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Chapter 19 Historical interpretations
Reading more deeply
Essential reading
Acton, E 1990, Rethinking the Russian Revolution, Edward Arnold.
Acton provides perhaps the best discussion available on the concepts of representing
the past. Chapter 2 focuses on the three major interpretations of the revolution and the
impact of revisionism. The strength of the book is that Acton then applies these
perspectives to different debates about the revolution. For example, Chapter 8 (14
pages) provides perspectives on the controversy of whether the Bolsheviks or the
masses were responsible for the October 1917 Revolution.
Soviet interpretations
Trotsky, L 1945, The Revolution Betrayed: What is the Soviet Union and Where is it Going?
Pioneer (written in 1936). Chapter III, ‘Socialism and the state’, pp. 45–56.
In this reflection on the achievements of the Soviet regime, Trotsky explores the key
question as to whether true socialism had been achieved in the Soviet Union between
1917 and 1936. His answer includes a valuable discussion on the fundamental
contradiction between Bolshevik theory and Soviet reality. In order for a proletarian
dictatorship to be truly achieved, the state and bureaucracy must ‘die away’. Instead of
this, Trotsky criticises Stalin’s regime as ‘turning into an uncontrolled force dominating
the masses’ and ‘strangling the workers’ movement’. A familiarity with Marxist theory
and terminology is an important basis for gaining the most from this chapter.
Western liberal interpretations
Pipes, R 1994, Russia under the Bolshevik Regime 1919–1924, Harvill. ‘Reflections on the
Russian Revolution’, pp. 490–512.
This final chapter provides an analysis of the entire revolution from its causes, through
the two 1917 revolutions, to discussing why communism failed. Pipes denounces
Lenin’s revolution, and Lenin’s and Stalin’s communist regime. He argues that neither
European nor Russian socialism worked and that the failure of communism as an
ideology was inevitable.
Revisionist interpretations
Fitzpatrick, S 1994 revised edition, The Russian Revolution. Chapter 6, ‘Ending the
revolution’, pp. 148–72.
Fitzpatrick was a ‘pioneering revisionist’ who argued that the Russian Revolution was a
process that did not end with Lenin, but continued into the 1930s under Stalin. This is a
very logical text that is organised exceptionally well into clear subheadings and has a
good discussion of historical interpretations.
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