Marxism in Russia

Vladimir Lenin changed global history when he put German philosopher Karl Marx's theories into practice in Russia in 1922 with the creation of the world's first communist nation, the USSR. But how did it get to that point? The Tsarist autocracy had ruled Russia for 400 years, keeping Russia in a feudal stage of economic development for centuries. Let's look at how the application of Marx's political ideology helped to transform Russia into one of the leading global superpowers in the 20^th century. Buckle up comrade, this is the Marxism in Russia origin story!

Marxism Definition

Marxism is a philosophical, economic, political and social set of theories drawn from Karl Marx's writing. His most famous theory is that of economic determinism, which mapped out the creation of socialist and communist states.

Fig. 1 Portrait of Karl Marx.

Let's look in a bit more depth at how the key theory of Marxism actually worked according to the philosopher himself. Marx theorised that as societies underwent economic development, an exploitative class system also developed. Each stage was inevitable, and so it was named economic determinism. This table demonstrates how each stage unfolds:

It is important to note that Marx's theory was intended to be a philosophical theory of what a path to Communism could look like. In his other works, such as The Eighteenth Bruamire of Louis Bonaparte, Marx recognised that events could play out differently depending on specific conditions and histories.

Marxism in Russia Origin

Let's look at how the theories of Karl Marx first developed in Russia.

Feudalist Russia

At the time of Marx's activity, Russia was under the Tsarist regime of the Romanovs. This can be seen as the Feudalist stage of Marx's economic determinist stages: the Tsar owned the land and delegated it to nobility who would provide military troops whilst exploiting peasants through a system known as serfdom.

Fig. 2 Painting of Tsar Alexander II.

Despite Tsar Alexander II's Edict of Emancipation in 1861, which brought an end to serfdom in Russia and “liberated” peasants, socialists still argued that peasants had become exploited by the newly developing bourgeois landowners. Although Russia had not entered capitalist stage, the Edict had allowed all classes to own land, rather than just the nobility. This meant that wealthy citizens could purchase the land and exploit the newly emancipated peasants, replacing one exploitative class for another.

Marxist Literature

Marx's The Communist Manifesto was translated to Russian in 1869, which brought a new fervour to the socialist movement against Tsarism at the time. The supporters named themselves Marxists.

Georgy Plekhanov created the first interpretation of Russian Marxism. Originally, he had supported the Populist Socialists in Russia, known as Narodniks, who wanted to unite the peasantry to overthrow the Russian government and establish socialism in Russia based on peasant communes. After understanding Marxism, Plekhanov developed a counter group to the populists known as Liberation of Labour in 1883 whilst he was in exile in Geneva, Switzerland.

Fig. 3 Portrait of Georgy Plekhanov.

Lenin founded the St Petersburg Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class in 1895 but was arrested soon after and sent into exile. Whilst in Siberia, he sent delegates to the formation of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RSDWP) in 1898 which united a few Social Democratic groups to discuss how Marxism would be applied to Russia. However, the group lacked coordination with Lenin's physical absence.

In 1900, Plekhanov, fellow Liberation of Labour member Vladimir Lenin, and several others created the Marxist newspaper Iskra. This helped to coordinate Marxist Social Democratic organisations under the united banner of the RSDWP. At the time, the group was in opposition to the Narodniks, and believed that to achieve socialism in Russia, a bourgeois revolution was needed to industrialise and create a large proletariat to then overthrow the bourgeoisie. This followed Marx's model of economic determinism, but rather argued that the revolution must be provoked rather than allowed to occur organically.

The RSDWP held its Second Congress in London and Brussels in 1903. Lenin had returned from exile and Plekhanov travelled from his exiled home of Switzerland, both of which were delegates at the Congress. However, at this time, Lenin had begun creating his own interpretation of Russian Marxism which divided the Party over the issues of political and economic theory.

Marxism-Leninism

In 1902, Lenin released his pamphlet “What is to be done?” which outlined how he believed socialism should be achieved in Russia. Lenin gathered support for his interpretation of Russian Marxism and at the Second Congress of the RSDWP two factions formed: Lenin's Bolsheviks and Julius Martov's Mensheviks. Let's look at a brief comparison of the two parties' policies.

Lenin's new theory of combining the bourgeois and proletariat revolutions into one, carefully led revolution by militant professionals (known as the vanguard of the proletariat) earned his beliefs the name Marxism-Leninism. Lenin's interpretation differed most significantly from Marx's theory of economic determinism as Marx believed that the economy dictated the politics of society whereas Lenin advocated the idea of politics dictating the economy.

Marxism in Russian Revolution

Lenin's interpretation was popular with the radical members of the RSDWP because it was a quicker route to socialism and did not engage with the Liberals to create the inconvenient capitalist bourgeois stage.

The 1905 Russian Revolution demonstrated the failures of a Constitutional Monarchy, as the Tsar suppressed the Duma through rigging elections. This led Lenin to become more radical in his approach. The 1917 February Revolution instated the Provisional Government which constituted both Liberals and Socialists, but its reluctance to act regarding WWI and reform throughout its 7-month tenure showed how this coalition was unfavourable for the Bolsheviks and Russia. The Petrograd Soviet was formed to represent soldiers and workers. Lenin's April Theses denounced the Provisional Government and declared the slogan of “Peace, Land and Bread” to unite peasants, soldiers, and soviets to the Bolshevik cause.

Fig. 4 Poster of Lenin sweeping away monarchists and capitalists.

The Bolsheviks and Petrograd Soviet formed an alliance, as the Bolsheviks promised “All Power to the Soviets” to overthrow the bourgeois Provisional Government and allow the proletariat councils to run the government. The Bolsheviks had gained a majority within the Petrograd Soviet by September 1917, creating proletariat and military support for the Bolsheviks. The Bolshevik Revolution occurred in October 1917. The Bolsheviks and Mensheviks formally split, and Lenin led the newly established Russian Communist Party in 1918.

The Russian Civil War followed the Bolshevik Revolution as rivalling political parties fought for control of Russia. The Bolsheviks were victorious by 1921. Lenin's 1921 Decree Against Factionalism banned dissent from other political parties, enforcing the Communist dictatorship.

After the Bolshevik victory, Lenin created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics led by the Communist Party. Its political stance was a socialist nation that was guided by (Marxism-Leninism) communist ideology. The Communist Party's Central Committee led Russia through a dictatorship to enforce socialism throughout the country. Lenin had officially established Marxism in Russia.