Anniversaries of the October revolution during the civil war: revisiting features of the Soviet emotional regime

Using the approaches of emotion researchers (primarily William Reddy's concept of emotives), the author analyzes the early history of celebrations of anniversaries of the October Revolution as a special emotional time and demonstrates the features of the language used by different people - supporters, enemies, and opponents of the Bolsheviks - when speaking about emotions experienced during the holiday. The author shows that the celebrations of anniversaries of the revolution were not only vivid artistic actions and important political events, but also a technique of emotions training. The specific emotional atmosphere of the holiday made it an important political resource. Meanwhile, the holiday was a stressful time for its organizers: during the preparation of celebrations, logistical problems arose due to a lack of resources in the context of the world crisis, and there were contradictions related to what emotions the celebration of the anniversary of the revolution should evoke. This was manifested in the discussion on the correlation of the holiday and the Red Terror, and in the dispute about whether it was appropriate to recall the fallen heroes of the revolution on holidays. Not only the political environment (lack of resources, security problems, etc.), but also the features of the political culture formed a repertoire of festive emotions. This political culture, the essential elements of which (the cult of the revolutionary leader and sacralization of the revolution) began form before the Bolsheviks came to power, was a powerful force determining the situation no less than the purposive actions of specific political actors and the emerging Soviet institutions.