“A civil war is breaking out...”: political discussions in the Olonets Province, October 1917 – January 1918

The article focuses on the language of conflict used by the representatives of various political forces during the first months after the October Revolution of 1917. For the first time, this issue is examined based on the materials of the Olonets Province, which was located on the periphery of the revolutionary events. By analyzing the press published in the province’s capital, the city of Petrozavodsk, the authors explore the specific use of words that shaped and structured conflicts and analyze the political contexts of these statements. The authors conclude that it was impossible to find a compromise between various political forces in the Olonets Province, which avoided bloody clashes in October and December 1917. As in the center, the demand for the restoration of the unity of “democracy” was often heard in Petrozavodsk, but it was only about the unity of socialist forces. This understanding of democracy did not allow for the participation of the “bourgeoisie” in political life. Therefore, the moderate socialists were trapped in their own rhetoric, complicating the unification of anti-Bolshevik forces.