Overview

This book explores the development of Lenin's thinking on violence, tracing the evolution of his thinking from the late nineteenth century, showing the impact of the First World War, and examining the Bolshevik seizure of power, the subsequent strengthening of dictatorship and ""the cleansing of Russia"" during the period of the New Economic Policy in the early 1920s. It discusses Lenin's thinking on concepts such as ""militant Marxism"", ""revolutionary dictatorship"" and ""just war"", and argues against the idea that Lenin viewed violence as essential, contending that although his revolutionary ideology did legitimate violence where it was progressive and necessary, external factors, especially oppressive Tsarist rule, the bloodiness of the First World war and the vulnerability of the early Soviet state, played a significant role in the evolution of his thinking. The book also sets Lenin's thinking on violence within the wider context of the development of state violence in the early twentieth century.

Full Product Details

9780415673969

Table of Contents

Reviews

'Ryan's important book offers an excellent account of Leninism as a revolutionary doctrince that sanctifies political violence and condemns entire social categories to state-engineered extinction. Masquerading as an ideology of the oppressed, it was a secular teleology of exclusion rooted in the visceral contempt for the rule of law, liberty, property and the universality of human rights.' - Vladimir Tismaneanu, University of Maryland

""Ryan's important book offers an excellent account of Leninism as a revolutionary doctrince that sanctifies political violence and condemns entire social categories to state-engineered extinction. Masquerading as an ideology of the oppressed, it was a secular teleology of exclusion rooted in the visceral contempt for the rule of law, liberty, property and the universality of human rights."" - Vladimir Tismaneanu, University of Maryland ""Lenin’s Terror off ers a chronological narrative of Lenin’s relationship with violence from the 1890s to the 1920s, and this makes it a real contribution to the historiography—both in terms of enabling further evaluations of the infl uence of Leninism on Stalinism as well as in its own right. For scholars of political violence, to wit, it is decidedly benefi cial to fi nd contained in one volume a comprehensive overview of Lenin’s take on terror, revolution, war, and dictatorship, especially because for Lenin, depending on the circumstances, violence understood as terrorism, for example, could be properly rethought—and legitimized—as partisan or civil war."" - Claudia Verhoeven, Cornell University, Slavic Review

Ryan's important book offers an excellent account of Leninism as a revolutionary doctrince that sanctifies political violence and condemns entire social categories to state-engineered extinction. Masquerading as an ideology of the oppressed, it was a secular teleology of exclusion rooted in the visceral contempt for the rule of law, liberty, property and the universality of human rights. - Vladimir Tismaneanu, University of Maryland Lenin's Terror off ers a chronological narrative of Lenin's relationship with violence from the 1890s to the 1920s, and this makes it a real contribution to the historiography-both in terms of enabling further evaluations of the infl uence of Leninism on Stalinism as well as in its own right. For scholars of political violence, to wit, it is decidedly benefi cial to fi nd contained in one volume a comprehensive overview of Lenin's take on terror, revolution, war, and dictatorship, especially because for Lenin, depending on the circumstances, violence understood as terrorism, for example, could be properly rethought-and legitimized-as partisan or civil war. - Claudia Verhoeven, Cornell University, Slavic Review

Ryan's important book offers an excellent account of Leninism as a revolutionary doctrince that sanctifies political violence and condemns entire social categories to state-engineered extinction. Masquerading as an ideology of the oppressed, it was a secular teleology of exclusion rooted in the visceral contempt for the rule of law, liberty, property and the universality of human rights. - Vladimir Tismaneanu, University of Maryland Lenin's Terror off ers a chronological narrative of Lenin's relationship with violence from the 1890s to the 1920s, and this makes it a real contribution to the historiography-both in terms of enabling further evaluations of the infl uence of Leninism on Stalinism as well as in its own right. For scholars of political violence, to wit, it is decidedly benefi cial to fi nd contained in one volume a comprehensive overview of Lenin's take on terror, revolution, war, and dictatorship, especially because for Lenin, depending on the circumstances, violence understood as terrorism, for example, could be properly rethought-and legitimized-as partisan or civil war. - Claudia Verhoeven, Cornell University, Slavic Review

Author Information

James Ryan is an Assistant Lecturer in History at University College, Cork, Ireland.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available