Marxist-Leninism
The success of the Russian Revolution of 1917 showed the first examples of Marx's spirit, if not his complete ideology, triumphing against an established government. This triumph created the first officially socialist state in the history of the world, with Vladimir Illich Ulyanov, known to history as Lenin, at its helm. Though Lenin accepted most of Marx's ideology, he altered some of his theories and added much to them as well. Whether he knew it or not, Lenin had opened the door for decades of revision, reinterpretation, and manipulation of the Marxist tradition. Marxist-Leninism, or Leninist-Marxism as perhaps a more fitting name, had been born.
Though Lenin was quick to denounce those that sought to bend Marxist views to their personal perspective, he didn’t hesitate to adopt Marx's ideas for his own purposes and inject his own views. For example, he radically altered Marxist ideas about the state's role in a communist economy. While traditional Marxists felt that the state would gradually disappear as a result of the proletariat becoming the only class, eliminating all inequalities, Lenin argued that these people would need to be continually led by a vanguard party comprised of trained revolutionaries. This party, he said, would need to continue to exist throughout the socialist period of the revolution, and perhaps for a long time to come, in order to protect the newly formed 'socialist state' from its internal and external enemies. Lenin’s policies were often also more violent and sneaky than general Marxist policies. Lenin, as leader of the Communist Party, advocated the ‘liquidation’ of the bourgeois class, as well as those people that stood in the way of the fulfillment of his Marxist dreams. This liquidation ranged from simple exile to state-sponsored murder. While attempting to keep a democratic spin on things within Russia and the Communist Party, he set up a system with a virtual dictator at the top; a system that discourage dissenting opinions and severely punished opposition. All this, he attempted to carefully cover in democratic shades. Lenin’s techniques, however questionable, appear tame next to his successor, Stalin and his own personal movement: Stalinism.
Not all of Lenin's ideas were necessarily based on a lust for power. He advanced very real ideas about communism as well. He wrote numerous works regarding the political implications of socialism and communism, public policy, as well as capitalist theory. Some of his best known works, among them Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Imperialism, study capitalism with the same scientific enthusiasm as Marx. Lenin would probably define Leninism as Marxism with a real life approach. Some would agree. Others would call it a cold, calculated dictatorship.
As could be expected, the fall of the Soviet Union was a blow to the ideology known today as Marxist-Leninism, or Bolshevism for the party Lenin was a member of. By the time of its demise though, it had ceased to be truly Leninist. Indeed the only time it could be considered even moving in the direction of Marxist-Leninism was under Lenin himself. Nearly all people and parties that refer to themselves as ‘communist’ follow, at least in part, the Marxist-Leninism persuasion. This is actually a rather significant number of people and a respectable number of parties (the Communist Party USA and the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada) following this path of socialism today. In truth, Leninism was probably meant only to be a real world application of Marxist ideas to the environment of Russia, but it has created its own school of thinking. A school of thinking still analyzed, debated, and supported today.
Sites of Interest
1. Foundations of Leninism
Though Lenin was quick to denounce those that sought to bend Marxist views to their personal perspective, he didn’t hesitate to adopt Marx's ideas for his own purposes and inject his own views. For example, he radically altered Marxist ideas about the state's role in a communist economy. While traditional Marxists felt that the state would gradually disappear as a result of the proletariat becoming the only class, eliminating all inequalities, Lenin argued that these people would need to be continually led by a vanguard party comprised of trained revolutionaries. This party, he said, would need to continue to exist throughout the socialist period of the revolution, and perhaps for a long time to come, in order to protect the newly formed 'socialist state' from its internal and external enemies. Lenin’s policies were often also more violent and sneaky than general Marxist policies. Lenin, as leader of the Communist Party, advocated the ‘liquidation’ of the bourgeois class, as well as those people that stood in the way of the fulfillment of his Marxist dreams. This liquidation ranged from simple exile to state-sponsored murder. While attempting to keep a democratic spin on things within Russia and the Communist Party, he set up a system with a virtual dictator at the top; a system that discourage dissenting opinions and severely punished opposition. All this, he attempted to carefully cover in democratic shades. Lenin’s techniques, however questionable, appear tame next to his successor, Stalin and his own personal movement: Stalinism.
Not all of Lenin's ideas were necessarily based on a lust for power. He advanced very real ideas about communism as well. He wrote numerous works regarding the political implications of socialism and communism, public policy, as well as capitalist theory. Some of his best known works, among them Imperialism: the Highest Stage of Imperialism, study capitalism with the same scientific enthusiasm as Marx. Lenin would probably define Leninism as Marxism with a real life approach. Some would agree. Others would call it a cold, calculated dictatorship.
As could be expected, the fall of the Soviet Union was a blow to the ideology known today as Marxist-Leninism, or Bolshevism for the party Lenin was a member of. By the time of its demise though, it had ceased to be truly Leninist. Indeed the only time it could be considered even moving in the direction of Marxist-Leninism was under Lenin himself. Nearly all people and parties that refer to themselves as ‘communist’ follow, at least in part, the Marxist-Leninism persuasion. This is actually a rather significant number of people and a respectable number of parties (the Communist Party USA and the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada) following this path of socialism today. In truth, Leninism was probably meant only to be a real world application of Marxist ideas to the environment of Russia, but it has created its own school of thinking. A school of thinking still analyzed, debated, and supported today.
Sites of Interest
1. Foundations of Leninism
posted by abc123 @ Tuesday, September 19, 2006
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