All language subtitles for 2018 - O Aniversário da Revolução

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Nikolai Izvolov

Russian State Documentary
Film & Photo Archive

Official YIFY movies site:
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present

a film by DZIGA VERTOV

Anniversary of the Revolution

Anniversary of the Revolution
Part 1. February - October

At the beginning of 1917,

the slavery, the 3 years of war,

and food shortages
caused mass unrest

that was reaching
a dangerous state.

The crippled and cruel government,
and even more so the dissolute power

couldn't hold back
the popular masses.

On 25 February
the riots in Petrograd grew.

The people took to the streets.

The State Duma tried in vain
to prevent the coming events.

On 27 February Rodzianko
sent a telegram to the tsar:

“Situation worsening.

Must take immediate action,
for tomorrow it will be too late.

The time has come

''when the destiny of motherland
and the dynasty is on the line.''

But... the ruler was silent.

The troops began to side
with the people.

The Volhynian
and Pavlovsky Regiments

declared their support for freedom.

A crowd gathered at the gate

to the building
of the armoured brigade.

The people persuaded the soldiers
to rise in defence of freedom.

The first blood was shed
on Znamenskaya Square.

Joyful crowds,
seeing the dawn of freedom,

took to the streets.

Demonstrations started.

A huge rally was held
at the Tauride Palace.

One after another, military units
approached the palace

and joined the people.

The members of the State Duma,
who had taken power at the time,

went to the crowds
and spoke pompously

about the triumph
of truth and freedom.

Among the crowd is
the Duma member Purishkevich.

The Duma member A. F. Kerensky.

In two days the liberated people

have crushed the stronghold
of Tsarism:

the police and its departments.

A building for pre-trial detention
perished in the fire.

The Alexander Nevsky
district police station.

The district court.

The Palace Square,

surrounded by mansions
of the tsars, lies in gloom.

The officers of the allied armies

congratulate
the Volhynian Regiment,

the first who sided
with the people.

On 4 March Petrograd buried
its freedom fighters

at the Field of Mars.

Tens of thousands walked
in the funeral cortege.

Members
of the Provisional Government

headed by Rodzianko
gathered at the common grave.

There was the War Minister
Guchkov.

Coffins, one by one,
were lowered into the grave.

On 26 February Moscow was alarmed
by the news from Petrograd.

Wanting to find out the truth,
Muscovites took to the streets.

The next day the City Duma

and the Resurrection Square

became the centre
of Moscow’s life.

The interim committee
and Council of Workers’ Deputies

held a meeting,

informing people
of the latest news from Petrograd.

The Council of Workers’ Deputies
released briefings

which were snatched up immediately.

The whole of Moscow
gathered near the Duma.

Inspired and joyful,
the soldiers in defence of freedom

approached the square.

The artillery arrived.
Guns were placed round the Duma.

Food that had been confiscated
in the districts was brought in.

Tverskaya Street was packed with
people and demonstrations.

On 4 March, elected by
the interim committee,

the commander-in-chief Lt. Gruzinov
inspected the revolutionary troops.

The troops marched down
Red Square in perfect formation.

At the same time in Petrograd,
the new government was formed

which from the very beginning
revealed itself as bourgeois.

The leaders of the two parties
that formed the government were

Kerensky and Milyukov.

They were joined by:
Nekrasov

Stakhovich

Efremov

Yakubovich

Manuilov.

The democratic layers
of the population

opposed with councils of workers
and soldiers' deputies.

A congress of councils was formed,
and to its presidium were elected:

Chkheidze, Gots, and others.

Chairman of the Soviet of workers
and soldiers’ deputies Chkheidze.

The congress gathered
an enormous number

of representatives
from the proletariat.

The leaders at the congress were:
Dan

Gvozdev

Plekhanov

The Provisional Government
listened to the congress

and introduced another method
for the fight

against the proletariat.

Tsereteli and Skobelev
were made ministers.

Comrade Tsereteli

Kerensky, who managed
to get popularity with the masses,

was given the post
of Prime Minister

and soon, the Supreme
Commander-in-Chief.

Kerensky appointed Gen. Brusilov
as Commander-in-chief.

Adm. Kolchak was appointed
Commander-in-chief

of the naval forces.

18 June, a date still
remembered in Russia,

initially brought a victory.

At the front, our units
gave in to Kerensky and attacked.

Kerensky celebrated.

In Petrograd,
a grandiose demonstration

took place
on the occasion of the victory.

The proletariat, demanding peace,
didn't take part in it.

During the demonstrations
there were incidents.

A Cossack banner
was forcefully taken down.

Shock troops of cadets
continued to leave for the front.

In the capital,
military organizations

held meetings and demonstrations,
proclaimed slogans for the war.

But then there came
the events of 3-7 July:

the lower classes,
exhausted from the war,

took to the streets
and tried to seize power

from Kerensky’s government.

Kerensky’s troops
were immediately sent

to make arrests
and conduct searches.

Clashes occurred on Nevsky Prospect.

The Exchange building
has come under fire.

After the suppression
of the proletariat,

Kerensky’s troops solemnly
buried their casualties.

This turned the masses
even more away from the power.

Kerensky,
wanting to save the situation,

formed a coalition government,
which included

Avksentyev

Zarudnyi

Nikitin

Yurenev

To consolidate power,

a state conference
was called in Moscow.

The building of the Bolshoi Theatre
was guarded by troops.

The “Grandmother”
of the Revolution arrived:

Breshko-Breshkovskaya

Kerensky

Kishkin

Avksentyev

Kokoshkin, Kartashev

Chkheidze

At the meeting, a block of members
of the four State Dumas

was organized.

The October Revolution in Petrograd

The October Revolution in Petrograd
started by the palace

where the so-called Pre-Parliament
created by Kerensky was located.

The only support
of the Provisional Government

came from the cadets.

For the protection of the palace

the cadets constructed
barricades from firewood.

And set up pickets.

But a bunch of White Guards
couldn't protect the palace

from the rising proletariat.

The palace came under gunfire.

The centre
of the October-November Revolution

in Petrograd was Smolny.

Here was the military HQ
of the communists.

Smolny was protected
with cannons and machine guns.

Units of sailors, soldiers, and
workers went from here to fight

and returned with joyful news.

Here were the leaders
of the Revolution,

among them Trotsky,

Lunacharsky,

Kollontai, and others.

The troops went from Smolny
to Gatchina,

where a battle with
Kerensky's followers was fought.

Here the fight was led by a special
Revolutionary-military HQ.

Under the command
of comrade Dybenko,

who had been appointed
Commander-in-Chief.

The HQ had cannons
at its disposal

and an armoured car,
the ''Lieutenant Schmidt'',

which had proven itself
in the fights with the cadets.

The pilot Lokaichuk
was employed by the HQ.

Medical staff in cars
assisted the wounded.

Units of revolutionary troops
pursued the fleeing followers

of Kerensky.

New units were coming
from Gatchina.

Cannons that had been used
in the city.

After the suppression
of the Kerensky mutiny,

a solemn funeral of the victims
of the October Revolution

took place in Petrograd.

Several tens of thousands
of workers

took part in the procession.

THE OCTOBER-NOVEMBER
REVOLUTION IN MOSCOW

The Aleksandrov military college,
where the HQ

of the White Guard was located.

The college sauna,

where the cadets
held the arrested Bolsheviks.

The Aleksandrov military college,

stubbornly defended
by the cadets and junkers.

The college suffered
badly from shelling.

The cannon with which
the cadets fired at Moscow

is still outside the college.

The shelling caused considerable
damage to the Nikolsky Gate

and to the Kremlin which had been
captured and defended by the cadets

The Spassky Gate.

The Chudov Monastery
in the Kremlin.

The Nicholas Palace.

The Assumption Cathedral.

The damaged houses
by the Nikitsky Gate,

where the cadets had their post.

Here they suffered heavy losses.

The first decrees

One of the very first steps

of the Workers' and Peasants'
Government

was issuing a decree on peace:

The Workers' and Peasants'
Government,

created by the revolution
of 24-25 October

and guided by the Councils
of Workers’ and Soldier's Deputies,

suggests to the warring nations
and their governments

to begin negotiations for
the immediate, democratic peace.

26 October 1917

Next came a decree on the land.

Art. 1. The ownership
of the land by landowners

is abolished immediately
and without any compensation.

The right of private property
for the land is abolished forever.

The land is expropriated
without compensation

for the use of all workers.

26 October 1917

THE OPENING AND DISSOLUTION
OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

By election day the entire city
was plastered with posters.

Demonstrations took place
on the streets.

Propaganda was spread
among the crowd.

Crowds of people filled
the streets of Petrograd

and started for the Tauride Palace.

More and more crowds
approached the palace.

Only delegates were allowed
inside the palace enclosure.

Demonstrators organized a rally
near the enclosure.

But the crowd got
to the doors of the palace.

The members of the Constituent
Assembly came out to them.

The Latvian Riflemen division
arrived to clear the square

in front of the Tauride Palace.

The masses didn’t leave voluntarily
and force had to be used.

Artillery was brought
to the Tauride Palace.

As a result of the clashes
of demonstrators with the troops

on 5 January,
there were casualties.

The dead were solemnly buried.

The Constituent Assembly

did not justify the hopes
of the people

and has been dissolved.

THE PEACE TREATY OF BREST-LITOVSK

The Russian delegates
set out to the meeting.

The building

where the truce negotiations
were held.

The Bulgarian delegates:

colonel Ganchev,
the councillor Dr Anastasov.

General Hoffman goes
to the meeting

with representatives from
Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Signing of the peace treaty
by Prince Leopold of Bavaria.

After the peace treaty,

the country quickly turned
to peaceful life.

In Petrograd,

Swedish merchant steamships
appeared on the Neva.

Masses of Russian veterans
started to return from captivity.

Exiled from their motherland
by the war,

the refugees set off for
the occupied territories.

The demarcation lines
were established:

the borders of Soviet Russia.

THE BRAIN OF THE SOVIET RUSSIA

The Red Kremlin,

where the highest public
institutions of Soviet Russia

are located.

The Trinity Gates
are open for access to the Kremlin.

The building of
court-house in the Kremlin,

where the Council
of People's Commissars

and the Central Executive
Committee are located.

The main entrance for members
of the Council

of People's Commissars.

The Head of the Soviet Government
and Leader of the Proletariat:

Vladimir Ilyich LENIN (Ulyanov).

V. I. Lenin and the Head of Affairs
of the Council

of People's Commissars:
Vl. Dm. Bonch-Bruyevich.

The People’s Commissar
on Military and Naval Affairs:

Lev Davydovich Trotsky.

The Chairman of the All-Russian
Central Executive Committee,

Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov.

The Chairman of the Council
of People's Commissars:

Vl. Dm. Bonch-Bruyevich.

The Commander-in-Chief
of the Soviet Republic,

comrade Vācietis.

Comrade Vācietis
with his staff in the battlefield.

The People’s Commissar of Education
A. V. Lunacharsky.

The Deputy People’s Commissar
of Education, Comrade Pokrovsky.

The People’s Commissar
of Foreign Affairs,

Comrade Chicherin.

The Deputy People’s Commissar
of Foreign Affairs,

Comrade Karakhan, member
of the Central Executive Committee.

The editor of the Central Executive
Committee’s paper Izvestiya,

Comrade Steklov.

The manager of Central European
Department of the Commissariat

of Foreign Affairs, member
of the Central Executive Committee,

Comrade Radek.

The People’s Commissar
of Agriculture, Comrade Sereda.

The People’s Commissar of Justice,
Comrade Stuchka.

The People’s Commissar
of Food Supply, Comrade Tsuryupa.

The Chairman of the Supreme Council
of the National Economy,

Comrade Rykov.

The People’s Commissar for Post
and Telegraphs, Comrade Podbelsky.

The Deputy People’s Commissar
for Labour, Comrade Shlyapnikov.

The Former Ambassador
of the Soviet Republic in Vienna,

member of the Central
Executive Committee,

Chairman of the Moscow Council,
Comrade Kamenev.

The Chairman
of the Soviet Peace Delegation

on Ukrainian negotiations, member
of the Central Executive Committee,

Comrade Rakovsky.

The Chairman of the Extraordinary
Commission on Army Equipment,

member of the Central Executive
Committee, Comrade Krasin.

The Deputy People’s Commissar
of Railways, Comrade Rogov.

The Deputy People’s Commissar
of Post and Telegraphs,

Comrade Zalezhsky
and Comrade Pavlovsky-Pavlovich.

The Head of the Russian
Telegraph Agency ROSTA,

Member of the Central Executive
Committee,

eminent member
of the Communist Party,

Comrade Sosnovsky.

The former People’s Commissar
of Food Supplies in Siberia,

member of the Central Executive
Committee, Comrade Shlikhter.

The Former People’s Commissar
of Post and Telegraphs,

member of the Central Executive
Committee, Comrade Proshyan.

The Chairman
of the Extraordinary Commission

for Evacuation and Demobilization,
Comrade Vladimirsky.

The People’s Commissar of Labour,
Comrade Shmidt.

The proletarian poet, member
of the Central Executive Committee,

Comrade Demyan Bednyi.

The Chairman of the Moscow Council
of Labour Unions,

member of the Central Executive
Committee, Comrade Mikh. Tomsky.

The Member of the Central
Executive Committee,

leader of the anarchist-communist
party, Comrade Karelin.

The heads of the Red Army:

The Deputy People’s Commissar
on Military Matters,

Comrade Sklyansky.

The Chairman of the Supreme
Military Inspection,

Comrade Podvoysky.

The Supreme Military Commander,
Comrade Rattel

and the Chief
of Military Communications,

Comrade Zagge.

The Military Commissar
of the Moscow District,

Comrade Muralov.

THE CZECHOSLOVAK FRONT

For a long time
the Czechoslovak front

constituted a great threat
for the Soviet Republic.

The enemies of the proletariat
cut off the supply lines for bread

to the centre and the capitals:

the entire Volga region
and the river Kama.

But from 6 September to 8 October
the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army

expelled the opponent
with vigorous blows

from Kazan and Simbirsk,
cleared Volsk, Khvalynsk, Syzran,

and took the Czechoslovak
stronghold Samara.

Over a month and a half,

heavy fighting took place
around Kazan.

Despite gunfire, the Soviet troops
stubbornly moved forward.

The enemy’s artillery
started drumfire.

Often shells fell into the Volga.

The troops near Kazan had
armoured trains,

which played an active part
in the battles.

On the Volga, the Volga flotilla
was at the command’s disposal.

The capture of Kazan
was a question of survival

for the Soviet Republic.

To boost discipline in the Army
and to promote the ideas

of Soviet power

1/5 of all communists
went to the front.

They were followed
by comrade L. D. Trotsky.

Comrade Trotsky left
in a special train.

The engine
of comrade Trotsky’s train

was protected by machine guns.

On the way to the front
comrade Trotsky delivered speeches.

A meeting was held in Murom.

On the way to Kazan
comrade Trotsky was met

by the Сommander-in-Сhief
of all forces

of the Soviet Republic,
comrade Vācietis.

And by the entire
revolutionary-military staff

of the Eastern front.

At the beginning of September,
a large number of troops

gathered near Kazan.

Entire columns arrived
to the battlefield,

one after another.

Persistent and long fighting
started.

Troops landed on the left shore,
near Kazan.

The body of the first killed
sailor was found on the shore.

Comrade Trotsky,
surrounded by communists,

was at this time on board
of one of the steamships,

watching the battle.

A vigorous mood
reigned among the sailors.

Soon Sviyazhsky Bridge,

of great strategic
importance, was taken.

The main Czechoslovak position
in Verkhnii Uslon

was taken through storming
by Soviet troops.

Having lost their strongholds,

the opponent regrouped in Kazan,

where they encountered gun-fire

from the well-known barge
“Serezha”,

armed with long-range
naval cannons.

Kazan was taken earlier
than expected.

Comrade Trotsky arrived
in the city by steamship.

Other steamships welcomed him
by hooting.

The Volga's Kazan shore
suffered considerably

from the attack
of the Red artillery.

Fire destroyed the pier.

A scorched corpse was found here,
a searchlight, and a car.

A steamship sank in the river.

Our troops entered the city
on the very first day.

The artillery entered.

The supporters of Soviet power
who had been arrested

by the White Army
were released immediately.

In Kazan, the Red Army
took rich spoils of war.

A whole artillery park
with cannons, charges, and shells.

And machine guns hidden
by the enemy among firewood.

The heroes of Kazan were:

comrade Kin, political commissar
of the army squadron.

Comrade Poznansky,
chief of the cavalry squadron.

Comrade Oplotsin,
commander of the squadron.

Comrade Mikhailov,

political commissar
of the special squadron.

Comrade Lev, commandant
of the naval squadron.

And... Volodya Alekseev.

Despite the forceful attack
on the city,

only a few houses were damaged.

The HQ of the White Guards:

the Nobility Assembly.

During the attack
the citizens of Kazan

cleverly protected glass
by covering windows with paper.

After the Soviet troops
had entered the city,

life began to surge:

on the market the Red soldiers
took care of their appearance.

The sales of wheat cakes
increased rapidly.

The army arranged a triumphant
farewell for comrade Trotsky.

At Penza station,
comrade Trotsky was met

by a guard of honour

of the 1st Revolutionary
Czechoslovak squadron.

Comrade Trotsky gave a speech.

The Revolutionary Czechs
and Slovaks marched in review.

From Penza, comrade Trotsky
went to Saratov,

which had long been a stronghold
of Soviet power on the Volga.

In the city, on the river bank,
thousands of refugee families

had found shelter,

having been made homeless
through military operations.

The People’s Commissar of War

was met by the commander
of the army, Khvesin,

commissar Lindorph,

the Cheka head Comrade Zhukov

and senior aide Savin.

In the Palace of the People
a meeting was held,

where speeches were given by:
comrade Trotsky,

the Chairman of the local Soviet
Antonov, and others.

On the way to Khvalynsk, places
of recent fights were visible.

The road here is not safe:

the steamship ''Saratovite''
and a boat stand guard.

In Khvalynsk comrade Trotsky
inspected the Bolokovsky regiment.

Forty versts from the city
of Nikolaevsk-Uralsky,

the Nikolaev division took up post.

The division's HQ was protected

by the armoured car ''Skull''.

There is a communist club here.

The chief of the division,
Zakharov,

and the commander of the brigade,
Chapayev,

for whose capture the Czechoslovaks
had offered 50,000 roubles.

LABOUR COMMUNES

The People’s Commissariat
of Agriculture paid great attention

to the organization
of labour communes.

Such a commune was formed
on the ruins

of the former Vanlyarov mansion
in the Smolensk District.

The organizer of the commune,
comrade Ivanov.

The commune has a council
made up of Kondraty Koganov,

Efim Parfyonov,
Vassily Ksenzov, and others.

The commune has modified
the former mansion into a sanatorium

for weak members of the commune
and children.

All communards
have an identical labour duty

in the field, in the garden,
and other spheres.

The female communards
milk the cows.

The commune has
a significant number

of work horses.

In the manor, a prison tower
has been preserved,

where the landowner had kept
those who'd committed offences.

The work plan and
the distribution of work

are appointed by general council.

The communards receive all produce
from the communal supplies.

After work, the communists gather
to discuss the news and to chat.

THE END

© Nikolai Izvolov, 2018

© Birgit Beumers, translation, 2018