> I think they would have grudgingly been forced to realign themselves
> with the Mensheviks with the perspective of presiding over a
> transitional capitalist democracy in Russia along the lines of Western
> Europe, until conditions for socialism "ripened" further.
Of course, as you point out, hindsight is 20/20, so this is not only a counterfactual history, but an impossible one. They simply had no way of knowing the disappointing future, so I would argue that taking the plunge as they did was the correct decision, even in hindsight. And that said, assume that they had pursued just the course you describe, and somehow survived despite the brutal activities of the counterrevolutionaries and such. What then becomes of the history of the rest of the world in the twentieth century, particularly the war against fascism and the rise of the national liberation movements? This side of these events, it's hard to remember just how much of a push the struggle against global white supremacy got from the USSR's very presence. This is not a small point, no?
- - - - - - - - - - John Lacny http://www.johnlacny.com
Tell no lies, claim no easy victories