White Army, Black Baron
English: The Red Army is the Strongest | |
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Красная Армия всех сильней | |
Lyrics | Pavel Gorinshtein |
Music | Samuel Pokrass |
The Red Army is the Strongest (Russian: Красная Армия всех сильней, tr. Krasnaya Armiya vsekh silney), popularly known as "White Army, Black Baron" (Russian: Белая Армия, Чëрный Барон, tr. Belaya Armiya, Chyorny Baron), is a marching song written by Pavel Grigorievich Gorinshtejn (1895–1961, a.k.a. Pavel Gorin, Pavel Grigoriev) and composed by Samuil Pokrass (1897–1939). Written in 1920, during the Russian Civil War, the song was meant as a combat anthem for the Red Army.
History
The immediate context of the song is the final Crimean offensive in the Russian Civil War by Pyotr Wrangel's troops in July 1920. The second verse refers to the call to a final effort in the Crimea published by the Revolutionary Military Council in Pravda on 10 July. While the song has a separate refrain, the verses repeat the claim that "The Red Army is stronger than all", which came to be the song's conventional title.[citation needed] The first verse of the song reads as follows:
Белая армия, чёрный барон |
The White Army and the Black Baron Tsar's throne,But from the taiga to the British seas The Red Army is the strongest of all! |
"Black Baron" was a nickname of Wrangel's, from his alleged penchant for wearing (and dressing some of his elite units in) black uniforms. Wrangel's offensive was indeed halted by the Red Army, and Wrangel and his troops were forced to retreat to Crimea in November 1920, pursued by both Red and Black cavalry and infantry. Wrangel and the remains of his army were evacuated from Crimea to Constantinople on 14 November 1920.
The song became popular in the early Soviet Union. It was sung in 1923 at the rally in Leningrad against the
In its early oral transmission during 1920–1925, the song underwent some variation. Gorinshtejn later recalled that his original lyrics had four or five verses, and that his original refrain was slightly different from the received version (reading Пусть воин красный / Сжимает властно /Свой штык упорною рукой. / Ведь все должны мы / Неудержимо /Идти в последний, смертный бой).
The song was first printed in 1925, and subsequently published under the titles of От тайги до британских морей ("From the Taiga to the British Seas"), Красная Армия ("Red Army") and Красноармейская ("[Song] of the Red Army"). It was not until 1937 that the conventional title had settled on Красная Армия всех сильней ("The Red Army is the Strongest"). [citation needed] During the 1920s to 1940s, the song was reproduced without indication of its authors. It was only in the 1950s that musicologist A. Shilov established the authorship of Gorinshtejn and Pokrass.
The Russian song was adopted by the
In Red Vienna, the tune was used for the song "Die Arbeiter von Wien" (The Workers of Vienna) highlighting those fighting for a bright future of the proletariat.
Translations and variations
The tune was also used for
Weißes Gesindel und adlige Brut |
White riff-raff and noble scum |
A popular variant of the song, "Die Arbeiter von Wien" was written by Fritz Brügel in 1927, following the July Revolt. It became popular through its use by Austrian socialists (see also Republikanischer Schutzbund) who fought the Dollfuss regime in the short-lived Austrian Civil War in February 1934.[3] The first verse of Brügel's version reads:
Wir sind das Bauvolk der kommenden Welt, |
We are the builders of the coming world, |
The German version was further adapted in Turkish, as Avusturya İşçi Marşı ("Austrian Workers' March"). The first verse of Turkish version reads:
Hayat denilen kavgaya girdik, çelik adımlarla yürüyoruz |
We walked into a fight called "life", we are stepping with steel feet |
Lyrics
Russian lyrics after Kryukov and Shvedov (1977)
Cyrillic script | Latin script | IPA transcription |
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I |
I |
1 |
Translations into English
Literal | Poetic (singable) |
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I |
I |
See also
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-11-15. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Rot Front. Neues Kampf-Liederbuch, Berlin 1925, No. 28 (p. 46); reprinted in: Zum roten Sturm voran. Kampfliederbuch, Berlin 1926, No. 28 (p. 46); Mit Lenin. 50 Kampflieder, (ca. 1928/29), No. 39 (p. 24); Front Kämpfer Liederbuch, Berlin 1928/29, No. 39 (p. 26).
- ISBN 3-88520-049-X. [page needed]
Further reading
- A. V. Shilov, Из истории первых советских песен 1917–24 ["On the History of the First Soviet Songs, 1917–24"], Moscow, 1963.
- A. Sokhor, Как начиналась советская музыка ["How Soviet Music began"], "МЖ" no. 2, 1967.
- N. Kryukov, M. Shvedov, Русские советские песни (1917–1977) ["Russian Soviet Songs 1917–1977], "Худож. лит.", 1977.
- Yu. E. Biryukov, История создания песни «Красная Армия всех сильнее» ["History of the Creation of the Song “The Red Army is the Strongest of All”] (muzruk.info, 2009)