Introduction
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a political revolution against the rule of the British Empire that resulted in the independence of the Thirteen Colonies and the establishment of the United States of America. The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a period of political and social protests across the territory of the Russian Empire that commenced with the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Soviet Union. The purpose of this paper is to look at both revolutions from an eyewitness perspective and analyze its differences and similarities.
About the Character
The narrator is The New York Times journalist who covers the political aspects of the American Revolution and then travels in time to Russia at the beginning of the 20th century to witness the collapse of the monarchy. Working for around ten years as a news reporter, he sees his mission in analyzing the groundbreaking historical events, finding their underlying causes, and describing them from an onlooker’s perspective. He believes that a journalist should not have a particular political position, although he tends to support liberal movements and sympathize with the masses. During both revolutions, he interviewed many active participants, political leaders, and activists and tried to put together an objective picture of events.
American Revolution
The American Revolution was flared up by the Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1765. It required the colonists to pay a direct tax imposed by the British government without the approval of the colonial legislatures (Allison & Ferreiro, 2018). Having traveled around the country at this time, I witnessed as the protests emerged and progressed among merchants and the general population. I spoke with a rising politician Archibald Hinshelwood who said, “There is a violent spirit of opposition raised on the Continent against the execution of the Stamp Act. The mob in Boston […] has even proceeded to some violence, threatening to burn down the Stamp Office” (as cited in Kochin & Taylor, 2020, p. 12). In New York, an angry mob marched through the streets carrying a banner reading “The Folly of England, the Ruin of America.” The Act became the final straw in the escalation of the British-American controversies, and the talks of rebellion began to be heard all over the country.
As Britain backed away and repealed the tax in 1766, the protests died down. However, it was evident that their underlying causes were not and could not be resolved. The King and the Parliament believed that they had full rights to tax the colonies, while both the public and political leaders in North America felt that they should not pay these taxes (Allison & Ferreiro, 2018). We needed the rights to impose our own taxation and legislation, and the ideas of independence have gradually started to develop in the hearts of many groups of the population.
In the 1770s, the slogan “No taxation without representation” emerged and summarized the political objections of the colonies against the British rule. Speaking to James Otis, the politician who first used the phrase, I started to fully comprehend the fundamental nature of the protests. He said, “If we are not represented, we are slaves” (as cited in Allison & Ferreiro, 2018, p. 134). I believe that it was the very idea that fueled the upcoming revolution.
The turning point of the Revolution was the Boston Tea Party of 1773 that manifested the culmination of the resistance movement throughout the colonies against the Tea Act. With the “no taxation without representation” slogan becoming more and more popular, the Act was perceived as the violation of colonists’ rights as Englishmen. To embrace the whole picture of the events of that night, I spoke with several participants. One of them was George Hewer, a Boston shoemaker who was among those who boarded the ship and who described the operation in detail (Axelrod, 2020). After the Boston Tea Party, in 1775, Massachusetts was declared in a state of rebellion, and Boston became the center of military conflicts between the Patriots and Loyalists.
The Revolution ended in 1783 when the combined French and American forces captured the British army at Yorktown, and the Treaty of Paris was signed. Among the most important results of the Revolution were American independence from the British Crown and the adoption of the United States Constitution that established a strong national government (Kochin & Taylor, 2020). The United States became the first nation in the world founded as a democracy.
Russian Revolution
I traveled to Russia during the First World War and witnessed the processes that preceded and caused the Revolution of 1917. The war losses and the devastating drop of morale, food scarcity, the unsuccessful financial reforms, the rise of prices, and the general economic crisis lead to strikes and the growing criticism of the government (Schmermund & Edwards, 2015). The newly found political ambitions of the working class fueled political activism, with liberal and socialist movements gaining increasing popularity.
Vladimir Lenin became the most prominent figure of the emerging revolutionary movement aimed to define and defend the interests of the working classes in the political arena. Since 1914, he insisted that the country should concede defeat, and the World War should be turned into a civil war against the current government. He claimed that “from the standpoint of the working class and of the laboring masses the lesser evil would be the defeat of the Tsarist Monarchy” (as cited in Schmermund & Edwards, 2015, p. 67). His aim was a revolutionary war that, if successful in Russia, could spread to Europe, liberating the masses from the oppression.
The Revolution itself began in February 1917 in Petrograd, when members of the Duma, Russia’s parliament, assumed control of the country. Mikhail Rodchenko, who was a witness of the events, wrote, “Situation serious. There is anarchy in the capital. Government paralyzed. Transport of food and fuel completely disorganized. Public disaffection growing. […] It is essential at one to entrust a person enjoying the country’s confidence with the formation of a new government” (as cited in Fitzpatrick, 2017, p. 75). The army leadership realized that they could not suppress the revolution, and in March 1917, Emperor Nicholas II abdicated the throne.
A period of dual power followed, when the authority was divided between the Provisional Government and the national network of the Soviets led by Vladimir Lenin. It climaxed with the October Revolution of 1917 when a Bolshevik-led uprising of workers and soldiers occupied major transport and communication hubs in Petrograd and overthrew the Provisional Government (Fitzpatrick, 2017). All authority was transferred to the Soviets, the war was ended with the treaty with Germany, and a federal government was established that reorganized the empire into a new form of state. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics became the world’s first socialist state.
Similarities and Differences Between the American and Russian Revolutions
At first sight, the American and Russian revolutions do not have much in common, except that they were both uprisings against the monarchy: the British Empire and the Russian Empire. The American Revolution was basically a war of independence, intended to overthrow the British rule over the colonies. The Russian Revolution was a domestic affair aimed to overturn the existing social order and establish a new political ideology. The American Revolution lasted for a decade and was characterized by a gradual escalation of political tension between the countries. The Russian Revolution was preceded by years of social unrest, but the events that led to the escalation happened within several months.
From an eyewitness perspective, certain similarities between the two conflicts can be observed. Both revolutions involved different groups of the population supporting different political views: the Patriots and Loyalists in America, and the Bolsheviks and Monarchists in Russia. Both revolutions were centered around the ideas of freedom and social change, and both were followed by the establishment of a new form of government. As a result of the American Revolution, the first democratic country was formed, and the Russian Revolution commenced in the foundation of the first Soviet state. From the historical perspective, both conflicts became the turning points in the countries’ history that marked the beginning of new political systems.
Conclusion
When describing historical events from a journalist’s perspective, new facts and ideas come up that would have been overlooked otherwise. Looking at the American and Russian revolutions from the inside, I have learned that the processes have a lot of similarities despite their different political and social backgrounds. I felt as though I was talking to the participants of the events and experienced their emotions as the revolution progressed. When the uprising broke up in Petrograd, and the marches in Boston and New York began, some people were frightened, while the political leaders tried to control the situation and direct it into the desired path. Both revolutions resulted in the foundation of the new forms of state, and the changes happening in society shaped the world we live in.
References
Allison, D., & Ferreiro, L. (Eds.). (2018). The American Revolutions: A world war. Smithsonian Institution.
Axelrod, A. (2020). In the time of the revolution: Living the war of American independence. Rowman & Littlefield.
Fitzpatrick, S. (2017). The Russian Revolution. Oxford University Press.
Kochin, M., & Taylor, M. (2020). An independent empire: Diplomacy & war in the making of the United States. University of Michigan Press.
Schmermund, E., & Edwards, J. (2015). Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Revolution. Enslow Publishing.