The role of the proletariat as a class in 1917 and at first after the October Revolution

Abstract

The article examines the role of the proletariat in the preparation and implementation of the October Revolution of 1917. The author shows that after the revolution, the Bolsheviks had every reason to be disappointed in the proletariat as a class as they started decreasing in number rapidly due to the return of peasants to villages and difficulties in working in enterprises in cities. Much attention is paid in the article to the concept of "dictatorship of the proletariat", which has become the centre of the Bolshevik ideological programme. Due to the fact that the Marxist class analysis turned out to be inappropriate for Russian social reality, the Bolsheviks had to transform their initial ideas, develop a system of measures to educate the people and influence them. To maintain power after its seize, the Bolsheviks created the myth of an enemy class threatening the proletariat and of building a bright future.