Emile,
the Jews were the driving force behind the Communist Russian Revolution of l917.
The point, to me, is not whether they were or were not. The point is to see whether they were acting as Jews, motivated by religion or religious consciousness, or whether they were acting as part of a group rebelling against an intolerable government. I suspect the latter, for a number of reasons. First, even the Winston Churchill piece you quote characterizes these leaders as "atheistic Jews", meaning that they may have been racially Jewish, as defined by the law of the time, but they were ideologically driven less by Judaism than by their adopted religion of socialism. It should be noted that with the information and experience available at that time, socialism appeared to many to be a viable alternative to crumbling feudalism. We know better now, but it is unrealistic to expect hindsight to have enlightened the people of that time.
Was the large proportion of Jews among Bolshevik leaders the result of a conspiracy, or of the long-standing value that Jews place on education? The Jews were among the only members of Russia's huge underclass to pursue education or understand its value, and it seems likely that this would account for their positions of leadership.
The third question is whether the leadership of the revolution, Jews and others, intended the revolution to turn into the bloodbath that it did. I suspect that they did not. I don't think they thought it would be peaceful, but I do believe they underestimated the depth and bitterness of the forces they harnessed to unseat a regime that deserved to be unseated. I do not believe it was a case of Jews conspiring to kill Christians. I see a case of idealistic people, many of whom happened to be Jewish, trying to accomplish a dream (probably an impossible one, but they could not have known that), and losing control of the forces they unleashed. A tragedy, but not a conspiracy.
What do you think?
Steve |
