Lenin declared that "Soviet government is many millions of times more democratic than the most democratic-bourgeois republic", the latter of which was simply "a democracy for the rich." [454] He regarded his "dictatorship of the proletariat" as democratic because, he claimed, it involved the election of representatives to the soviets, workers electing their own officials, and the regular rotation and involvement of all workers in the administration of the state. [455] Lenin's belief as to what a proletariat state should look like nevertheless deviated from that adopted by the Marxist mainstream; European Marxists like Kautsky envisioned a democratically elected parliamentary government in which the proletariat had a majority, whereas Lenin called for a strong, centralised state apparatus that excluded any input from the bourgeois. [448] Davies, Norman (2003) [1972]. White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish-Soviet War 1919–20 and 'the Miracle on the Vistula' . London: Pimlico. ISBN 978-0-7126-0694-3. In September 1918, Sovnarkom passed a decree that inaugurated the Red Terror, a system of repression orchestrated by the Cheka secret police. [260] Although sometimes described as an attempt to eliminate the entire bourgeoisie, [261] Lenin did not want to exterminate all members of this class, merely those who sought to reinstate their rule. [262] The majority of the Terror's victims were well-to-do citizens or former members of the Tsarist administration; [263] others were non-bourgeois anti-Bolsheviks and perceived social undesirables such as prostitutes. [264] The Cheka claimed the right to both sentence and execute anyone whom it deemed to be an enemy of the government, without recourse to the Revolutionary Tribunals. [265] Accordingly, throughout Soviet Russia the Cheka carried out killings, often in large numbers. [266] For example, the Petrograd Cheka executed 512 people in a few days. [267] There are no surviving records to provide an accurate figure of how many perished in the Red Terror; [268] later estimates of historians have ranged between 10,000 and 15,000, [269] and 50,000 to 140,000. [270] Fischer 1964, p.72; Rice 1990, pp.118–119; Service 2000, pp.209–211; White 2001, p.100; Read 2005, p.104.

Various biographers have stated that Lenin's writings were treated in a manner akin to holy scripture within the Soviet Union, [551] while Pipes added that "his every opinion was cited to justify one policy or another and treated as gospel." [552] Stalin systematised Leninism through a series of lectures at the Sverdlov University, which were then published as Questions of Leninism. [553] Stalin also had much of the deceased leader's writings collated and stored in a secret archive in the Marx–Engels–Lenin Institute. [554] Material such as Lenin's collection of books in Kraków was also collected from abroad for storage in the institute, often at great expense. [555] During the Soviet era, these writings were strictly controlled and very few had access. [556] All of Lenin's writings that proved useful to Stalin were published, but the others remained hidden, [557] and knowledge of both Lenin's non-Russian ancestry and his noble status was suppressed. [548] In particular, knowledge of his Jewish ancestry was suppressed until the 1980s, [558] perhaps out of Soviet antisemitism, [559] and so as not to undermine Stalin's Russification efforts, [560] and perhaps so as not to provide fuel for anti-Soviet sentiment among international antisemites. [559] After the discovery of Lenin's Jewish ancestry, this aspect was repeatedly emphasised by the Russian far-right, who claimed that his inherited Jewish genetics explained his desire to uproot traditional Russian society. [561] Under Stalin's regime, Lenin was actively portrayed as a close friend of Stalin's who had supported Stalin's bid to be the next Soviet leader. [562] During the Soviet era, five separate editions of Lenin's published works were published in Russian, the first beginning in 1920 and the last from 1958 to 1965; the fifth edition was described as "complete", but in reality, had much omitted for political expediency. [563] Commemorative one ruble coin minted in 1970 in honour of the centenary of Lenin's birth Shub 1966, pp.406–407; Leggett 1981, pp.324–325; Rice 1990, p.184; Read 2005, p.220; Ryan 2012, p.170. Pipes 1990, pp.431–434; Rice 1990, p.148; Service 2000, pp.284–285; White 2001, p.141; Read 2005, p.161.Pipes 1990, pp.422–425; Rice 1990, pp.147–148; Service 2000, pp.283–284; Read 2005, pp.158–61; White 2001, pp.140–141; Read 2005, pp.157–159.

Read, Christopher (2005). Lenin: A Revolutionary Life. Routledge Historical Biographies. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-20649-5. Main article: October Revolution Painting of Lenin in front of the Smolny Institute by Isaak Brodsky Fischer 1964, p.21; Rice 1990, p.36; Service 2000, p.86; White 2001, p.31; Read 2005, p.18; Lih 2011, p.40.Fischer 1964, p.35; Pipes 1990, p.357; Rice 1990, pp.64–69; Service 2000, pp.130–135; Rappaport 2010, pp.32–33.

To All Workers, Soldiers and Peasants. The Soviet authority will at once propose a democratic peace to all nations and an immediate armistice on all fronts. It will safeguard the transfer without compensation of all land—landlord, imperial, and monastery—to the peasants' committees; it will defend the soldiers' rights, introducing a complete democratisation of the army; it will establish workers' control over industry; it will ensure the convocation of the Constituent Assembly on the date set; it will supply the cities with bread and the villages with articles of first necessity; and it will secure to all nationalities inhabiting Russia the right of self-determination... Long live the revolution! The existence of the Soviet Republic alongside the imperialist states over the long run is unthinkable. In the end, either the one or the other will triumph. And until that end will have arrived, a series of the most terrible conflicts between the Soviet Republic and the bourgeois governments is unavoidable. This means that the ruling class, the proletariat, if it only wishes to rule and is to rule, must demonstrate this also with its military organization. Pipes 1990, p.354; Rice 1990, pp.38–39; Service 2000, pp.90–92; White 2001, p.33; Lih 2011, pp.40, 52. Volkogonov said, while renouncing Leninist ideology, that "there can scarcely have been another man in history who managed so profoundly to change so large a society on such a scale." [514] Lenin's administration laid the framework for the system of government that ruled Russia for seven decades and provided the model for later Communist-led states that came to cover a third of the inhabited world in the mid-20th century. [515] As a result, Lenin's influence was global. [516] A controversial figure, Lenin remains both reviled and revered, [449] a figure who has been both idolised and demonised. [517] Even during his lifetime, Lenin "was loved and hated, admired and scorned" by the Russian people. [518] This has extended into academic studies of Lenin and Leninism, which have often been polarised along political lines. [519]

Fischer 1964, p.35; Pipes 1990, p.357; Rice 1990, pp.66–65; White 2001, pp.55–56; Read 2005, p.43; Rappaport 2010, p.28. Lenin was a devout Marxist, [430] and believed that his interpretation of Marxism, first termed "Leninism" by Martov in 1904, [431] was the sole authentic and orthodox one. [432] According to his Marxist perspective, humanity would eventually reach pure communism, becoming a stateless, classless, egalitarian society of workers who were free from exploitation and alienation, controlled their own destiny, and abided by the rule " from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." [433] According to Volkogonov, Lenin "deeply and sincerely" believed that the path he was setting Russia on would ultimately lead to the establishment of this communist society. [434] Trofimov, Yaroslav (1 May 2022). "Russia's Occupation of Southern Ukraine Hardens, With Rubles, Russian Schools and Lenin Statues". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022 . Retrieved 4 May 2022. You must attempt first to build small bridges which shall lead to a land of small peasant holdings through State Capitalism to Socialism. Otherwise you will never lead tens of millions of people to Communism. This is what the objective forces of the development of the Revolution have taught. Fischer 1964, p.39; Rice 1990, p.82; Service 2000, pp.155–156; Read 2005, p.61; White 2001, p.64; Rappaport 2010, p.95.

Fischer 1964, p.467; Shub 1966, p.406; Volkogonov 1994, p.343; Service 2000, p.425; White 2001, p.168; Read 2005, p.220; Ryan 2012, p.154. Rice 1990, pp.34, 36–37; Service 2000, pp.55–55, 80, 88–89; White 2001, p.31; Read 2005, pp.37–38; Lih 2011, pp.34–35. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov [b] (22 April [ O.S. 10 April] 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, [c] was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. Under his administration, Russia, and later the Soviet Union, became a one-party socialist state governed by the Communist Party. Ideologically a Marxist, his developments to the ideology are called Leninism. Pipes 1990, pp.552–553; Rice 1990, p.165; Volkogonov 1994, pp.176–177; Service 2000, pp.332, 336–337; Read 2005, p.192. The bourgeoisie] practised terror against the workers, soldiers and peasants in the interests of a small group of landowners and bankers, whereas the Soviet regime applies decisive measures against landowners, plunderers and their accomplices in the interests of the workers, soldiers and peasants.

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Fischer 1964, p.647; Shub 1966, pp.434–435; Rice 1990, p.192; Volkogonov 1994, p.273; Service 2000, p.469; White 2001, pp.174–175; Read 2005, pp.278–279. Fischer 1964, pp.34–35; Rice 1990, p.64; Service 2000, pp.124–125; White 2001, p.54; Read 2005, p.43; Rappaport 2010, pp.27–28. Fischer 1964, p.158; Shub 1966, pp.301–302; Rigby 1979, p.26; Leggett 1981, p.5; Pipes 1990, pp.508, 519; Service 2000, pp.318–319; Read 2005, pp.189–190. Budgen, Sebastian; Kouvelakis, Stathis; Žižek, Slavoj (2007). Lenin Reloaded: Toward a Politics of Truth. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-3941-0.