俄国革命中的立宪会议问题

立宪会议问题对于1917年俄国革命进程具有重大影响。立宪会议被赋予解决所有迫切问题的重负,承载了人民群众的主要期待和希望,但临时政府受继续进行战争的政策牵制,没有把它作为紧迫的任务来解决,因而延缓了和平、土地、民族等迫切问题的解决。十月前后布尔什维克对立宪会议的态度从积极主张到彻底否定,这一变化除了现实政治原因之外,也有思想理论上的根源。而俄国社会、经济、文化的相对落后,是影响立宪会议命运的深层因素。     

现代化视角下的俄国革命原因

任何现代化过程都伴随着各种矛盾和问题。1861年改革后俄国居民生活水平普遍提高,政治进程发生重大变化,公民社会的基本要素形成,但战争和革命终止了俄国的现代化进程。俄国革命是历史发展的结果,经济社会因素只是革命的前提条件,不同精英集团争夺权力的斗争则是其直接原因。     

利用会党:辛亥革命的一个误区

辛亥革命时期,革命党人即已认识到利用会党是一个失误,因而才转而依靠新军。会党是当时社会成员异化的结果,广大农民对会党的诡异行为普遍持恐惧、戒备、鄙夷心理;会党的种种不法行为只能使之成为革命党人动员农民的障碍,而不是什么纽带。革命党人对会党纯粹是“利用”,根本没有想到要去改造会党,进而结成政治同盟。会党能否充当革命党联系农民的纽带,完全是后来的学者提出的理论问题,辛亥革命时期革命党人从未将发动农民问题提上议事日程。革命党人利用会党起义根本没有成功的可能,其激励民众的作用远远弥补不了给革命事业造成的损失。各省独立后,会党严重扰乱了社会秩序;民国初年,一些会党由对革命党不满发展到反对民主共和,图谋颠覆新生革命政权,很快蜕变为反动势力。     

Excavation on the Brunton and Shields Railway at Weetslade,North Tyneside

Abstract

Excavation and recording of a section of the Brunton and Shields Railway, near Wideopen, North Tyneside, has revealed remains of two phases of trackbed, both dating to the first half of the 19th century. The original 1826 line, which was horse-drawn, lay in a cutting over 1m deep. The line was relaid in 1839 for the introduction of a locomotive. Clear evidence was found for the construction method of both the 1826 and 1839 tracks, although no sleepers or rails were found in situ.

The excavation has shown that, despite continual use of the line for over 150 years, signifi cant remains survived of the earlier trackbeds, the depth of the cutting being the principal factor in their preservation. The excavation is one of comparatively few investigations of an early railway to examine a single section of line in detail. The remains uncovered date from the era of iron rails and stone sleepers, which distinguishes it from other published excavations from the north-east, where earlier wooden waggonways were revealed. The work demonstrates the wider potential for early railway remains to lie beneath later lines, even those in recent use, and emphasises the need to examine the routes of early lines archaeologically.