Following, Marx ideas of socialism, the Social Democratic Party was set up in 1898. However, four years later in 1903 they spilt into 2 groups- the Bolsheviks (lead by Lenin) and the Mensheviks (lead by Martov). Lenin proposed that the party should be limited only to dedicated revolutionaries but Martov argued that membership should be open to anyone who accepted the party programme and was willing to follow the instructions of the party leaders. Lenin won the debate and his group was later called the Bolsheviks whilst Martov’s group was called the Mensheviks. This disagreement arose because of a profound difference in their beliefs of the role of the party.
When his rivals were expelled from the Politburo, they were removed because the majority of the members voted for this. Therefore, Stalin’s action in order to gain power were quiet legal. After he was invited into the main committee of the Bolsheviks, he then gained other beneficial minority posts such as being an executive of the committee and becoming head of their party newspaper “Pravda”. Stalin, did not take part in any major roles during the October rising. During the civil war, he was consistent in disobeying orders made from Lenin and Trotsky, as they were the main organisers.
Leaders from the communist party worked to claim power and weren’t born into it. By definition of the two types of rule it should be suggested that Russian government ought to have been completely different with no similarities. However, it can be strongly argued that this was not the case. All Russian leaders during this period were motivated by the need to maintain their power and their ideological views which is shown to be one of the main similarities between them. Asides from the obvious ideological differences between the Tsars and the communists, they do not differ all that much in other ruling aspects such as use of repression and the role of themselves as a ruler.
In the case of the Provisional Government they changed it from autocratic to democratic and Lenin changed it to a one party state; although the result was different the basis was the same. In some cases all of the rulers passed reforms that they had no choice whether to or not, it was simply necessary. All of the Tsars wanted to uphold their autocratic position, Alexander III most of all due to what happened to his father, so keeping absolute control was essential. Nicholas II was the only tsar to make any major political reforms due to the Tsar’s wanted to keep their power. However, Nicholas II had no choice to create the Duma because of the 1905 revolution; so he reluctantly did so he did not completely lose his position.
To what extent was Lenin’s leadership the reason why Bolsheviks were able to consolidate their power between 1917-1924? By the early 1920's Russia was in the authoritarian grip of a one party dictatorship. The Communist Party as the Bolshevik's had become. It had a ruthless leadership which was ideologically motivated to hold on to power at any cost. This was a dramatic change from the Bolshevik party's position in 1917 when the party enjoyed widespread support amongst the peasants, workers and soldiers who saw in the Bolshevik's the best hope for popular revolution.
In 1919, Stalin became Liaison Officer between the Politburo and the Orgburo, which allowed him to control the resources available to put into effect the decisions made by the Politburo. In 1921, Stalin used his position as Commissar for Nationalities to purge the government of Georgia, and filled it up with his own supporters. Crucially, Lenin appointed Stalin General Secretary in 1922, allowing to increase his power base by promoting and dismissing influential Party officials, particularly local Party secretaries. Unlike his opponents, Stalin realised that the key to power lay in control over the Party organisation, rather than within state institutions. Stalin was also fortunate to benefit from the ‘Lenin Enrolment’, causing the Party to grow rapidly, numbering 800,000 by 1925 and over 1.5 million by 1929.
Andrew Wodarcyk Freshman English Mr. J. Pharion 11 February 2008 Communism During the Russian Revolution Communism was founded on the ideas of Karl Marx and failed because of flaws in the system, mainly in the leadership. To understand why communism failed, one must have researched the principles of Marxism; because of the way that Communism was based upon Marxism. To compare and contrast Communism and Marxism, it would be necessary to research the principles of Communism also. Since there were three leaders during the time of Soviet Communism, understanding the principles of each would be necessary. The first was Vladimir Lenin, whose style of government was referred to as Leninism.
A study of Russian governments in the period 1855 – 1964 suggests that Russia simply exchanged one form of autocracy for another after 1917. How far do you agree? When the February revolution brought an end to Tsarist rule, there was a strong belief that the instatement of the Provisional Government would lead to a more democratic Russia. However in deposing the Provisional Government, the October Revolution had removed any such hope. The totalitarian Government of the Communist Party continued and intensified many aspects of the Tsarist regime including use of the secret police and an intolerance for opposition and democracy in general.
Each state would have considerable control over their own affairs and decided their own form of government. For Example Bavaria and Saxony were ruled by kings. the Federal government had three branches to it. The first part was the Presidency which was help by the King of Prussia, as known as German Emperor. The German Emperor has considerable powers, he had personal control over the armed forces and he could appoint and dismiss all ministers including the Chancellor.
In other words, ‘the end justifies the means’. During the 1917 Russian Revolution, Vladimir Lenin would use Marx’s philosophy of “dialectical materialism” as the basis of his creation of the Bolshevik party. In 1903 the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party split apart creating two factions called the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. The Mensheviks, a minority of moderates, were open to all who wished to join them. They supported the idea of a socialistic party that would be ruled and organized in a democratic manner.