War Communism: The Soviet Policy That Starved a Nation

The Bolsheviks' War on the Orthodox Church

In episode 127 of The Russian Revolution, Lucas and Luna explore the Bolsheviks' systematic campaign against the Russian Orthodox Church. From the nationalization of church lands and the closure of monasteries to the execution of clergy and the desecration of relics, they trace how Lenin and his commissars sought to destroy an institution that had been intertwined with the state for centuries. Key figures include Patriarch Tikhon, who was placed under house arrest; the Cheka's targeting of priests; and the 1918 execution of Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev. The episode also covers the 'Renovationist' schism, a government-sponsored movement aiming to create a loyalist church. Listeners will learn about the Decree on the Separation of Church and State, the 1922 campaign to confiscate church valuables, and the violent 'Shuya incident' that sparked mass protests. The conversation ends with a reflection on how this persecution shaped Soviet religious policy for decades. #RussianRevolution #Bolsheviks #RussianOrthodoxChurch #PatriarchTikhon #Cheka #RenovationistSchism #DecreeOnSeparation #ShuyaIncident #MetropolitanVladimir #AtheistCampaign #SovietHistory #1918 #EasternEurope #Lenin #Trotsky #History #FexingoHistory #ReligionUnderCommunism Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Czechoslovak Legion: An Army Crosses Siberia

In the chaos of the Russian Civil War, a force of 40,000 former prisoners of war fought their way across Siberia to reach Vladivostok. The Czechoslovak Legion, formed from Czech and Slovak volunteers, became the unlikely masters of the Trans-Siberian Railway, capturing the Bolsheviks' gold reserve in Kazan and clashing with Red partisans in the taiga. This episode follows the Legion's epic journey from the Battle of Zborov to the 'Anabasis' eastward, their alliance with Admiral Kolchak, and the final evacuation from Vladivostok in 1920. We explore figures like Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Radola Gajda, and the controversial betrayal at the Ipatiev House. A story of nationalism, survival, and the birth of a new state. #CzechoslovakLegion #RussianCivilWar #TransSiberianRailway #MilanRastislavŠtefánik #RadolaGajda #BattleOfZborov #Vladivostok #KazanGold #Anabasis #WhiteMovement #AdmiralKolchak #IpatievHouse #SiberianIntervention #Czechoslovakia #History #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope #Revolution Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Volga Flotilla: River War That Shook the Revolution

In 1918, as the Russian Civil War raged, a forgotten fleet fought for control of the Volga River. This episode follows the rise and fall of the Volga Military Flotilla — a ragtag assembly of armed steamships crewed by Bolshevik sailors, commanded by the flamboyant Fyodor Raskolnikov. We explore the pivotal Battle of Kazan (September 1918), where the flotilla's riverine assault recaptured the city from the White Czech Legion and Komuch forces, securing the Volga route for Soviet supplies. Along the way, we meet Larisa Reisner, a poet and intelligence officer who became the flotilla's commissar, and uncover the ill-fated Perm operation that ended in disaster. The episode examines how control of Russia's great river arteries — often overlooked in land-based narratives — was decisive in the early civil war, and how the flotilla's tactics foreshadowed modern amphibious warfare. Specific terms include: Volga Military Flotilla (Volzhskaya Voennaya Flotiliya), Fyodor Raskolnikov, Larisa Reisner, Komuch, Battle of Kazan, White Czech Legion, and the Kama River. #RussianRevolution #VolgaFlotilla #FyodorRaskolnikov #LarisaReisner #BattleOfKazan #Komuch #WhiteCzechLegion #CivilWar #RiverWarfare #BolshevikNavy #KamaRiver #RussianHistory #1918 #Soviet #History #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope #RevolutionaryWar Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Siberian Exile of the Romanovs: Tobolsk to Ekaterinburg

After Nicholas II abdicated in March 1917, the former tsar and his family were not immediately executed. Instead, they were sent into internal exile, first to the remote Siberian town of Tobolsk and later to Ekaterinburg. This episode follows the Romanovs' journey east, their daily life under house arrest, the growing hostility of the Bolshevik regime, and the political calculations that led to their execution in July 1918. We explore the role of local soviets, the shifting attitudes of the guards, and the controversial question of whether Lenin personally ordered the killings. Drawing on memoirs, diplomatic cables, and Soviet-era documents, we reconstruct the final months of Russia's imperial family. #RomanovExile #Tobolsk #Ekaterinburg #IpatievHouse #NicholasII #TsarinaAlexandra #TsarevichAlexei #GrandDuchesses #Lenin #Sverdlov #WhiteArmy #CzechoslovakLegion #YakovYurovsky #RussianRevolution #Siberia #HouseArrest #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Cheka's First Prison Camp: Solovki and the Gulag's Birth

Long before the vast Gulag archipelago, the Bolsheviks' new secret police—the Cheka—needed a place to hold their growing number of prisoners. They found it on the remote Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea, where a 15th-century Orthodox monastery became the first Soviet concentration camp. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how the Solovki camp (Slon) was established in 1923 under Cheka chief Felix Dzerzhinsky, the daily life of prisoners including bishops, scholars, and former tsarist officers, and how this isolated experiment in 're-education through labor' laid the brutal groundwork for Stalin's later Gulag system. They discuss the camp's notorious 'barracks of the damned,' the forced labor harvesting timber and cutting granite, the psychological pressure of 'commune' life, and the strange cultural output—including a camp museum and theater—that prisoners produced. The episode also touches on early international reports that filtered out despite Soviet censorship, and the tragic irony that a place founded as a spiritual refuge became a prototype for political repression. #Solovki #Cheka #Gulag #FelixDzerzhinsky #SolovetskyIslands #WhiteSea #Slon #SovietPrisons #PoliticalRepression #RussianRevolution #ConcentrationCamp #OrthodoxMonastery #1923 #ForcedLabor #NKVD #Stalin #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]