'How did Lenin add to Marxism up to 1905, and with what consequences? Essay\r'

'Karl Marx was a German philosopher who wrote the Communist Manifesto, which promote workers to unite and seize power by gyration. His views became cognize as Marxism and influenced the thinking of socialists throughout Europe in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.\r\nMarx believed that history was evolving in a series of stages towards a consummate(a) posit †Communism. These stages started with Feudalism †with the aristocrats controlling politics. Next would rise capitalism †with the bourgeoisie in control of politics. Fin every(prenominal)y the â€Å"perfect state” would arrive Communism †with the working class in control of politics. Marx believed that a Communist state would come nigh in countries such as Russia that were tranquil feudal or did not have in full developed capitalistic societies. He urged the proletariat to cooperate the capitalists in revolting against the aristocrats and complete a capitalist transition and then con tinue until the proletarian rotary motion occurred leading to a communist state.\r\nVladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, also whop as Lenin, was born in 1870 in Simvrisk, Russia. Lenin had a turbulent start to his life. At the age of 17 Lenin had to deal with the fact that his brother Alexander Ulyanov was hung for plotting to butcher Tsar Alexander III. He then canvas at the University of Kazan, where he converted to Marxism, but was expelled for subversive activities. Then in 1895 Lenin was deporteed to Siberia for distributing extremist booklets. During his exile, the Russian kindly Democratic Workers Party (RSDWP) was formed in capital of Belarus in 1898. After Lenin’s return from exile in 1900, he founded a newspaper, Iskra, with Julius Tsederbaum, also cognize as Martov. The idea of the paper was to establish it as the leading underground radical paper that would push back forward the revolutionary movement.\r\nIn 1902 he print a pamphlet called ” What is to be d sensation?” This pamphlet contained his radical ideas towards the nature of a revolutionary ships company. In this pamphlet, there were three briny peaks that Lenin do in relation to the role of a revolutionary company.\r\nâ€Å"An organic law of revolutionaries must(prenominal) contain primarily and chiefly bulk whose occupation is revolutionary activity… This organisation must necessarily be not very broad, and as secret as possible.”\r\nThis idea was stating that he valued the party to consist of activists. He treasured people to go out and do something for the party kinda than sit around and do nothing to protagonist the cause of the party. This idea was later to contribute towards the ramify of the RSDWP.\r\nLenin also stated;\r\nâ€Å"The one serious organisational precept for workers in our movement must be the strictest secrecy, strictest natural selection of fragments, training of professional revolutionaries.”\r\nLenin precious th e party to be professional and didn’t want the country to know that there was a revolutionary party world constructed that was to revolt against the current government.\r\nThe ordinal major point that Lenin made in his pamphlet was;\r\nâ€Å"We must infract completely with the tradition of a purely workers or trade union type of social elected organisation down to factory groups inclusive. The factory groups or mission …… must consist of a very small number of revolutionaries, receiving direct from the committee, orders and powers to conduct the substantial social democratic party work in the factory.”\r\nThis statement tapeed that Lenin wanted to progress to a high-and-mighty party that was to take orders from the glide by and no one else. He wanted to control the party and husband it as a fully organised and fain revolutionary organisation.\r\nIn these three statements Lenin has already added to Marxism. Marx did not state what the role of the communist party would be. merely here Lenin has said what he wants the party to do and how he wants it to be controlled. Marx also did not remark on how the party would operate and how it would gain power. hither in his pamphlet Lenin has shown that he wants a absolute party that will be spiel from the top and that they will take power with a exceedingly organised and secret movement.\r\nKarl Marx never stated how and when revolution would take place. Lenin though did mention this. He made three changes to Marx’s theory.\r\n1. Revolution would be terminated by a small group of highly professional dedicated revolutionaries. They were needed to develop the revolutionary consciousness of workers and focus their attentions.\r\n2. Lenin believed that the revolution would occur during a period of conflict between capitalist powers. He accepted Trotsky’s idea that a revolution would start in an underdeveloped country on the nose bid Russia where the struggle and conf lict between proletariat and bourgeoisie was very great. This was known as the â€Å"weakest marry” theory.\r\n3. He did not think that the middle classes of Russia were healthy enough to carry out a revolution. He believed that the working class could develop a revolutionary government of its own alliance with poor peasants who had a history of mass action in Russia.\r\nThese changes show how Lenin believed in Marxism but added parts that Marx failed to mention in his theory. And so extended Marxism with his own ideas, Leninism.\r\nIn 1903 the RSDWP held it’s second sex act eventually in London, later the initial location Brussels was changed due to tutelage of persecution. In this congress four main issues were discussed. The commencement exercise was the adoption of Iskra, Lenin and Martov’s revolutionary newspaper, as the party organ. The second issue discussed was probably the most strategic of the congress. The issue was that of fractionship. Lenin ’s proposal was:\r\nâ€Å"A member of the party is one who accepts its programmes and supports it, both materially and by personal participation in one of its organisations.”\r\nLenin wanted party members that were active and actually went out and personally participated in events that would benefit the party. Whereas Martov believed that members should be:\r\nâ€Å"A member of the RSDWP is one who accepts its programme and supports it both materially and by regular co-operation under the leadership of one of its organisations”\r\nMartov believed that party members should be passive and of large quantities similar to that of governments of nowadays. He wanted members to just accept the party’s programme and support in what they do. He didn’t state that he wanted active members like Lenin.\r\nGeorge Plekhanov was the chairman of the congress as was the entirely main figure to agree with Lenin, all of the others on the Iskra tower instrument panel came down on the side of Martov, as did Trotsky. Lenin’s proposal was rejected 28 to 23 and Martov’s proposal was accepted 28 to 22.\r\nThe third issue of the Congress that was discussed was that of overseas organisations. It was decided that only the League of Revolutionary friendly Democracy should be recognised and therefore the Union of Russian Social Democrats Abroad was disfranchised. This action caused the resignation of seven members of congress, all of them being Martov supporters, and sop now allowing supporters of Lenin to be in the majority.\r\nThe fourth and final major point of the congress was that of Lenin’s proposal to reduce the members of the Iskra editorial board from six to three, and that the new party central committee have only three members. This was accepted and Lenin, Martov and Plekhanov were elected. scarce it became clear that Martov was in a minority and so rejected the offer and his supporters had nothing more to do with the el ections. At this split Lenin’s supporters were dubbed the Bolshevik’s, majority, and Martov’s the Menshevik’s, minority.\r\nThis congress shows how Lenin was adding to Marxism as he was trying to take hold the RSDWP some identity and an insight has to how he wanted it to be mellow. This was an addition to Marx, as he never mentioned how the party would be run and what the role of it would be. only these actions taken by Lenin have large consequences. His ideas clashed with that of Martov and so caused the split of the RSDWP.\r\nAnother major consequence of Lenin’s abrasive personality and wish to have the RSDWP run his way was that this split of the party was non reconcilable. Plekhanov tried to create reconciliation between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks and co-opted Mensheviks onto the now Bolshevik run Iskra board. further Lenin was having none of this. He resigned leaving Iskra to fabricate a Menshevik organ and organised the Bolsheviks as a separate faction. Trotsky who was part of Martov’s Mensheviks wrote â€Å"Our political tasks” in 1904.\r\nâ€Å"The party is replaced by the organisation of the party, the organisation by the control committee, and finally the control committee by the dictator.”\r\nTrotsky is commenting on the consequence of Lenin’s organisation of the party. He believes that Lenin’s concept of a revolutionary party would inevitably lead to dictatorship.\r\nIn conclusion Lenin’s main addition to Marxism was to give the details about the role of the party, the membership of the party and the ultimate mastermind of the party, that Marx did not give when he began his theory of Marxism. But Lenin’s additions did not come without significant consequences that would run the future of Russian politics.\r\n'