Bolshevik Criticisms of Tsarist Russia

At the beginning of the 19th century, Russia functioned under an autocratic monarchical system. The monarch at this time was Tsar Nicholas II, who lacked the leadership skills of his father and was unintelligent although some historians believe that he was a “conscientious hard worker”. He had autocratic power over the country and he had the final word on all matters. Around this time, Marxism was growing across Europe. This has been largely accredited to the increase in heavy industry in this period. The Bolshevik party practiced a particular brand of Marxism. They believed that Russia wasn’t ready for a proletarian revolution yet and that a small group of dedicated revolutionaries - the Bolsheviks - would have to lead the workers in revolution.

Russia was an autocratic state at the turn of the century. This didn’t please the Bolsheviks as they believed that the proletariat should rule themselves and that everyone should be provided for according to need not ability. The fact that a few people owned most of the land in Russia went against this Marxist principle and disgusted the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks didn’t believe in the state and the strongly hierarchical system they lived in. They believed that the purpose of the “state” and all hierarchical systems was to allow one class to oppress another – in this case the bourgeoisie oppressing the proletariat. Marx called this the “superstructure”.

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Tsar Nicholas II in particular was also intensely disliked by the Bolsheviks. He was conservative even for a tsar and opposed reform constantly. He used the secret police, the Okhrana, to suppress the opposition. The most famous example of this is when he ordered soldiers to shoot at peaceful protestors on “Bloody Sunday” 1905. This killed over 100 people and was a major cause of the 1905 revolution after which the Tsar was forced to allow a Duma, or parliament. However, he gave this body no real power as he was allowed to override any of its decisions. Although, the Bolsheviks were not that bothered about this, as they never saw this as a viable way to bring about revolution, the peasants and proletariat grew increasingly disillusioned with the Tsar. This disillusionment was increased when the Tsar took personal control of the army in 1915. The results were disastrous as Nicholas was not a very intelligent or charismatic leader.

Another criticism of the regime was the immense power of the church. The Bolsheviks, as Marxists, believed that religion was “the opium of the masses”, i.e. just another part of the superstructure used to oppress the proletariat. The church was closely linked to the state and was deeply conservative. This angered Bolsheviks further. The Tsar used religion to keep the masses in their place by teaching them that “God commands us to love and obey every authority, particularly the Tsar”.

The army, along with the church, was used to suppress the masses. Soldiers were conscripted mainly from the peasantry. Bolsheviks thought that peasants shouldn’t be used to suppress their fellow peasants and they criticised this. Recruits took a pledge to the Tsar, but peasant recruits had no chance of becoming officers. It was also very dangerous, even during peacetime. Lower ranks were treated very badly by aristocratic officers. Bolsheviks just took this as another example of the oppression of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie.

Although there was only a very small middle-class in Russia at that time (roughly 2.5% of the population), they were disliked as well. Apart from being the oppressive bourgeoisie of which Marx talked, they incensed Bolsheviks by acting irresponsibly, drinking and generally living a lavish lifestyle. They needed little and yet were very wealthy compared to the peasantry and this went against the Marxist principle of need and ability (see above).

What infuriated Bolsheviks the most, however, was the condition in which the majority of people – the peasantry – lived. They were very poor and largely uneducated; although there is evidence to show that literacy was rising. They lived unsanitary and barbaric lives, illustrated by the fact that life expectancy was only 36. Although the Bolsheviks didn’t think they could rely on the peasantry to bring about revolution, they did believe in equality and were appalled by the huge contrast in living conditions between the aristocracy and the peasantry.

They were also opposed to the state censorship in operation at the time. They believed that everyone had the same fundamental rights, one of which was freedom of speech, and saw this as yet another way for the bourgeoisie to oppress the proletariat.

It was not just the hierarchical system in Russia that sickened the Bolsheviks, however. They were also strongly opposed to Russia’s involvement in World War I. The Bolsheviks believed in internationalism and the “international revolution”, hence the saying “Workers of the World, Unite!” They didn’t think it was fair that the workers had to fight each for the bourgeoisie’s own ends. This reflected the general anti-war sentiment in Russia at the time.

The Bolsheviks opposed the system in Russia at the time. They also opposed World War I. But these were not the main concerns for most of the people. The Bolsheviks believed that they were not politically aware enough to appreciate that their concerns, such as food shortages and poverty, could be directly traced to the hierarchical system in which they lived. Many historians believe that, even at the time of the October Revolution, most peasants were not against the tsar. This is why the Bolsheviks believed that they had to lead the revolution.

The Bolsheviks had many criticisms of tsarist Russia, mainly concerned with the structure of society and their involvement in the war. All of these criticisms can be traced back to their belief in Marxism. By understanding the principles of Marxism, such as internationalism, we can understand the rationale behind their criticisms, such as their anti-war stance. However, by studying Marxism, we can see that the Bolsheviks believed in the inevitability of the proletarian revolution. This means that they weren’t as concerned as it might be thought about current conditions as they knew that the revolution would happen sometime, it was just a case of when.