The Unknown Lenin
by Richard Pipes, David Brandenberger, Catherine A. Fitzpatrick
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Open LibraryAbout this book
Was Lenin a visionary whose ideals were subverted by his followers? Or was he a cynical misanthrope, even crueler than Stalin? This book, which contains newly released documents from the Lenin archive in Russia, lays bare Lenin the man and the politician, leaving little doubt that he was a ruthless and manipulative leader who used terror, subversion, and persecution to achieve his goals. Edited and introduced by the eminent scholar Richard Pipes, the documents date from 1886 through the end of Lenin's life. They reveal, among other things, that Lenin's purpose in invading Poland in 1920 was not merely to sovietize that country but to use it as a springboard for the invasion of Germany and England; Lenin took money from the Germans (here we have the first incontrovertible evidence for this); in 1919 Lenin issued instructions to the Communist authorities in the Ukraine not to accept Jews in the Soviet government of that republic; as late as 1922 Lenin believed in the imminence of social revolution in the West, and he planned subversion in Finland, Turkey, Lithuania, and other countries; Lenin had little regard for Trotsky's judgment on important matters and relied heavily on Stalin; Lenin assiduously tracked dissident intellectuals and urged repressive action or deportation; and Lenin launched a political offensive against the Orthodox Church, ordering that priests who resisted seizure of church property be shot - "the more the better."
Themes & subjects
Politics and governmentSourcesArchivesHeads of stateLenin, vladimir ilich, 1870-1924Soviet union, politics and government
First published 1996About the author
Richard Pipes
11 JUl 1923 – 17 May 2018
Richard Edgar Pipes (July 11, 1923 – May 17, 2018) was a Polish American academic who specialized in Russian history, particularly with respect to the Soviet Union, who espoused a strong anti-communist point of view throughout his career. In 1976 he headed Team B, a team of analysts organized by the Central Intelligence Agency who analyzed the strategic capacities and goals of the Soviet military and political leadership. Pipes was the father of American historian and expert on American foreign policy and the Middle East, Daniel Pipes. Pipes was born to a Jewish family in Cieszyn, Poland, which fled the country as refugees after it was invaded by Nazi Germany. Settling in the United State…
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