“Opening the jaws of terror” | Dan Snow & Anthony Beevor on Lenin and Russian History (part 2)

Between 1917 and 1921 a devastating struggle took place in Russia following the collapse of the Tsarist empire. Many regard this savage civil war as the most influential event of the modern era. An incompatible White alliance of moderate socialists and reactionary monarchists stood little chance against Trotsky’s Red Army and Lenin’s single-minded Communist dictatorship. Terror begat terror, which in turn led to even greater cruelty with man’s inhumanity to man, woman and child. Using the most up to date scholarship and archival research, Antony Beevor, author of the acclaimed international bestseller Stalingrad, assembles the complete picture in a gripping narrative.
Dan Snow is an award winning history broadcaster and best-selling author. He has made dozens of TV shows for the BBC, Discovery, and other broadcasters. He is the host of one of the world’s biggest history podcasts with millions of listeners every month. He is the founder and Creative Director of the award nominated History Hit TV, an on demand history channel, described by the Wall Street Journal as the ‘Netflix for History.’ With vast numbers of paying subscribers Snow has proved a pioneer of digital history, the Times newspaper commented that “Snow is now the Mark Zuckerberg of Spitfires, the Elon Musk of the King Tiger Tank.”
Antony Beevor’s books have been appeared in thirty-three languages and sold over eight million copies. Antony’s last book Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944 was an instant Sunday Times bestseller. On KZbin, Antony has been featured on Hillsdale College, Leatha Steger, TIKhistory, Ezgi Cihan, C-Span, Times Radio, The Spectator, On The Same Page, and more.

[@warrioroflight6872]

"The story of how human beings treat other human beings when they have unbridled power over them is seldom a pretty story, or even a decent story." -Thomas Sowell I think that one quote sums up half the reasons why Communism always fails.

[@michaelmazowiecki9195]

Most of the Bolshevik Central Committee were not Russian but were members of various exploited colonial nationalities such as Poles, Balts, Jews. Felix Dzierzynski is an example. He was from a Polish gentry family with very strong strong anti-tsarist views. He attended a Polish school in Vilnius as a classmate of later Marshal Pilsudski who led Poland's fight for full independence in 1918. As Pilsudski used to say" we all travelled on the same socialist train but I got off at the station called Independence". " Iron Felix" founded the Cheka as a successor to the Tsarist Ochrana and many Poles privately admire him for being the Pole who historically liquidated the largest number of Russians!

[@Achill101]

I find this Polish thought about Dzierzynski understandable, but still sick to rejoice in killing. And it bit the Poles in the butt when the Soviet-union that Dzierzynski helped protect kept Poland under long communist rule.

[@michaelmazowiecki9195]

@@Achill101 the Polish response was due to well over 100 years (1772-1918) of Russian terror, occupation, mass deportations to Siberia, State sponsored pogroms and so on. Add to that the Bolshevik Russian invasion of 1920 which devastated the Eastern half of the country on top of all the destruction of WW1. Dzierzynski was considered by the Poles to be a traitor though ironically an effective liquidator of the hated Russians, well before WW2. Soviet Russian behavior towards the Poles continued much along the same lines right thru to 1989, but especially in 1939-1956 Stalinist period..

[@Achill101]

@@michaelmazowiecki9195 - as I wrote, I found the Polish response understandable, I just couldn't cheer Dzierzynski's Cheka. . . . I hope Poles can channel their energy today to help Ukraine defend itself.

[@michaelmazowiecki9195]

@@Achill101 which they are doing, together with the Baltic States, proportionally to their population and GDP, more than anyone else. Poles, together with other ex-Russian and Soviet occupied countries, have long, bitter memories and personal/family experiences of KGB, FSB, NKVD, CHEKA terror.

[@Forest_Knight]

His name is Antony not Anthony

[@1namokao]

The soviet government had not even an army when Withe Terror started to massacre peasant who take the land and soviets agitators...Red Terror was an answer to White Terror of tzarists with british, japanese, french, polish and US support. Just go and take a look on chronology...

[@Achill101]

The Soviet government was founded by its army, the garrison of Petrograd, led by Bolshevist agitators. . . . I agree that historians should look at both sides and their acts before condemning one. What do you recommend as reliable reference for the terror by the Whites and that it started earlier than terror by the Reds?

[@Salman-sc8gr]

Wake up, the murderous Bolsheviks were financed by zionist Jewish Wall Street crooks Rothschild, Paul Warburg and Jacob Schiff.

[@dreamdiction]

The Bolsheviks had 30,000 American troops guarding the trans-siberian railway to starve the peasants outside the cities.

[@ianwatson5605]

Not a mention of Leon Trotsky's magnificent and valiant contribution. Co-founder of the Revolution.

[@Achill101]

What's magnificent or valiant about contributing to slaughter?

[@42willys4]

Trotsky is mentioned

[@trickydicky2908]

@Ianwatson He contributed to the multiple uses for an ice axe.

[@Steelie1963]

Trotsky's only loyalty was to his paymasters on Wall Street.

[@lamalama9717]

They START this by mentioning Trotsky. Of course he acknowledges his role but doesnt support him.

[@airborneranger-ret]

The constant "ummm..."'s are very distracting/irritating

[@mikeA2010]

Sad interviewer...he thinks he's a comedian...this was a horrible tragic set of events that set up MILLIONS of deaths worldwide in the 20th century...and this guy thinks its all funny?

[@woobiefuntime]

Humor can be found anywhere.

[@TheHunterGracchus]

@@woobiefuntime Indeed, sardonic humor about the Soviet system was a staple of the Soviet peoples.

[@robertotorrent7386]

I read Beevor's book on the table. Unbearable, full of unnecessary details and furiously antibolchevik.