My Essay

Robert Polan

Humanities

Guerrero

3/21/09

Rev 1917

“Who is being buried? - “Zhivago,” they were told. - “Oh, I see. That's what it is.” - “It isn't him. It's his wife.” - “Well, it comes to the same thing. May her soul rest in peace.” It's a fine funeral. “Dr. Zhivago” (Pasternak 13). In the novel readers follow the story of Yuri Zhivago a man who has struggled all of his life. He grows up in Russia during its worst time. There is no food and people are revolting against the Tsar. The Russian Revolution had two main events, the February Revolution and the October Revolution. The February Revolution created many violent demonstrations of riots on the streets of St. Petersburg, during a time when the Tsar was away from the capital visiting troops in World War1. Though this Revolution was a popular uprising, it did not accomplish the wishes of the majority of the Russian people, because this event was only to the people of St. Petersburg. In Boris Pasternak's novel Dr. Zhivago, he shows the struggles men and women faced during and after the Russian Revolution.

Revolution Begins

Russia was in World War 1 and was not doing too well. Russia became involved in World War 1 because an ally of Russia (Serbia) was attacked and accused of the assassination of the Austrian Archduke. Russia made itself the guardian of all Slavic and Eastern Orthodox people. Russia lacked the modern industry other countries had and couldn't supply their armies with fresh food and supplies. Because of the war, food supplies were low, unemployment was high, and inflation was out of control, so many workers had politicized and joined revolutionary organizations (Soviets).

This caused Russians to be enraged. With Russia doing poorly in World War 1 and facing really bad food shortages, protests and strikes happened in the country during 1916 and early 1917. Violent acts between Police and protesters also increased. A very famous protest that happened was the International Woman's Day. On February 23, 1917, a large gathering of working-class women gathered in the center of St. Petersburg to mark International Women’s Day. The gathering showed a protest demonstration calling for “bread and peace.” While this began peacefully, the next morning it turned violent as the women were joined by thousands of male workers who went on strike and flooded the streets, calling for an end to the war and even to the monarchy. Each day it became more and more violent and the police were unable to control the crowds. Once Tsar Nicholas II heard of this chaos he ordered a military commander to end this once and for all. Several troops fired upon the crowds but this caused many troops to go against the Tsar and his rule. More than 80,000 troops mutinied and joined with the crowds, in many cases directly fighting the police (February Revolution). At this time a political organization (Petrograd Soviet) was discussing how all of these events should be handled. This organization was made of revolutionary minded workers and soldiers and they immediately began to call for full-scale revolution and an end to the monarchy altogether (February Revolution). On March 2, 1917 Tsar Nicholas II abdicated his thrown to his brother Michael but he later leaves the thrown as well. The two main groups, the provisional government and the Petrograd Soviet, disagreed completely about the direction that Russia should take, yet they did manage to work with each other. Meanwhile, the various rival political parties also developed cooperative attitudes and worked with one another. The arrival of Lenin in Russia in April 1917, however, immediately changed the situation (February Revolution). In Dr. Zhivago Kuprian Tiverzin is introduced. At this point of the story, Tiverzin becomes involved in one of the first labor strikes as the revolution grows. Tiverzin has been identified as one of the leaders of the strike, and his mother warns him to run away. Pasha Antipov, the son of one of the managers of the railroad, seeks Tiverzin’s mother, asking her to give him shelter since his father has been imprisoned. A mass demonstration is organized; lots of people crowd the streets to rally and protest in front of the tsar’s winter quarters. Tiverzin’s mother takes Pasha with her as she joins the marchers. Cossacks, the tsar’s military guard, surround the demonstrators and shoot aimlessly into the crowd. You can see the frustration the people of Russia faced. To show their anger most of them protested and revolted against the tsar. The people had no food or supplies. If I was out there I would be mad too. Knowing that the ruler was spending money that Russians didn’t have on war and not getting supplies or getting the new industrial systems other countries have. There are certain things that the ruler can do that can push people to their limits and Nicholas did just that to his people. This man had no idea what he was doing in my opinion and he probably was better off leaving the country.

October Revolution

Soon after the Provisional Government was in power many of the problems that helped them overthrow the Tsar still existed: Russia was still doing badly in the war, bread was still scarce and the people were calling for more drastic changes (Litwin Peter). The October Revolution was a much more intentional event, made by a small group of people. The Bolsheviks, who led this coup, prepared their coup in only six months. They were viewed as an extremist group and had very little support when they began in April 1917. By October, the Bolsheviks were much larger; they had built up a majority of support within St. Petersburg and other urban centers. Vladimir Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks. He led the October Revolution. He provoked the workers with statements like “Bread, Peace, and Land” and “Down with the Provisional Government-All Power to the Soviets! (RussianRevolution1917) On 7 November 1917, Vladimir Lenin led his revolutionaries in a revolt against the ineffective Provisional Government. In this revolution people in my opinion were fed up with the government. They thought they were in good hands but they just ended up right were they started; cold, poor, and no food for anyone. This got everyone mad and this was the perfect time for Lenin to get the people of Russia on his side and start the rise of the Bolsheviks. I though this was perfect because the people were willing to do anything just to get the provisional government out and they didn’t pay too attention on what Lenin had in store for all the people.

Life After

After Lenin’s government secured power, one of its first major goals was to get Russia out of World War I. Following his Decree on Peace, Lenin sent out diplomatic notes to all participants in the war, calling for everyone to cease hostilities immediately if they did not want Russia to seek a separate peace. “The Russian Revolution” (Litwin Peter).The effort was ignored. So, in November 1917, the new government ordered Russian troops to cease all hostilities on the front. On December 15, Russia signed an armistice with Germany and Austria, pending a formal peace treaty. Russia’s exit from the war was very costly, but Lenin was desperate to end the war at any cost, as the Germans were threatening to invade Petersburg. In the peace, Lenin gave up most of Russia’s territorial gains; the lost territories included Finland, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bessarabia, and Caucasus. In Dr. Zhivago shortly after the Revolution Yuri struggles to help him and his family. There are food shortages, there are new elections all the time, and many changes at the hospital, which is now called the Second Reformed. Zhivago’s wife is forced to sell their cabinet for birch and learns how to make bread. Yuri then diagnosis typhus in a woman, he then finds out that it is Fatima Galiullina, Galiullin’s mother. After a couple of months the Zhivagos are close to starvation and Yuri is scared for contracting typhus, and then he collapses one day in the street. He was gone for two weeks only dreaming of eating bread but to his surprise it was true and it was brought by his half brother. Zhivago then later moves with his family to an estate in the Urals. As you can see life wasn’t too great after the revolution.

Conclusion

Russia during this time period was in its worst times. People before and after the revolution for a time were really struggling. They had no food or supplies. The people were willing to do anything to get back up but there was a huge cost. Revolutions were created so the people of Russia could be heard. In Dr. Zhivago it showed the struggles a man faced during this time period. From war or to the struggle to access food. The book really shows the problems people faced during the revolution.

Artist Statement

Not Every Thing is as it Appears
By: Isa Branas, Alana Espineli, Angela Hurtado, Robert Polan, and Amanda Snyder
Photography

The scene in our photo takes place in 1917, Russia. During this time, propaganda promoting the Russian Revolution was in heavy circulation as months of hunger and depression took hold of the country. Initially, citizens tried to be civilized when demonstrating to the government that they wanted change, but war was eventually decided as necessary for progress to occur.
Our photograph is based on Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, mainly the love story between Laura and the two men she falls in love with, Pasha and Dr. Zhivago. One central character in the photo is the girl in purple, who is connected to both the man outside and the man inside. The couple outside represents the lower class and how they were left in the cold while the rich were inside. The girl in purple is torn between the man who is handing her the gun and the man looking from the outside in, whom she both loves. We chose dark colored clothing to show that it was a time of darkness and war. The single candle in the middle symbolized the flame between the girl inside and the man outside. The gun represents war and that peace was no longer possible.
As a group, we decided to reverse the roles of Laura and Dr. Zhivago in our portrait. Laura goes from “rags to riches” while Dr. Zhivago loses his wealth. We also wanted our photo to be black and white to show age and felt that the coloring would express the people’s feelings more. Our group was afraid that we couldn’t get the proper expressions shown through the photo. We decided that the emotion of love had to be clearly shown through the two main characters, but they also needed to show additional feelings as well.


No todo es lo que Parece
Por: Isa Branas, Alana Espineli, Angela Hurtado, Robert Polan, and Amanda Snyder
Fotografía
La escena en nuestra foto sucede en 1917, en Rusia. Durante ese tiempo, la propaganda que promovía la Revolución Rusa no podía circular por los meses de hambre y la depresión que tenía el país. Inicialmente, los ciudadanos tratando de ser civilizados le demuestran al gobierno que quieren un cambio, pero la guerra fue decidida finalmente por la necesidad del progreso.
Nuestra fotografía es basada en Doctor Zhivago por Boris Pasternak, principalmente la historia de amor entre Laura y los dos hombres de los que ella se enamora, Pashá y Dr. Zhivago. Un carácter principal en la foto es la chica en púrpura, que está conectada al hombre de fuera y el hombre de adentro. La pareja que está afuera representa la clase más baja y cómo ellos fueron dejados en el frío mientras los ricos estaban adentro. La chica en púrpura está perdida entre el hombre que la entrega la pistola y el hombre que mira hacia ella, quienes son sus dos amores. Escogimos ropa oscura para mostrar que fue un tiempo de la oscuridad y la guerra. La vela en el centro simbolizó la llama entre la chica de adentro y el hombre de afuera. El fusil representa la guerra y esa paz que ya no exsistia.