Question

In what ways does it appear that Lenin and the Bolsheviks differed in their ideas about ""communism"" from Marx? To what extent was Lenin’s and Trotsky’s success in bringing the Bolshevik (or communist) Party to power in Russia in 1917 the result of chance?

Answer 1

It appears as though Lenin and the Bolsheviks have different ideas about "communism" compared to Marx. To begin, Lenin's communist government is considered a realization of Marx's "dictatorship of the proletariat." In addition, the Bolshevik's changed Marx's doctrines to make them fit with the new Russian realities, which explains the difference in beliefs. Lenin insisted on a full-time, professional leadership that supervised a secret party. Unlike Marx, he believed that such a party could advance the coming of the revolution and that the peasantry could be led into revolutionary action.