Viladimir Ilyich Lenin

VILADIMIR ILYICH LENIN (1870-1924) The founder of the modern communist party was the Russian Marxist V. I Lenin, and not Karl Marx . Viladimir Ilyich Lenin was not only a revolutionary leader of great sagacity and practical ability, but was also a writer and thinker of exceptional penetration and power. He made Marxism a practical creed in Russia. He was a rare combination of the theorist and a man of action. He had keen intellect and displayed considerable interest in the theoretical aspects of Marxian socialism, but his theoretical interests were directed the end goal of bringing about a successful socialist revolution in Russia. He was specially concerned with the period of transition from capitalism to socialism and contributed much in the theory on this subject Marx and Engels had neglected, or discussed ambiguously . Lenin’s life – long passion was to serve the people. He showed an unceasing care for the people’s welfare, a passionate devotion to the cause of the party and working class and a supreme conviction of the justice of this cause. Besides being one of the dogmatic disciples of Marx, Lenin is also regarded as one of he greatest political geniuses of modern history.

Lenin was born on April 10, 1870 in the town of Simbrisk. He came from a middle- class family, both his father and mother have been teachers with progressive ideas. Their five surviving children became revolutionaries, and Lenin’s eldest brother, Alexander was hanged at the early age of 19 for complicity in an abortive plot against Czar Alexander III. Lenin had a typical middle- class education, first attending the secondary school at Simbirsk and then the law school of the University of Kazan. Because of his early political activities and the circumstances of his brother’s execution, Lenin found himself under constant police supervision. However, the czarist police was not nearly so efficient as the later police systems of either of Lenin or Stalin, and Lenin managed to maintain political contacts and join illegal groups.

In December, 1895, Lenin was arrested in Petersburg and spent 14 months in prison. From his prison cell he guided a revolutionary organization he had formed, and he also found the time and means to write letter and pamphlets. He was able to obtain the books and magazines he needed, and he began in prison to work on the Development of Capitalism in Russia. Although in January, 1897, he was sentenced to three years exile in Siberia, he continued his political and philosophical studies there and maintained contacts with illegal revolutionary groups. In 1898 Lenin married a fellow revolutionary and their home became the head quarters for the political exiles.

After his release form Siberia in 1900, Lenin went aboard; he spent the next seventeen years with but few interruptions in various European countries, organizing from abroad the illegal revolutionary movement in Russia that was to culminate in the seizure of power in 1917, and it was liberal government that permitted him to return. In seven months he managed to overthrow the Kerensky government, only free government Russia has known in her entire history. Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik party (the forerunner of what became the Communist Party of the former Soviet Union), which came to power in October 1917 at the culmination of the Russian Revolution. The Bolsheviks were initially only one faction of the Russian Social Democratic Party. Over time, they split entirely form the parent body. The split was based upon a dispute over how a Marxist revolutionary party ought to be structured.

The important works of Lenin include What Is to Be Done (1902), Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916), State and Revolution ( 1917). According to Joseph Stalin, Leninism is Marxism of the era of imperialism and of the proletarian revolution. He brought Marxism up to date in the latest stage of capitalism and by making use of his theory of imperialism.

Theory of State and Revolution

Lenin’s most influential political work is state and Revolution (1918), written in the late summer of 1917. In the literature of Marxism and communism, State and Revolution is of immense importance. According to Lenin, the state is the product and the manifestation of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms. Though these antagonisms are irreconcilable, the state, being a capitalist organization, tries, by persuasion or compulsion to reconcile the workers to itself, thereby perpetuating their oppression and exploitation. In his State and Revolution, Lenin wrote thus: History shows that the state as a special apparatus for coercing people arose only wherever and whenever there appeared a division of society into classes, that is a division into groups of people some of whom are permanently in a position to appropriate the labour of others, where some people exploit others”.

The domination of the majority by the minority leaves little scope for justice or equality in capitalist state. All bourgeoisie democracies were, to him, dictatorships of the capitalists over the exploited workers. The state represents force and this force must be opposed by force and overpowered by the workers. Where Marx and Engels neglected the factors of political power, Lenin was keenly interested in the autonomy of the state. Lenin fully accepts the Marxian thesis that the transitional state between capitalism and communism.” can be only the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat”. He denies that capitalism and democracy always remains ”a democracy for the minority, only for the possessing classes, only for the rich” In the words of the Communist Manifesto, the executive of the modern State is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie”.

Behind the formalities of capitalist democracy, Lenin sees, in effect, the dictatorship of the bourgerisie. He also denies that the transition from capitalism to communism can be accomplished simply, smoothly, and directly, “ as the liberal professors and petty- bourgeois opportunists would have us believe. No, development- toward communism- proceeds through the dictatorship of the proletariat; it cannot be other wise, for the resistance of the capitalist exploiters cannot be broken by anyone else or in any other way. As Prof. William Ebenstein has remarked, whereas Marx had left open the possibility for peaceful social change form capitalism to socialism in politically advanced countries like England, the United State, and the Netherlands, Lenin claims that, by 1917, “this exception made by Marx is no longer valid”, because England and United States had developed bureaucratic institutions to which every thing is subordinated and which trample every thing under foot. Far from admitting that both England and the united states had moved steadily in the direction of social reform since Marx, Lenin maintains that both countries had become more repressive, authoritatian, and plutocratic in the mean time.

In the transitional  stage between capitalism  and communism the state will continue to exist, Lenin holds, because machinery for the suppression of the capitalist exploiters will still be required in the dictatorship of the proletariat. But Lenin points out that the state is already beginning to “ wither away” because the task of the majority (the defeated capitalist ) is different, in quantitative and qualitative terms, from the previous capitalist state, in which a minority( of capitalists) suppressed the majority( of the exploited). Finally, once communism is fully established, the state becomes “absolutely unnecessary, for there is no one to be suppressed- “no one” in the sense of a class, in the sense of a systematic struggle against a definite section of the population.

As soon as communism is established, the state becomes unnecessary, holds Lenin. There will be true freedom for all, and “ when freedom exists, there will be no state.” Lenin cautiously adds that he leaves the question of length of time, or “ the withering away quite open”. Without indicating the time it will take to transform the lower phase of communist society ( the dictatorship of the proletariat) into the higher phase ( the withering away of the state), Lenin describes the conditions of such transformation: “ the state will be able to wither away completely when society can apply the rule: from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs; that is when people have become so accustomed to observing the fundamental rule of social life and when their labour is so productive that they will voluntarily work according to their ability”. Lenin, like Marx, denies that the vision of a society without a machinery of force and power (the State) is utopian.

In his Thesis and Report on Bourgeois Democracy and the Dictatorship of the Prolecatiat, submitted to the first Congress of the Communist International (March 4, 1919) Lenin reiterates his belief that there is no democracy in general or dictatorship in general and that all bourgeois democracies are, in fact, dictatorships of the capitalists over the exploited masses of the people. He vehemently attacks democratic socialists who believe that there is a middle course between capitalist dictatorship and proletarian dictatorship. In his Theses on the Fundamental Tasks of the Second Congress of the Communist International (July 4, 1920), Lenin elaborates his belief in the right of the minority to lead, and rule , the majority, even after the dictatorship of the proletariat is established.

DEMOCRATIC CENTRALISM

Lenin’s Views on the role of the communist party, its organization based on the principle of democratic centralism etc are contained in his major book entitled” What is To Be Done ? published in 1902. Lenin described the communist party as the revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat , an organization consisting chiefly of persons engaged in revolutionary activities as a profession”. According to him, a political party that intends to carry out a revolution successfully must be thoroughly disciplined, alert and ably led like an army. It was an elite organization, consisting of outstanding individuals who combined the thorough understanding of the critical issues and the general aspects of the situation confronting with them, with a relentless will and capacity for deceive action. These individuals formed “ the core of revolutionary party, combining theory and practice, independence of mind with the strict discipline, freedom of discussion with a firm adherence to party line.”

Lenin’s most important theoretical contribution to the theory of Marxism is the doctrine of professional revolutionary. Lenin drew a distinction between and organization of workers and organization of revolutionaries. The former must be essentially tade union in character, as wide as possible, and as public as political condition will allow. By contrast, the organization of revolutionaries must consist exclusively of professional revolutionaries, must be small, and “ as secret as possible.” Whereas Marx assumed that the working class would inevitably develop its class consciousness in the daily struggle for its economic existence, Lenin had much less confidence in the ability of the workers to develop politically by their own effort and experience:” “Class political consciousness can be brought to the workers only from without, that is, only outside of the economic struggle, outside of the spheres of relations between workers and employers”. Lenin did not care whether the professional revolutionaries destined to lead the proletariat were of working-class origin or not, as long as the professional revolutionary did his job well. But because of the difficulties of the work to be done, Lenin insisted that the professional revolutionary must be “ no less professionally trained than the police”, and, like the police, the organization of professional revolutionaries must be highly centralized and able to supervise and control the open organizations of workers that are legally permitted.

Lenin’s views of the extreme concentration of power in the hands of a few leaders of professional revolutionaries led Trotsky in 1904 to assert that Lenin’s doctrine of the dictatorship of the proletariat really meant the dictatorship over the proletariat, and the struggle of centralism vesus democracy became one of major issues of communist party organisation before and after 1917. Trotsky also predicted in 1904 that if Lenin ever took power, ‘ the leonine head of Marx would be that first to fall under the guillotine’

Communist party is organised on the principle of democratic centralism. Democratic centralism means on the one hand, that the party is democratically organised from bottom to top. Every office bearer is elected democratically. Each organ of the party, whether the lowest cell or the highest central executive conducts its deliberations and arrives at its decision, on a democratic basis. Each party member is given freedom of speech and expression in party forums. Normally decisions are taken on the basis of majority. So the communist party is democratically organised. However, the party is centralised and in the normal course of functioning the decisions of the higher organs are binding on the lower bodies. There were a number of reasons behind Lenin’s advocacy of this kind of party structure, but they can all be reduced to the fact that he believed a social democratic structure to be incompatible with the social and political conditions of prerevolutionary Russia. To begin with the Tsarist autocracy prevented the existence of any kind of open ant regime activity. But the deeper problem was the fact that Russia was essentially an agrarian, peasant-based economy Modern industrial capitalism had yet to emerge in anything but outline form, and the Russian working class was, as a consequence, extremely small. Under these under developed conditions, Lenin believed that only a small and tightly organised group of professional revolutionaries possessing a genuine socialist consciousness would be capable of leading the workers. In turn, Lenin argued, the workers would have to pull along large elements of the peasantry in any revolutionary transformation of Russian society.

In Lenin’s political philosophy, communist party becomes a staff organization in the struggle for the proletarian class of power. He has recommended two types of unions:

1. Ideal union through the principles of Marxism and

2. Material union which was to be achieved through rigid organisation and discipline. According to him, the communist party is a part of the organisation and discipline. According to him the communist party is a part of the working class: its most progressive, most class conscious and therefore most revolutionary part. The communist party is created by means of selection of the best, most class conscious, most self- sacrificing and foresighted worker.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat

According to Marx and Engels, the dictatorship of the proletariat meant the establishment of a truly democratic state with the worker’s majority ruling over the bourgeois minority. To Lenin, the dictatorship of the proletariat meant the dictatorship over the proletariat of the communist party which was the only revolutionary party capable of crushing capitalism, establishing socialism and maintaining it. Lenin believed that the dictatorship of the communist party over the proletariat was true democracy because it was a dictatorship in the interest of the workers. Lenin believes that dictatorship of the proletariat was the instrument of the proletarian revolution, its organ and its mainstay. The object of this dictatorship is to overthrow capitalism, crush the resistance of the overthrown capitalists, consolidate the proletarian revolution and complete it to the goal of socialism Revolution can over throw the capitalists but cannot consolidate its gains and achieve socialism without the dictatorship of the proletariat. As Lenin has rightly pointed out, dictatorship of the proletariat is a persistent struggle- bloody and bloodless, violent and peaceful, military and economic, educational and administrative - against the forces and traditions of the old society i.e, the capitalist society’.

The dictatorship of the proletariat of Lenin’s conception presents certain features. It is a rule of unrestrained law and based on the superior force of the proletariat. It is not complete democracy of all. It is a democracy for the proletariat and a dictatorship against the capitalist elements. It is a special form of class alliance between the proletarian and the non- proletarian but anti- capitalist elements.

THEORY OF IMPERIALISM

Lenin’s views on imperialism are contained in his well known work. Imperialism: the Highest stage of Capitalism. He completed this work in the summer of 1916 which is regarded by the Marxists as an outstanding contribution to the treasure store of creative Marxism, In this book Lenin made a comprehensive and detailed investigation of imperialism. He traces the development of world capitalism over the course of half a century after the publication of Marx’s Das Capital. The outbreak of the first world turned Lenin’s attention more definitely towards international affairs and led to the formulation of his theory of imperialist war and of communism in the imperialist state of capitalism. Basing himself of the laws of the emergence, development and decline of capitalism, Lenin was the first to give a profound and scientific analysis of the economic and political substance of imperialism.

Lenin maintained that the lower middle classes and the skilled workmen of advanced industrial countries were saved from the increasing misery which Marx had foretold for them only because of the colonial territories which their countries dominated. Their relationship to colonial peoples was the relationship between capitalists and proletariat. This stage of imperialism, Lenin asserted, was in no sense a contradiction of Marx’s teaching but a fulfillment of it, even though Marx himself had not sufficiently foreseen it. As capitalism develops, Lenin says, unit of industrial production grow bigger and combine in trusts and cartals to produce monopoly –finance capitalism is aggressively expansionist. Its characteristic expert is, capital , and its consequences are threefold: it results in the exploitation of colonial peoples, whom it subjects to the capitalist law of increasing misery and whose liberty it destroys. It produces war between the nations, since it substitutes international competition for competitions inside the nation, and in the clash of combines and powers seeking markets and territory war becomes inevitable. And ultimately it brings about the end of capitalism and the emergence of the new order, since with the arming and military training of the worker’s war which begin as national wars will end as class wars.

According to Lenin, imperialism is moribund capitalism, containing a number of contradictions which ultimately destroys capitalism itself There is firstly the contradiction or antagonism between capital and labour. Capital exploits labour and brings the exploited workers to revolution. Secondly, there is contradiction between capital and labour. Capital exploits labour and brings the exploited workers to revolution. Secondly, there is contradiction between various imperialist powers and industrial combines for new territories, new markets and sources of raw materials. Finally, there is also the contradiction between the colonial powers and the dependent colonial people which arouses revolutionary outlook and spirit among the latter as happened in India and other countries. Imperialism, thus, creates conditions favourable to the destruction of capitalism by promoting class and international conflicts and revolutionary outlook among the proletariat. Lenin’s scientific analysis of the contradictions of capitalism as its last stage brought him round to the conclusion that imperialism is the eve of the socialist revolution. The revolution of transition to socialism has now become a vital necessity.

On the basis of his own study of imperialism, Lenin further developed the Marxist theory of socialist revolution, its contents, its motive forces and conditions and forms of development. He proved that the war had accelerated the growth of the requisites for revolution and that as a whole world capitalist system had matured for the transition to socialism. Lenin’s capitalist socialism thus supplied him an additional justification for the revolutionary tactics which he had always advocated.

Assessment

Lenin was a follower of Marx and was highly critical of revisionism of his day. He was, however, compelled by the circumstances to interpret Marxism in such a way as to merit the characterisation of his own breed of Marxism as “ inverted Marxism” . Lenin’s assertion that revolution could be and should be precipitated by professional revolutionaries was against the Marxian dialectic process. His emphasis on the potency of revolutionary ideas and ideology went counter to Marx with whom ideas merely reflected but did not create material conditions. Lenin differed from Marx in his conception of the dictatorship of the proletariat. To Lenin, this meant the dictatorship of the communist party over the proletariat; to Marx it had meant role by a proletarian majority and not by a communist party minority.

Lenin was a great leader of  practical wisdom. As a great  organiser, agitator and revolutionary, Lenin occupies a prominent  place in the theory and practice of socialism. He made Marxism upto date in the light of certain needs and developments which Marx had not anticipated Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik party( The forerunner of what became the communist party of the former Soviet Union), which came to power in October 1917 at the culmination of the Russian Revolution. He saw the communist party as the main source of revolutionary consciousness destined to save the proletariat from the trade union mindset. It is beyond dispute that Lenin’s formulas remained the formulas of Marx; the meaning of Leninism departed widely from the meaning of Marxism. Leninism is the theory and tactics of proletarian revolution and dictatorship of the proletariat.