Statement issued by the Workers' Party of Ireland to mark the
96th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution which began on 7th November 1917 (25th October in the Old Style
calendar used in Russia up to 1918).
Today marks the 96th anniversary of the
Bolshevik Revolution, a landmark moment in history, the moment when a government of the working class was successfully
established for the first time.
The Revolution demonstrated to the world the power of the organised
working class committed to building a better future, to building socialism. It inspired, and continues to inspire, the
exploited and oppressed across the world.
The Bolshevik Revolution was the ultimate rejection of the miseries inflicted
on the world by imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. It took place admist a world war that was producing unprecedented
slaughter, a war that was fought among the great European powers in order to carve up the continents of Africa and Asia. The
workers and peasants of Russia rejected that war, rejected imperialism, rejected capitalism, and instead struck a blow for
their liberty, for equality, and for fraternity. Inspired by a vision of a world without war and without exploitation, they
rose up and established the power of the Soviets.
That example is more relevant now than ever, at a time of the global
crisis of capitalism, with increasing attacks upon the living standards of workers, upon public services, and upon the
idea of social solidarity. The working class are being made to pay for the inevitable bust of capitalism, and to ensure
that the global corporations and the world's elite continue to make vast profits. The major powers continue to indulge
in militarist adventures, riding roughshod over the principles of democracy and the sovereignty of peoples.
The October Revolution remains a beacon for socialists across the world,
an inspiration, and an example of what can be achieved by a militant, class-conscious, and well-organised working class. The
revolutionary principles that motivated it remain the only alternative to the brutality and exploitation offered by capitalism.
Socialism is the alternative.
7th November 2013
