Lenin

The purpose of this report is to give a perspective over the historical condition in which the first socialist state came into being, and the key-role played by Lenin in those events.

V. I. LENIN Driven by ideological zeal, Lenin reshaped Russia and made communism into a potent global force. He was a genius leader of international proletariat and a faithful adept of Marx and Engels. Lenin developed and applied Marxist ideology in a creative manner in the Imperialist Era, fostering the transition from capitalism to socialism.

He founded the Communist Party, which led the proletariat to the Great Socialist Revolution in October 1917, thus creating the first socialist state in history.

Lenin was born on the 22nd of April 1870 at Simbirsk (nowadays Ulianovsk). His father, Ilia Nicolaevici Ulianov, was an elementary school inspector in that area. Lenin distinguished himself in Latin and Greek during the high school, from which he graduated in 1887. This year particularly marked his youth and radicalized him, because his elder brother Alexander was executed for conspiring to help assassinate Tsar Alexander III.

He tried to attend the Law School in Kazan, but was expelled for taking part in a student rebellion and exiled to Kokuskino, Siberia. Returned to Kazan in the fall of 1888, he began to intensively study the work of Marx and Engels, particularly The Capital. Between 1889 and 1893, Lenin lived in the city of Samara. In 1891 he graduated Magna cum Laude from the Law School in St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg he organized the first group of Marxist followers, mainly from the working class, and was acknowledged as its unquestionable leader.

As a lawyer, Lenin became increasingly involved in radical politics, and he began his rise as the leading communist theorist, tactician and party organizer. In the spring of 1894 Lenin wrote his first important work Who are the and how do they fight against social-democracy? , which was considered the first manifesto of the Marxist Revolutionary Party, that was coming into being in Russia.

In February 1894, he met for the first time his future wife, Nadejda Krupskaia, the daughter of an officer. In 1895, Lenin set up in St. Petersburg, the Union for Liberating the Working Class, which became the core of the Russian Marxist Party.

By the end of the same year, Lenin was arrested and exiled in Siberia, where he remained until 1900. A year before, Nadejda Krupskaia had been deported in the Urals, but at Lenin s request, she was granted permission to join him, and moved to Siberia. Eventually they married and their life together was known for balance and simplicity. Nadejda dedicated her life to her husband s endeavors, serving as his secretary and being the most reliable confident, adviser and chief supporter. She showed her loyalty even after her husband s death, striving to keep alive in the people s memory the image and character of the first Bolshevik.

During ...

- Dmitri Volkogonov - Lenin

- Time Magazine, February 1990

- www.lenin.ussr.com

- www.wikipedia.com

- www.encarta.com

- www.marshallcavendish.com