Why Study the History of Bolshevism?¶
Core Argument¶
Chapter Digest: Why Study the History of Bolshevism?¶
This chapter establishes the indispensable role of the Bolshevik Party in the 1917 Russian Revolution, arguing that without its conscious intervention, the revolutionary energy of the masses would have dissipated into a counter-revolutionary dictatorship. Unlike capitalism, which develops spontaneously, socialism demands the deliberate, democratic control of the working class, guided by the scientific understanding provided by Marxism. The Bolshevik Party’s explosive growth from 8,000 to over 250,000 members in nine months was not spontaneous but the product of decades of patient organisational and theoretical work. A revolutionary party cannot be improvised; it must be systematically prepared over years, combining the spontaneous movement of the masses with programme, organisation, and experienced cadres. The masses test parties in practice, gravitating toward the most consistently revolutionary wing.
The author adopts a partisan but honest “warts and all” approach, refusing to gloss over Bolshevik errors, in contrast to both bourgeois historians who feign impartiality while motivated by hostility to revolution, and Stalinist falsifications that depict the Party as an infallible, commanding force. The best sources remain the writings of Lenin and Trotsky, from which lengthy quotes are included to ensure accuracy. The central polemic refutes the bourgeois claim that October was a minority coup, pointing instead to the mass upsurge that cannot be explained away. The author attacks Orlando Figes’ A People’s Tragedy for dismissing the mass vote for soviet power as ignorance, arguing this is an argument against democracy itself. He also refutes the notion that Bolshevism stressed minority initiative while Menshevism was democratic, asserting that the Bolshevik Party had wide internal democracy.
Stalinism is sharply distinguished from Bolshevism. The democratic workers’ state of 1917, based on the Paris Commune model, was destroyed by Stalin’s political counter-revolution, which physically exterminated the Old Bolsheviks. The isolation of the Russian Revolution led to a bureaucratic caste that eradicated Bolshevism and eventually liquidated the conquests of October, resulting in a collapse of productive forces. The current crisis of capitalism, particularly the collapse of ‘free market’ policies in Russia, is preparing a social explosion. The regeneration of the Russian workers’ movement requires a return to the genuine traditions of Bolshevism, to Lenin and Trotsky. Bolshevism is the conscious expression of the proletariat’s strivings, and the revolution will find a way.