The release of the Communist Manifesto (published in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels) on the Russian populace in the late 18th century was a catalyst for the violent, bloody Bolshevik revolution in 1917 – however the influence of the Manifesto, and by extension Marxism, is still hotly debated by historians and differing historiographical schools of thought. .
The Marxist school of thought, rooted by the namesake inspiration of communist ideals and Marx's original ideas and theories, followed the ideology that revolution is 'inevitable' and that in order for society to progress, it must follow through a pattern of political stages before reaching its apex – total communism. These historical ideas (in which the bias of political, social and class background should be considered), shared with historians such as Leon Trotsky, state that the Russian Revolution, and the beginnings of the workers class dismantling 'the party that leans upon the workers but serves the bourgeoisie' was an inevitable and significant event, and was handled expertly by the Bolshevik's. .
This school of thought differs quite severely to the Western-Liberal historiography, which is highly critical of Marxism and the Bolshevik events. As with Marxist thought, bias should be considered on Western-Liberal ideals as its historians are often belonging to a (primarily) free and democratic society, where overthrow of oppressive upper class has never been a necessity. This historiography particularly embraces political leaders on 'the masses,' and as Marxism being a faulty ideology. An eminent name in Western-Liberal thought is Richard Pipes, who has participated in many anti-Marxists engagements, including hand-picking by the US government in examining weapons from the Soviet regime. Pipes believed that the Bolshevik's success in the October coup was heavily influenced by chance, arguing that 'the ease which the Bolsheviks [succeeded] has persuaded historians that the October coup was "inevitable"', but was in fact 'an extremely chancy undertaking,' .
