The July 3 presidential election in the Russian Federation was the final act in a long process of capitulation by social democracy in the Soviet Union to the aims of the bourgeoisie. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union began to degenerate into social democracy in the mid-fifties. The long road of capitulation to the bourgeoisie and imperialism has been one of the major causes for the establishment of pseudo-socialism and its eventual final collapse. Prior to and during the election, Boris Yeltsin made it very clear that he would not relinquish power even if he lost the election. Gennady Zyuganov deliberately gave up campaigning following the June 16 first-round results when it became clear that he would be the winner in the run-off if he so desired. By their dogmatic rendering of the contemporary situation and the creation of illusions about the past, the "left" did yeoman's service to the social democrats in this historic capitulation. The July 3 election was also the final act of the Russian bourgeoisie in its preparations to regain its lost empire. Everything is now set for a significant increase in the role of the state and its armed forces. A period of outright repression will set in. The bourgeoisie will try to suppress the people fighting within the Russian Federation, whether it is the working class or the nations and nationalities. At the same time, it will attempt to reconquer all the areas lost with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The capitulation by social democracy, fully aided and abetted by world imperialism, has opened the path for even greater disasters than the people have already suffered. The twentieth century is witness to the greatest historical upheaval. The Great October Revolution of 1917 transformed the entire world. Since that astounding success of the working class in 1917, the world has never been the same. The twentieth century has also witnessed the greatest betrayal of the cause of the working class and the oppressed people by social democracy. The recent treachery of Gennady Zyuganov and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, with the assistance of the dogmatists and the "left," is of the same caliber and in the tradition of the capitulation that paved the way for one of the greatest social disasters in human history, inter-imperialist war. Just before the end of the Second World War, the Euro-communists joined with the bourgeoisie of their respective countries, such as in France and Italy, in order to betray the cause of the working class and revolution, hand over political power to the bourgeoisie and seal their capitulation with the greatest dishonor. Over fifty years later they continue their nefarious deeds with the illusion mongering that the "left" is wining, such as the rainbow coalition in Italy. In France and elsewhere the Euro-communists are preaching "unity" of the "left" in order to perpetuate this fantasy that the "left" is making headway. The working class has to be extremely vigilant and must continue the struggle for its own interests. This is the only way a disaster such as another inter-imperialist world war can be averted. They must not harbor any illusions that the "left" is going to save them. On the contrary, the working class must fight both the right and "left" sections of the bourgeoisie in order to drive towards the profound transformations which are the order of the day. Revolutionary class struggle, not reconciliation and capitulation, is the engine of social development, and the workers of all lands must persist in this regard and not submit to the illusions spread about the so-called easy and peaceful path of social democracy. Shawgi Tell University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education [EMAIL PROTECTED]