Interview with Lenin :: Russian History

Interview with Lenin Question: What were the historic events that led up to revolution, and why did you become involved in revolution? Lenin’s answer: To answer this question we have to go way back in 1812, when Napoleon came to Russia. Russian people stood up and fought against the invader by burning the villages and supplies, thus helping Czar Alexander I. After such sacrifice, people were not rewarded for their devotion to the Czar. In December of 1825 in St. Petersburg, Russia, a group of military officials staged a revolt against Tsar Nicholas I. These rebels were liberals who felt threatened by the new ruler’s conservative views. They were, however, defeated by the tsar’s forces. As a result of this revolt, Nicholas I implemented a variety of new regulations to prevent the spread of the liberal movement in Russia. My Brother - Alexander, and me, we organized the Union for the Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class. We have traveled around Europe and we saw that all Europe was changing in the direction of Democracy. Russian Social Democratic Party in Switzerland came to conclusion that Autocracy and Czars are getting old. New and radical changes were needed. Czar, Alexander III, hanged my older brother,Alexander, for an alleged plot against him. I swore on his grave that I would avenge his death. Revolutions of 1905 and World War I also played a significant role on the â€Å"My† revolution in November. Q: What is the main target you want to achieve by revolting? A: I want to make better place for regular working class people. I want to give them everything that they have wanted for so many years. I also want to end the war. The government is blind and can’t see that people don’t understand why they are fighting and losing their fathers, brothers and sons. Q: What kind of government will you set up after the revolution? A: I want to set up socialism/communism. Central to the meaning of socialism is common ownership. This means the resources of the world being owned in common by the entire global population. I want to build the society where individual don’t own anything. People own everything. Q: What is the difference between Red Army and White Army (both of them rob peasants)? A: What we are facing here is a small economic precipice.