Blackwell Reference Online

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Protest in March 1921 by Russian sailors at the Kronstadt naval base on the Gulf of Finland. Having been enthusiastic supporters of both the russian revolutions of 1917, they had become disillusioned by the restrictive political controls imposed by the bolsheviks and the harsh living conditions of war communism . Among other demands, they agitated for new elections to the soviets , the right of free speech, and the release of political prisoners. The mutiny was condemned by lenin as the work of counterrevolutionaries, and was brutally crushed by zinoviev . It is possible that as many as 2,000 sailors were subsequently killed; many more were deported to labor camps; and others took refuge in Finland. The uprising was the last serious challenge to Bolshevik authority, and its crushing illustrated Lenin's determination to suppress all dissent. ... log in or subscribe to read full text