Lenin’s Critique of Russian Anarchist Thought and Its Realistic Enlightenment

Anarchism, a consistently hostile ideology of Marxism-Leninism, had a tremendously negative impact on the revolutionary movement in Russia in the 20th century. Lenin’s attitude towards anarchism was an irreconcilable struggle, and he strictly criticized Russian anarchism from three aspects: the subject of revolution, the means of revolution and the purpose of revolution. Lenin believed that the proletariat was the predominant force in the revolution, but it was important to focus on developing active cooperation with the peasantry; political and economic means were both weapons in the struggle for the victory of the revolution, and they could not be neglected; the state was naturally extinct, and it was the bourgeois state that was to be eliminated. In the face of the new trends and characteristics of anarchism since World War II, especially in the 21st century, rethinking Lenin's criticism of Russian anarchist thought has important enlightenment for inheriting Lenin’s struggle spirit and method, exposing and criticizing this erroneous thinking, and building socialist ideology.