Ideology of the Rulers: The communists-Lenin

Question 1

What political party was Lenin part of and what did this split into?

Answer 1

-The social democratic party
-Split into the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks

Question 2

What were the main influences of Lenin’s emergence as a revolutionary?

Answer 2

-The communist Manifesto
-Lenin’s brother executed
-sent to a Siberian prison
-involved in opposition groups.

Question 3

How does Lenin differ from the Marxist ideology?

Answer 3

-Russia can skip out on the full extent of capitalism stage and skip to the liberal democracy stage.

Question 4

How did Plekhanov and Lenin differ?

Answer 4

-Plekhanov wanted a bloody civil war and ww2 to cleanse Russia and you cannot sip a stage of Marxism (Lenin disagrees)

Question 5

How did Martov and Lenin differ?

Answer 5

-Martov thought Lenin wanted to be a dictator and he disliked this.

Question 6

List the main differences between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks?

Answer 6

• Bolsheviks- all workers not intellectual- power needs to be transferred to a dedicated group of revolutionaries.
• Mensheviks- Create an individual dictatorship whilst class war went on until power can be transferred.

Question 7

How was Lenin’s ideology slowly adjusted?

Answer 7

-Adjusted over time to gain power
- E.g. the change from war communism to the new economic plan.

Question 8

By what year had Lenin fully embraced Marxism?

Answer 8

-1890s

Question 9

What did Lenin and Martov booth initially agree on?

Answer 9

-workers attempts to gain higher wages and better working conditions.

Question 10

What was done after the organisation of strikes in St Petersburg (reason why Lenin and Martov disagree)?

Answer 10

-Authorities reacted by exiling the ring-leaders.

Question 11

What did Lenin believe that the authorities reaction to the St Petersburg strike prove?

Answer 11

-The ‘superstructure’ would always prevail in keeping workers in their place.

Question 12

What book laid out Lenin’s revised version of Marxism?

Answer 12

-‘what is to be done’

Question 13

What phase did Lenin argue could be sped up in Russia?

Answer 13

-The dialectical phase

Question 14

What did Lenin propose to govern the interests of workers until they were ready to take control themselves?

Answer 14

-Party central committee.

Question 15

What did Lenin’s interpretation of dictatorship of the proletariat cause?

Answer 15

-uproar in the RSDLP.
-by 1903 a deep split between Bolsheviks (Lenin Marxists) and Mensheviks (Marxists).

Question 16

When did Lenin start implementing Lenin Marxism?

Answer 16

After the October revolution of 1917.

Question 17

What did opposition to Bolsheviks ideology and rule result in?

Answer 17

-The Russian civil war.

Question 18

Why did Lenin supposedly welcome the civil war?

Answer 18

-as a strategy to eradicate the Bourgeoise

Question 19

What became evident through the transition from Lenin’s war communism to the new economic policies in terms of ideology?

Answer 19

-Tolerance of the moderates

Question 20

What did war communism become directly associated with?

Answer 20

-Famine

Question 21

What did Trotsky believe about communism in terms of the world?

Answer 21

-Communism should be global

Question 22

What is an overall judgement on Lenin’s ideology?

Answer 22

-adjusted ideology to stave of opposition
-short term aim of dictatorship
Policy of appeasement did not fix the opposition