Russian Revolution: 100 years

[buritobr]

In October 1917, the Bolsheviks took the power in Russia. A country which had 100 million peasants and 3 million manufacturing workers became the home of the first proletarian revolution in the world.
Marx though that the socialist revolution would take place in advanced economies. However, in letters he wrote to Engels and to Russian activists between 1877 and 1883 (in the end of his life), Marx accepted the idea that Russia could have a revolution without following western steps.
Lenin first believed that Russia needed capitalism before communism, but in 1917, after the fall of the tsar, Russia was in a mess. The government established after the fall of the tsar kept Russia in the war, and the war was causing large suffering to the population. So, Lenin observed the possibility of the Bolsheviks to take the power.
After the Civil War (1918-1921), a country which was poor was also destroyed. Communism became not related to equality anymore, but to national development and industrialization. Half century after the October Revolution, one third of the mankind was living in countries ruled by parties organized according to Leninist principles. Socialist revolutions took place in poor countries, so, communism became industrialization through state planing. Even Third World countries which had anti-communist governments adopted some kind of state planning in order to reach development. Not only North Korea, but also South Korea used to have five year plans.
The October Revolution also inspired the building of Welfare States in the capitalist world.

[buritobr]

50 years before the hippies, the bolsheviks used the anti-war movement in order to push for a far left agenda