To what extent had Lenin achieved his aims both at home and abroad by 1924?
When Lenin died in February 1924, he had been the leader of the Bolshevik Party for 17
years, and of Russia for 7. However, it was only in 1917 that Lenin published his goals in his
‘April Theses’. In order to easier evaluate Lenin’s success, one can break Lenin’s aims into
four main sections: economic aims, social aims, international; aims and also the extent of his
political control. For Lenin to have completely achieved his aims, he must have completely
fulfilled all his objectives as set out within his April Theses or otherwise. For this reason,
Lenin was largely successful in achieving his aims both at home and abroad by his death in
1924.
Lenin’s economic aims involved the application of communist principles to form a
communist state. Lenin was not very successful in this regard despite the Bank Decree in
December 1917 nationalising banks and ending the flow of private capital. At the end of
Lenin’s life, the NEP was in place. The New Economic Policy was introduced in May 1921 and
was seen as an ideological retreat due to the reintroduction of private capital and
commercial trade – things that had been banned under War Communism. This represents a
failure in this aim as Lenin’s stated goal was to create a Leninist society free from capitalist
influences. However, when he died, the economy of the USSR was still operating under a
largely capitalist system with state intervention in few areas. Therefore, as Russia was not
completely Communist, Lenin cannot be seen to have fulfilled his economic goals.
Another area in which Lenin did not achieve his stated aim was his international
objective of fostering a worldwide socialist revolution. Lenin believed that it was the
Bolshevik Party’s duty to lead the revolution within Russia and felt they should act as a
catalyst to promote socialist revolutions in other countries. Lenin attempted to achieve this
aim through the creation of the Comintern in 1919 (headed by Grigorii Zinoviev). This was
an organisation dedicated to promoting Marxism and held 3 meetings before Lenin’s death.
However, by the time the third Comintern Congress was held in the summer of 1921, the
Congress was entirely composed of Russian delegates. This shows that Lenin failed to
achieve this aim too as it demonstrated the lack of international support for communist
revolutions and also diminishing support for communism abroad. Lenin therefore cannot
have been seen to be successful as not only were there no successful socialist revolutions
internationally, but support for both communism and socialism decreased during the time
the Bolshevik government was in power. Therefore, Lenin did not fulfil his international
objectives either.
Despite Lenin’s failures to achieve his international aims, he completely fulfilled his
objectives regarding political control. Lenin wanted to create a ‘dictatorship of the
proletariat’ which placed the Bolshevik Party in control of Russia. This can be seen from the
introduction of the Sovnarkom and Congress in the July 1918 Constitution. This weighted
the vote 5:1 in favour of workers – the main supporters of the Bolsheviks, and as Congress
only met at intervals the Sovnarkom (chosen by the Bolshevik Central Committee) would
govern day-to-day. This gave the Bolsheviks complete legislative power over Russia, fulfilling
Lenin’s aim of having political control over Russia. This can further be seen from the
introduction of the CHEKA in December 1917. Headed by Felix Dzerzhinsky, the CHEKA had
unlimited powers of arrest and used this to remove any political opposition the Bolsheviks
faced. This removal of opposition further demonstrates Lenin’s fulfilment of his aims of
political control as the CHEKA removed all political opposition and gave Lenin complete
political control.
Another area in which Lenin succeeded were his social aims. Lenin demanded
nationalisation of land and an end to Russia’s involvement in the First World War. He also
When Lenin died in February 1924, he had been the leader of the Bolshevik Party for 17
years, and of Russia for 7. However, it was only in 1917 that Lenin published his goals in his
‘April Theses’. In order to easier evaluate Lenin’s success, one can break Lenin’s aims into
four main sections: economic aims, social aims, international; aims and also the extent of his
political control. For Lenin to have completely achieved his aims, he must have completely
fulfilled all his objectives as set out within his April Theses or otherwise. For this reason,
Lenin was largely successful in achieving his aims both at home and abroad by his death in
1924.
Lenin’s economic aims involved the application of communist principles to form a
communist state. Lenin was not very successful in this regard despite the Bank Decree in
December 1917 nationalising banks and ending the flow of private capital. At the end of
Lenin’s life, the NEP was in place. The New Economic Policy was introduced in May 1921 and
was seen as an ideological retreat due to the reintroduction of private capital and
commercial trade – things that had been banned under War Communism. This represents a
failure in this aim as Lenin’s stated goal was to create a Leninist society free from capitalist
influences. However, when he died, the economy of the USSR was still operating under a
largely capitalist system with state intervention in few areas. Therefore, as Russia was not
completely Communist, Lenin cannot be seen to have fulfilled his economic goals.
Another area in which Lenin did not achieve his stated aim was his international
objective of fostering a worldwide socialist revolution. Lenin believed that it was the
Bolshevik Party’s duty to lead the revolution within Russia and felt they should act as a
catalyst to promote socialist revolutions in other countries. Lenin attempted to achieve this
aim through the creation of the Comintern in 1919 (headed by Grigorii Zinoviev). This was
an organisation dedicated to promoting Marxism and held 3 meetings before Lenin’s death.
However, by the time the third Comintern Congress was held in the summer of 1921, the
Congress was entirely composed of Russian delegates. This shows that Lenin failed to
achieve this aim too as it demonstrated the lack of international support for communist
revolutions and also diminishing support for communism abroad. Lenin therefore cannot
have been seen to be successful as not only were there no successful socialist revolutions
internationally, but support for both communism and socialism decreased during the time
the Bolshevik government was in power. Therefore, Lenin did not fulfil his international
objectives either.
Despite Lenin’s failures to achieve his international aims, he completely fulfilled his
objectives regarding political control. Lenin wanted to create a ‘dictatorship of the
proletariat’ which placed the Bolshevik Party in control of Russia. This can be seen from the
introduction of the Sovnarkom and Congress in the July 1918 Constitution. This weighted
the vote 5:1 in favour of workers – the main supporters of the Bolsheviks, and as Congress
only met at intervals the Sovnarkom (chosen by the Bolshevik Central Committee) would
govern day-to-day. This gave the Bolsheviks complete legislative power over Russia, fulfilling
Lenin’s aim of having political control over Russia. This can further be seen from the
introduction of the CHEKA in December 1917. Headed by Felix Dzerzhinsky, the CHEKA had
unlimited powers of arrest and used this to remove any political opposition the Bolsheviks
faced. This removal of opposition further demonstrates Lenin’s fulfilment of his aims of
political control as the CHEKA removed all political opposition and gave Lenin complete
political control.
Another area in which Lenin succeeded were his social aims. Lenin demanded
nationalisation of land and an end to Russia’s involvement in the First World War. He also
