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This section has news and analysis about Russia and the countries of the former USSR.
A correct understanding of
events past and present in Russia is vital for Marxists. See also the
Solidarity Campaigns,
Historical Analysis,
Marxist Classics, and
Marxist Theory sections for more on Russia.
Russia Today
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The new information policy of the Russian government
The active liberalization of the Russian economy is being carried out
simultaneously with moves to strengthen the power of the state. The state
is consolidating itself on all fronts, of which the media is one of the
most important. The government, evidently, has unleashed a war for the
restoration of its monopoly over the distribution and presentation of
information. By Marina Lvova. (March 2001)
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Putin, Rasputin and Kerensky
On Sunday May 7, Vladimir Putin was inaugurated as President of Russia with all the pomp and ceremony of a tsar. Nothing was missing: twenty-one gun salute, goose-stepping soldiers with uniforms that seemed to have been borrowed from a Hollywood musical, and even the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Such empty show and tasteless pomp is very typical of the so-called New Russians--a class of upstarts and usurpers who are anxious to ape what they imagine to be the splendours of the western bourgeoisie. To students of history this will be quite familiar. The Thermidorian counter-revolutionaries in France also tried to ape the life style old aristocrats after they had sent the Jacobins to the guillotine. By Alan Woods. (May 26, 2000)
- Yeltsin Departs as Russia Falls Apart
Ted Grant and Phil Mitchinson look at the reasons behind Yeltsin's sudden resignation
and the implications this has for the future of Russia and its relations with the USA. (January 2000)
- Russia's
Chechen War - Storm Clouds Over the Caucusus
The new war in Chechnya is a further evidence of a shift of power in Russia in the
direction of the military. The generals are now clearly in the saddle. Not only are they
deciding the war agenda in Chechnya, but they are doing so without regard to the opinions
of the Kremlin clique. Boris Yeltsin is now an irrelevance. But the army caste will not
pay any attention to the rest of the so-called government of Russia which they regard as
the source of all their troubles. Once having got a taste of political power, they will be
all the more inclined to go one step further. By Alan Woods (November 17, 1999)
- On the Mass Organizations
"The entire history of the international workers' movement in the twentieth
century has furnished us with a wealth of material to show the way in which the working
class and its organisations develop. From the study of the workers' movement over several
decades, I drew the following inescapable conclusion: that when the mass of the workers
enter the arena of struggle to change society, they inevitably gravitate, in the first
instance, to the traditional mass organisations. The mass of the workers--and even the
greater part of the advanced elements of the class--do not learn from books, but only from
experience, and particularly the experience of great events. Where a strong and educated
Marxist tendency is present, the process can be considerably shortened. This was the case
with the Bolshevik Party in 1917." By Ted Grant (April 26th, 1999).
- Russian Workers Begin
to Flex Their Muscles
Russia is in the grip of an economic catastrophe. The Rouble is in freefall, falling by
40% against the Deutschmark in one day, the stock market has collapsed, banks are failing
and Russia has defaulted on its debts. The state is facing financial collapse and the
workers are beginning to flex their muscles.
- Workers' Democracy in a Russian Coal
Town
As the crisis in Russia deepens, all sorts of workers' committees are emerging: strike
committees, salvation committees, etc. Some of them are soviets in all but in name.
Renfrey Clarke interviews the Anzhero-Sudzhensk Workers' committee and finds out how
workers democracy functions in practice. (October 25th, 1998)
- Crisis in Russia. Free Market Failure
Russia stands at the parting of the ways. The strategists of capital are facing a
completely different situation from that which they had expected when the old Stalinist
regime collapsed. They thought there would be a smooth transition to capitalism. That is
not what they are getting. Ted Grant and Alan Woods provide a socialist analysis of why
and what is the way forward. (September, 11th, 1998)
- Russia Facing Long Hot Summer
The roar of hundreds of coal miners drumming their helmets on the pavement rolls like
thunder up the glass and granite face of Russia's White House, the seat of government.
Even more ominous is the repeated mass chant: "Resign! Resign!". Fred Weir
reports from Moscow on the latest wave of militancy of Russian miners. (June 1998)
- Miners Die as Government Delays Payments
In a follow up on his previous article Renfrey Clarke describes the real reasons behind
the recent coal mine "accidents" in Russia. Early on January 18 an explosion and
fire in the Tsentralnaya mine in Vorkuta, in the Arctic north of European Russia, claimed
27 lives. This followed a similar catastrophe on December 2, when 67 miners died in one of
the pits of the Kuzbass coal region in Western Siberia. (January 1998)
- Russia: Miners First Target as Anti-Worker
Offensive Begins
In this article, Renfrey Clarke describes how the Yeltsin administration is preparing an
all-out offensive against the miners, one of the best organised sections of the Russian
working class. It also explains the steps being taken by the miners to defend themselves
and the perspective of a generalised movement as other sections of the workers are also
under attack. (January 1998)
- All-Russian Ruin
An eyewitness report on the effects of the attemps of capitalist restoration in
Russia, the situation in the CP and perspectives for the labour movement based on Alan
Wood's recent trip to Russia. (October 1997)
- Russian Labour, Autumn's of
Discontent
We publish this article by Renfrey Clarke, the Moscow-based left wing journalist, about
the present situation of the labour movement. We think the article not only provides us
with a lot of information supressed in the Western press about the current wave of strikes
in Russia but also contributes to the debate about the challenges facing the Russian
working class.
- Russia in Turmoil, an Eyewitness Report
An analysis of the current situation in Russia, based on Alan Woods' discussions with
trade unionists, left wingers, Communist Party members, and others during his recent trip
to Russia. A first hand account of the debates in the Russian left and the beginning of
the recovery of the labour movement. (June 1, 1997)
- Strike Wave Highlights
Disillusionment with Yeltsin
This article by Ted Grant describes the wave of industrial unrest which shocked Russia
during Autumn and Winter 1996, including a national day of protest called by the
Federation of Independent Unions of Russia. Whether or not this wave of strikes signifies
the start of a generalised movement or just a warning shot, we do not know yet. But it is
clear answer to all the faint-hearts and sceptics who had written-off the Russian working
class.
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A Leninist Hero of our Times
In Memory of Valery Sablin: The true story of Red October
On Thursday 7 September, Channel Four in the UK broadcast a fascinating programme as part of its series Secret History, entitled Mutiny - the true story of Red October. This remarkable documentary for the first time gave us the true story behind the 1990 Hollywood movie The Hunt for Red October a film version of a 1984 novel by Tom Clancy. Clancy's story of Marko Ramius, a defecting submarine captain who takes his ship on an epic voyage across the Atlantic, was inspired by real events.
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The Rise and Fall of Stalinism
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The Revolution Betrayed - A Marxist Classic
The Revolution Betrayed is one of the most important Marxist texts of all time. It is the only serious Marxist analysis of what happened to the Russian Revolution after the death of Lenin. Without a thorough knowledge of this work, it is impossible to understand the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the events of the last ten years in Russia and on a world scale. For Marxists, the October Revolution of 1917 was the greatest single event in human history. If we exclude the brief but glorious episode of the Paris Commune, for the first time the working class succeeded in overthrowing its oppressors and at least began the task of the socialist transformation of society. By Alan Woods. (June 6, 2001)
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The Moscow Trials: Shoot the Mad Dogs!
The ideas of Trotsky - which represent the continuation of Marxist thought since Lenin's death - are without question the most slandered set of ideas in history. Together with Marx and Lenin, Trotsky has been subjected to a continual onslaught from capitalist commentators and academics, including the Russian 'democrats' of the Volkogonov type, for his alleged totalitarianism and subversive ideas. In reality, it is the revolutionary message of Marxism which poses a threat to their system - and they must attempt to discredit these ideas at every opportunity. By Rob Sewell. (March 2000)
- Bureaucratism or Workers' Power
This document was written by Ted Grant together with Roger Silverman in 1967 to mark
the fiftieth anniversary of the Russian revolution. The article explains how Stalinism
arose and clearly shows how even at that time the Stalinist bureaucracy was facing a
serious crisis and confidently predicted its inevitable downfall at some stage.
- The Assasination of Leon Trotsky
59 years have passed since that hot afternoon on the
20th of August 1940 in an old house surrounded by leafy trees and cactus in a
peaceful suburb of Coyoacán, in the capital of Mexico. Lev Davidovich Bronstein, better
known as Leon Trotsky, revolutionary Marxist and, alongside Lenin, one of the most
outstanding leaders of the 1905 revolution and the October revolution in Russia, fell
victim to an assassination expressly ordered by Joseph Stalin. Written for
www.marxist.com by Trotsky's grandson Estevan (Seva)
Volkov. (August, 1999)
- The Collapse of Stalinism and
the Class Nature of the Russian State
The question of the class nature of Russia has been a central issue in the Marxist
movement for decades. Now, with the collapse of the USSR and the movement in the direction
of capitalism, this question assumes an even greater importance. This work by Ted Grant
and Alan Woods, written in February 1996 approaches the question from a dialectical point
of view. See also the section on Marxist Theory.
- Russia, from Revolution to
Counter-Revolution
This book, by Ted Grant and with a preface by Trotsky's grandson Esteban Volkov, which is
in its final stages and will be approximately 500 pages long, covers the key developments
in Russia since the Revolution right up to the present day. It traces the elimination of
workers' democracy, the rise of Stalinism, the advances of planned economy and the
eventual collapse of the bureaucratic system under Gorbachev. Using the method of Marxism,
Ted Grant uncovers the contradictory developments that have shaped the Soviet Union over
the last 70 years and finally led to its downfall. He also deals in detail with the
present situation in Russia under Yeltsin and assesses the possibilities for a successful
restoration of capitalism. Not since the publication of Trotsky's book "The
Revolution Betrayed" in 1936 has such a detailed and comprehensive Marxist study of
Russia been undertaken. See also the section on Marxist Theory. (Full Book Online)
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The Russian Revolution
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The revolt on the armored cruiser Potemkin
Following on from the article we published on the mutiny led by Valery Sablin, we are publishing a long-out-of-print eyewitness account of the events that took place on the battleship Potemkin during the 1905 revolution in Russia. This fantastic account was written by Afansy Matushenko, one of the leaders of the revolt. It was written sometime after 1917.
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Hue and Cry Over Kronstadt
In this article from 1938, Trotsky gives an excellent summary of the controversial Kronstadt uprising. He explains the social
roots of the uprising, and makes clear the counter-revolutionary character of the mutiny.
- The Meaning of October
In this look at the history and significance of the Russian Revolution, Alan Woods
examines the process of revolution, the events leading up to the February Revolution, the
role of the Provisional Government, the part played by Lenin and Trotsky in the
revolutionary movement, the ebb and flow of the
revolutionary events from April to the seizing of power in October and draws out the
lessons for the workers' movement today. (November, 1999)
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