Russian Revolution

I just finished reading a book, Red Mutiny, a few weeks ago. It was a book on how a Russian Navy mutaneered against it's largest and most powerful battleship, The Putumkin. The book had references for about 30 pages in the back of the book, so it was obviously well educated, however, it read like a novel, switching from first person narrative between a few pivitol characters.

The Russian Navy was treated harshly, and under the most adverse of conditions. From living in housing quarters that sweltered up to 100 degrees and inhaling toxic fumes caused by the burning coal, to eating maggot infested meat for dinner, they endured it all. Eventually, it got so bad, and revolutionary talks became initiated so often, that the crew aboard the Putumkin started a mutiny, killing all the officers and throwing their bodies overboard.

They then sailed to Odessa, a major dock and thriving market place in Russian, and threatened the city with their powerful cannons. They were able to rally factory workers alike to go on strike, all but killing the Russian economy and trading. However, in the end, they were too split amongst the crew and neither side was able to enforce the actions they wanted. Some were too scared to retaliate on Mother Russia, and others wanted to, but feared a counter-mutiny from their peers.

The Putumkin ended up getting cut off from every port they sailed to, and without food, water, and coal to keep running the ship, they eventually were forced to surrender. They surrendered the battleship, but fled to Romania (I think?) for shelter, where they were granted immunity from being deported back to Russian to sit trial.

It was really an amazing story, and although this took place in the early 1900's, around 1905 I believe, the Russian Revolution didn't take place until over a decade later. It was however, the spark that ignited the revolution, even though the aftermath of the revolution, Lenin and Stalin as the predecessors, wasn't what they had envisioned.