Vladimir Lenin

Led the October Revolution to establish the rule of the Soviets and founded the Bolshevik state.

Life

Turning to revolution

Lenin was born in Simbirsk on the Volga into the family of an education official. His elder brother was executed for taking part in a plot to assassinate the Tsar, an event that profoundly shaped his political outlook. Expelled from Kazan University for joining the student movement, he spent many years in underground revolutionary activity and writing in exile, gradually becoming the leader of the radical wing of Russian Marxists.

October Revolution

After the February Revolution of 1917 toppled the Tsar, he returned to Russia from Switzerland in a sealed train arranged by Germany and raised the slogan "All power to the Soviets." That October he led the Bolsheviks' armed uprising that overthrew the Provisional Government, then made a separate peace with Germany to leave World War I. Through a brutal civil war he established Soviet power, and he founded the Comintern to promote world revolution.

Debated legacy

His supporters regard him as the revolutionary leader who ended Tsarist autocracy and founded the first socialist state; but critics point out that the "Red Terror" and Cheka repression under his leadership killed vast numbers of civilians, and the New Economic Policy of 1921 is also seen as a tacit admission that the early radical policies had failed. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, assessments of his place in history have remained sharply divided within Russian society.

Legacy

Lenin led the October Revolution and founded the world's first socialist state. The Leninism he developed profoundly influenced the international communist movement and many national liberation movements of the 20th century, and the New Economic Policy he introduced in his later years reflected an adjustment to reality. Some scholars in the West and in Russia, however, criticize the heavy cost of his Civil War–era policies and political repression, and assessments of him differ widely across countries and viewpoints.

Major works & achievements

• Founded the Bolshevik faction
• Led the October Revolution
• Founded Soviet Russia and helped create the Soviet Union
• Introduced the New Economic Policy
• Wrote Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism and The State and Revolution

Did you know? "Lenin" was one of his aliases; his real name was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov.

Key dates

• 1887Elder brother executed for a plot to assassinate the Tsar
• 1895Arrested and exiled to Siberia
• 1903Party splits; Bolshevik faction formed
• 1917Returns to Russia and leads the October Revolution
• 1918Signs the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany
• 1918Recovers after being badly wounded in an assassination attempt
• 1921Introduced the New Economic Policy
• 1922Soviet Union founded
• 1924Died