Lenin's Impact On Russia And The Russian People.

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2. Assess the impact that Lenin had on Russia and the Russian people. (8)

Lenin had a great impact on Russia and the Russian people with his variety of policies and events that took place during his reign. Any events or policies had both short and long term effects for everyone. I will be looking at both of these.

Firstly, there was the Revolution and the new system of government. In 1917, Tsar Nicholas was abdicated from the throne. This was the end of a 300-year-old Romanov dynasty. This happened due to a Bolshevik Revolution led by Lenin. The event happened at that particular time mainly due to Lenin who urged Revolution immediately. He said, "We must not wait! We may lose everything…having obtained the majority in the Soviet…the Bolsheviks can and must take power into their own hands." Lenin wanted the Revolution to go further and to become a dictatorship of the proletariat. He then produced the April Theses, which made a variety of promises. Bolshevik numbers grew and the slogan "Bread, Peace And Land" was launched symbolising that Lenin would provide the people with these three things and would suit everyone. The Bolshevik Party then became the Communist Party. In these decrees, land belonging to the Tsar, Church and nobles was handed over to the peasants. Their working day and week was limited and rules were even made about holidays and overtime. Workers were even insured against illness or accidents which was good news as conditions in the factories were often dangerous. Factories were put under the control of workers committees' and the banks were put under Bolshevik government control. Also, marriages could take place without a priest if desired and divorce was made easier. These reforms pleased the people compared to their living conditions under the Tsar. They were given land, better working conditions and more power over the factories. Even getting married or divorced was made easier. However, not all of the decrees made by Lenin liberated the people. All non-Bolshevik newspapers were banned and free political thought was restricted. The opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (Cadets) were banned and similar to when the Tsar was in power, a secret police were set up - the Cheka. They were thought to deal with 'spies and counter-revolutionaries'. These reforms restrained the people and did not enable any opponents. This was highlighted by the secret police, Cheka, which frustrated the people as they expected great changes after the Revolution but instead were faced with similarities to life under the Tsar. One of the key reforms that repressed the people was the closing down of the Assembly. Lenin had promised free elections to the new Constituent Assembly but within less than 24 hours, after discovering that the Bolshevik Party did not have the majority, he decided to close it down. His peasant based rivals; the Socialist Revolutionaries had the majority, which was the main reason for Lenin to close it down. Russia's democratic experiment therefore lasted less than 24 hours, but Lenin simply believed that he was establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat, which in time would give way to true communism.                  

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Another major short-term impact of the Revolution and new system of government was peace with Germany. This was one of the promises that Lenin had made to the people with his slogan "Peace, Bread And Land". The October Revolution in turn, overthrew the provisional government. It was because of Lenin that they stayed outside the provisional government that enabled the Bolsheviks to seize power. By doing this, Lenin had eliminated a part of Russia's problems - the provisional government tried to carry on the war, but the elimination of the provisional government in turn saw the end of the ...

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