We can still learn from the Russian revolution:
The Russian revolt of 1905 included mass political unrest. That is there was wide consideration of the nature of Russian governance. It also included terrorism, strikes, military mutinies, and urban demonstrations. Republicanism and democracy were designed to limit the worst of these happening. Republicanism and democracy both demand considerable practice by a wide spectrum of practice by the citizenry. The overwhelming majority of the Russian people had very little of such practice. The revolt did lead the tzarist government to establish, on paper, a limited constitutional monarchy including a duma. A duma is a parliament. Most Russians did not see these changes as being helpful to them. A great many Russians did not see them at all.
Republic, Democracy, and Governance
The use of democracy was designed to prevent the worst of the above. Many Europeans, Americans, and others saw republicanism as an important step toward democracy. Many saw democracy, probably correctly, as beyond the ability of most citizens and prospective citizens. It was hoped that more widespread education and the wide participation in managing a republic would lead to the development of a wide swath of populations with the ability to govern themselves. I have believed that the educated practice of democracy was able to maintain a stable, practical, and adaptable form of governance. In the last several decades I have seen populations less and less ready, willing, or able to maintain their republics.
Tsar Nicolas II and Sergei Witte
The October manifesto of 1905 was issued by Nicolas II. Sergei Witte was influential in its production. It pledged to grant civil liberties to the people including: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and provide broad participation in the duma. No law could come into force without the consent of the Duma. The Tsar retained veto power. Good for Witte. This aimed for much improvement.
However, the Russian people had not participated in this development. The were not ready for this particular change. They not been party to a conversation, to a dialogue. The change was both to early and too late. To early for the people's state of readiness, and too late to stop their revolt.
Nicolas II was, Nicolai Alexandrovich Romanov. He was the last Tsar of the nearly 400 years of the Romanov dynasty rule of russia. Sergei Witte was a Russian statesman who served as the first prime minister of the Russian empire, replacing the Tsar as head of government. Witte had a good understanding of the use of republicanism, but may have lacked enough understanding of all the powers extent in Russia at that time.
Imperialism, capitalism, republicanism, and democracy
As time went on imperialism and capitalism did not seem to work for them and they had not learned to work republicanism or democracy. They did call democracy social democracy in an effort to assure that it was meant for all. A nice step. Citizens of the USA have had many good historical reasons for abdicating republican and democratic responsibilities, duties, practices, and rights. People elsewhere such as those of the rest of the Americas and much of Europe have done some abdicating of their own for reasons of their own. May republican and democratic practices continue.
The still well organized powers in Russia brutally suppressed constitutional law, congressional power, freedom of religion, assembly, speech and participation in duma/congress and other such leftist movements.
Tsar Nicolas II abdicated in 1917. The Russian people were unprepared to govern, governance was collapsing. Powerful people tried to use war to pull the country together. They failed. The people began, it is said, began to look to the far right and the far left for working governance. The happy medium, the golden mean was lost. The they knew too little of governance.
The Bolsheviks, a small well organized group of persons with some thoughts of governance, took over. They were mostly a small faction of the Marxist Russian Democratic Worker Party. They were well organized and founded the Soviet Union.
The Russians had a lot to learn about self-governance and still do. We to still do. Our will to practice being a republic a democracy or anything n between. We seem to lack the will to practice any sort of governance or to even speak of it.
Still the Russians were a Russian enough people to withstand counter revolution, experimental economic policy, rapid expansion, war, Stalin, and more war. It was brutal. Not everything has been always brutal, but so far war has. Ignorance itself very often seems brutal.
The great mass of the Russian people seemed to move from being peons to being pawns. Oh, when will the ever learn. When will we ever learn to play our own game? When will we ever learn to take care of ourselves. When will we learn to govern ourselves?
There is a lot for all of us to learn and remember. We do not have to make ourselves learn and remember. Practice can do us very well. When we practice being a peon we can become a very good peon. When we practice being a pawn we can become a better pawn. When we practice being a republican we can become a good republican; that is if we remember what a republican is and have learned the nature of a republican.
There is a lot for all of us to do. Thank goodness there are plenty of us to do that which needs doing. We still have memories of co-operation. We also have some knowledge of practice. With a bit more practice in citizenship we can be more effective citizens. We could even practice democracy together so as to learn how to better do democracy.
I could use a good editor. I could use some good help from you. I could also use a million dollars or even a hundred thousand. Maybe a good night's sleep would do me well. Bye for now.
Thank you for reading!
rcs
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