Strengths and weaknesses of Lenin as a leader Flashcards
How can Lenin be seen as a “Red Tsar”?
Bolshevik rule stemmed from the absolutist tradition of the Romanovs, where total conformity was required from the masses and party members
Give three examples of absolutism in Bolshevik control
1) Dissolution of the Constituent Assembly
2) Cheka and Red Terror
3) Crushing of the Kronstadt Rising
(there are others!)
What did Lenin see as the role of the Party?
To direct the revolution, not to win public approval
What did Lenin think about the proletariat in Russia?
Too politically unaware to achieve revolution without the “vanguard” of the Party
What was Lenin’s view of the peasantry in Russia?
While they couldn’t be ignored because of their importance in food production, their function was to serve the needs of the industrial workers (only from whom true revolution could come about)
What was Lenin’s idea of the “telescoped revolution”?
The final two stages of revolution, bourgeois and proletarian, could be compressed into one
How did Lenin’s “telescoped revolution” come about?
The Bolsheviks acted against the Provisional Government without waiting for the proletariat to grow in size (as Marx would have wanted)
How did Lenin transform Marxist theory about the base and the superstructure?
According to Marx, political systems (superstucture) were determined by the economic structure (base)
But under Lenin, the character of the economy was determined by political systems - subversion of the base and superstructure - e.g. NEP
How was Lenin’s character and personality a strength?
Ruthlessness - able to inspire dedicated support and intense loyalty from colleagues and members
How was Lenin flexible in his political thinking?
Acknowledged the role of peasants in driving political change by seizing land from the nobility
Give five barriers that Lenin overcame in creating and consolidating the world’s first Communist state
1) Exile
2) Civil war
3) Economic collapse
4) Famine
5) Foreign invasion
Why was Lenin’s ruthlessness a drawback?
He disregarded the human cost of his ruthlessness - led to unnecessary suffering and created a grim precedent for Stalin to follow
In what ways could Lenin be said to be more oppressive than the Romanovs?
He refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of any other political viewpoint than his own (even in his own party) - at least Nicholas brought about a Duma!
