2. The June Offensive and the July Days Flashcards
18 June 1918
- Following 2-day military bombardment - Russia’s armies attack Austria and Germany - along 120-mile front
- Decision to launch major offensive bizarre - as Russia was weary and low-morale army
How were Russia’s armies weakened?
By desertion - 100,000 between Feb and June 1917.
Troops only told half the story - told by commanders that offensive was needed to forestall planned German-Austrian attack.
November 1916 - allies’ agreement - implications for Russia
- Britain, France and Russia agree to launch co-ordinated attack on Central Powers in mid-1917
- Members of PG reluctant to break agreement.
PG’s revolutionary defencism - saw offensive as way of getting Europe-wide peace negotiations on track.
Major victory would give PG leverage - Britain and France would be unable to ignore wishes of Russia - and Germany forced on to defensive would be ready for peace talks.
Kerensky as War Minister
- Visions of leading Russia to victory - covering himself w/ glory - before offensive, rushed around battlefront to whip up enthusiasm
Indiscipline of army since Feb Revolution
- Russia’s army chiefs dismayed
- Soldiers’ committees established w/ blessing of PG challenging authority officers
- Generals saw successful offensive as means of restoring discipline and morale
How successful was the June Offensive? Implications of this?
It was a disaster:
- Initial Russian gains followed by German counter-attack - armies broke and ran, looting as they went
- Within a week - German forces advanced 150 miles deeper into Russian territory
Revolutionary plans in tatters + undermined credibility of PG - increased attractions of Bolsheviks (immediate peace and transfer of power to Soviets)
The First Machine Gun Regiment
- One of the largest units in Petrograd garrison
- 10,000 men
- 1,000 machine guns
- Stationed in Petrograd’s Vyborg factory district
20 June 1917
- First Machine Gun Regiment - received orders to send 5000 of its guns, along w/ operators, to battlefront to support Offensive
- Soldiers refused - claiming they had right to remain in capital to defend the revolution
Appealed to other units of garrison + Vyborg’s radical factory workers for support
Bolsheviks - intent on exploiting Machine Gun Regiment
- Mid-level Bolshevik activists, not party’s top leaders, became involved w/ the Machine Gun Regiment’s mutiny - in their own interests
Wanted to persuade soldiers + civilian supporters that the moment had come to overthrow PG
3 July 1918
- Soldiers + workers - took to streets calling for transfer of power
- Returned next day - reinforced by arrival of 20,000 soldiers from Kronstadt (island naval base 20 miles outside Petrograd)
Kronstadt sailors
- Disciplined, militant and fearsome - treated badly by superiors before 1917
- Took revenge during Feb Rev - murdered their base commander, establishing the Kronstadt Soviet to govern the island
Why didn’t Bolshevik insurrection take place in July 1917?
- Lenin hesitated - didn’t urge them on - appealed for calm - seems to have believed that, if Bolsheviks seized power, they would be unable to hold on to it
Crowds dispersed, as there was no leadership and direction
How did the PG hit back at the Bolsheviks after the July Days?
- Loyal troops rushed to capital by Kerensky - had been outside Petrograd on govt business
- Documents purporting to prove Lenin was a Germany spy - passed to newspapers
- Series of repressive measures introduced
Why repressive measures did the PG introduce after the July Days?
- Warrants issued for arrest of Lenin + other Bolshevik leaders - Lenin fled to Finland
- 800 prominent Bolsheviks arrested and imprisoned
- Red Guards - armed pro-Bolshevik factory workers - had weapons taken away
- Army units that took party in July disturbances disbanded
Impact of the July Days on the Bolsheviks?
- Calamity for them - organisation broken and leaders either in prison or hiding
- Appeared to have missed out on an opportunity to seize power
