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[[File:683px-Lenin.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|Vladimir Lenin]]
In 1917, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (later known as alias Lenin as he solely nicknamed himself) seized control of Russia in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, created the Soviet Union and ruled it until his death in 1924. Lenin was one of the leading political figures in the course of the 20th century. He was the revolutionary thinker behind the USSR idea (a.k.a. The Great Soviet Union), fought to materialize it and masterminded the Bolshevik bloody takeover of power in Russia after Russia's withdrawal from World War One. Although Lenin's reign as the head of the newly created Soviet Union was extraordinarily brief, but his influence stretched throughout the 20th century.
====Lenin’s Early Life====
Almost all of his writing were was immediately banned and restricted by the Tsarist regime. The only way to get a hold of his writings was to passed pass them by hand from person to person. His writings quickly caught the eye of other Russian radicals , and he was declared an “enemy of the state” by the Russian police. He was arrested by Tsarists police arrested him in St. Petersburg and imprisoned for a year for sedition. After his release, he was again arrested in 1897 for his radical views and ideas and sent to exile in Siberia for 3 three years. Lenin and family were sent to Siberia where he lived in Shushenskoye. During his Siberian exile, Vladimir adopted the famous moniker “Lenin.” While in Siberia, Lenin regularly wrote constantly with his wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya. His exile did little to damper his revolutionary zeal.
====Lenin - the Young Revolutionary=== [[File:Vladimir_Lenin_plays_chess_with_Alexander_Bogdanov_during_a_visit_to_Maxim_Gorky_(April_,10_(23)_-_April,_17_(30)_1908).jpg|thumbnail|325px|left|Vladimir Lenin plays chess with Alexander Bogdanov in 1908]]= Once Lenin was released, he continued to passionately work on his views regarding social imbalance passionately and formed the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks would become the preeminent party of Russian Marxists shaped the future Communist Party.<ref>Initially establishing the so-called Russian Social Democratic Worker's Party and later – Communist Party.</ref> The synthesis of Lenin’s views combined together with those of Karl Marx created what we now know as “Marxism-Leninism” or the basis of whole Communist doctrine throughout the 20th century. [[File:Vladimir_Lenin_plays_chess_with_Alexander_Bogdanov_during_a_visit_to_Maxim_Gorky_(April_,10_(23)_-_April,_17_(30)_1908).jpg|thumbnail|325px|left|Vladimir Lenin plays chess with Alexander Bogdanov in 1908]]His teachings attracted more and more passionate followers. Unsurprisingly, his writing unpopular with the Russian authorities. Vladimir argued in favor at total state ownership of all property, abolishing Tsarists privileges, equal rights for all and the elimination of unemployment. As the tension grew, Lenin decided to leave the country for security reasons and move to Western Europe. He spent there most of the subsequent 15 in self-imposed exile. After his move to Eastern Europe, he became a prominent member of the international revolutionary movement.
====World War I Fatigue====
====Lenin’s Cult of Personality====
Lenin was a powerful and gifted orator From early age Vladimir was capable of effectively communicating complicated concepts and ideas to the his audience. Lenin could effectively communicate with Russians who had limited education. Unfortunately, Lenin was more interested in building a country around his persona instead of trying to improve the lives of Russian citizens. Lenin was fairly ruthless with any opposition to his rule. Millions of free-will poets, philosophers or priests lost their lives or were forced to emigrate. The OrthodoxChurch orthodox church was almost completely entirely banned.
Lenin’s absolute authoritarian regime generated opposition , and he narrowly survived a few assassination attempts. In one of these attempts, Lenin was severely wounded , and his long term health was affected. Lenin's injury and workaholic nature eroded his health. In May 1922 he suffered a stroke from which he never fully recovered. He lost his power of speech , and his right arm and leg were paralyzed. In December, he had another stroke. The third followed in March 1923 and turned him into a living corpse. Lenin died on 24 January 1924. His corpse body was embalmed and emblematically placed in a mausoleum in his memoriam on Moscow's Red Square. St Petersburg was renamed Leningrad in his honor.
====Conclusion====
Lenin transformed himself from imprisoned radical to an absolute ruler in three decades. Lenin's shadow hung over the Soviet Union and Europe for another 70 years. While Lenin was remarkable orator and writer, his takeover of Russia was a fluke. In 1917, the Russian Empire was a disaster. It was led by the Romanov's who were unpopular, foolish and incompetent. World War I had also fatally weakened the Russian Empire. Lenin's revolution would have been quickly snuffed out if had occurred at any other time in Russian history. Lenin's timing could not have been better. Lenin's luck allowed him to become the first revolutionary dictator of the century with influence on a global scale.
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====References====
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[[Category:Russian History]] [[Category:Military History]] [[Category:World War One History]][[Category:Political History]][[Category:European History]]
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Updated January 19, 2019