Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 16 - From Marx to Mao

323L. N. TOLSTOYLeo Tolstoy is dead. His universal significance as anartist and his universal fame as a thinker and preacher reflect,each in its own way, the universal significance of theRussian revolution.L. N. Tolstoy emerged as a great artist when serfdomstill held sway in the land. In a series of great works, whichhe produced during the more than half a century of his literaryactivity, he depicted mainly the old, pre-revolutionaryRussia which remained in a state of semi-serfdom even after1861—rural Russia of the landlord and the peasant. In depictingthis period in Russia’s history, Tolstoy succeededin raising so many great problems and succeeded in risingto such heights of artistic power that his works rank amongthe greatest in world literature. The epoch of preparation forrevolution in one of the countries under the heel of the serfownersbecame, thanks to its brilliant illumination by Tolstoy,a step forward in the artistic development of humanityas a whole.Tolstoy the artist is known to an infinitesimal minorityeven in Russia. If his great works are really to be made thepossession of all, a struggle must be waged against the systemof society which condemns millions and scores of millionsto ignorance, benightedness, drudgery and poverty—a socialist revolution must be accomplished.Tolstoy not only produced artistic works which will alwaysbe appreciated and read by the masses, once they havecreated human conditions of life for themselves after overthrowingthe yoke of the landlords and capitalists; he succeededin conveying with remarkable force the moods ofthe large masses that are oppressed by the present system,in depicting their condition and expressing their spontaneous