War, Revolution, and Rebellion<\/b><\/p>\n
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Comrades,<\/p>\n
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Today we gather to discuss one of the most decisive turning points in human history\u2014perhaps the most decisive of all.<\/p>\n
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The October Revolution was the dawn of a new epoch. We maintain that this epoch has not ended; it was merely disrupted\u2014temporarily\u2014by the collective counteroffensive of the capitalist class.<\/p>\n
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In this sense, the October Revolution is not simply a phenomenon of the 20th century. Nor, as some claim, are there country-specific or era-specific \u201cversions\u201d of socialism. Every socialist construction process is shaped by its concrete conditions and bears their traces, yet the principles of socialism\u2014the pathway to communism\u2014are universal and unambiguous. In this respect, the October Revolution and the difficult founding years that followed remain a living, breathing experience. Marxism-Leninism possesses the theoretical depth to distinguish between the lasting features of this experience, its weaknesses, and those aspects unique to Russia.<\/p>\n
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However, there is another aspect of the October Revolution that deserves just as much emphasis as its socialist essence.<\/p>\n
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The Great October Socialist Revolution is humanity\u2019s rebellion. Let us remember: it erupted at a moment when millions were slaughtering one another, driven to the frontlines by the greed of imperialist monopolies during a world war. The war had long been foreseen; decades earlier, with Engels\u2019s unmatched insight, it was clear that the coming conflict would be unprecedented in its destruction\u2014and that, as Engels wrote, it would give rise to revolutionary conditions. Yet the First World War produced a level of barbarism and darkness that no theoretical framework could have fully predicted. And imperialist wars are always followed by imperialist peace. Imperialist peace, however, is no less ruthless and oppressive than imperialist war. The clearest proof lies in the Versailles and S\u00e8vres treaties imposed by the victorious imperialist bloc on the defeated after the First World War.<\/p>\n
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The October Revolution was a rising not only against the war, but also against the imperialist peace. The workers\u2019 government\u2019s first act was the proclamation of the Decree on Peace. Moreover, Soviet Russia\u2014and later the USSR\u2014became the leading force resisting the new world system that the victorious British-led imperialist camp sought to impose.<\/p>\n
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The two world wars of the last century provide definitive evidence that multipolarity does not make the imperialist system more peaceful; on the contrary, it intensifies rivalry and deepens conflicts. Both wars also demonstrated that no \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cpreferable\u201d imperialism exists. In the First World War, the bloc led by Britain and the bloc led by Germany rivaled one another in cruelty and destruction. Weapons of mass destruction were used extensively for the first time. In the Second World War, although temporarily allied with the USSR, the US-British side proved itself capable of the same ruthlessness as the fascists through the use of nuclear weapons and the bombing of civilian populations.<\/p>\n
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The antithesis of imperialist war is not imperialist peace\u2014it is revolution and socialism.<\/p>\n
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Viewed through this lens, the October Revolution stands as the complete vindication of Lenin\u2019s writings from 1914, and especially 1915, on the relationship between war and revolution. Those who describe the October Revolution as a coincidence or historical accident should read what Lenin wrote after the war began.<\/p>\n
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At this point, we must also remember that the October Revolution cannot be reduced to the mechanical application of a pre-written theoretical template. The Bolshevik Party, which adopted the correct and revolutionary position in 1914, later\u2014especially throughout 1917\u2014successfully navigated challenges that were perhaps even more complex and difficult. Shifting priorities and alternating tactics did not mean abandoning theory; rather, they showed how theory must be applied creatively.<\/p>\n
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Without understanding the dialectical unity and historical context of Lenin\u2019s writings and speeches from early 1917 to 1923, any attempt to grasp the Soviet Revolution through isolated quotations restricted to particular moments will be fruitless. If, throughout this period, the Bolsheviks were able to adjust their course dramatically\u2014despite maintaining consistent principles\u2014it was because they rejected rigid schemas and treated Marxist theory as a genuine guide.<\/p>\n
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Under Lenin\u2019s leadership, the Bolsheviks rapidly updated their positions\u2014without sacrificing their principles\u2014on fundamental questions such as the nature of the revolution, the peace question, soviet power, working class patriotism, world revolution, land reform, and the national question. Stalin, often accused by many of interpreting Marxism mechanically, likewise demonstrated remarkable creativity and flexibility after Lenin\u2019s death\u2014especially up to 1945\u2014preventing Trotsky and others, with their aestheticized dogmatism, from suffocating the Soviet Revolution.<\/p>\n
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Much more can be said about the October Revolution. In a brief address, one can only touch upon a fraction of what deserves to be discussed. And now we arrive at the final\u2014and most important\u2014point.<\/p>\n
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To those who made the October Revolution\u2014the proletariat of Petrograd, the revolutionary sailors of the Baltic Sea, the poor peasants who rebelled under arms shouting \u201clong live Soviet power,\u201d the militants and leaders of the Bolshevik Party, and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, who delivered to Marxism the revolutionary spark it needed\u2014we extend our respect and our communist salute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
War, Revolution, and Rebellion Comrades, Today we gather to discuss one of the most decisive turning points in human history\u2014perhaps the most decisive of all. The October Revolution was the dawn of a new epoch. We maintain that this epoch has not ended; it was merely disrupted\u2014temporarily\u2014by the collective counteroffensive of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":26940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[262,258],"tags":[1720],"yoast_head":"\n