Lessons Of The Russian Revolution For Women's Struggle Today

The 1917 Russian revolution was a momentous moment in working class history, in which women played a pivotal and active role. It started with a strike by women textile workers on 8 March (International Women’s Day - 23 February according to the calendar in use in Russia at the time).

- Corinthia Ward

Not able to take their impoverished conditions and food shortages anymore, they took spontaneous strike action using the slogan “bread and herrings”. The women called on the metal workers to join them on their strike, to demand not only food but peace - an end to Russia’s part in the devastatingly bloody World War One.

The Bolsheviks (the party which led the movement of workers and peasants to overthrow capitalism and landlordism in 1917) recognised the need to address issues that specifically affected women and to free them from the burden of work in the home. This was made a key feature in the Bolsheviks’ political programme.

After the revolution, women experienced life like never before. Within a short time of the fall of the Tsar - under whose rule they had been severely oppressed and subject to a life of drudgery - women were able to access freedoms their counterparts in capitalist countries like Britain and Germany were years away from achieving.

Communal laundries and restaurants began to be established. They provided women with time each day that they had previously been robbed of, opening the possibility of families being able to spend quality time together, and for women to have more independence.

What may seem most surprising to modern audiences is that one of the benefits to come out of the revolution was free and legal abortions. Having control over their own bodies is still an issue many women are fighting for, even in what are regarded as ‘advanced’ capitalist countries, such as the US and Ireland.

Under Tsarism it wasn’t unusual for women to give birth on the factory floor. The fact that a relatively short time later they had access to safe abortion illustrates what progress can be achieved when workers have democratic control over the running of their society.