What is the difference between Marxism and Leninism?

The Communist Manifesto written in 1848 stated that there would be and "Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes." This was completely implemented in Russia, but altered slightly so that it allowed most children to remain in the homes their parents grew up in even if they did not legally own it. The Manifesto also stated that there would be "A heavy progressive or graduated income tax." Lenin definitely distorted this element when he implemented a full pay scale controlled by the government, which picked and chose how much money each person would receive according to their needs. Because the citizens were receiving (in a sense) government money, each person was obligated to work for a government job. If any man was found not in accordance with this law, they could be sentenced to prison or exile.

The idea of a proletariat revolution was first brought up by Marx who believed that it would occur internationally. Lenin countered the idea later by stating his belief that it could occur in a single country and intended to implement it in Russia. To ensure its success, because Russia did not run on a capitalist system, Lenin created a new form of Capitalism.

Another significant difference between Marxism and Leninism is that Marx saw the necessary elements of a revolution among the workers of an industrialized nation, such as England. Lenin's revolution was in an agriculturally dominated society. Lenin in fact, made Marxism fit into Russia. Marx also believed the capitalists would by the "science of his economics" revolt against the capitalists. Lenin's Bolshevik revolt was against the socialist minded Mensheviks. This group led its revolution against a monarchy, not a capitalist society.

In addition to the above, Marx would have never agreed to Lenin's NEC policy. Also many claim that Lenin was so flexible that almost anything he did or wrote could be a cause for change & claim it was Leninism. One large example of this came in 1962. Both the Soviet Union and China claimed that "their" version of Lenin on peaceful coexistence was correct. It was a bitter struggle between the Soviets & China.