Pantin, I. K. October Breakthrough: Prologue to Modern Age

Abstract: The author of the article breaks the tradition to view October Revolution as the beginning of socialism in Russia. In the author’s opinion, the deal is much more than that. It was impossible to solve the centuries-long debates between millions of peasants and Russian nobility and bourgeois class and to create the basis for modern civilization without deposing bourgeois class and destroying capitalism which had been formed after 1861. Non-capitalistic path of our country after the civil war turned out to be hard and dramatic due to economic and cultural undevelopment. Lenin was one of those few who understood how fatal the Jacobinism model of the transfer to socialism was for new Russia. However, Lenin understanding of Russia’s social perspectives came into collusion with communistic beliefs of the majority of Bolshevik Party members who thought they could achieve socialism by simply destroying bourgeois class and proletarian dictatorship. After Lenin’s death those beliefs were supported by Stalin’s government. Thanks to Stalin, socialism is now associated solely with the forced industrialization. Independent peasant household (during so called village collectivization) was sacrificed, terror against discontented was started (so called struggle with the enemies of the people) and totalitarian power of the party leaders was established (proletariat dictatorship). As a result, our country now has to catch up with the other countries and modern civilization just like France long ago did. Nevertheless, Russia has already made the first step towards Modern Age. Today the question is more about speeding up and expansion of this movement in history.

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