The present work is the outcome of a visit to Russia, supplemented by much reading and discussion both before and after. I have thought it best to record what I saw separately from theoretical considerations, and I have endeavoured to state my impressions without any bias for or against the Bolsheviks. I received at their hands the greatest kindness and courtesy, and I owe them a debt of gratitude for the perfect freedom which they allowed me in my investigations. I am conscious that I was too short a time in Russia to be able to form really reliable judgments; however, I share this drawback with most other westerners who have written on Russia since the October Revolution. I feel that Bolshevism is a matter of such importance that it is necessary, for almost every political question, to define one's attitude in regard to it; and I have hopes that I may help others to define their attitude, even if only by way of opposition to what I have written. I have received invaluable assistance from my secretary, Miss D.W. Black, who was in Russia shortly after I had left. The chapter on Art and Education is written by her throughout. Neither is responsible for the other's opinions. BERTRAND RUSSELL _September, 1920._ CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE 5 PART I THE PRESENT CONDITION OF RUSSIA I. WHAT IS HOPED FROM BOLSHEVISM 15 II. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 24 III. LENIN, TROTSKY AND GORKY 36 IV. ART AND EDUCATION 45 V. COMMUNISM AND THE SOVIET CONSTITUTION 72 VI. THE FAILURE OF RUSSIAN INDUSTRY 81 VII. DAILY LIFE IN MOSCOW 92 VIII. TOWN AND COUNTRY 99 IX. INTERNATIONAL POLICY 106 PART II BOLSHEVIK THEORY I. THE MATERIALISTIC THEORY OF HISTORY 119 II. DECIDING FORCES IN POLITICS 128 III. BOLSHEVIK CRITICISM OF DEMOCRACY 134 IV. REVOLUTION AND DICTATORSHIP 146 V. MECHANISM AND THE INDIVIDUAL 157 VI. WHY RUSSIAN COMMUNISM HAS FAILED 165 VII. CONDITIONS FOR THE SUCCESS OF COMMUNISM 178 PART I THE PRESENT CONDITION OF RUSSIA I WHAT IS HOPED FROM BOLSHEVISM