Vladimir Lenin

Biography

Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) was a Russian revolutionary, political theorist and Marxist who played a leading role in the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet state. Born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in Simbirsk in the Russian Empire, Lenin became involved in revolutionary politics during his youth. The execution of his elder brother Aleksandr in 1887 for involvement in a plot to assassinate Tsar Alexander III formed part of the political environment in which Lenin's early views developed.

Lenin studied law and became increasingly influenced by the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. During the 1890s he participated in Marxist political activity in St Petersburg and helped organise the League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class. He was arrested in 1895 and subsequently exiled to Siberia, where he continued his political and theoretical work. After completing his exile in 1900, Lenin left Russia and became involved in publishing Iskra, a newspaper intended to organise and unify Russian Marxists.

In 1902 Lenin published What Is to Be Done?, in which he addressed questions of revolutionary organisation, political consciousness and the role of a revolutionary party. During the 1903 congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, disputes over organisation and political strategy contributed to the division between the Bolshevik and Menshevik tendencies. Lenin emerged as the principal leader of the Bolsheviks.

Lenin returned to Russia during the Revolution of 1905 but again spent much of the following period in exile. During these years he wrote extensively on philosophy, imperialism, nationalism, revolutionary strategy and the development of capitalism. His works included Materialism and Empirio-criticism, The Development of Capitalism in Russia and Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism.

Following the February Revolution of 1917 and the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II, Lenin returned to Russia from exile. In his April Theses he opposed support for the Provisional Government, called for an end to Russian participation in the First World War and argued for the transfer of political power to the soviets. He subsequently played a central political role in the Bolshevik seizure of power during the October Revolution.

After the revolution Lenin became head of the new Soviet government. His government withdrew Russia from the First World War through the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, nationalised major sectors of the economy and confronted extensive political and military opposition during the Russian Civil War. The period also saw the suppression of rival political forces and the expansion of coercive institutions under the Bolshevik government. Following severe economic disruption, Lenin supported the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1921, which partially restored market relations while retaining state control over major industries.

Lenin continued to write on the state, revolution and socialist organisation, including State and Revolution, Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder and numerous articles, speeches and letters. His interpretations of Marxism, particularly concerning revolutionary organisation, imperialism and the relationship between socialist revolution and the state, became enormously influential within the international communist movement.

Lenin suffered a series of strokes beginning in 1922 which increasingly removed him from active political life. He died at Gorki on 21 January 1924, aged 53. His writings and political practice became foundational to Marxism-Leninism and influenced communist parties, national liberation movements and revolutionary governments throughout the twentieth century.