Irony writ large: the Czar's secret police spread rumors about an INTERNATIONAL conspiracy ...

[Boojatta]

and what they wrote is still circulating, but what happened to Russia? For a very short time there was democracy, and then Lenin took control, to be followed by Stalin. Perhaps the Czar's secret police should have focused more attention on Russia. They seem to have taken their eyes off the ball.

It reminds me of a fable from Aesop

[RZM]

1. 'Tsar' is used more nowadays. 'Czar' comes from Polish, not Russian

October and February 1917 were quite different animals. February was spontaneous. October was pretty much a coup.

Here are two books (by the same author) on the Tsarist secret police if you are interested:

http://www.amazon.com/AUTOCRACY-UNDER-SIEGE-OPPOSITION-1866-1905/dp/0875802435/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316188895&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/WATCHFUL-STATE-SECURITY-OPPOSITION-1906-1917/dp/0875803318/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1316188895&sr=8-2

[BOG PERSON]

2. the international conspiracy they were referring to was jewish bolshevism

it's true that many of the old bolsheviks were jews. anti-semites believed communism was a plot for ... i don't know ... Jewish Domination or something. they probably still believe that to this day.

[Boojatta]

6. Was Bolshevism actually "Jewish"?

It might depend on whether or not you believe in directionally-free temporal transit technology, which reminds me of this DU thread.

[BOG PERSON]

16. no, there wasn't anything uniquely jewish about it, if that's what you're asking

it was strictly a term of abuse.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. No, not quite... the Protocols of the Elders of Zion

are not quite about bolshevism...

<------- yes have read it, together with it's "companion" book, the International Jew from Ford.

[Recursion]

3. Actually Lenin was exactly what they were talking about

A Jewish intellectual supported by leftists from all over the world. The Protocols are slime-filled buckets of worthless hate, but that was exactly what Russian aristocrats were worried about, and it did happen to them.

[Boojatta]

4. If there were worries about Lenin, then why wasn't he kept under observation in Russia?

Wasn't Lenin at one time imprisoned in Russia?

Perhaps he could have been offered the option of either becoming mayor of Kronstadt, or staying in prison.

[Recursion]

5. He was exiled and then jailed in Austria

And then the Germans sent him back to go wreak havoc

[Boojatta]

7. deleted by Boojatta (because the post was based on an error)

[RZM]

12. I think he was actually in Switzerland during most of the war

Hence the Zimmerwald Conference when he decreed that WWI was a 'Capitalist Civil War.'

[Recursion]

14. Yes, the detention in Austria was fairly brief

I mentioned it because it was part of how he wound up on a train back to Russia

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Alas Lenin was not Jewish

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin

Some in the leadership, as in ONE was, but not Lenin, or Stalin. You are thinking Trotsky.

[RZM]

11. Lenin had some Jewish heritage. This was concealed later on by the Bolsheviks

I believe it was on his mother's side. He also had Kalmyk heritage as well. Robert Service writes about all of this in his bio of Lenin (which mostly focuses on his personal life):

http://www.amazon.com/Lenin-Biography-Robert-Service/dp/0674008286/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316194993&sr=8-1

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Ah yes, if you have any in the family

who was you are...

I will reserve where I have read that and I will ignore Jewish Law on that side.

[Itchinjim]

10. Lenin wasn't Jewish.

He was Russian Orthodox.

[Recursion]

13. He was "of Jewish descent" as they used to say

Two of his grandparents were Jewish, but his maternal grandmother was not, so he was of Jewish descent but not himself Jewish.

I don't see how his religious beliefs are relevant; we're talking about ethnicity.