From Cooperation to Domination: Food and the Formation of Revolutionary Authorities in Shlissel’burg District, 1914-1921

• In Event: Liberation through Cooperation: The Politics of Food in Early 20th-Century Russia

Abstract

The paper follows the breadcrumb trail of entanglement between food and local authority during the war and revolution era, as control of provisions was key to political control. Petrograd Province's Shilssel'burg District, a "consuming" area not producing food surpluses, provides evidence indicating that Russia-wide policies and forces had only limited influence on the local level, and cannot be the sole explanation for the occurrence of the revolution and the shape of the revolutionary regime. Organization of food procurement and distribution via consumer cooperatives during World War I was crucial to forming a local counter-elite, who maintained their hold on local-level power through control of co-ops, canteens and food detachments.

Author

• Dmitrii Ivanov, Independent Scholar