Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov; 22 April 1870 – 21 January 1924) was a Russian revolutionary, political theorist, and statesman who led the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and helped found the Soviet state. He played a central role in shaping the direction of the early Soviet movement and the creation of a one-party state apparatus.

Lenin returned to Russia in 1917 and, as the leader of the Bolsheviks, helped orchestrate the October Revolution, which overthrew the Provisional Government and established a socialist government. He became head of the new government and issued decrees on land and peace, laying the groundwork for Soviet governance and the suppression of political opposition.

Following the revolution, the country endured a civil war (1918–1922) and the regime implemented War Communism before introducing the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921, which allowed limited private enterprise to stabilize the economy. Internationally, the regime negotiated peace with Germany in 1918 and pursued consolidation of power at home.

Lenin died in 1924 after several strokes, and his death triggered internal power struggles that contributed to Joseph Stalin’s rise. His writings and practice, often summarized as Leninism, influenced the development of Soviet political culture, party organization, and theory on the vanguard party and democratic centralism. Lenin’s embalmed body lies in a mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow, a symbol of the early Soviet state.