Lev+Kamenev+Biography

1. Was highly critical of Nicholas II and the autocracy. 2. Wanted Russia to have universal suffrage. 3. Wanted the Russian government to allow freedom of expression and an end to political censorship of newspapers and books. 4. Believed that democracy could only be achieved in Russia by the violent overthrow of Nicholas II and the autocracy. 5. Was strongly opposed to Russia going to war with Austria-Hungary and Germany. 6. Believed that if Russia did go to war with Austria-Hungary and Germany the Mensheviks, Bolsheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries should try to persuade the Russian soldiers to use their weapons to overthrow Nicholas II.

Lev Kamenev was born in Moscow, Russia on the 18th of July 1883. His father’s occupation was an engine driver on the Moscow-Kursk Railway. His mother and father both took part in the radical student movement in the 1870’s. His parents knew the people that were involved in the assassination of Alexander II. Kamenev followed in his parents footsteps becoming involved in other radical politics. His school reports and files initially stopped Kamenev from entering university. Kamenev didn’t like that so he was determined and met with the Minister of Education, and was granted permission to study Law at Moscow University. While in University Kamenev has articles published aimed towards the students calling for students to accompany the workers and fight for democracy. Kamenev took part in a student demonstration against Nicholas II on February1902. The month after Kamenev was arrested at another demonstration and was placed in Butyrki Prison. After a short time in prison he was released but could not continue his studies at the University. Kamenev worked as a propagandist around railway workers in Russia before he moved to Paris in 1902. At the Second Congress of the Social Democratic Party in London in 1903, Kamenev joined the Bolshevicks. After the meeting in London Kamenev returned to Tiflis where he organised a strike on the Transcaucasian Railway. This resulted in his arrest by the Okhrana and he remained in custody for five months before being deported from Moscow. Although under police supervision in Tiflis he continued to write for Bolshevik newspapers. Kamenev toured Russia making propaganda speeches in support of the Bolsheviks and during the 1905 Revolution organised railway strikes in St. Petersburg. Over the next couple of years he played a prominent role in the campaign against the limited power of the Duma. In December, 1908, Kamenev moved to Geneva where he worked with Vladimir Lenin and Gregory Zinoviev in the publication of Proletary. He also wrote a book, The Two Parties, that explained the split between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. In 1912 Kamenev, Gregory Zinoviev and Vladimir Lenin moved to Krakow in Galicia to be closer to Russia. On the outbreak of the First World War they were forced to move to the neutral Switzerland.