Autocracy, Capitalism and Revolution in Russia

The introduction to Autocracy, Capitalism, and Revolution in Russia explores the unique social, economic, and political dynamics that shaped the 1917 Russian Revolution. Unlike other modern revolutions, such as the French or English cases, where industrialization played a secondary role, the Russian Revolution was heavily influenced by its emerging industrial proletariat. Concentrated in urban centers like Petrograd and Moscow, this working class became a pivotal revolutionary force despite its relatively small size. The revolution itself was multifaceted, encompassing a proletarian uprising against capitalism, a peasant revolt against landowners, soldiers’ rebellions, and even elements of a bourgeois revolution against autocracy. The interplay of these forces created a complex revolutionary process, with labor militancy at its core. Severe repression under tsarist autocracy stifled formal worker organizations, but this repression also fueled sporadic bursts of radical action, making the Russian labor movement distinctly revolutionary.

The book argues that the Russian revolution cannot be understood without considering the contradictions of autocratic capitalism, which hindered reform and radicalized the labor movement. It integrates structural and agency-based perspectives, showing how social movements both emerged from and shaped these contradictions. The inability of the tsarist regime to allow for moderate worker organizations or adapt to modern industrial capitalism undermined its legitimacy and set the stage for the Bolshevik victory. However, this outcome was not inevitable but one of several possible resolutions to the crises of the old regime. By analyzing the labor movement’s development, its interactions with the state, and its role in the revolution, the study highlights the unique characteristics of Russia’s revolutionary experience and its broader implications for understanding social and political change.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1988.