How the working class took power
“During the first two months of 1917 Russia was still a … monarchy. Eight months later the Bolsheviks stood at the helm. They were little known to anybody when the year began, and their leaders were still under indictment for state treason when they came to power. You will not find another such sharp turn in history – especially if you remember that it involves a nation of 150 million people. It is clear that the events of 1917, whatever you think of them, deserve study.”
Leon Trotsky, History of the Russian Revolution, 1917
Reading 1: The Russian Revolution and the Rise of Stalinism (MWT)
(South Africa’s Impending Socialist Revolution, Chapter 2)
Reading 2: The Lessons of October (Trotsky)
Chapter 1 – We Must Study the October Revolution
Chapter 2 – The Democratic Dictatorship of the Proletariat and Peasantry – in February and October
Chapter 3 – The Struggle Against War and Defencism
Chapter 4 – The April Conference
Chapter 5 – The July Days; the Kornilov Episode; the Democratic Conference and the Pre-Parliament
Chapter 6 – On the Eve of the October Revolution; the Aftermath
Chapter 7 – The October Insurrection and Soviet ‘Legality’
Chapter 8 – Again, on the Soviets and the Party in a Proletarian Revolution
Download Topic 6 as a printable PDF booklet here.