Investigating the Revolution

Abstract

In the review of new publications devoted to the study of the revolution in Russia in 1917, the author identifies the main themes that were in the center of attention of historians, philosophers and sociologists: the definition of the concept of ‘revolution' and its philosophical comprehension; restoration of the chronicle of revolutionary events; the analysis of the reaction of different social strata to the uprising of the masses; the activity of the ‘leaders' of the revolution. The author also dwells on the in-depth analysis of such problems as the periodization of revolutionary events, theoretical approaches to the evaluation of mass demonstrations, and the role of leaders of the uprising. It is emphasized that there is no single understanding of the events of the past in Russian society today, and this is shown in the published books. Many of them attempt to connect the origins of the revolution with earlier events in the Russian Empire: the tragedy of Khodynka, the expectations of the society for changes in 1900, the First Russian Revolution of 1905, the First World War. Similarly, historians and philosophers see and evaluate the end of the revolutionary process in different ways. In contrast to the classics of Marxism-Leninism, some modern researchers see the main driving force of the revolution in the peasantry - its fundamental interests were determined by the protest, but the peasantry, as a result, less than all other strata, benefited from the revolution. The author also identified the problems that were not reflected in the modern publications. In author's opinion, the problems of construction of the social structure of the population of the established elites using various, mostly violent, methods to suppress the dissenters, have not been studied yet.