Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Excerpts on the Russian Revolution

There are countless texts about the Russian Revolution. Here are five excerpts that express the hope, bravery, strength and inspiration of that process.

Left Voice

November 7, 2017
Facebook Twitter Share

Ilustration: Fula

“To remember the 100 years of the October revolution is the opposite of a religious ritual or routinely remembering an anniversary. To come back to the October Revolution is essential, above all because it allows us to prepare for what is to come.”
Christian Castillo, member of the Party of Socialist Workers in Argentina.

In this spirit, we present five excerpts from texts about the Russian Revolution that inspire us to prepare for what is to come.

“If our generation happens to be too weak to establish socialism over the earth, we will hand the spotless banner down to our children. The struggle which is in the offing transcends by far the importance of individuals, factions, and parties. It is the struggle for the future of all mankind. It will be severe. It will be lengthy. Whoever seeks physical comfort and spiritual calm, let him step aside. In time of reaction it is more convenient to lean on the bureaucracy than on the truth. But all those for whom the word socialism is not a hollow sound but the content of their moral life – forward! Neither threats, nor persecutions, nor violations can stop us! Be it even over our bleaching bones, the truth will triumph! We will blaze the trail for it. It will conquer! Under all the severe blows of fate, I shall be happy, as in the best days of my youth! Because, my friends, the highest human happiness is not the exploitation of the present but the preparation of the future”.

Leon Trotsky, I Stake My Life!

 

“Nobody is born a Bolshevik. It has to be learned. And it cannot be learned solely from books either. It is learned, over a long time, by a combination of field work, struggle, personal sacrifices, tests, study, and discussion. The making of a Bolshevik is a long, drawn-out process. But when you get a Bolshevik, you have got something. When you get enough of them you can do anything you want to do, including making a revolution.James Cannon, ”

James Cannon, History of American Trotskyism

 

“Revolution is the blind protest of the mass against their own ignorant state. It is as important to Time as the first awkward struggle of the amoeba. It is man in the act of making himself.” (…) Time will give to the World War, the political revolution, and the social revolution their true values. We cannot do it. We are too close to the facts to see the truth. To have failed to see the hope in the Russian Revolution is to be a blind man looking at the sun rise.
(…) Mingled with my sorrow, the morning I left Petrograd, was a certain exultant, tragic joy. I have been alive at a great moment, and I knew that It was great.

Bessie Beatty, The Red Heart of Russia

 

“That night I saw a laborer, gaunt, shabbily-clad, plodding down a dark street. Lifting his head suddenly he saw the massive façade of Smolny, glowing golden through the falling snow. Pulling off his cap, he stood a moment with bared head and outstretched arms. Then crying out, “The Commune! The People! The Revolution!” he ran forward and merged with the throng streaming through the gates. (…) This historic session ends at six o’clock in the morning. The delegates, reeling from the toxin of fatigue, hollow-eyed from sleeplessness, but exultant, stumble down the stone stairs and through the gates of Smolny. Outside it is still dark and chill, but a red dawn is breaking in the east!”

Albert Rhys Williams, Through the Russian Revolution

 

The people around me appeared to be in ecstasy. They seemed about to burst forth spontaneously in a religious hymn. Trotsky read a resolution to the general effect that they were ready to flight for the workers and peasants to the last drop of their blood. . . who was in favor of the resolution? The innumerable crowd raised their hands as a single man. I saw the burning eyes of men, women, adolescents, workers, soldiers, muzhiks. Trotsky went on. The hands remained raised. Trotsky said, ‘Let’s this vote be your oath. You swear to give all your strength, not to hesitate before any sacrifice, to support the Soviet, which undertakes to win the revolution and give you land, bred and peace.’ The hands remained raised. The crowd approved; they took the oath. . . And the same scene was repeated all over Petrogad. The last preparations were made everywhere; everywhere the swore the last oath; thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of men. It was the insurrection.

John Reed, Ten Days that Shook the World

Facebook Twitter Share

Left Voice

Militant journalism, revolutionary politics.

Ideas & Debates

“Poor Things” Floats Like a Butterfly and Stings Like a Butterfly

Poor Things is a fantastical comedy with beautiful set design and costumes and an Oscar-winning performance from Emma Stone. So why did it leave me feeling so empty? Despite juggling feminist and socialist ideas, the film is ideologically muddled and often self-contradictory.

Basil Rozlaban

March 16, 2024
Cillian Murphy as Robert Oppenheimer stares into the camera with a hat pulled over his eyes and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth

“Oppenheimer” Shows the Betrayals of Stalinism and the Dangers of Lesser Evilism

Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" is a striking tale of a man who leaves the Left because of the betrayals of Stalinism. The film is also a warning about where lesser evilism in the face of the Far Right can lead us.

Sybil Davis

March 10, 2024
Black UAW workers, a black-and-white image, holding signs that say "UAW ON STRIKE."

To Achieve Black Liberation, Class Independence Is Key

A united, working-class party fighting oppression is our only hope for Black liberation.

Tristan Taylor

February 29, 2024
Protesters at an evening protest in NY carry a sign that reads "from ferguson to palestine occupation is a crime"

This Black History Month, Let’s Fight for Palestinian Liberation

Black liberation struggles have always expressed solidarity with the struggle against the Zionist occupation of Palestine. This Black History Month, as Israel continues its genocide in Gaza, this tradition takes on a special importance.

Carmin Maffea

February 26, 2024

MOST RECENT

Former president Donald Trump standing at a podium in front of American flags.

To Stop Trump, We Need Much More Democracy, Not Less

Democrats have been trying to kick Trump off the ballot as an "insurrectionist." Liberals say we have to restrict democracy in order to save it. As socialists, we think they have it backwards: to beat the Far Right, we need a mass movement fighting for radical democracy.

Nathaniel Flakin

March 18, 2024

Declaration: End Imperialist Intervention in Haiti, Solidarity with the Haitian People

The “Multinational Security Support Mission” announced by the United States marks a new imperialist-colonial intervention in Haiti by the United States, the UN, and their allies.

New Jersey Democrats Attack the Public’s Right to Government Records

The New Jersey state assembly, led by the Democratic Party, just tried to fast-track a bill that would have gutted the Open Public Records Act. This is a reminder that their party is an obstacle, not an ally, in the fight to preserve democracy.

Samuel Karlin

March 15, 2024
President Biden giving his State of the Union speech at a podium in March, 2024.

Biden’s State of the Union: Hyper-Nationalism and Eroding Legitimacy

President Biden’s hyper-nationalistic State of the Union speech focused on selling himself as a defender of democracy at home and abroad. But it’s not enough to solve his — and the whole U.S. regime’s — crisis of legitimacy.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

March 14, 2024