Socialist Movement and Russian Revolution

The Industrial Revolution had led to an unequal society. On the one hand were the workers who were poor, exploited and without any rights; and on the other were the capitalists who enjoyed all the privileges. At that time, some people began to think about the society that should be based on equality in social and economic terms.

Ideas like equality, freedom of speech and democracy gave encouragement in this regard. The idea of socialism, which tries to establish equal society, began to take root. The most powerful and influential ideas of socialism was given by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

In the book Das Capital, Marx pointed out that history of all societies is the history of class struggle. According to him the capitalists always try to increase their profits by reducing the wages of the workers which leads to class conflict. He predicted that the struggle will be successful with the end of capitalism and the coming of socialism. This will result in the control of the ownership of the means of production in the hands of the state and the birth of an equal society.

The first practical example of this was the Russian revolution which resulted in the establishment of the first socialist government of the world. Russia was industrially backward and was based on an agrarian economy. Tsar was an autocratic and oppressive ruler; hence the workers and the peasants suffered a lot.

The Revolution of 1905 led to the formation of a constitutional monarchy with the formation of the Duma; the members of whom were representatives of peasants, townsmen and gentry. Even after the 1905 of Revolution, the civil rights and democratic representation was limited and hence the unrest continued.

In 1917, occurred another revolution in Russia. It happened because the condition of the Russian workers and peasants, and non Russians living in Russia had become quite miserable under the autocratic rule of Tsar Nicholas II. Exploitation along with inhuman working conditions and huge amount of taxes had made the people rise against him. People were also denied any political rights.

Russia had also entered World War I for imperialist gains. But she was unequipped to do so. Thousands of Russian soldiers were killed in World War I as they were ill equipped with no proper warm uniforms and arms to fight in the cold desert of Siberia. Many skilled workers were forced to enlist in the army and fight in the battlefields resulting in their deaths.

The nobility were also dissatisfied with Tsar Nicholas II due to his autocratic ways. Famines further worsened the situation in the country. This resulted in labor riots and strikes. Striking crowds attacked courts, prisons and office premises. There was widespread unrest among all sections of society. The army lacked ammunition, the cities lacked food while the peasants failed to get proper return for their produce. The government in the meantime had printed millions of Rouble notes leading to inflation. The situation slipped out of Tsar’s hands.

This situation was further worsened by the writings of Marx and Tolstoy which influenced the people, especially the workers, and led to their political awakening. This led to the formation of the Council of Workers called the Soviets. In February 1917, Tsar was deposed and a Provisional Government was established under the control of the Menshevik Party.

But the Government failed to fulfill the demands of the people. Another Party called the Bolshevik headed by Lenin organised the Soviets and replaced the Government in October 1917. This October Revolution was the final stage of the Russian Revolution. It brought to an end the rule of the Tsar and led to the formation of the USSR and a new world order.