Historical Examples
Several times in modern history the idea of workers' councils has been attributed to similar forms of organization, although in most cases the workers didn't actually have full power control, and were subdued to some external authority. Examples include Russia in 1905 and 1917, where councils were called "soviets"; Germany during 1918 (Räte); Turin, Italy during 1919-1920; rural Ireland during 1920-1921; China during 1926-1927; Spain during 1936; Hungary during 1919 and 1956; France during 1871 and 1968; Chile in 1973 (cordones); Iran during 1978-1979 (shoras); and from at the latest 2002 to the present in Venezuela.
Despite Lenin's declarations that "the workers must demand the immediate establishment of genuine control, to be exercised by the workers themselves", on May 30, the Menshevik minister of labor, Skobolev, pledged to not give the control of industry to the workers but instead to the state: "The transfer of enterprises into the hands of the people will not at the present time assist the revolution The regulation and control of industry is not a matter for a particular class. It is a task for the state. Upon the individual class, especially the working class, lies the responsibility for helping the state in its organizational work."
Read more about this topic: Workers' Council
Famous quotes containing the words historical and/or examples:
“Historical! Must it be historical to catch your attention? Even though historicity, like notoriety, denotes nothing more than that something has occurred.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“No rules exist, and examples are simply life-savers answering the appeals of rules making vain attempts to exist.”
—André Breton (1896–1966)