The Livny Uprising in August 1918 was one of the first peasant insurrections to arise against the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic. The uprising, in which about 10 thousand people took part, was caused by the peasants' rejection of the policy of

war communism War communism or military communism (, ''Vojenný kommunizm'') was the economic and political system that existed in Soviet Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921. War communism began in June 1918, enforced by the Supreme Economi ...

and requisitioning by the Bolsheviks, and the intelligentsia's rejection of the complete transfer of power into the hands of the Bolsheviks. The culmination of the peasant uprising was the capture of the town of Livny by the rebels, which they held for less than two days. The uprising was suppressed with the help of reinforcements sent from

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka Rive ...

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Livny was a city surrounded by wheat-producing territories, in the middle of the trade routes between

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

and Oriol. There were also a small dairy and flour-producing industries and a railway repair shop. Most of the inhabitants were villagers, of whom 70% were poor, 20% lived between misery and some prosperity and 10% were kulaks. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

easily took control of Oriol Oblast, where the city of Livny was. They tried to win the support of the rural population by founding Poor Peasant Committees to govern them, which was strongly resisted. The final spark was given by the forced seizure of grain carried out within the framework of

, which initiated a policy of ruthless persecution against all opponents and punishments against any village that resisted. At the beginning of August 1918 Ivan Klyopov, a Left SR and former Soviet official, led a local peasant revolt against Bolshevik rule. A force of 10,000 to 12,000 villagers stormed Livny on 18 August. The Bolsheviks in the city were barely 200 plus two machine guns; they resisted but had to retreat to the train station, which was besieged and fell the next day. On 20 August

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...

forces, international brigades, a cavalry squadron, two infantry detachments and an armored train armed with a 3-inch cannon and two machine guns, arrived from Oriol. They reached Livny, dispersed the mob that confronted them, arrested and shot several leaders. Reports speak of at least 70 Bolsheviks and 300 rebels killed. Klyopov was able to escape but was never heard from again. This uprising is often considered a ''bunt'', a brief, punctual and insignificant revolt. However, it was a sign of a war brewing between the peasantry and the new Soviet state. Large-scale rebellions in the countryside began only a year later, and the real war between the two began after the defeat of the

White Movement The White movement,. The old spelling was retained by the Whites to differentiate from the Reds. also known as the Whites, was one of the main factions of the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It was led mainly by the Right-wing politics, right- ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

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