We're right in the West to reject Leninist ideas, but it's important to understand the historical context in which Leninism gained traction. Russia was a backw

We're right in the West to reject Leninist ideas, but it's important to understand the historical context in which Leninism gained traction. Russia was a backwards pre-capitalist third world monarchy with vast economic inequality under one of the richest men in all of history, Nicholas Romanov II. He rejected attempt after attempt to reform his monarchy into a democratic constitutional monarchy, preferring to cling onto absolute power and repeatedly losing wars. The story of the Russian revolution is one of a transition from authoritarian rule to authoritarian rule. Initially the revolution was widely praised by genuine revolutionaries, such as Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, & Rosa Luxemburg. The country was ruled democratically by a system of workers' councils (soviets), and workers were encouraged to form committees to self manage the work place democratically. Within the year, however, the Soviets were dissolved and commissars were sent to the factories to take the place of the boss', effectively ending workers' self management. This was widely condemned by mainstream Marxists, most notably Rosa Luxembourg, who sent a historic admonitory letter to Lenin. This is when the idea of "Marxism-Leninism" as opposed to simple "Marxism" began to distinguish itself. What Leninism has become now is a sort of paranoid ideology about "holding onto the revolution" against "the forces of reaction." They point to examples of successful workers' self management e.g. The Paris Commune, Anarchist Catalonia (read "Homage to Catalonia" by George Orwell), and claim that these revolutions were crushed because of a lack of "party discipline" and organization.