What was Lenins opinion on the state of the economy during Tsar Nicholas IIs reign?
Lenin was more concerned with the condition of the workers in Russia, rather than the economy. He reasoned that when the workers owned the means of production (including the peasants owning the land) then exploitation would end. He was particularly scathing about the Emancipation of the serfs, declaring that the, “…emancipation” meant the unscrupulous robbery of the peasants ” He knew that Russia was a backwards, rural country, and that the industries were concentrated in just a few key cities, so the transformation of the country would have to be paid for by taxing the peasants – at least until the industrial economy overtook the rural one.
