RUSSIA MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION.

Publication: Monitor Volume: 3 Issue: 209

Demonstrations took place in many Russian cities this morning to mark the 80th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The Communist Party and other leftist organizations marked the day with marches and demonstrations and, in the economically troubled Far East, the ranks of marchers were swelled by striking workers. The majority of the population, however, is using the occasion as an opportunity for a day off work. President Boris Yeltsin has changed the name of the holiday from Revolution Day to Day of National Accord and Reconciliation in an effort to remove vestiges of the Communist past. Yesterday, he announced plans to erect a monument in Moscow to Russians killed during the Civil War that followed the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. In a nationwide broadcast this morning, Yeltsin tried to strike a balance: the revolution was an event that helped to turn Russia into a superpower, he said, but it was also "a fatal historical mistake" that unleashed political fanaticism and social conflict. (Reuter, November 6; BBC, November 7)

Yeltsin Liberalizes Oil Industry Ownership.