The Russian Revolution
A regime founded on a theory
- The Russian Revolution created a regime based on Marxist-Leninist theory.
- One short sentence, and the operative phrase is based on — the CED ties the state to a body of doctrine.
- 6.7's Marx supplied the critique; this is the first time a state is built on it.
The CED says the revolution created a regime based on ____-Leninist theory.
6.7's Marx supplied the critique; this is the first state built on it.
Causes, from two directions
- 6.6 supplies the long-term line: autocratic reform, including the emancipation of the serfs, gave rise to revolutionary movements and eventually the Russian Revolution of 1905.
- 8.2 supplies the short-term line: stalemate, national mobilisation and total war led to protest and insurrection.
- So the causes of 1917 are a long Russian story meeting a European war, and both are already in the CED.
The long-term line of causation comes from...
Including the emancipation of the serfs and eventually 1905.
Effects, at home and abroad
- At home: a regime built on doctrine, which 8.6 will follow into Stalin's centralised programme.
- Abroad: 8.2 already told you that the revolutions changed the international balance of power.
- And 8.6 names the rise of communism as one condition in which fascism gained popularity — so this revolution is a cause of that.
Long-term cause, short-term cause, or effect?
Sort each element of the Russian Revolution.
One international effect the CED supports is that...
8.2 states it directly.
A thin subtopic is not a small one. The CED gives 8.3 a single Historical Development, so the causes and effects must be assembled from 6.6 (reform giving rise to revolutionary movements and 1905), 8.2 (stalemate and total war leading to insurrection) and 8.6 (the rise of communism as a condition for fascism).
8.6 names the rise of communism as one condition in which fascism gained popularity.
So this revolution is a cause of that development.
Why a doctrinal state is a new thing
- 3.7's absolutism claimed divine sanction; 4.3's contract claimed consent; this claims a theory of history.
- That places the regime inside 8.1's thread about conflicting conceptions of the relationship between the individual and the state.
- So the Russian Revolution belongs to the ideological thread, not only the military one.
A regime based on a theory of history differs from earlier states because it claims...
Which places it inside 8.1's individual-and-state thread.
Causes and effects, in one paragraph
- The objective is the causes and effects of the Russian Revolution, and the CED gives only one Historical Development.
- So the material must be assembled from 6.6, 8.2 and 8.6 — a reminder that a thin subtopic is not a small one.
- Name a long-term cause, a short-term cause, a domestic effect and an international effect: four sentences.
A state that justifies itself by divine right can be argued with on theological ground; one that justifies itself by consent can be argued with at an election. A state that justifies itself by a theory of history has moved the argument to a place where disagreement looks like error.
The Russian Revolution created a regime based on Marxist-Leninist theory — the first state built on 6.7's critique. Its causes run in two lines: the long one from reform and the emancipation of the serfs giving rise to revolutionary movements and 1905, and the short one from stalemate, national mobilisation and total war. Its effects reach abroad — the revolutions changed the international balance of power, and the rise of communism became a condition for fascism.