The Soul of the Russian Revolution (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1917. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... chapter xxviii in search of immaterial values The Russian intellectual sought in the revolution neither land, like the peasant, nor bread and culture, like the workingman. The Russian intellectual had enough opportunities of earning a living even under the autocratic regime, and as to social distinction and recognition, he enjoyed it in a far greater measure than did his colleagues in the more progressive countries where the differences between the educated and non-educated classes were less marked. What the intellectuals really needed as a social group was political freedom, giving intelligence and knowledge a share in the ruling of the nation. From the standpoint of group-interests, the intellectuals in Russia ought to have formed a purely political party aiming solely at the overthrow of the absolutist order. Yet they were well enough acquainted with the history of revolutions to know that a party of this kind consisting of intellectuals only, would be powerless to change the existing order. The Zemstvo organization represented a semblance of an intellectuals' party, but it was moderate, even timid in the absence of a strong revolutionary movement, and could cherish no hope of ever reconstructing Russia without the aid of the masses. The liberation of Russia must come from the ranks of the people. This was the creed of the intellectuals for generations and generations. Hence the great yearning for mass action. Hence the odd fact that in 1881 the intellectuals of the party "Land and Freedom," whose members had assassinated Tzar Alexander ii, hailed the first pogroms in Southern Russia as a sign of the awakening of the masses against those whom they considered their oppressors. Hence all the attempts of the intellectuals to carry the revolutionary propaganda t...