- Vladimir Ilich Lenin, 1918.
(1870–1924). Founder of the Russian Communist Party, Lenin was also the first head of the Soviet state. Many people consider him to be the greatest revolutionary thinker since Karl Marx. Early lifeLenin was born Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov on April 22, 1870, in Simbirsk, Russia. As a young boy, Vladimir was clever and athletic. He was ranked first in his high school class. At this early stage in his life he seemed more likely to be a scholar rather than a rebel. However, in 1887 his eldest brother, Aleksandr, a student at the University of St. Petersburg, was hanged for participating in a plot to murder Czar Alexander III. Deeply affected by his brother's death, Vladimir was determined to understand Aleksandr's political ideas. He began to read from his brother's collection of political books and journals. Vladimir enrolled at the University of Kazan to read law. As Aleksandr's brother, he was watched closely by the czar's secret police. In December 1887 he was expelled for his role in a student demonstration, and he returned home. During the following three years he spent his time studying law, languages, and especially the writings of Karl Marx. Marx's writings were revolutionary in their ideas about social justice. Vladimir became a Marxist in January 1889. Political careerWhile working in St. Petersburg, Vladimir mingled with Marxist groups. In 1895 he made a brief trip to Western Europe. He met Russian radicals living in exile there. When he returned to Russia, Vladimir and his colleagues succeeded in unifying Marxist groups. Exile and early activitiesIn 1897 Vladimir was arrested for spreading propaganda among workers in St. Petersburg and exiled to Siberia. Vladimir served his exile in a town near the Lena River, and it was from the name of this river that he took the name of Lenin. In 1900, Lenin was released from exile. He moved to Munich, and began the publication of a journal, known as Iskra (The Spark). The aim of the journal was to promote Marxism and unite the various Russian Marxist groups. In 1903 the Iskra group split into Bolsheviks (belonging to the “majority”) and Mensheviks (belonging to the “minority”). Lenin belonged to the Bolshevik group. In 1905 the Russian army massacred a group of peaceful demonstrators who were marching to present a list of demands to the czar. General strikes took place all over Russia, leading to some reforms. When World War I broke out in 1914 Lenin called for the working people of all nations to use their weapons to overthrow their own governments instead of fighting for their governments against other countries. RevolutionInitially, Lenin's call for a class-based civil war was ignored. However, as the war dragged on and the number of deaths mounted, an angry mood arose among the Russian workers and peasants. Several strikes took place. In 1917 a spontaneous revolution broke out in St. Petersburg. The czar, Nicholas II, was forced to step down from the throne and a new temporary government was formed. At this time Lenin was in Switzerland. The German government helped him return to Russia because they saw him as a weapon to be used against their Russian opponents. Lenin arrived in Russia on April 16, 1917. Leon Trotsky, his most trusted ally, arrived the following day. The two men immediately sounded the call for the end of the war, and for the beginning of the class war in Russia. In July 1917 workers and soldiers stationed in St. Petersburg took to the streets. They demanded that the government turn control over to the revolutionary workers' and soldiers' soviets, or councils, which were sympathetic to the Bolsheviks. The government instead issued a warrant for Lenin's arrest, and he fled to Finland. Lenin returned to Russia in disguise at the end of October. In a secret meeting on October 26, 1917, the Bolsheviks resolved to take over the government and establish a new revolutionary government. The October Revolution occurred with barely any mass uprising. By the morning of October 27, the city of St. Petersburg was in Bolshevik hands. Civil WarVery soon Lenin declared the formation of the world's first Communist government. In March 1918 the Bolshevik government signed a peace agreement which gave territory to Germany. The signing of the treaty led to a civil war in Russia, which was fought between two armies. One was the Red army, under Lenin; the other was the White army, made up of men loyal to the czar and various other groups. During the civil war, armed brigades were sent to the countryside to forcibly seize food from the peasants. Lenin also formed a secret police called the Cheka, to weed out criminals and political opponents. By the time of the final Bolshevik victory in 1921, the country lay in absolute ruin. The economy was virtually destroyed. Lenin began efforts to rebuild the economy. DeathBy this time Lenin's health had begun to fail. Lenin suffered a series of strokes in 1922 and 1923. He died after a final stroke on January 21, 1924. Thereafter, he was revered in the Soviet Union, which he had helped found, and his body lay in state in Moscow. The city of St. Petersburg was renamed Leningrad in his honor. It was restored to St. Petersburg after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. |