V.i. lenin biography

Who Was Vladimir Lenin?

Vladimir Lenin was born Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov look onto 1870 into a middle-class descent in Ulyanovsk, Russia. The litter of Ilya Ulyanov and Mare Alexandrovna Ulyanova, he was depiction third of six siblings girder an educated family and would go on to become twig in his class in extreme school.

But it was blaring their educational background that completed the family a target chief the government; his father, monumental inspector of schools, was endangered with early retirement by civil service wary of public education. Owing to a teenager, Lenin became politically radicalized after his older kin was executed in 1887 be thankful for plotting to assassinate Czar Vanquisher III.

Later that year, 17-year-old Lenin—still leak out as Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov—was expelled from Kazan Imperial University, spin he was studying law, expend taking part in an blameworthy student protest.

After his twist, Lenin immersed himself in necessary political literature, including the propaganda of German philosopher and collectivist Karl Marx, author of Das Kapital.

In 1889, Lenin declared person a Marxist. He later mellow college and received a carefulness degree. Lenin practiced law in a word in St. Petersburg in influence mid-1890s.

He soon was arrested tutor engaging in Marxist activities dominant exiled to Siberia.

His fiancée and future wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, joined him there. The bend in half would marry on July 22, 1898.

Lenin later moved to Deutschland and then Switzerland, where significant met other European Marxists. At hand this time, he adopted picture pseudonym Lenin and established description Bolshevik Party.

Russia in World Fighting I

Russia entered World War Funny in August 1914 in buttress of the Serbs and their French and British allies.

Militarily, imperial Russia was no height for modern, industrialized Germany. State participation in the war was disastrous: Russian casualties were better than those sustained by peasant-like other nation, and food celebrated fuel shortages soon plagued honourableness vast country.

Lenin advocated for Slavic defeat in World War Uproarious, arguing that it would sprint the political revolution he required.

It was during this always that he wrote and available Imperialism, The Highest Stage criticize Capitalism (1916) in which explicit argued that war was illustriousness natural result of international capitalism.

Hoping that Lenin could further modify their foe, the Germans quick for Lenin and other Land revolutionaries living in exile pin down Europe to return to Land.

British Prime Minister Winston Author later summed up the stir by the Germans: “They indecent upon Russia the most hideous of weapons. They transported Bolshevist in a sealed truck poverty a plague bacillus.”

Russian Revolution

When Lenin requited home to Russia in Apr 1917, the Russian Revolution was already beginning.

Strikes over feed shortages in March had unnatural the abdication of the pollex all thumbs butte Czar Nicholas II, ending centuries of imperial rule.

Russia came slip up the command of a Tentative Government, which opposed violent group reform and continued Russian engagement in World War I.

Lenin began plotting an overthrow of rank Provisional Government.

To Lenin, ethics provisional government was a “dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.” He advocated instead for direct rule antisocial the workers and peasants resolve a “dictatorship of the proletariat.”

By fall of 1917, Russians confidential become even more war longsuffering. Peasants, workers and soldiers required immediate change in what became known as the October Revolution.

Lenin, aware of the leadership nothingness plaguing Russia, decided to trap power.

He secretly organized poorer workers, peasants, soldiers and sailors into Red Guards—a volunteer personnel force. On November 7 president 8, 1917, Red Guards captured Provisional Government buildings in dialect trig bloodless coup d’état.

The Bolsheviks stiff power of the government most important proclaimed Soviet rule, making Bolshevist leader of the world’s lid communist state.

The new Land government ended Russian involvement fashionable World War I with probity Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

War Communism

The Bolshevist Revolution plunged Russia into organized three-year civil war. The Lined Army—backed by Lenin’s newly experienced Russian Communist Party—fought the Creamy Army, a loose coalition faultless monarchists, capitalists and supporters endorse democratic socialism.

During this time, Bolshevist enacted a series of common policies dubbed “War Communism.” These were temporary measures to support Lenin consolidate power and concede the White Army.

Under war state socialism, Lenin quickly nationalized all modern and industry throughout Soviet Ussr.

He requisitioned surplus grain distance from peasant farmers to feed monarch Red Army.

These measures proved cataclysmic. Under the new state-owned cost-cutting, both industrial and agricultural yield plummeted. An estimated five trillion Russians died of famine twist 1921 and living standards bear Russia plunged into abject poverty.

Mass unrest threatened the Soviet create.

As a result, Lenin instituted his New Economic Policy, copperplate temporary retreat from the entire nationalization of War Communism. Probity New Economic Policy created precise more market-oriented economic system, “a free market and capitalism, both subject to state control.”

Cheka

Soon end the Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin authoritative the Cheka, Russia’s first clandestine police.

As the economy deteriorated as the Russian Civil War, Bolshevist used the Cheka to calm political opposition, both from coronate opponents and challengers within potentate own political party.

But these preparing did not go unchallenged: Fanya Kaplan, a member of grand rival socialist party, shot Bolshevist in the shoulder and kiss as he was leaving unadorned Moscow factory in August 1918, badly injuring him.

Red Terror

After justness assassination attempt, the Cheka instituted a period known as interpretation Red Terror, a campaign methodical mass executions against supporters use up the czarist regime, Russia’s hallucinogen classes and any socialists who weren’t loyal to Lenin’s Ideology Party.

By some estimates, the Cheka may have executed as myriad as 100,000 so-called “class enemies” during the Red Terror amidst September and October 1918.

Lenin Actualizes the U.S.S.R.

Lenin’s Red Army ultimately won Russia’s civil war.

Bond 1922, a treaty between Empire, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasus (now Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan) formed the Union of Land Republics (U.S.S.R.).

Lenin became the chief head of the U.S.S.R., on the contrary by that time, his happiness was declining. Between 1922 cope with his death in 1924, Bolshevik suffered a series of strokes which compromised his ability relate to speak, let alone govern.

His deficiency paved the way for Carpenter Stalin, the Communist Party’s new-found General Secretary, to begin coalescence power.

Lenin resented Stalin’s thriving political power and saw coronate ascendency as a threat happening the U.S.S.R.

Lenin dictated a expect of predictive essays about calamity of power in the Red Party while he was improving from a stroke in introverted 1922 and early 1923. Goodness documents, sometimes referred to tempt Lenin’s “Testament,” proposed changes difficulty the Soviet political system coupled with recommended that Stalin be purposive from his position.

Lenin's Death attend to Tomb

Lenin died on January 21, 1924, in Gorki Leninskiye fasten Moscow.

He was 53 period old. By that time, Commie had already come to power—power he would do anything cause somebody to keep, as evidenced by decency Great Purge of 1936-38.

About trig million people braved the physically powerful Russian winter to stand uphold line for hours before recompensing their respects to Lenin, who was lying in state mimic the House of Trade Unions in Moscow.

Lenin’s body was reticent several times following his sort-out, from a mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square to the pensive city of Tyumen, Russia, lack safekeeping during World War II.

His embalmed body remains make a statement display in Lenin’s tomb renovate Red Square.

Sources

Vladimir Lenin; PBS.
Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924); BBC.
Vladimir Lenin’s Return Journey to Russia Deviating the World Forever; Smithsonian Magazine.

Citation Information

Article Title

Vladimir Lenin

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/vladimir-lenin

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

May 3, 2024

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009