History Force essay. A specific individual and group, Lenin and the Bolsheviks were strongly influenced by the ideas on Marxism that they were fundamental to the shaping of Russian communism in Russia
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Introduction
Question: Describe and explain how a force or movement influences a specific individual or group of people to try to improve the lives of their fellow countrymen and women. Describe and explain the consequences of these efforts A specific individual and group, Lenin and the Bolsheviks were strongly influenced by the ideas on Marxism that they were fundamental to the shaping of Russian communism in Russia in the beginning of 1900s which at the time was a backward autocratic country ruled by Tsar Nicolas II. The social, economic and political factors of the autocracy helped Lenin and the Bolshevik's to shape Russian communism as a historical force. They ultimately brought change in Russia by establishing the Bolshevik's state through bringing down the provisional government to improve the lives of fellow countrymen and women. The consequences, however of their efforts to improve the lives of their fellow countrymen and women at the end did not bring any positive changes or impacts to the country in the longer term. Lenin and the Bolshevik's were influenced by the idea of Marxism which was created by a German socialist called Karl Marx. Marx argued that under capitalist economic system, a tiny percentage of the nobility and the bourgeoisie owned all the means of production, had all the power and exploited the proletariat. ...read more.
Middle
When Lenin returned to Russia from exile, in April 1917, he imposed his will on the Bolshevik Party by insisting the goal must be to get control of the Petrograd Soviet, which would then provide a springboard for a second revolution which would replace the PG with a Bolshevik Government. Lenin worked towards the revolution by creating a policy statement called the "April Theses" which talked about end of PG, end of war, bringing better conditions in Russia and victory for the proletariat with the introduction of a communist system of government. All this was established through "Peace, Bread and Land" slogan. The Bolsheviks, influenced by the ideas of communism, set about gaining control of the Soviets. Soviets were councils which represented factory workers and soldiers. The most important Soviet was the Petrograd Soviets. In April, the Petrograd soviet was led by socialists Revolutionaries and Menshiviks and Bolsheviks. Order Number One already showed that the Soviets were in competition with the PG. The Petrograd Soviets issued order number one on March 1917 which said the soldiers could only obey the PG as long as the Soviets approved of these orders. If there was a conflict, the soldiers were to obey the Soviet. ...read more.
Conclusion
Peasants were not allowed to sell the produce of their farms for profit. They were only allowed to keep a small amount of food to feed themselves and had to give up the rest to the government. This caused black markets to arise, and soon peasants were treated like enemies and could be shot. With War Communism, almost all businesses, factories and mines were taken over by the government. The government decided what would be produced and how much. Workers were told where to go to work. Their hours were lengthened and harsh discipline was introduced and strike was banned. With War Communism, industrial production dropped, black market flourished and thousands died from fuel shortage, hunger, cold. Lenin and the Bolsheviks successfully achieved in their aims of shaping the force "Communism" influenced by the idea of Marx by overthrowing the Provisional Government and October revolution to bring improved lives for their fellow countrymen and women. They ultimately got to control Russia and brought the vision of equality amongst the Russian society, however in the longer run, the quality and conditions of lives for the Russian people did not improve and can be argued, worsened compared to the conditions living under the Tsarist regime. This could be why in early 1921, Moscow and Petrograd workers began organising street marches in protest. ...read more.
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