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Topic: The Russian Revolution-historically progressive or not?
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Ken Burch
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8346
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posted 08 November 2008 05:23 PM
The first few years WERE progressive. The progressive aspect, which was there at the start and which must be acknowledged, began to be lost as soon as the focus began to shift from carrying out the objectives of the Revolution(the emancipation of the workers and the democratization and humanization of the economy)to keeping "The Party" in power. While Stalin was the exemplar of this, he could not have succeeded if he didn't have the structure of "the vanguard party" within to work. In my view, vanguardism as a tactic should have been abandoned as soon as Lenin took power, for the Revolution at that point needed to have a secretive, unaccountable and conspiratorial structure in order to function. I think the first major mistake was the suppression of the Krondstadt uprising. Had the soldiers and sailors of Krondstadt been successful, It seems likely that the humane, democratic and emancipatory character of the Revolution could have been preserved, and at no loss to the security of "the state". But the Revolution did happen, and must be acknowledged. And its betrayal must be studied by all those who come after so we don't repeat it.
From: A seedy truckstop on the Information Superhighway | Registered: Feb 2005
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