Vladimir Lenin was marked in history for being a Russian revolutionary, defender of Marxist ideals and one of the leaders of the October Revolution, also known as the Russian Revolution. He joined Marxism during his youth, influenced by debates on this theory in university circles and by his older brother.
Lenin became ruler of Russia after bringing the Bolsheviks to power in the country. Historians say that, as a ruler, Lenin implemented measures to centralize power and dismantled the power of the soviets, the workers' committees. He faced challenges such as Russia's exit negotiations from first war and a civil war, and he died in 1924 of a stroke.
First years
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born in Simbirsk (present-day Ulyanovsk), a city located in southern Russia, on April 22, 1870. During his childhood and youth, Lenin (he only assumed this pseudonym in the 1900s) was part of a family of good financial condition and who enjoyed a series of privileges for enjoying the condition of nobles.
This was the tsarist period, the monarchic phase of Russia, a country that had numerous social inequalities and was governed by the Romanov dynasty for centuries. Lenin's father, Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov, was an inspector of public schools who prospered a lot and obtained the status of noble, a condition worthy of the minority of the Russian population.
Already his mother, Maria Alexandrovna Blank, she was a children's teacher and had Jewish descent. Lenin had a good education because of the condition of his family, but he saw her status take a big turnaround when his father died in 1886, and when Aleksandr, his brother, was executed in 1887 for involvement in conspiracy actions against the tsar. This latest event placed his family in disrepute with the Russian nobility.
During his youth, Lenin he wasn't a socialist and he was a religious young man, adherent of orthodox Christianity. His father's death and his sister's execution shook young Lenin's structures. The impact of the trial and Aleksandr's execution led him to introduce himself to socialist readings, a habit reinforced when he entered the university.
Lenin was first accepted at the University of Kazan in southern Russia, but was expelled from it. The reason for this was his involvement in a protest. The impact of Aleksandr's execution hurt him in this regard, as, as mentioned, Lenin's family had fallen into disrepute.
Later, through his mother's insistence and influence, Lenin won the right to take a test at the University of St. Petersburg. He did very well in this text and, therefore, was able to obtain the diploma in the course of Right, even without ever having set foot in that university to attend classes.
Lenin worked as a lawyer and deepened his knowledge of Marxist theory. From 1893, he moved to St. Petersburg, then the capital of Russia, and joined the revolutionary groups calls social democrats. Lenin's knowledge of Marxism was profound, and in 1894 he wrote his first treatise.
He gained notoriety among revolutionary groups, possessing excellent speech and defending that the mobilization of Marxists would lead workers to join the fight against bourgeoisie. In 1897 Lenin was arrested and sent to Siberia for three years as punishment. This forced exile to Siberia was a common punishment in the Russian Empire.
Lenin flees Russia
In 1898, the Marxists of Russia came together to found the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party, the RSDRP. The persecution of this group by the tsarist regime made Lenin choose to to run away from Russia. After that, he organized a revolutionary-oriented newspaper — the Iskra — from 1900 onwards. The term iskra is a Russian word meaning “spark”.
The reach of Marxist ideals was growing in Russia from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, and the aforementioned newspaper was looking to win over this public of workers, increasingly aware of what Marxists had to to say. It was during the activities of the Iskra that Lenin adopted this pseudonym. "Lenin" is believed to be a reference to the River Lena. The pseudonym was used by him in his publications in the newspaper.
At first, the Iskra was established in Munich, Germany, but police repression caused Lenin to take the newspaper to London, UK, in 1902. The following year, in Brussels, Belgium, the II RSDRP Congress, and in it Lenin was the pivot of a crisis that struck the Russian Marxists.
At this event, Lenin and Julius Martov disagreed over issues related to the organization of the party and to the militancy of the members, and created a rift that, years later, led to the separation of this party into two large groups: Bolsheviks (of which Lenin was a part) and Mensheviks. In this context Lenin was criticized by the Mensheviks for being too authoritarian.
In 1905 Lenin briefly returned to Russia on behalf of 1905 revolution. This event was motivated by the context in which the country found itself. Russia faced an economic crisis due to the defeat in the Russian-Japanese War, and the living conditions of the workers were getting worse.
Thus, a series of strikes broke out in the country, including in St. Petersburg. When workers decided to stage a peaceful march in the Russian capital on January 9, 1905, they were attacked by the Tsar's troops, causing the deaths of 200 people. This event, known as SundayBloody, he revolted the population and caused people to rebel all over the country.
Lenin returned to Russia to try, in some way, to take advantage of this popular mobilization, but he took no major action. The 1905 Revolution failed and was called by Lenin as RehearsalGeneral. Lenin, in this context, encouraged the workers to arm themselves and rebel, and the differences in thought between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks led the two sides to break up definitively in 1906.
Accessalso: Holodomor, the food crisis that resulted in the death of millions of Ukrainians
Russian revolution
After the failure of 1905 Lenin returned to exile and lived in different places in Europe. In 1914, the First World War was unleashed, and he was a big critic of it. The historical and socioeconomic conditions that Russia was facing at that period led the country to revolution. Lenin took advantage of this situation.
February revolution
On February 23 (in the Julian calendar, used by the Russians at the time), a series of protesters, motivated by the impoverishment of Russia during the war, they began to protest and occupy strategic locations in the city of Petrograd (formerly St. Petersburg). Russian police were unable to control the protesting crowd.
Then members of Tsar Nicholas II's government were arrested, and the emperor sought to control the situation, but failed. Nicholas II was persuaded to abdicate, and the members of the Russian parliament, the Duma, met and formed a GovernmentProvisional, that grouped politicians of different ideologies.
This was the scenario of February revolution. The new government had a more conservative character towards the Bolsheviks and sought to restructure the country in a chaotic situation. It was after this that Lenin decided to return to Russia. Furthermore, popular mobilization gave rise to the Petrograd Soviet, a committee of workers and intellectuals that met to try to form an alternative power in Russia.
Lenin's speech aligned with the wishes of the Russian population in 1917. He spoke of the importance of the popular organization of the soviets and defended the autonomous organization of the workers. Here there was a small change in his mind, because, throughout his life, hedefended the party's role in popular mobilization, but, in 1917, he started to defend the autonomous mobilization of workers.
Lenin also advocated that the workers rebel against the Provisional Government, Russia's immediate exit from the war (the Provisional Government kept the country in the conflict), the nationalization of industries installed in the country, and the idea in "Peace, breadandEarth” as basic workers' rights. A motto evoked by Lenin throughout that year was “All power to the soviets”. The widening picture of chaos and revolt in Russia favored the Bolsheviks, bringing them to power.
October Revolution
Lenin's role throughout 1917 was essential for the Bolsheviks to gain more and more support from the masses. Both in cities and in rural areas, the support for the Bolsheviks grew. As the country continued in the war, despite accumulating defeats, and as the amount of food was decreasing, demonstrations followed.
The Provisional Government was unpopular, and the workers carried Bolshevik slogans in their protests, such as “Outside the capitalist ministers" and "out the bourgeoisie”. In July, a series of popular uprisings took place, which led the Provisional Government to accuse Lenin of treason. The government's repression succeeded in temporarily containing the people's demonstrations.
Historian Eric Hobsbawm has stated that, in this context, the growth of the Bolsheviks has made the party reach 250,000 members.|1|, even gaining support within the Russian army. This strengthening took place against a backdrop of dissatisfaction with the Provisional Government. The result was obvious: the Bolsheviks would seize power.
In September, gigantic strikes took place in Russia, and the leader of the Provisional Government, Aleksandr Kerensky, was desperately trying to carry out measures that would guarantee support andstability of his government. Meanwhile, Lenin encouraged the Bolsheviks to seize power in Russia, and the party brought this agenda up for discussion.
At the beginning of October, the Bolsheviks debated the means by which they would seize power in Russia, until, on the day October 24th (in the Julian calendar), they started to take strategic locations from Petrograd. Soon the party released the report that it was seizing power and implementing a so-called “government of peasants and workers”. Later, Lenin became the new ruler of Russia.
Accessalso: Learn how the Soviet Union came to an end
last years of life
Lenin's last years of life were troubled. He authorized Russia's exit from World War I, and the agreement was reached, through the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, between Russia and Germany, which imposed heavy losses on the Russians. Furthermore, Lenin had to rebuild the Russian state, and as a first step, drove away the soviets from power. He showed that he did not want to share power with the soviets.
In the last years of his life Lenin had to face a counter-revolution organized by opponents of the Bolsheviks and by foreign nations who feared the advance of socialism in Russia. This started the WarCivilRussian, and in this period Lenin was accused of implementing authoritarian measures that led to people starving and dying. With the victory in the Russian Civil War, he founded the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
To recover the country's economy, he imposed a return to the market economy through the New Economic Policy (NEP). His continuity in power was hampered by the health problems he faced. Between May 1922 and March 1923, Lenin suffered three strokes. The weakening of the leader created a power vacuum in the USSR and started a dispute that, years later, would lead to Joseph Stalin to power.
Lenin died on January 21, 1924, at 53 years of age, due to the worsening of his health. Stalin succeeded him and implemented a totalitarian regime known as Stalinism. Lenin's political thinking was recorded in his works and became known as Leninism.
Note
|1| HOBSBAWM, Eric. the era of extremes: the brief 20th century, 1914-1991. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1995. P. 68.
Image credits
[1] Everett Historical and Shutterstock
