The October Revolution or Bolshevik Revolution aimed, at first, towards what Lenin thought the people needed more so than what they wanted or desired, and then later became a seizure of power of an extremist group through strong-armed tactics (Lenin thought they needed this too). This thesis can be supported by Lenin's initial promises to the people before gaining power, his support for a Socialist society (more communism), and by the many examples later on that exemplified an extremist seizure of power: the Red Terror, concentration camps, and the Cheka.
In Lenin's April Theses, he outlines several points that are problems with the current Provisional Government that he would like to change: getting out of the war, putting the Bolsheviks in power, ending capitalism, redistribution of wealth, and putting the Soviet Workers' Deputies in charge of several things(4). These theses seemed to reflect what the people wanted, they wanted all of these things to change as well. "Peace, land and bread" (Belk notes) was the chant for quite some time, and it looked like they were finally going to be listened to and get what they wanted. The only thing that they would not like about it is the way that Lenin goes about doing these things.
Lenin wanted Russia to become a Socialist society (wanted Communism, but couldn't quite get there) (3). The redistribution of wealth would make the people equal, but they would have to lose their civil liberties (3). It seems there has to be a trade-off in order for society to function correctly. Maxim Gorky, an intellectual in Russia, said, "Do they understand that they would inevitably strangle the entire Russian democracy and ruin all the conquests of the revolution?" (3) It is true that Lenin was taking away all of the democracy that the people had fought for in order to bring about what he thought they NEEDED more so than what they were asking for. They wanted their civil liberties and to be able to vote. But he did not agree. He tried to get the Central Committee to attempt another coup, "it is naive to wait for a 'formal' majority... no revolution ever waits for that... History will not forgive us if we do not take power now." (3) It may have started out as Lenin trying to give the people what they wanted, but it lead to more of what he thought society should be like. Was it all just a ploy to get the peoples' trust?
"His millenial dreams for the peoples of the Russian Empire were to lead down a road of greater suffering and misery than anything in their worst nightmares." (3) Lenin began the Red Terror after an attempted assassination on him, and life got much worse for the people. The Cheka would use "instant execution" (3) to anyone without proper papers or spoke against the Soviet authority, since the death penalty had been reinstated in mid-June. 500 hostages were executed in Petrograd (3), and this utter chaos and terror clearly did not reflect the views of the people. Lenin intended for this terror to instill fear in the people and make them respect the government and get to work - like a communist society. However, this mostly backfired, so instead he started working camps where people would go when they did something wrong and work. The theory was that the "humane" thing was not to shut criminals in a cell, but to rehabilitate them through labor (3). They were supposed to learn to respect their government by a different method instead of instilling fear. However, within the concentration camps (as they became known as) there was much injustice. How were the camps "having an economic role, teaching certain social classes that the free ride was over, instructing the lazy, and providing a demonstration effect to society outside the camp" (3) when they were "drowning prisoners in the nearby Dvina River. A 'great number' were bound hand and foot and, weighted down with stones around their necks, were thrown overboard from a barge" (3)? This was a great massacre of people because they "spoke out against the government". Where is the justice in that? "...prisoners were treated so poorly that productivity wasted away to nothing" (3) How is that helping society? Why does humiliation have to occur in order for communism to work?
Clearly, Lenin had lost touch with the people, and was simply going about what he and his extremist group wanted to do. He quickly took his chance to rise to power when the people were hungry and confused and in need of guidance. He was aware of what the people wanted, but he wanted to do it his own way. Lenin intended for all the terror and tragedy to turn around and become a Socialist "new way of life" (3). Russia was Lenin's experimental rat for Socialism, and it was dying. He tried to rule Russia with an iron fist, forgetting that the people had worked for democracy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with the idea that the intentions of the revolution morphed into something different from whence it began. But, I'm not sure if I can agree with you that it was Lenin's idea of what the people wanted at the start of the revolution. The people were starving and they were poor and they did need land so were those not things that Lenin fought for. And at the beginning of the war Lenin was only a figure head and not an actual part of the revolution. So was it not the people who wanted these things (peace, land, and bread?)And therefore Lenin was indeed initially working for the people.
ReplyDelete