Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Russian: ????????? ?????? ?????? {{Audio|Ru-Lenin.ogg|listen}}), original surname Ulyanov (????????) (April 22 (April 10 (O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a Russian revolutionary, the leader of the Bolshevik party, the first Premier of the Soviet Union, and the main theorist of Leninism, which he described as an adaptation of Marxism to "the age of imperialism".

Revolutionary

Rather than settle into a legal career, he became more involved in revolutionary propaganda efforts and the study of Marxism, much of it in St. Petersburg. On December 7 1895, he was arrested and held by authorities for an entire year, then exiled to the village of Shushenskoye in Siberia.

Related Topics:
Revolutionary propaganda - Marxism - St. Petersburg - December 7 - 1895 - Shushenskoye - Siberia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In July 1898, he married Nadezhda Krupskaya, who was a socialist activist. In April 1899, he published the book The Development of Capitalism in Russia http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1899/devel/index.htm. In 1900, his exile ended. He travelled in Russia and elsewhere in Europe and published the paper Iskra as well as other tracts and books related to the revolutionary movement. At this period, he started using various aliases, finally settling upon Lenin.

Related Topics:
1898 - Nadezhda Krupskaya - Socialist - 1899 - The Development of Capitalism in Russia - 1900 - Europe - Iskra - Lenin

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was active in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), and in 1903 he led the Bolshevik faction after a split with the Mensheviks that was partly inspired by his pamphlet What is to be Done? http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/index.htm. In 1906 he was elected to the Presidium of the RSDLP. In 1907 he moved to Finland for security reasons. He continued to travel in Europe and participated in many socialist meetings and activities, including the Prague Party Conference of 1912 and Zimmerwald Conference of 1915. When Inessa Armand left Russia and settled in Paris, she met Vladimir Lenin and other Bolsheviks living in exile. Inessa Armand became Lenin's partner.

Related Topics:
Russian Social Democratic Labor Party - 1903 - Bolshevik - Mensheviks - What is to be Done? - 1906 - 1907 - Finland - Socialist - Prague Party Conference - 1912 - Zimmerwald Conference - 1915 - Inessa Armand

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On April 16, 1917, he returned to Petrograd from Switzerland following the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II, and took a leading role within the Bolshevik movement, publishing the April Theses http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/apr/04.htm. The April theses called for uncompromising opposition to the provisional government. Lenin isolated his party with this initial lurch to the left, but the uncompromising stand increased the Bolsheviks' appeal to the poor.

Related Topics:
April 16 - 1917 - Petrograd - Switzerland - Nicholas II - April Theses

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After a failed workers' uprising in July, Lenin fled to Finland for safety. He returned in October, inspiring an armed revolution with the slogan "All Power to the Soviets!", against the Provisional Government. His ideas of government were expressed in his essay "State and Revolution" http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/staterev/index.htm, which called for a new form of government based on the worker's councils, or soviets.

Related Topics:
Provisional Government - Soviets

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It has been largely suggested that Lenin had reached Petrograd from Switzerland with the help of the German Empire. Eye witnesses are said to have confirmed that Lenin had been carried in a sealed train on the way, escorted by Germans. Kaiser Wilhelm II himself is thought to have expected Lenin to paralyze the Russian army through revolution and end the war on the Eastern front and he saw him only as a contemporary figure that would lose power soon afterwards.

Related Topics:
German Empire - Train - Germans - Kaiser Wilhelm II - Eastern front

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~