The Development of Capitalism in Russia
Encyclopedia
The Development of Capitalism in Russia was an early economic work by Lenin written whilst he was in exile in Siberia
. It was published in 1899 under the pseudonym of "Vladimir Ilyin It established his reputation as a major Marxist theorist. In it Lenin attacked the Populist
claim that Russia could avoid the stage of capitalism
, and that the rural commune
could serve as the basis for communism
. Instead Lenin argued that the rural communes had already been wiped out by capitalism and statistics showed the degree to which feudalism
was already dying in Russia
. Lenin noted the growth of a national market for goods in Russia replacing local markets, the tendency to grow cash crops rather than rely on subsistence agriculture and a growth of individual rather than communal property ownership. Lenin also noted the growth of class division amongst the peasants with a growing division between a landholding rural bourgeoise and a mostly landless rural proletariat recruited from a diminishing middle peasantry. Lenin saw a community of interest between rural and urban proletariat and the possibility of a worker peasant alliance against the representatives of capital.
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. It was published in 1899 under the pseudonym of "Vladimir Ilyin It established his reputation as a major Marxist theorist. In it Lenin attacked the Populist
Narodnik
Narodniks was the name for Russian socially conscious members of the middle class in the 1860s and 1870s. Their ideas and actions were known as Narodnichestvo which can be translated as "Peopleism", though is more commonly rendered "populism"...
claim that Russia could avoid the stage of capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, and that the rural commune
Obshchina
Obshchina or Mir ) or Selskoye obshestvo were peasant communities, as opposed to individual farmsteads, or khutors, in Imperial Russia. The term derives from the word о́бщий, obshchiy ....
could serve as the basis for communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. Instead Lenin argued that the rural communes had already been wiped out by capitalism and statistics showed the degree to which feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
was already dying in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Lenin noted the growth of a national market for goods in Russia replacing local markets, the tendency to grow cash crops rather than rely on subsistence agriculture and a growth of individual rather than communal property ownership. Lenin also noted the growth of class division amongst the peasants with a growing division between a landholding rural bourgeoise and a mostly landless rural proletariat recruited from a diminishing middle peasantry. Lenin saw a community of interest between rural and urban proletariat and the possibility of a worker peasant alliance against the representatives of capital.
External links
- The Development of Capitalism in Russia at the Marxist Internet Archive