This book explores the role played by families in the Russian revolutionary movement and the first decades of the Soviet regime. While revolutionaries were expected to sever all family ties or at the very least put political concerns before personal ones, in practice this was rarely achieved. In the underground, revolutionaries of all stripes, from populists to social-democrats, relied on siblings, spouses, children and parents to help them conduct party tasks, with the appearance of domesticity regularly thwarting police interference. Family networks were also vital when the worst happened and revolutionaries were imprisoned or exiled. After the revolution, these family networks continued to function in the building of the new Soviet regime and amongst the socialist opponents who tried to resist the Bolsheviks. As the Party persecuted its socialist enemies and eventually turned on threats perceived within its ranks, it deliberately included the spouses and relatives of its opponents in an attempt to destroy family networks for good.

Family Networks and the Russian Revolutionary Movement, 1870–1940

History

Turton, Katy

Europe

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

Set against the Russian Revolution of 1905, a prelude to that of 1917, this novel explores the complexity of relationships and motivations that lead to acts of rebellion. 
Tsarist Russia, 1904: a time of war, shortages, and popular unrest. Anna enrols at university and is befriended by twins, Rosa and Boris, who draw her into the revolutionary movement. As Anna finds new purpose to her life and falls in love, the violent struggle against the Tsar escalates. On 9 January 1905, a workers' protest is massacred by Tsarist soldiers, with tragic results for the three friends. Now Anna must continue the revolutionary struggle, knowing that to do so will mean sacrificing everything she holds dear. 
The novel reflects the reality of the Russian and other revolutions where women played a full part. 
"The real terrorist women of Russia were, above all, individuals who were motivated by a deep sense of the political and economic injustice of the Tsarist autocracy. They were driven to commit acts of terror by the lack of legitimate routes for political campaigning and by the violence perpetrated by the regime itself against those who tried to protest. Some were rich and some were poor. Most were educated. Some were wives; a few were mothers. What defined them, however, was their common cause with their male colleagues and their shared use of terrorism to further their political aims. Each made a rational choice to commit her act of violence." 
Katy Turton

Blackbird's Song: A story of the Russian Revolution

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Stairwell Books

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