The Red Terror: How Lenin's Decree Became a State Policy of Mass Killing

The Red Terror: How Lenin's Decree Became a State Policy of Mass Killing

In September 1918, after an assassination attempt on Vladimir Lenin and the murder of Petrograd Cheka chief Mikhail Uritsky, the Bolshevik government issued a decree that transformed revolutionary violence into a systematic policy of mass repression. This episode explores the origins, implementation, and legacy of the Red Terror — the campaign of arrests, hostage-taking, and executions carried out by the Cheka under leaders like Felix Dzerzhinsky and Mikhail Latsis. We examine key figures such as the Socialist Revolutionary Fanny Kaplan, whose bullet nearly killed Lenin; the execution of 512 hostages in Petrograd within days; the role of class hatred in targeting 'bourgeois' and 'counter-revolutionary' elements; and the internal Bolshevik debates between Nikolai Bukharin's push for terror and Lev Kamenev's more cautious approach. We also travel to Ivanovo-Voznesensk, the site of mass shootings, and discuss how the Red Terror laid the groundwork for later Stalinist purges. This is Episode 169 of The Russian Revolution series. #RedTerror #Lenin #Cheka #FelixDzerzhinsky #FannyKaplan #MikhailUritsky #NikolaiBukharin #IvanovoVoznesensk #Petrograd #RussianRevolution #Bolsheviks #Sovnarkom #Hostages #CounterRevolution #1918 #EasternEurope #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Red Terror: How Lenin's Decree Became a State Policy of Mass Killing

In September 1918, after an assassination attempt on Lenin, the Bolsheviks issued the Decree on Red Terror, transforming revolutionary violence into systematic state policy. This episode traces the origins, implementation, and legacy of the Krasnyy Terror through its key architects and victims. We examine the role of the Cheka under Felix Dzerzhinsky, the mass executions of 'class enemies' in Petrograd and Moscow, the hostage system targeting bourgeois hostages and former tsarist officers, the use of concentration camps, and the ideological justifications articulated by Lenin and Nikolai Bukharin. We also explore the scale of repression: roughly 10,000–15,000 summary executions between September 1918 and early 1919, with hundreds of thousands more imprisoned. The episode discusses the Left SRs' opposition, the Ivanovo-Voznesensk strike wave, and how the terror paved the way for later Stalinist purges. Drawing on recent scholarship by historians like Vladimir Brovkin and Donald Rayfield, we separate myth from evidence in this deeply controversial period. #RedTerror #KrasnyyTerror #Cheka #FelixDzerzhinsky #VladimirLenin #NikolaiBukharin #DekretOKrasnomTerrore #Sovnarkom #LeftSRs #Ivanovo-Voznesensk #Petrograd #Moscow #RussianRevolution #Bolsheviks #ConcentrationCamps #Hostages #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Caucasus Front: World War I's Other Russian Revolution

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the often-overlooked Caucasus Front of World War I, where the Russian Empire clashed with the Ottoman Empire in brutal mountain warfare. They delve into the pivotal Battle of Sarikamish, where Ottoman commander Enver Pasha's ambitious offensive ended in disaster due to winter conditions. The episode covers Russian General Nikolai Yudenich's successful counteroffensive, capturing Erzurum, Kars, and Ardahan. It also discusses the Armenian volunteer units, the aftermath of the Hamidian Massacres, and the Russian withdrawal after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The conversation touches on the role of regional leaders like Mikhail Przhevalsky and Andranik Ozanian, and how this front shaped the post-war Caucasus. #CaucasusFront #WorldWarI #RussianEmpire #OttomanEmpire #EnverPasha #NikolaiYudenich #Sarikamish #Erzurum #BrestLitovsk #ArmenianVolunteers #HamidianMassacres #MikhailPrzhevalsky #AndranikOzanian #WWI #EasternFront #FexingoHistory #History #MilitaryHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Unknown Russian Revolution: The Ukrainian Anarchist Nestor Makhno

While the Bolsheviks and White Armies dominated the Russian Civil War headlines, a third force — the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, led by Nestor Makhno — fought for a stateless society of free peasants and workers. This episode explores Makhno's rise from peasant exile to guerrilla commander, his ideology of 'free soviets,' and his bloody clashes with both the Red Army under Trotsky and the Whites under Denikin. We trace his campaigns across the steppes of southern Ukraine, his alliance with the Bolsheviks (and its violent breakdown), and his final defeat by Mikhail Tukhachevsky's forces in 1921. Along the way, we meet key figures like Lev Kamenev, discuss the Makhnovshchina's experiments in self-government, and unravel the contradictions of an anarchist army fighting a two-front war. A story of utopian dreams crushed by state power, this episode reveals the revolution that could have been. #NestorMakhno #UkrainianAnarchists #Makhnovshchina #RussianCivilWar #FreeSoviets #Huliaipole #RevolutionaryInsurgentArmy #Trotsky #Denikin #Tukhachevsky #Anarchism #BattleOfPeregonovka #UkrainianSteppe #1917Revolution #SovietHistory #History #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Polish-Soviet War: Warsaw 1920 and the Miracle on the Vistula

In 1920, as the Russian Civil War raged, a new front opened between Bolshevik Russia and the newly independent Polish Republic. This episode focuses on the climactic Battle of Warsaw, often called the Miracle on the Vistula. We explore Józef Piłsudski's daring counteroffensive from the Wieprz River, the Bolshevik command's fatal overextension under Mikhail Tukhachevsky, and the role of signals intelligence — Polish cryptographers breaking Red Army ciphers. We also discuss the political stakes: Lenin's dream of exporting revolution to Germany via Poland, and the Treaty of Riga that redrew borders. Specific focus on the manoeuvre that shattered the Western Front near Radzymin and the subsequent pursuit that saved Warsaw. #PolishSovietWar #BattleOfWarsaw #MiracleOnTheVistula #JozefPilsudski #MikhailTukhachevsky #RedArmy #PolishArmy #WieprzRiver #Radzymin #SignalsIntelligence #CipherBureau #TreatyOfRiga #Lenin #ExportRevolution #August1920 #EasternEurope #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]