Lenin and War

How important was war in Lenin’s securing and consolidation of power in the USSR.

Crisis + Opportunism = Dictatorship. This equation sums up how Lenin took control of Russia in 1917. The 2 crises’ were World War I and The Civil War and Lenin had the opportunism. He seized the opportunity in the October Revolution to establish a dictatorship. But, although these were the important ingredients, Lenin still had to hold onto power. To consolidate his position he “turned Marxism on its head.” As said. Lenin himself said, “The vacillation of the petty bourgeoisie is no accident; it is inevitable, for it logically follows from their class stand. The war crisis has strengthened the economic and political factors that are impelling the petty bourgeoisie, including the peasantry, to the left.” This shows that Lenin himself agreed that the war was the crisis that helped him to power. Lenin modified his beliefs to help him consolidate his position, as J ...