Defending a Revolution and Breaking Apart the State

The Paris Commune's tragic end served as a lesson on the importance of successfully defending a revolution against reactionary forces. Lenin was influenced by the idea that making a revolution is one thing, but defending it is crucial, as seen in the aftermath of the October Revolution. The need to break apart the bourgeois state and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat is highlighted by Lenin's view on the Paris Commune, where the state machinery repressed the exploiters, leading to the whole population taking control, illustrating a departure from the traditional state structure.