On the brink of the Civil War: the events of the 1917 “Kornilov days” in the Vyborg garrison

The article is based on materials from the Russian State Military Historical Archive and for the first time introduces into scientific circulation the investigative case conducted in the fall of 1917 in the 42nd Army Corps stationed in Finland. The investigation examined the causes and consequences of excesses within the Vyborg garrison during the days of the anti-government rebellion led by General Lavr Kornilov against the Provisional Government. This unrest resulted in an escalation of violence by lower-ranking soldiers against officers of the garrison and fortress. Exploring these archival sources is particularly relevant amid ongoing social and scholarly debates surrounding the events of 1917. Participants of this discourse are trying to determine whether these events constituted a revolution or confusion and to explore the mechanisms for involving ordinary soldiers and sailors in violent actions amid the society’s explosive politicization on the eve of the Russian Civil War. Using the example of the tragic events in the Vyborg garrison, the article demonstrates that processes of “democratization” within the army and navy led to the emergence in elected military committees of ordinary soldiers and lower-ranking officers who were previously alienated from political life and mastered political skills only during the revolution. It is concluded that the insufficiently realized possibility of finding a common language with the bulk of ordinary servicemen was the reason for the isolation of the “committee class” representatives from the soldiers and sailors who initially expressed confidence in them. This disconnect hindered their capacity to protect officers from the excesses accompanying the protest movements of lower ranks and from criminal violence.