10 key moments for the Russian Revolution (Part 1 - The military disaster)
(In this 10-part series we discuss the different situational and historic catalysts that converged to give Russians their October revolution. If you are new to this series, please read the introduction here.)
Leaders and Nations need armies. Without them nations can fall prey to external or internal threats. Without armies, leaders can fall from power, specially in nations where strong democratic principles are non-existent. In Russia, this was primarily the main reason the Bolshevik revolution prevailed. The army was defeated during WWI and morale sank to unprecedented levels.
This reality became the final piece the communists needed to secure their revolution. As "Bloody Sunday" in 1905 proved, the strong Russian army could violently repel a peaceful protest and simultaneously send a deterrent message, by 1917, the demoralized Army fell prey to the Utopian message of change coming from Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks.
Countless times, throughout the 20th century, we witnessed nations succumb to communism due to having small or no armed forces. Cuba was a perfect example in how a small rag-tag group of rebels led by Fidel Castro was eventually able to wrestle power from the Batista regime. Cuba, for many years, relied on the US for defense, and only had a small military which essentially was a security force for the leadership.
The US Armed Forces are probably the sole reason an armed insurrection by socialists will not take hold in the USA. Our security forces are the best and most prepared in the world, and their morale is high. However, the socialist movements known that the only way to gain control of the military is from the inside, and that control is required to ensure the longevity of the regime.
As recent history in Venezuela has shown, the socialists can first come to power via the popular vote, and then, as Hugo Chavez did, slowly purge the military leaving only those who support the regime.
In the end, socialists leaders will corrupt the military to ensure their loyalty knowing that the eventual popular uprisings that will occur as the economy collapses will need to be controlled.
1. The military disaster
(Original article translated from Lavanguardia.com)
In August 1914, in East Prussia, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff stopped a Russian invasion that seemed unstoppable.
The Russian generals could not explain their failure . A day before the battle ended, Alexandr Samsonov committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The Germans baptized their victory as the Battle of Tannenberg, to forget a medieval defeat before the eternal Slavic enemy.
Soon after, Hindenburg defeated Paul von Rennenkampf, the general of the Russian First Army. Rennenkampf did not commit suicide. Their defeat was not so overwhelming. In their frustrated advance towards Berlin, the Russians had lost more than three hundred thousand soldiers and officers. His sacrifice saved Paris, but his defeat prolonged the war for four more years.
The first thing the tsar lost was his army. In 1914 alone the Russians lost 1.8 million men . In 1915, the Germans launched an unstoppable offensive: they conquered Poland, Lithuania, and much of Latvia. But the German advance failed to get Russia out of the war. In the summer, Nicholas II assumed direct command of the troops and closed the Duma.
In June 1916, General Brusilov launched an offensive that put the Austro-Hungarians on the brink of collapse. But when his attack was exhausted, the brilliant general had lost 400,000 men and, above all, his faith in the Tsar: "Russia could not win the war with its present system of government."
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