Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known as Lenin (1870-1924), was the main architect of the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia and a tutelary figure of world communism. A man of conviction, intelligent and a fine strategist, he was able to crystallize the recriminations of his people and propose a project for a new society, before becoming the object of a true cult in socialist countries. On the other hand, his detractors attribute to him the authorship of crimes committed in the name of communism. In a more nuanced way, we can view Lenin as an incarnation of his times, at a time when the people of the world were seeking freedom from autocratic regimes. In this context, he proposes an original path towards socialism which shakes up and shapes the 20th century.e century.
Vladimir Ulyanov was born in 1870 in Simbirsk, 700 kilometers southeast of Moscow. A brilliant student, he quickly faced political tensions, since his brother was executed by the tsarist authorities in 1887 because of his militant activities. Despite this, he continued his studies and became a lawyer in the early 1890s, before also turning to political action. Committed to the Social Democratic Workers’ Party of Russia (RSDLP), Lenin settled in Saint Petersburg and began to make himself known in Marxist circles. In 1897, he was deported to Siberia, before going into exile in Switzerland and then Germany.
These years of training allowed him to study the situation in Europe and Russia, which was not very promising. The economy is increasingly dominated by cartels, while workers are harshly exploited and have their rights limited. The ambient warmongering heralds imperialist wars. Russia’s economic backwardness and its very repressive absolute monarchy add to the social asphyxiation in this country. These circumstances pushed Lenin, like thousands of others, to fight underground or in exile, preparing the offensive to break with the status quo. He specifies his positions in his brochure What to do ? (1902), which advocated the creation of a vanguard party to spread Marxism among workers and organize them in a revolutionary direction. This conception is adopted by the Bolshevik faction of the RSDLP.
In 1905, a first “revolution” took place in Russia, while the empire was weakened by its military failure in Manchuria. Lenin returned to the country to participate in the insurrection, but had to go into exile again in 1906. He continued his theoretical work and animated the Bolshevik movement from abroad, without it succeeding in imposing itself. The start of the Great War in 1914 exacerbated the anger of the people, who suffered from restrictions and conscription, until the rupture in February 1917 and the overthrow of the Tsarist regime.
Lenin then returned to Russia to lead the movement and try to take power. He advocated the abandonment of war, the transfer of power to the soviets and the redistribution of land. The professionalism of the Bolsheviks and the popularity of the proposed measures allowed them to take power in October 1917.
Lenin then devoted himself to building the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the Thirde Communist International. The civil war and foreign invasions in Russia (1917-1921) harmed the development of socialism. Some progress was made regarding workers’ rights and living conditions, but it was also a period of regime hardening. The internationalization of the revolution did not occur immediately, which isolated the country. It was in this context of mixed victory that Lenin died on January 21, 1924.
Lenin’s legacy
One hundred years after Lenin’s death, we can leave aside the “gross slanders” like the “pious nonsense” that Gérard Walter already denounced in 1950. It is rather appropriate, with hindsight, to examine the causes of his success and fame. As we know, Lenin was the theoretician of the vanguard party and the socialist state. In a blocked political context, his ideas responded to the expectations of activists wishing to organize – in Russia, Cuba or Vietnam – in order to overthrow iniquitous systems. More broadly, the communist utopia responded to a legitimate need: that of representing a society outside capitalism and its injustices.
At the edge of the 20the century, Lenin highlighted the danger of cartels and imperialist states, calling for an international struggle to counter them. He also showed, through his action, that social change was possible under any conditions, hence his subsequent popularity in Latin America, Africa and Asia during the era of decolonization. This good reputation indicates that regardless of the accusations against Lenin, he embodied and crystallized the aspirations of his people and many others. He exposed the injustices of his time with sufficient insight to serve as a model for those who suffered them.
On the other hand, it remains possible to question the dirigisme advocated by Lenin and his socialist ideal, which he was never able to apply due to the civil war and his premature death.
In the end, neither socialist hagiography nor capitalist black legend offers a satisfactory portrait of Lenin. He was a man devoted to the revolutionary cause, but inflexible, whose ideas and practices found a wide echo around the world, because they corresponded to a need for political organization and liberation. It remains relevant to ask why Lenin was so popular and whether our societies have managed to overcome the problems he denounced. Otherwise – the same causes leading to the same effects – we should not be surprised to see the specter of communism resurface.