War and Compromise Between Nations and States by Egbert Jahn

Author:Egbert Jahn
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030341312
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

8.2 Social vs. International Causes of the October Revolution

The October Revolution is generally regarded as being a social revolution, and from the communist perspective as a revolution of the labouring social classes and poor farmers.8 Non-communist historians tend to find it difficult to clearly characterise the events that occurred in October. “What we are talking about has many names, and none of them entirely fits: coup d’état, uprising, overthrow or ‘Great Socialist October Revolution’, a conspiracy by a minority, or ‘Ten Days that Shook the World’,9 an action directed by a handful of highly motivated activists, or the ‘Red October’—a turning point in the history of the world.”10 Some authors regarded the events as being a “coup” or “putsch” by a number of failed students, which was supported by a minority among the population of Russia after they took power with the aid of a few thousand soldiers and workers in St. Petersburg. The interpretation of the October Revolution as a social revolution, as an upheaval in the social and political conditions in Russia as a result of an uprising by economically exploited and politically suppressed social orders and classes, or by parts of these, falls short of the mark. The revolution did not occur during the course of a cyclical, capitalist economic crisis, as had been assumed in Marxist prognoses, but as the result of a world war that not only dramatically worsened the socio-economic situation of the lower social orders and classes, but which led to the loss of millions of lives and which shattered the Tsarist system of rule.

Fifty years after the October Revolution, it was already ascertained that almost without exception, communist-led revolutions were only successful during and after world wars, and only in those countries that had suffered severe military defeats or had even lost the war. This contrasts with the civilian, liberal and democratic revolutions of 1789, 1830 and 1848/49. The Paris Commune was also created after defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871. However, the two world wars, not only spawned the communist revolutions, but were also the reason why many people, including members of the educated, property-owning orders, were supportive of a transformation of the existing social and state order to create a socialist society, in which all the causes of war were to be removed. This appeared to require not only the overthrow of the elites and classes that had ruled to date, but also a fundamental revolution in the relations between the ethnic groups, nations and states. The causes of war, alongside class rule and militarism, were regarded as being nationalism in particular, which was to be replaced by internationalism within states as well as between them.11 In other words: the socialist revolution was intended not only as a social revolution, but above all also an international revolution in order to reshape relations between the ethnic groups, nations and states.

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