ABSTRACT
Historically, Marxism is an offshoot of the idea of Revolution, an idea comparatively new in history. Contrary to what Marxism in all it varieties holds, the idea of revolution arose unexpectedly, unplanned, unthought of, taking its leading actors by surprise, creating for itself an explanation and an ideology or a complex of conflicting ideological fragments only after the fact. In historical terms, then, Marxism may be defined as an elaborate misunderstanding of the French Revolution, of the role of "classes", and of the very nature of revolution. Far from opening up a period of rapid industrialization, the French Revolution left French industry feeble, backward, and confined by all sorts of limitations inherited from the Empire. As the French revolutionaries had donned imaginary togas and fancied themselves ancient Romans, so Russian revolutionaries sought to reenact the scenes and roles of revolutionary France.
