Russian Revolution Quotes

“It is in connection with the deliberate effort of the skillful demagogue to weld together a closely coherent and homogeneous body of supporters that the third and perhaps most important negative element of selection enters. It seems to be almost a law of human nature that it is easier for people to agree on a negative program — on the hatred of an enemy, on the envy of those better off — than on any positive task. The contrast between the "we" and the "they," the common fight against those outside the group, seems to be an essential ingredient in any creed which will solidly knit together a group for common action. It is consequently always employed by those who seek, not merely support of a policy, but the unreserved allegiance of huge masses. From their point of view it has the great advantage of leaving them greater freedom of action than almost any positive program. The enemy, whether he be internal, like the "Jew" or the "kulak," or external, seems to be an indispensable requisite in the armory of a totalitarian leader.

That in Germany it was the Jew who became the enemy until his place was taken by the "plutocracies" was no less a result of the anticapitalist resentment on which the whole movement was based than the selection of the kulak in Russia. In Germany and Austria the Jew had come to be regarded as the representative of capitalism because a traditional dislike of large classes of the population for commercial pursuits had left these more readily accessible to a group that was practically excluded from the more highly esteemed occupations. It is the old story of the alien race's being admitted only to the less respected trades and then being hated still more for practicing them. The fact that German anti-Semitism and anticapitalism spring from the same root is of great importance for the understanding of what has happened there, but this is rarely grasped by foreign observers.”
― Friedrich A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom

“I am mistrustful of Russians in power – recently slaves themselves, they will become unbridled despots as soon as they have the chance to be their neighbours' masters.”
― Maxim Gorky, Articles and Pamphlets

“Russia was a genuine great power, but with a tragic flaw. Its vicious, archaic autocracy had to be emasculated for any type of better system to emerge. Unmodern in principle, let alone in practice, the autocracy died a deserving death in the maelstrom of the Anglo-German antagonism, the bedlam of Serbian nationalism, the hemophilia bequeathed by Queen Victoria, the pathology of the Romanov court, the mismanagement by the Russian government of its wartime food supply, the determination of women and men marching for bread and justice, the mutiny of the capital garrison, and the defection of the Russian high command.

But the Great War did not break a functioning autocratic system; the war smashed an already broken system wide open.”
― Stephen Kotkin, Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928

“Russian history is an illness. Our history has made us all sick. I do not want to die from this illness.”
― Mikhail Zygar, The Empire Must Die: Russia's Revolutionary Collapse, 1900-1917

“The Russian Civil War lasts almost six years and ends in victory for the Bolsheviks. It claims the lives of more than 10 million people—five times more than the number of Russian casualties in the First World War, which the Bolsheviks promised to end. Of that figure, 2.5 million are killed in battle, another 2 million fall victim to the Red (and White) Terror, while around 6 million die from hunger and disease. On top of that, approximately 2 million emigrate.”
― Mikhail Zygar, The Empire Must Die: Russia's Revolutionary Collapse, 1900-1917

“We dined at a vegetarian restaurant with the enticing name ‘I Eat Nobody,’ and Tolstoy's picture prominent on the walls, and then sallied out into the streets.”
― John Reed, Ten Days That Shook the World

“Rewolucja rosyjska znajduje się zatem między Scyllą a Charybdą. Jeżeli zechce wyrwać się z pętli ludobójstwa zawierając odrębny pokój, zdradzi międzynarodowy proletariat i swój własny los na rzecz imperializmu niemieckiego. Jeżeli natomiast nie będzie mogła sama doprowadzić do powszechnego pokoju, pozostanie jej tylko do wyboru albo aktywne prowadzenie wojny, a wtedy będzie działała na rzecz imperializmu Ententy, albo bierny udział w wojnie, tzn. zachowanie pod względem wojskowym bezczynności, czym równie niewątpliwie poprze interesy imperializmu niemieckiego. Takie jest prawdziwe położenie republiki rosyjskiej – położenie tragiczne, którego w najmniejszym stopniu nie może zmieniać piękna formuła pokojowa, powitana przez wszystkich jako zbawienne, magiczne słowo.”
― Róża Luksemburg, O rewolucji

“(T)hey talked as only Russians can. Not listening to each otehr, repeating the self-same argument over and over again, excelling in pantomime and reaching the uppermost heights of drama.”
― Helen Rappaport, After the Romanovs: Russian Exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque Through Revolution and War

“(H)is action was merely "galvanizing the corpse" of an army that was already in retreat and heading for defeat.”
― Helen Rappaport, After the Romanovs: Russian Exiles in Paris from the Belle Époque Through Revolution and War

“(Paul) Avrich suggests the tragedy of Kronstadt is that one can sympathize with the rebels and yet justify the Communists' suppression of them. I suggest the real tragedy is that so many people have for so long done just that: from Kronstadt to Berlin, to Budapest and Prague, tyranny has been justified as somehow progressive. Even if one accepts the argument that their rise to power – in situations of scarcity and underdevelopment – is inevitable, there is no need to enshrine tyrants.”
― Lynne Thorndycraft, The Kronstadt Uprising of 1921

“Throughout the black night, with every step taken, I left my youth further behind; there would be no turning back.”
― Joe J. Elder, Dear American Brother

“Lenin's difficulty with Marxian revisionism and those who accorded an important role to liberals is symptomatic of a doctrinal and psychological problem peculiar to Marxism and absent in the old narodnik creed. Marx had revealed the systematic necessity of class exploitation. Capitalism was by its very nature savagely unjust. Since most revolutionaries were not simply thinking machines looking for the most rational foundation for production and distribution but possessed of "religious" attitudes, or, in any case, of a sense of mission, they found in Marx and Engels the description of a morally intolerable system in which the wealth of the few could only be gotten at the expense of the poverty of the many. On the other hand, Marx posited the necessary contribution of each historical phase to economic and social progress. The bourgeoisie and their liberal institutions could not disappear from history until they had developed the forces of production as far as they could, when the onset of the inevitable and fatal crisis of capitalism would occur. Capitalism was a necessary evil on the way to socialism. But Marx had no blueprint for its many historical variations, only his laws of capitalism and their consequences. Neither he nor Engels had a revolutionary timetable either, and it was possible for their followers to lapse into a purely "scientific" and morally slothful type of Marxism, an academic Marxism without a sense of urgency about revolutionary tasks to be performed. On the other hand, the most morally mobilized would find ways to hasten capitalism's final hour, even while separating themselves from the narodniki, whose revolutionism was "unscientific." Thus, during a period of mainly doctrinal debates and sectarianism, revolutionaries who were temperamentally quite close to each other engaged in combat; but when the real revolutionary moment arrived, they often found themselves working together.”
― Philip Pomper, Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin: The Intelligentsia and Power

“Winter was coming on–the terrible Russian winter. I heard business men speak of it so: 'Winter was always Russia’s best friend. Perhaps now it will rid us of Revolution.”
― John Reed

“The scythe went down the ranks, in cities and provinces, lopping the heads of the Party apparatuses, of intellectuals, activists. Nearly the entire Party Central Committee was killed; nearly the entire Soviet war council; nearly the entire Red Army command, starting with its head, Tukhachevsky; 35,000 officers; most Soviet ambassadors, almost the entire staffs of Pravda and Izvestia, most of the officials of the Cheka (including its head, Yagoda), most of the leaders of the Young Communist League . . . From late 1936 into 1939 the slaughter went on. The tortures and shootings that took place in the basement of the Lubyanka, headquarters of the security police, must have set a world record for one building.”
― Dan Levin, Stormy Petrel: The Life and Work of Maxim Gorky

“Tolstoy was not associated with any revolutionary group but his writings had a tremendous influence. A continuous stream of Utopians, rebels and cranks passed in and out of his doors. When I was a guest at Yasnaya Polyana, his country estate, I was shocked by the depth of his despondency, and after he had forecast, with a foresight given only to genius, the bloody upheavals to come, I left his presence deeply regretting that age, moral distress and spiritual loneliness rendered him incapable of looking joyfully forward to what many believed would be the birth of a great and enduring democratic Russian Republic.”
― Robert Hunter, Revolution Why, How, When?

“Of the Russian exiles, Lenin is the last I should have picked as a man of destiny. [Angelica] Balabanoff says that she cannot remember where she first met Lenin and that even when she became conscious of his existence he made no impression upon her. Many others would say the same, but I remember vividly my first meeting with him. It was at dinner in a small Greek restaurant in Soho, not far from the house which bears the tablet commemorating the fact that Karl Marx once lived there. I met him again at Stuttgart, [at the International Socialist Congress] in 1907. In the meantime he had acquired the reputation of being a brilliant student of Marxian economics, a dangerous antagonist in all intra-party controversies and a master of revolutionary tactics and sectarian conspiracies. At the conference he was usually surrounded by a small group of whispering disciples. …

Some of Lenin's enemies believed that he was a paid emissary of the Russian police. His tactics and the dissensions which he promoted among the Russian socialists aroused suspicion. He was a fanatic, a disorganizer, a sectarian, who gave no indication in pre-war days of having the qualities of a national leader. He won his battles but they were always directed against his comrades.”
― Robert Hunter, Revolution Why, How, When?

“While making studies of the revolutionary movement, I was aided for a time by Angelica Balabanoff. This restless, diminutive Russian knew almost everyone engaged in socialist and communist activities. Aflame with the spirit of revolt, she spared no effort to infect others with her hatred for the capitalist regime. She was very useful as she not only brought me in contact with everyone I wished to meet, but she also spoke fluently many of the European languages. She would often sit beside me at conferences and in restaurants, translating into my ear, in a soft and to others almost inaudible voice, everything of interest said by the various speakers, no matter from what country they came. She was afterward one of Mussolini's chief aids and became his assistant editor when he took control of *Avanti*. In 1917 she went back to Russia with Lenin and other communists in the train so kindly provided by the German government, which expected them to augment the chaos already paralyzing its enemies on the East.

Revolutionists talk fast and are often well educated. In some groups at dinner three or four languages would be spoken and, of course, at all the socialists and labor conferences delegates from many countries delivered their addresses in their native tongues. These different languages were laboriously translated by official interpreters. It was unnecessary to follow these dreary repetitions when Balabanoff sat beside me. She was often the official interpreter at the larger gatherings and her translations were never questioned — although she often excelled the orator in eloquence when he was expressing some of her cherished and more violently revolutionary views. Although she was a valued aid to both Mussolini and Lenin — I believe she brought them together at one time — and the most impassioned revolutionist I have ever met, she left Russia in 1921, ill and thoroughly disillusioned by the Reign of Terror.”
― Robert Hunter, Revolution Why, How, When?

“Pavel devam etti: “Anacığım, sizin inandığınız iyi yürekli, merhametli Tanrı’dan söz etmiyorum ben, papazların bizi sopa gibi korkuttuğu Tanrı’dan, bazılarının, adına insanları boyun eğmeye zorladığı Tanrı’dan söz ediyorum.”
― Maksim Gorki, Ana

“Halkı en acımasızca ve en sık aldatanlar ufak tefek, göbekli, kırmızı suratlı, vicdansız, açgözlü, kurnaz ve acımasız insanlardı.”
― Maksim Gorki, Ana

“Onun uğruna ölen insanlar olmasaydı İsa diye biri olmayacaktı.”
― Maksim Gorki, Ana

“Jeżeli międzynarodowa rewolucja proletariacka nie stworzy jej we właściwym czasie zaplecza, to dyktatura proletariatu w Rosji będzie skazana na tak druzgoczącą klęskę, że w porównaniu z nią los Komuny Paryskiej wyda się dziecinną igraszką.”
― Róża Luksemburg, O rewolucji

“Z zasadą samostanowienia narodów wyprawiają tutaj socjaliści takie same bezeceństwa, jak rządy kapitalistyczne z „wyzwoleniem narodów” i z „obroną ojczyzny”. Podobnie jak wojna imperialistyczna nie jest obroną ojczyzny ani wyzwoleniem narodów, tak samo nie można urzeczywistnić samostanowienia narodów w ramach i pod panowaniem państw kapitalistycznych. Jedyną realną przesłanką samostanowienia narodów jest rewolucja socjalistyczna, tj. polityczne i ekonomiczne samostanowienie klas pracujących jako właściwych mas każdego narodu.”
― Róża Luksemburg, O rewolucji

“W Finlandii proletariat socjalistyczny miał już dominującą pozycję, dopóki walczył jako część zwartej, rewolucyjnej falangi Rosji; posiadał większość w parlamencie, w armii, doprowadził do całkowitej bezsilności burżuazji i był panem sytuacji w kraju. Rosyjska Ukraina była w początkach stulecia ostoją rosyjskiego ruchu rewolucyjnego, dopóki jeszcze nie wynaleziono błazeństw „ukraińskiego nacjonalizmu” z karbowańcami i „uniwersałami” oraz leninowskiego konika „samodzielnej Ukrainy”.”
― Róża Luksemburg, The Russian Revolution

“Nacjonalizm ukraiński był w Rosji, całkiem inaczej niż czeski, polski lub fiński, zwykłym kaprysem, błazenadą paru tuzinów drobnomieszczańskich inteligentów, bez najmniejszych korzeni w stosunkach gospodarczych, politycznych czy duchowych kraju, bez żadnej tradycji historycznej, ponieważ Ukraina nigdy nie wytworzyła narodu ani państwa, bez jakiejkolwiek kultury narodowej prócz reakcyjno-romantycznych wierszy Szewczenki. Wygląda to tak, jak gdyby pewnego pięknego ranka ci od wybrzeża aż do Fritza Reutera zapragnęli założyć nowy dolnoniemiecki naród i państwo. I tę zabawną farsę paru profesorów uniwersytetu i studentów Lenin i towarzysze rozdęli sztucznie do znaczenia czynnika politycznego swoją doktrynerską agitacją z „prawem do samookreślenia aż do itd.”. Użyczyli pierwotnej farsie znaczenia, aż wreszcie farsa stała się śmiertelnie poważna, nie stała się wprawdzie poważnym ruchem narodowym, bo nie ma dlań korzeni, ale stała się szyldem i wspólną flagą kontrrewolucji! Z tego jaja wylęgły się w Brześciu niemieckie bagnety.”
― Róża Luksemburg, The Russian Revolution

“Wszystko to, co dzieje się w Rosji, jest zrozumiałe i stanowi nieunikniony łańcuch przyczyn i skutków, których punktem wyjścia i zwornikami są: niedopisanie niemieckiego proletariatu i okupacja Rosji przez imperializm niemiecki. To znaczy, że żądano by od Lenina i towarzyszy czynów nadludzkich, gdyby spodziewano się po nich wyczarowania w takich okolicznościach najpiękniejszej demokracji, wzorcowej dyktatury proletariatu i kwitnącej gospodarki socjalistycznej. Oni i tak dzięki zdecydowanie rewolucyjnej postawie, przykładowej energii i niezłomnej wierności międzynarodowemu socjalizmowi naprawdę dokonali tego, czego w tak diabelnie trudnych warunkach można było dokonać.

Niebezpieczeństwo zaczyna się wtedy, gdy robią oni cnotę z konieczności, gdy swoją taktykę, wymuszoną przez te fatalne warunki, petryfikują teoretycznie we wszystkich punktach i starają się narzucić je międzynarodowemu proletariatowi jako wzorzec socjalistycznej taktyki, który należy naśladować. W ten sposób, całkiem niepotrzebnie szkodząc sobie samym i skrywając swą rzeczywistą, niezaprzeczalną zasługę dziejową pod korcem wymuszonych potknięć, oddają niedźwiedzią przysługę międzynarodowemu socjalizmowi, o który i dla którego walczyli i cierpieli, ponieważ chcą wnieść do jego zasobów jako nowe poznanie wszystkie te narzucone w Rosji przez konieczność i przymus opaczności, które koniec końców były przecież tylko odblaskami bankructwa międzynarodowego socjalizmu w tej wojnie światowej.”
― Róża Luksemburg, The Russian Revolution

“Wina za błędy bolszewików spada ostatecznie na międzynarodowy proletariat i przede wszystkim na bezprzykładną uporczywą nikczemność niemieckiej socjaldemokracji, partii, która za czasów pokoju udawała, że maszeruje na czele światowego proletariatu, miała czelność pouczać świat i próbowała go prowadzić, partii, która we własnym kraju liczyła przynajmniej 10 milionów zwolenników obu płci, a teraz oto od 4 lat niczym sprzedajny średniowieczny żołdak na rozkaz klas panujących 24 razy każdego dnia przybija socjalizm do krzyża.”
― Róża Luksemburg, O rewolucji

“The public Lenin adopted a highly populist style of politics that would be recognisable – and imitated by many a rabble-rouser – a hundred years later, even in long-established, sophisticated democracies. He offered simple solutions to complex problems. He lied unashamedly.”
― Victor Sebestyen, Lenin the Dictator

“With my own eyes I have seen sailors taking a man out onto the ice in order to shoot him - and I have seen the condemned man hopping over puddles to keep his feet dry and turning up his collar to shield his chest from the wind. Those few steps were the last steps he would ever take, and instinctively he wanted to make them as comfortable as possible.

We were no different. We bought ourselves some "last scraps" of fabric. We listened for the last time to the last operetta and the last exquisitely erotic verses. What did it matter whether the verses were good or terrible? All that mattered was not to know, not to be aware - we had to forget that we were being led onto the ice.”
― Teffi, Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea

“This investigation has shown that many of the widespread interpretations about the Russian Revolution have either no basis in fact or, at best, are ideologically motivated exaggerations. We could find no evidence for example that there was anything in the DNA of Bolshevism that would lead it to consciously and deliberately undermine proletarian power from the start. On the contrary they did all they could to encourage it for the first 6 months. Such accusations of course are made by those who already know the story ended badly, but to leave out the positive achievements of those early months is a distortion which denies the achievements of the working class in Russia.”
― Jock Dominie, Russia: Revolution and Counter-Revolution, 1905-1924. A View from the Communist Left

“A man must master his circumstances or otherwise be mastered by them.”
― Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow