isaac-deutscher-the-prophet-armed-trotsky-1879-1921

TROTSKY IN THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION 319
republic was to be a 'proletarian dictatorship'. By this was
meant the social and political preponderance of the working
class; but the means by which this preponderance was to be
established were not fixed in advance. The Bolsheviks, and
Socialists of other schools as well, were wont to describe the
parliamentary democracies of the West as 'bourgeois dictatorships',
in the sense that they embodied the social preponderance
of the bourgeoisie, not that they were actually ruled in a dictatorial
manner. The Bolsheviks at first described their own system
of government as a dictatorship in that broad sense, expecting
in all sincerity that by comparison with the bourgeois democracies
the republic of the Soviets would bring to the vast
majority of the nation more, not less, liberty; more, not less,
freedom of expression and association.
The plebeian democracy of the Soviets did not at first think
of itself as a monolithic or totalitarian state, because its leaders
were confident that the bulk of the Russian people shared their
aspirations. It did not soon occur to them to consider what
they would do if this hopeful assumption proved wrong. They
took it for granted that if they came in conflict with the majority
of the nation, then they, their party, and their revolution would
be doomed, and that all that would be left to them would be to
perish with honour. But in 1917 this danger seemed to them no
more real than the threat of a cosmic catastrophe.
How did the Russian people view the Bolsheviks and their
objectives? A mere handful participated directly in the October
insurrection-'hardly more', says Trotsky, 'than 25,000 or
30,000 at the most'.' In this sense, the revolution was the work
of a tiny minority, unlike the February insurrection during
which the great, overflowing, unguided energy of the masses
had swept away the monarchy. But in the last fortnight before
the October rising, in Petrograd alone 'hundreds of thousands
of workers and soldiers took direct action, defensive in form but
aggressive in essence'. 2 Many more facilitated the Bolshevik
victory through their friendly attitude, active and passive; and
many others did so by adopting all possible shades of neutrality.
The second Congress of the Soviets represented about 20,000,000
electors, perhaps rather fewer. Of these the great majority voted
for the Bolsheviks. Even in the elections to the Constituent
1
Trotsky, Hisfbry of the Russian Revolution, vol. iii, p. 290.
2
Loe. cit.