Learning History from a Leader
Lenin
This project aims to bring out the
importance of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (18701924 ) in shaping the history of both
Russia and modern world. Moreover,
it hopes to arouse students’ interest
and motivation in self-learning through
the effective use of sources in this
History project.
First of all,
Let’s have some GAMES first!
Wendy Chan F.6U (2004-05)
Game 1
Game
Time!
Who was
Lenin?
The Child on the left
was Lenin
The baby girl was
Lenin’s sister Olga
Game 2
Who
was
Lenin?
Answer:
He was the first one from the right!
Game 3
How old was Lenin?
Learning from the Past
The Man Who Changed History
Lenin
Content
Introduction:
- Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto
- Lenin: The communist believer and revolutionary leader
Second Part:
- Background of Russia under the Romanov Dynasty
- The February Revolution 1917 and the Provisional Government
- The October Revolution 1917 and the rise of Bolsheviks
- Reasons for the success of the Bolsheviks
- How Lenin changed history and his legacy
Third Part:
- How can students today learn from Lenin
- Incorporation of ”Habits of Mind’’ into this project
Acknowledgement
Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
I believe in “ The history of all society is a
history of class struggle.”
Therefore, the poor and exploited working
class (proletariat) should:
Rise up against
the capitalists
End all private ownerships
of land and industry
Karl Marx
Proletariat should rule by
dictatorship
All these were acted out
by Lenin after the
1917 October Revolution
Lenin: The Communist Believer and
Revolutionary ---- who acted out
Lenin was born into a middle class family. He received a good
education and took a bachelor of law. During his years of St.
Petersburg University, he became a Marxist and decided to work out
the doctrine. He was determined that a proletarian revolution was
indeed essential to erase the class inequalities. Therefore he started
to take part in revolutionary activities in the following years.
Lenin became the leader of the Bolsheviks in 1903, and the
Bolsheviks joined in the 1905 Revolution. Although the revolution
turned out to be a failure, he continued directing Bolshevik activities
abroad and published his ideas in Pravda.
Finally, the Bolsheviks succeeded in seizing control of the country
after the 1917 October Revolution. Thus Lenin adopted the main
principles of communism in this first communist state --- the USSR:
A state without private ownership while people were put under
central guidance; force and terror were used to silence opposition.
Russia under the Czar (king of Russia) until 1917
No real democracy
Corrupt, inefficient,
autocratic,
reactionary
Czarist government.
No freedom,
Russians
were checked
by the
Secret Police
Failures in reforms.
“Land
Hunger”
Exploitation of the working class
Defeats or humiliation
in wars or
international conference
Wars….
Poverty, hunger
Brutal repression
Witness
the Russian hardship…..
Because the Russian anger had risen to the peak……
All these hardships resulted in…….
1917 February Revolution
Aim: To overthrow the Czar and the Romanov Dynasty
Image from East and West (Macmillan)
The Czarist government was overthrown
successfully, and a new Provisional
Government was established in March 1917.
Czar Nicholas II
The Provisional Government of
Russia – A Non-Communist One
Since the Russians succeeded with
the revolution, a newly established
provisional government, ruled by the
previous members of the Duma (The
Legislature) was established.
Nonetheless, this ‘temporary’
government represented mainly the
views of the middle class and
aristocracy (the nobility). Most
importantly, the government made
several fatal mistakes:
The release of
political prisoners
(the Bolsheviks) by
the Kerensky
Government in Sept.
1917.
The government
continued Russian
warfare in World
War I.
The views
and interests
of the workers
and peasants
were ignored.
They didn’t improve
people’s livelihood;
poverty and starvation
were serious.
These mistakes were favourable factors for the rise of Lenin and the Bolsheviks!
Gaining Popular Support for
The October Revolution 1917
Since Lenin clearly saw the political
mistakes made by the Provisional
Government, he made promise to the
Russian people “Peace, Land, Bread”
in his famous April Theses in April
1917.
Lenin speaking of
April Theses
He had attracted more people to
support the Bolsheviks. However,
because the July Days riots 1917,
the Provisional Government arrested
a lot of Bolshevik figures and Lenin
had to flee to Finland for safety.
Nevertheless, an opportunity came
for Lenin after the amnesty of
political prisoners (the Bolsheviks
were imprisoned after July 1917)
proclaimed by the Provisional
Government headed by Kerensky in
Sept 1917. The Bolsheviks gradually
gained mass support. Finally, Lenin
started the October Revolution with
the well-trained and disciplined red
army headed by Trotsky.
Lenin speaking to the red troops, with Trotsky’s presence.
And Lenin Succeeded
The October Revolution
Reasons for the Success of
October Revolution 1917
Capable Leadership
of Lenin
His “Peace, Land, Bread” program
attracted the Russian mass.
The revolution was well-planned
and carefully organized by him
and Trotsky.
Lenin understood the mass
psychology of the discontented Russians
and was able to take advantage.
Weaknesses of the
Provisional Government
It failed to deal with the
social and economic problems.
It released political prisoners.
It did not have a strong army.
It lost support from peasants
and workers.
How Lenin Changed History, and
his Legacy
He set up the Comintern
(Communist International)
in 1919 to spread communism
throughout the world
Example: The founding of
the Chinese Communist
Party in 1921
His successors, Stalin and Khrushchev, had
turned many East European countries into
communist states after World War II which
brought about the Cold War:
The Communist Bloc v.s. The Capitalist Bloc
He established the first
Communist state, and
renamed Russia as “Union
of Soviet Socialist
Republic (USSR)
The communist regime established
by Lenin, erased all past
politics, history, different ideologies
and oppositions.
He even set up the first example
of a concentration camp for
political prisoners, and even,
a totalitarian state: all Russians
could survive only by obeying
the communist orders.
1
2
The first
communist state
– USSR was
established
1.China became a communist state after the establishment of PRC on 1st Oct 1949.
A group of Chinese youths looked optimistically toward the future under communist leadership .
2. Soviet Union and communist China maintained the alliance until 1960.
Mao Zedong (representing PRC) and Khrushchev (representing USSR) at a meeting in 1958 .
Communist
Bloc
( Dominating
Power :
USSR )
Capitalist
Bloc
( Dominating
Power:
USA )
The Cold War started
after World War II
The Warsaw Pact 1955
North Atlantic Treaty
Organization 1949
The communist Red Army
won the Civil War 1918-21.
How can students today learn from Lenin
The success of Lenin in
building up the first
communist state in the world
were partly due to the
favourable circumstances and
his personal qualities. His
comrades described him:
“He never imposed his views on his co-workers.
He tried to convince; he patiently explained his opinions to others”
Khrushchev, Stalin’s successor.
“The theories of Lenin are only for the preparation of his proletarian revolution.”
Trotsky, the commander of the Red Army.
“He remained a peculiarly modest figure who wore a shabby waistcoat,
worked 16-hour days and read extensively ”
Be humble to learn
Be optimistic and strong ( Lenin had
been arrested and exiled many times!)
Don’t stick to the texts.
Work out the theories!
Incorporation of “Habits of Mind’’
in this project
Evaluation
In doing this project, I think the most difficult part was the
selection of materials and how to bring out Lenin’s
importance in influencing history. Nonetheless, it was
interesting to read through different sources which would
never appear in textbooks. Moreover, it can refresh my mind
of all the lost history knowledge after the Cert Exam!
Wendy Chan F.6U (2004-2005)
Reference Book List
•
•
•
•
•
Russia and the USSR
The Russian Revolution
Russia and the USSR
East and West
Lenin for Beginners
Nelson
Thomson Learning
Heinemann
Macmillan
Writers and Readers
Acknowledgement
All material used here is intended for educational purposes. There is no
intention to reproduce material by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise) without permission of the publishers.
The images used in this presentation are taken from either the internet or
reference books.
For internet sources, the pictures are mainly extracted from:
www.cqzg.cn
www.mina.ru
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/photo/index.htm
Information about Lenin and images are drawn from reference books:
Russia and the USSR
Nelson
The Russian Revolution Thomson Learning
Russia and the USSR
Heinemann
East and West
Macmillan
Some information about Lenin is drawn from the following websites:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/
http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/lenin.html