Marx's Theory of Revolutions

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Kerensky’s Second Coalition

One hundred years ago today, plus two, Kerensky formed a new government, known to history as the Second Coalition, that included the bourgeois Cadets but excluded the Bolsheviks, some of whom got arrested instead. Read about it here.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Prime Minister Kerensky

One hundred years ago today, plus two, amidst the upheaval of the July Days, the right socialists sought relief by naming Kerensky prime minister. Read about it here.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

The July Days

One hundred years ago, plus two (as of Tuesday the 16th), demonstrations that would lead both to a new government and prime minister and to an attempt to suppress the Bolshevik party began in Petrograd. Read about it here.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Monday, July 1, 2019

June Demonstration, Summer Offensive

One hundred years ago today, plus two, it was still June in Petrograd (Russia was on the old Julian calendar, which was by then 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar), and the workers and soldiers took to the streets to protest, among other things, plans for a summer offensive against Germany and her allies. Read about it here, and about the Russian summer offensive here.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Sunday, June 16, 2019

Congress of Soviets Meet-up

One hundred years ago today, plus two, the Congress of Soviets convened in Petrograd. Not sure what a “soviet” is? It’s something like participatory democracy. Read about it here, and follow the Newer Post links at the bottom of the page to get the rest of the story.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Saturday, May 18, 2019

Coalition for the Provisional Government

One hundred years ago today, plus two, some of the socialist parties joined the liberal-bourgeois Cadets in a coalition for the Provisional Government. Kerensky got a promotion; the Bolsheviks did not participate. Read about it here.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

Friday, May 17, 2019

Trotsky Arrives in Petrograd

One hundred years ago today, plus two, Trotsky returned to Petrograd and immediately spoke out against socialist participation in the Provisional Government then being formed. Read about it here.

Or read the whole story from the beginning by following this link.

100 Years Ago Today, in Russia

The most recent entry is at the top, so the entries appear in reverse chronological order. Follow this link to the first post, February 27 – February 14, 1917: Last State Duma. Then click Newer Post at the bottom of the page to find the entries in chronological order.

Now (November 29) the entries from the beginning of the February Revolution to the end of the October Revolution have been compiled into chapters. The chapters are in chronological order and run five pages or more in length.

I have now (October 24) published a number of supplementary posts for items in the narrative that were omitted from the original chronology. The posts contain navigation permitting readers to follow them in chronological order. A link at the bottom of the previous post leads to the supplementary post next in the chronology, and a link at the bottom of the supplementary post leads forward in time from there.

Dates are given new style first, followed by old style (then in use in Russia). By 1917, the old style (Julian) dates were 13 days behind the new style (Gregorian) dates. The new style dates are in fact “100 years ago today” dates, but the old style dates gave rise to the terms “February Revolution” and “October Revolution” that describe the two most important stages of the 1917 Russian Revolution.

The principal sources are Leon Trotsky’s History of the Russian Revolution, first published in 1930 after Trotsky had been exiled from Stalin’s Russia, and, for the October Revolution, the American journalist John Reed’s Ten Days that Shook the World, published in 1919.

About this Blog

The Theory of Revolutions is now the chronology of one particular revolution, the Russian Revolution that took place a hundred years ago.

Earlier entries, ending in 2013, apply the theory of revolutions to an analysis of the Arab Spring.

These are the cornerstones of the theory.

It’s Speculative Philosophy. It’s neither punditry nor social science, but really and only philosophy.

It uses Dialectical Logic. In a revolution, revolutionaries as subjective entities seek the negation of the objective conditions (some or all) formerly in existence. The movement generated by these subjective and objective moments in a revolution is termed “dialectical.”

Finally, it is Class Analysis. In other words, when people as economic beings find themselves in certain conditions, sometimes they vote, and sometimes they revolt.

Follow this link for a more nuanced explanation About This Blog. And visit Marx’s Political Economy for posts about domestic and local politics.