Caused in part by a drought, the Russian famine of 1921–22 was the most severe that the country had experienced since that of 1891–92,[346] resulting in around five million deaths.[347] The famine was exacerbated by government requisitioning, as well as the export of large quantities of Russian grain.[348] To aid the famine victims, the US government established an American Relief Administration to distribute food;[349] Lenin was suspicious of this aid and had it closely monitored
Lenin saw himself as a man of destiny and firmly believed in the righteousness of his cause and his own ability as a revolutionary leader.[468] Biographer Louis Fischer described him as “a lover of radical change and maximum upheaval”, a man for whom “there was never a middle-ground. He was an either-or, black-or-red exaggerator.”[469] Highlighting Lenin’s “extraordinary capacity for disciplined work” and “devotion to the revolutionary cause”, Pipes noted that he exhibited much charisma.[470] Similarly, Volkogonov believed that “by the very force of his personality, [Lenin] had an influence over people.”[471] Conversely, Lenin’s friend Gorky commented that in his physical appearance as a “baldheaded, stocky, sturdy person”, the communist revolutionary was “too ordinary” and did not give “the impression of being a leader.”[472]
[Lenin’s collected writings] reveal in detail a man with iron will, self-enslaving self-discipline, scorn for opponents and obstacles, the cold determination of a zealot, the drive of a fanatic, and the ability to convince or browbeat weaker persons by his singleness of purpose, imposing intensity, impersonal approach, personal sacrifice, political astuteness, and complete conviction of the possession of the absolute truth. His life became the history of the Bolshevik movement.
—Biographer Louis Fischer, 1964[473]
Historian and biographer Robert Service asserted that Lenin had been an intensely emotional young man,[474] who exhibited strong hatred for the Tsarist authorities.[475] According to Service, Lenin developed an “emotional attachment” to his ideological heroes, such as Marx, Engels, and Chernyshevsky; he owned portraits of them,[476] and privately described himself as being “in love” with Marx and Engels.[477] According to Lenin biographer James D. White, Lenin treated their writings as “holy writ”, a “religious dogma”, which should “not be questioned but believed in.”[478] In Volkogonov’s view, Lenin accepted Marxism as “absolute truth”, and accordingly acted like “a religious fanatic.”[479] Similarly, Bertrand Russell felt that Lenin exhibited “unwavering faith—religious faith in the Marxian gospel.”[480] Biographer Christopher Read suggested that Lenin was “a secular equivalent of theocratic leaders who derive their legitimacy from the [perceived] truth of their doctrines, not popular mandates.”[481] Lenin was nevertheless an atheist and a critic of religion, believing that socialism was inherently atheistic; he thus considered Christian socialism a contradiction in terms.[482]
Service stated that Lenin could be “moody and volatile”,[483] and Pipes deemed him to be “a thoroughgoing misanthrope”,[484] a view rejected by Read, who highlighted many instances in which Lenin displayed kindness, particularly toward children.[485] According to several biographers, Lenin was intolerant of opposition and often dismissed outright opinions that differed from his own.[486] He could be “venomous in his critique of others”, exhibiting a propensity for mockery, ridicule, and ad hominem attacks on those who disagreed with him.[487] He ignored facts that did not suit his argument,[488] abhorred compromise,[489] and very rarely admitted his own errors.[490] He refused to change his opinions, until he rejected them completely, after which he would treat the new view as if it was just as unchangeable.[491] Lenin showed no sign of sadism or of personally desiring to commit violent acts, but he endorsed the violent actions of others and exhibited no remorse for those killed for the revolutionary cause.[492] Adopting a utilitarian stance, in Lenin’s view the end always justified the means;[493] according to Service, Lenin’s “criterion of morality was simple: does a certain action advance or hinder the cause of the Revolution?”[494]
The Lenin who seemed externally so gentle and good-natured, who enjoyed a laugh, who loved animals and was prone to sentimental reminiscences, was transformed when class or political questions arose. He at once became savagely sharp, uncompromising, remorseless and vengeful. Even in such a state he was capable of black humour.
—Biographer Dmitri Volkogonov, 1994[495]
Aside from Russian, Lenin spoke and read French, German, and English.[496] Concerned with physical fitness, he exercised regularly,[497] enjoyed cycling, swimming, and hunting,[498] and also developed a passion for mountain walking in the Swiss peaks.[499] He was also fond of pets,[500] in particular cats.[501] Tending to eschew luxury, he lived a spartan lifestyle,[502] and Pipes noted that Lenin was “exceedingly modest in his personal wants”, leading “an austere, almost ascetic, style of life.”[503] Lenin despised untidiness, always keeping his work desk tidy and his pencils sharpened, and insisted on total silence while he was working.[504] According to Fischer, Lenin’s “vanity was minimal”,[505] and for this reason he disliked the cult of personality that the Soviet administration began to build around him; he nevertheless accepted that it might have some benefits in unifying the communist movement.[506]
Despite his revolutionary politics, Lenin disliked revolutionary experimentation in literature and the arts, expressing his dislike of expressionism, futurism, and cubism, and conversely favouring realism and Russian classic literature.[507] Lenin also had a conservative attitude towards sex and marriage.[508] Throughout his adult life, he was in a relationship with Krupskaya, a fellow Marxist whom he married. Lenin and Krupskaya both regretted that they never had children,[509] and they enjoyed entertaining their friends’ offspring.[510] Read noted that Lenin had “very close, warm, lifelong relationships” with his close family members;[511] he had no lifelong friends, and Armand has been cited as being his only close, intimate confidante.[512]
Ethnically, Lenin identified as Russian.[513] Service described Lenin as “a bit of a snob in national, social and cultural terms.”[514] The Bolshevik leader believed that other European countries, especially Germany, were culturally superior to Russia,[515] describing the latter as “one of the most benighted, medieval and shamefully backward of Asian countries.”[454] He was annoyed at what he perceived as a lack of conscientiousness and discipline among the Russian people, and from his youth had wanted Russia to become more culturally European and Western
Various historians and biographers have characterised Lenin’s administration as totalitarian,[534] and as a police state,[535] and many have described it as a one-party dictatorship.[536] Several such scholars have described Lenin as a dictator;[537] Ryan stated that he was “not a dictator in the sense that all his recommendations were accepted and implemented”, for many of his colleagues disagreed with him on various issues.[538] Fischer noted that while “Lenin was a dictator, [he was] not the kind of dictator Stalin later became.”[539] Volkogonov believed that whereas Lenin established a “dictatorship of the Party”, it would only be under Stalin that the Soviet Union became the “dictatorship of one man.”