Marxist theory is based on the work of Karl Marx and Freiderich Engels which centres around the idea that all history is composed of class struggles between the proletariat and bourgeoisie. It theorises that the lower classes would over throw the factory owning bourgeoisie, and after a short period of a working class dictatorship would result in a utopic communist society in which all stratum of class would become equal. During the reign of Alexander II, this theory gained traction in the intelligentsia class as more and more liberals became disenfranchised with autocracy, the lack of freedoms allowed by the Tsar but also the distinctions between the classes and the suffering of the people. This was at it’s clearest during the Great Famine of 1891-2. Early Russian Marxists spread messages, by smuggling in works, which fueled radical thinkers to their cause; ultimately they were more concerned with allowing social freedoms rather than political meaning that they wanted to create a more equal society in Russia- this was exacerbated over time especially in 1905 where the working and living conditions were raised as inadequate by Father Gapon’s petition to the Tsar. Ultimately Lenin did not achieve the aims of these early Marxists, as even though to a certain extent he did create a degree of social freedom, socio-economic inequalities still remained evident in the fact that a truly equal Russia was never created and Lenin struggled ideology as a result of the reality of seizing power during a turbulent time.
Lenin is well known for his slogan “All Power to the Soviets” whereby all the power of government would be given back to the people. He argued in his writings before the October Revolution that the people would support a Bolshevik government who ruled in their interests. To a degree his early decrees did fulfill these promises thus matching the aims of the early Marxist thinkers in Russia. On 27th October 1917 he released two decrees one on the war and one about the land. His decree on land clearly shows a correlation to earlier thinkers, as private ownership of land was abolished and peasant seizures of land were legitimised by the Bolshevik government. As well as this in November 1917, self determination was given to national minorities, as well as freedoms given to women such as the right to own property and the abolishing of titles so all became “citizens” rather than their class denomination. Thus it is clear in Lenin’s early actions that the Marxists thinkers of the earlier periods were having their revolutionary aims fulfilled, as society on paper became more equal a very clear step towards the “utopia” of communism.
Despite this however these changes were merely cosmetic. His early dogmatic responses to establish power were quickly replaced with pragmatic responses to problems that began as early as 1917, meaning that the aims of the early thinkers were never truly achieved. This is highlighted during the Civil War, where it is clearer to see the longer term aims of Lenin in securing one-party rule rather than a collection which would be indicative of his “power to the people”. For example, during the Civil War after Russia secured a disgraceful peace in the Treaty of Brest-Livtosk in 1917, his decree on national minorities and given them self-determination was quickly reversed when it became evident that they did not support the Bolshevik agenda. These minorities were branded as “counter-revolutionary” and brutally suppressed in 1922 in Georgia. In Tbilisi mass uprisings took place, and the people were supporting a Menshevik not a Bolshevik government. Despite been similar in their revolutionary goal, Lenin was appalled by this due to the long term opposition between the two factions. This clearly goes against the socio-economic ideas of the early Marxists thinkers, showing that Lenin’s ideology was taking a slightly different direction.
A fundamental difference between the early thinkers and what transpired during the rule of Lenin were ideas over government. Marxist ideology revolves around power to the people, and as seen above anything that was seen as going against the Bolsheviks, even if it were the will of the people, was deemed counter revolutionary. This is clearest to see in the internal opposition that Lenin faced. In January 1918, Lenin dispersed the Constitutional Assembly, which was where the people would be able to show power over who they would prefer to rule. It is clear that Lenin is going against early thinkers, due to the fact that 12 people were killed by the Bolsheviks, when they demonstrated against this action. Thus showing that the people had no power, and arguably little had changed from the autocratic Tsars. The fate of the Petrograd Soviet is another indicator of the intentions of Lenin, and his diversion from early Marxist thought- as a result of the fact that the Soviet contained very few Bolsheviks, Lenin replaced it with the Bolshevik only Sovnarkom. The creation of this centralised body clearly shows that Lenin had no intent of sharing power with the Mensheviks or the Social Revolutionaries, who differed in ideology in name only; all wanted the same outcome of Marxism. Lenin demonstrates however that the other two groups did not want the same Marxism as he envisioned. His Ban on Factions in 1921, further cemented his one-party control, and was further expanded by Stalin into one-man control. Lenin’s ability to brand opposition, no matter its source, as “counter-revolutionary” meant that even socialist thinkers were under threat at the time. This meant that Bolshevism became synonymous with one-party state which contradicts early Marxists ideas of power springing from the people.
It could be demonstrated that War Communism is an example of an early policy by Lenin which potentially matches early Marxists thinkers ideas about the economy. War Communism was a pragmatic response to the issues created by the First World War and the Civil War. Central controls were brought in to manage the economy and in particular agriculture. On paper this shows a similarity with early Marxist thinkers, as grain would be requisitioned and distributed equally among the proletariat. Central planning was supported by many socialist thinkers at the time, as his responses were seen as part of socialism. Despite this however, War Communism was a response to high inflation and the failings of giving power to the people. In his decree for the workers, they were given the power of managerial positions in factories- yet the issues with this became increasingly clear as mismanagement and lack of skills resulted in dearths in industry. As a result of these failures, inflation increased resulting in hoarding of food- by February 1918 people in Petrograd were living off 80 grams of bread a day. The subsequent grain requisitioning under War Communism, categorized the peasants into different classes, something which should not happen occurred to early Marxists thinkers in Russia and caused wide spread misery. As such when the Civil War ended, this policy was reversed to a more capitalist New Economic Policy. Even though it worked, NEP furthered the gap between Kulak peasants and the poorer peasants. This clearly shows that the revolutionary aims were not achieved.
Overall, Lenin only achieved some of the early thinkers revolutionary aims- women experienced more equality and on paper Russia had become a communist state. Yet Lenin did not fulfill these early revolutionary aims- his responses to issues were pragmatic, not dogmatic, meaning that true socialism as Marxist thinker theorised was not achieved. Lenin was clever, and used the rhetoric and the propaganda machine of the Bolsheviks to make it appear as though he had. But this was a facade. Lenin replaced Autocracy, with a party dictatorship, that was later built on by Stalin into a regime of terror and one-man dictatorship with the visage of communism.
Miss Genie History 