Impact of Lenin's return to Russia April 17 Flashcards
What was Karl Marx’s argument about how communism would form?
- Industrialisation had resulted in growing working class who were exploited by Bourgeoisie
- They would be removed by a revolution of the proletariat
- After revolution, socialist society emerge based on equality, evolve into communism
Define Bourgeoisie:
the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes
- karl marx meant owners of the means of production
Define Proletariat:
industrial working classes
Define Communism:
belief that private ownership should be abolished, all work and property should be shared by the community
Why did Lenin realise that an industrial working-class revolution across Russia would be impossible?
majority of Russia’s population still peasants
What did lenin argue?
revolution would need to be led by a small group of disciplined revolutionaries
What was the April thesis?
document written by Lenin with his declarations
What did the April thesis consist of?
- promised ‘Peace, Bread and Land’
- declared ‘All power to the Soviets’ ie. no faith in the PG
- designed to get support for Bolsheviks
Why was the April thesis effective at getting support from the Russian population?
- many russians opposed war - ‘peace -same side
- offered to redistribute land to peasants
- opposed PG - many russians did too
What was Lenin’s impact upon arriving from Switzerland?
- 21 April Lenin sent Bolsheviks to factories in Petrograd to gain support for strikes - remove PG
- Bolsheviks had limited impact - no mass strikes
- Many Russian Marxists believed Russia was not ready for a communist revolution in 1917
- Lenin’s leadership skills remained a threat to PG
What was the impact of the June Offensive on Bolshevik support?
- support grew after June offensive from 10’000 members - this because Bolsheviks did not collaborate with PG unlike other parties
- PG and Petrograd Soviet saw Bolsheviks as threat
