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The Junkers and the Cadet Corps in 1917

The Junkers and the Cadets (both groups made up from military school graduates) played an important role in the revolutionary events of 1917, and were some of the last defenders of the Provisional Government. Still, many of the Junkers did not join this cause of their own volition. A lot of them weren’t so much defending the power of Kerensky as they were fighting against the Bolsheviks, who were trying to break down the old army and make Russia withdraw from the war, which was seen by the majority of the students as an act of disgrace. So, the Cadets came to be the main armed opponents of the Bolshevik troops in the events of 1917.

For a long time, the Cadet Corps and the Junker schools remained a stronghold of support for the government and the monarchy – a contributing factor was the fact that the students of these institutions lived in relative isolation.

Armed Yunker (Cadet) units on Moscow streets. Sputnik

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Also, there were long-standing traditions under which the students were brought up to be loyal to the Tsar and the motherland. The Junkers actively participated in suppressing the July demonstrations organized by the Bolsheviks and carried out arrests of the participants.

During the October Revolution, the Junkers tried to crush the rebellion. It is known that on the evening of November 7 (October 25), Lenin, who was trying to sneak into the Smolny Palace together with Nadezhda Krupskaya, barely escaped being arrested by a group of Junkers.

In any case, military schools continued to exist even after the Bolshevik victory. Most military schools were dissolved by the Bolshevik authorities soon after the October Revolution, but new military schools – which existed partly upon the foundation of the old schools – were opened in 1918, along with the creation of the Red Army.