IB History Emergence: Lenin's Methods Used to Achieve Power Notes

Lenin's Methods Used to Achieve Power

1. Vladimir Lenin emerged as one of the most significant revolutionary leaders of the twentieth century.
2. His seizure of power in October 1917 combined ideological preparation, political opportunism, and exploitation of Russia's wartime crisis.
3. This topic is central to IB History Paper 2, Topic 10: Authoritarian States (20th century).

Marxism-Leninism and Ideological Foundations

1. Karl Marx argued that capitalism would inevitably collapse through a proletarian revolution driven by class struggle.
2. Lenin adapted Marx's theory, arguing that revolution need not wait for full capitalist development - it could be accelerated by a disciplined revolutionary elite.
3. Marxism-Leninism thus combined Marx's class analysis with Lenin's emphasis on a centralised vanguard party to lead the proletariat.
4. This ideology provided the theoretical justification for the Bolsheviks' claim to power on behalf of the working class.

What Is To Be Done? (1902) and the Vanguard Party

1. In What Is To Be Done? (1902), Lenin argued workers alone could only develop trade-union consciousness - not revolutionary consciousness.
2. He proposed a vanguard party - a small, tightly organised group of professional revolutionaries to lead the masses.
3. The vanguard would operate under democratic centralism - debate internally, but enforce unified action once decisions were made.
4. This pamphlet became the organisational blueprint for the Bolshevik Party and distinguished it from other socialist movements.

The Bolshevik-Menshevik Split (1903)

1. At the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) in 1903, the party split over membership rules.
2. Lenin's faction (Bolsheviks) demanded a small, disciplined party; Martov's faction (Mensheviks) favoured a broader, inclusive membership.
3. 'Bolshevik' means majority and 'Menshevik' means minority - though the Bolsheviks were often the smaller group in practice.
4. The split gave Lenin total control over party direction, enforcing loyalty and ideological conformity.

The 1905 Revolution and Lessons Learned

1. The 1905 Revolution began with Bloody Sunday (January 1905), when troops fired on peaceful protesters in St Petersburg.
2. Workers formed soviets (elected councils) - Lenin recognised these as potential instruments of revolutionary power.
3. The Tsar survived by issuing the October Manifesto, promising civil liberties and an elected Duma, which divided the opposition.
4. Lenin concluded that the autocracy could only be toppled when the army sided with revolutionaries and when the party was better prepared.

The February Revolution and Dual Authority (1917)

1. The February Revolution (1917) overthrew Tsar Nicholas II amid food shortages, military defeats, and mass strikes.
2. Two centres of authority emerged: the Provisional Government (liberal politicians) and the Petrograd Soviet (workers' and soldiers' deputies).