Was Vladimir Lenin a hero or a villain?

Answer 1

The first emperor was a hero and villain, he has done equal amount of things to make him a hero and villain. Like for a hero, he has built the great wall to protect his country, but, he has treated lots of people badly to build the great wall for him. He was the first emperor of china, he was the first one that overpowered 6 warring states. to me, he was both.

Answer 2

Mao Zedong's, rule was one of confusion and fear and when he died his legacy was not only one of complete political and economical destruction but of cultural devastation as well. Mao stated that "the more brutal, the more revolutionary" (The foundation of Maoist Leadership p 42) and he proved that his way forward would be through suffering and bloodshed. In this essay I will argue that he left behind political devastation through a silencing of both people and Government through the rectification of conduct campaigns and the hypocritical rhetoric of the Hundred Flowers Campaign. As for the impact Mao had on the Chinese economy I will bring in examples of his plans (such as the introduction of 'socialist sciences' such as Lysenkoism) that were ill planned and brought nothing but economic ruin. Lastly I will introduce his cultural reforms as a third branch of his legacy of destruction. I will finish my essay with an exploration of why Mao thought these reforms were necessary and what led him to them.

As a political leader Mao Zedong's rule was one of absolute tyranny where any opposition was silenced. The first silencing started with the "rectification of conduct campaigns of 1942" (Modern China p 20). At first Mao gave speeches and produced essays on how to improve political attitudes but it soon evolved into a system where he could purge the government of his enemies. In the book Modern China, Michael Lynch denounces Mao's introduction of these campaigns that were based upon "fear and uncertainty" where "people were encouraged to expose anyone…who showed unwillingness to accept the new regime" (p 20).

In later stages of the rectification campaign Mao's own party members were accused of having 'errors'. The accused members would desperately write confessions denouncing fellow workers without realising that the accusations against themselves were falsified in the first place. Once they were caught they were often taken to labour farms and worked to their death.

These were the types of traps Mao would place for people. Nowhere was this more noticeable than in the Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1957 (The Spirit of Change).

The goal was to have "widespread discussion as a precursor to the major push towards a socialist economy" (China since 1949 p 30). At first people were reluctant to speak against Mao, remembering what had happened to those who had done so in the past. But eventually people started to criticise Mao and his system of government. Soon students were hanging up wall posters asking "why had the two party leaders Gao Gang and Rao Shushi been suppressed?" (China since 1911 p 247) as well as other direct attracts on Mao. Urban workers started strikes and began demanding better work conditions. Mao was clearly threatened by this and in June 1957 (The Spirit of Change) the Hundred Flowers Campaign was withdrawn and those who had spoke against Mao were sought out and punished.

Mao was clearly responsible for a terrible political climate inside China but he was also the cause of political disorder outside China.

Having dismissed America and other capitalist countries, Mao had to rely on Russia. But relations between China and Russia were always terse. The original Sino-Soviet alliance formed in 1950 (International History of the twentieth Century and Beyond p 358) considerably favoured Russia and left China with little economic aid. Although Russia sent over several hundred advisors, the treaty was mostly piecemeal. The growing problems between the two countries, coupled with Mao's dislike of the new Soviet leader, Khrushchev, meant that in 1960 (Chinasince 1949) Russian advisors were ordered home and Russian aid to China was decreased. The fraying of relationships can be attributed to Khrushchev "pursuing a policy of peaceful coexistence with the United States" (China since 1949 p 36) but what also could be blamed was Mao's insistence that China "could not be truly independent in foreign relations until it had achieved economic self- reliance" (China's Path to Modernization p 214). So China stood by itself on the world stage.

All of these tactics contributed to the political destruction that Mao left behind. The political atmosphere of a post-Mao China would have been one of fear and paranoia where no one would want to speak out. And if there is no one to speak out then the political climate of the nation would be quite destroyed.

In his introduction of economic ideas Mao was innovative, but this innovation was marred by an ill sighted lust for technological advancement that eventually brought about economic ruin. In 1953 (China since 1911) Mao launched the first socialist modelled five year plan. The aim was to boost all areas of industry and agricultural output until China was at the same level as the world leaders and "could catch up with Britain in fifteen years" (China's Path to Modernization p 210). The first five year plan was a success with all areas of production rising at least 15% and some (such as steel and crude oil) as much as 240% (The Spirit of Change: China in Revolution p 168). This was mostly due to the massive good will and revolutionary fever with which the people applied themselves. But Mao's 'socialist sciences' were soon to be proved poorly implemented and short sighted.

After the success of the first five year plan, Mao implemented The Great Leap Forward. This was proposed to be a further mobilisation of China's citizens for even more economic growth. But this plan was a disaster. The soviets themselves expressed doubts over The Great Leap Forward saying that the targets Mao set "were not corroborated by any sound economic calculations." (The Spirit of Change p 176)

Nevertheless in 1958 Mao imported Lysenkoism directly from Russia (Modern China p 22) with no knowledge of how it would impact his country. These socialist principals called for a collectivization programme and a redistribution of the land. Taking it from the private owners, Mao reorganised this land into communes and ordered China's peasants (almost half a billion) to farm this land. Unfortunately the peasants were unable to adapt to the new system and eventually "crop yields fell sharply and hunger became widespread" (Modern China p 21). The famine that resulted from the failure of The Great Leap Forward was catastrophic. At the lowest estimate 30 million people died, at the highest 50 million (Modern China p 22). One reason is that peasants were put into work where they had no previous skills but another reason is Mao's blind faith in socialist sciences. As stated in Modernization and Revolution in China: "the CCP was ill-equipped... it was a rural-orientated party with no experience managing urban areas" (p 141) and this was proved by the massive failure of the Great Leap Forward.

For the propose of balance it could be argued that the Mao government had increased economic gain during the first five year plan so perhaps his legacy didn't wholly have a negative impact on economy. However, an argument for this point would be based on statics and figures that could very well be misleading. It is now apparent that a large number of the figures that were coming from the Chinese Government during Mao's reign were faked and exaggerated in order to keep the morale of the population at a high.

Returning to the political forefront of China after the failure of The Great Leap Forward Mao introduced the Cultural Revolution, but this would prove to have a terrible effect on Chinese culture. In August 1966 Mao issued a directive that called for "an open attack on all remnants of the old society" (China since 1949p 38). He mobilised millions of Chinese youths into groups called the Red Guards and so began the onslaught on traditional Chinese culture. These Red Guards roamed the countryside hunting out "capitalist roaders and revisionists" (The Spirit of Change: China in Revolution p 209) and once they found them they would either publicly shame them or torture them. This included teachers and the elderly. If they found any possessions that they considered to represent one of the "four olds" (Modern China p 31) they would destroy them. This terrible youth-led fever was encouraged by Mao who told them "it's right to rebel" (The foundation of Maoist Leadership p 61).

Although this subjugation of traditional people and culture was terrible, it wasn't enough for Mao. He also imposed his revolutionary zeal on China's opera and film industries. Any work that wasn't praising China's new path was forbidden. In this way even the surviving art was just another form of pro-Mao Propaganda. And so the Cultural Revolution caused the destruction of centuries of pre-Mao history that even after his death could never be replaced.

In short, he was evil and killed more than 78 million people.

Answer 3

Vladimir Lenin overthrew the democratic Provisional government in Russia. The Czar was forced to step down.

ALTERNATE ANSWER:

If you ask me, someone who has studied Lenin, he is considered a villain even by people who supported him before the revolution.

1. Lenin believed that no dissent from the approved ideology could be tolerated therefore he outlawed all political parties other than the Communist Party. At least the Tsar permitted some dissident political parties, one of which was the one Lenin belonged to.
2. Lenin provided that only members of the Communist Party could hold high government office, thereby eliminating the possibility that his minority party would ever lose its hold over the government.
3. Lenin's "war communism" policy resulted in confiscation of most of the crops grown by peasant farmers, leading to starvation of millions of Russian citizens. Those peasants who hid their grain were either killed, exiled or jailed.
4. Lenin personally ordered the murder of the deposed Tsar and his wife and children so that there would be no chance that opposing forces could restore the Tsar to the throne.
5. Lenin was forced to reintroduce aspects of capitalism under his "New Economic Policy" because the Russian economy was even worse than it had been under the Tsar just before the revolution.
6. Lenin actually decided to continue World War I despite having promised to end it. Why? Because, Germany wanted tough surrender terms and decided to advance on Petrograd to unseat Lenin and the Bolsheviks. In order to preserve his own power position, Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk giving Germany even more favorable terms than it had initially wanted.
7. All in all, Lenin, in the name of the revolution, instituted a government that was more repressive, more exploitative and more feared than the Tsarist government ever had been.
8. If Lenin liberated thousands from a repressive Tsarist regime, he oppressed millions of others under an unforgiving Communist one.
9. History shows that his Communist regime was just as corrupt, if not more, than the Tsarist regime.

ALTERNATE ANSWER: See discussion page

Answer 4

Depends. Having not known the man personally, I'd say it hinges on how you feel about communism. If you think it's okay, Mao wasn't that bad and he did what he had to do to liberate the working class. On the other hand, if you're really really pro-capitalism, then he was probably a bad guy.

Answer 5

Chairman is a hero because he saved china