socialism in europe and the russian revolution??
Answers
In the previous chapter you read about the powerful ideas of freedom
and equality that circulated in Europe after the French Revolution.
The French Revolution opened up the possibility of creating a
dramatic change in the way in which society was structured. As you
have read, before the eighteenth century society was broadly divided
into estates and orders and it was the aristocracy and church which
controlled economic and social power. Suddenly, after the revolution,
it seemed possible to change this. In many parts of the world including
Europe and Asia, new ideas about individual rights and who
controlled social power began to be discussed. In India, Raja
Rammohan Roy and Derozio talked of the significance of the French
Revolution, and many others debated the ideas of post-revolutionary
Europe. The developments in the colonies, in turn, reshaped these
ideas of societal change.
By the mid - nineteenth century in Europe, socialism
was a well-known body of ideas that attracted widespread attention.
Socialists were against private property, and saw it as the root of all social ills
of the time. Why? Individuals owned the property that gave employment
but the propertied were concerned only with personal gain and not with
the welfare of those who made the property productive. So if society as a
whole rather than single individuals controlled property, more attention
would be paid to collective social interests. Socialists wanted this change and
campaigned for it.
All political parties were illegal in Russia before 1914. The Russian
Social Democratic Workers Party was founded in 1898 by socialists
who respected Marxís ideas. However, because of government
policing, it had to operate as an illegal organisation. It set up a
newspaper, mobilised workers and organised strikes.
Some Russian socialists felt that the Russian peasant custom of dividing
land periodically made them natural socialists. So peasants, not
workers, would be the main force of the revolution, and Russia could
become socialist more quickly than other countries. Socialists were
active in the countryside through the late nineteenth century. They
formed the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1900. This party struggled
for peasantsí rights and demanded that land belonging to nobles be
transferred to peasants. Social Democrats disagreed with Socialist
Revolutionaries about peasants. Lenin felt that peasants were not
one united group. Some were poor and others rich, some worked as
labourers while others were capitalists who employed workers. Given
this ëdifferentiationí within them, they could not all be part of a
socialist movement.
The party was divided over the strategy of organisation. Vladimir
Lenin (who led the Bolshevik group) thought that in a repressive
society like Tsarist Russia the party should be disciplined and should
control the number and quality of its members. Others (Mensheviks)
thought that the party should be open to all (as in Germany).
2.4 A Turbulent Time: The 1905 Revolution
Russia was an autocracy. Unlike other European rulers, even at the
beginning of the twentieth century, the Tsar was not subject to
Alexander Shlyapnikov, a socialist
worker of the time, gives us a description
of how the meetings were organised:
ëPropaganda was done in the plants and
shops on an individual basis. There were
also discussion circles Ö Legal meetings
took place on matters concerning [official
issues], but this activity was skilfully
integrated into the general struggle for
the liberation of the working class. Illegal
meetings were Ö arranged on the spur
of the moment but in an organised way
during lunch, in evening break, in front
of the exit, in the yard or, in
establishments with several floors, on
the stairs. The most alert workers would
form a ìplugî in the doorway, and the
whole mass piled up in the exit. An
agitator would get up right there on the
spot. Management would contact the
police on the telephone, but the
speeches would have already been
made and the necessary decision taken
by the time they arrived ...í
Alexander Shlyapnikov, On the Eve of
1917.
Answer:
Socialism in Europe and the Russia Revolution
(Additional Question and answers)
Q.1. List out the Socialist Ideas of the mid 19th
century.
Answer: The Socialist Ideas of the mid 19th century are as follows:
1. They were against private property.
2. Private property was the root cause for all social ills according to socialists.
3. Socialists thought that propertied individual owners were concerned only about their own
profits. The welfare of the workers was neglected.
4. They wanted a society controlled property rather than the individual owned as that would pay
more attention to the social interest.
Q.2. Which basic principles, ideas and values had the Russian Revolution for rest of the world?
Answer: The basic principles, ideas and values had the Russian Revolution for rest of the world:
(a) Economic equality.
(b) Social Equality.
(c) Socialism.
(d) Anti-capitalism.
(e) International fraternity of all the peasants, craftsmen and workers.
Q.3. Differentiate between the ideas of the liberals and radicals in Europe.
Answer: We can differentiate the ideas of the liberals and radicals in following ways---
1. The liberals did not believe in universal franchise. In contrast, radicals wanted a nation in
which government was based on most of a country’s population.
2. Liberals felt men of prosperity mainly should have the vote. They did not want the vote for
women. On the other hand, the radicals supported women’s suffragette movements and
opposed the privileges of great landowners and wealthy factory owners.
3. Radicals were not against the existence of private property but disliked concentration of
property in the hands of a few.
Q.4. Why were socialists against private property and saw it as the root of all social ills?
Answer: The people who propagated socialism said that individuals, who owned property, did provide
employment to many people but they were concerned with personal gains only. They did not bother
about the welfare of the people. They felt that if society- controlled property, more attention would
be paid to collective social interests. Socialists wanted this change and campaigned for it.