The revolution has begun!!

[lazer47]

All revolutions start with the money or the lack of it. Happened in Rome,, Happened in Britain,, Happened in the Soviet Union,,,,,,Next,,,News at Eleven,,stay tuned,,

[Dover]

1. Oktober Revolution!

What drives them? Ideology, class injustice...?


Seeing how we are at the cusp of change on so many levels and, more immediately, also on the cusp of the month of October, I'm reminded of revolution that most of us aren't that familiar with.

The U.S. did not recognize Russia for a long time after they established a new 'socialist'Marxist regime. My own feeling is that most people caught up in revolutions are the working class and peasants who have found themselves at the brink of despair due to hardships and a feeling of betrayal by their government, rather than ideologically driven anarchists. The people are probably clearer about what they DON'T like or want than what they DO want to take the place of the status quo.
And those who might exploit the situation can then step in and offer a much needed plan, for better
or worse. Government covert operations around the world have become experts at this game.


If you've never seen the movie Reds, and aren't familiar with the Russian Revolution (also known as the Soviet or Bolshevik revolution), you might find it timely. There are some fundamental similarities which you are sure to identify with, though hardly the same. I saw the movie many years ago when it first came out and have forgotten much of it. I'm also not a student of Russian history, but it just popped into my mind today as we approach the month of October.





...“Reds” remains a superior history lesson, thanks to Mr. Beatty’s thorough command of the material and to his inclusion of real-life “witnesses” to the life and times of Reed. Their faces and voices give this romance some documentary ballast, and make it, now that they are gone, a moving archive of faded memories.

Curiously, though, the movie may be less nostalgic now than it was in 1981. You might think the opposite, given the inglorious expiration of the Soviet Union, the founding of which feeds the idealism of the film’s main characters (who do, it should be noted, express some misgivings at the authoritarian and antidemocratic tendencies evident within the revolution, even in its early days). The strains of “The Internationale” do not set many pulses racing nowadays. But the dwindling of the socialist cause may also make it possible to look at “Reds” with fresh eyes, and to feel the nearness of the long-ago story it tells.

“I’d say it’s infinitely more accessible now,” Mr. Beatty said. He recently attended a screening held by the Directors Guild in Los Angeles, and was startled by the intensity of the response. “The resonance to the film now was 180 degrees different from then,” he said. “The receptivity to the jokes of the old people, to John Reed, to the speeches he makes, is much greater now.”

And the reason for this, he believes, is that “Reds” is, in large part, a movie about American politics during wartime, and about the opposition to American hegemony at an earlier stage of its development. The fact that Reed, Bryant and their allies initially come together in opposition to American involvement in World War I — a war whose motive Reed succinctly identifies as “profit” — is something current audiences are likely to notice, and perhaps be provoked by. But in 1981, Mr. Beatty noted, “this movie was so harmless that Ron and Nancy Reagan, who I always considered friends, arranged a screening in the White House.”

A return engagement seems unlikely, for any number of reasons. But Mr. Beatty, who declined to speak to the American press when “Reds” came out, and who agreed to be interviewed for the making-of documentary that is one of the DVD’s extra features, regards his movie with renewed zeal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/movies/04reds.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss



October Revolution


The mounting frustration of workers and soldiers erupted in July with several days of rioting on the streets, in what became known as the July Days. This event was sparked by the June offensive against Germany, in which War Minister Alexander Kerensky sent troops in a major attack on the Germans, only to be repelled. The July Days were also sparked by the workers' anger at their economic plight. A group of 20,000 armed sailors from "Red Kronstadt", the naval base on the island of Kronstadt located near St.Petersburg or Petrograd, as it was known, marched into Petrograd and demanded that the Soviet take power. The capital was defenseless for two days. After suppressing the riots, the government blamed the Bolsheviks for encouraging the rebellion and many Bolshevik leaders, including Lenin and Grigory Zinoviev, were forced to go into hiding. Although the Bolshevik party had to operate semi-legally throughout July and August, its position on the far left end of the political spectrum was consolidated. Radical anti-war social democrats, who had joined the Mezhraiontsy earlier in the year, merged with the Bolsheviks in August. Many of them, particularly Trotsky, Joffe and Konstantin Yurenev would prove vital to the Bolsheviks' eventual seizure of Petrograd.

The Kornilov Affair was another catalyst to Revolution. Alexander Kerensky, who held positions in both the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet, felt he needed a trustworthy military leader. After appointing Lavr Kornilov, Kerensky soon accused Kornilov of trying to set up his own military dictatorship. It is still uncertain as to whether or not Kornilov did engineer a plot of this kind or not. Kornilov, convinced Kerensky was acting under duress of the Bolsheviks, responded by issuing a call to all Russians to "save their dying land!" Unsure of the support of his army generals, Kerensky was forced to ask for help from other quarters- including the Bolshevik Red Guards, even providing them with arms. Kornilov's supposed attempt to seize power collapsed without bloodshed as his Cossacks deserted him. Kornilov and around 7,000 of his supporters were arrested.

Cont'd

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution

[Phred42]

2. Hell of an Ock-tober Suprise