Lenin Exhorts the Proletariat to Revolution

I found this piece really interesting. Vladimir Lenin is infamous for his speeches and writings that led the Russian people to revolution. This short post says a lot about his philosophy and what he views as a successful revolution. He prioritizes weapons remarking on several occasions to buy up pistols and shape tools into weapons. This is a strong indicator of the violence these revolutions will bring and the violence that will be caused to the Tsar and his family. He also paints quite the heroic picture of the proletariat and of the working class. By making them seem beautiful, strong and heroic he is persuading more to take up the fight. He sets them up as an example of what the proletariat of the world is and will be watching. He boldly assumes that all the world will soon follow the Russian suit.

Image result for lenin poster

One Reply to “Lenin Exhorts the Proletariat to Revolution”

  1. I agree with that. Lenin and Trostky understood very soon the importance of propaganda and were making an effective use of it, first with this kind of posters, then the Soviet Union followed this path a few years later even with cinema (especially thanks to the talented Eisenstein: “Battleship Potempkine”, “Battle on the ice”, etc.). Here we can see an effective use of symbolism (the sickle,the hammer and the red color, symbols of the proletariate revolution and of communism) and of the figure of Lenin shown as a revolutionary hero. I think we also have to keep in mind that the Russian civil war lasted long after WW1, until 1922, so the importance of convinving as many Russians as possible was crucial because the fight was fierce against the”Whites” Tsarists. Also there was indeed a global ambition for communism, especially in the context of the end of WW1, where a lot of Empires collapsed and opportunities could be taken (Communist “Spartakist” uprising in Germany lead by Rosa Luxemburg for instance…).

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