Beginning of the Kronstadt Rebellion

Date: March 1, 1921 • Location: Kronshtadt, Russian Federation

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1921.

The Kronstadt rebellion began following mass protests in Petrograd demanding greater freedom in Russia with sailors and citizens taking up arms against the Bolsheviks.

The Kronstadt rebellion was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors, naval infantry, and civilians against the Bolshevik government in the Russian port city of Kronstadt. Located on Kotlin Island in the Gulf of Finland, Kronstadt defended the former capital city, Petrograd, as the base of the Baltic Fleet. For sixteen days in March 1921, rebels in Kronstadt's naval fortress rose in opposition to the Soviet government which they had helped to consolidate. Led by Stepan Petrichenko, it was the last major revolt against Bolshevik rule on Russian territory during the Russian Civil War.