Revolutionary Russia HST 332: Age of Dictators

The dynamics of revolutions No modern state has been overthrown by a revolution since 1848 without suffering a military defeat. A long as a regime enjoys the loyalty of a healthy military, it has a near monopoly of force. The modern state enjoys enormous institutional bases of support, not always evident to those who want to overthrow it.

The dynamics of revolutions Replacing the Old Order is no easy task. What are the new standards; who are the new arbiters? When one set of “unacceptable” rules are rejected, who says that new rules must not be challenged? How do the supporters of the Old Order respond to the new?

The dynamics of revolutions Revolutions transpire in discernible stages An idealistic, early phase characterized by popular euphoria. A power struggle commences as factions test their strengths. New figures emerge, early leaders fall by the way. The strongest or most ruthless faction ultimately wins.

Was the Russian Revolution inevitable? The Tsarist regime survived a serious challenge in the Revolution of 1905 Concessions by the regime allowed it to by time. The end of the Russo-Japanese War allowed the army to intervene. A confusing mix of repression and reform enabled the regime to continue to stumble along.

Was the Russian Revolution inevitable? In 1913, Lenin, while in exile in Zurich, wrote that a revolution would not come in his lifetime. He decided to convert his Bolshevik followers into a small band of dedicated revolutionaries. He had come to the opinion that revolutionaries could not manufacture a revolution, but had to wait for it. Without a lost war, he would have been right.

Stalinism: logical end result or aberration? Violence was inherent in the Bolshevik system from the beginning All of the potential successors to Lenin advocated violence against non-Party elements Once Stalin won the competition to succeed Lenin, he turned this violence in upon his intra-Party opponent

Take away In a revolutionary situation, events slip from the control of the original idealists as more radical factions take over. In the end, the faction most willing to kill, it to convince others to kill for it, wins. The regime that emerges from a revolution is frequently more bloodthirsty than the regime it deposed.