Concept of “People’s Autocracy” in the Political Rhetoric of Bolsheviks and the Populistic Sources of Bolshevism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21146/0042-8744-2020-10-122-133Keywords:
people’s autocracy, RSDLP, dictatorship of the proletariat, democratic republic, Marxism, V.I. Lenin, G.V. Plekhanov, Magaziner Ja.M, L.A. Tikhomirov, Populism (Narodnik movement), “Narodnaya Volya” (“People’s Will”)Abstract
The article is devoted to the history of one unusual concept from the lexicon of the Narodniks and then the Bolsheviks – the “people’s autocracy”. The author reveals the background of this concept in the First program of the RSDLP. Tikhomirov and other theorists of the “Narodnaya Volya” actively used the concept “people’s autocracy” in their political rhetoric. Initially the concept was similar to the russoistic interpretation and synonymized with “democracy”, understood as the accomplishment of the will of the people. G.V. Plekhanov in his book “Our Differences” (1884) criticizes the article of the ideological leader of the “Narodnaya Volya” L.A. Tikhomirov “What Can We Expect from the Revolution?” (1884). However, at the same time Plekhanov enriches his theory with this populist term, borrowed from this work of Tikhomirov. In the program of the party, the concept was synonymized with the democratic Republic and had an anti-autocratic sense and character. It was supported by V.I. Lenin, who was attracted by the wide possibilities of its use in party rhetoric
