Lenin's Importance in the 1917 Revolutions.

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Lenin has commonly been linked with the 1917 revolutions as a relatively involved character who changed the course of Russian political history. However, he seems to be comparatively less influential in the February revolution due to his absence in Russia. At the time, his methods of propaganda and theories were more effective than his opposition as he realises the flaws of the Provisional Government and the suffering caused by WWI. The October revolution, on the other hand, is considered a far more significant revolution on Lenin’s part. Lenin was the sole individual who inspired the Bolshevik Party to revolt against the Provisional Government.

Lenin was not physically involved in the February Revolution because he was in Zurich, yet one can still argue that he was indirectly influential to a certain extent. It is disclosed that he was an outstanding orator, leader, and theorist for the Bolshevik Party. According to Robert Service’s biography of Lenin, “His (Lenin) language was unmistakably insurrectionary”, thus this explains why he was an asset to the Party. His charismatic characteristics as a leader allowed him to be the Head of Propaganda amongst the Bolsheviks. In 1900, he founded the Iskra, an underground newspaper published in Germany, to organise a Russian Marxist Party. As Lenin said, “A newspaper is not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator; it is also a collective organiser.” Unlike Trotsky who favoured “well-organised violence” as the “shortest distance between two points”, Lenin used such method of propaganda of written texts and messages without any physical violence to convey the Bolshevik set of mind to the people. Lenin said, “Crowds are in a state of expectant attention which renders suggestion easy.” This is why Lenin’s genuine talent as a great public speaker and propagandist in manipulating crowds was crucial in holding the Bolshevik Party together and sustaining consistent support. If it weren’t for his constant speeches and texts of manipulation, the lead up to the February Revolution would have been catastrophic.

Furthermore, Lenin’s theories and political ideologies based on Marxism were also key to bringing the middle class and peasants into the Party and later into the revolution. Lenin was a pragmatic and flexible theorist who carried out his claims about Marxism-Leninism. He asserted the fact that a small, disciplined revolutionary party with the full support of the working class would be able to seize power from the Provisional Government. Furthermore, he agreed with Karl Marx’s concept of history being “a series of struggles by one class against another.” Adaptations of this ideology of Marxism led to the opposition included the promptness of the Revolution. Lenin believed the Revolution should not be delayed until capitalism developed as this was supposed to be a direct threat to other revolutionary groups such as the Mensheviks. In continuation, the role of peasantry was substantial in Lenin’s perspective as the party started planning the February Revolution. The idea of revolution should always be based “firmly around the proletariat” against the Provisional Government and the April Theses. Even without Lenin’s physical presence in Russia, Lenin’s propaganda and theoretical tactics acted as the stepping stones that led to the February Revolution, which is why many consider him to have had an effect on it.

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On the other hand, Liberal historians say that the circumstances in Russia helped the Bolsheviks and Lenin enormously. For instance, many middle class workers did not favour the system of autocracy. Democracy was the new ideology that was growing amongst the industrial classes and the liberal intelligentsia. The people were willing to go against the autocratic system of Russia. This can be why Liberals argue that the situation and period when Lenin was building the Bolshevik Party could only be advantageous to him. Not only the autocracy but also Nicholas II’s personality played a role into Lenin’s gradual success. Tsar ...

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