The
Russian Revolution through the Prism of Propaganda |
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Spreading
the Revolution Abroad |
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Workers
of the World, Unite! |
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In
1916, Lenin wrote a pamphlet entitled Imperialism, the Highest Stage
of Capitalism. In this advanced stage of capitalism, “…the
partition of all the territory of the earth by the greatest capitalist
countries has been completed.” As illustrated in cartoon panel to
the left, Lenin argued that the imperialist nations' global search for
raw materials and markets provoked war that would eventually destroy the
capitalism system. The service of colonial troops in World War I (such
as soldiers from France's African colonies) exemplified Lenin's assertion
that the war was inherently imperialistic. |
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Lenin
was dismayed that workers took an active part fighting in World War I.
From his perspective, the workers were nothing but pawns of the imperialist
European states. The hopes of world revolution rested on a united proletariat,
and in World War I, the proletariat were fighting one another instead
of rising up against the capitalist exploiters. In the cartoon above,
a Lenin-like Bolshevik enlightens the proletarian soldier that his real
interest is fighting the bourgeoisie, not his fellow workers. |
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After
overthrowing the Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks' first priority
was to end Russia's involvement in World War I, and one of Lenin's first
decrees was his “Decree on Peace.” The allied powers ignored
Lenin's call to peace, so the Bolsheviks were left to negotiate a separate
peace with Germany. Confident in the immanence of world revolution, the
Bolsheviks at first used the negotiations as a pulpit from which to address
the war-weary workers of Europe. However, after German troops pushed toward
Petrograd, Lenin convinced the Central Committee to sue for peace, and
on March 3, the Germans and Bolsheviks concluded the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk,
which ceded the Baltics and much of Ukraine to Germany. |
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In
1919, the Bolsheviks established the Communist International (or ComIntern),
an organization dedicated to spreading revolution abroad. As illustrated
in the cartoon panel to the right, hopes were high that workers all over
the world would join the Bolsheviks in the battle against international
capitalism. However, such hopes faded as socialist revolutions failed
in both Germany and Hungary. Gradually, the Bolsheviks resigned themselves
that international revolution was not forthcoming, and in the late 1920s,
with Stalin's policy of “socialism in one country,” the Soviet
Union turned inward, focusing on building socialism at home, before exporting it abroad. |
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