Революционные события в России в прессе канадских провинций Прерий

Abstract

This paper discusses the perception of revolutionary events in Russia, the February and the October revolutions in particular, in newspapers of three Prairie provinces of Canada (Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan). These events were perceived by the press of West Canada (as well as the press of other Canadian regions) rather ambiguously - perception of the February and October events was diametrically opposite. The February revolution was greeted by the press of the Canadian West with enthusiasm. Newspapers welcomed the overthrow of Russian autocracy, and hoped that new Russian democratic regime would be able more effectively fight against Germany. The Tsarist regime was sharply criticized by the Western Canadian press. Tsar’s government was blamed for ignoring democratic freedoms, the bureaucratization of the state apparatus and, in particular, the collapse of the army. For the Prairie’s provincial press, the most important was precisely the question of whether Russia could continue to participate in the war - the success of the Canadian forces in the Western Front directly depended on the effectiveness of Russians troops in the Eastern Front. Both the establishment of democracy in Russia and hopes for a turnaround on the Eastern Front were associated by the West Canadian press with the name of the Chairman of the Provisional Government - A. F. Kerensky. However, he could not live up to expectation of Canadians - his popularity fell sharply after the failure of the July offensive by the Russian army. Nevertheless, after the events of October 1917, the press of Western Canada completely sided with the ousted Provisional Government, sharply criticizing the actions of the Bolsheviks. This was due, in many respects, to their negative reputation. Since before the October Revolution press of the Prairie’s provinces portrayed them as dangerous radicals. After October 1917 in Western Canadian newspapers a large-scale anti-Bolshevik campaign started. The Bolsheviks was accused of establishing a dictatorship in Russia, suppressing dissent and, in particular, close cooperation with Germany. Thus, the newspapers of three Western Canadian provinces perceived the two Russian revolutions in completely different ways: the February Revolution was enthusiastically accepted by them, while the October Revolution was rejected.