Lenin and the Russian Revolution

Lars T. Lih

The fall of the tsar in March 1917 made possible a wide-ranging struggle within Russian society that resulted eight months later in the Bolshevik Revolution. Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party, navigated his way through the choppy waters of 1917 with a set of ideas that originated from a variety of sources. One such source can be called Old Bolshevism, that is, Bolshevism as it appeared in the years between the revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914. In this earlier period, Bolshevism was primarily a Russian solution to Russian problems. A second source was the Left Zimmerwald movement, a current within European socialism that arose in 1915 as a radical response to the challenge of the war and the perceived betrayal of the majority socialists, who supported the war effort of their respective governments. Lenin was the foremost spokesman for the Left Zimmerwald ...

Users without subscription are not able to see the full content on this title. Please, subscribe or login to access all content on this website.