Lenin, born Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov on 22 April 1870 at Simbirsk, Russia, was the third of six children. Both his mother and father were well educated and considered highly educated. They have instilled a love of learning in all their children. Vladimir was a strong student, a voracious reader and graduated at the top of his class. There have been two important turning points in his life that seem to prefigure Vladimir’s future in the evolution of Russia into communism. First, the death of his father in 1886 led Vladimir to denounce his faith in God and in the Russian Orthodox Church. Second, a year later, his brother Alexander, a college zoology student, was arrested and hanged for his part in a bombing plan to assassinate Tsar Alexander II.
Rise to power
Not long in his first term at the University of Kazan, Vladimir was arrested and expelled for participating in student protests against the Tsar. Being exiled to his grandfather’s estate in a small village, he immersed himself in the study of radical literature, in particular Karl Marx, whose book Das Kapitalit was a great influence and from 1889 Vladimir was a self-proclaimed Marxist. After finishing university and earning a law degree in 1892, he started working as a lawyer representing local farmers in Samara. It is here that he personally witnessed class struggles and it is this experience that strengthened Vladimir’s Marxist beliefs. Continuing his work as a revolutionary, he moved to St. Petersburg, where his leadership skills were quickly put to the test. Create your own group of Marxists called the Bolsheviks; he was continually forced to hide from the police and government officials. After being held by local authorities for trying to publish an illegal newspaper, he was exiled to Siberia for three years. While in Siberia he married Nadezhda Krupskaya, a Marxist teacher.
When 1900 brought his release from Siberia and banned from St. Petersburg, Vladimir changed his surname to Lenin in 1901 to confuse the authorities and spent the next few years in Western Europe writing communist documents. With the start of the first world war in 1914 and the horrible treatment and death of millions of Russian soldiers, Russian citizens were ready for a revolt. A revolt was represented in the early 1917 and Tsar Nicholas II abdicated from the throne. A provisional government has been installed; however, with the help of Germany, Lenin and his Bolshevik gang replaced the provisional government by the end of the year. Vladimir changed his surname to Lenin in 1901 to confuse the authorities and spent the next few years in Western Europe writing communist documents. With the start of the first world war in 1914 and the horrible treatment and death of millions of Russian soldiers, Russian citizens were ready for a revolt. A revolt was represented in the early 1917 and Tsar Nicholas II abdicated from the throne.
Contributions
As a communist philosopher and devoted Marxist, one of Lenin’s most profound contributions to the history and restructuring of Russia is his founding leadership of the Bolshevik party. Although he was loved by some and hated by others, his ideologies coupled with those of Marx became known as Marxism-Leninism, and he did much to consolidate the foundation of a number of radical schools of thought that followed (Trotskyism, Maoism, Stalinism) . Many of his writings are considered influential for the communist cause and include: What should be done ?, Imperialism , the highest level of capitalism ; The state and the revolution , the April Thesis ,Left-wing Communism: a childhood disorder and finally the New Economic Policy which has helped to revive the Russian economy through foreign trade, the requisition of agricultural products and nationalization.
The challenges
Considered one of the most controversial leaders of all time, the continuous struggles for the promotion of his Marxist causes and convictions represented a monumental challenge to Lenin. Choosing the luckiest time to lead the Bolsheviks to power was an act of balance between timing and patience, but it was also fundamental in Lenin’s rise to power. His loyal government and the mass executions of all the anti-Bolsheviks represented a challenge to the citizens, causing resentment and provoking an attempted murder on the life of Lenin. Surviving wounds in the neck and shoulder, his health has never been the same.
