Looking Back At Red October
The Russian Revolution began 80 years ago this autumn. Looking back
now it would be easy to concentrate on the eventual outcome and the
defeat of the Revolution. But to concentrate on this alone would be a
mistake. The Russian Revolution was an incredible breakthrough in
ways that are often not appreciated. A seemingly all-powerful and
repressive state that most Russians saw as 'permanent and
unchangeable' fell away in a few short months.
Massive demonstrations by workers (the first by women workers on
International Women's Day in 1917) gave many Russians a view of what
their own power and strength would be if they joined together. As a
number of commentators have noted since, these early examples of
collective power and success broke an important barrier. One
mainstream historian noted, "The new found freedomsÉof 1917 caused a
tremendous upsurge in ordinary people's capacity to organise
themselves". As early successes were built upon, "a multiplicity of
organisations" were created from below. The sense of collective power
grew and grew. Alongside this people's horizons and aspirations also
expanded rapidly.
For one of the first times in history, a grassroots democracy
emerged that transformed the workplace and abolished the typical lot
of all workers everywhere: having to obey orders, having to accept an
authoritarian workplace. Workers and peasants saw that democracy
should not be limited to just a parliament and politicians. Instead
they saw themselves and their own areas and places of work as the
primary locations of democracy. This was where they started the
revolution and this was a first in world history - an enormous
achievement by ordinary people who had hitherto been confined to the
most passive and backward of roles.
A glimpse of the possible
Prior to the Russian Revolution, there had been some examples of
workers taking over their places of work and their own communities.
In the Paris Commune (1871) there had been some early attempts at
this - however the Commune only lasted for a short period of time and
offered only 'a glimpse' of the real potential. Similarly with the
1905 Revolution in Russia. Other than this there had been a number of
'Utopian' efforts - though these remained strictly within the
confines of a capitalist world - that is they never called into
question the entire running of the economy.
The Russian Revolution was a major break with all of this. Power
and 'the right to manage' was taken by workers into their own hands
at their own places of work. The entire system of exploitation (what
is known still as 'working for a wage') began to collapse - to be
replaced with a new egalitarian system in which workers played a key
role.
The revolutionary movement that emerged in Russia throughout 1917
surprised many observers - not least those in Russian society who
always maintain 'that they know best'. Imagine the surprise of the
boss at the Brenner factory in Petrograd (now St Petersburg) in June
of 1917 when the workers wrote in reply to an attempt at a lockout:
'In view of the management's refusal to go on with production, the
workers' committee has decided in general assembly to fulfil the
orders and to carry on working.' Instead of complying and going
meekly back to their place, the workers locked out the management and
began running the establishment themselves!
If you are wondering if this was an aberration, the short answer
is no. Factory committees of workers sprang up throughout Russia over
the months between February and December of 1917. Within a very short
period factories, trams and trains, schools and food distribution
were being run by workers. On the land, peasants quickly took over
and did what they had always dreamed of doing: planting the land
without having to be at the beck and call of any overseer. As one
peasant resolution in the region of Samara province put it: 'The land
must belong to those who work it with their hands, to those whose
sweat flows.'
Many people today think that revolution is an impossible idea. But
looking back at the beginning of the Russian Revolution, it is
important to remember that at times a revolution can appear as a very
distant aim, even though it may only be a decade or two away. A
casual observer in 1900 in Russia would have said 'I don't think a
revolution will ever happen here - not among this lot'. Yet 17 years
later on, what would she or he have thought?
If we knew our power
Ireland today is also an example of how limited the horizons
appears to be. Workers are locked into the Partnership 2000 deal that
offers minuscule pay increases over the next three years - this
despite the huge growth in bosses' profits. Yet what is the reality?
Is that all there is? When we are prevented from seeing our
collective strength, even the smallest improvements seem impossible
or hopeless. As workers, we are often divided by the most minor of
things, into different sections in our unions, into different unions,
into different grades, into different types (public sector versus
private sector, for example).
Division, in fact, is one of the more obvious features in our
class today. Not surprisingly, this is done for a good reason. It
suits all the vested interests (and they are many) that we think of
our divisions first and everything else second. To prevent us from
seeing our own power as a collective body, and to prevent us having
expectations larger and more radical than Partnership 2000 - this is
a major achievement for those who benefit from today's capitalist
system.
If we look back at the Russian Revolution from this distance of 80
years then one of the more important lessons that we could learn from
it is how powerful we are when we act as a collective body. Divisions
often appear large and insurmountable when we are unaware of or have
forgotten our collective power. But when collective strength
re-emerges (as it will in time) our divisions won't quite disappear
(do they ever?) but they will become insignificant against the wider
possibilities that will open out.
Peter Sullivan
The above article is part of a series being
done by Workers Solidarity that will examine and analyse some of the
many lessons that can be learned from the Russian Revolution. The
next article, Beware of Bolsheviks will examine the detrimental
effect that Lenin and the Bolsheviks had on the revolution that
Russian workers made.
