Vladimir Lenin's Russian Revolution and the Taiping Rebellion

Revolution is a necessity to the formation of the modern society today. It usually refers to a movement, which is usually violent to overthrow the current leader and its effects completely changes the fundamental idea and structure of society. After the French Revolution in the 18th century, many people believed that the only way to dispose of the current leader is to resort to violence. The Russian Revolution of 1917 led by Vladimir Lenin and the Taiping Rebellion are some examples of revolutions that took place and created a huge impact on the development of society. Revolution became so widespread in the early twentieth century and late nineteenth century for the same reason there is always a revolution to begin with. From the Russian Revolution to the Taiping Rebellion to the Uprising in India with the British, it all started because someone wanted a change politically from the events happening in society.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 led by Vladimir Lenin was one revolution which inspired many others to stand up against their government. Vladimir Lenin was inspired by the ideas of Marxism. Karl Marx believed that revolution was necessary in order to have societies change from one historical era onto the next. Marx's perception of revolution was what led other believers into different events in world history. The Russian Revolution began on October 25,1917 where the troops loyal to the Bolsheviks took control of the city of Petrograd without them barely having to shoot a single shot. Before this event took place, Russia was ruled by Czar Nicholas II who was abdicated from the throne because of the hundreds of thousands of workers who were protesting against him. On that day was where the people were fed up and wanted some change. 

After Lenin returned to Petrograd, he and the other Bolsheviks lead a revolution against the leaders of the Provisional Government who had not done anything to give the people more freedom, land nor bread. 'No support to the Provisional Government; exposure of the utter falsity of all its promises, particularly those relating to the renunciation of annexations. Unmasking, instead of admitting, the illusion-breeding 'demand' that this government, a government of capitalist, should cease to be imperialistic. . .”  This was the spark that led the people to believe that all the things provisional government promised them were lies in order to get the people to support them. After the removal of the Provisional Government, Lenin announced that the new regime would end the war, the abolishment all private land ownership, and that they would create a new system for workers are able to have control of factories. Revolution can lead many people into thinking that if they overthrow their current leader, it would make their lives better, in which case was what the Russians thought. Unfortunately, the promise that Lenin gave to his people backfired. After Russia pulled out from World War I, millions of soldiers returned to a country where there were no jobs left, nor food. In June 1918, a civil war between those against the soviets and the Bolsheviks where the soviets were trying to restore the monarch. The reason for this was because the life the citizens were living was worse then what it was before the revolution happened. Lenin states “The new government, like the preceding one, is imperialistic, despite the promise of a republic - it is imperialistic through and through.”, which is exactly what happened to him too in the end. The reason why the people started revolting again was because the leader/monarch was not able to fulfill the promises the promised the citizens resulting in the people rebelling.

Another revolution that took place was the Taiping Rebellion where it politically and religiously changed how the society is in China. “At the beginning, the rebellion received much praise in the western press and even in government circles. The fact that the rebels were Christian and stood against Manchu corruption and backwardness was much acclaimed.”  The reason why the western power stayed neutral and did not want to interfere in China’s internal rebellion was for their personal gains. Since majority of the rebels were Christian, leaders wanted to use them to help them politically and religiously take control of all of China. Not only that, the western powers also wanted the China to have a civil so both sides can take out each other. The Taiping Rebellion became more widespread than just a local uprising. “Many progressive people in the western world raised their voices against unwarranted western interference in the internal affairs of China.” A number of foreigners from France, UK, etc took action against the western world for interfering with other countries conflicts without reason. This allowed the news of China’s actions to spread like wildfire throughout the western countries, giving the Chinese more support. Another reason why revolution is was so widespread because the effect of those rebellions can lead to other positive outcomes. For example, for the Taipings, post revolution, it helped shape and encourage other movements. “In fact, many of the principles of the Taiping Rebellion served as an inspiration and model for Sun Yat-sen and the Kuomintang he founded, as well as for the May 4th movement of 1919 and the communists.” Some other programs or ideas that the Taiping Rebellion led to were the Common property, land reform program, position of women, treatment of foreigner and many more where more western ideas were introduced into asian culture. This changed their view of western culture and were more willing to except them.

Revolution was what shaped society to how it is structured today. A revolution is an action, usually violent but occasionally peaceful against the peoples leaders in order to overthrow them. The reason why revolution became so widespread was because of the effect of the post revolution. News of the revolution outcome travels worldwide influencing others into taking action against their corrupt government. Some examples where the people stood up to their government was the Russian Revolution which was led by Vladimir Lenin and the Taiping Revolution in china where the Chinese challenged the Qing dynasty and western powers. These events started off from small peaceful protest to major blood shed in order to change the way the country ran politically and religiously.