Time Essay: The Russian Revolution Turns 60

No project this side of the supernatural ever promised such metamorphoses. The great Communist engine that kicked when the Winter Palace fell would change human nature Man would, predicted Leon Trotsky, "become immeasurably stronger wiser and subtler. His body will become nore harmonized, his voice more musical. The average hu man type will rise to the heights of an Aristotle, a Goethe a Marx. Looking back over 60 years of the Russian Revolution, Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev last week pronounced the stupendous enterprise a success: "Comrades, no event in world history has had such a profound and lasting effect on...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!