Following the abdication of the Tsar in 1917 a provisional government was formed by the Duma parliament, including liberal Constitutional Democrats and socialists of different orientations. Lenin demanded the overthrow of the Provisional Government. By the end of October, 1917, the liberal-socialist Provisional government was overthrown in a coup by the Bolsheviks.
Vladimir Lenin rejected traditional religion, denounced liberalism, and turned toward radical, revolutionary politics with remarkable single-mindedness.
Marx’s thought was not monolithic or unchanging, and he was not always consistent, which would complicate life for those who sought to put his ideas into action. He was emphatically not a liberal. He was not concerned with democratic procedure. Rather, he was concerned with his vision of the coming crisis that would produce the perfect future.
Source credit: Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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