To what extent did the revolutionaries create a new society?

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In the case of Russia, the revolutionaries who attempted to create a new society were the Bolsheviks leaded by Lenin after the October Revolution in 1917. After the seizure of power, Lenin and the Bolsheviks created a new society in Russia to a large extent. They moved to eradicate the old order and all the old vestiges of the pre-October 1917 society and replace them with a new one, despite minor residue of the old order. The creation of a new society was mainly revealed in the removal of bourgeoisie’s privilege and degrading the bourgeois class to workers’ and peasants’ class. It was also reflected by the justification and legitimisation of looting and plundering bourgeois property. The separation of the Church and the State, as well as the creation of a new legal system comprising the People’s Court, the Revolutionary Tribunal and the Cheka, also signified the creation of a new society.

First and foremost, the most standing characteristic of the new society created by Lenin and the Bolsheviks was the removal of bourgeoisie’s privilege and the transformation of bourgeois into “good peasants”. The propertied classes became known as the “former people” while comrade and citizen became the common prefix to a name. The term “burzhooi” emerged to become a term of abuse against landowners, priests, judges and officers. Lenin, the Bolsheviks and the popular press even expanded the definition of “burzhooi” and “former people” to include all the old vestiges of the pre-October society. They indoctrinated the Russian people with this imagery and propaganda on a large scale to create a massive force from the people to help wipe out the old order.

Instead of merely wiping out the old order, Lenin and the Bolsheviks also created a new ...

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...out counter-revolutionaries in time of a crisis, also raged a war of terror against the bourgeoisie. Along with the secret police, the Cheka, Lenin and the Bolsheviks successfully tapped into the base elements of the workers, peasants and soldiers and created an unprecedented atmosphere of revenge and retribution that was considered both justified and lawful, which was another characteristic of the new society.

In conclusion, despite the Gentry’s keeping of former estates, Lenin and the Bolsheviks created a new society to a large extent after the October Revolution in 1917. The post October 1917 society can be regarded as radically and thoroughly transformed by the Bolsheviks, taking the removal of bourgeoisie’s privilege, the separation of Church and State, and the emergence of a new form of social justice supported by an anti-bourgeois legal system into account.

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