Lenin, Kollontai, and the Russian Revolution, 1914–1930

Lenin's April Theses

When Vladimir Lenin returned to Saint Petersburg from his exile in Switzerland, he wrote a collection of directives intended for Bolsheviks — both those already in Russia and those returning from exile, as Lenin himself was (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). The primary tenets of the Aprelskiye Tezisy, or April Theses, as they came to be called, were as follows: the workers' councils, or soviets, were to take power — to control the state — and in the process, denounce all liberals and social democrats who were participating in the Provisional Government (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). Lenin implored the Bolsheviks not to cooperate with the government, but rather to help establish new communist policies (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). Lenin argued that rank-and-file revolutionaries had been deceived by the bourgeoisie and that "the new government, like the preceding one, is imperialistic, despite the promise of a republic — it is imperialistic through and through."

The April Theses formed the basis for a program that Lenin brought to maturity during the 1917 Russian Revolution (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). The directives were intended for a broad audience, which led to their publication — an act that served as a catalyst for the July Days uprising and eventually for the coup d'état that occurred in October 1917, placing the Bolsheviks in power of the state (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). Lenin's message to the army in the field was that the imperialist war would only come to an end "with a really democratic, non-oppressive peace" if the capital were overthrown (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). Lenin called for a "second stage" of the revolution in which the errors of the first stage would be corrected by taking power away from the bourgeoisie and placing it in the politically inexperienced "hands of the proletariat and the poorest strata of the peasantry" (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001).

The Abdication of Nicholas II

Perspective is gained by understanding that the April Theses were issued on April 4, 1917 — just one month following the February Revolution that resulted in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the collapse of Imperial Russia (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). The liberal Provisional Government under Georgy Lvov, and later Alexander Kerensky, had barely had time to consolidate itself (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). The declared intentions of the Provisional Government were to bring about political reform by establishing a democracy in which elections would be held for an executive leader and for an assembly of constituents (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001).

The path that led to Nicholas II's abdication took its clearest shape during World War I: following the Russian mobilization in August 1914, 3.3 million Russians were killed in the war (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). The High Command was widely seen as incompetent, and the losses of the Imperial Army were severe (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). In his attempts to address problems in the country, Nicholas II resorted to draconian measures; anti-Semitic pogroms, Bloody Sunday, and the violent suppression of the 1905 Revolution all scarred the Romanov dynasty (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). Nicholas blundered even in matters of ceremony, as evidenced by the mishandling of his coronation that resulted in the Khodynka Tragedy (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001).

The February Revolution was one of two revolutions to occur in Russia in 1917 (Acton et al. 1997). Lasting less than a week, it was marked by massive demonstrations that resulted in clashes with the police and the last loyal forces of the Russian monarchy (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). By the revolution's end, the forces of the Russian Army had sided with the revolutionaries (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). Nicholas II had little choice but to abdicate; he and his family were subsequently imprisoned and moved from the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo to the Governor's Mansion in Tobolsk, and finally to the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001). Committed to the Ural Soviet by the commissar Vasili Yakovlev in the spring of 1918, Nicholas II, his wife, immediate family members, and the royal entourage were all executed by Bolsheviks at Ipatiev House on the night of July 16–17, 1918 (Acton et al. 1997; Pares 2001).

Alexandra Kollontai and 'Make Way for Winged Eros'

Alexandra Kollontai was a Russian revolutionary who was initially a member of the moderate Mensheviks before joining the Bolsheviks in 1914 (Petty 2014). Her political interests centered predominantly on the concerns of working women, the solutions to which, she believed, could be found in socialism (Petty 2014). Her belief in the need for a separate women's revolutionary struggle did not sit well with members of the socialist movement, who saw it as undermining the working-class unity at the heart of the revolution (Petty 2014). Kollontai continued unabashedly, establishing the Society of Working Women's Mutual Aid club through the merger of the Menshevik and Bolshevik parties (Petty 2014).

Kollontai was opposed to the war, a position she shared with Lenin, and this shared ideology eventually led her to return to Russia (Petty 2014). It was Kollontai's strong objection to the prevailing climate of support for the war that caused her to begin corresponding with Lenin about the nature of the conflict and the response of Russian revolutionaries (Petty 2014). Kollontai returned to Russia at the time of the February Revolution of 1917, where she rejoined the Bolsheviks and was elected Commissar of Social Welfare — a role in which she could directly address requests made by women (Petty 2014).

Kollontai questioned the need for the traditional family structure, recognizing its economic basis and the ways in which the revolution would transform that dynamic (Petty 2014). Her essay Make Way for Winged Eros: A Letter to Working Youth was considered an in-depth examination of the preoccupation with sexuality and relationships that seemed at odds with the enormous amount of work to be accomplished by workers (Petty 2014). As Stalin co-opted the revolution, Kollontai lost her platform and her voice. Like so many of her contemporaries, she had believed that the revolution would — by its very rightness — resolve the intrinsic and residual problems faced by women and children, with equality achieved automatically as things fell into place (Petty 2014). In the end, she survived the purges and adjusted to her silenced voice and the endless compromises that followed (Petty 2014).