Over the course of the 1917 Russian Revolution, and extending beyond, Marxist ideologies were significantly changed and used by Russian leaders and intellectuals. Vladimir Lenin was, perhaps, one of the first to twist Marxists ideologies; he did so to accommodate the political beliefs of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). After Leon Trotsky, a Russian Marxist, joined the Bolsheviks, Lenin adopted his Marxist theory of Permanent Revolution. Trotsky, after the revolution, used Marxist principles to oppose Joseph Stalin. Though, he twisted Marxist ideas so much that they could no longer be recognised as socialism from below, rather socialism from above. This was a far cry from the original theory put forth by Karl Marx.
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), headed by Vladimir Lenin, twisted Marxists ideologies to accommodate their political beliefs during the revolution. In the eyes of some in modern-day society, Leninism seemed to be a logical development of Marxism as it extended theory into practice (Benson, 2014). However, there is nothing logical in Lenin’s misunderstanding of Marxism. Lenin saw Marxism more as a set of guidelines towards socialism, than a set of rules, stating "We do not regard Marx's theory as something completed and inviolable; on the contrary, we are convinced that it has only laid the foundation stone of the science socialists must develop in all directions if they wish to keep pace with life.” (Lenin CW VOL. 4, PP.210) The original concept of Marxism saw socialism (or communism; he used the terms interchangeably) as evolving out of the political and economic circumstances that fully developed capitalism would create. Lenin saw socialism being achieved through a band of rev...
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...onger dependant on the self-emancipation of the working class, thus distorting another fundamental idea of Marxism.
In conclusion, Marxism was distorted many times during the Russian Revolution and used by those seeking to create a socialist society. First, Lenin heavily warped Marxian views and instated a vanguard to take charge of the revolution. Trotsky followed, however he was considerably more Marxists than Lenin, and joined the Bolsheviks in espousing Marxism to the masses. Even after the Revolution, supposed ‘Marxism’ was used to oppose Stalin. Though, Trotsky made a horrific mistake in defining the workers state and, in doing so, diverged from socialism from below (the original Marxist view) and unknowingly began siding with socialism from above. These kinds of distortions will continue on as, for every new leader, there is a new definition of socialism.
Through such events Lenin was able to take full control of the Bolsheviks. The.. The Bolsheviks started off, in 1903, as the main minority of the Social Democratic Labour Party. Like all anti-tsarist groups, the party. is illegal to use. The party was based upon the beliefs of Karl Marx, a German writer and revolutionary, who believed a revolution could only be started within the workforce of the major cities.
In order to establish whether Lenin did, indeed lay the foundation for Stalinism, two questions need to be answered; what were Lenin’s plans for the future of Russia and what exactly gave rise to Stalinism? Official Soviet historians of the time at which Stalin was in power would have argued that each one answers the other. Similarly, Western historians saw Lenin as an important figure in the establishment of Stalin’s socialist state. This can be partly attributed to the prevailing current of pro-Stalin anti-Hitler sentiments amongst westerners until the outbreak of the cold war.
Karl Marx 's writing of ‘The Communist Manifesto’ in 1848 has been documented by a vast number of academics as one of the most influential pieces of political texts written in the modern era. Its ideologically driven ideas formed the solid foundation of the Communist movement throughout the 20th century, offering a greater alternative for those who were rapidly becoming disillusioned and frustrated with the growing wealth and social divisions created by capitalism. A feeling not just felt in by a couple of individuals in one society, but a feeling that was spreading throughout various societies worldwide. As Toma highlights in his work, Marx felt that ‘capitalism would produce a crisis-ridden, polarized society destined to be taken over by
A communist revolution is inspired by ideas of Marxism whose main purpose is to replace capitalism with communism also considered socialism. “Marxists believe that the workers of the world must unite and free themselves from capitalist oppression to create a world run by, and, for the working class (Britannica).” The Russian Revolution began in 1917 and consisted of two periods of revolts; the February Revolution and the October Revolution. It has been said that the 1905 Russian Revolution prompted the February Revolution due to “the massacre is Saint Petersburg, Russia known as Bloody Sunday. A council of wo...
One thing which all three men, Stalin, Trotsky, and Bukharin, all shared was a common error. After Vladimir Lenin’s death, they contributed to the wishes which Lenin had not wished for which were to build a personality cult around Lenin for his consistent Marxism. This process which the men did became sanctifying communist leadership which Lenin had not done and instead examined the reality of facts instead of what the powerful, overshadowing leader proclaimed. The Marx theory laid the foundation to the science of socialists.
When closely reading “The Communist Manifesto”, fallacies are commonly found throughout. Marx believes that Communism is the best political system that will work and benefit society. He portrays the bourgeoisie as oppressors and the Proletariats a the oppressed. He confidently states that “history shows evidence of class struggle in every
Lenin had read Karl Marx and his many works, such as the Communist Manifesto, Marx’s famous Communist pamphlet, which stated “The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!”, (38) and Das Marx, Marx’s long essay on his entire Communist economic plan. Although Marx thought that Communism would start in advanced, industrial countries, such as the U.S. and Britain, not a backwards country such as Russia, Lenin still used Marx’s ideas to overthrow the Tsar and bring Communism to power, and influence his Leninsm. “He spent whole days studying Marx, making digests, copying passages, jotting down notes,” wrote Yasneva.
Marxism is a method of analysis based around the concepts developed by the two German philosophers Karl Marx and Fredrich Engel, centered around the complexities of social-relations and a class-based society. Together, they collaborated their theories to produce such works as The German Ideology (1846) and The Communist Manifesto (1848), and developed the terms ‘’proletariat’ and ’bourgeois’ to describe the working-class and the wealthy, segmenting the difference between their respective social classes. As a result of the apparent differences, Marxism states that proletariats and bourgeoisie are in constant class struggle, working against each other to amount in a gain for themselves.
The ideology of Marxism, established by German philosopher Karl Marx, is a collectively known set of assumptions of a political ideology, which focuses especially on analysis of materialist interpretation of historical development, or on class struggle within the society. The primarily approach of Marxism, nonetheless, was the critique of capitalism. The strength of his inquiry lies in belief of inevitable shift from capitalism and he aims to advocate the new form of ideology and economy, the socialism. The title of this essay is provocative as in today´s world, there exist many proponents who claim, the core of Marx conception of ideology is still relevant in the 21st globalised world. However, Marxism is relevant to the extent to which is it important to examine every political and economic conception, moreover if we are able to perceive its outcomes after the concepts has been practically applied. This paper is intended to assess key ideas of Marxism with observations of positives and negatives it brought and the reasons why the concepts failed.
Vladimir Illich Lenin was the first individual to put Marxist ideologies to work. In April 1917 Lenin returned to Russia from his exile in Switzerland to give his 'April Theses.' It was here that Lenin outlined how his revolution was to take place, the Bolshevik Revolution began on November 6 1917. Within a week the Bolsheviks were in control of most of European Russia, and immediately Lenin ordered that the Russians abandon the war against Germany. After abandoning her allies in World War One the Russians were hurled into a civil war. It is here that we first see the ideologies of Totalitarianism and Democracy clash. The democracies of Britain, France, and the United States all sent troops to Russia in the support of the 'Whites,' or enemies of the Bolsheviks. Lenin took the poor country of Russia and turned it into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or U.S.S.R. Through his policies of War Communism and its replacement the NEP Lenin was able to stand the newly formed U.S.S.R. on its own two feet. One of Lenin's ideas was 'International Socialism,' it was under this idea that he set up the Comintern with the purpose of spreading communism throughout the world. His successor, Josef Stalin took a different approach in his ideas of 'Socialism in one country."
Marxism was created by Karl Marx and Federick Engels; they both sought out a better future for the working class. Marx, who was born in Germany in 1818 and died in London in 1883, lived in a world where he disagreed with capitalism whole heartedly. Frederick Engels was also born in Germany in 1820 and died in London in 1895. With this, they created their own philosophical and economic thought which was called Marxism. The problem with Marx was that he was always ready to change his mind about certain theories or ideas which he created. This is why it is very difficult to understand how Marxism works. Also Marxism is usually stereotyped with mainstream communism, which is why people seem to brush it off and just see it as some radical oppression machine. In Lenin’s words “the three main sources of Marxism are: British political economy, French Socialism, and German Idealist Philosophy”.
After the death of Lenin, his chief lieutenant Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin fought for control of the country. Stalin was able to win out over Trotsky and gain control of the Russian government. He felt that Lenin and Trotsky’s socialistic ideas were flawed in that they were to wait for other countries to revolt and become socialistic as well. Staling believed that a single country could make socialism .
...nt the works of Marx. The result became a system where emotion triumphed over practicality, and the central message was blurred by the overthrow of the old regime. Thus, Lenin followed Marx in the general ideas of socialism, where everyone was equal under the law, and worked for each other and the common good. While Lenin’s system did manage to create a proletariat class, it also evoked the formation of the corrupt and power hungry Bolshevik Party. With regard to the Populists and Anarchists, Lenin was transformed into a revolutionary who would not stop at anything in the pursuit of Communism. Furthermore, Lenin followed to a lesser extent the Social Democrats and their views on the threat of the peasantry if they were not properly maintained. It is clearly evident that in following other philosophies, Lenin mutated Communism into a form unrecognizable to true Marxism
Marxism and Leninism According to most historians, “history is told by the victors”, which would explain why most people equate communism with Vladimir Lenin. He was the backbone of Russia’s communist revolution, and the first leader of history’s largest communist government. It is not known, or discussed by most, that Lenin made many reforms to the original ideals possessed by many communists during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He revised Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles’ theories to fit the so-called ‘backwardness’ of the Russian Empire.
Marx thought of a society that would create equality and bring power to the people. He didn 't expect society to be totally equal but a society with distributed justice. According to Marx, a good society is when there is no exploitation. To get rid of exploitation, we have to get rid of surplus values and make everyone equal. But Marx also knows that no good society can exist as long as exploitation is allowed. That is why some societies will want a Marx type of living and some will not. A society that has used and embodied the Marxist tradition is Russia. They have used Marx ideas and lived by the communist manifesto. This way of life worked for many years and to the people of Russia, it made a good society. But to people outside of Russia, people who lived in a democratic state or country, they looked at it as a failed society. A type of society that should not be allowed to exist in the world of democracy. But like Marx said, some societies will be able to live in a Marxist environment and some won’t. Marx also states, “ In a communist society, the working class will be more important than the capital class”(M 10-25-2016). By having everyone equal, this allows for class conflict to be no more and exploitation not exist. Marx knows there can be no good society but a Marxist society will do its best to form a ideal