In this essay I will be going over three specific points I am required to write about that have to do with the Russian Revolution, but not the Russian Revolution itself (just to avoid any confusion).

(1) What are the primary differences between Marxism and Marxism-Leninism? Basically Marxism predicted a revolution by a proletariat, whereas Marxism-Leninism forcefully demanded of the need for leadership lead by a vanguard party of professional revolutionaries (for example: Vladimir Lenin). Marxism also predicted a short-lasting dictatorship of the proletariat, while Marxism-Leninism established a permanent dictatorship of the Communist party, in practice. Marxism also imagined a revolution of proletarians in industrialized countries, but Marxism-Leninism gave special importance to the revolutionary potential of peasants in mainly agrarian societies (for example: Russia).

(2) Historian Richard Pipes wrote, “Soviet Russia was the first society in history to outlaw law.” What did he mean by that? What he meant was Russia had accepted people becoming judges who were clearly unfit for the job. These people didn’t go to law school, they knew almost nothing of the law, these people had to just rely on their own personal morals. This decision was disastrous. This policy seemed to have outlawed the law.

(3) What was the Russian government under Lenin like? What kinds of tasks did it attempt to achieve? According to Wikipedia, the Russian government under Lenin was like “Formation. Traditionally, the executive part of a government is directed by a council of ministers nominated by a ruler or by a president. The Bolsheviks considered this to be a bourgeois institution, and wanted to create what they believed was a new government made up of a ‘soviet’ of workers and peasants.” What did Lenin want to achieve in the Russian Revolution? According to Wikipedia, “From his Marxist perspective, Lenin argued that this Russian proletariat would develop class consciousness, which would in turn lead them to violently overthrow tsarism, the aristocracy, and the bourgeoisie and to establish a proletariat state that would move toward socialism.”