By Nikos Mottas
This April marked the 155th birth anniversary of the leader of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution and founder of the first socialist state in the world, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
The name of Lenin is identified with two dialectically connected issues. On the one hand, there is his revolutionary activity and practice as the leader of the 20th century's most significant event- the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution. On the other hand, there is his theoretical work which is the development of the revolutionary theory of Marx and Engels in the era of Imperialism.
That extraordinary combination of revolutionary theory and practice makes Lenin a unique personality in history who, 101 years after his death, remains “alive” in the collective memory and hearts of the working class people across the world.
Despite the persistent efforts by the bourgeois classes that emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, to demonize Lenin, his popularity increases throughout the years. The ongoing imperialist war between two fraternal nations that lived together, in peace and prosperity, for more than 70 years as Soviet Republics under the USSR, is another undeniable proof of the disastrous and parasitic nature of capitalism in its highest, imperialist stage.
Lenin and his teachings about imperialism and the necessity of socialism, are today more relevant and timely than ever before. Three decades after capitalist restoration in Russia, the popularity of comrade Ulyanov is reaching new hights. According to a new poll conducted by Levada Center, a bourgeois, non-governmental research organization, the percentage of Russians that view positively Lenin's role has been increased significantly, hitting a record high.
Since 2006, within a period of 18 years, the increase in positive assessments of V.I.Lenin's role in Russian history has increased by 27% - from 40 per cent in 2006 to 67 per cent in 2025. Today, more than a third of the respondents (35%) characterize Lenin a historic figure who led the country onto the path of “progress and justice”. It isn't a coincidence that the most positive opinions are expressed by respondents who are 55 years and older; those who have lived in the Soviet Union, even during the Perestroika years in the 1980s, can evaluate much better the advantages of the socialist system.
Alongside Lenin, Joseph Stalin also enjoys an increasing popularity, despite the tones of anti-stalinist propaganda. In a 2019 poll, conducted by Levada Center, over 50 percent (the highest ever) of Russians positively view Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his role in the country’s history. It is characteristic that the share of Russians who regard Stalin with respect has grown 12 percent, while the share of those who perceive the Soviet leader indifferently or negatively decreased by almost three times since 2015. As many as 70% consider Stalin’s role in the country’s history “rather positive,” praising him for defeating Nazism in 1945.
Positive views for the USSR and the Soviet leaders – primarily Lenin and Stalin - also exist in other former Soviet republics, including Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan etc, where the policies of monopoly capitalism have swept away any social privileges achieved by the working class people during Socialism.
No, the above results aren't the outcome of an abstract “nostalgia” for the country's Soviet past. Thirty-five years since the counterrevolutionary overthrow of the USSR and the restoration of capitalism, the people are now able to pratically compare the past with the present; they know what they had, what they lost and how extremely significant the achievements of the socialist period were. The “capitalist paradise” they were waiting for never came, because no such paradise exists. On the contrary, the fall of the Soviet Union became the beginning of new sufferings, for the people in Russia and the other former soviet republics.
The ongoing decay of Capitalism, which generates extreme poverty, social inequalities, unemployment and bloody wars, proves that the socialist transformation of society – the aim for which Lenin devoted his whole life - not only is alive, but returns to the fore as the only actually beneficial for the people exit from capitalist barbarity. Lenin remains alive!
Despite the persistent efforts by the bourgeois classes that emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, to demonize Lenin, his popularity increases throughout the years. The ongoing imperialist war between two fraternal nations that lived together, in peace and prosperity, for more than 70 years as Soviet Republics under the USSR, is another undeniable proof of the disastrous and parasitic nature of capitalism in its highest, imperialist stage.
Lenin and his teachings about imperialism and the necessity of socialism, are today more relevant and timely than ever before. Three decades after capitalist restoration in Russia, the popularity of comrade Ulyanov is reaching new hights. According to a new poll conducted by Levada Center, a bourgeois, non-governmental research organization, the percentage of Russians that view positively Lenin's role has been increased significantly, hitting a record high.
Since 2006, within a period of 18 years, the increase in positive assessments of V.I.Lenin's role in Russian history has increased by 27% - from 40 per cent in 2006 to 67 per cent in 2025. Today, more than a third of the respondents (35%) characterize Lenin a historic figure who led the country onto the path of “progress and justice”. It isn't a coincidence that the most positive opinions are expressed by respondents who are 55 years and older; those who have lived in the Soviet Union, even during the Perestroika years in the 1980s, can evaluate much better the advantages of the socialist system.
Alongside Lenin, Joseph Stalin also enjoys an increasing popularity, despite the tones of anti-stalinist propaganda. In a 2019 poll, conducted by Levada Center, over 50 percent (the highest ever) of Russians positively view Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his role in the country’s history. It is characteristic that the share of Russians who regard Stalin with respect has grown 12 percent, while the share of those who perceive the Soviet leader indifferently or negatively decreased by almost three times since 2015. As many as 70% consider Stalin’s role in the country’s history “rather positive,” praising him for defeating Nazism in 1945.
Positive views for the USSR and the Soviet leaders – primarily Lenin and Stalin - also exist in other former Soviet republics, including Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan etc, where the policies of monopoly capitalism have swept away any social privileges achieved by the working class people during Socialism.
No, the above results aren't the outcome of an abstract “nostalgia” for the country's Soviet past. Thirty-five years since the counterrevolutionary overthrow of the USSR and the restoration of capitalism, the people are now able to pratically compare the past with the present; they know what they had, what they lost and how extremely significant the achievements of the socialist period were. The “capitalist paradise” they were waiting for never came, because no such paradise exists. On the contrary, the fall of the Soviet Union became the beginning of new sufferings, for the people in Russia and the other former soviet republics.
The ongoing decay of Capitalism, which generates extreme poverty, social inequalities, unemployment and bloody wars, proves that the socialist transformation of society – the aim for which Lenin devoted his whole life - not only is alive, but returns to the fore as the only actually beneficial for the people exit from capitalist barbarity. Lenin remains alive!
* Nikos Mottas is the Editor-in-Chief of In Defense of Communism.
