Ideology in Power: Reflections on the Russian Revolution

Those two words define the regime that ruled Russia from 1917 to 1987. The Russian Revolution was unique in that it was not Russian but international from the beginning. Ideology itself rests on preset notions of right and wrong and the nature of people. The ideology accompanying the Revolution was based on sweeping assumptions that led to sweeping predictions and promises. But, since the assumptions were wrong, the promises never materialized - a fact conventiently overlooked by partisans of Marxism. The author begins in Tsarist Russia, takes us through WWI in which Lenin was honing his skills as a propogandist. (He made the claim that Russian armies were shattered whereas they won on 3 of the 4 fronts in the war.) The Revoution itself is reviewed along with a more detailed look at Lenin who Wolfe calls the "architect of 20th century totalitarianism." By this he means two things: Maintaining control through sheer force both externally and internally and, more important, the state of continual revolutionary conflict against mythical or imagined enemies - Jews, the "rich", Tsutsis, Christians... Human beings cannot maintain such fervor for every - they desire normalcy. The chapter, "The Age of Diminishing Dictators" discusses the decline in belief in ideology after Stalin. The response to the Revolution when great things were not forthcoming was the same as Christianity's when Jesus failed to return - they looked to the future. "Some day" we will overtake the West. "Soon" we will have more wealth than the Unites States. "Your children" will live in a worker's paradise. A wonderful chapter on Soviet historians is included which details the degree to which the state attempted to control every facet of human existence - telling people what was real and what was not be accepted (even if true). Wolfe states that all totalitarian states impose a "blackout" on their peoples, denying them information from the outside world while feeding them constant propoganda. With the advent of modern communications it became impossible to ration knowledge and worldwide communism came to an ignoble end.