Apprendisti Storici

Aleksandr Fëdorovič Kerenskij:

Born in Russia in 1881, Kerenskij was a politician interested in moderate socialism.  Lawyer by profession, in 1905, after the massacre of the "Sunday of blood", he broke definitively with the autocratic regime and was involved in revolutionary activities that led to his arrest. His stay in prison increased his populist and nationalist ideas. Once released, he focused on opposition to the tsar's regime, managing to gain more and more fame among the people thanks to his work done in various news reports, such as the "Massacre of the Lena" which shows the impassiveness and  the coldness of the tsarist authorities. In 1917 he became deputy of the Labor Party (trudoviki) to the Fourth Duma and at the outbreak of the” February revolution” (March 1917), being a very popular figure among the masses, he was elected vice-rector of the “Petrograd Soviet” and he became part of the Revolutionary Socialist Party. When the first Russian government was created (1917), K. was appointed Minister of Justice and then Minister of War.  With this last charge, a big bankruptcy military offensive was implemented (1 July 1917), with which Russia had to attack German and Austro-Hungarian forces in Galicia. Kerensky was often accused of Bonapartism because he sought to become a sort of super partes figure, keeping an intermediate position between socialists and bourgeois: he seemed to represent the hopes of the Russian people. His decisions, however, proved to be dramatic and it led the Menshevik leaders not to trust him.  When the Bolsheviks seized the power (October 25, 1917) in the “October revolution”, Kerensky turned out to be powerless more than once, so he had to leave the capital on November 6, 1917. In exile, he settled in Paris, where he became a famous writer who told his revolutionary experiences. When Hitler's Germany occupied Paris, Kerensky moved to New York, where he died in 1970. (Matilde Cipolla 5AL)

Kornilov was born in Russia in 1870, he is the supreme commanderin chief during the interim government. Also the protagonist of the Kornilov incident which took place in September 1917. Kornilov launched a military coup attempt to overthrow the interim government established after the February Revolution. He has just been appointed commander of the Russian army.  After the bloodshed in July, he wanted to use his military force to calm down the chaos.  Kerensky, the leader of the interim government, later  he believed that the incident was a turning point in the Russian revolution because it brought back Bolsheviks and finally seized power. (Jing Yang 5AL)

in russo: Кронштадт, Kronstadt da Krone, "corona" e Stadt, "città" è una città-fortezza e porto sull’ isola di Kotlin, nella baia della Neva, parte del golfo di Finlandia, è una suddivisione amministrativa della città federale di San Pietroburgo di cui ne é la base navale. Nel 1703 lo zar Pietro il Grande strappò quest’isola agli svedesi e nel 1704 vi fondò questa città e ne affidò la costruzione a Domenico Trezzini. Nei secoli è stata anche un’accademia militare navale e teatro di molti eventi storici importanti legati alla rivoluzione russa e a quella d’ottobre. Nel febbraio e nel marzo 1921 la città è stata il centro di una rivolta diretta dal suo soviet a causa dell’accentramento del potere ottenuto dai bolscevichi dopo la rivoluzione d’ottobre. Sempre nel 1921 a Kronstadt ci fu una famosa rivolta condotta dai marinai e dai soldati russi, uniti con i cittadini, che stremati dalla fame e dalle pesanti misure restrittive dettate dal “comunismo di guerra“ I marinai di Kronštadt, proprio quelli che avevano dato il via alla rivoluzione d’ottobre, si ribellarono al potere centrale bolscevico di Lenin e al governo sovietico per favorire un autogoverno basato su coordinamenti dei lavoratori di tipo libertario. I ribelli furono chiusi in uno di quei lager che Lenin renderà sinistramente famosi.

( Sofia Ceppatelli 5AL)