Today marks the 101st anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, an epoch of unprecedented importance for the history of human kind. It was an event that divided the known human history into two, one before the revolution and one after it. Why do we even after a century of its occurring still take cognizance of this phenomenon? In the history of world revolutions October holds a unique place, and to understand the importance we shall have to once more look at the revolutions that took place before it.
If the power of French Revolution of the 18th century swept the relics of the era by gone, and ushered in the reins of a new system and a new mode of production that is Capitalism, October Revolution ushered in something entirely different. French Revolution swept the old and paved way for the new superstructure of the modern state, it was the subsequent European revolutions that firmly established the rule of parliamentary system in place of absolute authority and patronage. A rule of the propertied class, the rule of the wealthy against the rule of the old tyranny. Old absolute tyrannical feudal system was replaced with a new rule, a new tyrannical system that went under garb of various rights.
The French revolution was the harbinger of not only political change but its impact was simultaneously felt on economic and social system, it not only paved way for changes in France but the impact was truly global and within a span of 150 years, the old system was swept away not only in the advanced Europe but also in the old world. The medieval rubbish, as Marx mentioned, was swept away. In place of absolute privileges and patronages, guilds and social hierarchy there emerged a new system of hierarchy, a new class emerged, those with capital and those who were seller of labour power. Though in the era’s bygone there were hierarchic division of labour yet with the new mode of production the old social relations were done away with a new system of exploitation. Power of capital over labour become the new antagonism and capital became the new god. Capital power controlled labour power. It led to the emergence of new lords—the bourgeoisie and new slaves the proletarians.
If the French Revolution produced new social hierarchy the Russian Revolution abolished those hierarchies. No event in known human history, no revolution, no social reform had ever tried what happened but successfully in those 10 days of October in the streets of the so-called democratic Russia. In place of old lords it did not create new set of rulers, in place of old gods a new god was not conceived, for the first time hierarchies old and new were abolished nay demolished, a class of rulers emerged not from golden palaces of middle age and nor from the corporate boardrooms but the new rulers emerged from the dingy suburbs, from the fields, from the factory workshop, they emerged, they conquered and they took the reins of power in their own hand. The class antagonism were done away with within few years and rule of labour was the end result.
Today, when we look back at the events particularly after 1953, these event seems to be a dream, a sweat dream though but which has a horrible end. The gains of October were squandered after the the revisionists usurped the Soviet Union and at the end the entire October Revolution looks like a big experiment that ended in a fiasco.
This can be thought by many and particularly in this era of post-truth, where capital once again seems to have become the emperor! But behind the chimera of invincibility of capitalism and the end of ideology, the soothsayers of invincibility of capitalism are themselves forced to disown their own words and admit that the current dispersion is not working and the ideal of October Revolution is not dead.
If one has to ask why October revolution had to face reverse, one only has to re-look at the history of world revolutions, Slavery did not end with the revolt of Spartacus but it ended never though, similarly in this country 1857 failed in removing the English yet they had to go, though left behind their own puppets.
Russian Revolution was the harbinger as well as successors of the all previous revolution that aimed at disposing the rule of the few and might. It was the renewed clarion call of the Paris Commune. The Bolshevik revolution was in same way the leading light the guide to all the Revolutions of the future.
That is why we raise the Red Flag in its commemoration not this year but in all the years to come!
7-11-2018
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