Lenin Part 4: Ghost at the Kremlin
Real Dictators
00:00
The Bolsheviks and the Peasantry
Peasants occupy an interesting position. They have a sociology, a way of thinking and understanding society. At the top of that hierarchy are the industrial proletariat, the workers, skilled workers. And then it sort of goes down from there. Lenin is punching down at the peasantry. He also punches up at the Romanov royal family. For a time, he's been happy to keep the former Saar, Nicholas II, and his family alive. But quietly, he doesn't want to turn them into martyrs. What with their blood ties to royal families across Europe.
Transcript
Play full episode
