Lenin

by Victor Sebestyen

  Her declining years were sad. She continued to live in the Kremlin, sharing an apartment with Maria, who predeceased her by two years, but in a different apartment, further away from the government offices. After she failed to get Lenin’s Testament circulated she continued to work at the Enlightenment Commissariat for four years, ridding Russia’s libraries of dangerous books, such as those of Kant and Spengler.

  She became a puppet of Stalin, whom she had always hated. She was told that she of all people with her devotion to the cause, and to the legacy of her husband, should think of Party loyalty first, and Stalin was the unchallenged leader. During the purges in the 1930s she was fond of saying, ‘if Volodya was alive now…he’d be in prison’, but that was as far as her dissent took her.

  She knew what her husband’s view of the mausoleum would have been and she would occasionally remind people of the opening passages of The State and Revolution: ‘During the lifetimes of great revolutionaries, the oppressive classes constantly hounded them and…treated them with the most furious hatred, the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander. After their deaths attempts are made to convert them into harmless icons, as it were to canonise them, and surround their names with a certain halo…with the object of duping the masses, while at the same time emasculating and blunting the real essence of their revolutionary teachings, reducing them to vulgarity.’

  —

  For the Kremlin magnates the embalmed body and the overblown Lenin cult sent various messages beyond the bizarre fusion of religious and political ritual. Lenin was acclaimed as a secular saint, whom it was the people’s duty to worship. But the crypt in Red Square was not merely a shrine. It was a physical reminder that even after Lenin’s death Russians were not free of him. They would still be required to obey his commandments – through his anointed successors.

  The wooden mausoleum was replaced in 1930 by the marble and granite building that remains a hundred years after Lenin’s Revolution. It was his old friend Leonid Krasin who devised the idea of including a podium from which, on the high days and holidays of the Soviet Union, the next generations of Communist tsars addressed the masses. An estimated twenty million people visited the mausoleum and saw the embalmed, eerily wax-like Lenin in the eighty-five years after the crypt was opened for tourists.

  The Soviet chieftains who succeeded him believed that Lenin’s achievements legitimised their rule. A century later Lenin was used by a new breed of autocrats, extreme nationalists who may have dispensed with Communism but nevertheless respected Lenin as a strongman in the Russian tradition.

  *1 The full title is the Commission for the Immortalisation of the Memory of V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin).

  *2 The contents of the Testament appeared in the New York Times in 1926. It was suggested at the time that Nadya may have leaked it out, but this theory has been discounted. In Russia details did not appear until 1956, at the ‘secret speech’ by Nikita Khrushchev that denounced Stalin.

  *3 It was never clear whether their families approved, or even knew that their loved ones’ brains were being used for this purpose.

  *4 The curious thing about Lenin’s brain was just how diseased it was. The artist Yuri Annenkov, invited a few months after Lenin’s death to select photographs and drawings for a memorial volume, was shown a glass jar. ‘In it was Lenin’s brain preserved in alcohol. One hemisphere was healthy and full-sized, with clearly defined convolutions. The other, which hung as it were with a ribbon, was wrinkled, crumpled, crushed and no larger than a walnut.’

  *5 Over the last ninety years many hundreds of scientists have worked on Lenin’s body, which needs constant maintenance. In 2016 there were a dozen employed part-time, and three or four full-time, responsible for maintaining Lenin’s body as part shrine, part tourist trap.

  Principal Characters

  Antonov-Ovseyenko, Vladimir (1884–1939)

  First World War officer in Tsarist army who threw in his lot with Lenin. One of the military planners of the Bolshevik coup. He led the Red Guards who entered the Winter Palace at the climax of the Revolution and arrested the surviving members of the Provisional Government. Later became one of Lenin’s most ruthless hatchet men, suppressing revolts by peasants in 1920–21. Was shot following a show trial during Stalin’s Great Purge.

  Armand, Inessa (1874–1920)

  One of the best-known Bolshevik feminists until Lenin’s death, when she was written out of the official Soviet histories because of her relationship with Lenin. She was his mistress in an on-off love affair – and a close working relationship – that continued from 1910 until she died. The only time Lenin was seen to break down in public was at her funeral. She had four children by her husband, whom she had left for her brother-in-law. Was on the ‘sealed train’ from Zurich to Petrograd in 1917. After she died, Lenin and his wife became guardians of Inessa’s daughters Inna and Varvara.

  Balabanova, Angelica (1878–1965)

  Bolshevik supporter and admirer of Lenin, who grew disenchanted with him. In exile together during the 1900s. After the Revolution she was the first Secretary of the Communist International (Comintern), established to encourage Communist Parties throughout the world and plot Marxist revolutions. Wrote one of the first (and best) accounts of Lenin and his character.

  Bogdanov, Alexander (1873–1928)

  Doctor, philosopher, journalist and early Marxist. Supported Lenin in the Bolshevik-Menshevik split, but broke with him over philosophical disputes about religion. Lenin in the early 1900s saw him as a rival leader of the Bolsheviks and expelled him from the Party. Opposed the 1917 Revolution, but took senior posts afterwards in the arts establishment and medicine. Founded the Soviet Blood Transfusion Service; died following a medical experiment on himself.

  Bonch-Bruevich, Vladimir (1873–1955)

  Bolshevik activist in Petrograd and an old friend of Lenin’s family. A publisher until the Revolution, when he became Lenin’s personal secretary and head of his private office until 1920. Thereafter an official at the Soviet Academy of Science, and Director of the State Literary Museum.

  Bukharin, Nikolai (1888–1938)

  Bolshevik activist and the leading Communist ideologist after Lenin, who mentored him as a gifted journalist and speaker. Took a series of leading positions in the Communist Party after the Revolution, including editor of the Party newspaper Pravda for many years. The last of the Soviet magnates to see Lenin, whom he visited on the day of his death. Fell out with Stalin in the 1930s, tried and shot in the purges.

  Chernyshevsky, Nikolai (1828–1889)

  Writer and political activist who spent twenty-five years in jail, penal servitude and Siberian exile. Lenin’s literary hero. Lenin admitted that Chernyshevsky’s novel What Is to Be Done?, written when he was in prison, was as big an influence on his socialist politics as any of the works by Marx. Lenin carried a picture of Chernyshevsky in his wallet for most of his adult life.

  Dzerzhinsky, Felix (1877–1926)

  The first head of the Cheka, the Communist Party’s secret police, which later morphed into the NKVD and eventually the KGB. An extreme ascetic. Offspring of minor Polish nobility, he was known as the Iron Count or Iron Felix. Spent years in Tsarist jails for offences ranging from speaking Polish at school to forming a Communist Party in Poland. Tortured severely and lived with scarring on his ankles and wrists. Established the Cheka as the ‘sword and shield’ of the Communist Party, operating outside the law from the first and answerable only to Lenin.

  Fotieva, Lidia (1881–1975)

  Bolshevik exile with Lenin in Paris and Switzerland in the 1900s. Lenin’s private secretary in Petrograd after the Revolution and in Moscow later. Wrote extensively about Lenin’s life and working habits and worked in the Lenin Museum from the 1930s.

  Gorky, Maxim (real name Alexei Peshkov, 1868–1936)

  Playwright, novelist, socialist political activist. Became the best-known writer – and the highest-paid – for his books on his orphaned childhood and life in extreme p
overty. Exiled after the failed Revolution of 1905, lived in Capri and the US. A supporter and generous financial backer of Lenin and the Bolsheviks. A severe critic of Lenin after the Revolution, though he remained a personal friend. Helped many writers and artists who faced persecution. Left Russia but returned under Stalin’s dictatorship.

  Kamenev, Lev (real name Lev Rozenfeld, 1883–1936)

  Revolutionary conspirator with Lenin for many years in exile. Married to Trotsky’s sister, Olga. Opposed the Bolshevik coup but took senior positions in the Party after the Revolution. Lenin sent him on a series of personal ultra-secret and diplomatic missions after the coup. One of the ‘troika’ – with Stalin and Zinoviev – who took power after Lenin’s health collapsed in 1922. Stalin had him purged in a show trial and executed.

  Kerensky, Alexander (1881–1970)

  Lawyer, journalist, moderate socialist. A famously melodramatic orator who attracted huge crowds to his speeches. The leading figure in the Provisional Government that took power in Russia after the February 1917 Revolution and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, but proved a weak and indecisive Prime Minister. Overthrown by Lenin in the October Revolution. Exiled to France and then the US, where he spent the last four decades of his life.

  Kollontai, Alexandra (1872–1952)

  Revolutionary feminist whose first campaign was for education of women workers. Talented novelist and author. In exile the leading Bolshevik in Scandinavia, trusted by Lenin. Rival of Inessa Armand as feminist propagandist. After Revolution, the first Commissar for Social Welfare. Clashed with Lenin on workers’ rights, removed from senior Party positions and sent as Soviet Ambassador to Norway. Her book A Great Love was said to be based on the affair between Lenin and Inessa Armand. Had a series of love affairs of her own with leading Bolshevik revolutionaries.

  Krasin, Leonid (1870–1926)

  Electrical engineer and one of the few Bolsheviks who had ever worked in a business. Chief fundraiser for the Party, who managed to persuade millionaires to give money to the revolutionary cause. Head of the ‘technical department’ of the Party which organised bank robberies within Russia. After the Revolution, had high positions in Soviet trade and economic commissariats.

  Krupskaya, Nadezhda (1869–1939)

  Daughter of army officer and schoolteacher, both from minor nobility. Qualified as a teacher and taught workers to read and write. A passionately committed revolutionary socialist. Lenin’s wife from 1898 – they married when both were exiled to Siberia for political offences. Lived with Lenin for nearly twenty years in exile and held senior posts in the Bolshevik Party, organising clandestine networks and handling agents. After the Revolution held senior post at the Commissariat of Public Enlightenment. Objected to the idea of embalming Lenin’s body after he died and displaying it, but lost the battle. Opposed Stalin after Lenin died for a few years but turned into a reluctant Stalin loyalist for the last dozen years of her life.

  Lunacharsky, Anatoly (1875–1933)

  A revolutionary from school days and a supporter of Lenin after the Bolshevik-Menshevik split in 1903. A prolific and gifted writer of literary criticism, a close friend of Gorky. Broke with Lenin briefly but joined the Bolsheviks again. Was on the ‘sealed train’ from Switzerland to Russia. Became the first Commissar for Enlightenment after the Revolution, responsible for Soviet culture and education. Removed from office by Stalin after Lenin died and despatched to diplomatic posts away from Russia.

  Malinovsky, Roman (1876–1918)

  A metalworker, jailed for theft and charged with attempted rape. Released from prison, became active in trade unions and the Social Democratic Party. Caught the eye of Lenin in 1909 as a highly intelligent, authentic working-class leader. Lenin promoted him to be the most important Bolshevik inside Russia. A double agent for the Tsarist secret police, the Okhrana, for whom he was the most highly paid agent provocateur and spy they had ever employed. He betrayed scores of Bolshevik activists, who were arrested and exiled – including Stalin, Sverdlov and Bukharin. Despite the evidence Lenin refused to believe he was a traitor. At the start of the First World War he absconded to Germany and after the February Revolution Okhrana files revealed his double life. He returned to Russia in 1918 and was shot.

  Martov, Julius (born Yuliy Osipovich Tsederbaum, 1873–1923)

  Founder and leading thinker of the Mensheviks. Exiled to Siberia and Western Europe for two decades. Had been Lenin’s closest male friend and they were inseparable when they launched Russia’s first Marxist party, the Social Democrats, together and began the newspaper Iskra. But they fell out in a vicious dispute that split the Party irrevocably in 1903. A highly popular man, fine writer and witty speaker, he returned to Russia in 1917, but objected to Lenin’s seizure of power. Lenin allowed him to leave Russia and he went into exile again in 1920, to Germany, where he died of TB.

  Plekhanov, Georgy (1856–1918)

  The ‘father’ of Russian Marxism. Escaped from Russia in 1880, just before the police were about to arrest him. His books Our Differences (1885) and, despite its title, The Development of a Monist View of History, became classic Marxist texts, famous throughout Europe. Established the Social Democratic Party and Iskra with Lenin but repeatedly clashed with him. Supported the First World War, against Lenin. Returned to Russia in 1917 and objected to the Bolshevik coup. Went into hiding shortly afterwards, fearing for his life. Died from a natural illness.

  Stolypin, Pyotr (1862–1911)

  The most able statesman and administrator of the late Tsarist period. Launched a series of agrarian and economic reforms – but also draconian measures against ‘subversives’ in which thousands of people were killed. Lenin admired him as a clever politician and opponent. Assassinated in Kiev by a Socialist Revolutionary, but the evidence suggested that the murder was planned by rivals in the Tsarist police and royal court.

  Sverdlov, Yakov (1885–1919)

  Arrested first aged barely eighteen and jailed numerous times before 1917. A staunch Lenin loyalist and number two in the administrative machine after the Bolshevik Revolution. Lenin said it ‘would take six men to replace [Sverdlov]’. He was the chief organiser and fixer in the regime, who carried out much of the secret dirty work Lenin would delegate to nobody else, such as organising the murder of the Tsar and his family. When Lenin was shot and, briefly, out of action after an assassination attempt, Sverdlov took over the reins. Died in the post-war influenza epidemic.

  Trotsky, Leon (born Lev Bronstein, 1879–1940)

  Marxist thinker and prolific writer. Originally a supporter of Lenin and contributor to Iskra, but sided with the Mensheviks in the Party split and then was neutral. Venomous disagreements with Lenin for a dozen years afterwards. A sparkling speaker who became famous in the failed 1905 Revolution when he led the Petrograd Soviet. In 1917 he made peace and sided with Lenin and became the public face of the Revolution – much better known than Lenin. He organised the Bolshevik coup and was head of the Red Army during the Civil War. Sidelined by Stalin after Lenin’s death and forced into exile. Murdered on Stalin’s orders.

  Ulyanov, Alexander (1866–1887)

  Lenin’s older brother (by four years). Gifted natural science student at St Petersburg University. Involved in a bungled plot by the People’s Will revolutionary group to assassinate Tsar Alexander III. Arrested, tried in secret and hanged nearly four weeks after his twenty-first birthday.

  Ulyanov, Ilya (1831–1886)

  Lenin’s father. Leading Tsarist civil servant, an inspector of schools, who rose to the status of nobility because of his official rank as an administrator. Moderate liberal in politics. Died of a stroke when his son Vladimir was fifteen.

  Ulyanova, Maria Alexandrovna (1835–1916)

  Lenin’s mother, whom he often described as ‘a saint – pure and simple’. She was never a Marxist or any kind of socialist, but subsidised his revolutionary politics, and was a constant support to all her radical children. Throughout his two decades of exile he wrote her a con
stant stream of letters.

  Ulyanova, Maria Ilyinichna (1878–1937)

  Lenin’s younger sister. Jailed and exiled regularly for her political activities. Occasionally lived with Lenin and Nadya in Switzerland and Poland – and shared an apartment with them in the Kremlin after the Revolution. Was given a senior post in the Communist Party after the Revolution by her brother, and a high-level job on the Party newspaper, Pravda.

  Ulyanova-Elizarova, Anna (1864–1935)

  Lenin’s older sister, a revolutionary socialist, who was arrested, jailed and exiled several times for her radical political activities. Married shipping agent Mark Elizarov and adopted a son, Gora. Wrote an Ulyanov family history in the 1930s detailing, among other things, her mother’s Jewish background, which Stalin censored.

  Zinoviev, Grigory (born Hirsch Apfelbaum, 1883–1936)

  Lenin’s most faithful sidekick and aide during his years of exile from 1903, in Paris, Geneva, Poland and Zurich. Returned to Russia with Lenin on the ‘sealed train’. Opposed the October coup and, initially, the establishment of a one-party state, but took leading jobs after the Revolution – as head of the Bolshevik Party in Petrograd and later Secretary of the Comintern. A popular speaker and after Lenin’s death the chief cheerleader of the ‘Lenin cult’ of mass hero-worship. One of the ‘troika’ of leaders who succeeded Lenin but fell foul of Stalin, who drove him out of the Communist Party. Tried with Kamenev in the first of the show trials in Stalin’s Great Purge and shot.

  Notes

  PROLOGUE: THE COUP D’ÉTAT