for references read: Guillotine at Work by Maximoff
Get ready to dive deep into a topic most people think they know, but really probably don't.
Yeah. The Russian Revolution, but not the one you might see in like a textbook or something.
Yeah. We're going to go way beyond, you know, the storming of the Winter Palace.
Right.
Exact one. Really get down into the weeds of a darker, more complex story of how these revolutionary ideals get twisted into these like instruments of oppression.
Yeah. And what's often overlooked is that it wasn't just like one event.
Right.
But it was a series of power struggles and shifts in ideology, each more brutal than the last.
Yeah. And that's where our source material comes in for this deep dive at work. Yeah. 20 years of terror in Russia.
Yeah.
By Gregory Maximoff.
Right.
And Maximoff wasn't just like some historian, you know, kind of watching this all from afar.
Quarterbacking. Yeah.
He was like a prominent anarchist.
Yeah.
Living through this whole thing, you know, witnessing firsthand how the Bolsheviks led by Lenin transformed this promise of liberation into a reign of terror.
Yeah. And his account is so striking because he uses official Bolshevik documents and eyewitness accounts to weave a narrative that goes beyond, you know, just the physical execution.
So we're not just talking about heads rolling.
Exactly. Exactly. He calls it the dry guillotine.
The dry guillotine.
As opposed to the wet guillotine. Right. Wow. This is the systematic crushing of dissent through exile, censorship and psychological manipulation.
Oh, wow. OK, so let's unpack this.
Yeah.
It's fascinating. This this contrast between the initial February revolution, which was relatively bloodless.
Right.
And then this subsequent descent into terror under the Bolsheviks.
It's a real bait and switch.
It really is. It's wild.
It is.
So to kind of understand how that happened.
Yeah.
We need to look at Lenin. Right. Lenin. Yeah. His ideology, his approach to revolution. Because initially he was presenting himself as this champion of democracy and freedom.
Right.
He even abolished the death penalty.
Which is ironic considering what happened later.
Which is kind of wild. Like what was that? Did he have a change of heart?
Well, I mean, not really a change of heart when he learned that the provisional government had abolished the death penalty. He was furious. Really? Yeah. As Trotsky recounts in his memoirs, Lenin believed that executions were an indispensable tool for consolidating power and maintaining order.
Oh, wow.
He saw them as a necessary evil.
Wow. So it was quickly reinstated.
Very quickly.
And it wasn't just symbolic, was it?
Not at all. Maximoff cites official Bolshevik sources that reveal a horrifying number of executions under Lenin's rule.
Wow.
Even conservative estimates are in the hundreds of thousands.
Hundreds of thousands.
Yes.
It's hard to even fathom the scale of it all.
It is.
And he justified this bloodshed in the name of discipline and suppressing enemies.
Mm-hmm. Precisely. Lenin was convinced of his own infallibility. Any opposition to the Bolshevik Party line, any deviation from his vision was a threat to the revolution itself.
So he created this secret police force, the Cheka.
Yes, the Cheka.
To enforce this vision.
Yes, to root out and eliminate enemies of the people. That's what they call them, enemies of the people.
So who were the enemies of the people at first? I guess it was the bourgeoisie, right? The wealthy elite.
Initially, yes.
That had been overthrown in the Revelation.
Right, the old guard.
Okay.
Right.
Which I guess is somewhat understandable given the time.
Yeah, but it quickly expanded as Maximoff documents.
Yeah, the definition of enemies started to expand.
Yeah.
In a really disturbing way.
In a very disturbing way.
So it wasn't just the bourgeoisie anymore. It was political opponents like the Mensheviks.
Yeah.
The social revolutionaries.
Even those who initially supported the Bolsheviks.
Wow. So anyone who questioned his authority at all, regardless of their political affiliation.
That's right.
Was a target.
It went even further than that, though.
Oh, well, OK.
They targeted the anarchists.
The anarchists, yeah.
Who advocated for individual liberty and decentralized power. Right. Lenin hated that. Yeah. He saw that as a threat to his vision of a centralized authoritarian state.
And things escalated so quickly.
Oh, yeah. Very quickly.
We were talking about peasants.
Yeah.
Just resisting the government's grain requisitions.
Oh, yeah.
They were labeled kulaks.
Kulaks, right.
Enemies of the people.
That's right. Enemies of the people.
Wow. And these were just.
Just farmers trying to feed their family.
Farmers trying to feed their families.
Exactly.
And their resistance was seen as a threat.
Right. They saw it as a threat to the Bolsheviks control over food distribution, which was essential for them to maintain power.
Right. And so they were demonized, dehumanized, crushed. And Max Moff really details the brutality.
Doesn't shy away from it.
Employed to silence any dissent. Nope. Shooting hostages.
Yeah.
Executions without trial.
Mm-hmm.
Torture in Sheikah prisons.
Yes.
I mean, this was this was the reality, the so-called dictatorship of the proletariat.
Yeah. And let's be clear about that.
Yeah.
Wow.
So it was everyone was an enemy.
Just this nightmare.
It was.
This worker's paradise was just a nightmare.
It was a nightmare.
And then there's this whole other dimension of terror.
Yeah.
Right. That Maximoff refers to as this dry guillotine.
Dry guillotine.
So tell me about that.
So this is where we see Lennon's true genius. Yes. for control, right? The Dry Guillotine wasn't about brute force. It was about a more insidious form of oppression. The control of minds through fear and manipulation.
So it's like something out of a dystopian novel or something.
It does, doesn't it? But this was the reality in Russia under Lenin. Really? Think about it this way. The wet guillotine, right? Yeah. Eliminated physical opponents. Yeah. But the dry guillotine sought to eliminate opposition itself by controlling what people could think.
Wow.
What they could say and even feel.
So how did this dry guillotine function?
Yeah.
Like how did it work?
Well, one of the primary tools was censorship. Independent media was shut down. Anything deemed harmful was destroyed. Libraries were purged of anything that didn't align with the Bolshevik ideology.
Wow. So they were really trying to control the flow of information?
Absolutely. They wanted to create a monopoly on truth.
Wow. And did they have any other tactics?
Oh, yeah. They encouraged people to inform on each other, which created an atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia where even family members couldn't trust one another.
Wow.
So it's like turning... Turning people against each other. Yeah.
Yeah, turning inwards on themselves.
Exactly.
Wow. And they also used propaganda extensively, right?
Oh, yeah. Propaganda was key. It was a weapon in their arsenal to glorify Lenin, to demonize his opponents and create this cult of personality around him. Wow. It was everywhere in schools, workplaces, art, literature, shaping people's perceptions and molding their thoughts.
So it's like they were infiltrating every aspect of life. They were. You couldn't escape it.
You couldn't escape it.
It's like they wanted to control not just your actions. That's right. But your mind.
Your very thoughts.
Your very thoughts. Wow.
That's a good way to put it. They aim to create a society where obedience wasn't just enforced, but internalized.
So even if you disagreed with the regime, you'd be too afraid to speak out.
Exactly.
Wow. So this dry guillotine was in a way even more effective than the wet guillotine.
Oh, yeah. Way more effective. Because it created this self-perpetuating cycle of fear and self-censorship.
Yeah.
You didn't need the Checo to come knocking at your door. You were already censoring yourself.
So it's like a prison without walls.
Exactly.
Where the bars are made of fear.
Yes. Fear and paranoia. Yeah.
And paranoia. But wasn't this terror just confined to like those outside the party?
Well, that's where things get even more disturbing.
OK.
Because Lenin wasn't content with just silencing dissent outside the party. Right. He was just as ruthless in purging anyone who dared to question his authority.
Oh, wow.
Within the Communist Party itself.
So much for comradely unity.
Right. Maximoff shows how Lenin systematically sidelined, expelled or exiled prominent figures like Tomsky and Miasnikov, who had the audacity to disagree with him.
It's almost Shakespearean.
It is, isn't it?
It's like betrayal from within.
Betrayal from within.
So it wasn't just about eliminating external enemies.
No.
It was about.
It was about consolidating absolute power.
Crushing any potential challenge.
Yeah. Crushing any potential challenge to that power.
Even from within the ranks.
Even from within the ranks. That's right.
So this wasn't just about ideology.
It was about power, pure and simple.
It was about power.
Yes. Wow. And this is important to remember because this internal purge, this atmosphere of suspicion and fear within the party.
Yeah.
Laid the groundwork for Stalin's rise to power.
Okay. And that's where we're going to pick up in part two of this deep dive.
Yes. Okay.
We'll examine how Stalin took this blueprint that Lenin laid out and amplified it to a horrifying scale.
Horrifying.
And how the terror became like this defining feature of Soviet life.
Yeah.
So stay tuned.
Yes. Welcome back. As we kind of dig deeper into Maximoff's book, you really see how Stalin's reign of terror, it wasn't like a sudden departure from Lenin, you know, it was more of a continuation.
It's a continuation down a dark path.
Down a dark path, exactly. And this period between Lenin's death in 1924 and Stalin's complete consolidation of power is really crucial, I think, to understanding how it evolved.
Yeah. You know, I would assume that with Lannan gone, there might have been some sort of like reprieve.
Right. Yeah, you'd think so. Right.
From the terror.
You'd think so.
But it seems like that wasn't the case at all.
No, not even close. In fact, you could argue that the dry guillotine, the system of psychological manipulation, social control that we talked about, it became even more refined and systematic during this time. Wow. Why is that? Well, I mean, remember, Russia is in a state of immense turmoil after the Civil War. Right. The economy's in shambles. There's widespread famine.
Yeah.
People are grappling with the uncertainty of a new political order.
So it's like a perfect breeding ground.
Exactly.
For fear and paranoia.
Exactly.
And Stalin was a master at exploiting that.
Oh, he was a master manipulator. He positioned himself as the only one strong enough to restore order. The only one capable of defending the revolution from its enemies.
Both real and imagined.
Real and imagined, exactly.
And just like under Lenin, These enemies seem to like multiply at an alarming rate.
Oh, yeah. It was a chilling echo of what we saw before.
Yeah.
Anyone who deviated even slightly from the party line was suspect.
Right.
But Stalin took it a step further. Right. He wasn't content with just silencing dissent. Right. He wanted to control people's very thoughts.
Oh, wow.
That's scary stuff.
That's terrifying. Like, how do you do that? What were the tools?
Well, censorship became even more pervasive and ruthless. Independent media was completely eradicated. Wow. Any publications deemed even remotely critical were destroyed. Libraries were purged of anything that didn't align with the official ideology.
So they were essentially rewriting history.
They were. They understood the power of information and they were determined to monopolize it.
And it went beyond just controlling information. Right. They actively shaped people's worldview through propaganda.
Oh, yeah. Propaganda was huge.
Yeah. I imagine it was very hard to escape.
You couldn't. It was everywhere in schools.
Right.
Workplaces, art, literature.
Wow.
Even children's books.
It's like if the party said the sky was green, you better agree.
You better agree. Yeah.
And if you didn't, the consequences were dire.
Very dire. This is where the Chica, now renamed the OGPU, became Stalin's primary instrument of terror. They carried out mass arrests, deportations, and executions with a chilling efficiency.
And these acts of violence, were they random? No.
Oh, no, no, no. This wasn't random violence. This was calculated.
A campaign of terror.
A campaign of terror.
To instill fear.
Yes, to instill fear.
And crush any potential resistance.
Crush any potential resistance.
Who are they targeting?
Well, he was strategic about it.
Okay.
You know, he went after specific groups. Okay. Peasants who resisted collectivization, religious leaders who challenged his authority, intellectuals who dared to think independently, and even members of the Communist Party itself.
Wait, party members too? I thought they were supposed to be like the most loyal supporters of the regime.
Yeah, that's just it. No one was safe.
Wow.
Stalin was paranoid to the core. Yeah. He saw enemies everywhere.
Right.
Anyone who showed even a hint of independence. Right. Anyone who might potentially challenge his authority had to be eliminated.
And that paranoia culminated in the Great Purge.
The Great Purge.
This period of intense repression in the 1930s.
Exactly.
Where millions were arrested, executed, sent to labor camps.
The Great Purge was the terrifying apex of Stalin's reign of terror.
It's hard to believe that this all happened under the banner of socialism.
I know.
You know, creating this worker's paradise.
I know.
It's a complete perversion of those ideals.
It is a perversion.
Like, how could something that started with such noble intentions go so wrong?
That's the question that haunts Maximoff throughout his book. He argues that the seeds of this terror were present in the very ideology of Bolshevism, you know, in its belief in the absolute power of the state and the need to crush all opposition.
In a way, Stalin was just taking Lenin's ideas to their logical conclusion.
In a sense, yes. But you also have to remember that Stalin was a ruthlessly ambitious and cunning individual who exploited those ideas to serve his own lust for power.
So was there any like organized opposition to Stalin? I mean, were there any like groups or individuals who dared to resist?
There were there were pockets of resistance, but they were brutally and swiftly suppressed. Right. Maximoff highlights how even within the Communist Party, there were those who bravely spoke out against the excesses of the regime.
Wasn't Trotsky one of those people?
Trotsky. Yeah. He vehemently opposed Stalin's rise to power. Right. And criticized the authoritarian direction the Soviet Union was taking.
What happened to him?
Well, he was exiled from the Soviet Union. And then in 1940, he was assassinated.
Oh, wow.
On Stalin's orders.
Wow. So even exile wasn't enough.
No.
To escape the reach of Stalin's terror.
His reach was long. Yeah.
Yeah. It's like this system where fear was the only acceptable emotion.
Yes. And that fear extended far beyond the borders of the Soviet Union. The purges and show trials, they sent shockwaves through the international communist movement. A lot of people were disillusioned, questioning the very ideals they once believed in.
I can't even imagine like the level of paranoia and distrust.
Oh, it was intense.
That must have just permeated Soviet society.
It did. Maximoff describes the society where everyone was walking on eggshells, constantly afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing.
Right. Of being denounced.
Right.
By a neighbor, a colleague. Right. A family member even.
Even a family member.
Wow.
It was a world where trust had been completely eroded.
Yeah.
Replaced by suspicion and fear.
Wow. And the human cost.
Oh, the human cost is unimaginable.
Millions of lives shattered.
Yeah.
Families torn apart.
Yes.
All for the sake of one man's.
One man's ambition.
Ambition and lust for power.
Lust for power.
And it's essential to remember that this legacy of terror continues to haunt Russia to this day.
It does.
The scars of Stalinism.
They run deep.
Run deep, shaping the country's political culture and their relationship with the world.
It's a sobering reminder of the dangers of unchecked power.
Right.
And the fragility of freedom.
Yeah. As we move into the final part of this deep dive.
Yes.
I'm wondering what can we learn from this?
Yeah.
How can we apply these insights?
That's the big question.
The world today. Man, this has been quite a journey.
It has.
Through the Russian Revolution.
Yeah.
You know, from Lenin's promises of freedom to the brutal realities of his rule.
Right.
And then this horrifying expansion of terror under Stalin.
It's a lot to process.
It really is. And I think it's clear, you know, that the seeds of tyranny were sown very early on.
Very early on.
And the consequences were just devastating.
Yeah. It's a stark reminder that revolutions, even those launched with the noblest intentions, can be corrupted by power.
Yeah. So as we wrap up this deep dive, it's important to kind of shift our focus from the past to the present.
Right. Because understanding how terror takes root, how it spreads, how it infects even the most idealistic movements, that's essential to preventing its recurrence.
Yeah. So, I mean, one of the, I guess, the most important lessons here is this danger of unchecked power, right?
Yes. Both Lenin and Stalin were able to consolidate their authority because there were no effective checks and balances in place.
So it's like that that old adage power corrupts.
Yeah.
And absolute power corrupts. Absolutely.
Exactly.
That really holds true.
It does.
Even in the context of, you know, a revolution that's supposed to be championing the rights of the working class.
That's right. That's right. And while it's impossible to create perfect systems of governance, I think we can and must advocate for structures that promote transparency, accountability, and the rule of law.
Yeah. So it's about supporting the institutions that uphold these values.
Yeah.
And challenging the ones that undermine them.
Absolutely.
And I think that requires vigilance.
Yes.
Like a willingness to recognize those warning signs.
Yeah. The warning signs of authoritarianism. Right. And a willingness to speak out against injustice.
And it's got to be tough, you know, sometimes to do that.
It's very difficult.
When it's uncomfortable or inconvenient.
It can be very uncomfortable.
Yeah. And we've seen how easily fear can take hold.
Yes.
How it can paralyze people.
Right. Into silence.
Into silence.
In compliance.
Yeah. So I think courage is a crucial antidote. Yes. To that fear.
Yes. And courage isn't always about, you know. Right. Grand gestures of defiance. Right. Yeah. It's about the everyday choices we make. OK. It's about being willing to question authority. Yeah. To challenge the status quo, to speak truth to power, even in small ways.
And that means being critical of all forms of power.
Yes. All forms.
Not just the ones we disagree with politically.
That's right. We have to be willing to challenge our own assumptions.
Right.
Our own biases.
Right. And listen to perspectives that are different.
Yes. Very important.
Than our own.
It's easy to fall into that trap of thinking that our side is inherently good and their side is inherently bad.
Right. Right.
And that's a dangerous way to think.
Yeah. And I think Maximoff shows that, right?
Oh, he does. He demonstrates very powerfully how the lines between good and evil, between liberator and oppressor, can be blurred very easily when power goes unchecked.
And it's important to remember that, you know, Lenin truly believed he was acting in the best interests.
He did.
Of the working class. Right.
He did.
But his unwavering conviction. Right. His refusal to tolerate any dissent. Right. Ultimately led him down this path of just unimaginable brutality.
Unimaginable.
And it's this cautionary tale about, you know, the seductive nature of power and the dangers of ideological rigidity.
And this is why free speech is so crucial.
Yes.
It's not just about protecting individual rights. Right. It's about ensuring that we can hold power accountable and that we can challenge dangerous ideologies before they take root and metastasize.
And Maximoff was very clear.
Yes.
About how the Bolsheviks systematically silenced.
They did.
Any voices that challenged their narrative.
They did.
And they understood the power of information.
Oh, yeah.
And they completely controlled the media.
Yes. And we see this throughout history and even in the world today. Right. Governments, powerful interests.
Trying to control the narrative, to suppress dissent, to manipulate public opinion.
Right. And it's scary to think that with the rise of social media, it's easier than ever to spread propaganda and disinformation.
Yes. And these are incredibly powerful tools for communication. But they can also be used for manipulation and control.
Yeah. So I think media literacy is more important now than ever before.
More than ever.
We really got to be able to critically evaluate the information we consume.
Yes. And recognize bias.
Right.
Recognize propaganda.
Right.
Seek out diverse perspectives.
It's that old saying, don't believe everything you read on the Internet.
Right.
But these days, it's not just the Internet. It's everywhere. It's everywhere, you know. We're bombarded with information from all sides and we have to sift through the noise.
We do.
And figure out what's credible.
And that takes effort.
It does.
It's much easier to just passively consume information.
whatever's in front of us to accept the dominant narrative or question.
But this deep dive has shown us that kind of apathy and complacency can have dangerous consequences. So what's the antidote to this apathy?
Well, I think for one, we can support organizations that are fighting for human rights and democratic values. We can educate ourselves about the issues.
Engage in those discussions.
Engage in thoughtful discussions. Hold our elected officials accountable.
Yeah, and I think it's important to remember that even individual actions can make a difference.
Yes, they can. Speaking up against injustice, challenging harmful narratives, having difficult conversations with friends and family members. These are all acts of courage.
Yeah, and you never know they might have this ripple effect.
They might.
Right.
They might.
And I think it's also important to never underestimate the power of storytelling. Sharing these stories of those who have suffered under tyranny, fought for freedom, I think can connect with this history on a human level.
It does.
And inspire us to act.
It does.
So it's not just about remembering the past.
No.
It's about carrying that torch forward.
Yes.
It's about honoring those who came before us.
Yes.
By continuing to fight for a more just and equitable world.
Beautifully put.
And I think Maximoff would agree.
He would. I think he would.
This book, The Guillotine at Work, it's not just a chronicle of terror. It's also this testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
Yes, it is.
Even in the face of this unimaginable adversity.
Unimaginable.
And it reminds us that even in the darkest of times, there is always hope.
There is.
There's always the possibility of resistance.
Yes.
Of pushing back against oppression.
Yes.
Of fighting for a better future.
Let's keep this conversation going. Yeah, let's keep it going. Let's learn from the past, stay engaged in the present, and work together to create a future where all forms of tyranny, both the wet and the dry guillotine, are relegated to the history books.
Well, thank you for joining us on this deep dive into the Russian revelation. Yes. We hope it's inspired you to think critically about the world around you.
Yes.
And to really embrace your own role in shaping a more just and equitable future.
It's up to all of us.
Yeah. Until next time, keep exploring, keep questioning.
Keep fighting.
Keep fighting for what's right.