Forty Years Later

Abstract

The month of November marks the fortieth anniversary of the Russian Revolution, and by the time this issue of Monthly Review reaches its readers an appropriately elaborate celebration will be under way in Moscow. The theme of Soviet spokesmen will doubtless be the great victories and achievements of these four decades. The victories and achievements are in truth staggering to the imagination, and everyone who has shared in making them possible has a right to feel proud and happy. Nor is the occasion one from which non-Soviet citizens need feel excluded. The Russian Revolution, like the American Revolution in its time, opened one of the great chapters of the human story; it is an event which we should all, regardless of our parochial cares and interests, gladly join in commemorating. Speaking for ourselves and we hope for the vast majority of MR readers, we both rejoice on this historic occasion and extend our heartiest congratulations to the real heroes of the Russian Revolution, the Soviet people who have fought the battles, borne the burdens, and are already beginning to reap the rewards of these arduous years.

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