From Narodnism to Leninism or Bolshevism: The Difficult Journey of Russian Intellectuals
March 2011
Author Wang Yang is from the Department of History, Beijing Normal University
Original source: The Contemporary World and Socialism
【Abstract】Narodnism occupies an important position in the history of Russian thought development in the 19th century. Narodnism has directly contributed to the socialist thought and movement in Russia. In the long process of political modernization thought mobilization in Russia, the mental journey of advanced Russian intellectuals experienced a difficult transition from Narodnism to Leninism. Although Plekhanov and Lenin were formerly Narodniks although they have inherited some revolutionary ideas in Narodnism later they have turned to Marxism and transcended the theories of Narodnism.
After the failure of the “Go to the People Movement”, some intellectuals enthusiastically embarked on the path of anarchism and terrorism. After the 1880s, the populists finally turned conservative and even reactionary in politics and at the end of the 19th century, the founders of Marxism in Russia tried to establish a revolutionary movement that was the opposite of Narodnism and revolutionary terrorism.
Leninism drew excellent elements from Russian cultural traditions and combined them with Marxism and as well as the most advanced Western culture of the 19th century. Leninism has enriched and developed Marxism, and has achieved the understanding of practical Marxism. Leninism opened up a brand new path of socialism for the modernization of Russia, which was in a difficult situation.
【Key words】Russia / intellectuals / Narodnism/ Leninism
The entire 19th century to the early 20th century was the most glorious period in the history of Russian thought and culture. During this hundred years of political changes and ideological advancement, socialist thought has lasted for a long time, not only influencing several generations of Russian intellectuals, but also calling for social reform movements. Berdyaev, a famous Russian philosopher who had experienced the evolution of Narodnism, Marxism and liberalism, once said: “Social issues occupy a dominant position in Russian consciousness in the 19th century. It can even be said that an important part of Russian thought in the 19th century was tinged with socialist colors.”① From Narodnism to Leninism, Russian advanced intellectuals have experienced a difficult journey of the soul.
1. The historical legacy of populist thought
Berdyaev believes that “Narodnism is a special phenomenon in Russia.”② The reason why it is called a special phenomenon is that Russia has a very special rural village community. “Village community” is the foothold for Russian Narodniks to examine the social process in Russia.
“Village community” (sometimes taken as its transliteration “Mir”) originated in the process of Russia’s transition from primitive society to feudal society. Initially, it was generally formed by the natural combination of villages or settlements that were geographically connected, had certain blood relations, and had certain economic connections. The village community was a form of self-management by farmers. The annual village assembly was its highest authority and decision-making body, which decided on land distribution, taxation, and the election of public officials. In terms of land relations, the village community implemented public ownership of land, which was regularly distributed among the members of the village community. In terms of production methods, labor combination and cooperation were implemented. In terms of identity and status, equal status and shared rights were implemented. In terms of management methods, the chain protection system was implemented. After entering the feudal society, the village community system was strengthened, and the village community became an indispensable part of the state machine.
The village community is not only a production organization and a social organization, but also a spiritual community of farmers. “This extremely closed village community system not only has a great impact on the behavior of farmers in terms of economy, but also has a profound impact on the spiritual world of farmers.” ③
In addition to relying on state laws and relevant regulations of the church, the self-management of the village community and the mutual supervision of village community members mainly rely on the village community principles and moral norms that have been formed over a long period of time, jointly created by village community members and passed down from generation to generation. Farmers call it “truth”.
Collectivism and egalitarianism were one of the most important principles and moral norms of the village community. In the process of resisting the harsh survival pressure of nature and resisting foreign invasion, the ancestors of Russia established the principles of collectivism and egalitarianism. They are both recognized principles for maintaining the internal order of the village community and good virtues that the members of the village community abide by. Although class oppression later replaced equality and mutual assistance, and private ownership replaced primitive public ownership, the spirit and principles of the village community have been preserved. This spirit of collectivism and egalitarianism was regarded as “primitive thought” by thinkers such as Herzen, that is, “In the log cabins of Russian peasants, we found economic and administrative institutions based on the common control of land and instinctive agricultural communism.” ④
Herzen was the founder of the Russian socialist movement.
The utopian socialist theory Herzen proposed was not only based on a political stance of criticizing the autocratic system and the serfdom system, but also based on the nature and historical influence of the Russian village community. Before the European Revolution in 1848, Herzen had tended to the Western European school in terms of ideology, but the outbreak of the European revolution and the development of the political situation in various countries made Herzen see “two Europes” – revolutionary Europe and bourgeois reactionary Europe.
The performance of the Western European bourgeoisie made him see the serious problems of capitalist society, and he turned to the Slav school in terms of ideology, and then to socialism. After being extremely disappointed with the development model of Western Europe, he tried to find the answer to socialism in Russian history and culture.
Herzen studied the village community and the “nature” of Russian peasants. In his book Russia in 1849, Herzen concluded: “What we call Russian socialism is this kind of socialism: it comes from the land and the peasants’ life, from every peasant actually having a piece of land, from the redistribution of land, from the village communal ownership and village communal management – and will, together with the workers’ association, welcome the kind of economic justice that socialism universally pursues and scientifically recognized.” ⑤
Herzen argued that the Russian people, first of all the Russian peasants, had prepared for socialism with their entire lives and history, because they had long been collectivists in terms of their lifestyle. Russian socialists may realize socialism faster than Western Europe, because the village communal system in Western Europe has collapsed prematurely. Russia does not have to “repeat all the roads that the West has experienced, nor does it have to step into the “criminal, blood-paved” capitalist river again. ⑥
Before the socialist movement of Marxists such as Plekhanov and Lenin, the main force of the Russian socialist movement was Narodniks. The populist leaders and their supporters inherited the “peasant revolution” theory of Herzen and others. The Narodniks argued that: “If the failure of 1848 can prove anything, it can only prove one point, that is, this attempt was a failure for Europe, but it cannot prove that it is impossible to establish other systems here, in Russia. Are the economic conditions and land conditions in Europe the same as ours? Do they have peasant villages? Can they have peasant villages? Can every peasant and every citizen of theirs become a landowner? No! But we can.” ⑦
The Narodniks argued in the “philosophy of action”, and they tried more to put the ideas of Herzen and others into practice. Since the 1870s, the Narodniks have launched a massive “Go to the People” movement. Enthusiastic revolutionary intellectuals have gone deep into rural areas across Russia and tried to incite peasant revolutions in popular language.
However, the selfless spirit of sacrifice and revolutionary suffering of the Narodniks did not arouse the response of the peasants who they argued were “born socialists”.
The majority of peasants did not understand their propaganda and even regarded them as enemies of the country. “The fate of the Narodniks in the 1870s was tragic, because they were not only persecuted by the government, but also not accepted by the people themselves.”⑧ The Narodniks “had to believe in practice that the idea that the peasants had communist instincts was naive”⑨.
After the failure of the “Go to the People Movement”, some intellectuals enthusiastically embarked on the path of anarchism and terrorism. Bakunin, the populist leader who advocated anarchism, emphasized: “In order to achieve political liberation for the people, we advocate the first complete destruction of the state and the abolition of all state systems, including all its religious, political, military-bureaucratic and non-military-bureaucratic, legal, academic, financial and economic facilities.”⑩ The Narodniks’ utopian political ideals, the idea of trying to achieve success in one battle, and the extreme personal heroism of the struggle method made them more detached from the people. At the same time, the great personal risks, the increasingly reactionary government after the terrorist activities, and the huge social turmoil caused also wore down their fighting spirit. After the 1880s, the Narodniks finally turned conservative and even reactionary in politics.
Please Download for Full Text