How Lenin Influenced The Russian Revolution

Considered on the most influential figures of the 20th century, who forever changed the course of Russian history, was Russian communist revolutionary Vladmir Ilyich Lenin. Lenin was born on April 22, 1870 originally in Simbirsk, Russia where he was raised into a middle class family. Later in his life, when he studied law, he became greatly influenced by Marxist socialism. This was one of the major political stepping stones that led to his great role in the Russian Revolution. Being born into the middle-class, his family was well-educated and Lenin, the third of six children, was closed to his parents & siblings. While his mother (Maria Blank) was the daughter of a wealthy Russian doctor, his father (Ilya Ulyanov) was a school inspector & …show more content…
The first revolution in Russia occurred in 1905 when Russia was defeated by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War. This defeat engendered upheaval at home and Russian citizens began to express their discontent over the country’s political structure and called for reform. The situation further worsened and even though the emperor of Russia issued his October Manifesto promising to elect a Duma (parliament) with real legislative power, Lenin was far from satisfied. In fact, his frustrations extended to his fellow Marxists, in particular the group later called Mensheviks. The issues centered around the partly structure & driving forces of a revolution to fully seize control of Russia. Lenin demanded a small, disciplined, elitist-party dedicated to Communist revolution while his counterparts (Mensheviks) wanted a more democratic, reformist party. In 1912, the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party split into two groups: Mensheviks and Bolsheviks (Lenin’s group). During World War 1, Lenin went into exile again but this time to Switzerland. There he wrote and published “Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism” in which he argued that war was the natural result of international capitalism. Lastly, in 1917, when worn-out Russia got rid of the tsars, Lenin quickly returned home, denounced the Provisional Government which was assembled by the bourgeois parties and established the Soviet government. In late 1917, Lenin led the October Revolution where three years of civil war followed. His Soviet government faced big odds- the anti-Soviet forces or Whites. These were mainly formal tsarist and admirals who fought desperately to take down Lenin’s “Red” regime. At this point, there was massive civil war. In August 1918, Lenin even escaped an assassination attempt where he was severely wounded by bullets. In the end, Lenin came out victorious. However,