One of the most pragmatic applications of Marxist labor theory would be strong state regulations on capitalist enterprise: requiring, for example, mandatory profit sharing or a means to include all workers in the process of management and in rights to the means of production.
By the early 20th century, the Russian economy was rapidly industrializing, which dramatically altered social structures and institutions. The Czarist regime was showing signs of wear as a burgeoning bourgeoisie was amassing considerable wealth and corresponding political clout. At the same time, factories demanded a larger labor force and recruited from rural regions. Workers who migrated either permanently or temporarily to urban centers and to centers of industry experienced a significant breakdown in traditional social structures and family life. The first stage of the Russian Revolution occurred when the Czar was overthrown to form an aristocratic government, which was soon overtaken by...
Lenin led the Bolshevik movement based on many of Marx's core tenets of socialism and a communist revolution.
However, Lenin revised Marx's theories by focusing almost exclusively on centralizing and controlling political power within a core group of dedicated communist politicians. Labor relations and empowerment took second stage to labor union as a political entity. The Bolsheviks ultimately underestimated the size and scope of Russia. Lenin assumed that a rapid revolution was the best if not the only means to instate a communist government, without accounting for how deeply entrenched Russia's social institutions had become. Stalin applied an even more rigid form of Leninism on the Russian people, ensuring a strong centralized government and generally contradicting many of Marx's original tenets related to labor and society. Like the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution occurred too rapidly and resulted in a reign of terror.
