The existing government of landlords and capitalists must be replaced by a new government, a government of workers and peasants.

The existing pseudo-government, which was not elected by the people, and which is not accountable to the people,

must be replaced by a government recognized by the people,

elected by representatives of the workers, soldiers, and peasants,

and held accountable to their representatives.

Joseph Stalin Editorial published in Pravda, October 1917.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Thank you. The

The Episode 148. Peace, land, and bread.

When we left off at the end of last week's episode, the Cornelof affair was over.

Cornelov was relieved of his position as commander-in-chief of the Russian army and placed under

arrest, along with a few dozen other officers. Even from our perspective a hundred years later,

it's hard to say what actually happened during the Cornelof affair.

Was it some sort of right-wing reaction meant to strengthen the army and weaken the

socialists? Was it Kerenzky trying to strengthen his own position by weakening the right

wing? If it was either of those things, it backfired because both the army and the provisional government

came out of this affair in weaker positions than they had when they went into it.

The only faction coming out of this mess looking better is the Bolsheviks.

We'll come back to them.

Was this whole episode a comedy of errors caused by a misunderstanding?

Or had Vladimir Lavov deliberately created a misunderstanding for his own unfathomable reasons?

Either or both are possible.

...