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Red Wedge Poster Readings on the Russian Revolution

Readers Note

The dates in the texts referred to here are by no means consistent between them. The Julian calendar was in use in Russia until 1918, while the Gregorian was used in the West. In 1917, these calendars were 13 days apart. This means important events, including the first revolution usually known as the "February" revolution, and the second, the "October" revolution, can have two different dates. The usual name derives from the Russian (Julian) calendar, but are they frequently referred to as the March and November revolutions respectively, which are taken from the Western calendar.

Russian Revolution 101: A Crash Course

This section is written as a short introduction for those wishing to come to grips with the Russian Revolution from a classical marxist point of view. As a starting point it is based on two concise pamphlets to cover a lot of ground rapidly. The analysis presented in them is that of the IS tradition.

These pamphlets are obviously inadequate for a rounded and sophisticated understanding of all the principal aspects of the revolution, they present the key historical events, and the class dynamics at play.

A more rounded discussion requires a lot more study and time. One would properly need to begin with an examination of the Russian revolutionary movement through the nineteenth century, the development of the socialist movement, as well as the development of capitalism in Russia, and then imperialism to provide context. Since we can't cover everything at once, nor all the debates, and as most texts constantly refer backwards and forwards to events - they assume significant familiarity with a range of literature and events.

A more extended discussion is provided for in Russian Revolution 102.

Part I - The Emergence of Workers Power

Week 1: Introduction & Context

Russia: The Making of the Revolution, Steve Wright
http://www.comcen.com.au/~marcn/redflag/archive/wright/TheMaking.doc
Read from the start to the end of the section called "The War"

This section is aimed at coming to grips understanding the social and political origins of the revolution.

  1. While the Tsar abdicated, this was clearly the product of immense social interactions. What were the three major conflicts in the situation that laid the basis for the revolution?
  2. It is sometimes argued that it is sheer poverty that makes people open to revolutionary ideas and action. Figure out your attitude in relation to the Russian Revolution?
  3. What were the main political groups opposed to Tsarism? What social classes were these groups based on?
  4. What was the impact of the war on the workers' movement internationally and in Russia?

Week 2: A Brief History of the Russian Revolution

Russia: The Making of the Revolution, Steve Wright
http://www.comcen.com.au/~marcn/redflag/archive/wright/TheMaking.doc
Read from the start of "The February Revolution" to the end of the pamphlet.

This is an overview of the Revolution from February through October. The point is to understand the events and the class and political dynamics of 1917.

  1. What party or parties were represented in the first Provisional Government, and what classes did they represent?
  2. What were the reactions of the different trends on the left to February, and what was their corresponding attitude to the Provisional Government?
  3. What happened in July? Pay particular attention to changes in the balance of class forces, and the way in which the relations between the different political tendencies.
  4. The Kornilov coup was an important turning point in 1917, how did 'supporting' the Provisional Government strengthen the hand of workers to overthrow it the following Month?
  5. The political content of October is obviously debatable. Who or what parties or institutions formally took power? How would you characterise that organisation? What class did it represent?

Part II - The Decline of Workers Power

Week 3: From Workers Power to 'Bolshevik' Dictatorship

Russia: How the Revolution was Lost, Chris Harman
http://www.comcen.com.au/~marcn/redflag/archive/harman/Russia.doc
Read from the start to the end of the section "The party, the state and the working class, 1921-1928".

  1. What are the principal moments in the degeneration of the revolution?
  2. For what period might the revolution be considered 'healthy'?
  3. What were the main material factors in the degeneration of the revolution?

Week 4: Opposition and the Triumph of the Bureaucracy

Russia: How the Revolution was Lost, Chris Harman
http://www.comcen.com.au/~marcn/redflag/archive/harman/Russia.doc
Read from "The divisions in the party 1921-1929" to the end.

  1. What were the principal opposition groups within Russian communism? To what degree did each oppose stalinism?
  2. At what point did stalinist power become so entrenched that a new revolution would be required to return the working class to power?
  3. What is the relationship between stalinism as a social system and a) capitalism, and b) socialism?

Russian Revolution 102: Conflicts in the Revolutionary Process

The readings in this section are longer, and more numerous. Each segment needs people to read a several chapters from a range of texts. People need to be prepared to read a substantial amount of material if we want to have an informed discussion.

Week 1 & 2: Understanding February: The Left, The Provisional Government and the 'April Theses' debate within Bolshevism

Week 3: The July Days and the Response from the Right

Week 4: Workers, Parties and the Victory of October

Week 5 & 6: Two post-October Controversies

Week 7: Degeneration & Counter-revolution

Week 8: October in Retrospect

Select Bibliography on the Russian Revolution

Tony Cliff, Lenin (3 Vols)
Bookmarks, London

Tony Cliff, State Capitalism in Russia
Bookmarks, London

Marcel Liebman, Leninism Under Lenin
Jonathan Cape Press, London, 1975

Christian Rakovsky, Selected Writings on Opposition in the USSR 1923-1930
Allison & Busby, London, 1980

Alexander Rabinowitch, The Bolsheviks Come to Power: The Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd
Pluto Press/Haymarket Press, London, 2004

John Reed, Ten Days That Shook The World
Penguin Press, Hamondsworth, 1982

Alfred Rosmer, Lenin's Moscow
Pluto Press, London, 1971

Max Schactman, "The 'Mistakes' of the Bolsheviks" in The Fate of the Russian Revolution, Lost Texts of Critical Marxism, Vol. 1,
Matgamna, Sean (Ed), Pheonix Press, London, 1998, pp. 168-175.

Victor Serge, From Lenin to Stalin
Monad Press, New York, 1980

Victor Serge, Memoirs of a Revolutionary
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1967

Solidarity UK, The Bolsheviks and Workers' Control, 1917-1921
Solidarity/Black & Red, London, 1975

Leon Trotsky, History of the Russian Revolution
Pluto Press, London 1997

Leon Trotsky, Lessons of October
Bookmarks, London

Leon Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed
Pathfinder, New York, 1972

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