While organizing the Bolshevik party in the lead up to the October 1917 insurrection, Lenin navigated the fundamental contradictions of socialism with relative ease. In Lenin’s ‘April Theses,’ published after his return to Russia, he advocated for a transfer of all state power “to the hands of the proletariat and the poorest sections of the peasants. ” When compared to the positions of Lenin’s fellow Bolsheviks in April of 1917, he appeared radically committed to Marxist ideology. Indeed, Suny states
was of fundamental importance in Russia during the period 1918 to 1928 as he can be attributed with the Bolshevik acquisition and consolidation of power. However, to achieve a more balanced interpretation it is imperative all contributing factors to his role are acknowledged. Trotsky’s role has not been greatly exaggerated as his strategic leadership skills enabled him to play a fundamental role in the organisation and implementation of the November 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power and the Civil War
of Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky organized the Bolsheviks, or Red Army, in political and military strategy against the Menshevik White Army. Part of their success came from the lack of unification of the Mensheviks. While the White Army banded together under a simply ‘anti-Bolshevik’ policy, the Red Army was spurred on by one philosophy: communism. However, only the broader-picture ideals of the Communist Manifesto directly influenced the Bolsheviks. Instead they modified Marx’s teachings, because
political and economic organization in which property is owned by the community and all citizens share in the enjoyment of the common wealth, more or less according to their need." In 1917 the rise of power in the Marxist-inspired Bolsheviks in Russia along with the consolidation of power by Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, the word communism came to mean a totalitarian system controlled by a single political party. This came to justify that the means of production is controlled and the wealth is distributed
and economic organization in which property is owned by the community and all citizens share in the enjoyment of the common wealth, more or less according to their need." In 1917 the rise of power in the Marxist-inspired Bolsheviks in Russia along with the consolidation of power by Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, the word communism came to mean a totalitarian system controlled by a single political party. This came to justify that the means of production is controlled and the wealth is distributed
The Bolshevik Consolidation of Power 1918-21 The Bolsheviks under Lenin, when they came into power in October 1917, faced immense problems in trying to consolidate their hold over the ex-tsarist empire. Firstly, how were the Bolsheviks, in view of their military resources, to extend their hold over the nation at large? The second, was how could they achieve a speedy end to the war and effect a rapid withdrawal of the German army, which was currently occupying the
In order to establish whether Lenin did, indeed lay the foundation for Stalinism, two questions need to be answered; what were Lenin’s plans for the future of Russia and what exactly gave rise to Stalinism? Official Soviet historians of the time at which Stalin was in power would have argued that each one answers the other. Similarly, Western historians saw Lenin as an important figure in the establishment of Stalin’s socialist state. This can be partly attributed to the
nations. An examination of the growth of nationalism in the 19th century in Eastern Europe will be followed by Marx’s subsequent interpretation of nationalism. By understanding Marx’s considerations of nationalism one can further investigate how Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin utilized the theory and applied it to the Soviet Union. By doing so, it will become evident that the Marxist-Leninist interpretation of nationalism failed to address the true concept of an imagined community and therefore resulted
Lenin's Rule and Effect on USSR It has been said, by Winston Churchill no less, that “The Russian people’s worst misfortune was his birth; their next was his death.” There is much truth in this statement, because Churchill was able to see that as Lenin matured, so did his policies, and these lead to improving conditions for the Russian people. As Lenin matured as a leader, so did his policies; as Lenin died his policies died with him. When Lenin first found himself
The enforced policies were meant to improve the overall standards of the people but they had the opposite effect and created chaos. Vladimir IIyich Lenin was one of the biggest influences on Stalin and the way he would come to rule the Soviet Union. “In 1922, with Lenin’s strong support, Joseph Stalin was appointed to a newly created post: general secretary (Kort 152).” After Stalin took this position he began appointing loyal allies to key government positions. There was a series of purges from