The Development of Capitalism in Russia

Collected Works #3

by Vladimir Lenin

CONTENTS The Development of Capitalism in Russia The Theoretical Mistakes of the Narodnik Economists The Differentiation of the Peasantry The Landowners' Transition from Corvée to Capitalist Economy The Growth of Commercial Agriculture The First Stages of Capitalism in Industry Capitalist Manufacture and Capitalist Domestic Industry The Development of Large-Scale Machine Industry The Formation of the Home Market

Genres: History, Lenin, Economics, Nonfiction, Politics, Russia, Theory

704 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, leader of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks), statesman and political theorist. After the October Revolution he served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1924.

Reviews

[Andreas Chari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for Lenin and peasantry tables enjoyers

[Sinan Öner]

Lenin published his book "The Development of Capitalism in Russia" in 1895 when he was 25. Lenin's book is one of the most detailed history books about the history of capitalism in Russia. Lenin wrote the development of agriculture, industry, trade, international commercial relations and technology of capitalist Russia in 19. Century. Lenin says he is writing the history of capitalism in Russia with Marxist methodology, his book contain his approachs and understanding of Marxism for explanation of Russian development of capitalism. For Lenin, Russia is a modern capitalist society in 1895 although the differences between Russian and European capitalisms, Lenin writes the possibilities of the formation of modern socialism in Russia.

[ItsReallyOliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this work Lenin attacks narodnik economists. He attempts to prove that
A) agriculture in Russia was not a viable basis for communism
B) that capitalism is a progressive force
And in doing so hopes to differentiate himself from the agricultural revolutionaries in the Russia of the period.
Somewhat interesting from a historical perspective.

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among Lenin’s earliest works, The Development of Capitalism in Russia describes in great detail and with copious statistics how Russia was transformed from a feudal economy to a largely capitalist one (although retarded by feudal survivals) after the emancipation of the serfs in the 1860s (centuries after the same developments occurred in England and Western Europe). After an initial chapter on the Marxist theory, the first half of the book deals with the growth of capitalist agriculture, while the second half deals with industry.

As with most of Lenin’s writings, the book is polemical, refuting the theories of the Narodniks, who idealized pre-capitalist institutions such as particularly the village communities and denied that capitalism was developing or even possible in Russia. This purpose explains why the book puts the emphasis on the progressive historical role of capitalism, while his later writings emphasize the inability of the Russian capitalists to carry the process to completion, and the need for the proletariat in alliance with the small peasants to take control of the state and economy (although the book explicitly recognizes the contradictions of capitalism). Of course today when the Narodniks and their theories are largely forgotten, the polemics are irrelevant and what is important about the book is the historical analysis of the rise of capitalism.

This is not an easy book to read, and I would recommend that it be read after Marx’s Capital which both provides the theoretical background for it and describes the process for England and Western Europe (although in less detail). I would also recommend Perry Anderson’s Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism and Lineages of the Absolutist State for the history of how Russia became feudal in the first place.

I read this from the Marxists Internet Archive, which has a great selection of the fundamental Marxist writings (along with much that isn’t particularly worthwhile.)

[Mario Alan Cantu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lenin writes this book as a contestation to the Narodnik's reactionary and unscientific proposition of building socialism without even going through an establishment of capitalism in Russia. They failed to notice that in the late 19th century work and class division was already taking place given by the Tsarist's reforms, like eliminating the constitutional assignment of parcels to peasants, slowly fading away those traces of feudalism. Then they broke their feudal lords' chains, and were given the choice of choosing somebody else's chains; this created the material conditions for the peasants to reorganize and change classes. A few of them began to accumulate huge amount of wealth and became peasant bourgeois (kulaks), and most of them had to either sell their force of labor to the kulaks or move to where the factories were beginning to settle.

Moreover, he argues that the development of capitalism in Russia was bringing some sort of progress in the society development, like the elimination of the patriarchal institution which subjugated the women in the household to the will of the working men. Then, women gained a chance of independence by being incorporated into the labor market (also the children were dragged on the labor market, so not that progresist in that regard).

The way Lenin writes his observations is one of the masterly classes of how his way of thinking works, which deservedly constitutes one of the reasons of the "L" in ML (Marxism-Leninism): historical materialism.

This is a good book if you want to understand the last period of the Tzarist empire and how they were adopting capitalism.

[Julia P · Rating 1 out of 5]

I came to this book looking to learn from and what to watch out for authoritarian red flags. Specifically, I though this book, due to its agrarian subject matter, would give hints to the Dekulakization that was to come. However, Lenin rightly criticized the flaws of post-serfdom Russia and made clear his plans for land reform, which was popular in a country where the nobility and church still held most of it. The authoritarian red flags did not wave proudly here, or if they did I missed them. If you're also looking, anything by Alexander Solzhenitsyn shows the problems with Lenin's and Stalin's Russia. I just wanted it straight from the horses mouth and I didn't find it here in the slog of late 19th century census data. The one good thing this book can do is to argue for why we need labor unions and labor laws.

[Sasha Grankin · Rating 4 out of 5]

bit of a slog but very incisive. lenin is so fucking bitter and done with the romanticism of the narodnik economists and this whole book exists out of his sheer frustration with their lack of historical and economic consciousness

really important in understanding the nature of pre-revolution russian industry and the common misconceptions surrounding its form. it also gives a magnified view on how feudal relations are broken down at the start of the capitalist epoch! Lots of tables and economics, tho, but i stuck with it as my little commute book because it felt very incisive in covering industrial russian history

[Adrian Fanaca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of statistics about the price of various good in Russia at the time. I found it rather boring reading, without any big ideas

[Harry · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love tables and charts, let me tell you, this is the text for you. Bedrock of Lenin's strategy in the coming decades, a monumental work worth sitting with.

[Voyager · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume includes the works of Stalin in the days leading up to the Great Socialist October Revolution in 1917 after his return from exile.

There isn't too much to say as there aren't really any significant theoretical works of note in this volume. That said, this volume does offer an excellent insight into the events unfolding in Petrograd and Russia overall in 1917 from one of the October Revolution's greatest leaders, second only to Lenin, with articles and speeches dealing with the growing Kornilov counter-revolution, the counter-revolutionary bourgeois allegiances of Kerensky and his allies, the elections and protests in Petrograd, and the assumption of power by the Soviets.

[Daniel Lomax]

Christopher Hitchens Vs Dinesh D'Souza - Is Socialism Obselete
~5mins from end