Assess the impact that Lenin had on Russia and the Russian people.

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Assess the impact that Lenin had on Russia and the Russian

people.

 

Lenin was and still remains one of the most key political figures in world history and the most

influential communist leaders ever, so there is no doubt about the fact that Lenin had a huge

impact on both Russia and the Russian people. To assess the scale of the impact and the

changes brought about by Lenin I will have to assess both the changes brought about during

Lenin's lifetime (short-term) and the changes brought about after his death that could not

have happened without him (long-term).

 

Lenin came to power in November 1917 as the result of a communist revolution, so from the

moment he came to power he was already making an impact. Without the leadership of Lenin

through the fight for power and the revolution the communists would probably have never

managed to gain power. The abdication of the Tsar led to a huge rise in revolutionary groups

such as the Bolsheviks. This revolution though, was only a short- term impact on Russia and

it's people. Lenin took over Russia at a time when the country was very poor economically,

the people were starving and the weather was appalling. Temperatures were reaching 35

degrees below zero in Petrograd and people had to queue for hours to buy food, which was in

short supply. Factories were either closing due to lack of fuel or because of strikes breaking

out all over the country. Previously loyal soldiers and police, also becoming increasingly angry

with the government and the Tsar began to mutiny. The Russian people needed a leader with

clear and confident aims to help them out of their economic problems. Lenin wanted to

change Russia for the better by getting rid of the somewhat capitalistic system, which was

predominant in Russia at the time.

 

Lenin wanted to change all this and being a communist he wanted to put an end to the

suffering of the poor by making everyone equal. If he could succeed in achieving this he

could change Russia completely and make a huge impact not only on Russia but he would set

a precedent for future communist leaders all over the world.  

There had never been a communist leader any-where in the world before so when Lenin came

to power he had no idea what would and wouldn't work. He couldn't learn from anybody's

mistakes or faults.  

 

Firstly I will assess the scale of the impact that the revolution had on Russia and the Russian

people. In 1917 Russia was being run by the Tsar and the Duma. As I have already explained,

Russia was in a very poor state in 1917. This source from a history textbook helps explain the

feeling in Russia at the time amongst the people and how the Duma felt about it. The source

is a message from the president of the Duma to the Tsar (Feb, 1917) "...The situation is

serious...The government is paralysed. General discontent is on the increase. There is

disorderly shooting on the streets; some of the troops are firing at each other." So it can be

clearly seen that the government were very concerned about the "rise in general discontent".

But the more important thing that this source shows is that the troops were beginning to

mutiny, the people had had enough of the poverty, and that the government was under

threat of a revolution. Also there was the ever-increasing threat of the rise in revolutionary

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groups such as the Bolsheviks.  

 

The first revolution came in March. The Tsar had abdicated, but not by means of force. Lenin

heard about this revolution while he was living in exile in Switzerland and immediately

prepared to return back to Russia. This was due to the simple fact that everyone was fed up

with the way Russia was being poorly run.

The second revolution caused by the Bolshevik uprising came in November. Lenin appeared to

have clear and confident aims, unlike the other party leaders. There were several long term

and ...

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