# Lenin — The Bolshevik Myth character guide

> Lenin in The Bolshevik Myth by Alexander Berkman.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** XIII Lenin, ↩ Lenin

**First appearance:** 0014-xiii-lenin

## Snapshot

The Bolshevik leader whose promise that the State would wither away drew an anarchist to Russia, and whose government now tests that promise daily.

## Who they are

The narrator arrives believing Lenin's own assertion that he and his followers are ultimately anarchists, that political power is only a temporary means. That faith is the premise of the whole journey, and every requisition, prison, and silenced press chips at it. Lenin never needs to appear in a scene to dominate it: he is the standard against which the Revolution's drift is measured.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_rivalry_

Lenin is the Bolshevik leader whose political path conflicts with the narrator's anarchist beliefs.

## In the story

### [The Bolshevik Myth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/the-bolshevik-myth)

Lenin is referenced as a central figure in the Bolshevik government, embodying the revolutionary ideals that are being betrayed.

### [XIII: Lenin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xiii-lenin)

Hosts the narrator at the Kremlin; defends dictatorship, criticizes peasantry, and discusses anarchist resolution.

### [Back in Petrograd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xv-back-in-petrograd)

Quoted advocating militarization of labor and using bourgeoisie specialists; saved Shatov from execution.

### [The Spirit of Fanaticism](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xix-the-spirit-of-fanaticism)

Promised to consider the anarchist issue but issued a resolution against anti-Soviet agitation; author of 'The Infantile Sickness of Leftism.'

### [XXIV: Yossif the Emigrant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xxiv-yossif-the-emigrant)

Referenced as 'the Lenin of the Ukraine' (Rakovsky) in a suggestion about reapproachment.

### [XXXII: Odessa: Life and Vision](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xxxii-odessa-life-and-vision)

The narrator sends a wire to Lenin protesting Alsberg's arrest.

### [Early Days of 1921](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xxxvii-early-days-of-1921)

Lenin contends that unions should serve as 'schools of Communism'; the narrator appeals to him for the release of anarchists but receives no reply.

### [Kronstadt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xxxviii-kronstadt)

Lenin is mentioned as having been saved by the same sailors now denounced as traitors, and he declares the Kronstadt resolution counterrevolutionary.

### [Last Links in the Chain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xxxix-last-links-in-the-chain)

Lenin meets with delegates regarding political prisoners but breaks his promises; his policies and the NEP are discussed.

### [XL: The Lessons of the “Bolshevik Myth”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/xl-the-lessons-of-the-bolshevik-myth)

Lenin is cited as the architect of the Communist State doctrine and the policy of compromise and zigzag politics.

### [I: My Personal Attitude and Reactions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/i-my-personal-attitude-and-reactions)

Mentioned as having asserted that the Bolsheviks were ultimately Anarchists and that political power was a temporary means.

### [II: The Communist Dictatorship and the Russian Revolution](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/ii-the-communist-dictatorship-and-the-russian-revolution)

Lenin is presented as the architect of the Bolshevik doctrine of state centralization and the 'zigzag' policy of compromise and terrorism, shaping the Communist State's theory and practice.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/chapters/endnotes)

Referenced in endnotes as 'Master' and 'XIII Lenin'.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/characters/lenin
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_bolshevik_myth_se/characters