"We Bavarians are not Russians" - Munich and the Russian Revolution

Bavarians may not be Russians, but the capital of Bavaria played a significant role in the Russian October Revolution and its consequences. Thus, around the turn of the century, cosmopolitan Munich became the refuge of Russian revolutionaries from Lenin’s circle, who gathered in Schwabing to plan the fall of the Tsar. In the years 1918 and 1919, Munich was the scene of revolutionary events. For a short time, Bavaria even became a soviet republic with revolutionaries from Russia playing a leading role. After this experiment failed, Munich turned into a centre of right-wing ideas. The Isar metropolis attracted "white" Russian emigrants, monarchists and nationalists – people who were prepared to make a pact with National Socialists for the restoration of the tsarist regime in Russia.

The contents of this thematic dossier were developed by the year-12 cohort of students of the Elite Graduate Program for East European Studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and at the University of Regensburg.

Picture credits

Einführung: Kurt Eisner © via Wikimedia Commons, gemeinfrei | Die "Iskra" in München: © via Bayerische Staatsbibliothek | Oktoberrevolution und München: © via Bayerische Staatsbibliothek | "Weiße" Emigranten in München: © via Bundesarchiv | Biografien: © via Bayerische Staatsbibliothek | Bibliografie: © via Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

Authors

Year-12 cohort of students of the Elite Graduate Program for East European Studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and at the University of Regensburg

Elite Graduate Program for East European Studies

Editorial work:
Judith Brehmer
Natalja Kliewer
Carolin Piorun

Editorial supervisors:
Dr. Tobias Grill
Dr. Anna Vlachopoulou