The Fall of the Romanovs and Ramifications, Part II

 The provisional governments that took power after Nicholas II's abdication on March 2, 1917 weren't able to hold on to the government. The forces at work were simply to difficult to withstand. With the country still in turmoil, the Bolshevik movement became a steamroller. On October 28 they stormed the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and seize control of power from the Provisional Government. Soviets were set up in municipalities across the crumbling empire. A soviet was a party committee.

The imagery of early Soviet stamps is bold. Take a look at this issue from 1918 with a hand holding a sword breaking a chain. This is obviously an idealistic image, and the stamps from this time are definitely idealistic. As time went on, though, things were not going the way that many had expected. Dissenters from the Bolshevik philosophy were rounded up and often executed without trial. The revolution that had claimed to be in the best interest of the people now became just another repressive regime.

Economically, things were generally good for awhile. In March, 1918 Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany to pull out of the war. As a part of the treaty Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine, Georgia, and Finland; gave up Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Germany and Austria-Hungary; and ceded smaller territories to Turkey.

Finland had been a part of the Russian empire since 1809. It had already declared independence from Russia on December 6, 1917. While a part of the Russian empire Russian stamps were used there such as the one on the left, below.

Russian style stamp for Finland, 1911

 

 

 

One of the first Finnish stamps, 1918

From 1918-1920 a group of Russian armies in the northern part of Russia attempted to overthrow the Bolshevik revolution. This was during the period of 1917-1923, collectively known as the Russian Civil War. Known as the White Army or the Army of the North, this movement was never able to succeed because of lack of recruits and general disorganization. It was eventually defeated in 1920 by the Red Army. They were able to set up their own postal system with stamps, however.

Two stamps from the White Army, 1918-1920

Relatively speaking the stamps for the White Army were crude, but they served the purpose.

Stamp from the North West Army, 1919-20

 Another White Army, the North West Army, was active in the Baltic region. They too fell apart from disorganization but had their own postal system. Their stamps were of about the same quality as the Army of the North (White Army). It may seem that postage stamps would not be a priority but it is important to remember that a postal system was essential to the morale of an army. They had no other way of communication.

Economic conditions began to deteriorate in Russia in 1920. By 1921 a famine took hold in parts of Russia and Ukraine. During this time the government resorted to overstamping old czarist era stamps to save money. In the last post I offered a picture of a 1889 50 kopek issue. The same stamp and many others were marked with the sickle and hammer and a new value.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned above, the early stamps of Bolshevik Russia are very bold in nature. Some bear the inescapable signs of hyperinflation, as does the stamp below.

 

 

 

 

250 ruble stamp, 1921

 

250 ruble stamp with 7500 ruble overstamp, 1922

 

250 ruble stamp with 100,000 ruble overstamp, late 1922

 Given the harsh economic conditions the Bolshevik government still celebrated the fifth anniversary of the 1917 revolution.

Conditions in Ukraine were especially bad. In 1923 Ukraine, shortly before it was absorbed into the newly formed Soviet Union, issued four semi-postal stamps to raise money for victims of the famine. A semi-postal stamp is one that adds a surcharge to raise money for a particular cause. They have been popular in Europe since the nineteenth century. Only a very few have been issued in the United States. The stark image of this stamp with the farmer wresting a sickle from the hands of death is a graphic reminder of the suffering experienced during this time.

In Part 3, we'll look at Lenin.