1917. The Bolsheviks in Power
by Alexander Rabinowitch
“The fundamental question of why the Bolsheviks were able to win is not easy to answer”
Among the merits of the American historian Rabinowitch is that of restoring the 1917 insurrection to its concrete, human and political dimension, as well as recounting with a free pen the mobilizations that led the Bolsheviks to overthrow the Kerensky government. Obviously, one should not underestimate the weight played in the affair by Lenin personally, but this book also shows how the Bolshevik Party, far from being a monolithic entity, was instead crossed at every level by contradictions and bitter internal debates. Its various territorial garrisons in fact enjoyed great autonomy of action, even on apparently divergent slogans. It was this flexibility of action that would then allow them to translate popular aspirations – land for the peasants, the end of the war – into a general political program until the final conquest of power. This is an innovative approach, this one by Rabinowitch, compared to the classic historiography on the October Revolution, because it demolishes the idea that the Bolshevik success was due to the discipline and monotonous obedience of the Party to Lenin’s indications. The reason for its strength was instead to be found in its internal diversity.
