Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) was the founder and ideological mentor of the Bolshevik movement, the leader of the October Revolution and the first ruler of Soviet Russia. Most consider him the dominant figure of the Russian Revolution.

Family and early life

Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in Simbirsk, a large town of around 45,000 people located on the Volga River. His family was of mixed ethnic heritage with Russian, German, Swedish and Jewish strains. Only a generation before, the Ulyanovs had been lowly serfs. Lenin’s father, Ilya, obtained a university education, became a teacher and rose to become a schools inspector.

Their humble origins furnished the Ulyanovs with empathy with Russia’s peasant and working classes. They were also politically informed and liberal-minded. In her memoirs, Lenin’s sister recalled the family home being filled with passionate discussion and debates about the situation in Russia.

Tragedy struck the Ulyanovs twice in the 1880s. Ilya Ulyanov died in 1886. The following year, Vladimir’s older brother, Alexander, a university student, was arrested and hanged for alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Tsar Alexander III. This event led to the Ulyanovs being condemned and ostracised as revolutionaries.

Lenin’s radicalism

Both his father’s death and his brother’s execution had a significant impact on Vladimir Ulyanov. He lost faith in God and religion and his political position began to shift from liberalism to radical socialism. Ulyanov became interested in the same radical ideas as his late brother, particularly the works of Nikolai Chernyshevsky (he later used the title of Chernyshevsky’s What is to Be Done? for one of his own books).

In the autumn of 1887, Ulyanov entered Kazan University to study law. His enrolment was secured with the help of a written reference from his former headmaster, the father of Alexander Kerensky.

It was at university that Ulyanov became involved in radical Marxist groups. Both university chiefs and the local Okhrana quickly identified him as a ‘person of interest’. Within weeks of commencing his studies, Ulyanov was expelled. He managed to complete his studies independently in 1891, though his subsequent political activities meant he practised little law.

The professional revolutionary

Entering adulthood, Ulyanov became obsessive about socialism and revolution. He read voraciously, consuming books about philosophy and socialist theory, political propaganda, reports from or about revolutionary groups around the world. When not reading, Ulyanov was writing or speaking in workers’ circles or at underground meetings.

In the early 1890s, Ulyanov formed an alliance with Julius Martov, the future leader of the Menshevik faction. He also married one of his fellow socialists, Nadezhda Krupskaya.

His political activities made Ulyanov a wanted man. For much of the 1890s, he lived and worked under assumed names and sometimes in disguise. He was eventually captured in 1895 and sentenced to three years’ isolation in Siberia.

In 1900, Ulyanov began another period of exile, this time in several cities of western Europe. It was during this period that he adopted the codename ‘Lenin’, possibly a derivation of the Lena River in Siberia.

What is to be done?

In 1902, Lenin published What is to Be Done?. In this treatise, he outlined his vision of an organised movement to bring about a socialist revolution. It called for a small party that was tightly run, carefully planned, hard-working, disciplined and secretive.

In Lenin’s view, membership of this party should be restricted to keep out infiltrators, interlopers and the half-hearted. Ideological and tactical decisions would be made by an intellectual elite and not subject to the whims and self-interest of the masses. Each party member would be a ‘professional revolutionary’, devoting all his time, energy and zeal to the socialist cause.

Lenin himself was the living embodiment of this idea. He lived an austere existence with few creature comforts or social pleasures. His only interests were socialism and revolution – broken by occasionally ice-skating, playing chess or listening to Beethoven.

Lenin was not just dedicated to the theory of revolution: he also took an interest in the physical or logistic aspects. According to Orlando Figes, the Bolshevik leader penned instruction guides for everything from bomb use to bank robbery. He wore leather and undertook physical exercise and weightlifting to convey the impression of strength and masculinity.

Exile and return

Lenin’s radical political views and prolific revolutionary activity made him a wanted man in Russia. He spent many years out of the country, living in exile in cities like Munich, Prague, Paris and Manchester. Lenin was in London and caught off guard by the events of the 1905 Revolution. He returned briefly but was back in exile by 1907.

In April 1917, Lenin returned to Russia with the assistance of the German government, which gave him passage to undermine and destabilise the new Provisional Government. On arrival, Lenin delivered a speech at Finland Station that became the basis for his famous April Theses. It called for an immediate socialist revolution, for a transfer of political power to the Soviets and an end to co-operation with the Provisional Government.

Lenin was forced back into exile in mid-1917 following the spontaneous ‘July Days‘ uprising, which he neither endorsed or exploited. As government troops combed Petrograd looking for the Bolshevik leader, he shaved off his trademark beard, donned the clothes of a fisherman and slipped across the water into Finland.

Soviet revolution and republic

Lenin returned to Russia in September 1917 to oversee the Bolshevik resurgence. His determination to overthrow the Provisional Government made him the driving force behind the October Revolution. Afterwards, Lenin immediately took charge of the Soviet government, issuing its first decrees and shaping its economic policies.

During his leadership of the Bolsheviks and the Soviet state, Vladimir Lenin was subject to several threats and assassination attempts. The most notable of these occurred on August 30th 1918 when Fanya Kaplan, a lone assassin with populist sympathies, fired two shots into his upper body in Moscow.

Lenin survived this attack but the complications and effects of his injuries may have shortened his lifespan. According to historian Robert Service, who gained access to the Bolshevik leader’s medical records, Lenin’s awareness that his time was limited contributed to his obsession, impatience and authoritarianism.

Poor health and demise

Whatever the causes, the final three years of Lenin’s life were marked by poor health. He suffered from tinnitus, insomnia and severe headaches then endured three significant strokes (May 1922, December 1922 and March 1923).

From this point on, Lenin spent much of his time at his Gorki mansion. He remained sharp-minded, kept abreast of political developments and continued writing briefs and letters to party officials. Joseph Stalin was put in charge of his convalescence, however, and was able to manipulate Lenin to his own advantage.

Vladimir Lenin died on January 21st 1924. His funeral, held in freezing conditions in Red Square, was attended by around 60,000 people. The Politburo voted to preserve Lenin’s body and place it on public display, a decision opposed by his widow, Krupskaya.

A historian’s view:

“The real Lenin was neither hero nor gentleman – but he was a genius in revolutionary politics. Lenin the cult figure was later lauded for his enormous modesty… This is partly true and partly false… Lenin was neither greedy nor vain. He covered neither material possessions nor the luxury or enjoying the knowledge that tens of millions of people might admire an inflated version of his biography. He was supremely self-confident and had no need of such vanities. What he sought throughout his life was the means to impose his will on a populace that bore little resemblance to him in temperament or talent.”

Nina Tumarkin

1. Vladimir Lenin was born Vladimir Ulyanov in Simbirsk. His political views were shaped by those of his liberal-minded father, than the execution of his revolutionary brother, Alexander.

2. The young Lenin became involved in radical student groups and joined the Marxist Social Democrats. He spent long periods in exile and articulated his vision of a ‘professional’ revolutionary party.

3. Lenin’s radical ideas led to factionalism in the SDs and the formation of the Bolshevik group of the party in 1903. Lenin remained the leader of this group for the rest of his life.

4. Lenin’s return to Russia in April 1917 provided the impetus for the October Revolution. He took charge of the newly formed Soviet government immediately after this revolution.

5. Lenin was seriously injured by an August 1918 assassination attempt. From 1920, he suffered continued poor health and a series of strokes that restricted his political leadership.

Citation information

Title: “Vladimir Lenin”

Authors: Jennifer Llewellyn, Steve Thompson

Publisher: Alpha History

URL: https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/tsarist-government/

Date published: April 17, 2010

Date accessed: September 10, 2020

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