Dr. E. Girani,
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science,
Manipur College, Imphal.
V.l. Lenin, original name Vladimir llich Ulyanov a brilliant scholar, an advocate, a social engineer, a great political philosopher, a Bolshevik leader, the first world socialist builder as well as the greatest political socialist revolutionary hero of the world was born on the April 22, 1870 in the provincial city of Simbirsk which was renamed Ulyanovsk in his honour on the Volga river under the Emperor Tsar Nicholas II. There were two situations in shape for his life. The first came when Lenin was a boy and his father was threatened with early forced retirement by a suspicious government official in general and the more significant and more tragic situation came in 1887 when Lenin s older brother Alexander, a University student at the time was arrested and executed for being a part of group planning to assassinate Emperor Tsar in particular. After the tragic situation, he became the only man of his family. In fact, all of Lenin’s siblings would take part to some degree in revolutionary politics and activities. Besides he extremely soaked up and activated a hunger of knowledge and wisdom of Marxism about the writings of Marx whose famous books, Communist Manifesto, and ‘Das Kapital would have a huge impact on Lenin’s thinking so that he declared himself a Marxist in January 1887. He is generally known to the world as the architect of socialist revolution and the champion of Bolsheviks party on development of Marxism in the society during the 20th century. He published a pamphlet entitled ‘What Is To Be Done? ‘One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, The Development of Capitalism in Russia respectively for the cause of social awakening for future masses. It is highlighted about the importance of Leninism to the study of the development of Marxism in the modern context of political thought.
Lenin derived his outlook and ideology from the world events so that he opposed WW I, which began in 1914 as an imperialist conflict on the basis of market economy or liberalize economy so far. He was the first leader of the erstwhile USSR and the communist government that took over Russia in 1917 on the eve of Great October Socialist Revolution which would bring a new and better society is so called socialist society against the Russian Emperor. The real name of Lenin was Vladimir llyitch Ulinon. Lenin was merely his pen name. The most important of Lenin development of Marxism was that he adapted Marxism to Russia in practice under a well organised group of highly discipline and professional revolutionaries who must be in a position to take over the Russian Emperor. Lenin came to understand that revolution could take place in Russia if emperor rule was defeated in the war and a most disciplined and secret cadre of the communist party was ready to take the reign of the government in order to form a new socialist government in Russia. By the help of Lenin s slogan of peace, land and bread used by him to win the three years Russian civil war (1918-1921) by the support of the masses so as peace appealed to the soldiers, land to the peasants, breads to the workers respectively. Indeed his life has gone however his thought and action are existed and undergoing in the present society so that Leninism is still relevant to the modern society. In this regard his contribution to the development of Marxism was a very must significant and important to the mankind in order to make Marxism as a profound and living philosophy. It also highlighted about the importance of Leninism to the study of the development of Marxism in the modern context of political thought. Actually, Marxism is not a dogma but it is a dynamic philosophy. It is living Marxism which modifies to fit in with new conditions and problem situation. Lenin, Stalin and Mao have expanded and revised Marxism. Lenin had the task to adapt and suit the 1 Marxian thought to the living conditions of his time. He had to apply them to the conditions of Russia. Hence as a living Marxist he had to modify Marxism and give it a new orientation. The workers even in a early capitalist economy may not automatically and spontaneously possess revolutionary consciousness of socialist ideology. Instead of revolutionary consciousness they may develop trade union consciousness. So Lenin thought that some outside force is necessary to inspire the proletarian class with a socialist awareness and revolutionary spirit. The middle class intellectual leadership can inspire the workers with a burning consciousness. Lenin assigned the pivotal role to the party which can generate and spread the socialist ideology. Marx regarded it automatic and normal outcome of class struggle. The Communist Party will act as vanguard. Lenin brought Marx down to date, taking account of the further evolution of capitalism. Leninism is regarded as Marxian in the imperialist stage of the capitalist system. In the advanced stage of capitalism, there is the growth of giant monopolies. The market becomes world-wide and there is rivalry between national monopolies and international scramble for control of industrially backward area. This is the imperialist phase of capitalism which leads to war between imperialist states for the control of underdeveloped regions. War becomes the inevitable consequence of the conditions of capitalism. The war of 1914 was an imperialist war between the syndicates of German capitalists for the control and re-division of Africa. This is the beginning of the end of capitalism. The working class will overthrow capitalism and turn the imperialist war into a proletariat revolution and build up a new power of the workers against the bourgeoisie. Marx could not visualize this development of capitalism with dictatorship of finance capital. Lenin’s main addition to Marxism was to give about the role of party, the membership of the party and the ultimate aim of the party that Marx did not give when he began his theory of Marxism. Lenin’s additions came to understand with significant consequences that would affect the future of Russian Politics.
Lenin was a living Marxist and his entire outlook and approach are based on Marxism. Lenin was a living Marxist in the sense that he further contributed and added up to the theory of Marxism in the form of practical manner. This distinction and the new elements in the works of Lenin which developed Marxism are called Leninism. Some have defined Leninism as an application of Marxism to the peculiar historical situation prevailing in Russia. This is partly true. If this is wholly true then Leninism becomes only a national or a Russian phenomenon. Leninism is not a local but an international phenomenon. There is another wrong version in this context. According to some others, Marxism is said to contain a revolutionary elements. Lenin is credited with the revival of the revolutionary concept of Marxism but also developed it under the new conditions of capitalism and the proletarian class struggle. Leninism is Marxism in the period of imperialism and the proletarian revolution. Here V.l. Lenin pointed out is that it brings out the historic role of the proletariat as the builder of socialist society. Leninism was rooted under the conditions of imperialism. It was then at the point of death. So Lenin called imperialism as moribund capitalism. The first contraction is between labour and capital. The omnipotence of the monopolists and its ruthless exploitation were such that the workers were forced to wage a military revolutionary struggle, imperialism brought the working class to revolution. The second contradiction is found in the Imperialist struggle for foreign territory, for sources of raw materials. The imperialist seek re-division of the world by the new power seekers against the old power holders. This capitalist struggle leads to imperialist wars for acquiring new territories. This leads to proletarian revolution. The third contradiction is between the few ruling nations and the colonial and dependent peoples of the world. There is naked exploitation of the colonies countries. All these contradictions convert the movement in the colonial countries. All these contradictions convert the flourish capitalism into moribund capitalism. This international situation of a new character gave rise to the birth of Leninism. Lenin primarily worked in Russia and for Russia. In the era of imperialism, Lenin adopted his theory and tactics of proletarian revolution in Russia but it was Russia the land of imperialism. How could proletarian revolution take place in the capitalistically were developed country? Lenin says that all the contradictions of imperialism were focused in Russia. Czarist Russia was the land of all kinds of exploitation. It was what Lenin called military feudal imperialism.Tsarism promoted Russia nationalism by suppressing the nonRussian people and seized foreign countries by conquest. Again, it gave free entry of foreign capital which controlled the basic economy of Russia. It fought for the western powers to safeguard its profits. Hence, it acted as the watch- dog of imperialism in other words. Tsarism and western imperialism were tied together for imperialism interests. Naturally, defence of Tsarism was vital to the imperialist powers. A revolution against Tsarism was also a revolution against imperialism. The revolutionary proletarian in alliance with the peasantry took up the banner of proletarian revolution which could resolve the contradictions of imperialism. The proletarians of all the countries naturally strengthened the work of the Russian revolution. That is why Russia became the centre of Leninism. Germany for Marx and Engels became the home, for proletarian revolution. Germany was the birthplace for scientific socialism. In the 21st Century, Lenin said that Russian proletariat was the vanguard of the international revolutionary proletariat. The historical roots of Leninism are to be found in these historical developments.
The role in the country’s liberation movement, his struggle against autocratic monarchy, his pioneering work in many fields, his tireless efforts for the social transformation that caused him imprisonment and exiled in the remote area of Siberia from where he worked restlessly and broke out “The Great October Socialist Revolution by the support of peasants and workers could not be forgotten by us. Not only this, under the unavoidable circumstances, he went to Europe and other part of the world to organise and convened the message of humanism, the feeling of oneness, arousing the mass movement against the autocratic-monarchy Czar with the full spirit of integration on the foundation of his slogan, “Peace for Soldiers, “land for peasants and “breads for labour ,etc. Remembering his remarkable words, we need to respect and honour his service for the mankind forever as a socialist revolutionary. Today, he not only belongs to the Russia, but also to the entire people of the globe. Indeed, he is a leader of the masses who scarified everything for the cause of humanism, setup democratic socialism. To conclude he was regarded as the revolutionary hero as well as architect of socialist revolution in Russia, without Leninism, Marxism is not meaningful so that the philosophy of Marxism is now modified as the philosophy of Marxism-Leninism.
The first step in the shaping of world socialism was the Great October Socialist Revolution, which split the world into two social systems. Then Mongolia effected a revolutionary transition to the building of the new society. The Soviet Union was the first country to apply the Marxist-Leninist principles of relations between nations, and this laid the beginning for the formation of international relations of a new type, the experience of which was used to establish relations between socialist countries. At the close and after the Second World War chiefly on account of the victory of the Soviet Union and other progressive forces in that war socialism became a world system as a result of the socialist revolutions in a number of European and Asian countries situated in three continents- Europe, Asia and (with the victory of the Cuban revolution) America. When we study the essence and regularities of the emergence and development of the socialist world system we must, first and foremost, theoretically differentiate between the objective need for relations between the socialist states and the consciously established relations between them. Actually, both are closely interrelated. However, a clear understanding of the distinctions between these two aspects of the relations between socialist countries is vital for a scientific study and of direct practical, political importance.
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