Dictator of the
Month: October, 2005Dictator of the
Month: October, 2005
| Vladimir
Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin
Take me to the picture gallery Fact Sheet Name: Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin
|
Biography
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (surname later changed to Lenin) was born on 09 April 1870 in Simbirsk (now called Ulyanovsk) to liberal parents Ilya Nicolaevitch and Maria Alexandrovna; his father was a civil service officer. His schooling took place in Simbirsk and he excelled in the subjects Latin and Greek; he graduated from Simbirsk Gymasium in 1887. In the same year, his brother,, Aleksandr, who had been part of a violent revolutionary group against the monarchy since 1866, was hanged for treason for participating a plot against Tsar Alexander III; it is thought that the loss of his brother embittered the already liberal and revolutionary Vladimir against the monarchy to the point that he began to devote his life to communism Lenin went on to study law at Kazan University, but he was expelled shortly thereafter for participating in revolutionary student demonstrations. In 1889 he was allowed to return to his studies, but by this time he was devoting much time to the study the teachings of Karl Marx. He completed his law studies and passed the law examination of the University of Petersburg in 1891, briefly establishing his own practice in 1892 in Samara. Vladimir moved to St. Petersburg in 1894, and traveled extensively around Europe over the next year, writing propaganda theses and organizing an illegal communist labour union. This ended in his arrest on 07 December 1895, spending time in prison until February 1897, when he was sent off to Siberia. During his exile he married Nadezhda Krupskaya in 1898 and devoted much time on writings. Eventually in 1900, his exile ended, and he returned to Russia, continuing to write pro-Communist literature and becoming more influential in politics. By 1903 Communists would split into two separate factions ,the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks, due to ideological differences and Lenin would go on to head the Bolshevik faction and ultimately the Bolshevik Party. After some farmers strikes and uprisings had been violently quelled by the Tsar after the defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Lenin began to organize peasants into co-ordinated uprisings against the Tsar, creating provisional peasant-run governments, confiscating property of landowners and freeing serfs; this would be a prelude to what would come in 1917 with the creation of the Soviet Union. Again the government stepped in and violently suppressed the revolts. In 1907 Lenin fled from Russia, going to Finland; he would continue to travel through Europe, writing and severely attacking his critics. Meanwhile during the 1910's tension within Russia began to rise as revolutionaries began to gain more and more support against the Tsarists. His many detractors would brand him an anarchist World War I would find the situation for the Tsarists worsen, and in Zimmerwald in Switzerland in early September, 1915, European socialists would now come to agree that instead of fighting World War I on the side of the imperialists against Germany et al., Russia could be taken out of the war by way of internal revolution. Plans for the international implementation of communism were also formulated. In February 1917, with widespread food shortages across Russia and deplorable working conditions for those not fighting in World War I, a full scale revolution broke out, deposing Tsar Nicholas II and replacing him with a provisional government, called the Duma. At the time, Lenin was in Switzerland, and despite British efforts to stop his return to Russia, Lenin crossed through Germany into Sweden, assisted by the Germans, who had hoped that his return would bring Russia out of the war, which in fact, did prove to be true. On April 16, 1917 he returned to Petrograd, leading the Bolshevik movement, but was quickly forced to flee to Finland in July 1917 after a failed workers revolt against the government led by Kerensky, who represented more middle class interests than interests for the working and peasant classes. The Bolsheviks, although with limited representation in the Duma, quickly gained influence and power. In On 08 November 1917 (October in the Russian calendar) Lenin was elected to office of Chariman of the Council of People's Commissars by the Russian Congress and took control of the government, driving Kerensky out of power. Lenin then proceeded to advocate with his political ally Leon Trotsky to sue for peace with Germany but talks broke down. This resulted in a German offensive, which proved disastrous for Russians with heavy territorial losses on her western border. In turn this resulted in garnering more support for Lenin to end the war with Germany, and on 03 March, 1918 the treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed. On 30 August, 1918, Lenin was shot and wounded in the shoulder and lung in an assassination attempt by Fanya Kaplan. Due to the level of medicine in Russia at the time, it was not possible to remove the bullets, and although Lenin's condition did improve, he would never fully recover from the attack. His health would begin to worsen over the next few years. However peace would not come to Russia even after the treaty, as Civil War against the White Russians, who were to some extent backed by foreign powers such as England, would continue until 1920. Finally in 1920 the civil war between the Red Army (Bolsheviks) and the White Army (Mensheviks) would end with the tsarists defeated, leaving Lenin in control of Russia. Some initiatives immediately introduced under Lenin's government were the mass nationalization of banks, private land and other property. Meanwhile factory production was mandated centrally to control output. Not surprisingly, middle and upper class Russians were extremely opposed to the moves, and even some Bolsheviks found the moves excessive. New laws on women's rights were introduced, abortion was legalized and divorce allowed. A brutal secret police called the Cheka was formed on 20 December 1917, to terrify opposition to the government. In 1919 the Comintern was established by Lenin to further the cause of international Communist revolutions; at the same time the Bolskevik party would now become known as the Russian Communist Party. With Germany close to revolution and collapse in 1919, Russia invaded Poland to attempt to link up with German revolutionaries before being brilliantly beaten back by Field Marshall Pilsudski. In 1921 the war ended conditions in Russia drastically worsened, food rationing was mandated due to shortages, and the fragile economy reeled; up to 5,000,000 are reported to have starved to death in the early 1920's in Russia. After the war's end Stalin implemented the NEP or New Economic Policy in March 1921, to revive the flagging economy and agricultural production, and allow some levels of private enterprise. By 1922 Lenin dictatorship and power were now unquestioned, but his health was failing; he was diagnosed with sclerosis and it is thought that he had been battling with syphilis for some years. Moreover the bullet wounds that he suffered were exacerbating his already poor condition. He suffered a stroke in May 1922, leaving him unable to perform his daily duties, followed by another stroke in December, from which he was paralyzed in his right side. A third stroke would follow in March 1923, leaving him bedridden and unable to speak. He would finally succumb to his fourth stroke on 21 January, 1924 at 18.30, although it is still disputed as to the exact cause of death, which could have also been syphilis related. Original artikel written by www.dictatorofthemonth.com
im August 2005 (c) 2005 Source articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin |
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