The Russian Revolution

1917 - when workers shook the world

31 October 2017
The Russian Revolution of October 1917 is the most important event in human history. For centuries ordinary people had dreamed of a world without the rule of emperors, kings, generals and the rich. Some gave their lives fighting for such change.

How workers won in 1917

31 October 2017
The Provisional Government assembled in the Winter Palace at 9pm on 25 October to “work out methods for the resolute and final liquidation of the Bolsheviks”.

The revolution was defeated - but it didn't have to be

31 October 2017
Within a decade of the revolution a regime was taking shape in Russia that pushed back everything revolutionaries had fought for.

Billionaires are getting even richer

29 October 2017
“It has been a good week for billionaires,” wrote the editor-in-chief of MoneyWeek in the Financial Times on Saturday.

The Russian Revolution was democratic. Holding it back was not

02 October 2017
The October uprising had broad support from workers—unlike the parliamentary efforts to hold it back

Was there a parliamentary alternative to revolution?

26 September 2017
Workers in revolt lost faith in the capitalist parliament—and looked towards a better system

Trotsky—the leader who armed the workers’ movement

19 September 2017
Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was at the forefront of the 1917 Revolution

Workers in revolt needed newspapers of their own

12 September 2017
Workers’ councils and political parties set up newspapers to counter the lies of the rich—and to organise the struggle against them in the Russian Revolution of 1917

How the shockwaves of the Russian Revolution spread across the world

05 September 2017
News of revolution in Russia inspired workers to take action against their own rulers—and showed them they could win

Up in arms—how workers in Russia united in action to beat a coup

29 August 2017
At the beginning of September 1917 the commander of the Russian Army, general Lavr Kornilov, tried to crush the revolution.

The Russian Revolution saw workers transform society—and themselves

22 August 2017
Ideas can change fast in a revolution, as ordinary people start to take control of their own lives and the world around them

Our terrified rulers spread lies to undermine revolution

11 August 2017
Fearing that they would also be toppled, ruling classes across the world organised to crush the Russian Revolution of 1917

Does the fight for workers’ power mean dictatorship?

08 August 2017
The ruling class won’t allow a socialist society to develop, so workers need their own instruments of class rule

Russian Revolution gave a glimpse of how we can uproot women’s oppression

08 August 2017
Russia’s revolution showed there can be no women’s liberation without socialism, and no socialism without women’s liberation

The scramble to save the treasure of the Tsars

28 July 2017
After revolution overthrew Russia’s ruling Tsars, a lucrative industry grew around relics of the old regime

‘Bread, peace and land’ connected peasants with workers in the Russian Revolution

17 July 2017
The question of how the revolutionary party relates to all groups in society remains relevant for the struggle today

The July Days - Russian Revolution in crisis and a critical test for the Bolshevik party

11 July 2017
In July 1917 frustration at the Provisional Government led to soldiers’ and workers’ protests that were violently put down

Workers’ revolution ushered in an era of sexual liberation

04 July 2017
For the rights of LGBT+ people and women, revolutionary Russia was decades ahead of its time—and shows what is possible when workers unite