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During the Russian Revolution of 1917, it was the first time in history (aside from the Paris Commune) where the ordinary working class people took power directly into their own hands. It was an extraordinary endeavour, which inspired millions across the globe, and it is one of, if not the singular, greatest event in world history due to it's significance and the possibility of a better world it offered.

However, Russia at the time of the Russian Revolution was a very backwards semi feudal country with 80% of it's population peasants. Marx said in the Communist Manifesto that capitalism is a prerequisite for socialism, and had always presumed that the first workers revolution would happen in the advanced capitalist countries with a large and strong proletariat, either France, Germany, or Britain. However this turned out not to be the case for a number of reasons, partly due to Russia's uneven development, it's comparatively weak national capitalist class, and therefore it being the weakest link.

Because of it's uneducated population, it's lack of effective machinery and transportation able to avert famine, and the overwhelming hostility of the other capitalist powers, the Bolshveiks lost support as they were unable to carry out their promises of 'peace, land, bread, and freedom,' due to the ongoing civil war and the scarcity it caused. This meant the revolution degenerated, and power became concentrated in the hands of a few. This was one of the primary reasons why Stalin came to power and the Soviet Union became a totalitarian regime.

But this was almost not the case. After the Great October Socialist Revolution and WW1, there was huge militancy of the working class all across Europe, particularly in Germany and Hungary. In Hungary a short lived Soviet Republic was even created in 1919.

However, the big country all of the Bolshveik's were looking at was Germany. Germany was a powerful, economically developed country, and had a huge socialist tradition. If Germany had turned communist in 1919 and have helped the Russian's in the Russian Civil War, the destruction and devastation of Russia would not have been as severe, and the rise of totalitarianism and Stalinism would have been avoided.

All of the objective conditions for a revolution in Germany existed. In 1918 the Kiel mutiny sparked the German Revolution, which was similar to the February revolution in that it overthrew the Kaiser and created a liberal (boishwar) democracy. The biggest obstacle was the betrayal of the SPD (Social Democratic Party.) The SPD had inspired so much hope in socialists across Europe, but on the outbreak of WW1 the majority of it's deputies in the Reichstag voted for war credits. By the German revolution it had decisively rejected revolution and allied itself with the capitalists. The most notable member of the SPD and the first president of the Weimar Republic was Friedrich Ebert.

There was huge workers opposition to Ebert, manifested in the USPD (Independent Social Democratic Party) which was much more radical, but was unable to decisively break with reformism. The Spartacist League, led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebnecht, was a revolutionary organization. But it was so absorbed into the USPD that it failed to be a decisive force during the Spartacist Revolt, and the rising ended in catastrophic failure with over 100 workers being murdered at the hands of the arch reactionary Freikorp paramilitaries.

Luxemburg and Liebnecht were highly competent figures, who had a high amount of respect amongst the German communist movement. One of the biggest issues after their death was that the KPD lacked many experienced leadership and it was uncertain who would take their places. This lead to the split between the Communist Party and the Communist Worker's Party, and the division in the Communist movement, misguided ultra leftist tactics, and lack of leadership is what led to the failure of the Red Rising the following year.

The Kapp Putsch and the response to it was absolutely groundbreaking. Virtually the entire country went on strike against military dictatorship, so that they were completely squandered. Ebert was deeply unpopular, everybody knew how he'd sent out the freikorps to murder revolutionaries. In the aftermath of the coup, the working class had had enough of boishwar government, and could see clearly the incompetency and betrayal of the SPD. The Red Rising in the Ruhr Region was a huge uprising, which had a real chance of being successful, even so much that a militia of 80,000+ men was formed in the height of the struggle. The reason for the failure was the lack of coordinated leadership, and the division in the left. The Communist Worker's Party refused to enter into reformist trade unions, and would not compete in elections, the same was true of the Free German Worker's Union. This led to isolation from the masses, who at this time were very much still supporting the USPD. Tragically, the result was that this time over a thousand striking workers were killed.

But Luxemburg had a commitment to democracy, and understood that in order for a revolution to be successful, one had to secure the support of the whole country, and this is why she rightly pointed out that the 1919 revolt would be a disaster, which it would have been even if they'd taken control of Berlin. If she had given clear leadership to the KPD, they would have followed a unified strategy and been a more attractive force to the working class, taking over from the USPD and would have easily have been able to defeat the Freikorps. Not only that, but a successful Ruhr Rising would have immediately, if coordinated effectively, been met with support in Berlin, and a most (almost all of present day borders) of Germany would have been under Red control.


What would this new world look like, and what would be it's impact on a world scale?

We are now leaving OTL, and reading a popular history book from this alternative world...


The Rise of the Proletariat: A History of the 20th Century

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Introduction:


The 20th century was the most significant century in human history. It harked the dawn of a new era of humanity, an era without class, exploitation, and oppression, but instead cooperation, progress, and concern for humanity. It defined the rest of the 20th century and the struggles and battles that were fought. It created a society where anyone, regardless of background, could have an opportunity to give to their communities and society.

At the start of the 20th century, the vast majority of people were illiterate and had incredibly short lifespans, by the end, global illiteracy had been more a less abolished, and people were living longer, more productive, happier, and healthier lives. At the start of the 20th century, religion still controlled the minds of ordinary people, telling them how to think and what they were allowed to do, whereas at the dawn of the 21st religion had largely died out in Europe, and was in decline elsewhere. People thought scientifically and critically, questioning established norms constantly, and through this, creating ever better ways of doing things, leading to a huge amount of innovation and progress. And this wasn’t a small number of intellectuals from the upper classes, like in days of old, this was people from every class and every background, expanding their horizons and knowledge to strengthen all of humankind. No longer were people subjected to the rule by the few in the interests of the few, but could exercise their will through the rule of democracy.

To understand the history of the 20th century, it is very important to understand all of the forces which were at play

Ever since the agricultural revolution, humankind had been divided into social classes. Before this point, people had been more a less equal, as human society had been primitive, and had not mastered it’s skills to create surplus value above and beyond everyday needs. However, the dawn of farming techniques changed things. For the first time, there was food all year round, and excess produce on top of that. So, in order to move society forward with this new found surplus, to be able to build roads, cities, and empires, there needed to be a group of people who did not work on the land providing sustenance, but could focus their time on other things, such as writing, philosophy, and science. Soon, huge civilizations sprung up, and they were almost always ruled by monarchs and emperors, who lived in excess and luxury off the sweat and labor of the vast majority of the population, who were agricultural laborers or slaves.

Many different types of class society emerged throughout the ages. The Roman Empire build a gigantic civilization which created the cultural framework for modern day Europe through the mass of slave labor. However, without constant expansion and the acquiring of new slaves, it could sustain it’s cultural endeavors, and once it had reached its peak of power, it eventually collapsed under its own weight.

Europe hence went into a long period of decline, and cities were largely abandoned in favor of a return to a more primitive way of life. For the next millennium or so the ruling class consisted of landlords, who leached off of the agricultural labor of the peasant masses, and the catholic church, the one lasting remnant of the empire which maintained control over the land and the minds of the populace. This society was known as feudalism.

However, over time, civilization gradually recovered, towns reemerged, and many wished to break free from the stifling of creativity, reason, and progress that the church had mandated as a means of maintaining their hegemony. They wanted to be able to trade freely, without interference from any institutions. These new class of traders, who sailed across the world trading goods and services, became known as capitalists. However, this brought them into conflict with the feudal lords, absolute monarchs, and the church, that wished to maintain their control, both ideologically and materially. So, the capitalists created their own branch of Christianity, Protestantism, which would be better ideologically suited to their interests.

During the 17th century, many battles took place between the capitalists and feudalists, and in many cases the feudalists won, such as in the Thirty Years War in France and Germany. However, in other cases, such as Britain and Holland, the rule of absolutism and warlords fell to the rule of capitalism. Power was decided through the rule of markets, and feudal privileges were abolished. In both cases, monarchs eventually returned to restore order, but they were now bound to serve the interests of capital, and to assist in keeping the capitalist’s new hegemony over society.

However, what set the capitalists apart from any other rulers so far, was that of free competition. In order to secure profits and be able to expand their control of trade, they needed to be able to develop faster and more efficient mechanisms constantly, in order to create ever greater surplus value. This led to an enormous advance of engineering, technology, and science. In order to efficiently transfer goods from one area to another, railways and roads were built. Lands once covered in farmland became every more urbanized, as more efficient techniques of harvesting crops were invented, and more and more people moved to towns and cities to be able to mine minerals out of the ground and manufacture goods.This new class became known as the proletariat, urbanized workers who worked for big capitalists to increase profits. For the first time in history, surplus value had increased to the point of abundance, when there was enough to feed every person, and yet still be able to maintain civilization and all of its benefits, such as culture and longer lives. However, despite this, the living standards of the vast majority of the population remained poor.

As the means of production advanced, corporations grew bigger, and capital became more and more concentrated in the hands of the few, having wiped out all competitors. The occupations of workers slowly shifted as technology improved, from manual work to more intellectual. This lead, to the first time in history in countries of advanced capitalist development, of a population in which a majority could access culture through literacy. As the masses grew more educated and became more, they could begin to see the trembling injustices they were subjected to. For the first time, the masses could act not only for their own interests, but for their collective interest.

Karl Marx, a philosopher and sociologist born in Prussia, was the first person to adequately understand the scientific processes towards the development of humankind, known as Historical Materialism. Marx was born shortly after the period of the Enlightenment, a period of great political and social change in the 18th century.

French Revolution of 1789 had been the first time in history where the working class had played a key role and fought for its own interests. Before this point, such as in the English Revolution of 1642 and later 1689, and the American Revolution of 1776, the capitalists had fought for their own interests alone. Despite the increased status of democratic institutions in both cases, this involved strong property qualifications in order to be elected to office. The French Revolution started out much the same way, but there was a difference. Society had developed to the point where the peti boishwar (small capitalists), usually the most radical sections of capitalism, could rely on active working class support. This movement was called the Jacobins, led by Maximilien Robespierre, and they advocated democracy for all men, regardless of property. The Levellers during the English Revolution had raised similar demands, but because there wasn’t as much of a developed social base of proletarians, they ended up defeated. However, for a short time, the Jacobins were able to gain power, and establish a democratic society based on the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity.

However, seeing this as a threat to their interests, the big boishwar removed the Jacobin’s from power, and after much instability, Napoleon Bonaparte came to power. Napoleon ended democracy, and brought back a lot of relics from feudalism, such as the catholic church, heraldry, and declared himself emperor. However, the Napoleonic Wars ended up abolishing feudalism throughout most of Europe. He was eventually defeated however, and reason retreated, and the aristocracy was able to regain some of their old privileges (although the world had changed irreversibly, and they had to make concessions to the capitalists).

Leaving Prussia to write his theories in London, Marx analyzed the causes of the defeat of the French Revolution, and he declared, quite rightly, that it was only the proletariat who could change society. His beliefs were proven right, when the French Revolution (and others throughout Europe) in 1848 virtually repeated the experience of the revolution at the end of the 18th century. In the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, Marx analyzed the nature of capitalism. He understood it’s workings and rise, how it had helped modernize society, but that in doing so, it had created its own gravediggers, the urban working class. He recognized that as capitalism became more and more concentrated in the hands of the few as it developed, it was prone to economic crisis. Economic crisis happened through a phenomenon which would have seemed like madness, the crisis of overproduction. Despite capitalism producing greater and greater goods, the proletariat cannot buy back what it produced, as in that case there would be no surplus value. Capitalism would run out of fresh markets, and after that, they would lose money and the economy would go into crisis.

Marx lived before the time of the German Revolution, however he helped build the foundations on which it would succeed so that later generations could pick up from where he started. Playing a major role in the International Workingmen’s Association, an organization which campaigned for workers rights, the redistribution of wealth, and socialism. In doing so, he met with Wilhelm Liebknecht, a founders of one of the most successful workers parties in all of existence, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD.)

However, as he had suspected, the proletariat had risen even without his direction, in the Paris Commune of 1871. This was the first time in history when the proletariat had taken power directly into their own hands, without the interference of any other class. All land and wealth had been declared the common property of all, and the most democratic system of government up until that point had been established, which not only gave all men the right to vote (but not women,) but also to directly influence the running of institutions via immediate recall of delegates if they did not conform to the public will, and all representatives being on a workers wage. The commune was brutally crushed by the capitalists, as it did not spread to the rest of France, but it’s significance was historic, and it would serve as an inspiration for generations to come.
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