Assess the Role of Lenin in the Success of the Bolshevik Revolutuion free essay sample

Lenin was a described by post-revisionist historian Robert Service as a ‘political warrior’ and a ‘power hungry politician’. Lenin aspired to achieve power and superiority over others, thus he founded a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party – The Bolsheviks in an attempt to overthrow the Provisional Government and gain rule over Russia â€Å"winning was everything for Lenin†Ã¢â‚¬â€œ ‘Lenin: a biography’, Robert Service. Lenin postulated that â€Å"by offering a democratic peace straight away, by giving land to the peasants straight away, by restoring the democratic institutions and freedoms trampled on and crushed by Kerensky, the Bolsheviks will form a government that no one will overthrow†¦Ã¢â‚¬  – this was the basis of the Bolshevik series of directives the April Theses, of which Lenin was the mastermind. Lenin’s April theses influenced the July Days and October revolution in 1917 and also allowed political amnesty for exiles. The attainment of the April Theses was aided by the growing dislike of the Provisional Government for it could not and was unwilling to offer the directives. Post revisionist McCauley claims that it was a combination of Lenin’s skill as well as conditions in Russia at the time that enabled the Bolshevik to gain power. The momentum of the Bolsheviks was highly influenced by Lenin’s hunger and determination for power, Service asserts â€Å"he was a sinuous politician in pursuit of his ideological goals† The Bolsheviks would not have apprehended rule if Lenin did not call for them to seize power in the wake of the reigniting of their fortunes subsequent to the Kornilov affair and the acquisition of masses in the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets. Christian admits that Trotsky and Lenin were a â€Å"formidable team. † H. R Cowrie argues with more strength that Trotsky was a critical component of the Bolshevik ability to seize power â€Å"On 7 November 1917, the precise and brilliantly manipulated seizure of power took place, with Trotsky the central figure in its execution. † However such assertions are slightly weakened due to various factors such as Trotsky’s deflection to the Menshevik which illustrates how Lenin’s role was more long term and significant, and Christians claims that â€Å"The critical element was the leadership of Lenin†¦ in 1917, he provided decisive leadership at critical moments. Lenin’s April thesis heightened his political role success in the success of the 1917 revolution, and furthermore was its prominent success in his Socio-Economic role. Lenin critically understood the prominence of the Peasant class which represented 89% of Russia’s population, and with the support of the peasants he also understood that it would guarantee success for the Bolshevik revolution. This heightens Lenin’s Socio-Economic role in the success of the Bolshevik revolution to a Substantial extent. However, Lenin’s role in the Bolshevik’s revolutionary success was aided by the inability of the Provisional Government to solve pressing economic problems and its alienation of support bases. In the duration of the time while the Provisional Government was inactive in resolving the issues facing the Russian population, Lenin was the saviour of the lower class offering solutions to the concerns of bread and land. Service claims that Lenin was â€Å"insidiously clever†, which is undoubtedly true as Lenin wielded the critical understanding of which impacts on the 89% of peasants can have a highly significant and favourable result. One of the most desirable commodities for the peasant class was land, which was critically pinpointed in Lenin’s decree 26/10/17 â€Å"The soviet authority will safeguard the transfer†¦ of all land†¦ to the peasant committees†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The Bolshevik April Theses, created by Lenin offered the attractive gain of â€Å"Peace, Bread and Land† to the peasants. As many of the peasants worked long hours conducting labour, at the end of the day they did not care for whom was in power over Russia, they only cared that they were being fed and they owned land. Christian capitalises the attractiveness of these reforms to the people and how they enabled the Bolsheviks to gain power. â€Å"The Bolsheviks could promise land for the peasants†¦ and improved supplies in the towns†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This enabled Bolsheviks soviet power â€Å"†¦ plus bread, land and peace. † The April Theses promised the introduction of Famine relief programs, nationwide Soviet control of all Russia’s industrial complexes, nationalization of banks and land reforms involving confiscation of land from the wealthy. Gill precisely claims that the aspirations of the Bolshevik party†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ constituted a standard by which the general population could judge the provisional government. If the government were able to meet these aspirations it would gain popular support and consolidate its authority among the masses†¦Ã¢â‚¬  However, McCauley highlights that â€Å"The Provisional Government was broken on the racks of peace and land. One could not be solved without the other. † The inactivity of the Provisional Government allowed Lenin to capitalise and gain support for the Bolshevik party, significantly impacting it success in revolution. The policies of the Bolsheviks were calculated to obtain the support of the lower classes. It offered immediate â€Å"peace with annexations and indemnities† to the war weary soldiers and furthermore Lenin was able to attract support for the Bolshevik party from the workers by promises of nationalism of factories, an eight hour day, better food supplies and transport system and the destruction of the rich. Nationalist groups were attracted by a platform of nationalistic self-determination. Lenin’s promises in his writings of 1917 helped gain the support that enabled the Bolsheviks to obtain power in 1917. Lenin’s trait of being â€Å"insidiously clever† allowed him to socially and economically play a substantial role in the success of the Bolshevik revolution primarily due to his successful gain for Bolshevik support from the lower class. Being â€Å"insidiously clever† allowed Lenin to understand the power of propaganda and effectively summon popular support for the Bolsheviks. Culturally, Lenin had an extensive role in the success of Bolshevik revolution in 1917. However, to a minimal extent events such as the withdrawal of other parties and the demise of the Provisional Government aided Lenin in effectively summoning popular support for the Bolsheviks. Lenin was highly skilled in creating and implementing propaganda. He understood that the people of Russia, in general, at this stage were poor, illiterate and suppressed by landowners and industrialists. Thus they were easy target for his skilled Bolshevik propaganda. Under the rule of Lenin, the Bolsheviks employed vigorous programs of propaganda, infiltration and agitation. Underground newspapers, especially the Pravda were circulated. Actions such as this were made easy due to the Provisional Government’s freedom of publication. An example of the Bolsheviks inspiring the masses to gain support was illustrated in a poster from October 1917 – â€Å"Kerensky, at the demand of the aristocrat proprietors, the capitalists, speculators, marches against you for the purpose of giving back the land to the land owners and continuing the hatred and ruinous war. As a result of this Bolshevik propaganda created by Lenin, extensive infiltration of barracks, factory committees and new trade unions occurred, playing a significant impact in the success of the Bolshevik revolution. The Bolsheviks worked through the Petrograd Soviet in their rise to power using slogans such as â€Å"All Power to the Soviet† to appeal to the widest audience po ssible. Lenin had a firm understanding on the criteria of which propaganda must incorporate in its composition to gain support. By using simple phrases like â€Å"All Power to the Soviet† he was able to obtain complete control in the Petrograd Soviet. Service claims that everything about Lenin â€Å"reflected impatience and determination† This was demonstrated by Lenin’s actions of using propaganda to push forward revolution as he feared that Kerensky would take first action and attack the Bolsheviks. He called such delays idiotic and even threatened to resign from the Central Committee when the majority refused to take immediate action. (Sunny). However it was the actions of the Menshevik and left Socialist Revolutionaries that the ensured the Bolsheviks held power in isolation by the end of 1917. Subsequent to the November revolution these groups walked out of the congress in protest at the use of armed force and at the timing of the revolution – prior to the full development of capitalism. This resulted in the Bolshevik Left Socialist Revolutionary in charge of a diminished congress. Trotsky’s response â€Å"Go where you belong, to the rubbish bin of history† is a reflection on the fact that they had now left the Bolsheviks in control of Russia. Lenin’s effective utilisation of propaganda allowed him to play an extensive role in the success of the Bolshevik revolution. However, he was generously aided by the withdrawal of other powers and the demise of the Provisional Government, similarly he was generously aided militarily. Within the Military sphere, the extent of which Lenin played a role in the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 was considerable. However, the military success of the revolution was also built on the weakness of the Provisional Government and Trotsky who played an effectively highly significant practical role. Lenin was able to attract the support from the soldiers and the people of Russia through his April theses which addressed the issue of â€Å"Peace, Bread and Land† – Russian withdrawal from WWI and the conversion of armed forces to state militias controlled by the soviet. He promised that â€Å"if power is in the hands of the soviets, then no later than November 7†¦ a just peace will be offered to all belligerent peoples†. The Provisional government was unwillingly and due to its temporary/provisional state, it was unable to respond to the nation’s anti-war sentiments and offer the Russian populace peace. Which allowed the accentuation of Lenin’s actions to appeal to the people of Russia and gain support for the Bolsheviks. Alexander Guchkov – Minister for War in the PG asserts that â€Å"the Provisional Government had no meaningful power. † Due to the actions of Trotsky, the Bolsheviks dominated the proletarian militia of the Red Guards. Kronstadt naval base had been won over by July. The Petrograd garrison and much of the army followed after the Kornilov mutiny. Page described Trotsky as â€Å"†¦. Exhorter of the garrison troops, president of the Soviet, and field general of the November triumph, loomed up as a giant amongst men. Lenin insisted that his comrades in the capital to prepare the uprising while they still had a majority in the soviets and before Kerensky surrendered the city to the Germans due to his positivity that an armed insurrection was necessary to overthrow the provisional government. Lenin moaned â€Å"We must not wait! We may lose eve rything! † Lenin may have been the prodigious inspiration behind the Bolshevik coup but the actual planning of the event was the work of Trotsky, Stalin generously supports the role of Trotsky estimating that â€Å"†¦One may state without hesitation that the party was indebted first and foremost to Comrade Trotsky. Although Trotsky was the evident star during October and early November, the concealed force was Lenin. Just as Trotsky did, Lenin also felt that a golden opportunity had arrived with the rapid decay of the Provisional Government and the Political paralysis of the Mensheviks and SRs, an opportunity of which may not present itself again. It was only Lenin that could sway the party leadership that the time had arrived to grab power. This job was unconceivably difficult as the party’s central committee stood as a genuine consensus only through debate and ersuasion. Lenin described that the latter was like â€Å"picking up a feather†; controlling a c entral committee of wilful men was more like wrestling with an octopus. Lenin’s military influence played a considerable role in the success of the Bolshevik revolution in 1917. However he was assisted by his right hand man Trotsky and the weakness of the provisional government. This does not reduce the substantial extent of which Lenin contributed to the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.