The State

The revolution, and the introduction of a planned economy, laid the basis for the transformation of Russia from the 'India' of Europe to the second most powerful economy and country on the globe. Despite the squandering of the advantages of the planned economy by the monstrous one-party, totalitarian regime which subsequently arose, the Russian Revolution has been more than justified in the colossal development of industry and society and also the living standards of the mass of the population since 1917.It is impossible to understand the present world situation without understanding the Russian Revolution and its subsequent degeneration. But the Marxists will also be analyzing the revolution from another standpoint. Only in Russia, following the overturn in October, did the workers take power and establish real workers' democracy. In the last 70 years there have been not a few opportunities for the working class to follow the path of the Russian workers of 1917.In its sweep, scope and potential for victory of the working class the Chinese revolution of 1925-27 was equal to, if not greater, that even that of Russia. The working class in Spain, not once but ten times between 1931-37, attempted to take power.In the aftermath of the Second World War, a revolutionary wave even greater than that which followed the Russian Revolution, swept Western Europe. In 1968 in France, the working class organized a general strike of ten million. De Gaulle fled to Germany believing that 'the game was up' yet the French workers were not able to emulate their Russian counterparts of fifty years before.And we have had the experience of the Portuguese revolution of 1974, when the capitalist state disintegrated. The great majority of the Portuguese officer caste were radicalized, groping in the direction of 'socialism'.In the Russian revolution, the officers remained hostile to the revolution. And yet nowhere except in Russia did the working class take power.