F.L. Tuma on the February and October Revolutions in Russia

The article examines some still unexplored aspects of the Slovenian attitude to the February and October revolutions in the Russia of 1917. The research was carried out primarily on the basis of press materials – memoirs of the Slovenian patriot Tuma, which were published in twenty issues of a Trieste newspaper, Edinost, in 1919. Tuma’s notes are very important sources for studying this topic, in particular because he was the only Slovenian intellectual and patriot who spent almost the entire time of the First World War, from 1914 to 1918, in Petrograd. He was also the only Slovenian who had access to the Russian government. The goal of the study is to reveal the peculiarities of the Slovenian perception of Russian reality during the two revolutions and to assess the objectivity of Tuma’s attempts at analysis. The conclusion is that, although he was an eyewitness of great events, his judgments cannot be regarded as completely objective. On the other hand, the publication of Tuma’s memoirs undoubtedly helped to shape a matrix of Slovenian notions about Tsarist and Bolshevik Russia.

Alexander on a White Horse

The paper discusses various interpretative strategies and narratives applied to the role which was played by Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky (1881–1970) in the Russian Revolution. It critically evaluates views of the provisional government’s president as a non-radical revolutionary, whose work called for an upgrade in a ‘second revolution’, as well as the interpretation which makes him out to have been a counter-revolutionary at his core. Tracing the causes of his actions in 1917 to his personality traits, the study arrives at the conclusion that Kerensky was a revolutionary of an entirely different breed from those who removed him from power in October 1917; for him, the ‘first revolution’ was enough. The contribution also examines those of Kerensky’s actions which benefited his left-wing opponents, particularly his policy of disassembling the government apparatus out of fear of the right-wing enemy.

The October Revolution as Leftist Fascism: From the Curbing of Capitalists to the Curbing of Artists

The paper discusses the phenomenon of the October Revolution through the prism of Lenin’s article The State and Revolution, which describes and anticipates the mechanisms of revolutionary action intended to eliminate the exploitation of the working class and to establish a more just social order. The study compares Lenin’s theory with his revolutionary practice by accentuating the concept of ‘the curbing of capitalists’, illuminated by and examined through a series of synchronic and diachronic perspectives, which ultimately led to the formation of the term ‘enemy of the people’ (‘class enemy’). At the same time, it attempts to define and historically determine the actual duration of the October Revolution. The second part of the paper applies the concept of ‘curbing’ to the situation of artists within the Bolshevik state. Thus it presents a range of artists’ attitudes to the Revolution, which had lumped critical and independent artists together with capitalists as ‘enemies of the people’.

‘Give Us Bread! Make Peace!’ Hinterland of the (Isonzo) Front, Food Shortage and the Consequences of Revolutionary Events in Russia

In the hinterland of the Isonzo Front, at the home front, the war was felt particularly through the shortage of food, through hunger. This burden necessarily fell on women, who had to feed themselves and their families. In this case, too, women were expected to act heroically and patriotically, to skimp and save and make sacrifices. In the last war years women became increasingly loud and demonstrated in the streets, demanding ‘bread’ as well as ‘peace’. In Slovenia they flocked to join the declaration movement. For a better tomorrow they demanded rights ‘for the nation’, and voices were even heard in favour of women’s political rights.

Revolution between Ideology, History and Philosophy: World Imperialism

The paper addresses the problem of the October Revolution and revolution as such in its historical, ideological and philosophical aspects. The unity of all three aspects and their mutual permeation is reflected in the question how the event of the October Revolution is inscribed into the history of the 20th century, considering that the latter was largely written by this event itself. Being more than just an intra-historical event, revolution presupposes the transformation of history. Thus one needs to ask: What enables a self-transforming history? There is no supernatural force involved: it is rather that the subjectivity of society perceives history and the whole world as space for its own expansion and participation in power. In the context of world history as a self-establishing social power, even communism finally proves to be what it allegedly fights against: world imperialism. The thesis is based on Ivo Urbančič’s essay from 1971, ‘Lenin’s philosophy’ or Imperialism, and on recent discussions about the possibility of revolution today, which is mentioned in the last part of the article. The rampant imperial expansionism of society as subjectivity must give us pause with the question how there can persist a hope in the meaningfulness of humanity. Does anyone dare to offer resistance, perhaps to launch a revolution?

Words Instruct, Illustrations Lead: The National Question after the October Revolution

The paper focuses on the development of Marxist-Leninist views on the phenomenon of nationalism and on the evolution of nations. The germs of the idea of a socialist nationality can be found already before WWI. After the October Revolution, the Stalinist practice of solving the national question was marked by the process of Korenizatsiya: the Bolsheviks emphasised the nationalities in the Soviet Union, hoping that this would accelerate the transition to socialism. This policy was likewise adopted in Yugoslavia during and immediately after WWII.

Economic Organisation of Socialism

The paper confronts the views of three theoreticians, all of them contemporaries and men of action, on the economic organisation of socialism. Although from different perspectives, both Lenin and Schumpeter believed in the success of socialism, while Keynes was in favour of reform and the survival of capitalism.

Russian Revolution through the Prism of Srečko Kosovel’s World View and His Poetry

The article deals with the influence of the Russian Revolution as evidenced in Srečko Kosovel’s intellectual and poetic creativity. Multifaceted and complicated, this influence includes socio- critical, cultural-reflexive, aesthetic and poetological aspects. Of key importance is Kosovel’s preoccupation with the crisis of humanity in the historical situation of Europe and of the world in general after the end of the First World War, which affected both individual and community, both worker and nation. While the Russian revolution undoubtedly led Kosovel to believe that the world could become more humane, he cannot be considered a ‘believer of the revolution’ in the sense of adherence to revolutionary ideology. In his view, the role of creating a ‘New Humanity’ definitely belonged to art.

Russian Revolution and the International Legal System

Two potent ideologies came to loggerheads after WWI: communism, which rose to the fore after the Russian revolution, and the so far dominant liberalism. At first glance the two ideologies share surprisingly similar views on the fundamental questions of the international legal system. But a more thorough look at the development of the Soviet doctrine of international law reveals some fundamental differences. The goal of the Russian revolution was to set up a worldwide socialist society, with the working class given a dominant role. This goal dissolved after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, it is possible to identify in the international legal system a positive and still valid legacy of the Russian revolution, such as the principle of the self-determination of nations, the concept of economic, social and cultural rights, the principle of public conclusion of treaties, the prohibition of aggressive war, as well as a polycentric view of the world structure.

Ideational Preconditions to the Success of the October Revolution

This article aims to analyse some ideational preconditions, traced back to the preceding periods of Russian history, which enabled the success of the October Revolution in 1917. Firstly, the article deals with the views of Georges Florovsky (1893–1979), Russian theologian, philosopher and historian. Florovsky argues that Russian thought had been ‘in captivity’ ever since the 16th century, a captivity imposed by Western influences. Among the foreign influences, it is the German idealist philosophy that is perceived by Florovsky as the most detrimental, for it paved the way for various utopian projects, including the Bolshevik revolution. Secondly, the article examines the notions of the Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev (1874–1948). From Berdyaev’s point of view, the victory of Bolshevism resulted from Russia’s lack of a free secular intellectual- philosophical tradition, which was thwarted by the authoritarian state. As a consequence, Bolshevik ideology interpreted the original Marxism in conceptually closed terms. The present paper argues that the views of Florovsky and Berdyaev are acceptable yet partial. This is because they are concerned with generally interpreting the formation of the intellectual environment which favoured the victory of Bolshevism on Russian soil, without considering the complexity of Russian politics and society at the turn of the 19th century.