At this point in Russian Revolutionary history 97 years ago – in late October and early November 1917 – the long-suffering but gradually democratizing people of Russia a) had overthrown Tsar Nicolas II seven months earlier in mid-March 1917,   b) had set up a multi-party “Provisional Government” whose main purpose was to establish a permanent West European-style All-Russian Constituent Assembly, c) had seen in April and May the belated return of Lenin, Trotsky, et al. from years of exile, d) had beaten back a half-baked coup by Lenin’s Bolsheviks in July of that year, e) had unwisely allowed Lenin, et al. to return from his post-coup exile in Finland, and f) were now preparing for free, multi-party elections for the long-awaited Constituent Assembly, scheduled for December 8, 1917. But then came what is now so grandiosely known as Lenin’s “Great October Revolution” of November 7, 1917 – October 24 on the...(Read Full Article)