Russia & Former Soviet Union - Peoples & Places, Military Figures - Biography, Russia & Former Soviet Republics - History, Political Figures - Biography

V. I. Lenin

Name: V. I. Lenin
Author: Margaret J. Goldstein
ISBN: 9780822559771

by Margaret J. Goldstein

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Overview

Vladimir Ilyitch Lenin was one of the most controversial figures of the twentieth century. The son of a Russian civil servant, he was raised in comfortable circumstances. But when his older brother was executed for attempting to assassinate the Russian czar, Lenin became a revolutionary. He was inspired by the radical writings of Karl Marx, who called for a world ruled by workers instead of wealthy people and monarchs. Lenin created his own interpretation of Marxism, known as Leninism, and headed a small, outlawed political party known as the Bolsheviks. In 1917 Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized control of Russia and transformed Russia into the world's first communist state. Millions of people were imprisoned or executed for speaking out against the government. Millions more died from famine. Learn more about the man called the most powerful revolutionary in history.