УДК 93/94

EDN VXVEWO

 

Original article

 

Leninʼs Idea of a Self-Governing workersʼ State: Theory and Practice

Sukhanova N. I.

 

Abstraсt

Introduction. The evolution of the Russian system of government in the twentieth century became the object of active searches by ideologists and politicians. Ideological innovations in the formation of a new statehood, which denied previous approaches to the form of government, often reproduced in practice many features of traditional methods of forming and retaining power. In this regard, it is interesting to analyze V. I. Leninʼs views on the form of the state structure of the young Soviet state at the initial stage of its existence and their practical implementation. According to the Bolshevik leader, the transition period from the revolution in Russia to the world proletarian revolution will be associated with the formation of a system of government in the form of a commune state.

Materials and methods. The materials of the analysis were the works of V. I. Lenin devoted to the problems of the structure and functioning of the state. Reliance on the possibilities of methodological pluralism contributed to a multidimensional scientific analysis of the stated problem. The use of the problem-chronological method contributed to the identification and disclosure of the origins, content and practical implementation of this concept.

Results and discussion. The renewed attention to Leninʼs legacy, which became the basis for the formation of Soviet statehood, again attracts the attention of researchers. Meanwhile, the problem of the commune State remains beyond the scope of research. Its importance is due to the attempt to use the traditional Russian idea of communality and conciliarity in attempts to form a nationwide state. The article analyzes the reasons for the practical failure of the idea of a commune state.

Conclusion. The idealism and pragmatism of the Bolshevik leader manifested itself in the idea of the commune state. The need to conquer and retain power in a peasant country put this idea in the order of the day. The result was the active support of a significant part of the working population for the positions of the Bolsheviks. But as the new Soviet statehood was being formed, only the tactical nature of the idea of a commune state became more and more obvious. In the USSR, the system of centralized power prevailed, which corresponded to the long-standing civilizational features of Russian statehood.

Keywords: Lenin, Marx, proletarian revolution, dictatorship of the proletariat, world revolution, commune state, Soviets

For citation: Sukhanova NI. Leninʼs Idea of a Self-Governing workersʼ State: Theory and Practice. Bulletin of the Research Institute of Humanities by the Government of the Republic of Mordovia. 2024;16;(4):38—47. EDN VXVEWO

 

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The article was submitted 15.07.2024; approved after reviewing 20.08.2024; accepted for publication 27.08.2024.

 

Information about the author:

Natalya I. Sukhanova, Professor of the Department of Russian History at the State University of Education (24 Vera Voloshinoy Str., Mytishchi 141014, Russia), Doctor of Historical Sciences, Sukhanovani@rambler.ru

 

Conflict of interest: the author declares no conflict of interest.

 

The author has read and approved the final version of the manuscript.