Lenin's Contribution to Marxism up to 1905 and the Consequences

Lenin's Contribution to Marxism up to 1905 and the Consequences

Karl Marx was a German philosopher who wrote the Communist Manifesto,

which encouraged workers to unite and seize power by revolution. His

views became known as Marxism and influenced the thinking of

socialists throughout Europe in the late nineteenth and twentieth

centuries.

Marx believed that history was evolving in a series of stages towards

a perfect state - Communism. These stages started with Feudalism -

with the aristocrats controlling politics. Next would come Capitalism

- with the bourgeoisie in control of politics. Finally the "perfect

state" would arrive Communism - with the proletariat in control of

politics. Marx believed that a Communist state would come about in

countries such as Russia that were still feudal or did not have fully

developed capitalist societies. He urged the proletariat to join the

capitalists in revolting against the aristocrats and complete a

capitalist revolution and then continue until the proletarian

revolution occurred leading to a communist state.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, also known as Lenin, was born in 1870 in

Simvrisk, Russia. Lenin had a turbulent start to his life. At the age

of 17 Lenin had to deal with the fact that his brother Alexander

Ulyanov was hung for plotting to assassinate Tsar Alexander III. He

then studied at the University of Kazan, where he converted to

Marxism, but was expelled for revolutionary activities. Then in 1895

Lenin was exiled to Siberia for distributing revolutionary pamphlets.

During his exile, the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (RSDWP)

was formed in Minsk in 1898. After Lenin's ret...

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...enshevik organ and organised the

Bolsheviks as a separate faction. Trotsky who was part of Martov's

Mensheviks wrote "Our political tasks" in 1904.

"The party is replaced by the organisation of the party, the

organisation by the control committee, and finally the control

committee by the dictator."

Trotsky is commenting on the consequence of Lenin's organisation of

the party. He believes that Lenin's concept of a revolutionary party

would inevitably lead to dictatorship.

In conclusion Lenin's main addition to Marxism was to give the details

about the role of the party, the membership of the party and the

ultimate aim of the party, that Marx did not give when he began his

theory of Marxism. But Lenin's additions did not come without

significant consequences that would affect the future of Russian

politics.