Revolutionary situation

In Marxist terminology, a revolutionary situation is a political situation indicative of a possibility of a revolution. The concept was introduced by Vladimir Lenin in 1913, in his article "Маёвка революционного пролетариата"^[1] (Mayovka of the Revolutionary Proletariat). In the article two conditions for a revolutionary situation were described, which were later succinctly phrased as "the bottoms don't want and the tops cannot live in the old way". In later works Lenin postulated a third condition: high political activity of the working masses, their readiness to revolutionary actions.^[2]

References

1. В.И.Ленин ПСС т.23, p. 300
   • Quote: "Большей частью для революции недостаточно того, чтобы низы не хотели жить, как прежде. Для нее требуется еще, чтобы верхи не могли хозяйничать и управлять, как прежде."
2. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, article "Революционная ситуация".