A Future Adversary Was Born On This Date In 1917 - The Bolsheviks Revolt In Russia

In my readings over the years, some scholars and historians write that this event and President Wilson's reaction to it, is the real start of the Cold War. I contend that the underpinnings of the Cold War were certainly formed in these early years by President Wilson's and Prime Minister Churchill's reaction of sending troops into Russia but the Cold War certainly did not start in 1917.

I am part of the faction that follows the thought that distrust between east and west allies during World War 2 and the subsequent bad faith negotiations after the war started the Cold War. Stalin never forgot the long wait for the second front in France when negotiating with the allies as they divided up Europe. He started the distrust of the west and insecurity doctrine concerning their borders that stayed with the Soviets the entire time the USSR existed. Lenin was more of a take the world over Marxist and Stalin was a paranoid individual that felt the USSR needed space between the west and their borders. The export of Marxism was not as important to Stalin as it was to Lenin. Subsequent Soviet leaders until Gorbachev kept that security doctrine alive.

Also, this may have been the start of the Russian Revolution but it was not the start of the USSR, that entity was formed in 1922, five years later. The Bolsheviks fought a bloody civil war (1920-1922) to ultimately solidify their power over the people. The Red and White armies clashed during these years with the west assisting the White army. The USA and Britain invaded parts of Russia, supposedly to secure the arms that were given to the Russians to fight World War 1, but Lenin believed that they were there to assist the White army. For more information on that campaign Google the Polar Bear Expedition or Northern Russia Expedition.

The article leaves out if just how nasty a killer Lenin was. I read a biography of Lenin and I was amazed at just how evil this guy acted. He killed tens of thousands at the drop of a hat if he thought they opposed what he was trying to attain with his revolution. One footnote I read in the biography explained how he ordered the bombardment of a military base because they had the audacity to protest parts of his program for taking over the country. The book stated he killed an estimated 40,000 sailors during that engagement because they dared to oppose him!

His lack of sanctity for human life is only surpassed by his successive Communist leader Stalin in the USSR and Mao in China. To this day, I do not know which of those two were worse when it came to killing their own citizens. I lean towards Stalin because he killed them outright with executive orders and death warrants. Mao killed millions with his poorly managed 5-year programs of reorganizing the country. Famine caused starvation which caused the death of millions of citizens. Mao killed his people through execution also but not in the magnitude history shows Stalin to have done.

98 years ago this week, the world took one of those historical turns it has done throughout recorded history. With the news reports coming out of that part of the world recently, are we heading back to that entity, or some form of it, again with Putin's actions? That will be interesting to watch and report on.

Hmmmmm, is a Cold War 2 blog in my future?

To read the whole article, jump over to it with this LINK.

Here is a quick 4 minute video explaining the timeline of the Russian Revolution that put Lenin in power:

Thank you to history.com for allowing me to link to their article. Thank you to youtube.com and the poster OSUEcampus for allowing me to use the video.