Lenin As a Leader

Question 1

What makes a successful leader?

(CRITERIA)

Answer 1

• Political prowess
• Pragmatic
• Charismatic
• Creates hegemony (when consolidating power)

Question 2

How was Lenin successful as a leader socially?

Answer 2

• 1917 Decrees on Peace and Land appealed to population as many people wanted to leave the war and land hunger had been a long-term issue of the peasantry since the Tsars
• Gave all citizens over 20 the right to vote and all servicemen over 18
• Crowds of people mourned at Lenin’s funeral and more than 100,000 visited his tomb in the six weeks after he was burried

Question 3

How was Lenin not successful socially?

Answer 3

• Decree of Peace ultimately backfired as Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which formally ended russian participation in WW1 led to loss of 1/3 of population and agricultural land
• Lenin’s totalitarianism and hard surpression of opposition made him dubbed as the ‘red tsar’ by many people

Question 4

How was Lenin successful politically?

Answer 4

• Establishment of sovnarkom and democratic centralism allowed Lenin and the Bolsheviks to maintain control while appearung democratic
• Cheka were used to eliminate opposition - by the end of 1917 all Kadets had been arrested/outlawed/beaten and SRs and Mensheviks had been imprisoned
• Ban of Factionalism meant that no party members could oppose him for fear of expulsion

Question 5

How was Lenin NOT successful politically?

Answer 5

• The Bolsheviks were splitting internally between those who wanted increased Party democracy (Democratic Centralists) versus those who wanted more democracy based on Trade Union power and others who wanted a swift transition to a planned economy and workers’ armies (Trotsky, Preobrazhensky)

CONSENSUS: Due to ban on factionalism these groups were not able to engage in direct conflict with each other or against Lenin

Question 6

How was Lenin successful economically?

Answer 6

• NEP increased cereal production by 23%
• From 1920-23 factory output rose by almost 200%
• Average monthly wage of urban workers increased from 10.2 Roubles in 1921 to 20.8 in 1924

Question 7

How was Lenin NOT successful economically?

Answer 7

NEP was an ideological failure - by 1923 85% of firms were private again and most people worked for ‘NEP men’ rather than the state

CONSENSUS: Shows Lenin’s pragmatism - detoured from communist ideology to meet needs of current economy