White Army, Black Baron

[necturus]

This is a modern performance of a song from the Russian Civil War of 1918-20, with accompanying animation.


"White army, black baron prepare for us a new Tsar's throne,
But from the taiga to the British seas, the red army is stronger than them all;"

Refrain:

"So let the red [army] grip its bayonet firmly with callused hand,
And we must all go unhesitatingly into the last deadly battle."
[but originally: "with the Fleet detachment comrade Trotsky calls us to deadly battle"]

"Red army, march! march forward! the Rev[olutionary] Mil[itary] Council calls us to battle;
After all, from the taiga to the British seas, the red army is stronger than them all."

Refrain

"We fan the global fire, levelling banks and prisons to the ground;
[originally not "banks" but "churches"]
After all, from the taiga to the British seas, the red army is stronger than them all."

Refrain


The crowned two-headed eagle, originally a Roman (Byzantine) symbol, was taken over by imperial Russia ("the third Rome") along with the title Tsar ("Caesar"); curiously, it has been readopted by the present Russian Federation.

The slogan that appears 30 seconds into the video reads: "All power to the Councils [of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies]". The Russian word for "council" is "совет" ("soviet").