The Success of the Bolsheviks

The Success of the Bolsheviks

Probably the most important factor was Lenin himself. He was a driven

man who believed that those who would lead the workers had to be an

educated elite capable of doing things that an uneducated majority

could not. He also developed a set of beliefs that would appeal to the

working class.

The Bolsheviks did not have an ideology that stressed high ideals.

They had an immediate programme for the time when they would attain

power but had made few plans for what to do after they had gained

power. In the immediate aftermath of getting power, the Bolsheviks

promised that they would take Russia out of World War One and sue for

peace with the Germans, they would redistribute land to the peasants

and give them power within their rural communities and they would set

up workers soviets in factories which would work to improve the

working conditions and general lifestyles of those who worked in the

industrial cities. Such a mixture of beliefs was genuinely popular in

both urban and rural areas and it also ensured that the Bolsheviks

appealed to the two largest social groups in Russia.

Whereas the Mensheviks were unwilling to force through events, the

Bolsheviks were the opposite. Lenin believed that not even the masses

could be relied on to move in the way he wished – therefore, the

Bolsheviks had to be the party that initiated action. “We cannot be

guided by the mood of the masses; that is changeable and

unaccountable. The masses have given their confidence to the

Bolsheviks and ask from them not words but deeds.” (Lenin)

To Lenin, practical issues were more important than the development of

ideological theories. Whereas the masses could assist in practical

issues, they almost certainly would not understand theoretical debate

nor understand why time was being wasted on theory. Lenin always had

one goal – to achieve his aim. To do this, Lenin did not have a set

way of working and effectively, he believed that any method was