Songs of Resistance
| Narodin | December 25, 2011 |
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 A Civil War era poster depicting a Red Army soldier asking "Have you Enlisted?" |
Spanning over two continents, encompassing eleven time zones, from the balmy Baltic in the west to the pristine Pacific in the east,stretching on a sixth of the earth's land surface area, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) went on to position itself as a crucial force to be acknowledged in international politics. Its genesis lay in the ten days that shook the world, the ten days of the Great October Socialist Revolution. What began as an armed insurrection in Petrograd,on November 7th 1917, upon a blank shot signal from the battleship Aurora ,went on to define the development of human history for the next seven decades. But for nearly five years (1917-1922) following the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks found themselves pitted against internal adversaries who were aided and abetted by a plethora of forces with a common goal-to snuff out the socialist state in its cradle. The establishment of the USSR was a victory hard won by the Bolsheviks by employing a combination of brute force, tact, propaganda, strategy, diplomacy and at some points, even terror.
This edition of Bodhi's songs of resistance series features Bolshevik songs of the Russian Civil War, 20 years after the fall of the USSR.
Tachanka
 A Tachanka monument in present day Ukraine. Image source: Wikipedia |
The tachanka was a horse drawn heavy machine gun platform which saw use during the Russian Civil War. There is still dispute as to who was responsible for designing the tachanka. Some attribute it to the anarchist Nestor Makhno who fought first for and then against the Bolsheviks; while others credit it to the Bolsheviks themselves. In a war when mechanised forces were minimal or totally absent, the cavalry formed an important unit. And the tachanka mated the mobility of the cavalry with deadly effectiveness of the machine gun. The tachanka went on to see service with the Red Army well into the Second World War and was also adapted by the Nazi Wehrmacht as an anti-aircraft platform. Many times the tachankas were donated by workers of cities. Thus there were Rostovchankas (tachanka from the city of Rostov), Kievchankas (tachanka from the city of Kiev) and so on. The legacy of the tachanka with the Red Army is unquestionable-it was so successful that many Red Army commanders would,disastrously, resist replacing it with the tank. This song was written in 1936, in honour of the tachanka and the young machine gunner.
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Tam dali za Rekoy ( Far across the broad stream)
 A Soviet poster celebrating 20 years of the Komsomol |
Of all the foes that the Red Army fought during the civil war, the White Army was perhaps the most formidable. Rabidly nationalist and blindly monarchist, the White Army was well supported in man and material by Britain and her allies. Known for anti-semitic pogroms and their conservative stance regarding Russian society, the White Army was the classical regressive force to the Red Army progressive one. The one emotion that held together the alliance that called itself the White Army was its anti-communist sentiment. After the civil war, white forces fled Russia and settled in various nations sympathetic to their causes. Interestingly, the Red and White Armies did join forces to combat a common enemy- the Nationalist Chinese, in 1937.That should be an indication of how confusing and turbulent the politics of those times were. Many a times, the young women and men of the Komsomol (The Young Communist's League) volunteered to perform dangerous missions during the Russian Civil war. And many a times, the casualties in such missions were high. This song is a tribute to comrades of the Komsomol who laid down their lives for the establishment of the world's first workers state.
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Belaya Armiya, Chorny Baron (White Army, Black Baron)
 A Civil War era abstract poster depicting a Red Army onslaught into White strongholds. |
Belaya Armiya Chorny Baron is a combat song of the Red Army written by Pavel Gigoryev and composed by Samuel Pokrass in 1920. The term black baron refers to Pyotr Wrangel, one of the commanders of the White forces, who ironically dressed himself and his elite troops in black. This song talks about the superiority of the Red Army and its commitment to establish the rule of the workers. The music was later adapted for German,Austrian, Greek and Turkish workers songs.
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My Krasnye Kavaleristy (We are the Red Cavalry)
 A civil war era poster celebrating 'the proletarians on the horseback' |
The Red Cavalry refers to the Red Army's 1st Cavalry Army also called the Konarmia (Horse Army). Originally comprising of Don Cossacks, it grew into a powerful Bolshevik guerilla force under the political leadership of Kliment Voiroshilov and military leadership of Semyon Budyonny. The mythogenic invincibility of the Red Cavalry saw them fighting in fronts ranging from the Crimea to Siberia, during the Russian Civil War. Numerous Soviet military commanders such as Semyon Krivoshein, Georgy Zhukov and Andrei Grechko were members of the Red Cavalry.
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*Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny - Soviet cavalry commander
*Budyonny - a horse breed named after the cavalry commander
| Russia, songs of resistance, Soviet Union, ussr, Labour, Note, World, Arts & Literature |
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Looking forward to more in
Looking forward to more in the songs of resistance series. Especially, the songs linked to the protests in Greece, Spain, Occupy MOvt in the US and elsewhere
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