the Kornilov Revolt in late August are a fascinating account of the dilemmasfacing local socialists as they struggled to react to fast-moving and poorly understoodevents. Fourth, the electoral campaigns for local organs of government and the Con-stituent Assembly reveal the extent of political polarisation and the political choices

BOOK REVIEWS 103

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

uelp

h] a

t 23:

21 0

5 A

ugus

t 201

2

available to ordinary Russians. Finally, the radical stance taken by some Bolsheviksimmediately after the February Revolution, together with the extensive minutes ofthe arguments in a meeting of the central committee of the party in mid-October,should help students banish any remaining belief in a monolithic party or one followingLenin’s lead unquestioningly.

As is the case with any such collection, choices have to be made on the part of theauthor and these choices will result inevitably in coverage of some areas and groupsbeing better than others. This reader welcomes Hickey’s recognition of the views androle of conservative groups, but inevitably feels that a bit more coverage would haveemphasised growing opposition to the regime prior to 1917 and increasing politicalpolarisation afterwards. Readers with different research interests may wish that moredocuments from ordinary Russians were included or for better coverage of the factionaldisputes among moderate socialists. The sources are also better at conveying the range ofviews across groups than charting how views within groups changed over time. It is alsotrue that Smolensk serves as an example of provincial Russia frequently without a dis-cussion of the ways in which Smolensk was (or was not) representative of provincialRussia. Yet Hickey’s research on Smolensk has allowed unusual and invaluable sourcesto be utilised, whilst he makes clear that this volume is intended to be read intandem with existing source collections. Thus, official decrees can be obtained else-where, whilst Mark Steinberg’s collection (Voices of Revolution, 1917, Yale UniversityPress, 2001) provides numerous examples of the changing views of ordinary people.In short, Michael Hickey’s new book is the most substantial attempt thus far toconvey the rich range of views that existed during Russia’s turbulent revolutionaryperiod. It should be an essential part of any student module on the subject and manyof the sources will force specialists to rethink their views on particular groups andepisodes.

Matthew RendleUniversity of Exeter

Email: M.Rendle@exeter.ac.uk# 2012, Matthew Rendle

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546545.2012.671459

Scott B. Smith, Captives of Revolution: The Socialist Revolutionaries and theBolshevik Dictatorship, 1918–23. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press,2011. Pp. xix 1 380; illustrations; notes; index. £39.95 (hardback). ISBN987-0-82294-403-4

More than a decade ago, this reviewer sat in the State Archives of the Russian Federation(GARF) surrounded by the documentary record of the Committee of the ConstituentAssembly (Komuch), able, in the time available to him, only to race through thosefiles relating to the Komuch ‘cabinet’ and putting to one side the detailed records ofthe individual Komuch ‘ministries.’ Now, at last, Scott Smith has had a chance to dojustice to those files, for the fate of Komuch is one of the key issues discussed in thisauthoritative account of the Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) after October. Parts ofthe story have been told before, even if only in outline, but this is the first

104 R E V O L U T I O N A R Y R U S S I A

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f G

uelp

h] a

t 23:

21 0

5 A

ugus

t 201

2