HISTORY OF RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 5: The Rise of Bolshevik Soviet Power (1917) - Leon Trotsky cover art

HISTORY OF RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 5: The Rise of Bolshevik Soviet Power (1917) - Leon Trotsky

HISTORY OF RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 5: The Rise of Bolshevik Soviet Power (1917) - Leon Trotsky

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 (00:00:00) 19. THE OFFENSIVE (00:36:58) 20. THE PEASANTRY (01:19:11) 21. SHIFTS IN THE MASSES (02:19:11) 22. THE SOVIET CONGRESS AND THE JUNE DEMONSTRATION (03:00:35) 23. CONCLUSION (03:07:54) Appendix I - To the Chapter Peculiarities of Russia’s Development (03:26:33) Appendix II - To the Chapter Re-arming the Party (03:41:51) Appendix III - To the Chapter The Soviet Congress and the June Demonstration The History of the Russian Revolution – Leon Trotsky - HQ Full Book. Part 5 (Vol. I Chapt. 19–23): The Rise of Bolshevik Soviet Power.Part 5 of The History of the Russian Revolution marks a decisive turning point in Trotsky’s monumental narrative. Here, the tone shifts from the chaotic upheaval of February 1917 toward the emerging strategic clarity of revolutionary Bolshevism. What distinguishes this section is Trotsky’s ability to combine political analysis, eyewitness detail, and class psychology into a single coherent development leading to revolution.This part traces the crucial months between May and June 1917, when the old world still fought to preserve its authority while the new one quietly organized itself in the factories, soviets, and peasant villages. It is not yet the October Revolution, but its seed becomes unmistakable. The conflict now centers on the offensive at the front, the peasant land movement, the mass political awakening, and the political trial of forces in the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets and the June Demonstration.Above all, Trotsky shows that revolutions are not spontaneous explosions: they develop through shifts in power, mood, and organization, shaped by political leadership. Part 5 is therefore both narrative and theoretical. It answers a core question: how does a revolutionary minority become the majority? Trotsky reveals that Bolshevism gained influence not by rhetoric, but by being the one force capable of solving the burning questions of war, land, and power.Throughout this section, Trotsky addresses three central themes:1. The bankruptcy of the Provisional Government, which tries to continue the war and preserve capitalism.2. The radicalization of workers and soldiers, driven not by ideology but by lived experience.3. The peasant question as a revolutionary force, pushing Bolshevism toward national influence.Trotsky’s analysis makes clear that mass psychology and material conditions move faster than institutions, and that leadership must learn to read this tempo. His writing combines sharp theoretical clarity with emotional depth, portraying the masses as historical protagonists rather than anonymous crowds.Chapter Summaries:19. The OffensiveThis chapter examines the notorious June military offensive launched by the Provisional Government under War Minister Alexander Kerensky. Trotsky calls this decision an act of political desperation: the government hoped that a military victory would restore the army’s discipline, revive patriotism, and weaken revolutionary sentiment.Trotsky exposes the brutal irony of the situation. Soldiers did not want to fight for the very landlords, bankers, and aristocrats who still profited from war. The government appealed to patriotism, but what the masses felt instead was hatred for the ruling class, intensified by hunger, casualties, and inequality.The Bolsheviks opposed the offensive not with abstract pacifism, but with a clear class argument: no capitalist government could wage a war in the interests of workers or peasants. Trotsky shows how this stance transformed Bolshevism from a minority opposition into a legitimate alternative to the government.The offensive fails catastrophically, confirming Bolshevik predictions. Trotsky emphasizes that the government’s attempt to save itself through war only accelerated its downfall. The political consequence was monumental: the masses no longer hoped for reform from above.20. The PeasantryIn this chapter, Trotsky shifts from the battlefield to the countryside. He analyzes how the peasants, who made up the vast majority of Russia’s population, entered the revolutionary struggle through the issue of land.For centuries peasants had lived under a semi-feudal system dominated by large landowners. The February Revolution had toppled the Tsar but left property relations untouched. The peasants’ revolutionary instinct was not inspired by ideology but driven by survival: they began seizing estates, redistributing land, and burning manorial property.Trotsky shows that the Socialist-Revolutionaries (SRs)—traditionally the party of the peasantry—betrayed their base by supporting the Provisional Government and delaying land reform. The peasants remained loyal to the SRs for a time, but the contradiction between “peasant needs” and “government policy” became unbearable.The Bolsheviks, initially irrelevant in rural Russia, rapidly gained influence once they directly supported peasant land seizures. Trotsky highlights a key political law: revolutionary ...
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.