3 - Rumor and Terror

Summary

This chapter analyzes rumor and terror, both shaped by revolutionary scripts, and the political violence that erupted after the creation of council governments. These new governments, namesakes of the revolutionary government in Russia, deployed a revolutionary vocabulary that seemed to make concrete all the ideas of radical political discourse. Rhetoric about class warfare appeared to transform into reality with the appearance of armed workers' brigades patrolling the streets. This embodiment of previously theoretical concepts was empowering to those playing the roles of revolutionary heroes and was terrifying to those who suddenly found themselves cast as enemies in a dramatic new reality. As we explore events in Budapest and Munich we will see how expectations of violence shaped by revolutionary scripts influenced the ways in which residents of the two cities understood political events and provoked new rounds of violence.