The Revolutionary Potential of the Peasants According to Lenin and Mao Zedong by Pavitra Mohan Ram

Introduction
The ”revolutionary potential” of the peasants refers to the significance of the peasant class in establishing a
Communist government and society. Vladimir Illyich Lenin and Mao Zedong were the influential founders of the
revolution in their respective countries, and hence the revolutions in China and Russia were primarily guided by the
ideology of these two leaders. Karl Marx, the father of communism, played an influential role in the dogma of both
Mao and Lenin, yet practical problems in their respective nations forced the two to revise their ideology to suit the
situations of their countries. Dialectic thought drives socialist leaders to resolve the basic contradictions in society,
and the leaders’ attempts to do this have led them to converge in many areas. Pragmatism, however, forced the
leaders to deviate from a strict dogma and to develop new theories on revolutionary practice. It is commonly
believed that Lenin ignored the peasant element in Russia, whereas the slogan of “Peace, Land, Bread,” used to
pacify peasants in the Ukraine suggests otherwise. When examining the revolutionary potential of the peasants, it is
equally relevant to refer to the role of the revolutionary proletariat. Due to their pragmatism, Lenin and Mao share
fundamental similarities in terms of their assessment of the revolutionary potential of the peasants, yet Mao held a
more genuine belief in the peasantry.