Assess the role of Lenin in the Bolshevik seizure of power and consolidation of power in 1917.
In any account of history, it is difficult to determine whether individuals or historical forces beyond the control of the individual played the important roles. There is the argument that the actions of great individuals created the turning points in world history. Aligned with this is the historical argument that it was the activities of Lenin in October 1917, which explains why Russia was a communist nation for so many decades. On the other hand it can be argued that history is directed by natural forces beyond the control of any human; accidents, fate, economic developments, mass movements and so on. In this case it is difficult to see historical figures as anything more than insignificant actors in the play of destiny, mere "labels giving names and faces to events."
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