The Russian Revolution of 1917: The Bolshevik March to October

Rev Left Radio

Breht O'Shea

Communism, Politics, Liberalism, Society & Culture, Philosophy, News, History, Leftwing, Socialism, Marxism

4.8 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2025

⏱️ 154 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1917, Russia went from a centuries-old monarchy to the world’s first workers’ state in just eight months. From the February Revolution and the fall of the Tsar, to the July Days and the failed Kornilov coup, and finally to the decisive October insurrection, the Bolsheviks and the Soviets navigated setbacks, repression, reactionary coups, bourgeois opportunism, and unprecedented opportunities with remarkable clarity, unmatched strategy, and resolute discipline.

Breht is joined by Daniel, host of The Sickle and the Hammer: A Socialist History of the Soviet Union, to walk through the year that shook the world. Together they trace the month-to-month developments from February to October 1917, bringing new depth and insight to a revolution that toppled an empire, established the world’s first socialist state, and still looms over our present and future.

Check out our episode on "What Is To Be Done" by Lenin HERE

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everybody and welcome back to Rev Left Radio.
0:09.1	All right, on today's show we have on my friend and comrade Daniel from the Sickle and the Hammer podcast to do a deep dive into the year of 1917,
0:25.6	primarily between February of 1917 and October of 1917, in which what we know as the Russian or the Bolshevik revolution took place. I think this,
0:32.3	it's really important to not only cover this history, but to do it in a very detailed way.
0:45.2	And Daniel is really, really good at making that detailed history accessible and compelling and allowing people with little knowledge, maybe no knowledge at all, to follow the historical
0:51.1	events as they unfold, showing very clearly how, you know, they are connected
0:57.1	to one another. And so it's a, it's a super accessible way into the, really the detailed
1:03.0	minutia of the revolution. And it is really only through that detailed analysis of a world
1:08.7	historical event, like the Bolshevik Revolution that we can truly
1:11.7	understand the ups and downs and the intricacies and nuances of revolutionary rupture.
1:19.1	Because the October Revolution is not something that happened spontaneously.
1:24.7	It is not something that happened overnight.
1:26.3	It had months and months of
1:28.7	immediate acute buildup and decades of more generalized buildup leading to that moment.
1:36.4	And it took courage and attachment to the masses and the organization of the Vanguard party
1:42.8	and to the brilliance of the leaders of the Bolshevik party as well as the organization of the Vanguard party into the brilliance of the leaders of the
1:45.5	Bolshevik party as well as the resilience of the workers and the soldiers and the masses
1:50.8	that made up the Soviets and made up the Bolshevik party and made up the Russian revolution
1:55.6	that created the possibility for it to be successful. So this is a fascinating insight.
2:00.9	And even if you are a veteran Marxist, right?
2:03.5	Even if you know this history pretty damn well,
2:06.3	I guarantee you you will learn many new things
	...

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