In the cities of colonial India, caught in the vortex of
war-time/post-war scarcity and political repression, how did the colonizers and
a segment of their literate middle-class subjects perceive and depict the
Bolshevik Revolution through newspaper pages?
During the late 1917, the
colonial world became gradually acquainted with Bolshevism through antagonistic
news networks based in the West. In Kolkata, a city that was the headquarters of
British colonial authority till 1911, the revolution was transmitted by The Statesman, leading English daily
with regular foreign pages and a dedicated European readership. On 4 November
1917, The Sunday Statesman reproduced
cartoons depicting the Petrograd revolutionaries as impractical speech-makers oblivious to the war raging around them. Another cartoon portrayed Russia as a
rustic soldier precariously walking on a tightrope from autocracy to democracy,
who might lose his balance at any moment and fall into a chaotic abyss below.
Six days later, the news of a ‘Maximalist’ capture of power hit the headlines.
Hourly news bulletins transmitted through Reuters’ telegrams to London during 7-8 November were printed on the events in Petrograd. The Reuters’ correspondent from the city
reported that naval forces under ‘Maximalist’ orders had seized the banks, the
central telegraph office, the Russian news agency office and the naval palace,
the seat of Kerensky’s provisional govt. No disorder was reported. M. Lenin,
the Maximalist leader, it was said, had given a call for immediate peace and
Armistice. In the 19 days that followed in November, news and observations
described the new govt as ‘Hun’ agents, the convention of a workers, peasant,
soldiers council, land redistribution programme, proposed reduction of the
army, appointment of a ‘subaltern’ as Generalissimo and ‘extreme excesses’
unleashed by factory-hands, the nature of which were unexplained. Incredulous
and brief reports on a world turned upside down were accompanied by optimistic
news of an imminent Soviet debacle and the assured victory of Kerensky’s
forces. By the end of November, these hopes were dashed. It was glumly reported
that Kerensky had resigned and proved to be a ‘tragic failure’ while the Bolsheviks
were engaged in a ‘peace-plot’. From 1918, the word ‘Bolsheviks’ replaced
‘Maximalists’ and ‘anarchists’, the terms in general use from November 1917. The
world had indeed turned upside down with their arrival.
war-time/post-war scarcity and political repression, how did the colonizers and
a segment of their literate middle-class subjects perceive and depict the
Bolshevik Revolution through newspaper pages?
During the late 1917, the
colonial world became gradually acquainted with Bolshevism through antagonistic
news networks based in the West. In Kolkata, a city that was the headquarters of
British colonial authority till 1911, the revolution was transmitted by The Statesman, leading English daily
with regular foreign pages and a dedicated European readership. On 4 November
1917, The Sunday Statesman reproduced
cartoons depicting the Petrograd revolutionaries as impractical speech-makers oblivious to the war raging around them. Another cartoon portrayed Russia as a
rustic soldier precariously walking on a tightrope from autocracy to democracy,
who might lose his balance at any moment and fall into a chaotic abyss below.
Six days later, the news of a ‘Maximalist’ capture of power hit the headlines.
Hourly news bulletins transmitted through Reuters’ telegrams to London during 7-8 November were printed on the events in Petrograd. The Reuters’ correspondent from the city
reported that naval forces under ‘Maximalist’ orders had seized the banks, the
central telegraph office, the Russian news agency office and the naval palace,
the seat of Kerensky’s provisional govt. No disorder was reported. M. Lenin,
the Maximalist leader, it was said, had given a call for immediate peace and
Armistice. In the 19 days that followed in November, news and observations
described the new govt as ‘Hun’ agents, the convention of a workers, peasant,
soldiers council, land redistribution programme, proposed reduction of the
army, appointment of a ‘subaltern’ as Generalissimo and ‘extreme excesses’
unleashed by factory-hands, the nature of which were unexplained. Incredulous
and brief reports on a world turned upside down were accompanied by optimistic
news of an imminent Soviet debacle and the assured victory of Kerensky’s
forces. By the end of November, these hopes were dashed. It was glumly reported
that Kerensky had resigned and proved to be a ‘tragic failure’ while the Bolsheviks
were engaged in a ‘peace-plot’. From 1918, the word ‘Bolsheviks’ replaced
‘Maximalists’ and ‘anarchists’, the terms in general use from November 1917. The
world had indeed turned upside down with their arrival.
In 1918, immediately after the First World War ended, a second front
was opened against Bolshevik Russia by the victorious Allied forces including
Britain, the United States, France, Japan, Italy and Poland. During 1919-20,
the Russian Civil War raged between the White Armies and Foreign troops on one
hand and the Red Army on the other. A media war on Bolshevism was launched
simultaneously. This was also a period of strike actions by workers across the
world and an explosion of anti-capitalism in the metropolitan countries and
anti-imperialism in the colonies. The major urban centers of the colonial world
became cities of protest. Mass movements erupted from the streets of Cairo to
Shanghai. In Indian cities, the bottled up opposition towards the British
Empire, and views of the local white communities as represented by The Statesman in Kolkata, were uncorked
in a post-war climate. The anti-establishment political environment encouraged
many intellectuals and activists to show sympathy towards the Bolsheviks. Alienated
by and critical of authority, they stood at the crossroads of existing and
emerging anti-imperialist currents. Although neither coherent nor organised, their
perspectives on Russia were interpreted by the colonial administrators as a
potential left tendency. In the course of the Russian Civil War, fought during anti-colonial
mass upsurge in the form of Khilafat and Non Cooperation Movements and the
strike-waves in and around cities, interest and support towards Bolshevism
increased. From 1920, the White troops and their Allied champions met with
military reverses in Russia; talks were proposed and initiated in London with
Bolshevik representatives by the Lloyd George Government. The local press in Indian cities during 1920
thus came to feature numerous articles and discussions on Anglo-Russian
relations, the content of Bolshevism and its representations by the British
authorities. The revolution was typed, telegraphed, printed and distributed.
Reports on the progress of the Russian Civil War were published. Analysis and
predictions were made on the outcome of the talks between the Russian Trade
Delegation and the British government. The British Foreign Office and the
colonial authorities were lauded and criticized for their ultra-cautious approach to the ‘Bolshevik threat’ over India. While European and loyalist
Indian newspapers championed the government positions, guarded and sharp dissatisfaction were expressed in many weeklies and dailies. Condemnation of the government was combined
with support for the emergent trade union militancy. The Mohammadi (Kolkata) deplored the policy of the British authorities
to spread panic in the name of ‘Bolshevik Menace’ and the imaginary threat of a
Russian invasion through Afghanistan. The paper criticized the tendency of the
government to project the ongoing labor strikes as acts of sabotage by Bolshevik spies and emphasized that they were the products of hunger. Bolshevism was also seen as a symptom of
people’s power spreading across the world. Paisa
Akhbar (Lahore), which showed a mixed response to Bolshevism, referred to
the support and influence achieved by the worker’s parties in England, Ireland
and Italy which have refused to allow the passage of arms and ammunition to
Poland and assist the Polish offensive against Russia; the paper regarded the
exercise of authority by common people from below as the ascendancy of
democratic forces; it made a veiled reference to the weakened condition of colonial
authoritarianism when it declared that this was an age where state absolutism
had become outdated. The futility of Allied intervention in Russia was also highlighted
by others; they focused on the material consequences of the civil war. The Bombay Chronicle ridiculed the
Allies and Britain for persuading a bankrupt country like Poland to fight the
Bolsheviks. The Independent (Allahabad) opposed the economic blockade imposed
on Russia and the continuing war mentality of the big powers.
was opened against Bolshevik Russia by the victorious Allied forces including
Britain, the United States, France, Japan, Italy and Poland. During 1919-20,
the Russian Civil War raged between the White Armies and Foreign troops on one
hand and the Red Army on the other. A media war on Bolshevism was launched
simultaneously. This was also a period of strike actions by workers across the
world and an explosion of anti-capitalism in the metropolitan countries and
anti-imperialism in the colonies. The major urban centers of the colonial world
became cities of protest. Mass movements erupted from the streets of Cairo to
Shanghai. In Indian cities, the bottled up opposition towards the British
Empire, and views of the local white communities as represented by The Statesman in Kolkata, were uncorked
in a post-war climate. The anti-establishment political environment encouraged
many intellectuals and activists to show sympathy towards the Bolsheviks. Alienated
by and critical of authority, they stood at the crossroads of existing and
emerging anti-imperialist currents. Although neither coherent nor organised, their
perspectives on Russia were interpreted by the colonial administrators as a
potential left tendency. In the course of the Russian Civil War, fought during anti-colonial
mass upsurge in the form of Khilafat and Non Cooperation Movements and the
strike-waves in and around cities, interest and support towards Bolshevism
increased. From 1920, the White troops and their Allied champions met with
military reverses in Russia; talks were proposed and initiated in London with
Bolshevik representatives by the Lloyd George Government. The local press in Indian cities during 1920
thus came to feature numerous articles and discussions on Anglo-Russian
relations, the content of Bolshevism and its representations by the British
authorities. The revolution was typed, telegraphed, printed and distributed.
Reports on the progress of the Russian Civil War were published. Analysis and
predictions were made on the outcome of the talks between the Russian Trade
Delegation and the British government. The British Foreign Office and the
colonial authorities were lauded and criticized for their ultra-cautious approach to the ‘Bolshevik threat’ over India. While European and loyalist
Indian newspapers championed the government positions, guarded and sharp dissatisfaction were expressed in many weeklies and dailies. Condemnation of the government was combined
with support for the emergent trade union militancy. The Mohammadi (Kolkata) deplored the policy of the British authorities
to spread panic in the name of ‘Bolshevik Menace’ and the imaginary threat of a
Russian invasion through Afghanistan. The paper criticized the tendency of the
government to project the ongoing labor strikes as acts of sabotage by Bolshevik spies and emphasized that they were the products of hunger. Bolshevism was also seen as a symptom of
people’s power spreading across the world. Paisa
Akhbar (Lahore), which showed a mixed response to Bolshevism, referred to
the support and influence achieved by the worker’s parties in England, Ireland
and Italy which have refused to allow the passage of arms and ammunition to
Poland and assist the Polish offensive against Russia; the paper regarded the
exercise of authority by common people from below as the ascendancy of
democratic forces; it made a veiled reference to the weakened condition of colonial
authoritarianism when it declared that this was an age where state absolutism
had become outdated. The futility of Allied intervention in Russia was also highlighted
by others; they focused on the material consequences of the civil war. The Bombay Chronicle ridiculed the
Allies and Britain for persuading a bankrupt country like Poland to fight the
Bolsheviks. The Independent (Allahabad) opposed the economic blockade imposed
on Russia and the continuing war mentality of the big powers.
Finally, Bolshevism entered an urban dreamscape. As a tongue-in-cheek Utopian vision it erased the interlinked webs of scarcity, artificial price
rise, wastage of resources, profit, poverty and exploitation and culminated in
dismantling class and caste apartheid; this was laced with ironical
observations on life under the Raj of
colonial capital. The Hindu (14 July
1920, Hyderabad, Sindh) printed an imaginary dream sequence on the effects of
Bolshevism in Karachi. The anonymous author/dreamer narrated that before the
incidents mentioned in his dream took place, he had never heard or read
anything about the Bolsheviks. When he came to know that the Government was
condemning them as bad men and was against them, he became afraid. He then
journeyed to Karachi in order to obtain a ‘charm’ for self-protection against
their attacks. He was baffled by the unfolding scenario:
rise, wastage of resources, profit, poverty and exploitation and culminated in
dismantling class and caste apartheid; this was laced with ironical
observations on life under the Raj of
colonial capital. The Hindu (14 July
1920, Hyderabad, Sindh) printed an imaginary dream sequence on the effects of
Bolshevism in Karachi. The anonymous author/dreamer narrated that before the
incidents mentioned in his dream took place, he had never heard or read
anything about the Bolsheviks. When he came to know that the Government was
condemning them as bad men and was against them, he became afraid. He then
journeyed to Karachi in order to obtain a ‘charm’ for self-protection against
their attacks. He was baffled by the unfolding scenario:
‘At the
Cantonment Station I saw great heaps of old railway material-rails, sleepers,
trucks and engines. On inquiry, I learnt that the property belonged to the
North-Western Railway, who had destroyed it to prevent the Bolsheviks, who were
coming, utilizing it. I was puzzled by
hearing the name ‘Bolsheviks’ but was glad at the wise action taken by our
Government in destroying all this material. Just then I heard an aeroplane
overhead and was told that the Bolsheviks are coming by air and that our planes
are going to intercept them, I cried out, and commenced to run towards the
Cantonments where I saw a curious state of affairs; changes were being made in
the shops, sign board painters were at work preparing new boards with the words
‘‘Articles sold at Cost Price’’, ‘‘What is profit? We do not know what profit
is.’’ ‘‘The people have no concern with the shop, it belongs to the State.’’
Cantonment Station I saw great heaps of old railway material-rails, sleepers,
trucks and engines. On inquiry, I learnt that the property belonged to the
North-Western Railway, who had destroyed it to prevent the Bolsheviks, who were
coming, utilizing it. I was puzzled by
hearing the name ‘Bolsheviks’ but was glad at the wise action taken by our
Government in destroying all this material. Just then I heard an aeroplane
overhead and was told that the Bolsheviks are coming by air and that our planes
are going to intercept them, I cried out, and commenced to run towards the
Cantonments where I saw a curious state of affairs; changes were being made in
the shops, sign board painters were at work preparing new boards with the words
‘‘Articles sold at Cost Price’’, ‘‘What is profit? We do not know what profit
is.’’ ‘‘The people have no concern with the shop, it belongs to the State.’’
Articles
were being sold dirt cheap, the high prices of Elphinstone Street had vanished.
There was no haggling, people were coming and purchasing articles at cost
price. Not only these changes were evident, I saw servants, who hitherto had
been looked down upon and wore dirty clothes, wearing good clothes. I asked in a whisper where they had attained these good clothes from and learnt that the Sahibs had given them, saying that they were no longer their servants but their partners and would be treated with respect. On reaching the school I
noticed a crowd of boys, sweepers, chambers and Koris, all had come to be
educated, no fees were charged, all books were supplied free, and milk was
given free to the boys once a day. I saw several men going to the Cinema where
no tickets were being asked for. The Police force had been disbanded, all the
men having been sent to their homes. No complaints were received from the town.
I was quite bewildered. I boarded a train and was not charged a pie as fare; at
the docks a boat was ready, on which I noticed the staff of the Daily Gazette and Sachai. The Editor of the former on seeing me cried out the
Bolsheviks had come and would trouble me…The boat then whistled and I woke
up.’
were being sold dirt cheap, the high prices of Elphinstone Street had vanished.
There was no haggling, people were coming and purchasing articles at cost
price. Not only these changes were evident, I saw servants, who hitherto had
been looked down upon and wore dirty clothes, wearing good clothes. I asked in a whisper where they had attained these good clothes from and learnt that the Sahibs had given them, saying that they were no longer their servants but their partners and would be treated with respect. On reaching the school I
noticed a crowd of boys, sweepers, chambers and Koris, all had come to be
educated, no fees were charged, all books were supplied free, and milk was
given free to the boys once a day. I saw several men going to the Cinema where
no tickets were being asked for. The Police force had been disbanded, all the
men having been sent to their homes. No complaints were received from the town.
I was quite bewildered. I boarded a train and was not charged a pie as fare; at
the docks a boat was ready, on which I noticed the staff of the Daily Gazette and Sachai. The Editor of the former on seeing me cried out the
Bolsheviks had come and would trouble me…The boat then whistled and I woke
up.’
The author finished his
newspaper feature with the words: ‘The Truth or falsity of this is known to
God.’ The promise of epochal change held out by his ‘dream’ probably did not
end there.
newspaper feature with the words: ‘The Truth or falsity of this is known to
God.’ The promise of epochal change held out by his ‘dream’ probably did not
end there.
