The term was originally used during the cold war to describe noncommunists regarded as susceptible to communist propaganda and manipulation. Rex wade presents an account of one of the pivotal events of modern history, combining his own long study of the revolution with the best of contemporary scholarship. The russian revolution of 1917 played a very important role in not only russian history, but world history as well. Top 10 books about the russian revolution books the. Top 10 books about the russian revolution a century after the bolsheviks seized power for communism, tariq ali chooses some of the best books about an uprising that changed the world forever tariq ali. Just as the sympathetic foreigners whom lenin called useful idiots once supported. In a russian comedy of the early 90, an african leader who took the power due to a coup with the russian soviet help, asked by his son, whether he was a real revolutionary or just a putschist, gave this interesting definition. The russian revolution is a monster of a book 842 pages not including endnotes. What foreign correspondents were shown in the soviet union in 1933 was a carefully staged performance created mainly to hide the horrors of holodomor a mass famine that resulted from the communist policy of collectivization.
A century after the bolsheviks captured the winter palace, we round up the most illuminating new releases tackling the october revolution, its prelude and its. Russian revolutionaries children read classic fiction, not marx. Beware the useful idiots obama was influenced by the writings and philosophies saul alinsky, author of the book, rules for radicals, and later by frank marshall davis, with similar philosophies. The useful idiots have destroyed every nation in which they have seized power and control. Alinsky merely simplified vladimir lenins original scheme for world conquest by communism, under russian rule. Useful idiots is a pungent phrase usually attributed to lenin. Useful idiots danger signs blinking red robert h miller. Times that the soviet ruler was giving the russian people. Enjoy the best vladimir lenin quotes at brainyquote. Pages in category novels set in the russian revolution the following 15 pages are in this category, out of 15 total. Paul mason and the bolsheviks useful idiots still dont get it.
But both its enthusiastic admirers and its mortal enemies distorted the truth of the russian revolution. In this context the term simpletons may be viewed as the ideological mirrorimage of useful idiots. To propagandize the west, lenin recruited a corps of. In the heady, uncertain weeks of the revolution, mobs in petrograd now st. Quotations by vladimir lenin, russian leader, born april 22, 1870. A group of 3, 000 soldiers who termed themselves decembrists took advantage of the chaos to demand reforms, such as a written constitution for russia. Trotskys 1924 book literature and revolution, in ch. They are driven by pathological altruism, believing that they know how to run our lives better than us and believing the western guilt stories. Its insane and the fact their universities still employ them is embarrassing for their universities. Yuri bezmenov may well go down in history as a saint by the survivors of the generations to come. Washington post book world hails it as a gripping read.
An undeniably valuable history of the russian revolution. I continue to work on trying to identify the earliest occurence. Vladimir lenins return journey to russia changed the world forever on the 100th anniversary of the russian revolution, our writer set out from zurich to relive this epic travel. I have found the following documented citation the history and impact of marxistleninist organizational theory. Both the webbs were skeptical of the virtues of worker control in the early years of the russian revolution. The russian tsar, or emperor, whose death in 1825 prompted a mild secession crisis that created an appearance of weakness in the russian monarchy. Later revolutionaries such as lenin saw the decembrists as heroes. Trotskys history of the russian revolution is a long, very complex, and extremely detailed treatment of the remarkably eventful period from february to october of 1917. Between bourgeois art, which is wasting away either in repetitions or in silences, and the new art which is as yet unborn, there is being created a transitional art which. Russia becomes the ussr communism advances lenin seized power during the 1917 bolshevik russian revolution, and quickly initiated a civil war to consolidate his power and solidify the establishment of communism.
It has become dogma to denigrate western communists stalinists for their blind faith in the soviet revolution. Russian revolution 1917 score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. Now, following the collapse of the soviet regime and the opening of its archives, it is possible to step back and see the full picture. This book echoed the completely false claims made by stalin after the stalin constitution of 1936 that the country was a meaningful democracy. Volume two of the essentials of lenin contained the following passage translated from russian to english. I collected some useful material in the 2010 posts useful idiots, pbs edition and useful idiots, pbs edition. He traveled to witness the russian revolution on the dime of an american heiress. In political jargon, a useful idiot is a derogatory term for a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the causes goals, and who is cynically used by the causes leaders. The best books on the russian revolution five books. Whether either one ever uttered the exact words, their master plan was to spread communism worldwide exploiting useful idiots. The first part of the revolution, occurring in february of 1917, was known as the february revolution. It is a familiar student essay question, whether the revolution could have been averted, but for the world war and resultant loss of up to three million russian lives.
Clarification of answer by ragingacademicga on 04 jan 2003 03. In this classic work, the author incorporates data from archives thatwere previously inaccessible not only to western but also to soviet historians, as well as drawing on. When a government lost his way to governing people it becomes a. Russia at the time was at war with germany as part of an entente or threecountry coalition that also included great britain and france. Beware the useful idiots alinsky and how the left sees. Useful idiots, innocents clubs, and transmission belts, by john pearson roche institute for foreign policy analysis. The name fellow traveler is from the russian word poputchik, meaning one who travels the same path. His statements about the global communist agenda offers an opportunity for students of history, philosophy and economics world wide to take not. The russian empire was at least half a century behind western europe in. Paul mason and the bolsheviks useful idiots still dont. They are widely dismissed as useful idiots who helped uphold a tyrannical system of oppression.
The russian revolution, also called the bolshevik revolution, consisted of two parts. No, im not aware of any marxist primary sources with useful idiot usage. The russian revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in russia in 1917, which destroyed the tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the soviet union. The tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of february 1917 march in the gregorian calendar. The best known is probably john reeds ten days that shook the world, but ive gone with ransomes book because ransome is my man, and because whereas reeds book is a highly imaginative view of the 1917 revolution. In the days of alternative facts, this book is a very useful reminder of a time and country which attempted to build an alternative reality. Mason distances himself from bolshevism, but insists that the russian revolution was an intervention by the masses into history, like the french revolution before it.
And so, in founding the comintern, lenin realized he had an echo chamber in the west to rationalize any of the kremlins actions. Russian revolutionaries children read classic fiction. The fact that he dedicates the russian revolution to the victims tells you all you need to know about his perspective on the subject. They are fanatics who were going to help lenin conquer the world but illness syphilis in all probability and death caught up. Within an overall narrative that provides a clear description of the 1917 revolution, he introduces several new approaches on its political history and the complexity of the october revolution. Petersburg looted and burned any and all artifacts of the romanov family, only recently deposed.
Beware the useful idiots obama was influenced by the writings and philosophies saul alinsky, author of the book, rules for radicals, and later. Top 10 books about the russian revolution a century after the bolsheviks seized power for communism, tariq ali chooses some of the best books. The russian revolution had a decisive impact on the history of the twentieth century. Stalins useful idiots part one we need to talk about lenin. The term has often been attributed to vladimir lenin, but this attribution is controversial. Such was the grim and dingy life of russian communism. Ten days that shook the world by john reed, doctor zhivago by boris pasternak, history of the russian revolution by. Communism never died, it was cleverly repackaged for the.
Rappaport creates a portrait of the russian revolution from the points of view of outsiders who happened to be in petrograd at the time. Useful idiot seems to be an invention of opposing side, as far as i could trace it. I cant exclude karl radek, but seems unlikely never saw it in or around radeks articles ive read. Feminists and other leftists are useful idiots who serve only to destabilise the society.
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