1917: The Russian Revolution. New SHS publication

1917 – The Russian Revolution, Reactions and Impact

The Socialist History Society Occasional Publication No. 41

The Russian Revolution of 1917 changed the world forever. For once, it appeared that the oppressed workers were within grasp of the levers of state power and for a while the prospect of permanently ending exploitation seemed a real possibility. The revolutionary mood swept across continents and its impact was felt far beyond the parties of the left and the organised labour movement. The revolution inspired writers, poets, intellectuals and philosophers as much as it did workers and activists. With this special Occasional Publication the Socialist History Society illuminates these momentous events of one hundred years ago with a series of specially written articles that examine the reactions to the revolution in different areas.

Contents 

Evaluating the lessons of October, including their British resonance

by Willie Thompson

Against ‘vacillation, lies and rottenness’: the Russian Revolution and the rift in world socialism

by Francis King

1917’s Several Lenins

by Mike Makin-Waite

‘What they can do in Russia, so can we’: the impact of the Russian Revolutions of 1917 in Germany by Helen Boak

Italy and the Russian Revolution of 1917

by Tobias Abse

Clara Zetkin on the Soviet Experiment, 1917-1934

by John S Partington

Secular Ecstasies and the Revolutionary Women Poets in 1917

by Greta Sykes

Psychoanalysis and Revolution: Sigmund Freud and his circle from fin-de-siècle Vienna to revolutionary Russia

by David Morgan

http://www.socialisthistorysociety.co.uk/

 

Call for Papers: Weekend conference – ‘Echoes of revolution 1848, 1918. Revolution, nationalism, and socialism’

As the old European powers approached exhaustion in the Great War, a wave of revolutionary struggles broke out across the continent, from Ireland to Russia. Mass movements articulated class, social and national aspirations as states fragmented and empires, dynasties and rulers were toppled. But relations between these movements and their component parts were anything but simple. National claimants contested for control of disputed territories in the name of self-determination. Class and social movements struggled with one another over who should rule in the successor states, and in whose interests. These struggles left a lasting legacy which helped shape European politics for decades.

 

As a pivotal year in European history, 1918 begs comparison with other pivotal years, in particular 1848, in which many similar social and national aspirations came to the fore. This conference will look at and compare movements for radical social and political change of those revolutionary years. We are seeking papers of 5000 to 10000 words to be presented at the conference on any aspects of revolution, nationalism and socialism anywhere around the world during, around or across the years 1848 and 1918. Selected papers will be published in a special issue of the journal Socialist History. Attendance at the conference will be free of charge, but we ask that anyone wishing to attend registers in advance. Proposals for papers and any enquiries should be submitted to Francis King. E-mail: f.king@uea.ac.uk

Dates: Saturday and Sunday, 17 and 18 February 2018

 

Venue: School of History, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK

 

Organised and hosted by UEA School of History in conjunction with the journal Socialist History and the Institute of Working Class History, Chicago.

 

Deadline for proposals for papers: 15 December 2017