HOW DO YOU SLAY A DRAGON?

You must achieve even small successes every day  (you could say every hour if we’re talking about actions in a single city); this way, whatever happens, you’ll maintain morale .

Marx summed up the lessons of armed insurrections in all revolutions with the words ‘of Danton, the greatest master of revolutionary tactics in the whole of history: courage, courage and once again, courage.’

Relating this to Russia and to October 1917, this means…

With the combined efforts of your three main forces – the navy, and the workers’ and military units – this means that without fail and whatever it costs in casualties , we must seize and hold in the first assault a) the telephone exchange; b) the telegraph office; c) the railway stations; d) the bridges.

We must divide the most reliable elements (our ‘shock troops’ and the young workers , along with our best sailors) into small units in order to seize the most important objectives. Also, they must be the ones who take part  everywhere in all the important operations, such as…forming the units of the very best workers with rifles and bombs to attack and surround the enemy’s ‘centres’ (the cadet schools, the telegraph, the telephone exchange, and so on), operating under the slogan: we may all die, but we will never give in to the enemy .

Reading over these lines a hundred years on when you know the outcome, you begin to understand how important it is to acknowledge simple truths. Unfortunately, though, simplicity does not mean that it’s easy to assimilate them. Let’s try to consider this advice from today’s point of view. We can put Marx’ thoughts to one side, as these are philosophical ideas that are difficult to apply in every concrete situation. But it’s worth looking further into the advice about bridges, the telegraph office, the post office and so on. Of course, times have changed radically. The telegraph has sunk into oblivion; post has become e-mail; and bridges have lost the significance they once had. But this is not the point.

The first thing that remains as relevant today as it was then is that it’s essential to maintain the unity of political action, because if the uprising is broken up into individual sectors, each of them can be crushed individually. Lenin needed bridges in order to maintain this unity of action, but what this really means is transport hubs, which must be isolated and immediately brought under control.

Secondly, and even more important, is that the rebels maintain uninterrupted communication. In the modern world this means having control over internet and mobile phone providers, as well as protecting the means of transmitting signals (the control hubs, masts and so on). Without the coordination that this provides, the revolutionary masses quickly become just an ungovernable mob and they’ll be smashed to pieces.

Thirdly, it remains vital to control the traditional forms of mass communication: television, radio, newspapers and print. If they can’t be taken over, they must at least be neutralised.

Fourthly: it’s very important to prevent the regime from carrying out repressions and seizing the leaders from the crowd. In order to prevent this, one of the first things to do is blockade prisons and police stations, and release any comrades who’ve already been arrested.

Fifthly: the formation of an advance guard of units of well-prepared and, if possible, armed youths remains as important as ever. They should be able at least partially to prevent the security forces from acting and provide cover for the bulk of the people. Similarly, preparing and arming these units both with weapons taken from the security forces and with home-made devices, such as Molotov cocktails and so forth, is also of vital importance.

Revolution is a serious business, and should never be toyed with. If you’re not absolutely sure, don’t try to overtake history. If you’re not prepared to carry things through to the end, don’t even leave your room. Don’t start up any kind of movement. Just stay where you are. Don’t call people out on the streets if you don’t know which street to choose and where you need to go – and if you’re not prepared to lead from the front. But if you do make that call, don’t stop, even when there are casualties. Because if you do, there’ll simply be even more casualties and, worst of all, they will have died for nothing. If you feel that you’re capable of doing this, then prepare yourself. Being a revolutionary is a profession. And as with any other profession, it doesn’t tolerate amateurs. Preparing yourself means also thinking things through to their conclusion and not being afraid of the outcome, which could be far tougher than any of us might want.

Chapter 5. How to Organise the New Order:

Constitutional Democracy or Democracy by Decree?