The social and state activities of the founder of the USSR V.I. Lenin were determined by his philosophical and political convictions. The socio-political, economic and philosophical doctrine created by the leader in the development and concretization of Marxism is called Leninism. This term in the classical definition was coined by Joseph Stalin.
Historical and philosophical analysis of capitalism
In Zurich in 1916, Vladimir Ilyich wrote the essay “Imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism”, in which he took as a starting point the fact that capitalism in developed countries at the end of the 19th century passed into a special historical stage of development, called imperialism in the work. The latter is regarded as capitalism monopolistic in economic essence and “decaying”. Subsequently (in 1920), Lenin noted in the preface to other publications that imperialism is the eve of the socialist revolution. This statement was confirmed by the events of 1917 in Russia.
Many postulates of Lenin’s politics are relevant today. For example, criticism of the dictatorship of capital, in which talk about the power of the people is the most self-deception. Imperialism (that is, financial capitalism in the understanding of the leader) is a self-devouring monster. As a result of this state of affairs, all money is in the hands of bankers, and the state is forced to print unsecured banknotes. This has become the cause of the modern financial crisis. Lenin predicted this back in 1916.
Political Philosophy of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
Politics was oriented toward the elimination of all social oppression and the radical reorganization of society, the means of which the revolution was to become. Lenin summarizes the experience of previous revolutions, developing the doctrine of the dictatorship of the proletariat as a means to protect and develop the results of the coup. By politics, in general, Vladimir Ilyich understood the actions of a larger mass of people. Instead of discussing parties, he spoke specifically about the masses and groups.
The leader studied the life of various segments of the population, tried to identify the mood of social groups, the balance of power, and so on as accurately as possible. On this basis, it was possible to draw conclusions about possible practical actions and slogans. Vladimir Ilyich recognized that socialist consciousness should be brought into the working class with the help of a broad theoretical justification.
According to Lenin’s policy, power should be elected, and the work of officials and deputies should be paid at the level of wages for ordinary workers. In addition, he planned to attract the general public to public administration, which in the end should lead to the fact that the government itself would cease to be a privilege.
Socialism, Communism and the Military Dictatorship
V. I. Lenin argued that each state has a class character, everything depends only on the interests of which particular class it pursues. In a small pamphlet, “A Letter to the Workers and Peasants ...”, a political and public figure emphasizes the need for a “dictatorship of the working class”. According to Lenin, this stage is a necessary intermediate stage for building communism.
Communism is divided into two periods: socialism and precisely communism. Under socialism, there is still no abundance of goods that would satisfy the needs of all members of society. The coming of the Bolsheviks to power, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin considered as the beginning of the socialist revolution in Russia. In the speech “Tasks of Youth Unions” in 1920, the leader said that communism would be built in 1930-1940.
Attitude to the imperialist war
The First World War (according to V.I. Lenin) was imperialistic in nature and was alien to the interests of the working people. The leader insisted on the need to transform the imperialist into a civil war, that is, against his ruling stratum, as well as the need for this war to overthrow the capitalist governments.
The possibility of victory of the revolution in one country
In 1915, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin wrote that a revolution would not necessarily happen simultaneously in all states (as Marx believed). In the article “On the slogan of the United States of Europe,” the leader of the peoples argued that first the power can be changed in a separate state, and then this state will help to make a coup in other countries.
Foreign policy of Vladimir Lenin
Immediately after the Revolution, Vladimir Ilyich recognized independent Finland, and during the war he tried to reach an agreement in the Entente. In 1919, he negotiated with William Bullitt, US statesman and politician, America's first ambassador to the USSR. Lenin agreed to pay Russian debts (pre-revolutionary) in exchange for ending the intervention. A draft agreement with the countries of the Entente through joint efforts was nevertheless worked out.
In 1919 it became clear that, most likely, the world revolution would last a very long time. In foreign policy, Lenin began to adhere to a new concept. He decided to peacefully coexist with all peoples, with workers and peasants of all nations and to pit the imperialists among themselves at that time, "until we conquered the whole world."
After the Civil War, diplomatic relations were established with Finland, Mongolia, Iran, Poland, Estonia, and Turkey. The most active cooperation was with Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, which resisted European colonialism, and Germany, which became, after the defeat in the First World War, a natural ally of the USSR.
Domestic Politics and Social Transformation
Lenin's domestic policy was positively received by the workers and peasants. Vladimir Ilyich carried out a wage reform that equalized the incomes of the highest echelons of power and skilled workers, for the first time established the minimum acceptable level of wages, and limited the maximum wages of all managers. For the first time in the world, Lenin’s policy in Soviet Russia set an eight-hour working day, and all working citizens received the legal right to leave and pensions. Such a structure gave the citizens of the USSR confidence in the future, and was distinguished by openness and democracy.
The leader considered the development of education to be the most important element in building a new society. In 1918, free education for children was introduced. Such a policy led to the fact that by 1959 political opponents of the Soviet state believed that the education system of the USSR took a leading position throughout the world. In the field of healthcare, reforms were also carried out aimed at ensuring free and equal access to medicine for all citizens.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin declared equality and eliminated all class privileges. One of the conditions for career advancement was worker-peasant origin. Lenin’s policy opened up opportunities for peasants and workers to move towards status positions. It is interesting that the Soviet Union became the only state in the world in which all the leaders (except for Lenin himself) came from the bottom.
In "Diary Pages", Lenin set the main tasks of the cultural revolution. It was necessary to ensure equal conditions for the creative development of the working people, to establish a communist ideology in the minds of the population, to eliminate the backwardness and illiteracy of citizens, and to form a new socialist intelligentsia.
Politics of War Communism
War communism is Lenin's policy pursued during the years of the Civil War (1918-1921). Its characteristic features were the centralization of the economy and the nationalization of industry, the monopoly on many agricultural products, the prohibition of private trade, the equation in the distribution of basic goods, and militarization. Some historians suggest that this was an attempt to introduce communism by the command method, which the Bolsheviks refused only after a clear failure.
New Economic Policy
Lenin adopted a new economic policy in 1921, and was carried out in the 1920s. This is the practical application of all theses and ideas. The main content of the NEP is the revival of market relations, the restoration of the national economy, the introduction of private property, the replacement of the surplus appraisal with a tax, the attraction of capital from abroad, and the implementation of monetary reform. To some extent, Lenin's economic policy was a forced measure, and even improvised.
The works of the leader of the peoples
Foreign and domestic policy of Lenin was based on his views, which are reflected in the writings of the leader of the peoples.
Five collections of his works and forty “Leninist collections” were published in the Soviet Union. Many works were actively published in China in Chinese. The UNESCO ranking gives the leader’s works the seventh place in the world in the number of translations.