p Social revolutions differ in nature and driving forces. The nature of a revolution depends on the class which 311 comes to power and the relations of production introduced as a result of it. For example, a revolution in the course of which the rule of the feudal lords is replaced by the rule of the bourgeoisie and correspondingly new, capitalist relations of production are established instead of feudal relations, bears the nature of a bourgeois revolution.

p The driving forces of a revolution are the social classes which make the revolution and fight against the reactionary classes for the triumph of new relations of production. One of the classes making the revolution is the leader and it is followed by all the other classes and social groups taking part in the revolution.

p What the driving forces of a revolution are and what class is the leader depends both on the nature of the revolution and the historical conditions in which it takes place. In the bourgeois revolutions which took place in the West when capitalism was on the ascent (from the 17th to the first half of the 19th century) the driving forces were the peasants and the artisans, while the leader was the bourgeoisie which led all the other fighters against feudalism.

Bourgeois revolutions in the era of imperialism often acquire a strongly pronounced democratic nature (the revolution of 1905-07 and the February revolution of 1917 in Russia). The widest sections of the people take part in them, they put forward their own demands, pursue an independent line and exert a tremendous influence on the course of the revolution. The imperialist bourgeoisie acts as a reactionary class in these revolutions. It is afraid of the full victory of the revolution, fears wide democratisation, because the fuller the freedom and the wider the democracy, the more favourable the conditions for the struggle of the working class against its rule. The monopoly bourgeoisie seeks to end the revolution halfway by coming to terms with the landlords, with the old authority. That is why in the new conditions the monopoly bourgeoisie ceases to be the leader and the driving force of the revolution; in a number of countries it openly supports the counter-revolution. The proletariat and the peasants, with the proletariat as the leader, are the driving forces of bourgeois revolutions in the epoch of imperialism.