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An essay on social darwinism
An essay on social darwinism
An essay on social darwinism
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Vladimir Ilyitch Ulyanov and the Russian Revolution Introduction: After Alexander Ulyanov was hung for a purported conspiracy against Russia’s Czar Alexander III, his brother Vladimir swore blood vengeance. Vladimir Ilyitch Ulyanov reversed his name and became recognized to the world as Nicolai Lenin. Lenin had by that time-begun reading Marx’s works at the age of eighteen. His course of studies took him to the University of St. Petersburg where he graduated with a law degree. While pursuing law for a short period in Samara, Lenin shaped a small covert Marxist group. He then joined a larger group in St. Petersburg and in the summer of 1895 he went overseas and exchanged views with banished Marxist leaders. Lenin came back to Russia, only to be taken into custody in December of 1895 and expatriated to Siberia for five years for controlling and managing the Union for the Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class. Subsequently after serving his time in Siberia, Lenin went to Geneva, Switzerland, the principal center of the Russian Social Democratic Party in the year 1900. The highway to the Russian Revolt of 1917 was a long one. All over the 19th century, generations of learned and ideological Russians had dreamt of the revolution, which would oust the Tsar and deliver independence, fairness and state of being equal for all. The Russian Intelligentsia, as this group of idealists became known, was especially captivated to the ideas of the socialists, and subsequently by the ideas of the German philosopher Karl Marx. Socialism initially appeared to offer a way out of the political and economic backwardness of a still amply feudal society. The Road to Revolution The road to the Russian Revolution of 1917 was a long one. Throu...
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...us in regard to the dictatorial propensities of the vanguard of the proletariat and instead disputed for the progress of a mass popular base amid the workers. Lenin remained impatient with the Mensheviks. He saw nothing to fear from a revolutionary elite genuinely dedicated to the welfare of the workers and the peasants the real danger as he saw it lay with the liberals and bourgeoisie, whose social system, he continued, robbed the worker of his true wealth and incited imperialist wars of rowdiness. Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism, published by Lenin in 1917. In this work he denounced the Great War as a battle among the capitalist powers for control of markets, raw materials and cheap labor. Since neither the Allies nor the Central Powers offered any benefits to the working classes, he urged all socialists to withhold their support from the war effort.
During the 19th century, Russia was experiencing a series of changes with its entire nation and society overall. The government was trying to adapt themselves to them at the same time. It was not an easy time period for Russia whatsoever. Vladimir Lenin helped change this.
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.
Distrust and skepticism within Britain toward the new Bolshevik government led to Britain's reluctance to support it and a hands off diplomatic approach to Russian problems. By 1917 it was evident that the "question of peace and war would be a bitter source of controversy within the Bolshevik party" (Kowalski 11). Lenin had uncompromisingly defended his position not to continue the war, a decision that was leading to a split in the upper ranks of the party (Kowalski 33). His reasoning was that any imperialist states should not be negotiated for peace, instead calling "for an international civil war against world capitalism" (Kowalski 11). Lenin’s statements are quite a shock for the newly opened spheres of investments that had led to a great interest in Eastern Europe industries (Sherow). France and even Britain had loaned out much money to facilitate the growth --and, hopefully, returns-- in Eastern Europe; any resort to war at this point would cost both countries dearly (Sherow).
Three "Whys" of the Russian Revolution, The Russian Revolution, and Rethinking the Russian Revolution. Writing of an annotated bibliography of the topic. 2. Selection and reading of the sources to determine which ones are the most relevant and comprehensive 3. Finding opposing arguments to give and analytical view with multiple perspectives 4.
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. n.d. http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/ch07.htm (accessed March 27, 2014). Riichi, Yokomitsu.
There are many people who have lived through and within the Bolshevik Revolution, so there are a multitudinous variety of perspectives, thoughts, and insights about the revolution. The Bolshevik Revolution is known for many things; some say that the revolution helped women become free of control, and others proclaim that it did nothing but continue to hold women captive of their desired rights. The Bolshevik Revolution article states the side of a history professor Richard Stites, who argues yes the revolution benefited the women whilst the other side is declared no the revolution did no justice for women at all, which was argued by a Russian scholar, Lesly A. Rimmel. The opposing arguments both create an effective view on the revolution, and
The Russian revolution of February 1917 was a momentous event in the course of Russian history. The causes of the revolution were very critical and even today historians debate on what was the primary cause of the revolution. The revolution began in Petrograd as “a workers’ revolt” in response to bread shortages. It removed Russia from the war and brought about the transformation of the Russian Empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, replacing Russia’s monarchy with the world’s first Communist state. The revolution opened the door for Russia to fully enter the industrial age. Before 1917, Russia was a mostly agrarian nation. The Russian working class had been for many years fed up with the ways they had to live and work and it was only a matter of time before they had to take a stand. Peasants worked many hours for low wages and no land, which caused many families to lose their lives. Some would argue that World War I led to the intense downfall of Russia, while others believe that the main cause was the peasant unrest because of harsh living conditions. Although World War I cost Russia many resources and much land, the primary cause of the Russian Revolution was the peasant unrest due to living conditions because even before the war began in Russia there were outbreaks from peasants due to the lack of food and land that were only going to get worse with time.
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.
Lenin’s pragmatic leadership was the most considerable factor in helping to fortify Bolshevik power. His willingness to take power in October/November 1917 and the successes of the move, through his right-hand man, Trotsky, was critical as it helped give him unquestioned authority within the party despite members of the Central Committee i.e. Zinoviev and Kamenev who suggested industrialisation needed to occur first. This highlighted Lenin’s communist ideology in practice which was essential to the Bolsheviks maintaining power. Following the failure of the Provisional Government, Lenin recognised that it was the Bolshevik’s priority to legitimise their government. As a result, issues of ‘Peace, Bread and Land’ were addressed through the issuing of a number of decrees in late 1917 including decrees on land, peace, Workers’ Rights as well as reforms to marriage and religion. ...
was the cause for the split in the Social Democratic party into the Bolsheviks (followers of Lenin) and the Mensheviks. The major dispute that Lenin’s pamphlet brought about was a dispute in basic Marxist theory. Marx said that in order for Communism to come into realization, the world had to go through a full Capitalistic phase where industrialization would grow and the Proletariat would form. Russia was still a feudal society, so it would have been fifty years at least before a Communist Revolution was even possible. The Mensheviks believed the Social Democrats would need to wait until Russia went through its Capitalist phase, Lenin and the Bolsheviks did not wish to wait and instead proposed immediate action and the overthrow of Tsarism. As Lenin put it, “The greater the spontaneous upsurge of the masses and the more widespread the movement, the more rapid, incomparably so, the demand for greater consciousness in the theoretical, political, and organizational work of Social Democracy” (Lenin 53). He wanted an active and proactive Social Democrat party and in the end, he succeeded and became dictator of a Bolshevik government (Hosking 395-396). One of Lenin’s key ideals was that a “Dictatorship of the Party” was necessary in the interim while the Proletariat was forming and strengthening itself in order to take power as the “Dictatorship of the Proletariat”. He claims that, “Social Democracy represents the working class…in
Lenin, Vladimir, I. Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism. Zürich.: Znaniye Publishers, 1917. Internet Modern History Sourcebook. Web. 29 November 2013.
Lenin’s reforms were necessary to carry out a socialist revolution in Russia, and the contributions he made drastically changed the course of history. It can be assumed that, the Soviet Union would not have been as powerful if it had not been for Lenin’s initial advocacy of violence and tight organization. Marxism is a philosophy coined by Karl Marx with the help of Friedrich Engles in the early nineteenth century. Marx’s writings inspired many progressive thinkers throughout the European continent and the United States. The Marxist doctrine stated that first a bourgeoisie revolution, which will ignite a capitalist fire.
In the years leading up to the revolution, Russia had been involved in a series of wars. The Crimean war, The Russo-Turkish war, The Russo-Japanese war and the First World War. Russia had been defeated in all except the war with Turkey and its government and economy had the scars to prove it. A severe lack of food and poor living conditions amongst the peasant population led firstly to strikes and quickly escalated to violent riots. Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia with an iron hand while much of Europe was moving away from the monarchical system of rule. All lands were owned by the Tsar’s family and Nobel land lords while the factories and industrial complexes were owned by the capitalists’. There were no unions or labour laws and the justice system had made almost all other laws in favour of the ruling elite. Rents and taxes were often unaffordable, while the gulf between workers and the ruling elite grew ever wider.
Lenin's Economic Policies in 1924 When the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917 they inherited many of the problems faced by the old Tsarist regime as well as those of the Provisional Government after the Tsars abdication. Lenin, as leader of the Bolsheviks took many measures to try and solve these problems, each with varying degrees of success. This essay will, therefore, go on to look at and discuss the various measures that Lenin and the Bolshevik party took, and, whether these measures created more problems for Russia in the end or in fact made significant progress towards the communist society that Lenin had prophesised for Russia. In the early days of Bolshevik rule, there were many problems facing Lenin.
Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik or the “majority” faction of the ‘Russian Social Democratic Party’. Lenin had played a major role in the establishment of the USSR. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) came into being after the Socialist Revolution in Russia in 1917, which was led by Lenin. The revolution was inspired by the ideals of Socialism, as opposed to Capitalism, and the need for an egalitarian society. This revolution was one of the biggest attempts in human history to remove the institution of Private Property, led by the Provisional Government, and establish a society based on the principles of equality. In doing so, the makers of the Soviet Union gave importance to the state and the institution of the party. The Soviet political system centered on the Communist party, and no other political party or opposition was allowed. The economy was planned and controlled by the state. This group of countries, including the East European countries that the Soviet armies had liberated from the fascist forces and came under the USSR, was called the ‘Socialist Block’. After the Second World War, the Soviet Union became a great power; it had complex communication networks, vast energy resources, and an efficient transportation system. The Soviet Economy was then more developed than that