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| Vladimir Y. Lenin was the
most famous of all leaders of Russian Revolution. He was born in 1870 in a middle class
family in the Kazhan province of Russia. An avid follower of Karl Marx's philosophy, he
joined the Social Democrat Party after graduating in law. Later he joined the Bolshevik
party which was a faction of the Socialist Democratic Party. And soon became its leader.
This was when Russia reached an extreme point of degradation due to incompetent rule of
the Czars. And there was hardly any definitive way to mend it through social reforms. The
first phase of Russian revolution on March 8, 1917 resulted into the termination of the
Czarist rule. But the newly formed government, dominated by the rich class, was yet to be
stable. Everything was in an utter state of confusion. There was no specific course of
action to lead the country out of the impasse. The second phase of revolution became imminent. Unlike the first phase this was dominated by the Bolsheviks, or, the labor class. It was when Lenin came up with his famous "April thesis" that pointed out the dos and don'ts for the revolutionaries. He raised a class-consciousness amongst the Soviet workers. But soon he was exiled due to his activities against the Czarist rule. He called for the transfer of 'all power to the hands of the Soviets', that is, the people of Russia. He preached the 'peace, land and bread' as the main goal of the revolution. The revolutionaries came to power after the October Revolution under Lenin's apt leadership. And Russia became a socialist republic. Then Lenin concentrated for a thorough social reforms. He suppressed the civil war and stopped foreign aggression to save the newly born Russian socialism. Lenin soon rode the crest of popularity and confidence of the Soviet people. The introduction of the New Economic Policy and new constitution for the Soviet Republic was also his credit. These proved Lenin's farsightedness as a social leader. Relentless hard work brought an end to the life of this great leader in 1924. Though a follower of Karl Marx, the founder of Communism, Lenin was not a copybook communist. He molded the doctrines of Marx to the needs of the Russians those days. He founded the Soviet Socialist Republic on the ruins left by the Czarist rule. For his undaunted spirit and concern for people, especially the socially downtrodden, is regarded as one of the greatest heroes Russia has ever produced. |