August 21, 2026
How the Bolsheviks Killed Democracy in Russia
Timothy Birdnow
I studied Russian History in college. I pursued that field of study because I thought maybe I'd work for a national security agency and that was a sensible goal back in the early and mid eighties, at the height of the Cold War. I never expected us to win it before I graduated college.
I have a degree in history and a certificate in Russian Scientific Translation and would have had another degree in Russian as well as a certificate in Eastern Area Studies had the professor who taught the Philosophy of Marxism/Leninism not gone on a year sabbatical when I needed this course. I just needed one class for all of that and I would have gone after that had I not realized where things were heading. I saw no point by 1987 to come back next year.
At any rate I say all this to give everyone an idea of why I'm posting this link up. I have long thought about writing something quite similar to this but chose not to because it would probably be a bit boring to the reader; Russian politics - even during the Revolution - gets a bit confusing. There were socialists everywhere in Russia prior to the Tsar's abdication and they were at odds. And yes, the Russians held an election for a general assembly which the Bolsheviks cancelled when it was going against them.
It should also be pointed out that in the twenties Lenin had to take his foot off the gas and let some peasants keep the fruits of their labors for a time with his New Economic Program. Stalin would not just end that but would take all the food out of the Ukraine and starve the kulaks - the independent faremers there - to death.
At any rate read this excellent rundown on Russia here.
The Russian Revolution was not just one revolution but a series of them. The Tsar was deposed and a provisional government mainly under Alexanderr Kerensky, Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet and Big Wig in the Socialist Revolutionary Part (S.R.'s). Keresnsky served a scant three months but that was pretty much the entire run of the Russian Republic.
Kerensky made several mistakes that cost him. He supported staying in WWI because it was almost over and when it was the winning side would get Constantinople since Turkey had fought with the Central Powers and that would mean Russia would get what she always wanted - control of the Bosporus and access to the Mediterranean. But the public was finished with war.
The other mistake was in arming the Bolsheviks. The Germans were pressing and Kerensky wanted to defend Moscow so he gave weapons to everyone and then asked for them back. Everyone gave them back - except the Bolsheviks. In a short time the Bolsheviks would stage the October Revolution and hold the Supreme Soviet at gunpoint, forcing them to sign over power to Lenin.
At any rate Democracy in Russia died a silent death. This article goes into detail about how it happened. And it gives us a cautionary tale about the belief in Democracy by socialists; they don't want it at all, just use it as a weapon to seize power. Once in power they say the People "got it right" and there is no need for more elections.
That's what will happen here if we let it.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
11:43 AM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 576 words, total size 4 kb.
1
And the next revolution may be coming soon. Russia is reported to have lost 225,000 men in the Ukraine war and recruitment is said to be at 221.000. After this next election Putin is expected to go for total mobilization and those who can are leaving while they can. Putin may win an election and lose power if the Russian people say enough and demand peace with Ukraine. The war with Ukraine is getting worse as the UK just announced it is sending Ukraine 150,000 drones using sanctioned Russian money to pay for them, some of them are rocket powered drones developed by the UK. Russias air defense systems were not designed to intercept drones and Russias size makes it impossible to protect everywhere even though they are taking measures to intercept drone attacks. In July a joint NATO exercise that singled out Kalingrad showed Putin that his stronghold is not as strong as it appears. US, Italy,Poland Germany and the UK took part in the exercise with the Polish ground forces spearheading a simulated attack on the weak land point in Kalingrads defense while US and Italian aerial platforms covered them. The US brought in its high end electronic platform used to jam and detect electronic gear on the ground. Germany and the UK sent in 2 aircraft that reportedly shadowed a Russian sub in the area. The reason for this exercise was the Russians have been jamming GPS signals used by civilian aircraft in the area. Russia keeps compounding its problems by flexing its muscles while actually showing its weakness.
Posted by: Mike at August 21, 2026 06:58 PM (Ocem8)
2
Thanks Mike, although I doubt the numbers because I don't believe a word out of the mouths of the Western "journalists" reporting on this. But it is undoubtedly true Russia has lost a lot of men and more equipment. It's grinding them down, which is exactly what the ruling class in the West wanted in the first place.
I don't know if Putin can be pushed from power or not; he's not Tsar Nicholas or Alexander Kerensky. But it's possible. Sadly the people waiting in the wings there are said to be worse than Putin. Who or what would replace him is rather frightening to contemplate. The Bolsheviks could well come back to power.
Yeah; drone warfare has changed the way wars are fought and the Ukrainians have certainly done a lot of damage to Russia with them, and that is the only reason the war continues. Without drones Ukraine would have fallen some time ago.
I don't know if Putin can be pushed from power or not; he's not Tsar Nicholas or Alexander Kerensky. But it's possible. Sadly the people waiting in the wings there are said to be worse than Putin. Who or what would replace him is rather frightening to contemplate. The Bolsheviks could well come back to power.
Yeah; drone warfare has changed the way wars are fought and the Ukrainians have certainly done a lot of damage to Russia with them, and that is the only reason the war continues. Without drones Ukraine would have fallen some time ago.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at August 22, 2026 08:43 AM (oflqW)
27kb generated in CPU 0.5834, elapsed 0.6676 seconds.
37 queries taking 0.5904 seconds, 189 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
37 queries taking 0.5904 seconds, 189 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
