Russia
Russian Bauxite miners occupy mine shaft
After over a week of occupation of a mine shaft, the Russian miners returned to the surface, with the promise of compromise on key wage demands and the restoration of social programmes.
The occupation began on March 26th, with the workers producing a list of 11 demands including a 50% wage increase, and the restoration of previously suspended parts of the workers welfare packages.
Rogdaev, Nikolai 1880-1932 aka Uncle Vanya
.JPG "Nikolai Rogdaev")
A short biography of Nikolai Rogdaev, trailblazer of Russian anarchism.
Born Nikolai Ignatievich Muzil in 1880 in the village of Silkino near Klin to the north of Moscow, into a family of nobility with Austrian origins.In the 1890s he became active in the revolutionary movement, joining the Riazan group of Social-Revolutionaries and also contacting a circle of Social-Democrats. In May 1900 he came to the notice of the Tsarist police.
Gorelik, Grigorii aka Anatolii, 1890-1956
A short biography of Grigorii Gorelik, Ukrainian anarchist participant in the Russian Revolution.
Grigorii Gorelik, usually known as Anatolii Gorelik, was born into a large Jewish family, the poorest in their village, on February 28th 1890. This was at Guenichesk, a little port in the Ukrainian province of Tavrivchesk. He started work at the age of 10 , working selling food.He became an anarchist in 1904, at the age of fourteen.
Yarchuk, Efim, 1882 or 1886-1937
A short biography of Efim Yarchuk, who played an important role in the rebellious town of Kronstadt.
Yarchuk, Efim Zakharovich aka Khaim Zakharev - Also rendered as Yarchook, Yartchuk, Iarchuk etc.
“a man who enjoyed exceptional influence among the sailors and workers and whose idealism and devotion are matters of historic record” - My Disillusionment in Russia. Emma Goldman
Matiushenko, Afanasy Nikolaevich 1879-1907
A biography of Afanasy Matiushenko, who was one of the key mutineers on the Battleship Potemkin, immortalised by Eisenstein's film, which helped kick-start the 1905 Revolution.
Afanasy Nikolaevich Matiushenko
Also spelled Afanasiy Matyushenko, born 1879 - Kharkov, Russia, died 20 October 1907 - Sevastopol, Russia
The Potemkin mutineer
Afanasy Matiushenko was the son of peasants from Kharkov province in the Ukraine. He was born in 1879, in the village of Dergachi. His father had to give up the unrewarding work of farming to become a shoemaker.
Communism - Story of the Communist Party - Guy A. Aldred
Aldred's summary of the development of the official communist movement and of its external radical communist critics contains a wealth of detail.
[b]Published during World War II, it illustrates how Russian political intervention in China and Europe served Russian foreign policy interests and so worked against the possibilities of proletarian revolution.
1919-1922: The Workers’ Opposition
A short history of a group within the Russian Communist Party that struggled against the increasing party bureaucracy and for trade union control over industry which, by 1922, had been forcibly disbanded by the party.
The Workers Opposition began to form in 1919, as a result of the policies of War Communism, which set a precedence for the domination of the Communist Party over local party branches and trade unions. During the civil war, the Workers Opposition began agitating against the lack of democracy in the Communist Party as a result of the centralising actions of the party’s bureaucracy.
1912: The Lena Massacre
A short history of the brutal suppression of a strike by Russian gold miners protesting low wages and inhumane working conditions in 1912.
Situated in the dense forest of south-east Siberia, the massive goldfields that lined the river Lena were, at the turn of the century, amongst the most profitable enterprises in the Russian Empire. The Lena Gold Mining Joint Stock Company (Lenzoloto), the principal owner of the majority of goldfields in the region, was running at profits of 7,000,000 roubles a year.
Counter-revolution and the Soviet Union - Gregori Maximov
Short essay by famous Russian anarchist, Gregori Maximov, on the defeat of the 1917 revolution by counter-revolution from within.
Taken from the Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library, No. 14 (March 1998), can also be found on the KSL website here.
Medvedev, Sergei Pavlovich, 1885-1937
Story of the life of Bolshevik metal worker and member of the Workers' Opposition group, Sergei Medvedev, who, like many others who criticised his party's bureaucracy, was executed by the party he spent the majority of his life serving.
Sergei Pavlovich Medvedev was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, metalworker, and trade union organizer. Born into a peasant estate, he grew up in the countryside near Moscow and in St. Petersburg. After receiving a primary school education, he began factory work at age thirteen. He first worked at the Obukhov factory in St. Petersburg and participated in the 1901 Obukhov strike.
