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"Maybe Lenin and Stalin had their reasons" is not a take I expected to see on HN today, but that's the lifecycle of all successful intellectually-oriented discu

"Maybe Lenin and Stalin had their reasons" is not a take I expected to see on HN today, but that's the lifecycle of all successful intellectually-oriented discussion forums I guess.

evgen 5y ago
If you are not completely intellectually-stunted then you might actually know a bit about Russian history of the period. While few would excuse the later actions of Lenin or Stalin, the people who actually revolted against the Tsar had seriously justifiable reasons for doing so and given what I know about the time and place I would like to think that if I were in their place I would have joined them in putting the ruling class up against a wall and shooting them.
- vidarh 5y ago
  By the time of the Bolshevik coup, the Tsar had been in house arrest after the February Revolution for months. The February Revolution was justified. The Bolshevik coup was not.
  - lnxg33k1 5y ago
    And there was another battle for power between Bolsheviks and mensheviks that took place, but as i said a couple of replies below, is inequality fighting only possible under communism?
    - Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
      There was no "battle for power" between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. It was a political discussion between two blocks inside the party long before it took power.
      - dragonwriter 5y ago
        > There was no “battle for power” between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. It was a political discussion between two blocks inside the party long before it took power. That’s completely false. While they were at one point two blocs in the same party, the dispute was never resolved, and it split into two different parties before the overthrow of the monarchy, and continued to have conflict through the revolutionary period culminating in the Mensheviks being banned by the Bolshevik-led regime in 1921, and a supposed attempt to restore the party was the notional basis for one of the earlier of Stalin’s purges of the 1930s.
        Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
        You should be more careful with using 'completely false' wording. Where is the 'battle' thing in all these events? Bolsheviks took power, and Mensheviks never had it, and were never a force in the subsequent civil war. They were just banned and later former members were mostly purged.
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]

"Maybe Lenin and Stalin had their reasons" is not a take I expected to see on HN today, but that's the lifecycle of all successful intellectually-oriented discussion forums I guess.

evgen 5y ago

If you are not completely intellectually-stunted then you might actually know a bit about Russian history of the period. While few would excuse the later actions of Lenin or Stalin, the people who actually revolted against the Tsar had seriously justifiable reasons for doing so and given what I know about the time and place I would like to think that if I were in their place I would have joined them in putting the ruling class up against a wall and shooting them.

vidarh 5y ago
By the time of the Bolshevik coup, the Tsar had been in house arrest after the February Revolution for months. The February Revolution was justified. The Bolshevik coup was not.
- lnxg33k1 5y ago
  And there was another battle for power between Bolsheviks and mensheviks that took place, but as i said a couple of replies below, is inequality fighting only possible under communism?
  - Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
    There was no "battle for power" between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. It was a political discussion between two blocks inside the party long before it took power.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > There was no “battle for power” between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. It was a political discussion between two blocks inside the party long before it took power. That’s completely false. While they were at one point two blocs in the same party, the dispute was never resolved, and it split into two different parties before the overthrow of the monarchy, and continued to have conflict through the revolutionary period culminating in the Mensheviks being banned by the Bolshevik-led regime in 1921, and a supposed attempt to restore the party was the notional basis for one of the earlier of Stalin’s purges of the 1930s.
      - Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
        You should be more careful with using 'completely false' wording. Where is the 'battle' thing in all these events? Bolsheviks took power, and Mensheviks never had it, and were never a force in the subsequent civil war. They were just banned and later former members were mostly purged.
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]