The ‘First Phase’ of the Russian Civil War: Soviet Karelia, October 1917–May 1918

This essay traces the development of the Bolshevik revolution in the town of Petrozavodsk, from October 1917 to May 1918. Primarily, an analysis of the evidence reveals how weak the Bolsheviks’ influence was in the north. The result of this was a conflict of interests between the centre and Petrozavodsk over the policies introduced by the central Bolshevik government, Sovnarkom. However, this period of the Civil War was also one of survival, defined by a determined and united local soviet resistance to the economic and military crises faced by the regime.