Vladimir Lenin

He is the only person whose baby picture was flown into space, and whose body has been preserved for decades after his death. He pushed his version of Communism so far, and for so long, that he was able to overthrow the government of the largest country in the world. To some, he is a hero, and to others, he is one of the most evil villains in history. We are talking about Vladimir Lenin - The man behind the Bolshevik Revolution, and the founder of the Soviet Union.

EARLY LIFE The year was 1870, and Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born in a Russian provincial town called Simbirsk. He would eventually grow up to be most known by his alias, “Vladimir Lenin,” later in life, and we will explain the origin of the name later. Most revolutionaries have a tragic backstory of a young life of hardship, rising from the lower classes to demand better treatment for the downtrodden. Many people are taught that this is the case with Lenin, as well. They try to say that his parents were descended from serfs, and that he had to study hard to break into the middle class. But the truth was that Lenin’s parents were actually financially comfortable, and by all accounts, he had a happy childhood. His mother, Maria, was descended from a wealthy Jewish family who was of Swiss-German origin, so she taught him French and German at home. His father, Ilya, was the Director of Public Schools for the entire province. They were considered to be “hereditary nobility,” and they were far more educated than the average Russian. This placed his parents in a group called the “Intelligentsia,” who would debate over philosophy and politics in their spare time. Many of the members of the Intelligentsia became politicians who helped shape the new laws of the nation, while others devoted their lives to pushing for a Russian revolution. Vladimir and his older brother Alexander were no exception. His brother loved studying science in high school, but there were no opportunities to become a scientist in a small Russian village like Simbirsk. So, Alexander moved to St. Petersburg to attend university. During this time, he joined a political study group, and they began to discuss the failures of the Romanov empire, believing that the only way to save Russia would be to remove them from power. When he was 21 years old, Alexander joined a terrorist group that attempted to assassinate Tsar Alexander III with a homemade bomb. The terrorists were caught, and Alexander and his friends were hanged for their crime. Vladimir Lenin was 17 at the time his brother died and was just about to graduate high school. Even though he had gone through such a shocking tragedy, he still managed to become the valedictorian of his graduating class. He went to law school with the intention of becoming a lawyer. But just a few months into his first semester, he joined a demonstration of students who were protesting against the school rules. Since the Russian police were already watching Lenin closely to see if he was also a terrorist like his brother, the school saw his participation in the demonstrations as a sign that he might cause a lot of trouble. So, he was expelled and decided to educate himself instead. The Tsar, Alexander III, released the peasant class from their serf status, meaning that they no longer had to be indentured servants to wealthy landowners. While this helped relieve the difficulties of a lot of people, it wasn’t a perfect solution to the problems that the peasant class was facing. People were still in debt, and many struggled to make ends meet. The vast majority of people were illiterate, and Russia was decades behind in progress compared to the Western world. Members of the Intelligentsia were very unhappy with the way things were going and wanted their country to move forward with progress, just like the rest of the human race. Lenin studied at law school, but he realized that with his bad nerves and his family’s bad reputation from his brother being a terrorist, it would be impossible for him to get a job as a lawyer. Vladimir Lenin began his self-education by reading Karl Marx and other revolutionary writers. He joined a Marxist study group, where intellectuals met and discussed philosophy and the possibility of a Russian Revolution. It was around this time that a major famine spread through the land near his home. Records of the 1891 famine vary drastically, with some stating there were 300,000 deaths, while others say it was closer to 5 million people dying of starvation. Lenin was fine, of course, since his family was well-off and he had plenty of money to buy food. He did nothing to offer aid to the people dying around him. He was actually happy about this, saying that the worse things got in Russia, the better it would become. He knew that people needed to start dying in the thousands before they would become angry enough to want a revolution. Karl Marx wrote that he believed an industrialized society would be most likely to create a revolution because he believed they would want to rise against commercialism. Vladimir Lenin rewrote a lot of what Marx was actually saying. Lenin wrote the idea that the revolutionary Intelligentsia would guide the uneducated peasants. Even though the philosophy was labeled as “Marxism” throughout the reign of the Soviet Union, it is now called “Leninism,” because it really was his own personal ideas, not those of Karl Marx. Lenin joined a socialist group that gained access to a factory, where they started handing out fliers to factory workers. They were trying to make people angry about their work situations and want to demand shorter hours and higher pay. They were caught, though, because they accidentally let a police informant join the group, and they were all arrested. At the time, any form of revolutionary activity was taken very seriously, and they all had to serve time in jail. He was 26 years old when he went to prison, but it was nothing like what we imagine a Russian prison to be. Since he descended from a noble bloodline, he was given a very comfortable place to live, where he could wear whatever clothes he wanted, read books, and receive daily visits from family and friends. He was even allowed to continue writing his revolutionary pamphlets and essays while he was behind bars. After 14 months in jail, he was exiled to Siberia for three years. In a way, this was actually great for him because he was given a government pension for his living expenses. He spent all of his time reading and writing about the revolution, which is what he wanted to do anyway. So, for him, this time in Siberia was more like a very long writer’s retreat, and he was actually very productive during his time away. His girlfriend was also arrested and sent to Siberia. They got married so that they could live there in exile together. While Vladimir Lenin was writing his revolutionary ideas in Siberia, he would send them back to his socialist friends, who would publish his essays in their secret newspaper. He made up a variety of pen names so that it seemed like multiple intellectuals were all pushing for the same revolution, but it was really just him. The pen name he eventually stuck with was “Vladimir Lenin,” which is what he is remembered as today. After being released from his time of exile, he was 30 years old. He and his wife moved to Munich, Germany, where they could print their revolutionary newspapers in Russian without getting in trouble with the German police. He would then have the papers smuggled into Russia, with the help of fellow revolutionaries who carried them in their luggage. One of these co-conspirators was a young man named Joseph Stalin, who was equally passionate about the coming revolution and would eventually take Lenin's place.

THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION In most accounts of the Russian Revolution, Vladimir Lenin's rise to power appears straightforward, often depicting him as a well-respected intellectual who quickly ascended to power. However, the reality is far more complex. Lenin’s revolution was a prolonged process, but he persistently maneuvered his way into a position of influence. Lenin had a knack for causing turmoil. Even among the intelligentsia, he labeled anyone who disagreed with him as "enemies" or "sniveling bourgeois." Although most were middle-class socialists, Lenin showed no tolerance for dissent. At one meeting to discuss revolutionary strategies, his insults drove some socialists to leave. In their absence, Lenin declared that his followers were the "Bolsheviks" or "majority," while everyone else was the "Menshevik" or "minority" party—a label that stuck from then on. By 1904, the intense debating, discussing philosophy, and distributing pamphlets took a toll on Lenin's health, prompting a year-long hiking holiday in the Swiss Alps with his wife. Yet, the Bolsheviks continued their revolutionary work in his absence. In 1905, a peaceful protest in St. Petersburg in front of the Winter Palace turned violent. The demonstrators, seeking better working conditions and an eight-hour workday, sang "God Save the Tsar" to express loyalty to the royal family. However, Tsar Nicholas II ordered his guards to open fire, resulting in thousands of deaths—a tragedy that became known as "Bloody Sunday." Outraged, people across Russia began to protest for workers' rights. On hearing the news, Lenin cut short his vacation and returned to Russia, sensing a revolutionary opportunity. Lenin urged people to organize and take action against the Tsar, even suggesting violent tactics, such as using acid against the royal guard—extreme measures that were unprecedented among other revolutionaries. Despite his zeal, there were still not enough willing to fight and kill on his behalf. Many Bolshevik revolutionaries were exiled to Siberia, and Lenin fled to Switzerland to avoid arrest. World War I put a temporary halt to revolutionary activities. Tsar Nicholas II left St. Petersburg to join his troops at the front, leaving his wife, Alexandra, under the guidance of their controversial spiritual advisor, Grigori Rasputin. Rasputin's influence led to questionable decisions, like appointing unqualified friends to powerful positions. Meanwhile, Lenin continued writing about revolution from Switzerland, urging soldiers to turn their guns against their officers. However, few people were reading these underground newspapers, and most Russians remained eager to defend their country. The war was a disaster. Millions died, inflation ruined the economy, and people faced food shortages. In a symbolic gesture, Tsar Nicholas renamed St. Petersburg to "Petrograd" to affirm his commitment to the Russian people, as "St. Petersburg" was deemed too German-sounding. However, this did little to quell the growing discontent. For the first time, thousands of Russians had military training, and many soldiers and police officers shared the public’s anger. People began to take matters into their own hands, moving against the Tsar—without any involvement from Lenin, who was still in Switzerland. Lenin, realizing the revolution was unfolding without him, panicked. The political landscape was divided between the Provisional Government, led by representatives called the Duma, and the Worker’s Soviets, composed of trade unions, peasants, soldiers, and factory workers. Lenin knew he could not match the Provisional Government's leader, Alexander Kerensky, a skilled lawyer and orator. Instead, Lenin focused on manipulating the less-educated Worker’s Soviets. When Lenin finally returned to Russia, he criticized the revolution’s progress, claiming it would not be complete until the Provisional Government was overthrown. This opinion was unpopular, and even his fellow Bolsheviks grew reluctant to publish his writings. However, the Provisional Government’s decision to continue the war with Germany led to widespread dissatisfaction. Many soldiers refused to fight, having joined the revolution against the Tsar for the very purpose of ending the war. During a speech, someone from the Provisional Government accused Lenin of being a German spy, causing the crowd to turn against him. To escape arrest, Lenin disguised himself and fled to Finland, where he continued writing. By October 1917, he secretly returned to Russia and convinced the Bolshevik Red Guard to storm the Winter Palace, leading a coup d’état. The Provisional Government members were arrested, and without a vote, Lenin became the new leader of Russia. This marks the dramatic and complex story of how Lenin seized power during the Bolshevik Revolution, a tale far from the simple rise often portrayed.

LENIN'S VIOLENT REIGN Vladimir Lenin addressed the crowd of Russian peasants the morning after storming the Winter Palace and introduced himself as their new leader, the head of the Soviet government. Lenin promised them exactly what they wanted, in the simplest words possible: "peace, bread, and land." One of his first acts as leader was to end the war with Germany. People were happy, because that’s exactly what they wanted all along. Right from the beginning, Lenin isolated himself at the Kremlin in Moscow so that he could continue writing. The Bolshevik Party wasted no time spreading propaganda that Lenin was like a kind old grandfather who only wanted the best for the Russian people, and that they didn’t have to worry anymore because he was there to take care of them. In reality, Lenin was determined to consolidate power, believing his revolution would need to be as forceful as possible. He encouraged tenants to rise up against their landlords and promoted violence against the upper classes. He ordered his Red Guard to remove the Romanov royal family from their residence. At that time, the number of men who had joined Lenin's Red Guard had grown to 200,000, giving him a small army to back him. Many of the Russian people protested because they were attached to the Romanovs, especially the young children. At first, Lenin claimed they would be kept somewhere safe. But once he realized they were too much of a threat to his power, he ordered their execution. Since the family was being held in Siberia, it took a long time for the public to learn of their deaths. Initially, people believed only Tsar Nicholas was killed, and that the women and children were spared. It would take years for the public to learn the truth of his brutality. Lenin began implementing his communist government. He proclaimed that every Russian citizen should have good rations, but to achieve that, the farms needed to be controlled by the government. Farmers were not allowed to keep or sell the food they grew, and all the crops were spread out among the entire nation. People could no longer choose their jobs and were assigned employment in newly constructed factories based on the needs of the country. Some people were pleased with this, feeling a sense of security. Statues and paintings of him were erected around Petrograd, and many called him a hero. Not everyone was drinking Lenin's kool-aid, of course. Plenty of people were furious with him for ordering the death of the innocent Romanov children. In 1918, a woman named Fanya Kaplan attempted to assassinate Vladimir Lenin. She shot him twice at close range. He was seriously injured but survived. Kaplan was arrested, and she refused to give up the names of any co-conspirators. She was executed in September of that same year. Lenin recovered from his injuries in the hospital, but from that day forward, he showed no mercy to anyone who expressed even the slightest opinion opposing his rule. Although he had encouraged the peasant class to stand up for their rights and rebel against the government, it was no longer acceptable to do so under his government. Any time peasants or farmers tried to protest against his new rules, they were suppressed with force. Those who opposed Lenin didn’t go down without a fight, though. In 1918, a group called the White Army battled against the Red Army in a civil war, fighting to take down the Soviet regime. However, the White Army was not organized very well, and they lost the war. By 1920, farmers were enraged that their grain was being seized for the "greater good" of the Communist nation. This sparked the Tambov Rebellion, but the Red Army brutally suppressed it by using poison gas and confiscating crops from the dead. At least 50,000 people were interned, mostly women, children, and the elderly—some of whom were taken as hostages. Other similar incidents followed, and any rebellion among the Russian people was quickly squashed. Even after attempting to make his political philosophy work through threats of death and destruction, Lenin knew when to call it quits. When millions of people were on the brink of dying from drought and famine, he decided to temporarily halt strict Communist policies, allowing farmers to keep the food they planted and sell the excess for profit—a move that echoed capitalism. This was a huge success. People were no longer starving, and the economy improved. However, once things had stabilized, Lenin returned to enforcing food rations. Unfortunately, not every leader who followed in Lenin's footsteps knew when to ease off on communism during times of famine. Lenin’s successor, Joseph Stalin, would be remembered as one of the worst dictators who ever lived.

DEATH AND LEGACY When he was 54, Vladimir Lenin's health began to decline, and he suffered multiple strokes. Even while in poor health, he continued to write and give commands from his bed. When he died in 1924, many people were shocked; they had not expected him to die so young. Hundreds of thousands of people attended his funeral, braving the freezing temperatures. People were sobbing, upset that the man they believed truly cared about them was gone. Lenin had managed to make some improvements in the economy, and the extensive pro-Lenin propaganda that had been circulated led many to see him as their savior. Five days after Lenin passed away, the city of Petrograd was renamed "Leningrad" in his honor. His body was embalmed so that people could continue to visit him and pay their respects. Lenin’s reputation became even more powerful after his death than when he was alive. He became a legendary figure who had managed to change not only Russia but also influenced other countries around the world. Communist leaders looked to him for inspiration to run their own governments. The USSR continued for decades after his death, and despite its many setbacks, the Soviet system led to significant progress in areas such as industrialization, education, and modernization, which Russia had lagged behind before Lenin's rise to power. Without the reforms initiated by the Soviet Union, the country might never have advanced as far in areas like the Space Race against the United States, and it might still be lagging behind today. However, in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and many of the statues of Lenin were torn down, signaling the end of his legacy as the USSR's founding leader.