In Russia, October 25 is the 100th
anniversary of the October Revolution, as a result of which the monarchical
dynasty of the Romanovs was overthrown and the socialist-communist power of the
Bolsheviks was established. Despite the fact that it happened a long time ago,
this historic event still provokes broad public political discussions. This is
primarily because many contemporary problems in Russia and the post-Soviet space
are directly related to the consequences of the Bolshevik Revolution. Moreover,
without an analysis of these historical processes, it is impossible to
understand and appreciate Russia's geopolitical desire to strengthen and expand
its influence on the Eurasian space. So, what happened 100 years ago and why
does it continue to affect today's realities?
Some historians believe that the Great October Revolution was a
natural consequence of social development and the class struggle, given
monopoly capitalism. Opponents of such ideas note that the transfer of power to
the Bolsheviks occurred because of the weakness of the Provisional Government.
Using its indecisiveness, the Bolshevik conspirators received money from
Germany and launched mass propaganda and destructive activity. With populist
slogans, they promised to end the war, give land to peasants, and the factories
and property of the bourgeoisie to workers. They even guaranteed freedom for
national minorities to leave the Empire. But today's Russian neo-imperialists
propagandize these ideas, emphasizing that the October Revolution was a deeply
antipatriotic act since it was committed with the money of a foreign state, for
which Russia's national interests were sacrificed.
In fact, Russian politics today have become an arena for
confrontation of the three major camps: communist, monarchical and
social-conservative. The leaders of these movements agree that Moscow is the
third Rome and it should dominate the Eurasian space. However, there are
discrepancies about the ideology that should become the driving force of the
new empire. Sergey Kurginyan -- one of the leaders of the neo-Marxist movement
-- is sure that the revival of the red empire is inevitable. The reason for
that is that although the results of the referendum on the collapse of the USSR
showed that most people wanted to preserve the Soviet Union, they were
illegally ignored. During the event devoted to the 99th anniversary of the
Revolution, Gennady Zyuganov -- leader of the Communist Party of the Russian
Federation (CPRF) -- stated a clear goal "to revive the great united
power."
The monarchist front is also gaining popularity. According to
recent sociological surveys, a third of young people in Russia favour the
monarchical form of government in the country. There are 35 % of monarchy
supporters among people between 25 and 34. In general, the share of Russian
citizens that are not against or support the monarchy is consistently growing:
in 2006 - 21%, in 2017 - 28%. The ideologists of monarchism emphasize that
Orthodox Russia is the heir of the destroyed Byzantine Empire. The leaders of
numerous socio-political movements of this kind believe that after the conquest
of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks, Russia became the only real guardian of
the Orthodox faith in the world. Further, it predetermined its isolation from
the West, tracing Russia's special historical path.
Alexander Dugin, a philosopher and supporter of the monarchy
restoration, writes that Byzantium gives a unique dimension to all nations that
have adopted Orthodoxy. This dimension is not only narrowly confessional, but
also cultural, political, and civilizational. The neo-Byzantine ideological
path of Russia is actively promoted through the TV channel called
"Tsargrad" (note: the Russian name of Constantinople). It is financed
by Konstantin Malafeev, who is known as the "Orthodox oligarch."
"Tsargrad TV" positions itself as the first Russian conservative
information and analytical channel. It closely cooperates with Russian public
and religious organizations, in particular, with the Russian Orthodox Church.
In addition, over the past decade, newspapers, magazines and radio stations
have been launched. Thus, monarchists, like communists, possess substantial
material and human resources for broadcasting their ideas to the general
public.
Social-conservative ideas are devised in the "Izborsk
Club." The ideological direction of this organization can be
identified as a synthesis of different views of Russian statesmen in a single
ideological platform: from socialists and Soviet patriots to monarchists and
Orthodox conservatives. There are such influential personalities among the
members of the Club as Sergey Glazyev -- adviser to President Putin on economic
issues, Dmitry Rogozin -- Deputy Chairman of the Government, and other
well-known military, scientists and journalists -- Leonid Ivashov, Alexander
Prokhanov, Mikhail Leontiev, Maxim Shevchenko and others. The leadership of
this organization sees its primary task in "forming a political-ideological
coalition of patriotic statesmen, an imperial front that opposes manipulations
carried out in Russian politics by foreign influence centers and their agents
inside the country."
Don’t expect Russia to “converge” with the advanced Western
economies anytime soon. The ideas of communism, monarchism and social
conservatism that are gaining popularity among the Russian public are
mobilizing opinion against the collective West (primarily the United States).
They are using an external threat as a foil for their own purposes.
According to the leaders of the movements, clubs and organizations
mentioned above, Russia’s values are spiritual, while the West is
materialistic. Thus, a confrontation is inevitable. Numerous speeches and
interviews show that the current leadership of the country is trying not to
interfere in the battles among these three ideological factions and not to take
sides. On the one hand, President Putin has to be gentle with the communists,
saying that the disintegration of the atheistic USSR is the greatest
geopolitical catastrophe of the XX century. On the other hand, he stresses that
Orthodoxy is the root of the Russian people and state. After the collapse of
the Soviet Union, the new Russia was not accepted into the Western family. Therefore,
there are no other ideas, except for a return to the past.
Areg Galstyan – Ph.D., a regular contributor to The
National Interest and Forbes. Follow him on twitter.
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/10/a_century_later_russia_still_is_fighting_its_revolution.html
