Using these four passages and your own knowledge, explain how and why historians disagree about the role that Lenin played in the foundation and development of communist government in Russia.

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Compare Passage A and B on the importance of Lenin in the establishment of Russian communism.

In passage A, Lenin is portrayed as the sole savior of the proletariat and the champion of communism established in Russia. The passage corroborates its claim by underlining the change or adaptation Lenin had done to the original Marxist theory. The historian in this passage extols Lenin to have rendered the Marxist ideas as “a proposition that corresponded to the new historical conditions.” It posits that if the change implemented by Lenin had not occurred, Marxist ideas would be outdated and unable to be adapted to result in a successful establishment of Russian communism. Lenin’s acumen is highly valued by the historian as the Bolshevik leader who had “the courage to replace one of the old propositions of Marxism.” Ultimately, Lenin is characterized by the savior of the proletariat from the enemies.

On the other hand, passage B does consider that “Lenin had the greatest but no the sole influence” in establishment of Russian communism. It directly refutes the portrayal of Lenin as the father of Russian communism presented in passage A. In fact, Robert Service claims that “Lenin did not invent most of the attitudes of Russian revolutionary.” The historian states that Lenin was one of the many groups that advocated similar causes. “The populist terrorists in the 1860s-1880s had developed many of them; and they were not entirely absent from certain trends in European nineteenth-century socialism and anarchism.” Lenin, in deed was a part of a bigger movement that had started before him. The passage goes further to claim that “Marxist did not need Lenin to resuscitate this tradition for them.” Service points out that there were many capable leaders – such as Plekhanov and Trotsky – among his contemporaries that played roles almost equivalent and pivotal in establishment of Russian communism. In addition, the physical absence of Lenin during the period before his arrival in Petrograd in April 1917 substantiates the idea that, in reality, Lenin only had an indirect influence over his own parties. Lenin’s influence was limited to what “he could achieve by his journalism and his correspondence.”

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Using these four passages and your own knowledge, explain how and why historians disagree about the role that Lenin played in the foundation and development of communist government in Russia.

The role of Lenin in the foundation and development of communist government in Russia still remains a polemic. Historians disagree about this political leader that left a landmark turn-point in the world’s largest country. Nevertheless, all historians seem to reach a conscious on the point that Lenin had a prodigious impact on the establishment of Russian communism.

Some historians believe that Lenin is the savior of the proletariat and ...

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