Articles of interest

Monday, March 21, 2022

Lenin



 I decided that Lenin required a separate post. Like everyone else in Russian history, he’s complicated. He was born in 1870 to an upper middle class family and had, from the sound of it, an average upbringing. The turning point in his life was in 1887, when his older brother Alexander was executed for his participation in a plot to assassinate Czar Alexander III on the sixth anniversary of the assassination of his father, Alexander II. Vladmir Ilyich Ulyanov (his real name) turned to Socialist ideas in his desire to reform society to free the working class and peasantry from oppression. This would mean, in his view, the overthrow of the monarchy and of the nobility, and the unbridled capitalist system that legitimized them.

Lenin studied political thought, especially Marx, and developed his own philosophy based on that of Marx. In order for the revolution to succeed it needed an elite to lead it. The masses, he thought, would not overthrow oppression without strong leadership. After earning a law degree he married and moved to western Europe, living in several different countries, and continued to develop his political philosophy.

As a person, Lenin was very intense, and saw the world in black and white. There were no nuances. He was always right, and anyone who disagreed with him was wrong. This stark contrast continued once he came into power and fated many thousands to die in prison camps. If you spoke up because you disagreed with the party line you risked becoming disappeared.

Lenin had contacts in Russia and continued to monitor the political situation closely. For years he did not think that the revolution would come in his lifetime but he hoped it would.  When the country continued to unravel at a faster pace as World War I continued, it became more of a possibility that the revolution would come. When it finally came in late February, 1917 he made plans to return to Russia. He approached the German government from his home in Zurich, Switzerland and asked that he be allowed to travel by train through Germany. The German government granted his request knowing full well that he intended to foment revolution, and that a revolution would probably result in Russia’s withdrawal from the war. As it turns out, that is exactly what happened. Lenin arrived in April and was greeted as a conquering hero.

https://socialism.com
Left: 1920 Soviet poster: “Comrade Lenin Sweeps the Globe Clean” by artists Mikhail Cheremnykh and Victor Deni.

Lenin continued to work, giving speeches and helping to organize. When the time came to overthrow the provisional government he was ready with organization.

Once in power, Lenin continued to verbalize the ideals of the revolution on behalf of the people, but it soon became clear that he was intent on purging Russian society is of people who disagreed with the ideals of the revolution. He sent thousands to prison camps on very little evidence.

There are differing opinions on what brought about his death in 1924. It is factual that he had a series of strokes in 1923-1924 that left him increasingly disabled, the last one making it impossible for him to speak. The last photographs of him depict a shattered, crushed individual, blankly staring into the camera from his wheelchair. Some theorize that syphilis caused the strokes and his decline, and others assert that stress and his intense personality brought it about. He was clearly an energetic person with enormous energy, and a very forceful public speaker. I write that with trepidation. I have no admiration for him as a leader or a person.

The cult of Lenin started in 1918. On August 30, 1918 a disillusioned Bolshevik shot Lenin. He survived but carried a bullet for a few years. His survival started a cult surrounding his immortality. He didn't like it and tried to suppress it but to no avail.

The 6 kopek memorial stamp. 
He died on January 21, 1924 after a series of strokes that left him increasingly immobilized. On the day of his funeral a series of four imperforate stamps were issued, which were later issued in perforate form. Generally, an imperforate issue is easier to produce since it doesn't have to go through the extra stage of having the perforations applied. It could be produced in shorter time. The engraving design was probably already ready since those in the know knew that his death was immanent.

After his death in 1924 the party (probably not many Russians outside the party, however) mourned his death. A few memorial stamps were issued, another of which you see below from 1926. They’re typical memorial stamps from pretty much anywhere. Sometime in the 1930’s Lenin was deified, and an official cult developed around him. His body, which had been embalmed and put on public display was installed in a stone mausoleum just out side the Kremlin walls, where it still remains after nearly a century. Until the fall of the Soviet Union photographs were not allowed, but they are now. Estimates are that much of what you see now is wax rather than Lenin.

Lenin became a deity. He constantly appeared on postage stamps, posters, and in every form of public media available. A series of lavish commemorative postage stamps was issued every year on his birthday. Typical depictions showed him speaking from a podium, or in a state of deep thought. As time went on it became common to depict important scenes in his life, and various stages of his youth. I have often thought that these depictions strongly resembled Sunday school depictions of Jesus. Jesus healing people. Jesus teaching people. Jesus at prayer. Perhaps these images were based on Russian Orthodox iconography. I wouldn’t be surprised.

1970 was a big year for Lenin worship because it was the centenary of his birth. He was everywhere, perhaps even more so than normal.

For the most part the later images of Lenin are hagiographical and predictable.  After a point they were all the same.

When Anita and I and my younger son visited my daughter while she was in Ukraine in the Peace Corps about fifteen years ago we went to see the Lenin statue. It was high up on a pedestal. The larger than life figure was pointing dramatically to the sky as if leading the charge into the future. I asked her why they hadn’t removed the statue. She said that it was too expensive, and that now people just ignored it.

I really wanted a Soviet era depiction of Lenin--a Lenin "Mini Me"--and found one in an outdoor flea market in Kiev. It’s the kind of small bust that would have appeared in people’s homes, on desks at work, etc.

Lenin has been relegated to Karl Marx’s “dustbin of history.” Thankfully. He was a monster.

My Lenin "Mini Me"




1970 commemorative Lenin ruble.


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