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Series on the centenary of the Russian Revolution

Online lecture TODAY: “World War and Revolution: 1914-1917”

The third in the International Committee of the Fourth International’s series of online lectures marking the centenary of the Russian Revolution will take place take place this Saturday, April 8.

Nick Beams, a founding member of the Australian section of the International Committee and leading authority on the Marxist theory of imperialism, will deliver the lecture, “World War and Revolution: 1914-1917.” The lecture will be broadcast live at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (time zone conversions here).

Don’t miss this important event! To register for the lecture series, visit wsws.org/1917.

Nick Beams discusses upcoming lecture on "World War and Revolution: 1914-1917"

The Russian Revolution arose out of and in the midst of World War I. More than a century on, the origins of that catastrophe are still the subject of controversy. Was it, as the Marxist movement maintains, a product of the contradictions of the capitalist mode of production? Or was it a product of the mistakes and miscalculations by various politicians and so could have been avoided if only wiser heads had prevailed?

In a situation of rising global tensions and the ever greater danger of another world war, these issues have enormous contemporary relevance.

A major part of the lecture will focus on Lenin’s response to the war and above all his analysis of the causes of the betrayal by the parties of the Second International, which, contrary to their previous commitments, voted to support their own capitalist governments.

It was out of this analysis that Lenin developed the strategy which led to the successful conquest of power under the leadership of the Bolsheviks in November 1917.

The WSWS urges all its readers who have not already registered for the lecture series to do so today at wsws.org/1917.

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