On Wednesday I attended the film Battleship Potemkin. Before seeing this film I knew little about how the Russian Revolution began but after the viewing, I had a much greater understanding of what led up to the first Russian Revolution. I was quite shocked at how horrifying the conditions were for the low ranking men, while the officers were granted significantly higher standards of living. One scene in particular that showed this was the scene in which the sailors complain that the meat they are being served is rotten and infested with maggots. Despite the fact that the meat looks repulsive, the ship doctor says that the meat is perfectly fine and that the maggots were not anything to make a big deal about. Up until this point I had not realized the magnitude of the difference in treatment among the classes. As one of the sailors puts it “Russian POW’s in Japan are fed better than this.” This comment illustrates how many Russians felt they were not being adequately cared for by anyone in the government.

Another part of the movie that I found particularly interesting was how easy it was to sway the Russians into action against figures of authority. As the dissenters are about to be executed on the ship, Vakulinchuk yells to the firing squad “Brothers, who are you shooting?” This simple statement is all that these men needed in order to turn their weapons against their abusive officers. Later, when Vakulinchuk’s body is on display in the city, the masses are moved to action through the sight of this fallen hero, whose body lay with a sign that said “Killed for a bowl of soup.” It appears that by this point, the Russian people were so fed up with their government, that they only need a small spark in order to ignite, a spark that Vakulinchuk provided through his death. Although this revolution was deposed by the czars men, the killings of the masses only further served to spark the hatred and resentment of the government.

After seeing this movie, I understand how it could be such a powerful form of propaganda amongst Russians as it shows the incredible cruelty of the czars government, while at the same time advocating the rise of the masses against an oppressive power.