Vladimir Lenin on the Train

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This video will cover everything you will need to know about Vladimir Lenin’s train journey from Switzerland to Russia in spring of 1917. It can probably be considered as the most fateful trip that has been organised in the 20th century. In the episode, you will learn why the German Empire was so keen on smuggling the Russian revolutionary back to his home country, how the journey was organised and what its immediate consequences were.
Sources:
- Creuzberger, Stefan: Das deutsch-russische Jahrhundert. Geschichte einer besonderen Beziehung, Hamburg 2022.
- Gerwarth, Robert: Die Besiegten: Das blutige Erbe des Ersten Weltkriegs, München 2016.
- Hirschfeld, Gerhard & Krumeich, Gerd: Deutschland im Ersten Weltkrieg, Frankfurt am Main 2013.
- Kälin, Adi: Der russische Revolutionär und die Spiesser, in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 22.02.2017, www.nzz.ch/zuerich/wo-lenin-i... (accessed on 09.11.2023).
- Lenin, Vladimir: Farewell Letter to the Swiss Workers, 08.04.2017, www.marxists.org/archive/leni... (accessed on 12.11.2023).
- Leonhard, Jörn: Der Primat des Krieges? Deutschland und die Russische Revolution 1917/18, in: Tauber, Joachim & Tschubarjan, Alexander (Ed.): Zeitenwende: deutsche und russische Erfahrungen 1917-1919, Berlin 2022, pp. 41-50.
- Merridale, Catherine: Lenins Zug. Eine Reise in die Revolution, Frankfurt am Main 2017.
- Service, Robert: Lenin. A Biography, Basingstoke & Oxford 2000.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:45 Supremacy 1914
1:42 The German Empire in 1917
4:57 Lenin in Switzerland
7:45 The Planning Process
10:41 The Journey Begins
13:13 Arrival in Petrograd
14:59 The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
17:41 Outro

[@SirManateee]

Receive an Amazing Unique Starter Pack, only available for the next 30 days! Play Supremacy 1914 for FREE on PC or Mobile: 💥 s1914.onelink.me/TX2k/f57m7n7o

[@mikhhailml]

Lenin's Guide to the most ineffective way to go from Switzerland to Petrograd

[@dave2.077]

would it be more efficient to travel through an active warzone?

[@mikhhailml]

@@dave2.077 In this context, of course, no. But it is still funny that he had to cross the whole of Scandinavia

[@Nordbon1523]

I don’t think it would be a good idea to drive through a active war zone.

[@rolandwenzel1782]

Bro the Czechoslovakian-legion did it still worst

[@pacodave4885]

Lenin was also considered a criminal and exiled by the tsarist government. So the heavy concentration of Russian troops on the frontline may not have let the train pass anyways

[@wenchbyatt]

Lenin ranting about Mensheviks in his sleep is such a mood 😂 Any chronically online/political person can relate, i think

[@Raevnard]

That stuck out to me too 😂

[@zachjordan7608]

he was such a fucking poster

[@Abraxium]

Lenin arrived in Stockholm at a time when food scarcity caused private individuals and state agencies alike to plant vegetables like potatoes in the town parks. I wonder what he thought of that

[@SirManateee]

During his stay in Stockholm, Lenin mostly avoided any contact with the public and instead preferred to spend most of his time in the hotel. But yes, interesting question.

[@Shantari]

@@SirManateee Lenin, not a people person? Surely you jest!

[@LemonAdesML]

I think not much. It's cause and effect, lack of food leads to individual people with perhaps material support by an agency trying to plant food in parks to alleviate hunger. I'm not sure what exact food scarcity, in which region of the city you are talking about and if these attempts were even successful (link me an article or something). Also what causes said food scarcity is another thing to analyze in said situation.

[@Abraxium]

@@LemonAdesML Sweden was in general very affected by the German indiscriminatory submarine warfare, and in turn British blockade. In the end, 800 sailors died from the German attacks and political chaos due to British blockades. If you search "Potatisodling i Vasaparken" you will find a video of it. Vasaparken is situated very close to the store he bought his clothes at, namely Hötorget.

[@tultoi5651]

@@uncletimo6059What a monster, they Lenin. Killing people? In a civil war?! Absolutely insane.

[@bronkobjama3154]

Glad to see you’re finally getting advertising, even happier to see it’s allowing for more content!

[@SirManateee]

Yeah, the money really does help, especially now that winter is slowly arriving ;)

[@quuaaarrrk8056]

Short correction since I often see this mistake: WIlhelm II and Nicholas II were not cousins*. Both were cousins of George V - Wilhelm through Queen Victoria and thus George’s paternal line, while Nicholas was the grandson of Christian IX of Denmark and thus maternally related. Nicholas wife also was a grandchild of Victoria and thus cousin to both Wilhelm and George *first cousins, they were related further back

[@benjamin5370]

The transfer was in a Finnish town called Lahti, Helsinki doesn’t have rail that connects to Saint Petersburg. Sorry, this is my home town so I had to be the annoying internet nerd today 🤓

[@insomniac489]

Two videos this close together? We are blessed!

[@Aevanne]

Oh boy, it's my favorite male patter baldness model

[@theowlfromduolingo7982]

Who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of not millions of deaths and created a terrible state

[@SirManateee]

lol

[@nehuen9333]

@@theowlfromduolingo7982 wait now im confused, wich of the colonial powers leaders are you talking about?

[@anonymous-hz2un]

​@@nehuen9333 the era of colonialism was a golden age for arabs and africans alike. Look at them now.

[@mattimations7388]

@@nehuen9333all of them

[@Revojin]

Wow, I didn't know that Lenin was in my hometown, Singen!

[@eleftheriosepikuridis9110]

I love that there are people like you out there who make enjoyable videos that are reliable and ACTUALLY USE TRANSPARENT AND PRECISE CITATION :))

[@cheeseburgurcheese]

An amazing video! There's actually quite a big history about that Brest-Litovsk treaty, as a short 8 month time of Ukraine being a monarchy called "Hetmanat" as a german vassal, that started as a military coup in Ukrainian People's Republic, and ended by another military coup of ukrainian-austrian legion of "Sichovi strlitsi" led by Konovalets.

[@CatarigMaTt]

Woo-hoo! A new awesome video by Sir Manatee just dropped.

[@Random-hy8yl]

2 vids that close togheter we are truely blessed

[@bolsa3136]

Your channel is amazing. Thanks for the interesting videos

[@Stern56567]

Absolut great Video👍🏻

[@un7ption13]

Damn i love your channel. I felt like central and Eastern Europe themed history videos were lacking on KZbin - maybe only on my fyp. Keep going!!!

[@Dafty2k]

Man this would’ve been very useful 4 days ago for my exam😢 But still amazing video🙌 The best history KZbinr out there

[@mosaic.hunter]

So many gems in this video!

[@clem714]

Gutes viedeo du hasst mehr Aufmerksamkeit verdient

[@SirManateee]

Danke :)

[@jakegarvin7634]

12:12 getting a head start on long waits

[@halnywiatr]

Perhaps more interesting is that Lenin was in Poland from 1912 to 1914 in both Krakow and Zakopane. In those years Pilsudski also frequented that region.

[@mrgopnik5964]

Arguably the most important train-ride in history

[@ORPKryzys]

Yes sir I do like your content. Gruss aus Pozen.

[@kongomongo2]

How it sounded as if the tour from Schaffhausen to Singen is a days worth of travel. :D At todays speed it is around 20 Minutes car drive. ^^

[@SirManateee]

Unfortunately, Schengen wasn't a thing yet ;) so crossing a border took some more time. And the organisation at the train station in Gottmadingen probably took a few hours as well.

[@sophie-xr1yq]

have you read the book 'lenin on the train'? ive been wanting to read it but im not sure if its completely accurate or relevant, just wondering if you have & if so your thoughts

[@ventedbus4917]

I like your pfp, MBV is a good band

[@SirManateee]

Yes, I got it last christmas from my parents. The author is a very talented historian specialised in Russian history and she draws her information from various sources such as Fritz Platten's account of the journey and various letters or documents. She is also a phenomenal writer which makes the book very immersive and readable. So a huge recommendation from my end.

[@MrAdrien1999]

Living in zurich, not far from the Volkshaus I find it rather amusing to hear how such a significant figure in hsotory probably traced the same steps as me...

[@SillyPillow]

I'm curious what the world would be like if Germany *hadn't* sent Lenin to Russia. Would Europe (post WW1 but also in general) be in a better state? Or worse? Would he have seen his dream of a socialist Europe, or would he remain grumpy in Switzerland until dying of old age or disease? Would there be a second world war? Who knows!

[@ottovonbismarck1352]

11:32, drawing a division to separate the German and “stateless” sides is, I believe, a great metaphor for the impracticability of Marxism.

[@stekra3159]

Well it happed in 1918 and then the Socal democars bettrayed us again

[@jeppe921]

The game look so cool, I wanna play Poland 😄

[@isakferm7686]

Fun fact, when Lenins train stopped at the small town of Ljusdal for a train-meeting. Onboard the other train heading for Stockholm was Hjalmar Branting, the first Social democratic Prime Minister in Sweden who was essential for the further democratization of Sweden.

[@dave2.077]

i did not know that wow and i am german

[@rachelmotheroffrenchbulldo709]

mentions contribution of Alexander Parvus to Russian revolution

[@quuaaarrrk8056]

Great, a bunch of friends (and fellow history buffs) have tried to get me into Supremacy 1914, now I can get them into Seekuh videos instead.

[@SirManateee]

Seekuh is life

[@quuaaarrrk8056]

@@SirManateee Seekuh rules the waves!

[@D.S.handle]

The MFer was already creating ques in the railcar.

[@SirManateee]

As you do

[@Quarter324]

Lenin is a monumental figure - likely one of the most important persons of the 20th century. His writing on capitalism and imperialism still ring true today.

[@crocodileguy4319]

Moron

[@handsfortoothpicks]

@@crocodileguy4319 Can you read

[@Artur_M.]

Great video, as always, I loved the personal details of the journey. Of course, Lenin had to be a petty little tyrant, even to the small group of his comrades in the fateful train. BTW, fun fact about Radek: he was born as Karol Sobelsohn (in Lviv/Lwów/Lemberg) and took the name Radek after one of the charachters in the novel _Syzyfowe prace_ ('The Labors of Sisyphus') by Polish writer Stefan Żeromski. Żeromski himself, while left-leaning, was not a fan of bolshevism.

[@beatles123]

no more than anyone else on a crowded train. especially if you're nervous the plan will work.

[@Gropylol]

>Lenin tried his best to not be seen working with the germans Doesnt that mean he didn't? The germans sending him to Russia also massively backfired when the creating on the USSR sparked the German Revolution in 1918?

[@SirManateee]

If he had officially collaborated with the Germans he would just have been arrested for treason shortly after his arrival. (Tho he was suspected of it). So he tried to make sure that he was never in direct contact with anything German.

[@jamesflynn6827]

Its ironic to see looking at Lenins entourage, how many of them ultimately ended up executed under Stalin/died in the Stalinist Gulags/were imprisoned in Stalins Gulags, considering that those people had willingly followed Lenin to russia and could therefore be considered revolutionaries of the first hour. Well talk about the revolution eating its parents.

[@greenwar2468]

More like "Stalin eating his coworkers"

[@handsfortoothpicks]

Stalin and the counter revolution:

[@mcmilkmcmilk9638]

Walrus lenin

[@SirManateee]

Now I'm confused

[@user-ml9kf2jx5h]

Efforts is Ireland didn't bear fruit???? How about the 1916 Rising, Roger Casement and all that followed 😮

[@uncletimo6059]

show this film to anybody who claims that conspiracies don't exist

[@felixnuwahid9879]

Germany greatest weapon against Russia knowing they cant beat go into Moscow like Napoleon

[@thomaskole9881]

If you fancy exploring the Russian Revolutions/Civil War some more, a video about the Makhnovshchina or the Kronstadt mutiny would be amazing! Those are parts of the conflict often not discussed, leading many to see it as a fight between just the Reds and the Whites, while many left-wing revolutionaries also opposed the Bolsheviks.

[@coper2098]

One of the grandest mistakes in history

[@davidelabarile1634]

"who wants to start a revolution????" quote fr....actually there is a prize for those who correctly guess from who this famous qoute is from

[@Artur_M.]

Oversimplified?

[@davidelabarile1634]

@@Artur_M. congratulations!!!! you have won 50 albanian leks(which is like....50 cents of euros...) for guessing the quote correctly!!!!

[@maxkaufmann833]

Lenin c:

[@svon1]

Lenin printing stamps for toilet usage is just such a soviet thing to do :D also i'm pretty sure creating the USSR will never come back to bite the Germans in the future

[@Yuyo545]

"Russion revolution" 7:15

[@SirManateee]

Typing is hard

[@rafanadir6958]

The event that man orchestrated was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, tragedy in human history!

[@FortuneZer0]

I like this. Its like documenting the flight of the Enola Gay to drop destruction.

[@bolsa3136]

Love how all these communists ddidnt work a single day in their life. All of them are "thinkers", the others do the physical work

[@handsfortoothpicks]

Because the revolution totally happened in the armchair

[@lunalingo4461]

Would have nvr thought that imperial germany, would ever assist in the creation a socialist soviet union. Truly fascinating that is.

[@artkl494]

one of the worst German inventions: Soviet Union

[@SirManateee]

I'd argue there are far worse German inventions

[@artkl494]

@@SirManateee indeed thats why i said its one of the worst

[@beatles123]

it would have happened antway. the tsar was bleediing russia dry already.

[@artkl494]

@@beatles123 that’s why kerensky took the power,the reds just couped him and his government

[@oneproudukrainian2063]

Kyiv, not Kiev. The city was controlled by the UPR/Hetmanate at the time so the name ought to be Ukrainian

[@huculzdun]

Kiev has been the established English name of the city until recently. Still is. “Kyiv” is a transliteration of the Ukrainian name and is now being favored as the correct term for the city. Why should we expect speakers of other languages to change the way they speak? Do you call Turkey “Türkiye” in Ukrainian because they asked? How would you even spell that in cyrillic? This is petty nationalist narcissism.

[@Nordbon1523]

That’s what it’s called in English and other Germanic languages.

[@rolandwenzel1782]

​@@Nordbon1523jes!! It is not lwiw, it is Lemberg to, so right. And the biggest city in the ottoman Empire is Byzanz/Mikkelgrad.

[@Nordbon1523]

@@rolandwenzel1782 I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.

[@oneproudukrainian2063]

@@huculzdun 1. Changes happen to languages and city names all the time. We call in London not Lundinium because some narcissistic, nationalistic Saxons decided so, but that's different I guess. Kyiv is Ukrainian, not English, it is upto us to decide how to write down our city. 2. Kyiv is the norm in most English-language news outlets and is the official transliteration in the USA, the biggest 1st language English country in the world by population and influence (in the modern world).

[@fabioscotto1172]

The greatest man after jesus,trotsky and oliver cromwell