Misinformation about the Russian Revolution?

[Asharchist]

In an attempt to educate myself on the subject I watched a five part "documentary" on the Russian Revolution, Stalin and the early days of the Cold War.

Now in part two this "documentary" describes Lenin holding elections in 1917 and that the total votes were counted in 1918, the results showing that the Bolsheviks were a minority party and this caused Lenin to disregard the election closing down the assembly after a single day.

They then use a quote which I haven't been able to find anywhere else:


"We will completely and publicly destroy democracy in the name of the revolutionary dictatorship, it will be a good lesson."

Another thing that worried me in the documentary, if it is indeed true, is how the documentary details Trotsky "beating down peasant rebellions".

I've always regarded Lenin and Trotsky as the true leaders of the revolution living up to the ideals and trying their best to implement them; their work being undone by Stalin.

Although with all this being said maybe I don't know enough so I'd be grateful if people could recommend texts.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

I am as big a critic of Lenin and the Bolsheviks as any on here but I would seriously doubt he said that quote. It is true that he shut down the elections though. But you do have to remember this was the capitalist elections that they shut down. It wasn't as if this was truly democracy.

I do not know to what extent the Bolsheviks dealt with the peasants but they weren't particularly nice to them. Although it isn't a peasants revolt surely you are aware of the Kronstadt Rebellion?

[x359594]

...in part two this "documentary" describes Lenin holding elections in 1917 and that the total votes were counted in 1918, the results showing that the Bolsheviks were a minority party and this caused Lenin to disregard the election closing down the assembly after a single day...

The spin here is that Lenin held elections and not the Petrograd Soviet. The decision to hold elections was a collective one, though it's unclear if you're referring to the Constituent Assembly or to the Soviet. The Assembly was indeed swept aside, and the election results for the Soviet were nullified since the Bolshevik deputies were out numbered by the Left Social Revolutionaries.



...Another thing that worried me in the documentary, if it is indeed true, is how the documentary details Trotsky "beating down peasant rebellions".

As commander of the Red Army during the civil war Trotsky was forced by circumstances to requisition men and material from the peasantry; these requisitions provoked resistance and rebellions. The Whites did the same thing and also provoked rebellions. If the documentary didn't provide the context of these rebellions, it's definitely skewed.


...I've always regarded Lenin and Trotsky as the true leaders of the revolution living up to the ideals and trying their best to implement them; their work being undone by Stalin...

That's one view. Another is that the system set up by Lenin and Trotsky paved the way for Stalin; the measures introduced by Lenin at the 10th Party Congress made Stalin's rise possible. Both views are debateable.

As to texts, an early history is The Russian Revolution volumes I and II by William Henry Chamberlain (1933), but the most recent insightful histories are by Alexander Rabinowitch: Prelude to Revolution (about the July Days,) The Bolsheviks Come to Power (about the October Revolution,) and The Bolsheviks in Power: The First Year of Soviet Rule in Petrograd; and The Russian Revolution: A Study in Mass Mobilization (about the Revolution in the countryside) by John Keep. Two good polemical a histories are The Russian Revoltion by Trotsky and The Unknown Revolution by Voline.

[Tower of Bebel]

The lists were made before the October uprising, which meant that the candidates did not represent the actual balance of forces of that time. The right had left the scene of soviet politics; the Left-Social Revolutionaries and the Mensevik Internationalists were hopeless minorities. But they actually received far more support after the October Rising than the lists would suggest. When the right won the elections due to this situation the Bolsheviks surpressed the assembly. This was meant to be a temporary meassure; but that does not always rule out the possibility that it was a mistake.

[JimmyJazz]

The Russian Revolution: A Study in Mass Mobilization (about the Revolution in the countryside) by John Keep.

That looks good. A nice companion book on the mobilization in the cities would be The Workers' Revolution in Russia, 1917: The View from Below (http://www.amazon.com/Workers-Revolution-Russia-1917-Below/dp/0521349710/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248021934&sr=8-1) by Daniel H. Kaiser.

[Pogue]

Yeh the Bolsheviks crushed democracy and workers power. I'm making a thread on it within the next 2 weeks.

[New Tet]

[...]
I've always regarded Lenin and Trotsky as the true leaders of the revolution living up to the ideals and trying their best to implement them; their work being undone by Stalin.

Although I admire both Lenin and Trotsky as great revolutionaries, I disagree that they strove to live up to any genuine socialist "ideals". They harbored a profound hostility to genuine working class control. And it was their methods and doctrines that led precisely to Stalinism.

Stalinism is a logical result of Leninist practice.

[KC]

Whenever you hear a quote attributed to Lenin, or Trotsky, or Stalin, or any Marxist, the first thing you should do is go to the Marxists Internet Archive and attempt to track it down. They have an excellent search feature (http://marxists.org/admin/search/index.htm) where you can search individual writers' archives for quotes. Just be sure to put the quote in so as to not require the exact wording, as quotes are commonly written differently by different people due to translation.

I've done this quite commonly and I think the hardest time I've had of finding a quote that was actually legitimate might have taken me about 10 minutes. It usually only takes a minute or two, though.

[Ismail]

KC, check your PMs.

As a note, two short texts by Lenin on democracy from the period:
http://marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/jul/18.htm
http://marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1918/dec/23.htm


I do not know to what extent the Bolsheviks dealt with the peasants but they weren't particularly nice to them. Although it isn't a peasants revolt surely you are aware of the Kronstadt Rebellion?They did develop better relations due to the NEP, but a bad taste was in their mouths due to Makhno's peasant forces and the Socialist-Revolutionary Party being peasant-based and anti-Bolshevik. Plus the "war communism" policy (which was one of the reasons the NEP came about) alienated peasants.

[Pogue]

The misinformation comes from either bourgeoisie or Leninist sources, both lie.

[Nwoye]

The misinformation comes from either bourgeoisie or Leninist sources, both lie.
and anarchists/anti-bolshevik leftists don't?

[Brother No. 1]

and anarchists/anti-bolshevik leftists don't?

From the Leninist view: If a person was to say "my source lies about a few things" or "my source isnt that truthful" it would hurt the credability and reliance of that source. Would you trust a source that has lied to you on something and given you false information? The best thing to learn on the whole Bolshevik matter is to go to http://www.marxists.org/index.htm here.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/index.htm

Lenin's archive if you want to know about what they did with Trade Unions,Democracy,etc.

[The Ungovernable Farce]

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/index.htm

Lenin's archive if you want to know about what they said about Trade Unions,Democracy,etc.
Fixed.

[gorillafuck]

The misinformation comes from either bourgeoisie or Leninist sources, both lie.
All sources are biased one way or another. Anarchist sources tell lies too.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

All sources are biased one way or another. Anarchist sources tell lies too.

About what? Only thing I can think of is lying bout how Durruti died.

[Nwoye]

About what? Only thing I can think of is lying bout how Durruti died.
are you really saying that anarchist historical sources never lie/aren't biased?

[Stranger Than Paradise]

are you really saying that anarchist historical sources never lie/aren't biased?

No, I was saying that tongue-in-cheek. But I do believe they did lie about the factory committees and trade unions and I cannot think of anything on this scale that was lied about in the Spanish Civil War.