The October Revolution

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 R.G. Williams

This short essay is a study of the October Revolution — the Great October Socialist Revolution.

  The October Revolution, the seizure of state power in Russia by the Russian working class and the establishment of the world’s first workers’ state, by Lenin and the Bolsheviks, in late 1917, was the greatest revolution in world history, so far – because it shows, clearly, directly, and powerfully, what working-class power can achieve. It proves that the working class can establish Socialism.1 

  The October Revolution was a workers’ revolution – a revolution to achieve democracy, Socialism, and Soviet power. It occurred because millions of Russian workers and peasants took part in it and supported it — in the form of the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks and the Petrograd Soviet. It was the Russian working class which effectively made the October Revolution — by seizing state power in 1917. The October Revolution was a mass popular struggle. It had the full support of the vast majority of the working class of Russia — who struggled to defend it in the reality of the Russian Civil War of 1917-1922. The October Revolution was a mass event. It was launched by millions of workers and it was supported by millions of workers. Indeed, the October Revolution, as a historical and political event, was one of the greatest examples of a mass democracy — a real Democratic Revolution.2   

  The October Revolution started a new era in world history — the era of struggle for Socialism and Socialist Revolution.3 Lenin was correct when he said that the Russian Revolution began ‘a new era in world history’.4 Humanity, today, lives in a world where it is possible to achieve Socialism — a society based on working-class power, on the free development of each and the free development of all. The October Revolution is a practical example of the power of the working class and the power of working-class struggle.5 It shows that the power of the working class can achieve Socialism — in the right circumstances. The experience of the Russian Revolution, specifically the October Revolution, shows that history can advance forward — due to revolution.6 This possibility exists because of the struggle of the working class for a better society and a better world. The October Revolution created this possibility. The October Revolution remains the greatest revolutionary event in modern history.7 It is the historical event which still shakes the world.

Notes

1. E.H. Carr, The Bolshevik Revolution: 1917-1923, (1950-1953)
2. E.H. Carr, The Bolshevik Revolution: 1917-1923, (1950-1953)
3. L. Trotsky, History of the Russian Revolution, (1931)
4. V.I. Lenin, The Third International and Its Place in History, (1919)
5. V.I. Lenin, The Third International and Its Place in History, (1919)
6. E.H. Carr, A History of Soviet Russia, (1950-1978)
7. J. Reed, Ten Days that Shook the World, (1919)

(2011)

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