In the beginning of a series of videos celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Alan Woods – editor of In Defence of Marxism, www.marxist.com – examines the lies and slanders used to attack the Revolution, the Bolsheviks, and the ideas of Lenin and Trotsky.

Today is the 99th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, an event which altered the entire course of human history. For the first time, the working people took power into their own hands and began the task of the socialist re-construction of society. We republish here an article written in 1992 by Alan Woods, which gives an excellent overview of the revolution and highlights its main lessons.

In these extracts from “Year One of the Russian Revolution”, published in 1930, Victor Serge explains how the events of 1917 reflected the revolutionary forces within society and outlines the key role of the Bolshevik Party and its leadership in the October Revolution, which took place 98 years ago.