A-Infos (en) Beware the Bolsheviks

[News from Workers Solidarity Movement <wsm_news@geocities.com>]

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     A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
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80th anniversay of the Russian Revolution
       Beware the Bolsheviks

IN 1922, after seeing the product of the Russian 
revolution first hand, the anarchist Emma Goldman 
described how "Soviet Russia had become the 
modern socialist Lourdes". Eighty years after the 
revolution in Russia a reflection on that period 
has more than just historical value. Many left 
wing organisations still hold up this era as the 
model for future revolution. In order to 
challenge this Bolshevik conception of 
organisation and revolution we look at what the 
consequences of this model were.

The Bolsheviks organised as a vanguard party, 
which intended to lead the revolution. This 
structure led to particular outcomes and a look 
at the 'hidden' history of the Russian Revolution 
illustrates this. Lenin, in his book 'State and 
Revolution', talks of a society where every cook 
shall govern.

But in reality the Party, in its capacity of 
leader of the revolution, was governing. By 
November 9th 1917 a soviet (committee of elected 
workers' delegates) in the Peoples Commissariat 
of Posts & Telegraphs had already been abolished 
by decree. Even earlier than this, the revolution 
having barely liberated the workers from virtual 
slavery, Bolshevik leaders were telling workers 
that "the best way to support Soviet Government 
is to carry on with one's job".

Lenin, in March 1918, wrote (Collected Works, 
Vol. 27 page 270) that the Party relates to 
workers by leading "them along the true path of 
labour discipline, along the task of coordinating 
the task of arguing at mass meetings about the 
conditions of work with the task of 
unquestioningly obeying the will of the Soviet 
leader, of the dictator during the work". So much 
for every cook governing.

These are not just isolated incidents. The Party 
soon began to institutionalise its dominance, for 
instance factory committees, instead of being 
allowed to form federations across the 
industries, had to report to undemocratic bodies 
which were hand picked by the Party. It is in 
this context that Daniel Guerin argued that "In 
fact the power of the soviets only lasted a few 
months, from October 1917 to the spring of 1918."

How did the Bolsheviks go about 'securing' the 
revolution? Trotsky, as leader of the Red Army, 
reintroduced regular army discipline, not only 
including executions for desertion but also all 
the petty regulations like saluting that gave 
officers special positions. He abolished election 
of officers, writing "the elective basis is 
politically pointless and technically inexpedient 
and has already been set aside by decree".

The White Terror was responded to with collective 
punishments, categorical punishments, torture, 
hostage taking and random punishments. These were 
not just directed at known 'Whites' but also at 
their friends and families. On 3rd September 
1918, the Bolshevik newspaper 'Ivestia' announced 
that over 500 hostages had been shot by the 
Petrograd Cheka, not because they had committed a 
crime but because they were unlucky enough to 
come from the wrong background.

Some will argue that this terror was legitimised 
by the White Terror. But by April of 1918 the 
terror was to be used against political groups 
that supported the revolution but opposed 
Bolshevik rule. Over two days in April 1918, 40 
anarchists were killed or wounded and around 500 
put in prison in a series of attacks in Moscow 
and Petrograd.

All the major anarchist publications were banned 
in May 1918. This despite the fact that 
anarchists had fought for the revolution in 
October, four anarchists being on the Military 
Revolutionary Committee which co- ordinated the 
rising. Over the next four years, hundreds then 
thousands of anarchists were to be arrested, 
jailed, tortured, exiled and executed. Other pro-
revolution left parties suffered a similar fate 
and by 1919 so did workers who acted 
independently against the regime.

Bolshevik modes of organisation have particular 
outcomes, the centralisation of power. This sort 
of organisation means that 'Stalin didn't fall 
from the moon' but was the inheritor of this 
undemocratic organisation. This is in opposition 
to 'Socialism from Below' and the motto of the 
First International, "the emancipation of the 
toilers must be the work of the toilers 
themselves" and not the work of some 'vanguard' 
party.

Damian Lawlor



This article is from Workers Solidarity No 53 
published in January 1998, there is also a page 
of WSM articles on the Russian Revolution
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           Workers Solidarity Movement

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