Tony Rocchi

Tony Rocchi13.05.2024

Part 1. Comparing the Russian Revolutions of 1905-1907 and 1917-1922 to other revolutions in different countries and regions has its risks. In general, it is safest to set the Russian revolutions in the entire history of European revolutions beginning with the revolution of 1768 in Geneva, Switzerland and finishing with the Russian Revolution of 1917-1922. […]

Tony Rocchi08.05.2024

Just how unique were the Russian Revolutions of 1905-1907 and 1917-1922? Both revolutions had their elements of uniqueness, but you can determine their uniqueness only by setting these revolutions in the entire history of European revolutions beginning with the revolution of 1768 in Geneva, Switzerland and finishing with the Russian Revolution of 1917-1922. This means […]

Tony Rocchi11.04.2024

The far-right Black Hundreds movement had its biggest mass appeal in the borderlands of the Russian Empire, rather than in the core ethnic Russian regions in the empire. Thousands of people in the nine Western Provinces, a transitional zone between the traditional Russian and Polish states, enthusiastically accepted the Black Hundreds message of <<Russia for […]

Tony Rocchi27.02.2024

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Far-right political terrorism occupies a virtually minimal place in the history of political terrorism in the Russian Empire between 1901-1911. The overwhelming majority of the 17,000 people killed or wounded in terrorist attacks were victims of left-wing terrorist groups. However, terrorism and other acts of violence committed by the Black Hundreds [черносотенцы] — members of […]

Tony Rocchi23.01.2024

Historians generally agree that the People’s Will [Народная Воля] suffered a major defeat because it did not overthrow the government after the assassination of Tsar Alexander II on March 1, 1881. At best, the assassination was a Pyrrhic victory because the successful assassination was accomplished at too great a cost for the People’s Will. The […]

Tony Rocchi08.01.2024

One of the darkest chapters in the history of the People’s Will [Народная Воля] was how some narodovol’tsy supported a wave of anti-Jewish pogroms [погромы] in 1881-1882 in the southern and southwestern provinces, now forming part of Ukraine. A pogrom is a mob attack direct against certain categories of people, considered evil alien elements by […]

Tony Rocchi24.12.2023

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The conspiratorial activity of the People’s Will [Народная Воля] gave birth to the conspiratorial activity of the loyalist Sacred Brotherhood [Святая Дружина]. Just as the narodovol’tsy [members of the People’s Will] saw themselves engaged in single combat with the autocracy, the druzhinniki [дружинники, members of the Sacred Brotherhood] saw themselves as engaged in single combat […]

Tony Rocchi17.12.2023

The People’s Will was a political secret society and a revolutionary terrorist conspiracy. Revolutionary Mystification and Deceit Political parties were illegal in Russia until the Revolution of 1905-1907 so the narodovol’tsy had no other choice but to form a secret society. In many ways, the People’s Will, especially its Executive Committee, was the culmination of […]

Tony Rocchi15.12.2023

The terrorists of the People’s Will [Народная Воля] became legends in their own time. Many of their admirers included Russian and foreign writers. Heroes in World Literature Among the foreign writers who admired the narodovol’tsy [members of the People’s Will] were Emile Zola, Victor Hugo, Guy Maupassant, Jules Verne, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, and […]

Tony Rocchi13.12.2023

The People’s Will [Народная Воля] occupies a special and even honorable place in the history of Russian, European, and world terrorism. A Legendary Terrorist Organization Even historians who usually condemn terrorism often make an exception for the People’s Will. For example, American specialist Walter Laqueur wrote <<Sofiya Perovskaya and Vera Figner are symbols of one […]

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Tony Rocchi

Russian and European Revolutions: More Risky Comparisons

Russian and European Revolutions: the Risk of Making False Comparisons

The Stronghold of the Black Hundreds in the Russian Empire

Revolution from the Right: Russia’s Black Hundreds

The People’s Will: Victory or Defeat?

The People’s Will and Russia’s Jews

One Conspiracy Creates Another Conspiracy

A Super Revolutionary Conspiracy

The Appeal of the People’s Will

The People’s Will — Myths and Realities

Jack London Covered The War Where My Ancestors Fought: Part 3

Winston Churchill Through My Father’s Eyes

World War I Heroes In Memoriam: Part One

Build Where We Can, Not Where We Want