Impact of Lenin

What happened under Lenin?

  • Bolshevik government gained and secured power

  • He developed a centralised, autocratic government

  • He led the creation of the USSR, uniting countries under Communist rule.

Qualities

  • Forceful and Persuasive orator

    • not eloquent like Trotsky, but able to simply convey and convince

  • Humble

    • he never sought the lavish life that some looked to gain. he continued to lead a simple life

  • Dedicated

    • he spent 16 or more hours a day making sure the Bolsheviks survived

  • Ruthless

    • ‘who is not with us is against us,’ believed revolutionaries had to spill blood to perform their role

  • Conviction

    • he was adamant of him being on the right path, which was vital when persuading others to stay united behind him.

  • Pragmatic

    • able to find solutions to problems that arose and implement them well

Key Intervention points

  • April Theses

    • clear focus for party- became party line

    • forced them through despite opposition

  • October Uprising

    • pressurised the Committee into staging it

    • Bolsheviks could have not gained power if he hadn’t made them act

  • Socialist Coalition

    • avoided a Socialist Coalition- which many leading members wanted

    • crushed Constituent Assembly- maintaining Bolsheviks as leading party

  • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk + hierarchal Red Army

    • pushed signing of Treaty despite opposition- knew Russia needed peace

    • supported Trotsky in his controversial running of the Army

      • something he would have been outnumbered on- and something that cinched the win

  • NEP

    • persuaded a reluctant Party to adopt the compromise

He was a key figure, without whom the revolution, while it would have probably occurred, would have certainly progressed at a much slower rate. Trotsky stated that without himself, the October revolution would have occurred. However, if Lenin were also not there, it would not.

  • Pragmatic decisions + political acumen

  • Forcing through decision = speeding up events

  • Leadership and ruthlessness leading to a unified party