Respond with a substantive comment on the following question. Then, before class begins tomorrow (2:15 pm), respond to at LEAST two (2) of your peers. The more you engage, the more credit you will receive for the assignment.
What were the substantive changes to the Russian government which Lenin made? What were the root causes of Lenin's Bolshevik Revolution? Compare and contrast with Marx's original Communist ideology: what similarities or differences exist?
I think that Lenin's ideas are very similar to Marxism. As a student, Lenin studied and agreed with Karl Marx and many ideas, such as eliminating the monarchy and old government (the tsar and his family) and redistributing wealth to the less fortunate. In Russia, classes were eliminated and labor became more fair for all parties. Education became more widely available. However, Lenin also brought bad changes to Russia as well. The media was monitored by the government completely and anyone who challenged the communist party (particularly the liberals) were arrested. Lenin was very interested in turning Russia into a communist state and the period of World War I, when Russia was weak and in need of change was the perfect time for the Bolsheviks to revolt. Lenin's communism in Russia was very similar to Marxism in some ways, they both had similar ideas of class structures and how a government should be run. However, Lenin was more of an advocate for Capitalism, which he tried to implement to help the very poor Russia. Marx was strictly against this. While Lenin was very inspired by Marx, Russia in 1918 was very different from Marx's idea of a model communist state.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Gillian. It is obvious that Lenin used Marxist ideas, but he made many changes for his own use. Marx was an influence on Lenin, but Lenin out his own spin on the ideas of Marx, or didn't use them at all. His communist state was very different from the communist state that Marx hoped to create or have his ideas create.
DeleteI don't really no what else to say. Both of you have stated what I have included into my response to the question. We all agree that Marx had a strong influence on Lenin and his new envisioned ideas of Communism which as we know were much different that Marx's ideology of Communism. One significant difference between Marx and Lenin was there point of view on how the economy should be run. Lenin believed in capitalism and free market. This was said to help out the lower class. Marx on the other hand, was very much against the idea of a free market. He thought the economy should be strictly monitored and controlled.
DeleteI agree with you Gillian on the similarity with Marxism since he based his changes on that type of government/society. Although it was based on Marxism, he did modify for Russia's purposes and what he believed was right for the nation. I also agree with Ben about the differences in the free market, and how Gill talked about capitalism. It could be explained that Lenin was first basing everything off of Marxism, but later on, he saw some things had to change in order to be in the modern era such as capitalism.
DeleteI agree with you Gillian. Lenin very much understood the need for and wanted a extremely socialist state. However, due to the poverty in Russia at the time, he also realized that he could not achieve a socialist state through traditional Marxists methods, and would have to make the change more gradual. The New Economic Policy even angered some Marxists, since it was a step towards capitalism, and not communism.
DeleteI agree with you Gill pertaining to the similarity between Marx and Lenin. I agree with all the things you are saying, but what I think you don't mention is that despite Lenin helped make work fairer for each class, the working and labor conditions were still not fantastic and heavily unfair to women.
DeleteLenin returned to Russia when the provisional government was in charge. He and the Bolsheviks overthrew the government in place a declared a new Bolshevik government. Lenin's ideas matched Marx's in some aspects, but also differed, like Gillian said. Marx inspired Lenin, but Lenin put his own spin on things. They both had the basic ideas for communism, spreading the wealth to the poor and making everyone exactly equal. Lenin nationalized land and redistributed it to peasant proprieties. But Lenin wasn't all good and fun. Some of the things he did were actually hurtful. There was complete censorship by government. People who didn't believe in the communist government were jailed. Lenin changed Russia into a communist nation at an opportune time for him. He won widespread popularity and used some of Marx's ideas, but many of Marx's ideas for a perfect communist state were ignored. It was obvious that Marx influenced what Lenin did, but many of his ideas were not used in Lenin's plan.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Lenin was in fact inspired by Marx and his ideology for Communism but put his own twist on things. In Marx's eyes, Lenin did not create the perfect Communist society. Also as you mentioned, Lenin's ideas of Communism actually hurt Russia instead of helping it. Censorship was put into place, and all the people who opposed Lenin and his ideas were jailed or killed. It was a very oppressive society with very little freedom.
DeleteI agree with you Dylan. The people wanted to see change in Russia. It has always been a step behind than all the other nations. The nations didn't care about this because it was threatening their power or the balance. On the other hand, the people wanted to progress to enter the competition in Europe. To see all these improvement happening was a joy to Russians, but they were blinded from the bad changes by the equal distribution.
DeleteTo go along with what you are saying, I don't think that communist Russia was Marx's idealized communist state. To start out with, Russia was extremely poor and unsuccessful. It was not taken seriously by many other countries and was not respected, especially when you look at factors such as Russia not being invited to participate in the Paris Peace Conference. Russia was no longer a superpower in the world by 1917 and Marx would not have wanted Russia to become a communist state based on his ideas. Marx wanted a successful and wealthy nation (such as Marx's Germany) to undergo a communist revolution and so he would not have agreed with or been particularly proud of Russia. Although it was based on communist principles, it still was not a wealthy or politically successful nation and wouldn't be for a more years to come.
DeleteI agree with what you said about Lenin hurting Russia. He tried to break away from the government and its traditions, but he was hurting the people in the process. He was doing whatever he could to reach his own idea of a "perfect society."
DeleteAfter and during World War I many changes took place all across Europe. One of the countries that faced a significant amount of change was Russia. World War I left Russia in disarray economically, and politically. Tsar Nicholas II was incompetent and eventually collapsed due to the effects of the war. This gap in authority led to a widespread of protests and demonstrations that the ill-disciplined troops in the city refused to put an end to. Eventually, the Tsar abdicated, thus creating a provisional government which was later taken over by Lenin and the Bolsheviks.While in power, Lenin denounced gradual reform, arguing that capitalism could only be destroyed by class conflict. Lenin also insisted that a communist revolution was possible in a non industrialized country such as Russia. Finally Lenin argued that Russia needed leadership from a disciplined group of professional revolutionaries. When looking at Lenin, it is quite obvious to see his connection to Marx and his original Communist ideology. Both Marx and Lenin strove to create an industrialized society with a large work force know as the proletariat. They also wanted to close the gap between the different classes to reduce class conflict. Although some of Lenin's ideas can be linked to Marx's ideology of a Communist society, others can not. For example, as Gillian mentioned Lenin was an advocate for Capitalism. In conclusion, Lenin's ideas were based off of Marx, but evolved into something completely different.
ReplyDeleteBen I agree with you completely. Russia went through extreme changes from the Tsar to the Provisional Government, then the Bolshevik Government which even had a revolution under it because people weren't happy. It is obvious that Lenin and Marx have a connection and that Lenin's core ideas are based off of Marx's, but like you said, Lenin's state evolved into a nation completely different from the one that Marx imagined.
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DeleteI agree with you about the changes Lenin made to Russia and the events leading up to it. The weak Tsar and the political and economic issues that plagued Russia because of the war created a perfect opportunity for a revolution. I agree with you because as I said in my response Lenin's ideas were based off of Marx's ideas, which is also what you say above.
DeleteI agree with you that both Lenin and Marx believed the same root of idea. They both focused at peasant's life improvement and their wealth. Marx thought Bourgeoisie will be fall by the peasants. It is possible to say that Lenin's revolution slightly compromised Marx's prediction.
DeleteI agree with you, Ben. Marx and Lenin had similar ideas usually, but they sometimes differed greatly. Economy is one example. Lenin believed in capitalism in order to help the lower class make more money and be on an equal level with the upper classes. This idea of no classes goes along with Marx. However, Marx had a different idea of getting economic equality for all. While I think Marx and Lenin had many similar ideas, they applied these ideas very different in real life.
ReplyDeleteWorld War I left Europe in mass disarray, which left many countries vulnerable to change. There was a growing discomfort towards the Tsar at that time in Russia because they thought he was weak. Lenin and the Bolsheviks were able to come in and revolt because of the lack of a strong Tsar. This led to the Bolshevik Government. Lenin took land from the Tsar and the rich and redistributed it to the poor for their support with the revolution. The changes that Lenin made were based off of what Marx believed in, however the main difference was that Lenin believed in capitalism while Marx did not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Bella. Lenin had to adapt and used different methods to bring Russia out of its extreme poverty, such as the capitalist New Economic Policy, which was a backwards step from communism, and angered some orthodox Marxists. His tactics may no have been completely Marxists, but his intentions remained the creation of a extremely socialist state.
DeleteI agree with you Bella that the lack of the tsar government was a cause into leading into the Bolshevik Government. The tsar caused disillusion with war, the shortages of food and home necessities, and peasants to become unhappy because of not doing land reforms for them. I also agree with you that Lenin took the land from the tsar to support the peasants and that Lenin’s beliefs were similar to Lenin besides the fact that he believed in capitalism.
DeleteThe changes that took place when Lenin was in charge was getting rid of money completely by taking the money from the bank and canceling debt. Plus, he took Russia out of WWI. This was to ensure that everyone was to work without receiving money, but at the same time, money was being redistributed to everyone equally. This ceased classes. This was also a method for Lenin to close the high gap between the peasants and the upper class. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk got people very angry because they had to give up a third of their land. This was one of the causes of the revolution. People wanted change. Everyone was tired of seeing Russia as one of the weak nations. Marxism and what Lenin did were similar for making the people equal which was made possible by the distribution of money. Although everyone was equal, Lenin encouraged capitalism by keeping factories open and he not only wanted the middle class to rise, he wanted the peasants to rise as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. The peasants were desperate for change, so they put their belief in Lenin's ideas. They enjoyed the idea of being "equal," even if it was seen as unfair.
DeleteThe Russian Revolutions brought about three critical changes to the Russian government. The abdication of Nicholas II created the short-lived Russian Provisinal government, which itself replaced the Council Ministers of Russia, and turned Russia from a Tsarist regime into a Republic. Mere months later, the Russian Provisional government was replaced by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, after the October Revolution (which, according to the Gregorian calendar, happened in November) lead by the Bolsheviks, who seized control of the the Provisional government in a swift coup d'etat. Many Marxists were unhappy with the New Economic Policy that was installed, which restored some degree of capitalism within Russia. Even Lenin himself states that socialism would not be developed in a traditional Marxist manner, since the poverty in Russia at the time was so great, that it was impossible to successfully switch to socialism in one swift step.
ReplyDeleteWhen the government was at its weakest point, Lenin stepped in with the Bolshevik party and seized power. The most significant changes were that Lenin took Russia out of the war and established his own communist party. As Dylan stated previously, this had a positive outcome for Lenin and his party, but it hurt the people in Russia as well. On the other hand, Lenin's decisions to make factories and work more independent were beneficial to the people. By creating his own idea of a utopia government and society, Lenin hurt the government as well. Instead of working to strengthen the government, he started his own party and took power for himself. Similar to Marx, Lenin wanted to break away from the current government and bring it out of times of war. He believed that, with the monarchial government, Russia would not be able to rebuild itself. Lenin also learned and studied from Marx and both of their ideas centered around capitalism/imperialism.
ReplyDeleteThe substantive changes to the Russian government which Lenin made were that he nationalized land and turned it over to its peasant proprietors, he put factory workers in charge of their plants, seized banks and repudiated the debt of the tsarist government, and reverted property of the church to the state. He also helped take Russia out of the war by signing treaties and armistices with other countries. The root causes of Lenin’s Bolshevik Revolution were because of disillusion with war, the shortages of food and home necessities, and because of the land reforms the provisional government didn’t make for peasants. This caused the revolution and for the Bolshevik wing of the Social Democratic Party to work against the provisional government. Lenin’s ideas were based off of Marx, but he believed in capitalism while Marx did not. Lenin’s ideas were similar to Marxist because he believed in communism, wanted to create a proletariat through an industrialized society and reduce class conflict like Marx.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to say that the Russian Revolution brought a massive development to Russia. The Revolution erupted at a not good time. It was at the middle of the war, and although Tsar was not a good leader, he tried to restore his leadership by joining the battlefield. However, The Provisional Government took place and Tsar was abdicated. And as we know, Lenin's coup reformed the country again. Russian government was really unstable, moreover, it was during the war which people had more and more discontents against their leaders. These are the main elements that influenced Lenin's reformation. Lenin borrowed the idea of Communism, focused at life improvement of peasants. As he said at his speech, 'peace, bread and land' were the most important for his Communism. He nationalized the lands and turned them to peasants properties. Also he suspended the war, in order to stabilize the new politics. By the way, I think Marxism is more similar than its differences, as most of the guys said. Marx predicted that peasants will rise and Bourgeoisie will be eliminated. Although there were Bourgeoisie remaining after the revolution, it is true that Lenin's revolution were sponsored by peasants and its reformation were almost all for those peasants.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jeong that the Tsar was not a good leader at all and caused peasants to get angry. I also agree with you that the Russian government was unstable and it caused discontents. I lastly agree with you that Lenin was communistic and that he was trying to help peasants, suspend war, and trying to get rid of the bourgeois.
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