ICYMI: A look at the legacy of #VladimirLenin for his recent 150th anniversary, and why Lenin was not (as some modern-day socialists still think) "the good communist."
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Also, I strongly recommend the Robert Service biography of Lenin, which I'm reading now (and wish I'd had time to read before writing this piece -- some devastating stuff there). A few tidbits:
(1) Lenin himself admitted on occasion that he knew very little of the Russian people or Russian life beyond his hometown, Kazan (where he went to the university) and St. Petersburg. He showed no interest in personal interaction with actual workers or peasants.
(2) During the 1891-92 Russian famine (up to 400K dead), Lenin (then a student/revolutionary) opposed famine relief: better to "heighten contradictions of capitalism." Unlike many landowners, he refused to lower rents for tenant farmers on his family estate (yes, there was one!).
(3) As an emigre in Switzerland in the 1900s, the future "leader of the world proletariat" wrote letters home complaining how hard it is to get decent help: The maids not only want good wages but expect to be fed well!
(4) Actual conversation circa 1908:
Fellow emigre, a Socialist Revolutionary: You know, Vladimir Ilyich, the moment you have power you'll start hanging Mensheviks.
Lenin: Oh no -- first we'll hang all the SRs. Once we're done, THEN we'll get to the Mensheviks. (Hearty laugh.)
Fellow emigre, a Socialist Revolutionary: You know, Vladimir Ilyich, the moment you have power you'll start hanging Mensheviks.
Lenin: Oh no -- first we'll hang all the SRs. Once we're done, THEN we'll get to the Mensheviks. (Hearty laugh.)
