Stalin's bolshevism: The year of the revolution

This article criticises the thesis that Stalin believed that, as Russia needed an extended period of capitalist development, only a regime dominated by the liberal bourgeoisie was a feasible revolutionary perspective, which, again, turned him into a critical follower of the Provisional Government. In fact, only the socialist perspective contained in Lenin's April policies was new. The hope that the democratic republic would take on a Soviet form, and would be dominated by revolutionary popular parties instead of liberal‐capitalist ones, was part of bolshevik doctrine. Before Lenin's return to Russia, Stalin already announced that, in time, the Provisional Government should be brought down and replaced by a Soviet one. And, in October, he did not hesitate to work towards such a take‐over. The thesis that he ‘missed the revolution’ is a myth.