The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #162822   Message #3878058
Posted By: Jim Carroll
21-Sep-17 - 08:47 PM
Thread Name: BS: Robert Owen
Subject: RE: BS: Robert Owen
Revolution implies change
Those you list all brought about improvements within the societies in which they worked but none sought to change those societies.
Revolutionary change does not automatically imply violence - quite often it is put in motion because of the violence that is taking place
The Russian Revolution took place when the soldiers at the Front in WW1 decided they had had enough and walked away from the fighting
They met up with the peasants who were suffering brutal conditions brought about by the war -
In 1907, peaceful demonstrations in Russia were brutally crushed and the protestors were shot down, yet in neither cas did either workers or peasants seek revenge - the slogan they united under was "Bread, Peace and Land"
The real bloodshed came with the Civil War when the old guard tried to return revolutionary Russia back into the hands of the old leaders.
The fact is that Russia was not ready for revolution - the people were given no alternative.
Probably the best explanation of revolution was John Reed's 'Ten Days That Shook the World (enjoyably filmed as 'Reds')
Both readable and informative
Reed also witnessed s and described the Mexican revolution - not bad for a Yank!!
Jim Carroll