The sociopolitical dynamics of the revolutionary processes in Russia ad Finland

This article explains why radical socialists had won in Russia but not in Finland. It argues that the Russian revolutionaries benefited from the existence of two coalition alliances that had not fully materialized in Finland: the workers-soldiers ’ alliance, which was critical for the radicals ’ seizure of power, and the workers-peasants ’ alliance, which became pivotal during the years of the civil war. Our analysis lends support to a social history of the revolutions but draws attention to the centrality of structural conditions created by a mass mobilization war and the contingent nature of the extant revolutionary alliances.