Lenin‘s October 1917 Revolution: limited accomplishments, yet a turning point in 20th century history
Abstract
In 1917, Lenin led factory workers in St. Petersburg, Russia, in taking over the government, expecting to spark the rapidly spreading revolution to abolish capitalism predicted by Marx and Engels. Unexpected relationships among the nations impeded that spread,. Once having become the leader of the vast territories that had formed the Russian Empire and having created a constitution nearly approaching democracy, Lenin was further surprised when the large majority of the populace failed to be inspired by the ideals of Communism, leading Lenin to regretfully become totalitarian in order to protect the revolution. At his death,
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Marx held that the establishment of rule by industrial workers needed to occur not only in one nation. Workers needed to control just about all industrialized countries in order to end competition among workers. For this, a firmly established rule by the workers in one nation would quickly spread among the industrialized countries, as workers emulated the initial triumph.
Lenin, in his writings, had made two important elaborations of. Marx s ideas, and radically differed from Marx on one key point. Firstly, he elaborated on the role that a workers’ party, that is, a Communist party, would play when it had attained governmental power. It was to rule on behalf of the workers and to educate, lead, and guide the workers, which Marx had not imagined. Secondly, where Marx had foreseen the late 19th century and early 20th century development in democratic nations, passing laws to lessen workers’ suffering, Lenin, in 1915-1916, recognized these societies as exploiters in relation to impoverished societies. Here, workers in the exploiting nations benefited at the expense of those in the exploited countries. Finally, Lenin believed that socialist revolutions would occur throughout Europe soon and that a workers’ revolution in
Bolsheviks' Seizure of Power in 1917 There are many factors that help explain how and why the Bolsheviks managed to seize power in 1917. It was a combination of long and short term causes that together, created a revolution. The political system itself was long overdue for reform, but with a weak Tsar, the economic and social conditions became worse and worse. In 23 years, Nicholas II dropped from the glorious ‘Little Father of Russia’ to prisoners of his own country, hatred and despised by the majority, for the suffering and unhappiness he had helped create.
Historians argue that the 1917 Russian Revolution represents a major turning point in world history. Two specific pieces of evidence that support this argument is that the Revolution led to the spread of communism with the formation of the USSR and the emergence of Russia as a world power. Both of the pieces support the argument. The Revolution led to the formation of the USSR, otherwise known as the world’s first nation to base its government on the teachings and writings of Karl Marx. This event would not only be groundbreaking for Russia, but the entire globe. The formation of a communist nation meant a new battle was about to start -- the battle between communism and capitalism. The formation of the USSR would directly lead to the Cold
In 1917, in the midst of the Great War, Russia faced one of the biggest political shifts that the Tsarist-ruled country had ever known-the Bolshevik Revolution. There are two significant time frames associated with the Bolshevik Revolution. In the February revolution Tsar Nicholas II abdicated his throne and a Provisional Government took control. In the October revolution the Bolsheviks took power by overthrowing the Provisional Government. How did the October revolution become a reality? What factors facilitated the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917? Two important factors were the July event at Taurida Palace, and the Kornilov Affair. Richard Pipes describes in detail how Lenin influenced the Bolshevik party throughout the
Workers may earn more money today than they did in the last century, but so do the capitalists. The wealth and income gaps between the bourgeois and proletariats is greater than ever. The workers relations to their labor, products and capitalists are unchanged from Marx’s day. The only difference between today’s capitalism and Marx’s is because of a more direct involvement of the state in the capitalist economy. Plus Marx theories concentrate on the more advanced industrial capitalist, he never thought that socialism would be achieved in relatively poor, politically underdeveloped countries. Marx’s vision of socialism emerges from his study of capitalism. Socialism is the unseen potential of capitalism. For a more just and democratic society in which everybody can develop their own qualities of being human.
Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto in order to give a voice to the struggling classes in Europe. In the document he expressed the frustrations of the lower class. As Marx began his document with "the history of all hitherto societies has been the history of class struggles" he gave power to the lower classes and sparked a destruction of their opressors.1 He argued that during the nineteenth century Europe was divided into two main classes: the wealthy upper class, the bourgeoisie, and the lower working class, the proletariat. After years of suffering oppression the proletariats decided to use their autonomy and make a choice to gain power. During the
As capitalist societies expanded, Marx argued that exploitation amongst workers became more apparent. Marx believed that the only way to get rid of the exploitation, oppression and alienation was for a revolution amongst the proletariat workers. Marx suggests that it is only when the means of production are communally owned, that class divisions among the masses will disappear.
The Industrial Revolution (1750-1850) had brought about significant changes in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation and technology and subsequently established an era of unprecedented economic growth in capitalist economies. It was within this era that Karl Marx had observed the deprivation and inequality experienced by men of the proletariat, the working class, who had laboured excessively for hours under inhumane conditions to earn a minimum wage while the bourgeoisie, the capitalist class, reaped the benefits. For Marx it was this fundamental inequality within the social and economic hierarchy that had enabled capitalist societies to function. While Marx’s theories, in many instances have been falsified and predictions
The philosopher, social scientist, historian, and revolutionary, Karl Marx, is the most compelling socialist scholar to rise in the nineteenth century. Disregarded by fellow researchers, Marx’ impact in the social, financial, and political sectors influenced the socialist development after his demise in 1883. Recently, a large following claim to be Marxist and this achievement implies that the ideas and beliefs of Marx continue to expand and evolve, continually influencing the socioeconomic and political fields. His ideology was more “justification” and believed in a ruling class. Many countries have taken this concept and continually revise it to work within their government to improve its society.
only had the firm support of 15 of 25 members on the 15th of October.
Marx advocated for the views of the proletariat to be heard. New ideas from the Proletariat began to surface as a result of their new class consciousness and their increased understanding of their present social conditions. (Korsch, 1923) Karl Marx did not create the proletariat movement or revolution as many may accused him of. (Korsch, 1923) However, he did provide the Proletariat with a new theoretical scientific expression sufficient enough to allow them to generate their own class consciousness bringing them to a higher level of understanding. (Korsch, 1923)
The Success of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 Part 1 Karl Marks was not Russian and he died 34 years before the Russian revolution, he was a German who spent most his life in England. He worked as a journalist but wrote books on history, religion, economics, society, and philosophy. Marx hated the system of capitalism because he thought that it was capitalism that had produced the problems of industry, poor living conditions and the social gap of the rich and poor. He thought that the system destroyed people and made them greedy and that people only wanted something if it was worth money. Karl Marx realised that there was not enough money to make everyone rich but he did thin k the world
Vladimir Lenin Led what was known as the October revolution, and, therefore, is worthy of study. Vladimir Lenin was viewed as “ the greatest revolutionary leader and thinker since Marx.” Link*. Lenin helped form new economic views for Russia, even though there were some who did not agree with him, those who did however, joined him in the revolt. Lenin's views were influenced by several different things, including, “the execution of his elder brother, a member of a revolutionary group.” Link* . Vladimir Lenin was exposed to radical thinking while he was at university, and was later expelled due to his views. Also due to his political views he was arrested and exiled from St. Petersburg to Serbia. Given these points, Vladimir lenin is worthy
The Success of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in October 1917 The Bolshevik seizure of power or coup de’tat of October 25th, 1917 was a culmination of both internal and external failure to satisfy the needs of an oppressed Russian society. In contrast to the spontaneous revolts earlier in 1917, the Bolshevik revolution was ‘a carefully planned plot carried out by ‘professional’ revolutionaries. ’[1] The victory of the Marxist Lenin’s
Account For the Success of the Bolsheviks in October 1917 At the beginning of 1917 most of the Bolsheviks were in exile but by the end of 1917 the Bolshevik party had not only consolidated control of Moscow and Petrograd, but they were also advancing on the rest of the country. This success was due to several linked factors; the Bolshevik policy of non-cooperation, weakness of the Provisional Government, division of alternative opposition, Lenin's leadership skills, the power of the Petrograd Soviet and Trotsky as its leader, failure on deliver of land reform and the oppressed, armed workers in Petrograd. Bolshevik success is dictated by whether they met their aims; these included the
Vladimir Lenin, who became the leader of the Bolshevik in the time of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) in 1903, claimed to be a "traditional" Marxist. People such as historians debated Lenin was not an orthodox Marxist but a type of revisionist. However, he did not make any major alterations to Marx 's ideas but instead decided to add his own to fit to benefit him and his country with modern times and he was the key defender of Marx when his theories were attacked by revisionists such as Bernstein, Lenin defended Marx 's work due to his respect of his theories. The theories revolving around Lenin changed over time due to the increase in resources available. The original accounts attack Lenin, accusing him of