Mutiny on the Potemkin
The Potemkin was a new battleship of the Black Sea fleet, commissioned in 1903, with a crew of 800. It was not a happy ship and some of the crew harboured revolutionary sympathies, in particular a forceful young non-commissioned officer named Matyushenko, who took a leading part in what followed. At sea on June 14th, the cooks complained that the meat for the men’s borscht was riddled with maggots. The ship’s doctor took a look and decided that the maggots were only flies’ eggs and the meat was perfectly fit to eat. Later a deputation went and complained to the captain and his executive officer, Commander Giliarovsky, about worms in their soup. Their spokesman was a seaman named Valenchuk, who expressed himself in such plain language that Giliarovsky flew into a violent rage, pulled out a gun and shot him dead on the spot. The others seized Giliarovsky and threw him overboard where he was shot and killed. The Potemkin mutiny acted as a microcosm of the rage that existed within the tsarist structure. Malnourished peasants represented the oppressed crewmembers and the Tsar represented commander Giliarovsky.
ALEX P
ALEX P
On June 27, 1905 a protest erupted on board the Russian battleship Potemkin. For eleven days sailors of the Black Sea Fleet held control of the battleship supporting the revolution and striking fear in the Tsarist government. The rebellion aboard Potemkin broke out unexpectedly and prematurely. The men on the ship were provoked by the mindless conduct of several senior officers. Sailors were served rotten meat for lunch and when they protested, one of the executive officers, beside himself with fury, shot one of the sailors. At this several other men grabbed the commander and threw him overboard. Other members of the crew quickly joined the brawl, killing other officers. Shortly the crew of more than 800 members seized control over the biggest battleship in the Black Sea and set sail for Odessa, flying a red flag.
Although the mutiny did not end in victory, Vladimir Lenin saw it as an important event that would influence the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution in destroying Tsarist Russia forever. He later characterized the uprising by saying “The Battleship Potemkin is the undefeated territory of the revolution…what we have is the doubtless and the most remarkable fact: the first attempt at creating the nucleus of a revolutionary army.”
PO
Although the mutiny did not end in victory, Vladimir Lenin saw it as an important event that would influence the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution in destroying Tsarist Russia forever. He later characterized the uprising by saying “The Battleship Potemkin is the undefeated territory of the revolution…what we have is the doubtless and the most remarkable fact: the first attempt at creating the nucleus of a revolutionary army.”
PO