Why is the Kronstadt rebellion important?
The Kronstadt rebellion is important because, as Voline put it, it was “the first entirely independent attempt of the people to liberate itself from all yokes and achieve the Social Revolution, an attempt made directly, resolutely, and boldly by the working masses themselves without political shepherds, without leaders or tutors. It was the first step towards the third and social revolution.” [The Unknown Revolution, pp. 537-8] The Kronstadt sailors, solders and workers in 1917 had been the one of the first groups to support the slogan “All power to the Soviets” as well as one of the first towns to put it into practice. The focal point of the 1921 revolt — the sailors of the warships Petropavlovsk and Sevastopol — had, in 1917, been supporters of the Bolsheviks. The sailors had been considered, until those fateful days in 1921, the pride and glory of the revolution and considered by all to be thoroughly revolutionary in spirit and action. They were the staunchest supporters of the So
