{"id":1394,"date":"2017-08-04T17:11:15","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T17:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/?page_id=1394"},"modified":"2017-08-05T03:36:02","modified_gmt":"2017-08-05T03:36:02","slug":"centennial-of-the-1917-bolshevik-revolution-the-kornilov-affair","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/volume-8-number-9\/centennial-of-the-1917-bolshevik-revolution-the-kornilov-affair\/","title":{"rendered":"Centennial of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution: The Kornilov Affair"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only Communism Can Defeat Fascism<\/span><\/h4>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Armed workers defending the October Revolution<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The last article described the \u201cJuly Days\u201d of the Russian Revolution. In the countryside, peasants (rural workers) were defying the government and distributing land. Urban workers went on strike \u2013 sometimes around political demands.\u00a0\u00a0 Masses of soldiers and sailors were deserting. Many were influenced by communists (Bolsheviks) in the barracks. They marched on Petrograd, the capital, demanding the overthrow of the Provisional Government. Even the communist leaders weren\u2019t ready for this uprising. The government squashed the rebellion with mass terror and anti-communist propaganda. <\/em><\/p>\n

Immediately after the July Days, even some factory workers turned on their Bolshevik comrades. They believed the lie that Bolshevik leaders were agents of German imperialism.<\/p>\n

The provisional government, led by Kerensky, seized the moment to launch a military offensive in the war against Germany. It was a disaster that cost the lives of 200,000 workers and peasants in uniform.<\/p>\n

German imperialism\u2019s counter-offensive took the city of Riga and threatened Petrograd. Discontent, desertion and rebellion soared among troops at the front, as well as those in the urban garrisons. Landlords, generals, and capitalists in the Provisional Government panicked. The socialist Kerensky put a famously right-wing General, Kornilov, in charge to restore harsh discipline in the rebellious military. Kornilov, thinking he had Kerensky\u2019s support, began a march on the capital.<\/p>\n

Now the socialists and liberal democrats panicked. They were caught between the radical right (today we would call it fascism) and the communist masses. Neither of the \u201cdual-power\u201d organs (the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government) had forces that could stop Kornilov\u2019s military coup against their fragile democracy.<\/p>\n

Many top Bolshevik leaders were again in jail or in exile. But the Bolsheviks, and only the Bolsheviks, had a mass base among workers and soldiers. Many comrades were leaders on the factory floor and in the barracks.<\/p>\n

The factory workers of Petrograd, organized mainly on the shop floor, led the resistance to Kornilov.<\/strong> Railway workers controlled or tore up the tracks that Kornilov\u2019s troop trains planned to use. Metal workers went out to meet those troops and win them to the workers\u2019 side. Printers refused to publish newspapers supporting Kornilov. Inside the city, male and female workers filled the streets, ready to resist.<\/p>\n

But there was no fight. Kornilov\u2019s troops deserted. His commander-in-chief Krymov surrendered and then killed himself. Kornilov was arrested. His successor resigned, stating that \u201cwe have no army.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petrograd workers saw more clearly that they alone, armed and organized, could defend the revolution. Their respect grew for the Bolsheviks, the only political party not entangled in the Provisional Government.\u00a0\u00a0 The Bolshevik program of an armed uprising for workers\u2019 power was increasingly their goal. The Red Guard units they had formed remained active.<\/p>\n

After the Kornilov Affair, the Bolshevik Party won a majority in the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets. Now Party leaders faced a crucial choice. Should they stick to the electoral path, hoping for a peaceful transition to Soviet power after the second Congress of Soviets in late October? Or should they organize for armed insurrection and prepare to rule?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll write more in another article about the storm of debate that erupted in the Bolshevik Party and its press when Lenin (in hiding) called for armed insurrection. Now we\u2019ll make a different point.<\/p>\n

The Bolsheviks, Lenin included, were still not popularizing the idea of communism itself.<\/strong> Workers were increasingly ready to fight for power. But power to do what? For peace. For land. For bread. For better working conditions and more of a say in their workplaces. In short, for the reforms that were impossible to get from the capitalist-led Provisional Government.<\/p>\n

And their victory consolidated a mistaken strategy that would cripple the world communist movement for a century. That strategy said that fighting for reforms was a necessary stage in the fight for revolution. That communists should therefore agitate, organize and fight for reforms.<\/p>\n

The problem with the Bolshevik strategy only became clear after they took power. As Lenin would admit, classes \u2013 and therefore class struggle \u2013 inevitably remained. Why? Because their \u201cdictatorship of the proletariat\u201d (later socialism) kept core elements of capitalism, including money, wages, and therefore exploitation. Their socialism, won by revolution, was a reformed version of capitalism. It would inevitably evolve in accordance with the laws of capitalism.<\/p>\n

Revolution for reform did not and could not create the communist society actually needed by workers then and now.<\/strong> We have learned this great lesson from the Bolshevik Revolution: our program now and always must be to mobilize the masses directly for communism.<\/p>\n

\n

What Does It Mean To Take Power?<\/span><\/h4>\n

Today our group discussed the Bolshevik Revolution and its upcoming 100th anniversary. We talked a little about what actually happened, including the key role of soldiers and sailors. We talked about the mass base built and mobilized by rank-and-file Bolshevik leaders.<\/p>\n

We realized that there is a lot more we need to know. That includes a \u201cwho\u2019s who\u201d of important parties and individuals, a chronology, and a map. We\u2019ll work on putting some of this information together.<\/p>\n

We would like more discussion about what it means to \u201ctake power.\u201d Someone asked what they did about money after the revolution. Another wanted to know more about what workers\u2019 power meant in the workplace. And we agreed that it\u2019s important to make the connections between the communist-led revolution a century ago and the work of the International Communist Workers\u2019 Party today.<\/p>\n

We talked about looking through first-hand accounts of the revolution and using excerpts to create a dramatic reading for the anniversary event in Los Angeles. Everyone took a different book home to read so that we can continue the discussion at our next meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a very enlightening day,\u201d concluded a friend.<\/p>\n

\u2014Los Angeles comrades<\/p>\n

Learn from the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia!<\/span><\/h4>\n

This Fall marks the 100th anniversary of the 1917 communist-led revolution in Russia (October 25 Old Style\/November 7 New Style).\u00a0\u00a0 This was a monumental event in the history of our class and our movement. We have so much to learn from its successes, its shortcomings, and its fatal errors.<\/p>\n

We call on all collectives of the International Communist Workers\u2019 Party, and all Red Flag<\/strong><\/em> readers, to organize study groups, dinners, public forums, rallies and other events to promote the broadest and deepest possible understanding of the Bolshevik Revolution.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s inspire masses to join and strengthen our communist work among workers, youth, and especially among soldiers and sailors! Let\u2019s use this history to grasp more firmly the meaning and power of our slogan \u201cMobilize the Masses for Communism.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Front page of this issue<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Only Communism Can Defeat Fascism Armed workers defending the October Revolution The last article described the \u201cJuly Days\u201d of the Russian Revolution. In the countryside, peasants (rural workers) were defying the government and distributing land. Urban workers went on strike \u2013 sometimes around political demands.\u00a0\u00a0 Masses of soldiers and sailors were deserting. Many were influenced … Continue reading Centennial of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution: The Kornilov Affair<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18,"parent":1359,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1394","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1394"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1432,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1394\/revisions\/1432"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icwpredflag.org\/wp\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}