The Life And Impact Of Vladimir Lenin Essay
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Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was an impactful political leader in Russia during the twentieth century. He was a famous figure and left a huge impact on the Russian/Soviet Union Empire for many decades to follow. What he may be known for best, Lenin created and brought up the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics along with helping with the introduction of communism. He applied that communism concept to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics government that he was running. As the political leader in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics government, he tried his best to carry out the communism plan and make the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics a powerful empire.
Vladimir Lenin was ordained at an early age to become a revolutionary leader. Lenin had several brothers but looked up the most to one of his oldest brothers, Alexander. Alexander made the biggest impact of Vladimirs revolutionary views when he was executed: “When Alexander was a young man, he was executed for conspiring to assonate the Tsar. This brought so much anger and despair into Lenin that he soon became a revolutionary himself” (Red Biographies). This left a lasting impact on Lenin from a very early age. He looked up to Alexander as not only a big brother, but as a role model as well. He decided that he would try and get vengeance and become a revolutionist himself. It is obvious that Vladimir and Alexander were very close with each other and the death shook up Vladimir greatly. Whether making that decision was based on Alexanders death or something else, it sure had an influence. As Lenin progressed throughout his childhood, he was noted for his great intelligence. He was a very smart student when he headed to college and was looking forward to starting his trek as a revolutionist. Basgen writes that Lenin moved to St. Petersburg in 1893 and studied law. There, he spent a lot of time and learned many things about revolutionary movements from G.V. Plekhanov. Lenin was helped by Plekhanov and his comrades, when he was sent to meet with the Emancipation of Labour Group in Switzerland. While in Switzerland, Plekhanov got into an argument over the means of bringing about change in Russia. The disagreement led to a split of the Social Democratic into the Mensheviks, which Plekhanov headed, and the Bolsheviks, which Lenin ran (“Vladimir Lenin Biography”). While Lenin learned almost all there is to know about the communism idea from Plekhanov, he turned against him and they became rivals. Lenin was uprising fast in his movements for the revolutionary of Russia. Becoming the leader of the Bolsheviks group was a huge step forward for him. The only thing in his way was the opposing group ran by Plekhanov, the Mensheviks.
With knowledge and some experience under his belt, Lenin was ready to take on the Russian government. He would return to Russia and continue to plan his revolutionary movements against the government. History.com writes that after the outbreak between both revolutionary parties, Lenin headed back to Russia. The revolution in Russia ended when Nicholas II promised reforms, which included the adoption of a constitution and the creation of an elected legislature. However, once order was restored, the Czar declined most of the reforms. Because it was at the same time as World War I, the economy of Russia was disrupted by the costly war effort. In March of 1917, riots and strikes broke out between the proletariats over the scarcity of food. Dispirited army troops ganged with the strikers, and on March 15 Nicholas II was forced to relinquish. This ended centuries of Czarist rule in Russia and the power was shared between the Provincial Government and the councils of solders and workers committees. Several months later, Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrew the shared government and proclaimed soviet rule on November 7 (1918: Vladimir LeninД). This shows that Lenin was just in the right place at the right time and finally achieved his lifetime goal. Because of World War I, Russia was economically ruined and this affected the government greatly. Proletariats took advantage of the situation