Mercy amid Terror? The Role of Amnesties during Russia's Civil War

Abstract

Russia's civil war was a period of escalating violence as the Bolsheviks struggled to retain power, yet it was also a period of numerous amnesties. This article analyses the nature and impact of these amnesties, and explores their value to the Bolsheviks. These amnesties were not a sign of mercy; they never admitted mistakes or granted innocence, but excused or underplayed crimes and their significance. Instead, amnesties had a range of practical and political functions for the state, not least of which was to act as a 'safety valve' to release burgeoning pressures on the fledgling justice system and tensions between state and society. BiographyMatthew Rendle is Lecturer in History at the University of Exeter.