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Red Guards

A militia of regular factory workers who, when not working, carried arms. While the Red Guards were untrained and undisciplined, they were never lacking in revolutionary spirit.

Red Guards were first formed during the Revolution of 1905, and were created again by factory workers, from the bottom up, in March, 1917 to keep order in Petrograd. The Provisional Goverment saw these people's militias as a threat, and constantly sought to disarm them, arrest their leaders, and outright attack them. After the October Revolution, the Red Guards would be organized into the Red Army.

Red International of Labor Unions

Profintern: Organized in Moscow, July 1920, as the Communist rival to the International Federation of Trade Unions (Amsterdam International). The Red International of Labour Unions, widely known as the Profintern, was an international body established with the aim of co-ordinating Communist activities within trade unions. It was intended to act as a counterweight to the influence of the “Amsterdam International”, the Social Democratic International Federation of Trade Unions (branded as the “Yellow International” by the Comintern). Its formation was proposed by Grigory Zinoviev at the Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) in March 1920, but the founding conference, attended by national delegations from a large number of countries, did not take place until July 1921. The full-time secretariat of RILU consisted of the Spaniard, Andres Nin, the Russian trade unionist Mikhail Tomsky and General Secretary Solomon A. Lozovsky.

In addition to its Moscow headquarters, RILU established four overseas offices in Berlin (Central European Bureau), Paris, (Latin Bureau), Bulgaria (Balkan Bureau) and the United Kingdom (British Bureau). In Britain, the Bureau worked closely with the National Minority Movement. North American Communist Parties established the Workers' Unity League (Canada) and the Trade Union Unity League (United States)

In May 1927, the Pan Pacific Trade Union Secretariat was established in Shanghai as the Asia and Pacific branch of the RILU. In 1929, the Confederación Sindical Latinoamericana was formed as the Latin American branch of RILU.

The Profintern was dissolved in 1937.

Reichstag

The legislative assembly of the North German Confederation (1867-71) and later the German Empire (1871-1919). The Reichstag later became the soverign assembly of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) and was disolved by the Nazis.

Derived from the German word "Reich" meaning kingdom, and "tag" meaning day.

Revolutionary Military Committee of the Petrograd Soviet

Set up on October 12 (25), 1917, on instructions from the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party. Its members were drawn from the Central Committee, the Petersburg Committee, the Petrograd Soviet, factory committees, trade unions and military organisations. It operated under the leadership of the Central Committee and was closely bound up with the Bolshevik Military Organisation in forming Red Guard detachments and arming the workers. Its main task was to prepare the armed uprising in accordance with the Central Committee directives. It carried on diverse activity in organising the combat forces for victory in the October Revolution. Its leading core, the Revolutionary Military Centre, was formed by the Central Committee on October 16 (29), 1917, and received daily directions from Lenin. After the victory of the October Revolution and the election of the Soviet Government at the Second Congress of Soviets, the main task of the Revolutionary Military Committee was to fight the counter-revolution and safeguard the revolutionary order. It handed over its functions to various People's Commissariats as they arose. It was dissolved on December 5 (18), 1917.