This book provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of Marxist thought from the time of Marx himself to the ideas of Lenin and the Bolsheviks. Written by Morris Hillquit, a prominent American socialist and founder of the Socialist Party of America, this book is an essential read for anyone interested in the history of socialism and communism. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ... Chapter iv the nature of the russian revolution vThe Russian revolution seemingly mocked the specific forecasts of Marx and Engels as it defied the generally accepted Marxian law of social evolution./. It was neither preceded nor supplemented by a general working class revolution in the West. It did not spring from the village community. That institution had been rapidly and steadily declining until 1917. It did not succeed an outworn_capitalist-system.' CapitalismoccupTeoTa comparatively insignificant part in the economic life of Russia. The Russian reyolution owes morp to the unusual conditions created by the war tnartto thYliormal "course of the country's economic or political development."" Thejnain factors of its success were: / 1. The sudden collapse of the whole organization of national life. A 2. The utter demoralization of the bureaucracy. y3. A weak and unorganized bourgeoisie, y 4. An impoverished, war-weary, rebellious and desperate population. 5. An overwhelmingly large and land-hungry peasantry. 6. Millions of workers and peasants organized into an army and suddenly freed from military discipline--a liberated and armed people available for revolutionary service. 7. Spontaneously created but relatively strong and well-knit organizations of industrial workers in the large cities, who represented the only active and cohesive social force of the country. 8. A small but resolute group of Socialists trained in European theories of Socialism and ready to assume and to exercise leadership. The early Socialist movement of Russia has been characterized as the 'lilleyitimate chil(Lof-Asiatic-R-ttssia and European Capitalism " jfFrom the point of view of the conventional Marxian historian the Russian revolution may be described as the...