Lenin

History of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin

(8) Lenin's black money source - young gangster, Stalin's dark side

今回の記事で読んでいく箇所は私にとってもかなりの驚きでした。

The fact that a group that so brazenly commits robbery and uses it as a source of funds is in the public eye as a political group.

そしてこの時から影のギャングスターとして暗躍していた後のソ連の独裁者スターリンの存在。

資本家は労働者から収奪していたのだから、我々から収奪されるのは当然だという理屈をレーニンは主張します。まさに「目的は手段を正当化する」というレーニンの思想が表れています。

History of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin

(7) Is Lenin Marxism a Religion? What is Lenin's greatest skill as a politician?

この記事で説かれる箇所はこの本の中でもトップクラスに重大な指摘です。「宗教とは何か」という問題においてこれはかなり突っ込んだ内容です。もちろん、ここで述べられること=宗教と絶対的に言い切れるわけではありませんが、宗教が広まっていく過程をピンポイントで指摘しているようにも思えます。

This is a problem that I, as a monk, cannot ignore. The communist Soviet Union that Lenin gave birth to could be based on religion. It depends on how you define religion, but I think this is a major theme that we need to consider after this.

History of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin

(6) Lenin's lenient Siberian exile - what a difference from the harsh Dostoevsky exile period.

レーニンは海外旅行から帰国後の1895年12月、革命活動の容疑で逮捕されます。これが彼にとっての初めての逮捕となりました。

ですが想像以上に監獄は緩かったようです。むしろ快適とさえ言えたかもしれません。レーニンはこの監獄期間を利用したくさんの本を読み、政治的著作の執筆まで行っています。

They were also free to bring in food, and even exchanged secret messages with each other under surveillance.

This makes me wonder if it would not be more convenient for the government to capture revolutionaries and put them in jail.

The situation is very different from that of 1849, when Dostoevsky was arrested. The difference is quite obvious, since the conditions of detention in those days were so harsh that some people went insane and others even lost their lives.

History of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin

(4) Encounter between Lenin and Marx, who admired the revolutionary's bible, Chernyshevsky's "What is to be done?

レーニンは兄の処刑によって革命家の道に進むことになりました。しかし最初からマルクス主義者として出発したのではありませんでした。彼はまずチェルヌイシェフスキーに傾倒します。

レーニンの母は彼が兄と同じ道を辿ることを恐れました。そのため農地経営を彼にさせようとしますが全く興味を示しません。彼は田舎生活を読書三昧で過ごし、自らの思想を練っていたのです。

そしてその後さらに心配した母は今度は弁護士になることを勧めます。そして驚くべきことに通常4年かかるカリキュラムを1年で終え、全ての科目でトップを取るという異次元の頭脳を見せつけました。やはりレーニンは驚くべき人物です。

こうして弁護士としての資格を取得しつつも、彼は革命家としての道を進んで行くことになります

History of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin

(2) Lenin's origins - aristocratic, wealthy family environment and the execution of his brother that changed his life.

Lenin was often thought of as a ruthless dictator who determined the direction of the subsequent Soviet Union. However, Lenin was an ordinary man who grew up in a wealthy, warm family. His life changed drastically when his brother was executed and he was ostracized in the town. This background is what led Lenin to become a revolutionary, and it gave me a slightly different impression of Lenin from the ruthless and cruel dictator he had been.

もちろん、レーニンのことを全肯定したとかそういうことではありません。しかし、身内が皇帝に殺されたという背景、家庭が壊されたという被害者意識、周囲の人間たちに手のひら返しをされたことによる人間不信など、様々な要因があってレーニンは革命へと突き進んでいったことを知ったのでありました。

History of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin

V. Seveschen, "Lenin: Power and Love" - A biography recommended to understand what kind of revolution the Russian Revolution was!

In this book, you will get to know a different Lenin from the image of Lenin deified by the Soviet Union.

And above all, this biography is just fascinating! It is a very clear and exciting account of why the revolution happened in Russia and how Lenin seized power. The author's narration is so brilliant that it reads like a novel.

I recommend this book anyway.

Beyond the Russian Revolution and Lenin, this is the best reference book on human history and man himself.

History of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin

Masafumi Asada, "Siberian Expedition: Modern Japan's Forgotten Seven Years' War" - Recommended reference book to learn about the Siberian Expedition.

Although the Siberian Invasion is not often highlighted in history, it was in fact a very important event that would later lead to World War II.

You will often be surprised at the unexpected discoveries that you did not know about in this book, such as not only the intention to warn the communist Soviets, but also the pressure from Western countries and the background of having to appeal to them in order to get a share of the First World War.

The war was a long and tragic battle, and the growing mutual suspicion and hatred between Japan and the Soviet Union was reminiscent of the Sino-Japanese War that followed.

The book made me feel that the Siberian Exodus was actually a significant event in the history of Japan.

History of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin

Shinichi Kajikawa, "Revolution of Illusion: From the October Revolution to NEP" - The Realities of a Revolution That Began with Hunger and Moved Forward with Illusion

In 1921, the Soviet Union was suffering from a severe famine. However, this famine was not a natural disaster, but a man-made one. The previous year, Lenin had thoroughly deprived the peasants of food, even taking away seeds for the next year's planting, causing havoc in the farming villages, which suffered from an unprecedented famine.

The Soviet Union was about to collapse if nothing was done, which led the Soviet Union to launch a new economic policy (nep). The relationship between the neb and starvation is the main theme of this book.

Although the Soviet Union's vision of a great future is often associated with NEP, author Kajikawa, based on documents from the time, goes on to show that NEP was not a very ideal policy as it was associated with starvation in the first place.

In this book, you will learn the horrifying fact that the illusions portrayed by the Soviet leadership led to enormous starvation deaths.