Eshan Maitra
Lenin was the most notable influential figures of 20th century who brought the Russian Revolution and introduced communism. Forever changing the course of the history not only of the biggest nation but also of the human history. The civilizations and developments took an extraordinary turn. Was he a hero or villain?
Some say Vladimir only was rebel rouser, who succeeded in overthrowing a tyranny (Russian tsar Nicholas II in 1917) only to replace with another worst dictatorship. Though Tsar did abolish oppression of Serfdom, ownership of feudal landlords. But giving away that power to bourgeois factory owners, brought massive slavery. People worked 11 hours a day non-stop. Tsar only elected manipulative parliament, the Duma just to avoid uprising working class. Especially after WWI, Russia has seen its worse. Lenin has seen his older brother Aleksandr and many of his friends for revolutionary activities. He was always determined to bring order and stop ever repeating cycle of power-hungry rulers.
Lenin never desired any personal gain. He was even exiled in Switzerland during that time. While Duma formed an incompetent government, with the bourgeois people who already had personal conflicts amongst themselves. Without internal consensus they failed to put their newly established democracy into action. Extending the war and lack of transparency aroused the people even more. Finally, when they asked for the Bolshevik party of Lenin, to help them. Lenin knew it was necessary to take over for a moment. The government was overthrown and Soviet Union was established overnight.
It may seem Bolsheviks overused their power, when numerous different party members and supporters were executedwithout trial. Also killed any of Tsar’s blood relative, even the children. But difficult measures were taken to secure the new governmentfrom older views. Foreign Imperialist would always recognize a royal heir as the rightful ruler. That could result in all the struggles of people in vain. It was a high time, power shifted to people for once. With the Marxist views, Lenin made most harsh decisions to clean all the doubts to build a new Socialist order. A stronger nation was born under communism, after sacrificing millions through famines, repression, execution and ending of civil war.
Tragically, Lenin died very young. Before he could even warn the party about his successor, Joseph Stalin. He was too late. Unlike Lenin, Stalin was power-hungry and driven by cultic personality. That resulted in decades of misguided totalitarianism and absolute power by one. Lenin always worked hard since his student-life, he even died at his work desk. He only wanted to bring change for good. His restless efforts transformed Russia from backward underdeveloped monarchy with illiterate peasants to modern and advanced industrialized super power.