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"Unless we accept the claim that Lenin's coup d'etat gavebirth to an entirely new state, and indeed to a new era inthe history of mankind, we must recognize in today's SovietUnion the old empire of the Russians -- the only empirethat survived into the mid 1980's" (Luttwak, 1).In their Communist Manifesto of 1848, Karl Marx andFriedrich Engels applied the term communism to a finalstage of socialism in which all class differences woulddisappear and humankind would live in harmony. Marx andEngels claimed to have discovered a scientific approach tosocialism based on the laws of history. They declared thatthe course of history was determined by the clash ofopposing forces rooted in the economic system and theownership of property. Just as the feudal system had givenway to capitalism, so in time capitalism would give way tosocialism. The class struggle of the future would bebetween the bourgeoisie, who were the capitalist employers,and the proletariat, who were the workers. The strugglewould end, according to Marx, in the socialist revolutionand the attainment of full communism (Groiler'sEncyclopedia).Socialism, of which "Marxism-Leninism" is a takeoff,

originated in the West. Designed in France and Germany, itwas brought into Russia in the middle of the nineteenthcentury and promptly attracted support among the country'seducated, public-minded elite, who at that time were calledintelligentsia (Pipes, 21). After Revolution broke out overEurope in 1848 the modern working class appeared on thescene as a major historical force. However, Russia remainedout of the changes that Europe was experiencing. As asocialist movement and inclination, the RussianSocial-Democratic Party continued the traditions of all theRussian Revolutions of the past, with the goal ofconquering political freedom (Daniels 7).

As early as 1894, when he was twenty-four, Lenin had becomea revolutionary agitator and a convinced Marxist. Heexhibited his new faith and his polemical talents in adiatribe of that year against the peasant-orientedsocialism of the Populists led by N.K. Mikhiaiovsky (Wren,3).While Marxism had been winning adherents among the Russianrevolutionary intelligentsia for more than a decadepreviously, a claimed Marxist party was bit organized until1898. In that year a "congress" of nine men met at Minsk toproclaim the establishment of the Russian Social DemocraticWorker's Party. The Manifesto issued in the name of the

congress after the police broke it up was drawn up by theeconomist Peter Struve, a member of the moderate "legalMarxist" group who soon afterward left the Marxist movementaltogether. The manifesto is indicative of the way Marxismwas applied to Russian conditions, and of the special rolefor the proletariat (Pipes, 11).The first true congress of the Russian Social DemocraticWorkers' Party was the Second. It convened in Brussels inthe summer of 1903, but was forced by the interference of


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the Belgian authorities to move to London, where theproceedings were concluded. The Second Congress was theoccasion for bitter wrangling among the representatives ofvarious Russian Marxist Factions, and ended in a deep splitthat was mainly caused by Lenin -- his personality, hisdrive for power in the movement, and his "hard" philosophyof the disciplined party organization. At the close of thecongress Lenin commanded a temporary majority for hisfaction and seized upon the label "Bolshevik" (Russian forMajority), while his opponents who inclined to the "soft"or more democratic position became known as the"Mensheviks" or minority (Daniels, 19).Though born only in 1879, Trotsky had gained a leadingplace among the Russian Social-Democrats by the time of theSecond party Congress in 1903. He represented ultra-radicalsentiment that could not reconcile itself to Lenin's stresson the party organization. Trotsky stayed with theMenshevik faction until he joined Lenin in 1917. From thatpoint on, he acomidated himself in large measure to Lenin'sphilosophy of party dictatorship, but his reservations cameto the surface again in the years after his fall from power(Stoessinger, 13).

In the months after the Second Congress of the SocialDemocratic Party Lenin lost his majority and beganorganizing a rebellious group of Bolsheviks. This was to bein opposition of the new majority of the congress, theMenshiviks, led by Trotsky. Twenty-two Bolsheviks,including Lenin, met in Geneva in August of 1904 to promotethe idea of the highly disciplined party and to urge thereorganization of the whole Social-Democratic movement onLeninist lines (Stoessinger, 33).The differences between Lenin and the Bogdanov group ofrevolutionary romantics came to its peak in 1909. Lenindenounced the otzovists, also known as the recallists, who

wanted to recall the Bolshevik deputies in the Duma, andthe ultimatists who demanded that the deputies take a moreradical stand -- both for their philosophical vagarieswhich he rejected as idealism, and for the utopian purismof their refusal to take tactical advantage of the Duma.The real issue was Lenin's control of the faction and theenforcement of his brand of Marxist orthodoxy. Lenindemonstrated his grip of the Bolshevik faction at a meetingin Paris of the editors of the Bolsheviks' factional paper,which had become the headquarters of the faction. Bogdanovand his followers were expelled from the Bolshevik faction,though they remained within the Social-Democratic fold(Wren, 95).

On March 8 of 1917 a severe food shortage cause riots inPetrograd. The crowds demanded food and the step down ofTsar. When the troops were called in to disperse thecrowds, they refused to fire their weapons and joined inthe rioting. The army generals reported that it would bepointless to send in any more troops, because they wouldonly join in with the other rioters. The frustrated tsarresponded by stepping down from power, ending the300-year-old Romanov dynasty (Farah, 580).


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Hostilities between the Communists and the Whites, who werethe groups opposed to the Bolsheviks, reached a deciciveclimax in 1919. Intervention by the allied powers on theside of the Whites almost brought them victory. Facing themost serious White threat led by General Denikin inSouthern Russia, Lenin appealed to his followers for asupreme effort, and threatened ruthless repression of anyopposition behind the lines. By early 1920 the principalWhite forces were defeated (Wren, 151). For three years therivalry went on with the Whites capturing areas and killinganyone suspected of Communist practices. Even though theWhites had more soldiers in their army, they were notnearly as organized nor as efficient as the Reds, andtherefore were unable to rise up (Farah, 582).Police action by the Bolsheviks to combat politicalopposition commenced with the creation of the "Cheka."Under the direction of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the Cheka becamethe prototype of totalitarian secret police systems,enjoying at critical times the right the right of unlimitedarrest and summary execution of suspects and hostages. Theprinciple of such police surveillance over the politicalleanings of the Soviet population has remained in effect

ever since, despite the varying intensity of repression andthe organizational changes of the police -- from Cheka toGPU (The State Political Administration) to NKVD (People'sCommissariat of Internal Affairs) to MVD (Ministry ofInternal Affairs) to the now well-known KGB (Committee forState Security) (Pipes, 140).Leninused his secret police in his plans to use terror toachieve his goals and as a political weapon against hisenemies. Anyone opposed to the communist state wasarrested. Many socialists who had backed Lenin's revolution

at first now had second thoughts. To escape punishment,they fled. By 1921 Lenin had strengthened his control andthe White armies and their allies had been defeated (Farah,582).Communism had now been established and Russia had become asocialist country. Russia was also given a new name: TheUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics. This in theory meantthat the means of production was in the hands of the state.The state, in turn, would build the future, classlesssociety. But still, the power was in the hands of the party(Farah, 583). The next decade was ruled by a collectivedictatorship of the top party leaders. At the top level

individuals still spoke for themselves, and considerablefreedom for factional controversy remained despite theprinciples of unity laid down in 1921.Works CitedDaniels, Robert V., A Documentary History of Communism. NewYork:

Random House Publishing, 1960.


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Farah, Mounir, The Human Experience. Columbus: Bell &Howess Co.,1990.Luttwak, Edward N., The Grand Strategy of the Soviet Union.New

York: St. Martins Press, 1983.Pipes, Richard, Survival is Not Enough. New York: S&SPublishing,

1975.Stoessinger, John G., Nations in Darkness. Boston: HowardBooks,1985.Wren, Christopher S., The End of the Line. San Francisco:

Blackhawk Publishing, 1988.

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