The majority of Marxist theory correctly focuses on the revolutionary role of the urban industrial proletariat. A deeper reading of the first successful proletariat revolution reveals that a key albatross pulling on the neck of the Soviet system was the question of what to do with the rural peasant class, which constituted the vast majority of the Russian population in 1917. The political alliance forged between the proletariat and peasantry was recognized by Lenin as integral to the successful creation of a socialist society within Russia. In the absence of a working class revolution within one of the advanced capitalist nations, such as Germany, the hopelessly backward Russian social and political system was largely forced to take the socialist path alone after Lenin's death in 1924. The consolidation of power by the Stalinist bureaucracy following Lenin's demise came at a great cost to both the industrial proletariat and the rural labor force
[...] The industrial proletariats physical proximity to the means and relations of large scale capitalist production leaves socialism as the only way out of wage slavery and forces the peasantry into a necessarily supportive role. Beyond the socio-historic development of the European peasantry in general and Russian peasantry in particular, Trotsky also focuses on the policy of the Bolshevik party toward the peasantry after October of 1917. Pointing to the Bolshevik decree annulling the property of the landlords and placing landownership within state hands defended by local soviets, Trotsky argues that while the policy ultimately failed, it demonstrated a “farsighted and pedagogical” approach toward the peasantry (Trotsky, 1176-1177). [...]
[...] 50-71. Kingston-Mann, Esther. Lenin and the Challenge of Peasant Militance: From Bloody Sunday to the Dissolution of the First Duma. Russian Review, Vol No (Oct., 1979), pp. 434-455. Tucker, Robert. (1978). The Marx-Engels Reader: Second Edition. W.W. Norton & Company Inc. Tucker, Robert. (1975). The Lenin Anthology. W.W. Norton & Company Inc. Trotsky, Leon. (1922). The First Five Years of the Communist International: The Economic Situation of Soviet Russia from the Standpoint of [...]
[...] In regard to the role of the peasantry Trotsky again notes, industrial proletariat has tremendous political importance, and for this reason the struggle for the emancipation of Russia has become converted into a single combat between absolutism and the industrial proletariat, a single combat in which the peasants may render considerable support but cannot play a leading role” (Trotsky, IV). The unique development of capitalism in Russia sets the stage for permanent revolution and the political dominance of the industrial proletariat. [...]
[...] While Marx, Lenin, and Trotsky all hold the position that the urban industrial proletariat will lead the social revolution that destroys the capitalist epoch, nowhere do they argue that the peasantry is not an important part of the solution or necessarily reactionary. Bibliography Alam, Javeed. Peasantry, Politics, and Historiography: Critique of New Trend in Relation to Marxism. Social Scientist, Vol No (Feb., 1983), pp. 43-54. Gramsci, Antonio. (1926). Some Aspects of the Southern Question. Marxist Internet Archive. Q http://www.marxists.org/archive/gramsci/1926/10/southern_question.htm. Harding, Timothy. [...]
[...] He concludes that by 1871 the class-consciousness of the rural population had developed significantly and that the Communards would have provided the peasantry with much needed revolutionary leadership if they survived (Tucker, 637). The bloody conclusion of the Paris Commune removed the urban proletariat from State power and set the social revolution back for almost fifty years. The unfortunate mistakes and subsequent failure of the Paris Commune would heavily influence Lenin and the revolutionary Russian leadership prior to the successful October revolution. [...]
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