The Russian Revolution and Its Global Impact

The Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917 (Gregorian calendar) was thedefining event not only of what Hobsbawm has called the short twentiethcentury, that is, from 1917, to the year of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but also of the period since that date. While the Soviet Union has collapsed, Communist China has not only survived but has become the world’s second largest economy and is breathing down the neck of the United States and Europe in its technological prowess. Cuba and Viet Nam have also survived. Both South Korea and Taiwan have become developed economies assisted not only by their strong nationalism but also by the largesse they received from the Western powers as a by-product of the Cold War. Moreover, the Russian Revolution directly or indirectly continues to inspire left-leaning countries in Latin America such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile and Venezuela, not to speak of local communist parties such as India,Nepal, the Philippines and South Africa.