75th Anniversary of the Russian Revolution: "Ten Days That Shook the World' still frightens capitalists

Scan page 15

Seventy-five years after the October socialist revolution in Russia, world capitalism is proclaiming its death with the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 1917, John Reed described the revolution as "Ten Days that Shook the World." This characterization remains as valid today as it was then.

The socialist revolution led by V.I. Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and the Bolshevik Party was the most conscious and democratic social upheaval in history. It raised the vision of the working class establishing a revolutionary society throughout the world —a true "new world order."

Drawing upon the experience of the 1905 insurrection in Russia, Trotsky developed his Theory of Permanent Revolution—ie., that the capitalist class could no longer carry through the tasks of a capitalist revolution for national independence and land reform. Trotsky theorized that these tasks required a socialist revolution, for only working-class rule could accomplish the goals of the democratic revolution.

In all spontaneous insurrections, the masses form their own grassroots organizations. In Russia, these were called "soviets." In the February 1917 spontaneous insurrection-which overthrew the Tsar-soviets were formed by the masses, but without any central leadership.

Due to the vacuum of leadership, the capitalists and landowners were able to temporarily set up a Provisional Government. This government, based upon capitalist property relations, continued Russia's participation in the First World The Bolshevik leaders in Russia gave critical support to the Provisional Government. But Lenin, when he returned from exile in April 1917, strongly opposed this support. Lenin's April Thesis (in basic agreement with Trotsky's Theory of Permanent Revolution) called on the party to challenge the government, with a call for "all power to the soviets" as the potential motor force of a socialist revolution.

From this point on, Lenin and Trotsky led the party to win the leadership of the soviets. In the process, the soviets became organs of dual power in opposition to the Provisional Government.

Leon Trotsky's "History"

To best understand the dynamics of the Russian Revolution, readers should consult "The History of the Russian Revolution" by Leon Trotsky. In this book, Trotsky explained the relationship between the Bolshevik Party, the working class, and the broad Russian masses.

Key lessons of the book concerned the relationship between the science of Marxism and the art of revolutionary politics.

The science includes the following points:

1) The capitalist class, in the context of world imperialism, could no longer play a progressive role in carrying out a revolution for national independence.

2) The oppressed nationalities within the Russian Empire could only be united based upon their unconditional right to self-determination.

3) The needs of the poorest peasants (the majority) had to be unconditionally supported.

4) It was necessary to form a workers' state through a socialist revolution to end the capitalist economic crisis and for society to move forward.

5) There was a need for a revolutionary combat party based in the working class to lead the masses.

The art of revolution meant Lenin's building of a party rooted in the working class and the day-to-day application of the the working class into a weapon of bureaucratic violence against the working class and more and more a weapon for the sabotage of the country's economy. The bureaucratization of a backward and isolated workers' state and the transformation of the bureaucracy into an all-powerful privileged caste is the most convincing refutation— not only theoretically, but this time practically—of the theory of socialism in one country.

"The USSR thus embodies terrific contradictions. But it still remains a degenerated workers' state. Such is the social diagnosis. The political prognosis has an alternative character: Either the bureaucracy, becoming ever more the organ of the world bourgeoisie in the workers' state, will overthrow the new forms of property and plunge the country back to capitalism; or the working class will crush the bureaucracy and open the way to socialism."

Capitalist counter-revolution Since the October revolution, there have been successful overturns of capitalism in several parts of the world, but these revolutions did not follow the Russian model.

Due to the weakness of imperialism and material aid given by the Soviet Union because of the Cold War, revolutions were successful despite the non-existence of a revolutionary party like the Bolsheviks. But the lack of such a party has left all of the deformed workers' states vulnerable to capitalist intervention.

At the present time, the bureaucracy in the former Soviet Union has been attempting to restore capitalism. The workers have not yet fully responded in defense of the social gains of the October revolution.

Thus with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the specter of a new capitalist world order of counter-revolution haunts the workers and oppressed masses of the world.

With the mass bombing of Iraq, the war