Group+3-+Lenin

**Vladimir Lenin** Vladimir Ilyich Ulganov was born on 22 April 1870 in a town called Simbirsk. Vladimir later renamed himself “Lenin” in 1901, when the town’s name changed to “Lenin”. His mother was Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova who had German, Swedish, Jewish descent. His father Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov was of Russian descent. Together they had three boys (including Vladimir) and three girls. One of his sisters died at the age of 20, but the rest grew up to become revolutionists. Furthermore, because of Lenin’s brother’s revolutionist ways, he was sentenced to death by hanging for participating in a terrorist assassination attempt on the Tsar. At the age of 17 Lenin’s father died of a brain hemorrhage and Lenin was therefore fatherless from then on.
 * Early life **

Lenin learned to read when he was fire years old. He started his schooling at the age of 9 and was quickly recognized as a brilliant student. He finished school and graduated at 17 with a gold medal for excellence in his studies. Shortly thereafter in the fall of 1887 he enrolled at Kazan University and started on his law degree. While attending Kazan, he was expelled for participating in a protest against the limited freedoms that students had. Lenin tried to re enroll many times and was denied on all of his several applications. In 1890 he was finally allowed to enroll at St. Petersburg University, but not to attend class. Studying on alone as an independent student of the school he graduated with a law degree in 1891. Moving to Samara, he joined and started working at a law firm. Many of his cases were involved with the Proletariats of the area, and as he became more and more absorbed in the Marxist philosophy, this fueled him.
 * Education **

Lenin joined a Social Democratic group, which he was a Marxist organization and moved to St. Petersburg, the then capital of Russia to become a more active revolutionary. He became the Leader of a Marxist (Social Democratic) Group, due to in part his Law degree. Between April and September of 1895 he traveled throughout France, Germany, and Switzerland to speak with other Marxists. He was then arrested in December in St. Petersburg by the Czar’s police force while working on a revolutionary newspaper. Held in questioning for a year, he was then released and exiled to Serbia in 1897. Although he had been exiled, it wasn’t necessarily imprisonment. He was given an allowance by the government and was able to rent and apartment, and continue his writings. He married Konstantinovna Krupskaya on July 22 1898; she was also an exiled revolutionary. They would have no children together. While with her in Serbia during 1899 he wrote //The Development of Capitalism in Russia// Which was one of his major works. During Lenins exile in 898 a number of secret Marxist groups joined together in Russia to form the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. When Lenins exile ended and he was permitted to leave Russia for Germany in January of 1900, he founded the party newspaper //Iskra//. This publication was an illegal paper that was to be smuggled into Russia. He and the other editors of the paper published //Zarya// a book about the Marxist theory. It was in this book that Vladimir Ulyanov became Lenin, following the trend of revolutionaries switching names to confuse the police. Lenin wrote //What is to be done// in 1902, a pamphlet describing his ideas of party organization. The following year the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party split into two groups which would become the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. This was about party membership. The Bolsheviks wanted strict membership requirements and the Mensheviks much looser ones. Lenin became the leader of the Bolsheviks. Lenin and the Bolsheviks all believed that the party should be cut down with more active revolutionaries that were trained professionals. This more condensed and qualify party could better lead and organize the proletariat.
 * Becoming a Revolutionist **

During the time of the February Revolution, the Bolsheviks were disorganized and they wanted to accept the Lvov government and end the feud with the Mensheviks. However, many others opposed both the Lvov government and the Mensheviks. Lenin, who was still exiled in Switzerland, sought to return to Russia. The Germans were willing to allow Lenin to travel through Germany on the way to Russia however they also were afraid that Lenin might stir up German workers. For this reason, the Germans made Lenin stay inside a single railroad car while he traveled through Germany. On April 16, 1917, Lenin arrived in Petrograd. He received a hero's welcome from the people as they had all been thoroughly anticipating his return. When Lenin finally arrived in Petrograd, he called for the overthrow of the Lvov government and for an end to Russia's participation in World War I. Lenin quickly regained leadership of the Bolsheviks but was unfortunately unable to seize control of the Lvov government. In July 1917, the government was reorganized under Alexander Kerensky. On July 19, the Russian government ordered Lenin's arrest as a German agent. This forced Lenin to flee to Finland and his loyal followers either escaped or were jailed. During Lenin’s stay in Finland, he wrote “The State and Revolution”, which was one of his most important works. This book explained the factors necessary to organize a revolution and what kind of government to establish after the power had been seized. In September 1917, Lenin also wrote “The leaders of the Bolsheviks” and declared that the time for speech making was over and it was time to put plans into action.
 * Lenin’s return from exile **

Having lost many battles by 1917, Russia was in a state of unrest, and was having food shortages. Early in February bread ran short in the capital, and workers went on strike. By March 9th about 200,000 workers were on strike in Petrograd, and soldiers refused to maintain order. Soviets or councils of workers and soldiers had showed up in the revolution of 1905 and now formed a group called the “Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies”. After the Czars stepped down the Bolsheviks shared control with the government of Russia, but were pressing for full control. The Bolsheviks were disorganized during the February Revolution. Some of them wanted to end the feud with the Mensheviks and support the Lvov government, but some saw things in a completely opposite light. Lenin was in Switzerland at this time, and wanted to return to Russia. The Germans were willing to allow Lenin to pass through on his way to Russia, but they were afraid of the Socialist message he could spread on his was. They forced him to travel in as single railroad car for the duration of his trip through Germany. He arrived in Petrograd to a heroes welcome on April 16, 1917. Once in Petrograd he called for the Lvov government to be overthrown, and for Russia to stop participation in World War 1. He gained the leadership of the Bolsheviks but was unable to successfully take control of government. He was arrested as a German agent and fled to Finland. In this time in Finland he wrote //The State and Revolution in 1917//, and it was one of his most important works. It explained the ways to organize a successful revolution, and that the time for speechmaking was over. “History will not forgive us if we do not assume power now,” He said.
 * February Revolution **


 * Building up to the revolt **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Firstly, While Lenin was exiled a variety of Marxist groups that acted in secrecy in Russia came together and created “The Russian Social Democratic Labor Party”. Lenin was then able to return from exile in the month of January 1900, his next step was to request to the government to allow him to leave Russia. After Russia’s consideration he was permitted to leave and he landed up in Germany. While he was in Germany he worked for a highly illegal party newspaper which had to be smuggled into Russia. While in Germany working on the newspaper Vladimir picked up his new name of Lenin(1901). It was quite common for revolutionists to change their names in order to mislead police. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Secondly, Lenin wrote a famous pamphlet called //What is to be done?// in 1902. This pamphlet allowed for him to discuss his views on the organization of specific parties. Next, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party split into two groups over a dispute on who would be allowed to enter their group. One of the groups, the Bolsheviks, was run now by Lenin, and the other groups, the Mensheviks were his minority opponent. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> The Bolsheviks, ruled by Lenin, wanted a miniscule amount of revolutionaries because they believed that in order to succeed the party must be led by trained revolutionists. On the other hand, the Mensheviks wanted less restrictions on who could be in power and how much experience you have.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Revolt **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> In the early 1900’s, an idea of revolt against the Czar started to rise and develop in Russia. The citizens wished for more freedom within the politics as well as land and social legislation. Also, they wanted to end the war between Russia and Japan. On the day of Sunday, January 22, 1905 a priest of the church named Georgi Gapon organized a peaceful protest march in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, their peaceful requests to the Czar went horribly wrong and the troops of the Czar opened fire on the defenseless crowd of people. This day was named Bloody Sunday and stirred the pot of a revolt. Reaching the autumn months most of Russia had been paralyzed by strikes which led to a mass strike in Moscow on December 20. This strike then turned into a full on revolution which was the crushed by the end of December, but Lenin later declared that if it was for the strike in 1905, the victory of the October revolution would have been impossible.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lenin was made chairman of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets on November 8th, 1917 and also became head of the new Russian state. The congress was controlled by the Bolsheviks and it was they who appointed a Council of People's Commissars. Lenin requested permission to ask Germany for a three-month truce while at the same time asking for the abolition of private landownership. The congress approved both requests and The Bolsheviks started peace talks with Germany and nationalized all privately owned lands in Russia. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In December 1917, Lenin signed a decree that enabled “Cheka”. This was a political police force that used terror and threat to control the people. All the enemies of the Bolsheviks were imprisoned, murdered, or sent to a series of prison labor camps in Gulag. The majority of the prisoners would end up dying in these camps. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On Aug. 30, 1918, while visiting workers at a Moscow factory, Lenin was shot by a woman named Dora Kaplan who was a member of the Social Revolutionary Party. Lenin was hit by two bullets but managed to recover in several weeks. Kaplan was executed, and to discourage future attempts, the Bolsheviks executed hundreds of hostages to send out a message to all who would ever consider repeating such an event. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Russian army was falling apart during the Great War, and Lenin realized that he had to insist on ending the war with Germany to whatever extent it would take. He believed that such an action was crucial if the Bolsheviks were to remain in power. On March 3, 1918, Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This caused Russia to give up important territories including Bessarabia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and any Polish land ruled by the Russians. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was clearly a harsh blow to Russia. On March 12, Lenin moved Russia's capital from Petrograd to Moscow so that his government would be farther from German power. Although the treaty was put into full affect, it became invalid after Germany lost World War I in November 1918. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1918, Lenin suggested that the Bolsheviks change the name of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party to the Russian Communist Party and action was taken to rename the council.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dictatorship **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Resistance of distant territories in Russia led to civil wars. In January 1918, Lenin formed the Red Army to solve this problem. The forces that opposed the Red Army became known as the Whites. The Whites included anyone who was opposed to change, such as revolutionaries, democrats, Russian nationalists, and those who preferred the old government. The Whites lacked unity of purpose and were unable to organize effectively and by 1920, the Bolsheviks had won the civil war. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Even during the civil war, Lenin did not lose sight of his goal of Communist world revolution. During 1919, he organized the “Comintern” to run Communist parties in all parts of throughout the world. The organization greatly helped gain international support for the Bolsheviks during the civil war. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the civil war had ended, Lenin took extreme measures to keep control of his weakened country which was still in poverty. In March 1921, he introduced the program called the New Economic Policy. This permitted small businesses to resume limited operations, free retail trade was allowed again, foreign businesses were invited to invest in Russia, peasants were allowed to sell food to private customers, and food supplies sent by the American Relief Administration saved hundreds of thousands of starving Russians. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Even though Lenin had asked the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States for credit, trade, and diplomatic recognition, none of these nations complied with his demands because they were all unwilling to deal with the Bolshevik government. It was not until 1919 when the New Economic Policy had begun when most European states resumed diplomatic relations with each other.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Civil War **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lenin's health had been significantly affected by the strain of revolution and war. In May 1922, Lenin suffered a stroke but still continued to work on against his doctor's advice. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lenin was concerned about the direction that the revolution was taking. He began to challenge some basic ideas of the Bolshevik government by opposing the concentration of power in government bureaus. He also feared Russian nationalism. Shortly before his stroke, he had appointed Joseph Stalin general secretary of the party. Now, Lenin had serious doubts about Stalin, who was reaching out for purely personal power. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In December 1922, the Bolshevik government established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.). That same month, Lenin suffered a second stroke. In January 1923, he warned that Stalin was "too rude" and lacked the talents necessary for party leadership. Lenin planned to remove Stalin as party secretary. On March 9, 1923, he had a third stroke and lost his power to speak clearly. His illness kept him from appointing a new party secretary. Stalin went on to rule the Soviet Union as a dictator from 1929 until 1953. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="wiki_link_ext">Lenin died of a brain hemorrhage on Jan. 21, 1924. The government preserved his body and placed it on display. The Lenin Mausoleum, in Red Square, became one of the Soviet Union's most honored monuments. Thousands of visitors visited the glass-enclosed coffin to view the founder of the Soviet Communist state. But in August 1991 when the Communists lost control of the Soviet government, the Soviet Union broke up into a number of independent states. The fall of Communism drew proposals for removing Lenin's body from public display. The daily number of people visiting the tomb declined. Many people favored burying Lenin in St. Petersburg, next to his mother's grave. Lenin himself had requested this spot as his final resting place.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Death of Lenin **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Bibliography**:


 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Vladimir Lenin Biography." Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More.. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://www.essortment.com/all/biographyvladim_myd.htm>.


 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"BBC - History - Historic Figures: Vladimir Lenin (1870 - 1924)." BBC - Homepage. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/lenin_vladimir.shtml>.


 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Vladimir Ilich Lenin (prime Minister of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." Encyclopedia - Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/335881/Vladimir-Ilich-Lenin>.


 * 1) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Lenin Museum. Red Square, Moscow." Видеоконференции, оборудование для видеоконференцсвязи. Стэл - Компьютерные системы. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. <http://www.stel.ru/museum/Lenin.htm>.