Civil War in Russia
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Civil War in Russia |
| Country of production |
Federal Republic of Germany Austria Switzerland |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1967/68 |
| length | 450 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK Unknown |
| Rod | |
| Director | Wolfgang Schleif |
| script | Helmut Andics |
| production | Fritz Hoppe for Studio Hamburg |
| music | Unknown |
| camera |
Albert Benitz Heinz Bohn |
| cut | Peter Harlos |
Civil War in Russia is a five-part television film by Wolfgang Schleif . It was produced jointly by ZDF , ORF and SRG in 1967/68 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution in Studio Hamburg . The first broadcast of the first part took place on November 3, 1967. The entire broadcast was repeated with the first part in April / May 1968 on Fridays from 8:00 p.m. Part of the filming took place in Oldenburg , where historical buildings served as the backdrop for the Tauride Palace in Petrograd .
action
First world war . In the course of the Russian February Revolution in 1917 , Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on March 15, 1917. The Duma forms a provisional government to which the Social Revolutionary Kerensky belongs as Minister of Justice. The German Supreme Army Command (OHL) made it possible for the Bolshevik Lenin , who lived in exile in Switzerland , to return to Russia by rail through the Reich. The OHL under General Ludendorff speculates on a communist revolution. It is supposed to detach Russia from its alliance with the Allies , as the Provisional Government continues to fight alongside the Allies.
The October Revolution of 1917, largely organized by Trotsky , brought the Bolsheviks to power. Since they are in the minority in the Duma , they dissolve the parliament and establish a dictatorship with the allied Social Revolutionaries , through which the Russian civil war is triggered.
In March 1918, the close Bolsheviks with the Central Powers the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , against Trotsky as People's Commissar has opposed vigorously for exterior as it the imperialist aims of the German Empire and Austria-Hungary , especially in the Ukraine does not want to support.
In his new role as People's Commissar for Warfare, Trotsky organized the Red Army in the spring of 1918 to replace the provisional Red Guards . Trotsky makes use of former tsarist officers such as Generals Brusilov or Bonsch-Brujewitsch . They serve as military specialists in the Red Army, since the Bolsheviks lack experienced officers and NCOs . Trotsky drives his armored train thousands of kilometers from one front to the other to restlessly organize the warfare.
Due to political differences of opinion between the Bolsheviks and the Social Revolutionaries, the assassination of the German ambassador von Mirbach on July 6, 1918 by the assassins Blumkin and Andrejew triggered the uprising of the Left Social Revolutionaries , which, however, was suppressed by the Bolsheviks. On August 30, 1918, the committed anarchist and social revolutionary Fanny Kaplan one assassination attempt on Lenin. Lenin survives the attack, Kaplan is shot.
The Bolsheviks and their Red Army are in a dangerous position. Their area of influence is limited to central Russia, while white troops approach their territory from all directions . The US , UK , France and Japan are intervening and sending troops and military advisers to the White Army. One of the most important factors in the civil war was the Czechoslovak legions , supported by France and Great Britain , which controlled practically all of Siberia as far as the Pacific by occupying the Trans-Siberian Railway . Its commander , the Czech Major General Gaida , becomes a key figure in the civil war for a short time. But the simple legionaries, mostly former Russian prisoners of war from the ranks of the Austro-Hungarian Army , have no interest in internal Russian disputes and want to reach Pacific ports via the Trans-Siberian as soon as possible in order to return by ship to their new home country Czechoslovakia .
At the end of 1918, Admiral Koltschak tried to coordinate the various counterrevolutionary white forces as Reich Administrator from Omsk . However, all his efforts fail because of the different positions of the whites. The Czechoslovak legions leave Russia via East Asia, eliminating an important military factor in the counterrevolution. After being extradited to the Social Revolutionaries by the Czechoslovak Legions, Kolchak is executed by the Bolsheviks.
The Bolsheviks win the civil war. They have the military advantage of the inner line and control with Moscow the central railway junction via which troops can be moved across Russia. The white opposition, a colorful mixture of monarchists to anarchists, is completely divided. After the defeat, the leaders go into exile.
1921. After three years of civil war, Russia is completely drained, especially since Poland invaded Ukraine in 1920 and can only be beaten back with difficulty. There is still a white peasant resistance movement in southern Russia. The political reprisals of the Bolsheviks lead to the Kronstadt sailors' uprising . He is personally crushed by Trotsky, the military victor of the civil war.
occupation
Episodes
| episode | title | First broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Revolution year 1917 | November 3, 1967 (Wh .: April 26, 1968) |
| 2 | Struggle for power | May 3, 1968 |
| 3 | The counter-revolution | May 10, 1968 |
| 4th | The end in Siberia | 17th May 1968 |
| 5 | The betrayed revolution | May 24, 1968 |
criticism
... There are whole armies of extras at work . An impressive wealth of details is presented to the viewer. Only - who should come with? Anyone who slept in history class cannot find their way around.
Bild + Funk , No. 47/1967, page 16.
... Although Wolfgang Schleif's sometimes rather awkward word direction reminded us again and again of western stories like Bonanza instead of the Soviet October Revolution, but the small deficiencies were largely made up for by lavishly staged crowd scenes, sovereign camera work, luxurious decorations, dazzling masks, excellent cast and a thoroughly convincing book. The documentary play should have found a provisional form here ...
Hörzu No. 47/1967, p. 12.
... This first episode of the five-part series overwhelmed the viewer. It was not possible to clearly characterize the changing fronts, parties and opposing parties. The actors were pretty much lost in the epic of truly Russian proportions. The only prominent actor was Kurt Pieritz as Kerensky, Nikolaj Rytjkov's Lenin seemed colorless.
AK: Revolutions-Epos , in: Nordwest-Zeitung of November 4, 1967, p. 2.
Production notes
Production consultant was Dr. Herbert Kapsitz; apparently this is a pseudonym .
The final shooting took place in August 1967 in Oldenburg. The city hospital, the Peter Friedrich Ludwigs Hospital , served as the external backdrop for the Tauride Palace in Petrograd. The Oldenburg State Theater served as the interior backdrop . The ZDF had hired around 250 extras through the Oldenburg employment office to simulate an attack on the palace. For this purpose, snow was simulated using plastic strips that were scattered around with a discarded aircraft engine, while the extras, representing Bolshevik revolutionaries, sweat in winter uniforms at 24 ° Celsius in the shade. The weapon prop came from Madrid . Although the police had cordoned off the location including the entire Peterstraße, some of the typical Oldenburg cyclists were still caught in the shot during the first shoot, which drove director Schleif to despair, while the actors of Lenin and Trotsky watched the scenes with "interest". The daily wage of the extras was DM 30 . Hospital operations were maintained during filming; Visitors had to enter the building from the rear.
Lore
In July / August 1999, all five parts aired on Phoenix . The film has not been edited on VHS or DVD so far (as of August 2018) .
literature
- HD: “Revolution” in Peterstrasse. It was snowing and smoking for the cameras of the Second German Television , in: Nordwest-Zeitung of August 8, 1967, p. 13.
- AK: Revolutions-Epos , in: Nordwest-Zeitung of November 4, 1967, p. 2.