Question by No Lim1tz: Assess the part played by Lenin in the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution?
Assess the part played by Lenin in the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and in the new Soviet State until his death in 1924. This is the whole question. Can ya’ll help me out?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Spellbound
Lenin was absolutely vital for the October Revolution.
Lenin realised that the Provisional Government lacked democratic legitimacy; it was the re-constituted last State Duma. It refused an election to a promised interim government – the Constituent Assembly – saying that Russia would hold elections after the war. Lenin promised an election.
The Petrograd Soviet was seen by many as a genuinely democratic institution, as it’s members were elected to it from the garrisons and factories of the capital. Lenin realised that by holding only a few posts on key soviets then they could dominate the political agenda of the whole soviet, nowhere was this more evident than the Petrograd Soviet.
The Bolshevik slogan “Bread, Land and Peace” sum up the other external factors: The cities were starving as the peasants were now in uniform fighting in the war – they could not plough, sow or harvest the crops. And the food delivery infrastructure had broken down. The peasants wanted the Provisional Government to give them the land they worked on – it didn’t, and the most of the land was still owned by the aristocracy. And Russia was doing badly in the war and most people wanted Russia to withdraw from it.
Internal factors:
Lenin was a dedicated, determined and capable leader. He motivated his party and, through agitation & propaganda, the Bolsheviks became very popular in the army and in the factories.
Trotsky was an extremely gifted administrator. He was the chairman of the Milrevkom – the Military Revolutionary Committee – this was the organisation that orchestrated the events of October 1917.
The leadership of the party was loyal to Lenin, and they followed his orders with conviction.
The party had a competent propaganda machine, producing newspapers, banners, posters and setting up recruitment drives in the army and factories.
See:
The Bolsheviks in Russian Society – Vladimir Brovkin
The Russian Revolution – Sheila Fitzpatrick
The October Revolution – Roy Medvedev
http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php?page=subject&SubjectID=1917october&Year=1917
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/events/revolution/index.htm
Before the revolution Lenin laid out his ideas in the pamphlet – What is to be Done. This outlines the need for a “vanguard party”, that is an ideological party that could lead the working class until they developed “class consciousness”. It also outlines the need for “democratic centralism” i.e. the Politburo would discuss an idea, and once it had decided on a policy there was to be no more discussion on the subject. He also outlined the nature of the new regime in State and Revolution. This is more of a programme of how to deal with the other radical parties and how to eliminate class divisions once in office.
In office Lenin instituted many changes, from the structure of the army to the ownership of land. The main reforms were:
Reformed the political system of the country – creating a socialist state.
Reformed land ownership, previously the peasants held land from aristocratic landlords – Lenin gave the peasants the land.
Industry. Factories were either owned by the state – like the huge armaments and textiles factories in Petrograd or owned by very rich (often aristocratic) men – Lenin nationalised industry, i.e. the state took ownership of the factories.
After the revolution the Civil War broke out, so Lenin had to change tack as the war caused great hardship, especially in the cities – the Bolsheviks brought in the policy of War Communism. This was requisitioning grain from the peasants – often at gunpoint.
When the Civil War was more or less over Lenin brought in a new policy to kick-start the economy – the New Economic Policy. This allowed small enterprises to open up and for people to sell goods on the open market.
See:
http://www.marxists.org/index.htm
http://www.marxists.org/index.htm
Bhttp://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSnep.htm
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