During the Russian Revolution of 1917, and beyond, Marxist ideologies were significantly modified and used by Russian leaders and intellectuals. Vladimir Lenin was perhaps one of the first to distort Marxist ideologies; he did so to accommodate the political beliefs of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP). After Leon Trotsky, a Russian Marxist, joined the Bolsheviks, Lenin adopted his Marxist theory of permanent revolution. Trotsky, after the revolution, used Marxist principles to oppose Joseph Stalin. However, he distorted Marxist ideas so much that they could no longer be recognized as socialism from below, but rather as socialism from above. This was a far cry from the original theory put forward by Karl Marx. The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), led by Vladimir Lenin, distorted Marxist ideologies to suit their political beliefs during the revolution. To some in modern society, Leninism seemed to be a logical development of Marxism as it extended theory into practice (Benson, 2014). However, there is nothing logical about Lenin's erroneous understanding of Marxism. Lenin viewed Marxism more as a set of guidelines toward socialism than a set of rules, stating: “We do not regard Marx's theory as something completed and inviolable; on the contrary, we are convinced that it only laid the first stone of science. socialists must develop in all directions if they are to keep pace with life.” (Lenin CW VOL. 4, PP.210) The original concept of Marxism saw socialism (or communism; he used the terms interchangeably) as evolving out of the political and economic circumstances that fully developed capitalism would create. a band of rev...... middle of paper ...... more dependent on the self-emancipation of the working class, thus distorting another fundamental idea of ​​Marxism. In conclusion, Marxism was repeatedly distorted during the Russian period. revolutionary and used by those who sought to create a socialist society. First, Lenin severely distorted Marxist views and established a vanguard to take charge of the revolution. However, he was considerably more Marxist than Lenin and joined the Bolsheviks espousing Marxism. Even after the Revolution, so-called “Marxism” was used to oppose Stalin. However, Trotsky made a horrible mistake in defining the workers' state and, in doing so, moved away from socialism from below (the original Marxist vision) and started unknowingly. side with socialism from above. These types of distortions will continue because, for each new leader, there will be a new definition of socialism..