Lenin is the first president. Secrets of the last days. How and from what did Vladimir Lenin die. Personal life of the leader

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich(pseudonym) real name -Ulyanov"

• Childhood, family, study of V.I. Lenin
  
• Revolutionary spiritLeninVladimir Ilyich
  
• Shushenskoye
• Life abroad
• PolicyLeninVladimir Ilyich after the October Revolution
• last years of life
• The results of Lenin's activities
• Video about Lenin

"lenin Vladimir Ilich" (1870—1924)

Childhood, family, study

• The future revolutionary and leader of the proletariat was born into the Ulyanov family - representatives of the intelligentsia of Simbirsk (1870).
• His father worked as a teacher for a long time. Then he was appointed inspector of public schools in the province. And later he became their director.
• For his outstanding services in the field of public education, Ulyanov Sr. was repeatedly awarded orders, he was awarded the rank of truly state councilor and was granted nobility.
• He died when the future leader of the proletariat was barely 15 years old.
• His wife was quite educated, and she herself taught the children, of whom there were six in the Ulyanov family, a lot.
• According to genealogical research, Lenin's ancestors included Jews, Germans, Swedes (on his mother's side), and Kalmyks (on his father's side).
• Parents encouraged their children's curiosity and supported them in every possible way.
• Having entered the Simbirsk classical gymnasium (1879), he quickly became the first student, showing a special passion for history, philosophy, and literature.
• Vladimir graduated from this educational institution with excellent marks. And he decided to continue his studies at Kazan University, choosing the profession of lawyer.
• The death of the head of the family was a big blow for the Ulyanovs. And the execution of the eldest son that followed soon after. Alexander was arrested and sentenced to death for his participation in organizing an attempt to assassinate the emperor.
• And soon Vladimir was expelled from the university as one of the participants in the student gathering. And they send her to her mother’s remote village estate.
• A few years later, the Ulyanovs moved to Samara. This is where his acquaintance with Marxist ideas begins.
• Having not completed his studies at Kazan University, Vladimir Ilyich managed to study as an external student at. After which he was appointed to the position of legal assistant (sworn attorney) (1892).

Revolutionary spirit

• Most researchers believe that young Vladimir awakened his desire for revolutionary activity after the execution of his brother. Then there were the works of Marx, which strengthened it.
• Vladimir did not work at the bar for a long time - only a year. After which he left jurisprudence and moved to St. Petersburg. Here he joined the student circle of the Institute of Technology. Members of this community engaged in in-depth study of Marxist ideas.
• Two years later he went abroad, where he had the opportunity to meet many participants in the international labor movement.

Shushenskoye

• After returning from a trip abroad, together with L. Martov, he accepted Active participation in the founding of the “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class” in St. Petersburg, which carried out active propaganda among ordinary workers. However, he was soon arrested. He remained in custody for more than a year, and then was sent to Siberia - to the village of Shushenskoye.
• The clean air and favorable climate of Shushenskoye had a beneficial effect on the health of the young revolutionary. Here he married N. Krupskaya, just as he was exiled for prohibited activities. He also found use for his legal knowledge in Siberia, giving advice to peasants. He is also actively starting to write. His works bring him popularity among followers of Marxism.

Life abroad

• Back in 1898, the First Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party was organized in Minsk. Its participants were dispersed and many were taken into custody. Therefore, after returning from exile, the leaders of the Union of Struggle, including Lenin, are trying to gather the scattered and scattered members of this party.
• They decide to use a newspaper as one of the means of unification. To seek support and conduct negotiations with foreign supporters, Ulyanov again goes abroad.
• Living for a long time in Munich, London, Geneva, he meets the right people. He is included in the editorial board of the new newspaper Iskra. On its pages he begins to sign with his pseudonym. Subsequently, he uses it in life.
• Here in immigration, he formed his own vision of the tasks and goals of the Social Democratic Party.
• As a result, already during the second congress of the RSDLP (1903), the party split into “Mensheviks” and “Bolsheviks”. The latter, who supported the position of Ulyanov - Lenin, got their name due to the fact that they constituted the majority in the voting. Well, their opponents began to be called “Mensheviks.”
• Almost at the same time, with the light hand of Martov, the term “Leninism” appeared. Lenin's former like-minded person outlined radical methods in the theory and practice of the revolution.
• Having only briefly arrived in Russia during the years of the first revolution (1905-07), he actively worked at the head of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party and their new print organ, New Life. Without sharing the opinion of those who prepared the revolution, he nevertheless hoped for its victory: it was supposed to rid the country of autocracy and open a further path for the implementation of the Bolshevik plans.
• However, after the unsuccessful completion of the uprising, he goes first to Switzerland and then to Finland. But while there, he is keenly interested in what is happening in his homeland.
• So, he learned about the beginning of the war while in Austria-Hungary, in the remote town of Poronino (the territory of modern Poland). Here he was arrested, suspecting him of being a Russian spy. Local Social Democrats helped him avoid a long imprisonment.
• Immediately after this, he began to vehemently oppose the war and advocated for its end. Moreover, the fact that if resistance ceases, Russia could completely find itself under German occupation did not bother him or stop him.
• The February Revolution came as a complete surprise to him (as well as to most immigrants and Russian Social Democrats).
• After this, after 17 years spent abroad, the leader of the proletariat headed to Russia.

Return to Russia

• He returned to Petrograd along with 35 of his comrades. Moreover, they crossed the territory of enemy Germany completely unhindered, having secured permission from the authorities of this country. It was in April (1917). And immediately upon arrival, right at the station, realizing that those gathered here had not come to arrest him, but to support him, he made his famous fiery speech, climbing onto an armored car.
• His radical idea of ​​an armed uprising of the workers was not supported by many party members. However, people liked it.
• After Lenin's first unsuccessful attempt to take power into his own hands, as a result of which he was accused of treason in favor of Germany, he and several associates took refuge in the outskirts of Petrograd. He returned only a few months later to organize a revolutionary coup, or rather to give the final impetus to its implementation.
• When the October events had already become a thing of the past, Lenin and his followers, having eliminated their political opponents and dissenters by hook or by crook, came to power. Vladimir Ilyich moved to the Kremlin, becoming not only the leader of the party, but also the country.

We can briefly say about Vladimir Ilyich Lenin that he is an outstanding figure who played a significant role in Russian history. Creator of the RSDLP, etc. the leader of the world proletariat, regardless of the assessment of his activities, directed Russia along a special path of development, which affected the entire world history.

general characteristics and performance evaluation

• Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is a man to whom an incredible number of books, articles, and publications are dedicated. His characteristics range from servile worship, recognition as a genius of all times and peoples, to outright abuse and denigration, identification with the devil who plunged Russia into hell.
• The assessments of the first kind include, of course, all Soviet literature. This is not surprising. The man who was the leader of the Bolsheviks and carried out the October Revolution could not help but become a role model in the state he created. Despite Stalin's purges, during which former heroes of the revolution were easily forgotten and erased from memory, Lenin's authority was never questioned. It is interesting that even rivals in ideological struggle ( Stalinists, Trotskyists, Zinovievites), disagreeing in opinions, always looked for Lenin’s statements confirming their correctness.
• After the exposure of the “cult of Stalin” and his associates, during which the very principles of the development of the Soviet state were questioned, Lenin also remained at an unattainable height. Criticism of the leader not only did not exist, but it simply could not arise among the population.
• Of course, this situation was possible for several reasons. Firstly, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin left an incredible literary legacy. All his notes, not excluding the most trivial ones, were carefully collected and published in the form of a collection of works, which seemed to be the pinnacle of human wisdom. Lenin was a fairly flexible politician, and in his works, depending on the political moment, one can find direct contradictions to himself. However, there are unlikely to be many people who have seriously read the entire collection of his works. Most often it was simply used to confirm one’s own thoughts or actions.
  Secondly, during his lifetime Lenin was literally deified, to say nothing of the halo of inaccessibility that was created after his death. Stories for children about Lenin are striking in their naivety and simplicity, and yet more than one Soviet generation was raised on them.
• Finally, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was truly an extraordinary person. Possessing enormous intelligence, he could easily talk about some high economic problems and at the same time, furiously, without understanding the expressions, attack their ideological opponents. Many, by the way, attribute to him the tradition of using not quite decent words and expressions in journalism ("sharks of imperialism", "political prostitute", etc.).
• The very fact of the implementation of a socialist revolution in a particular country, the formation of a state that announced plans to build communism, cannot but evoke a special attitude towards Lenin. Being a fanatic of the revolution, he completely subordinated his life to this goal. The mentality of the Russian people allows one to forgive the most terrible actions of a person who does not strive only for personal well-being.
• The opposite point of view belongs to Russian emigrants who were forced to flee Russia after the revolution and some modern Russian historians. The position of the emigrants is clear. Having lost all their fortune, they were expelled from their own country and declared enemies of the new state. For them, the main culprit of what happened was Lenin. These assessments carry a huge stamp of subjectivity (for example, Bunin about Lenin: “Oh, what an animal this is!”).
• Huge streams of mud were poured after Perestroika over the entire Soviet historical period, including Lenin. This is a completely understandable phenomenon: after for long years censorship gave people the opportunity to openly express their opinions. But attributing all mortal sins to Lenin, declaring him the enemy of all humanity, and using unproven evidence and facts is too reminiscent of Soviet times, only with the opposite sign.
• At present, when the era of the USSR is beginning to be viewed more objectively, works are appearing that illuminate the personality of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin impartially. Both negative and positive aspects of his activities are recognized.

The main directions of Lenin's policy before the seizure of power

• Having led the struggle against the tsarist government, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, at the head of the Bolshevik Party, immediately took an irreconcilable position, excluding the possibility of any compromise. He considered only revolution to be the ultimate goal of his activity, to achieve which all means were suitable.
• The success of the Bolshevik agitation cannot be explained solely by personal qualities Lenin or other party members. Russia was indeed in an extremely difficult situation. Despite its vast territory, rich natural resources and human potential, the country still lagged behind the leading world powers, but at the same time resolutely declared its imperial ambitions. The mediocre Russo-Japanese War, which resulted in the revolutionary events of 1905-1907, clearly demonstrated the failure of the state structure. The creation of the State Duma and attempts to carry out some half-hearted reforms could no longer calm the population, but only postponed the next outburst of discontent.
• The true cause of the revolution, along with the poverty of the bulk of the population, was the First World War. General jingoistic enthusiasm and faith in Russian “miracle soldiers” quickly gave way to disappointment and a premonition of disaster. Whether Lenin was a genius or not, only he was able to extract maximum benefit from what is happening. Having declared from the very beginning the imperialist, wrong nature of the war, he resolutely opposed its conduct and, in general, against victory in the war. Lenin agitated for the soldiers' bayonets to be turned in a different direction, towards their own government. Bolshevik agitation against the war in itself could not cause defeat, but it lay on the fertile ground of soldier discontent.
• The logical result was the February Revolution, after which we can already talk about the real influence of the Bolsheviks and Lenin on political processes through the councils of workers' and soldiers' deputies. The well-known Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet actually meant the collapse of Russian army and defeat in the war. There is no longer an authoritative political leader or movement left in the state that can correct the situation. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin played on these sentiments, calling for a radical change in the existing system. The slogans of the Bolsheviks were as simple as possible and close to the people, who were ready to do anything to at least somehow improve their situation.
  In the end, Lenin simply showed maximum concentration and readiness to take power into his own hands. The October Revolution, despite its subsequent idealization and heroic glorification, occurred almost bloodlessly. In general, there were no defenders.

The politics of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin after the October Revolution

• Having seized power, the Bolsheviks declared their government temporary, as they promised to hold elections to the Constituent Assembly, which was supposed to resolve the issue of the Russian state structure. The elections took place in November 1918 and did not bring Lenin the desired result (the Bolsheviks received only 25% of the votes). However, the leader of the RSDLP already possessed all the main levers of state power, so the voting results did not play a big role for him.
• Lenin's critics blame him for dispersing the Constituent Assembly at the beginning of 1918. However, this body did not have any real power. The Bolsheviks’ ignorance of his decisions and his status in general did not in any way affect the political situation in the country. In fact, only the members of the Constituent Assembly were dissatisfied. The few demonstrations against its crackdown confirm this.
• One of the darkest deeds of Lenin's politics is considered to be the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty (March 1918) with Germany. The terms of the agreement were extremely humiliating. Huge territories were given to Germany, Russia was obliged to immediately demobilize the army and navy, a huge amount of reparations was imposed on it, etc. On the one hand, Lenin consciously agreed to such conditions, since he understood that he needed strength to protect his own power. On the other hand, was there any real alternative to such a solution? Russia clearly could not continue the war, torn apart by internal contradictions. Prolongation of the war could lead to even worse results. It is unknown whether Lenin foresaw subsequent events, but already in November 1918, during the revolution in Germany, the Soviet government unilaterally canceled the terms of the peace treaty. Ultimately, history confirmed that signing the treaty was not the worst decision at that time.
• One of the directions of Lenin's policy after the revolution was the elimination of political competitors. At first, the Cadet Party was outlawed, as contrary to the very idea of ​​a socialist state. However, with the exception of the arrest of the party leaders, she was not persecuted for about six months and was even able to take part in the work of the Constituent Assembly.
• Gradually, the Bolshevik Party gained strength, and the fight against political opponents became increasingly brutal. There are arrests, repressions, and executions of people disliked by the new government. A special focus was the fight against the church and priests. The consequence of this is the Civil War.
  In this brutal clash, the Russian people suffered great losses. The country was subjected to the greatest disasters, the consequences of which were then not easy to get rid of. It is difficult to determine who is right and who is wrong in this fratricidal war, but it cannot be said that the Bolsheviks won only thanks to their harsh repressive policies. The white movement was not popular among the broad masses of the population, and this was the reason for its defeat. Lenin managed to captivate the people with his slogans, not all of which, unfortunately, were implemented in practice.
• Vladimir Ilyich Lenin declared the proletariat to be the main driving social force; accordingly, the dictatorship of the proletariat became the form of power. Only in alliance with him will other classes (the peasantry and the intelligentsia) be able to move along the path of social progress towards the construction of a higher phase - communism.
  The main directions of Lenin's policy arising from the task were: the concentration of all power in the hands of one party; nationalization of all industries, lands, banks; abolition of private property; eradication of religion as a means of stupefying the people, etc.
• Economic difficulties and the Civil War led Lenin to proclaim the policy of War Communism, which included the implementation of a large-scale “Red Terror”. The merciless destruction and robbery of the “exploiting” classes began in order to obtain material resources and food. These measures really characterize Vladimir Ilyich Lenin as very cruel person, walking towards his goal over the corpses of enemies. The call for the destruction of the kulaks as a class led to the fact that agriculture lost its main producers. Protection primarily of the poor led to the fact that power in the village was often given to idlenesses and parasites.
• During the Civil War, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin proved himself to be a brilliant organizer who was able to short term achieve maximum centralization of power and efficient distribution of available limited resources. The proclaimed social equality made it possible to promote many talented military leaders from among the people who won victories over white generals. As a result, by 1920 the main centers of resistance were defeated. Until 1922, only the struggle to establish Soviet power on the outskirts of the former Russian Empire continued.
• However, the end of the Civil War posed new problems for Lenin. The policy of war communism had exhausted itself; a transition to peaceful construction was needed. In March 1921, Lenin announced the transition to a new economic policy (NEP), which consisted of some concessions to capitalism to overcome economic crisis. The rental of small and medium-sized enterprises was allowed, the possibility of hiring labor became possible, instead of surplus appropriation and taxes in kind, a progressive income tax was introduced for peasants, etc. In general, this policy brought results. So, by the mid-1920s. The country reached pre-war production levels.

last years of life

• In August 1918, an attempt was made on the leader of the revolution. According to the official version, F. Kaplan, a fan from the Socialist Revolutionary camp, shot at him. However, despite being seriously wounded, Lenin continued to work.
• 4 years later, according to his recommendation, the USSR was founded. At the same time, there is a sharp deterioration in the leader's health. For some time, he has been fighting the disease with varying success, continuing to work and lead the country.
• But at the beginning of 1924, the disease finally prevailed, and on January 21, the man, under whose strict leadership one state was destroyed and a completely different one was created, dies.

• Vladimir Ilyich Lenin initiated one of the largest events in Russian and world history - the October Revolution. The world's first socialist state was created. The statement about the inevitability of building communism, of course, did not justify itself, but the fact that a completely new model of the state was created is undoubtedly.
• The USSR existed for almost 70 years, achieving, along with the United States, the status of a world leader. The Soviet state won the Second World War and gave the world a large number of scientific discoveries, scientists, artists, etc. The very existence of a socialist state influenced the development of all regions of the globe.

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich (1870-1924), revolutionary, political figure Soviet Russia, leader of the Bolshevik revolution, head of the Soviet government (1917-1924). Real name is Ulyanov. Born April 10 (22), 1870 in Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk). Father, Ilya Nikolaevich, worked his way up from a high school teacher to the director of public schools in the Samara province, and received the title of nobility (died in 1886). Mother, Maria Alexandrovna Blank, the daughter of a doctor, received only home education, but could speak several foreign languages, played the piano, and read a lot. Vladimir was the third of six children. There was a friendly atmosphere in the family; parents encouraged their children's curiosity and treated them with respect.

Probably already during his school years, Vladimir Ulyanov began to develop his first, still vague ideas about the injustice of the social system. In any case, already in one of his school essays he mentioned the “oppressed classes.” His older brother, Alexander, participated in the populist movement; in May 1887 he was executed for preparing an assassination attempt on the Tsar. The death of his brother shocked Vladimir, and from then on he became an enemy of the regime. At Kazan University, where he entered the Faculty of Law in 1887, he joined a student revolutionary circle, took part in student meetings and was detained by the police. In December of the same year, the authorities expelled him from the university and exiled him under police supervision to his mother's estate, where he continued his self-education. In the fall of 1888, he had the opportunity to return to Kazan, became acquainted with the works of K. Marx and joined the Marxist circle. The passion for populism and admiration for the “Narodnaya Volya” was over, and from now on Ulyanov became a staunch supporter of Marxism.

The capitalists are ready to sell us the rope with which we will hang them.

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

In subsequent years, he lived in Samara under police supervision, earned money by giving private lessons, and in 1891 managed to pass the state exams as an external student for a full course at the Law Faculty of St. Petersburg University. In 1892-1893 he worked as an assistant to a sworn attorney in Samara, where he simultaneously created a Marxist circle, translated the Manifesto of the Communist Party of Karl Marx and began to write himself, polemicizing with the populists.

Having moved to St. Petersburg in August 1893, he worked as a lawyer and gradually became one of the leaders of St. Petersburg Marxists. Sent abroad, he met the recognized leader of Russian Marxists, Georgy Plekhanov. After returning to Russia, Ulyanov in 1895 united the St. Petersburg Marxist circles into a single “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.” In December of the same year, he was arrested by the police. He spent more than a year in prison and was exiled for three years to Eastern Siberia under open police supervision. There, in the village of Shushenskoye, in July 1898, he married Nadezhda Krupskaya, whom he knew from the St. Petersburg revolutionary underground.

While in exile, he continued his theoretical and organizational revolutionary activities. In 1897 he published the work The Development of Capitalism in Russia, where he tried to challenge the views of the populists on socio-economic relations in the country and thereby prove that a bourgeois revolution was brewing in Russia. He became acquainted with the works of the leading theorist of German Social Democracy, Karl Kautsky, and they made a great impression on him. From Kautsky he borrowed the idea of ​​organizing the Russian Marxist movement in the form of a centralized party of a “new type”, introducing consciousness into the “dark” and “immature” working masses. Polemics with those Social Democrats who, from his point of view, underestimated the role of the party, became a constant theme in Ulyanov's articles. He also waged a harsh polemic with the “economists,” a movement that argued that the Social Democrats should place the main emphasis on economic rather than political struggle.

After the end of his exile, he went abroad in January 1900 (for the next five years he lived in Munich, London and Geneva). There, together with Plekhanov, his associates Vera Zasulich and Pavel Axelrod, as well as his friend Yuliy Martov, Ulyanov began publishing social media. democratic newspaper Iskra. From 1901 he began to use the pseudonym "Lenin" and from then on was known in the party under this name. In 1902 he outlined his organizational views in the pamphlet What to Do? He proposed to rebuild the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP), formed in 1898, according to the type of a besieged fortress, turning it into a rigid and centralized organization led by professional revolutionaries - leaders, whose decisions would be binding on ordinary members. This approach was opposed by a significant number of party activists, including Yuli Martov. At the second congress of the RSDLP in Brussels and London in 1903, the party split into two movements: the “Bolsheviks” (supporters of Lenin’s organizational principles) and the “Mensheviks” (their opponents). Lenin became the recognized leader of the Bolshevik faction of the party.

During the Russian Revolution of 1905-1907, Lenin managed to return to Russia for some time. He oriented his supporters toward active participation in the bourgeois-democratic revolution in order to try to win hegemony in it and achieve the establishment of a “revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry.” On this issue, covered in detail in Lenin's work Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution, he sharply disagreed with most of the Mensheviks, who were oriented towards an alliance under the leadership of bourgeois-liberal circles.

The defeat of the revolution forced Lenin to emigrate again. From abroad, he continued to lead the activities of the Bolshevik movement, insisting on combining illegal activities with legal ones, participating in elections to the State Duma and in the work of this body. On this basis, Lenin broke with the group of Bolsheviks led by Alexander Bogdanov, which called for a boycott of the Duma. Against his new opponents, Lenin released the polemical work Materialism and Empirio-Criticism (1909), accusing them of revising Marxist philosophy. In the early 1910s, disagreements within the RSDLP became extremely acute. In contrast to the “otzovists” (supporters of the boycott of the Duma), the Mensheviks - “liquidators” (adherents of legal work) and Leon Trotsky’s group, which advocated maintaining the unity of party ranks, Lenin forced the transformation of his movement in 1912 into an independent political party, the RSDLP (b), with its own printed organ - the newspaper Pravda.

Ideas become power when they take hold of the masses.

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

Disputes about Lenin's personality and his influence on history have not subsided to this day. Some praise him, others attribute to him all existing sins. We will try to avoid extremes and briefly tell you what Lenin is famous for and what mark he left on history.

Origin of Lenin

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, whom the world knows today as Lenin, was born on April 22, 1870. His father was an inspector of public schools in the Simbirsk province, and his grandfather was a former serf. The subject of controversy and debate is Lenin's nationality. There is no reliable information about whether he himself attached any significance to this. His family included representatives of Russians, Jews, Kalmyks, Germans, Swedes and Chuvashs.

Vladimir Ilyich's brother, Alexander, found himself in the ranks of the conspirators who were preparing an attempt on the life of the emperor. For this, the young man was executed, which was a heavy blow for the whole family. Perhaps it was this event that led Lenin on the path of revolution.

The beginning of revolutionary activity

In 1892-1893 Lenin became a supporter of social democratic ideas. He believed that Russian workers should overthrow the tsarist government and lead their country, and then the whole world, to a communist revolution. Other Marxists were not so decisive. They believed that Russia was not ready for such radical changes, that its proletariat was too weak, and the material base for new production relations was not yet ripe. Lenin, on the other hand, preferred to ignore the concerns of his contemporaries and believed that the most important thing was to make a revolution.

Vladimir Ilyich contributed to the fact that disparate revolutionary circles became a single “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.” This organization was very active in propaganda activities. In 1895, Lenin, like many other members of the Union, was arrested. In 1897 he was sent into exile to the village of Shushenskoye. In 1898, he entered into an official marriage with his companion N. Krupskaya. At the request of the police chief, they even got married, although they were atheists. One of the exiles made them wedding rings from a copper coin.

In exile, Lenin advised peasants on legal issues, prepared documents for them, and established connections with Social Democrats major cities, and also wrote many of his fundamental works. Later he settled in Pskov, published the newspaper Iskra, the magazine Zarya, organized the second congress of the RSDLP, drew up the party charter and work plan. During the revolution of 1905-1907. he was in Switzerland. Many party members were arrested, as a result of which the leadership passed to Lenin. A long period of emigration begins. In January 1917, in Switzerland, he says that he does not hope to live to see the coming great revolution, but believes that the current young generation will see it. Soon the February Revolution takes place in Russia, which Lenin considered a conspiracy of “Anglo-French imperialists.”

Rise to power

April 3 (16) Lenin returns to his homeland. Speaking at the Finland Station, he called for a “social revolution.” Such radicalism confused even his devoted supporters. In the famous “April Theses” he proclaims a course towards transition bourgeois revolution to the proletarian.

Lenin becomes the leader of the October armed uprising. The seizure of power was successful, as the country was experiencing an acute economic, political and military crisis. How old was Lenin when he made the revolution? He was 47, but he fought for his ideas with youthful uncompromisingness.

In 1917, contemporaries did not take the revolution seriously. They called it a coup and considered it a misunderstanding - accidental and temporary. But no matter how we evaluate Lenin’s personality today, one thing cannot be taken away from him: he was able to feel the pain points of the people and subtly played on this. He understood that ordinary people were most concerned about two issues: the distribution of land and the conclusion of peace. The elite called Lenin's supporters German spies and accused them of treason. But for ordinary people, traitors were those who drove soldiers to war and did not give land to peasants. Having come to power, the Bolsheviks began to eliminate the chaos in which the country was mired after the February Revolution. They countered the anarchy and squabbles in the ranks of their opponents with order - and it naturally won.

In December 1922, Lenin's health deteriorated. During this period, he dictated a number of notes, including the famous “Letter to the Congress.” Some are inclined to look at this document as Lenin's will. They argue that if the country had continued to follow the real Leninist path, then many problems would not have arisen. If we adhere to this point of view, then Stalin deviated from the precepts of his predecessor, for which the entire people paid.

Lenin's key statements in the letter boil down to the following:

• difficulties in relations between Stalin and Trotsky threaten the unity of the party;
• perhaps Stalin will not be able to use power carefully enough;
• Trotsky is a very capable man, but overly self-confident.

IN last years some historians are beginning to doubt that the famous letter was really dictated by Lenin and attribute the authorship to N. Krupskaya. This issue will obviously be the subject of debate for a long time.

When Lenin died, the New Economic Policy was replaced by Stalin's radical industrialization. Because of this, Lenin and Stalin are sometimes contrasted on the principle of “good versus bad.” But Lenin himself viewed the NEP as a temporary measure. In addition, Stalin's NKVD is the heir to Lenin's VKCh. History does not know the subjunctive mood, so we can evaluate Lenin only by his achievements.

For many people of the older generation, the leader of the revolution remains a great personality. They remember Lenin's birthday and believe that his path was in many ways correct. Well, the younger generation still has to give an objective assessment of his activities and do everything to prevent future leaders from repeating his mistakes.

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich- Russian revolutionary, organizer and leader of the October Revolution of 1917, major theorist of Marxism, first chairman of the Council People's Commissars RSFSR, creator of the world's first socialist state.

Childhood, family, education

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) was born on April 22, 1870 in the city of Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk).

Father - Ulyanov Ilya Nikolaevich- educator, paid great attention to the education of non-Russian peoples of the Volga region, organized public schools for children. He rose to the rank of actual state councilor, which allowed him to receive the title of nobility.

Mother - Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova(née Blank) - passed the exams for the title of primary school teacher as an external student. She devoted herself entirely to raising children, of whom there were four in the family.

Vladimir Lenin's paternal grandfather - Nikolay Vasilievich Ulyanov- was the son of a serf. He died when Ilya Nikolaevich was still a child. In an orphaned family, his younger brother Ilya was raised and educated by his older brother Vasily, a clerk at the Astrakhan company Sapozhnikov Brothers.

Maternal grandfather - Alexander Dmitrievich Blank- a doctor by training. He married Anna Grigorievna Grosskopf(the Grosskopf family had Swedish and German roots). Doctor Blank, after resigning, was assigned to the Kazan nobility. Soon he acquired the Kukushkino estate and became a landowner. Maria Alexandrovna lost her mother early and she and her sisters were raised by her mother’s sister. The aunt taught the children music and foreign languages.

Having married Ilya Nikolaevich, Maria Alexandrovna completely devoted herself to her family. And although she was an emancipated woman, she was an impeccable housewife. Being highly educated, Maria Alexandrovna studied music with children and foreign languages. Vladimir was fluent in German and French, but spoke English less well. Living surrounded by Russian nature, Vladimir Ulyanov loved his native culture, but also paid tribute to Western thought.

His father died when Vladimir Ulyanov was 16 years old. Maria Alexandrovna managed the family budget until her death in 1916.

Vladimir was the third child in the family. At the gymnasium, Volodya was the first student. By the way, the director of the gymnasium was Fyodor Mikhailovich Kerensky, father Alexander Kerensky, the future head of the Provisional Government.

The gymnasium gave young Vladimir Lenin a solid foundation of knowledge. Vladimir Ilyich treated his studies with truly German pedantry. Notebooks, books - everything is in the neatest condition. Of the subjects, high school student Vladimir Ulyanov was most interested in philosophy and political economy, although exact sciences he had excellent grades.

In 1887, Vladimir Ulyanov graduated from high school with a gold medal. But these last years were a difficult ordeal for the family. His father recently died (1886), and then a new misfortune befell him - he was arrested Alexandra Ulyanova, the elder brother of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin in connection with the attempt on the life of the Tsar. In 1887, Alexander was executed as a participant in the Narodnaya Volya conspiracy; this became a deep tragedy for the entire Ulyanov family.

Formation of views

After graduating from high school, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin entered the law faculty of Kazan University. After the tragic death of his brother, as stated in the biography of the future leader of the proletariat, Vladimir Ulyanov began to think about his views and also began to get involved in politics. Of course, young Vladimir Lenin was already under the control of the authorities because of his brother, so he was expelled from the university for participating in liberal meetings.

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich was exiled to his mother’s estate Kukushkino. It was here that the revolutionary consciousness of the young man began to take shape. He read a lot - Pisareva, Nechaeva, Chernyshevsky. Years later, Lenin said: “The novel What Is To Be Done deeply plowed me.”

In 1889, the Ulyanov family moved to Samara. The so-called index fell into the hands of Vladimir Ilyich Fedoseeva- one of the first propagandists of Marxism in Russia. This was a list of Marxist literature recommended for self-education.

In September 1891, Vladimir Ulyanov took an external course at the Faculty of Law at St. Petersburg University, and in 1892 he took a job as an assistant sworn attorney in Samara. However, Lenin was bored with this work, Vladimir Ilyich did not prove himself as a lawyer, and, without working even a year, he left for St. Petersburg in 1893. There Vladimir began to attend the Marxist student association of the Technological Institute.

Vladimir Lenin had a remarkable quality in his character: he knew how to listen and easily learned new things. Except Marx, Ulyanov-Lenin admired the ideas for some time Plekhanov, however, even then he felt a certain political force and began to criticize the former populist-Black Peredelite. When Vladimir Ilyich Lenin met abroad with members of the “Emancipation of Labor” group in 1895, Plekhanov, having listened to the passionate speeches of the young revolutionary, called him “rather a Blanquist than a Marxist.”

Political activity and party work

In the same 1895, Lenin, together with Martov organized the St. Petersburg “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.” Naturally, after some time, many members of the “Union” were arrested. Vladimir Ilyich also came under arrest. At first, Ulyanov was kept in prison for more than a year, and in March 1897 he was exiled to the village of Shushenskoye for three years. Here in July 1898 Lenin Vladimir Ilyich married Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, also exiled in the case of the St. Petersburg “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.”

In exile, Ulyanov-Lenin could use the rich Krasnoyarsk library of the Russian bibliophile and merchant of the Second Guild Gennady Yudin. Lenin Vladimir Ilyich wrote more than 30 articles, as well as a solid work “The Development of Capitalism in Russia”.

After the end of his exile in 1900, Lenin went abroad. Vladimir Ilyich lived in Germany, visited London and Geneva. The future leader of the world proletariat came up with a plan to create a Social Democratic Party as an organization of professional revolutionaries. Ulyanov perfectly understood the role of the media, so he made the all-Russian newspaper Iskra the core of the party. It was then that articles appeared in the newspaper signed with the pseudonym Lenin.

In July-August 1903, the second congress of the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDLP), prepared by Lenin, Plekhanov and Martov, took place. Meetings of the congress began to be held in Brussels, but then, after a ban by the Belgian police, they were moved to London. It was at this congress that the party split into two factions - the Bolsheviks (those who were attracted by Lenin’s idea of ​​seizing power by armed means) and the Mensheviks (Plekhanov, Martov and their supporters were inclined towards classical European social democracy). But Lenin Vladimir Ilyich did not want to follow the parliamentary path. He was confident that tsarism would not give up power voluntarily, and therefore it could only be taken away through an armed uprising. According to N.A. Berdyaeva Vladimir Lenin was a theorist of revolution, unlike Georgy Plekhanov, a theorist of Marxism.

Like-minded people of Vladimir Ilyich considered him an unbalanced person by nature. Maksim Gorky characterized him as “the creator of constant squabbles in the party.” Yes, and his comrade Leon Trotsky spoke about some of Lenin’s actions “... the squabble that master Lenin systematically incites in these cases.” And in fact, for example, in 1907, Lenin’s resolution of the fifth congress of the RSDLP led to confrontation with almost all Russian parties. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin resolutely fought against the Mensheviks, Bolshevik liquidators, Bolshevik otzovists, God-seekers, God-builders, and Trotskyists. The factional struggle of the pre-October period reached its climax at the Prague Conference (1912), at which, in the words of Vladimir Lenin, “they put an end to the liquidationist and otzovist scum.” From that moment on, the word “Bolsheviks” was added to the name of the party - RSDLP (b). Also, Lenin Vladimir Ilyich managed to reorient the non-factional newspaper Pravda (published by L.D. Trotsky since 1908), becoming the de facto editor. On May 5, 1912, a legal Bolshevik newspaper was published under the same name.

Revolutionary situation, "April Theses"

When the February Revolution occurred, Lenin was not in Russia. Having learned about the revolution, Vladimir Ilyich immediately telegraphed a member of the Petrograd committee of the RSDLP (b) A.G. Shlyapnikov: “No contacts with other parties!” During this period, he wrote “Letters from Afar,” in which he analyzed the situation in Russia. Vladimir Ilyich spoke with conviction about the inevitable development of the bourgeois revolution into a socialist revolution. Many people disagreed with him. Members of the Central Committee Kamenev, And Joseph Stalin headed for an alliance with the Mensheviks, because they believed that Lenin’s “Letters from Afar” spoke of Vladimir Ilyich’s isolation from Russian realities. Only four of the five letters were published in the Pravda newspaper, and even those with banknotes. By the way, despite his long absence, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin had an excellent understanding of the revolutionary situation in Russia and in his letters he presciently predicted the result.

On April 3, 1917, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin arrived in Russia. The Petrograd Soviet, the majority of which were Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, organized a ceremonial meeting for him, notes Lenin’s biography on Wikipedia. Seeing the guard of honor lined up, Vladimir Ilyich said to his wife: “Nadyusha, now they’ll arrest me.” But, seeing that people were greeting him, Lenin climbed onto an armored car and gave a fiery speech, ending with the glory: “Long live the world socialist revolution!”

Then Vladimir Ilyich proposed a program for the transition from the bourgeois-democratic revolution to the socialist revolution under the slogan “All power to the Soviets” (“April Theses”). The “April Theses” published in Pravda seemed too radical even to close associates. In his report, Lenin sharply opposed the expansion of the bourgeois-democratic revolution, announced the slogans: “No support for the Provisional Government” and “all power to the Soviets.” Vladimir Ilyich Lenin proclaimed a course for the development of the bourgeois revolution into a proletarian revolution with the subsequent liquidation of the army, police and bureaucracy.

Without Lenin there would have been no October 1917

On July 7, the Provisional Government ordered the arrest of Lenin and a number of prominent Bolsheviks on charges of treason and organizing an armed uprising. Lenin changed 17 safe houses, then together with Zinoviev was hiding not far from Petrograd - in a hut on Lake Razliv. In August, he disappeared into the territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland, where he lived until the beginning of October in Yalkala, Helsingfors and Vyborg.

At the beginning of autumn, Lenin was in Finland. From there, in letters, he hurried his comrades to prepare an armed uprising. Famous words: “Delay is like death!” frightened with their radicalism. However, in October, Vladimir Ilyich returned to Petrograd to lead the uprising, organized by the chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, Leon Trotsky.

On the morning of October 25 (November 7, New Year’s Day), Lenin wrote an appeal “To the Citizens of Russia”: “The Provisional Government has been overthrown!”, although at that moment the Provisional Government was still meeting in the Winter Palace. But Lenin was not interested in such trifles. Vladimir Ilyich wrote decrees about peace, about land. On the night of October 25-26, the Provisional Government was arrested.

Lenin described his condition with these words: “Es Schwindelt” (dizziness). Leon Trotsky noted: “If there had not been Lenin, there would have been no October.”

After the revolution

It was during this period that the most difficult times came. Political maneuvers began among Lenin's associates. Vladimir Ilyich was elected chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. One of the first steps of the Leninist government was the abolition of freedom of speech (opposition newspapers were closed). And the promises related to bread and peace were impossible to fulfill at that moment.

Under these conditions, Germany entered into negotiations with Russia, but put forward territorial demands. These requirements were discussed new government. The signing of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with Germany (March 1918) was not accepted by many. However, despite the fact that Lenin found himself in the minority, the so-called “shameful” Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed.

Vladimir Ilyich found himself alone. But he didn't give up. He firmly stated that he would leave if his proposals were not accepted. And he won because he was a generally recognized leader.

Professor at Harvard University Richard Pipes wrote*: “By shrewdly accepting a humiliating peace, which allowed him to gain the necessary time and then collapsed under the influence of its own gravity, Lenin earned the widespread trust of the Bolsheviks. When they tore up the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on November 13, 1918, followed by Germany’s capitulation to the Western allies, Lenin’s authority was elevated to unprecedented heights in the Bolshevik movement.”

Civil War, War Communism

So, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin became the head Russian state. After the victory in the revolution, Lenin enjoyed enormous authority among his comrades. He was elected chairman of the Council of People's Commissars and chairman of the Labor and Defense Council. He achieved the seizure of power - the previous state structure was completely destroyed. To build a new system, peace is needed, but there was none.

Economic devastation, deep social, national, political and ideological split in Russian society became the reason for the outbreak of a civil war throughout Russia between armed forces Soviet power, the White movement and separatists with the intervention of the Central Powers and the Entente. The Bolsheviks were merciless towards their enemies. However, their enemies showed no mercy to them.

August 30 at the Mikhelson plant in Moscow Fanny Kaplan committed a terrorist act - she shot at Lenin. True, there were rumors that it was not she who shot the leader of the world revolution, but she was punished for the crime. Who actually shot Vladimir Ilyich is still unknown for certain. In response to this and to the murder of the chairman of the Petrograd Cheka Uritsky The "Red Terror" began.

It was declared by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR dated September 5, 1918 “On Red Terror” and terminated on November 6, 1918. In an atmosphere of growing terror, the construction of the first concentration camps and forced mobilization into the army began. In such a difficult situation, Vladimir Ilyich tried to solve his main task - to move towards the construction of communism in Russia.

On November 21, 1918, Lenin signed the decree of the Council of People's Commissars “On organizing the supply of the population with all products and items for personal use and household" Trade was prohibited, commodity-money relations were replaced by natural exchange (for example, sewing machine exchanged for a bag of flour). The state introduced food appropriation.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin introduced labor conscription: free public works. Everyone except members of the RSDLP (b), in parallel with their main work, had to take part in restoring roads, collecting firewood, etc. The poet also participated in such work Alexander Blok, and academician Sergey Oldenburg. People worked 14-16 hours.

Vladimir Ilyich did not trust the intelligentsia, although he himself belonged to this class. There are documents that confirm that it was on Lenin’s orders that many scientific and cultural figures were sent abroad.

As for national policy, Vladimir Ilyich insisted on the democratic “right of nations to self-determination.” In December 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was created.

Creation of the Red Army

With the outbreak of the Civil War and intervention, Lenin personally took part in the creation of a regular Red Army. He understood that the seized power had to be saved. Vladimir Ilyich monitored the progress of mobilization, weapons and equipment, and managed to organize work in the rear (food supply). He managed to persuade some tsarist specialists to go over to the side of the Bolsheviks. The commander-in-chief of the naval forces, Leon Trotsky, who was appointed by him, competently conducted military operations.

Despite the difficult situation, the sailors' mutiny in Kronstadt, and peasant uprisings against the policies of military communism in 1921, the Bolsheviks were able to retain power.

New Economic Policy

English writer H.G. Wells called Vladimir Ilyich Lenin a “Kremlin dreamer,” but in fact the proletarian leader was not like that. He saw that the country's economy was in a catastrophic situation. At the 10th Party Congress in March 1921, at the insistence of Lenin, “war communism” was abolished and food allocation was replaced by a food tax.

Lenin put forward a program for a “new economic policy", a special GOELRO commission was created to develop a project for the electrification of Russia. Vladimir Ilyich believed that in anticipation of the world proletarian revolution, the state should keep all large industry in its hands and build socialism, according to Lenin’s biography on Wikipedia.

Vladimir Ilyich wanted to stabilize the situation in Russia at all costs. NEP immediately gave positive results. The process of rapid restoration of the national economy began.

Disease. "Lenin's Testament"

On May 25, 1922, Lenin suffered his first stroke. The right side of his body was paralyzed and he could not speak. However, in October 1922, he gradually returned to business. Lenin's last public speech took place on November 20, 1922 at the plenum of the Moscow Soviet.

The next stroke occurred in December 1922. And the third stroke, which occurred in March 1923, turned out to be the most severe. On May 15, 1923, due to illness, Vladimir Ilyich moved to the Gorki estate near Moscow.

What happened among his comrades? There was a fierce struggle for leadership among party members. The main rivals were Trotsky and Stalin.

By the way, even at the beginning of 1923, Lenin was seriously concerned about a possible split in the Central Committee. In his “Letter to the Congress” (the so-called “Lenin’s Testament”) he gave characteristics to the leading figures of the Central Committee. Vladimir Ilyich proposed removing Joseph Stalin from the post of General Secretary. The letter was announced in 1924 before the XIII Congress of the RCP (b) N.K. Krupskaya.

Another concern of the leader was the exorbitantly enlarged and useless apparatus - unprofessional and illiterate.

In his last works, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin soberly raised the question of the need to “recognize a radical change in our entire point of view on socialism” (“we have failed”). But Lenin’s condition also worsened due to the political isolation into which he fell through the efforts of Stalin and other party comrades. Perhaps, having rethought a lot, Vladimir Ilyich wanted to have time to correct his mistakes.

Researchers from the University of California at Sacramento concluded that Vladimir Lenin suffered from a rare genetic disease, which resulted in “petrification” of the blood vessels in the brain. The unusual disease could have been transmitted to Vladimir Ilyich from his father, whose death also occurred at the age of 53.

"More than alive"

A personality like Vladimir Ilyich Lenin cannot be described in a short essay. Huge volumes, both documentary and fiction, have been written about his life and work. Being a politician, of course, on a global scale, Vladimir Ilyich determined the vector of development world history XX century. Lenin achieved a brilliant victory in 1917, but as the future showed, his cause was ultimately lost.

Vladimir Lenin was respected even by his ideological opponents.

“Among a number of historians there are two opposing views on Lenin. Some present him as a soft, purely civilian man, completely devoid of military-organizational abilities, others show him as a tough, ruthless leader, a fan of violence. “Perhaps, it is difficult to fully agree with both views, although Trotsky, in his decisive actions as a narco-military commander, received the full support of Lenin in organizing iron military discipline in the army,” wrote Ian Schwartz.

Many scientists looked for the reason for Lenin's genius in the special properties of his brain. World-renowned neurophysiologist, academician Natalya Bekhtereva wrote:

— Scientists have repeatedly tried to explain the phenomenon of genius. They even wanted to create a research institute in Moscow to study the brains of gifted people during their lifetime. But neither then nor now have they found any differences between a genius and an ordinary person. I personally think it's a special brain biochemistry. As for Pushkin, for example, it was natural to “think” in rhyme. This is an “anomaly”, most likely not heritable. They say that genius and madness are similar. Madness is also the result of special brain biochemistry. A breakthrough in the study of this phenomenon will most likely occur in the field of genetics.

The issue of the reburial of Vladimir Lenin

Almost a hundred years after Lenin's death, the topic of his burial remains relevant. From time to time, there are active statements in the media regarding the reburial of Vladimir Lenin, and the demolition of the Mausoleum in general.

Leader of the LDPR Vladimir Zhirinovsky called for the burial of the body of the leader of the socialist revolution. In the spring of 2017, deputies from the LDPR and United Russia parties submitted to the State Duma a draft law that would provide a legal mechanism for burying the body of Vladimir Lenin. According to parliamentarians, the document should fill the legal gap that prevents the reburial of the remains of historical figures, and thereby “put an end to Lenin’s case.”

This became more active on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia. In particular, the Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko noted that the burial of the body of the founder of the Soviet state will be possible when society comes to a consensus on this issue. The head of Chechnya also proposed burying the body of the leader of the world proletariat. Ramzan Kadyrov.

— Despite the fact that in different strata of society the attitude towards Lenin is very contradictory, even purely negative, one cannot help but admit that in general a positive attitude towards him still dominates in society. And this is the historical memory and historical consciousness of the people.

In addition, it is impossible to deny that Vladimir Lenin is one of the largest political figures of the 20th century. He undoubtedly influenced the course of world history, and the evidence that he did so in a purely negative way is rather inconclusive.

Finally, it is generally accepted that the Lenin Mausoleum is an architectural masterpiece created by one of the best architects of the first half of the twentieth century - Alexey Shchusev. And this masterpiece is very tactfully and harmoniously integrated into the historical ensembles of Red Square and the side of the Moscow Kremlin facing it,” says V. Tretyakov.

The President of Russia has spoken out several times about the activities of Vladimir Lenin in recent years. Vladimir Putin. In 2016, at a meeting of the Presidential Council on Science and Education, Putin said that the actions of the leader of the revolution ultimately led to the collapse of Soviet Union.

During the event, the head of the Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk, remembering Lenin, stated that “he controlled the flow of thought and only because of that, the country.” To this, the president noted that it is correct to control the flow of thought, but in the case of Vladimir Ilyich, this thought “led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.” “There were a lot of thoughts there: autonomy and so on. Pawned atomic bomb under the building called Russia, she then rushed. And we didn’t need a world revolution. That’s the thought there,” the president was quoted as saying in the news.

In January 2018, the head of the Russian state compared the body of Vladimir Lenin, lying in the mausoleum on Red Square, with the relics of saints that are kept on Mount Athos, and noted that there were many borrowings from Christianity in communist ideology. In particular, according to Putin, the Code of the Builders of Communism was a primitive excerpt from the Bible.

*) Pipes Richard. Russian Revolution: In 3 books. Book 2. Bolsheviks in the struggle for power. 1917−1918.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin). Born on April 22, 1870 in Simbirsk - died on January 21, 1924 in the Gorki estate, Moscow province. Russian revolutionary, Soviet political and statesman, creator of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks), one of the main organizers and leaders of the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (government) of the RSFSR, creator of the first socialist state in world history.

Marxist, publicist, founder of Marxism-Leninism, ideologist and creator of the Third (Communist) International, founder of the USSR, first chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

The scope of the main political and journalistic works is materialist philosophy, the theory of Marxism, criticism of capitalism and its highest phase: imperialism, the theory and practice of the implementation of the socialist revolution, the construction of socialism and communism, the political economy of socialism.

Regardless of the positive or negative assessment of Lenin’s activities, even many non-communist researchers consider him the most significant revolutionary statesman in world history. Time magazine included Lenin among the 100 outstanding people of the 20th century in the category “Leaders and Revolutionaries.” The works of V.I. Lenin occupy first place in the world among translated literature.

Vladimir Ulyanov was born in 1870 in Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk), in the family of the inspector of public schools of the Simbirsk province, Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov (1831-1886), - the son of a former serf in the village of Androsovo, Sergach district, Nizhny Novgorod province, Nikolai Ulyanov (variant spelling of the surname: Ulyanina), married to Anna Smirnova, the daughter of an Astrakhan tradesman (according to the Soviet writer M. S. Shaginyan, who came from a family of baptized Kalmyks).

Mother - Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova (née Blank, 1835-1916), of Swedish-German origin on the mother's side and, according to various versions, Ukrainian, German or Jewish origin on the father's side.

According to one version, Vladimir’s maternal grandfather was a Jew who converted to Orthodoxy, Alexander Dmitrievich Blank. According to another version, he came from a family of German colonists invited to Russia). The famous researcher of the Lenin family M. Shaginyan argued that Alexander Blank was Ukrainian.

I. N. Ulyanov rose to the rank of actual state councilor, which in the Table of Ranks corresponded to the military rank of major general and gave the right to hereditary nobility.

In 1879-1887, Vladimir Ulyanov studied at the Simbirsk gymnasium, which was headed by F. M. Kerensky, the father of A. F. Kerensky, the future head of the Provisional Government (1917). In 1887 he graduated from high school with a gold medal and entered the law faculty of Kazan University. F. M. Kerensky was very disappointed with the choice of Volodya Ulyanov, as he advised him to enter the history and literature department of the university due to the younger Ulyanov’s great success in Latin and literature.

Until 1887, nothing is known about any revolutionary activities of Vladimir Ulyanov. He accepted Orthodox baptism and until the age of 16 belonged to the Simbirsk Religious Society St. Sergius Radonezh, moving away from religion, probably in 1886. His grades according to the law of God in the gymnasium were excellent, as in almost all other subjects. There is only one B in his matriculation certificate - logically. In 1885, the list of students at the gymnasium indicated that Vladimir was “a very gifted, diligent and careful student. He does very well in all subjects. He behaves exemplary." The first award was presented to him already in 1880, after graduating from the first grade - a book with gold embossing on the binding: “For good behavior and success” and a certificate of merit.

In 1887, on May 8 (20), his older brother, Alexander, was executed as a participant in the Narodnaya Volya conspiracy to assassinate Emperor Alexander III. What happened became a deep tragedy for the Ulyanov family, who were unaware of Alexander’s revolutionary activities.

At the university, Vladimir was involved in the illegal student circle of Narodnaya Volya, led by Lazar Bogoraz. Three months after his admission, he was expelled for his participation in student unrest caused by the new university charter, the introduction of police surveillance of students and a campaign to combat “unreliable” students. According to a student inspector who suffered from student unrest, Ulyanov was in the forefront of the raging students.

The next night, Vladimir, along with forty other students, was arrested and sent to the police station. All those arrested, in accordance with the methods of combating “disobedience” characteristic of the reign, were expelled from the university and sent to their “homeland.” Later, another group of students left Kazan University in protest against the repression. Among those who voluntarily left the university was Ulyanov’s cousin, Vladimir Ardashev. After petitions from Lyubov Alexandrovna Ardasheva, Vladimir Ilyich’s aunt, Ulyanov was exiled to the village of Kokushkino, Laishevsky district, Kazan province, where he lived in the Ardashevs’ house until the winter of 1888-1889.

Since during the police investigation, young Ulyanov’s connections with the illegal circle of Bogoraz were revealed, and also because of the execution of his brother, he was included in the list of “unreliable” persons subject to police supervision. For the same reason, he was prohibited from reinstatement at the university, and his mother’s corresponding requests were rejected over and over again.

In the fall of 1888, Ulyanov was allowed to return to Kazan. Here he subsequently joined one of the Marxist circles organized by N. E. Fedoseev, where the works of G. V. Plekhanov were studied and discussed. In 1924, N.K. Krupskaya wrote in Pravda: “Vladimir Ilyich loved Plekhanov passionately. Plekhanov played a major role in the development of Vladimir Ilyich, helped him find the correct revolutionary approach, and therefore Plekhanov was surrounded by a halo for a long time: he experienced every slightest disagreement with Plekhanov extremely painfully.”

In May 1889, M. A. Ulyanova acquired the Alakaevka estate of 83.5 dessiatines (91.2 hectares) in the Samara province and the family moved there to live. Yielding to his mother’s persistent requests, Vladimir tried to manage the estate, but had no success. The surrounding peasants, taking advantage of the inexperience of the new owners, stole a horse and two cows from them. As a result, Ulyanova first sold the land, and subsequently the house. During Soviet times, a house-museum of Lenin was created in this village.

In the fall of 1889, the Ulyanov family moved to Samara, where Lenin also maintained contact with local revolutionaries.

In 1890, the authorities relented and allowed him to study as an external student for the law exams. In November 1891, Vladimir Ulyanov passed the exams as an external student for a course at the Faculty of Law of the Imperial St. Petersburg University. After that, he studied a large amount of economic literature, especially zemstvo statistical reports on agriculture.

During the period 1892-1893, Lenin's views, under the strong influence of Plekhanov's works, slowly evolved from Narodnaya Volya to Social Democratic ones. At the same time, already in 1893 he developed a doctrine that was new at that time, declaring contemporary Russia, in which four-fifths of the population was peasantry, a “capitalist” country. The credo of Leninism was finally formulated in 1894: “the Russian worker, rising at the head of all democratic elements, will overthrow absolutism and lead the Russian proletariat (along with the proletariat of all countries) along the straight road of open political struggle to a victorious communist revolution.”

In 1892-1893, Vladimir Ulyanov worked as an assistant to the Samara attorney (lawyer) A. N. Hardin, conducting most criminal cases and conducting “state defenses.”

In 1893, Lenin came to St. Petersburg, where he got a job as an assistant to the sworn attorney (lawyer) M. F. Volkenshtein. In St. Petersburg, he wrote works on the problems of Marxist political economy, the history of the Russian liberation movement, and the history of the capitalist evolution of the post-reform Russian village and industry. Some of them were published legally. At this time he also developed the program of the Social Democratic Party. The activities of V.I. Lenin as a publicist and researcher of the development of capitalism in Russia, based on extensive statistical materials, make him famous among Social Democrats and opposition-minded liberal figures, as well as in many other circles of Russian society.

In May 1895, Ulyanov went abroad, where he met with Plekhanov in Switzerland, in Germany with V. Liebknecht, in France with P. Lafargue and other figures of the international labor movement, and upon returning to St. Petersburg in 1895, together with Yu. O. Martov and other young revolutionaries united scattered Marxist circles into the “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.”

Under the influence of Plekhanov, Lenin partially retreated from his doctrine, which proclaimed Tsarist Russia a “capitalist” country, declaring it a “semi-feudal” country. His immediate goal is to overthrow the autocracy, now in alliance with the “liberal bourgeoisie.” The “Union of Struggle” carried out active propaganda activities among workers; they issued more than 70 leaflets.

In December 1895, like many other members of the “Union,” Ulyanov was arrested, kept in prison for more than a year, and in 1897 exiled for 3 years to the village of Shushenskoye, Minusinsk district, Yenisei province.

So that Lenin’s “common-law” wife, N.K. Krupskaya, could follow him into exile, he had to register his marriage with her in July 1898. Since in Russia at that time only church marriages were recognized, Lenin, at that time, already former atheist, I had to get married in a church, officially identifying myself as Orthodox. Initially, neither Vladimir Ilyich nor Nadezhda Konstantinovna intended to formalize their marriage through the church, but through the very a short time An order came from the police chief: either get married, or Nadezhda Konstantinovna must leave Shushenskoye and go to Ufa, to her place of exile. “I had to do this whole comedy,” Krupskaya said later.

Ulyanov, in a letter to his mother dated May 10, 1898, describes the current situation as follows: “N. K., as you know, was given a tragicomic condition: if he does not immediately (sic!) get married, then return to Ufa. I am not at all inclined to allow this, and therefore we have already begun “troubles” (mainly requests for the issuance of documents, without which we cannot get married) in order to have time to get married before Lent (before the Petrovka): it is still possible to hope that the strict authorities will find this sufficient “immediate” marriage.” Finally, at the beginning of July, the documents were received and it was possible to go to church. But it so happened that there were no guarantors, no best men, no wedding rings, without which the wedding ceremony was unthinkable. The police officer categorically forbade the exiles Krzhizhanovsky and Starkov from coming to the wedding. Of course, the troubles could have started again, but Vladimir Ilyich decided not to wait. He invited familiar Shushensky peasants as guarantors and best men: clerk Stepan Nikolaevich Zhuravlev, shopkeeper Ioannikiy Ivanovich Zavertkin, Simon Afanasyevich Ermolaev and others. And one of the exiles, Oscar Aleksandrovich Engberg, made wedding rings for the bride and groom from a copper coin.

On July 10 (22), 1898, in a local church, priest John Orestov performed the sacrament of wedding. An entry in the church register of the village of Shushenskoye indicates that the administrative-exiled Orthodox Christians V.I. Ulyanov and N.K. Krupskaya had their first marriage.

In exile, he wrote a book, “The Development of Capitalism in Russia,” based on the collected material, directed against “legal Marxism” and populist theories. During his exile, over 30 works were written, contacts were established with Social Democrats in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh and other cities. By the end of the 1890s, under the pseudonym “K. Tulin" V.I. Ulyanov gained fame in Marxist circles. While in exile, Ulyanov advised local peasants on legal issues and drafted legal documents for them.

In 1898, in Minsk, in the absence of the leaders of the St. Petersburg Union of Struggle, the First Congress of the RSDLP was held, consisting of 9 people, which established the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, adopting the Manifesto. All members of the Central Committee elected by the congress and most of the delegates were immediately arrested, and many organizations represented at the congress were destroyed by the police. The leaders of the Union of Struggle, who were in exile in Siberia, decided to unite the numerous Social Democratic organizations and Marxist circles scattered throughout the country with the help of the newspaper.

After the end of their exile in February 1900, Lenin, Martov and A.N. Potresov traveled around Russian cities, establishing connections with local organizations. On February 26, 1900, Ulyanov arrived in Pskov, where he was allowed to reside after exile. In April 1900, an organizational meeting was held in Pskov to create an all-Russian workers' newspaper "Iskra", in which V. I. Ulyanov-Lenin, S. I. Radchenko, P. B. Struve, M. I. Tugan-Baranovsky, L. Martov, A. N. Potresov, A. M. Stopani.

In April 1900, Lenin illegally made a one-day trip to Riga from Pskov. At the negotiations with the Latvian Social Democrats, issues of transporting the Iskra newspaper from abroad to Russia through the ports of Latvia were considered. At the beginning of May 1900, Vladimir Ulyanov received a foreign passport in Pskov. On May 19 he leaves for St. Petersburg, and on May 21 he is detained by the police there. The luggage sent by Ulyanov from Pskov to Podolsk was also carefully examined.

After inspecting the luggage, the head of the Moscow security department, S.V. Zubatov, sends a telegram to St. Petersburg to the head of the special department of the police department, L.A. Rataev: “The cargo turned out to be a library and tendentious manuscripts, opened in accordance with the Charter of the Russian Railways, as sent unsealed. After consideration by the gendarmerie police and examination of the department, it will be sent to its destination. Zubatov." The operation to arrest the Social Democrat ended in failure. As an experienced conspirator, V.I. Lenin did not give the Pskov police any reason to accuse him. In the reports of the spies and in the information of the Pskov Gendarmerie Directorate about V.I. Ulyanov, it is noted that “during his residence in Pskov before going abroad, he was not noticed in anything reprehensible.” Lenin’s work in the statistical bureau of the Pskov provincial zemstvo and his participation in drawing up a program for an assessment and statistical survey of the province also served as a good cover for Lenin. Apart from an illegal visit to the capital, Ulyanov had nothing to show for it. Ten days later he was released.

In June 1900, Vladimir Ulyanov, together with his mother M.A. Ulyanova and older sister Anna Ulyanova, came to Ufa, where his wife N.K. Krupskaya was in exile.

On July 29, 1900, Lenin left for Switzerland, where he negotiated with Plekhanov on the publication of a newspaper and theoretical journal. The editorial board of the newspaper Iskra (later the magazine Zarya appeared) included three representatives of the emigrant group “Emancipation of Labor” - Plekhanov, P. B. Axelrod and V. I. Zasulich and three representatives of the “Union of Struggle” - Lenin, Martov and Potresov. The average circulation of the newspaper was 8,000 copies, with some issues up to 10,000 copies. The spread of the newspaper was facilitated by the creation of a network of underground organizations on the territory of the Russian Empire. The editorial board of Iskra settled in Munich, but Plekhanov remained in Geneva. Axelrod still lived in Zurich. Martov has not yet arrived from Russia. Zasulich didn’t come either. Having lived in Munich for a short time, Potresov left it for a long time. The main work in Munich to organize the release of Iskra is carried out by Ulyanov. The first issue of Iskra arrives from the printing house on December 24, 1900. On April 1, 1901, after serving her exile in Ufa, N.K. Krupskaya arrived in Munich and began working in the editorial office of Iskra.

In December 1901, the magazine “Zarya” published an article entitled “Years. “critics” on the agrarian issue. The first essay" is the first work that Vladimir Ulyanov signed with the pseudonym "N. Lenin."

In the period 1900-1902, Lenin, under the influence of the general crisis of the revolutionary movement that had arisen at that time, came to the conclusion that, left to its own devices, the revolutionary proletariat would soon abandon the fight against the autocracy, limiting itself to economic demands alone.

In 1902, in the work “What to do? Urgent issues of our movement” Lenin came up with his own concept of the party, which he saw as a centralized militant organization (“a party of a new type”). In this article he writes: “Give us an organization of revolutionaries, and we will turn Russia over!” In this work, Lenin first formulated his doctrines of “democratic centralism” (a strict hierarchical organization of the revolutionary party) and “introducing consciousness.”

According to the then new doctrine of “bringing in consciousness,” it was assumed that the industrial proletariat itself was not revolutionary and was inclined only to economic demands (“trade unionism”), the necessary “consciousness” had to be “brought in” from the outside by a party of professional revolutionaries, which in this case would become the “avant-garde”.

Foreign agents of the tsarist intelligence picked up the trail of the Iskra newspaper in Munich. Therefore, in April 1902, the newspaper's editorial office moved from Munich to London. Together with Lenin and Krupskaya, Martov and Zasulich move to London. From April 1902 to April 1903, V.I. Lenin, together with N.K. Krupskaya, lived in London, under the surname Richter, first in furnished rooms, and then rented two small rooms in a house not far from the British Museum, in whose library Vladimir Ilyich worked often. At the end of April 1903, Lenin and his wife moved from London to Geneva in connection with the transfer of the publication of the Iskra newspaper there. They lived in Geneva until 1905.

From July 17 to August 10, 1903, the Second Congress of the RSDLP was held in London. Lenin took an active part in the preparations for the congress not only with his articles in Iskra and Zarya; Since the summer of 1901, together with Plekhanov, he worked on a draft party program and prepared a draft charter. The program consisted of two parts - a minimum program and a maximum program; the first involved the overthrow of tsarism and the establishment of a democratic republic, the destruction of the remnants of serfdom in the countryside, in particular the return to the peasants of lands cut off from them by landowners during the abolition of serfdom (the so-called “cuts”), the introduction of an eight-hour working day, recognition of the right of nations to self-determination and the establishment of equal rights nations; the maximum program determined the ultimate goal of the party - the construction of a socialist society and the conditions for achieving this goal - the socialist revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Already at the end of 1904, against the backdrop of a growing strike movement, differences on political issues emerged between the “majority” and “minority” factions, in addition to organizational ones.

The revolution of 1905-1907 found Lenin abroad, in Switzerland.

At the Third Congress of the RSDLP, held in London in April 1905, Lenin emphasized that the main task of the ongoing revolution was to put an end to autocracy and the remnants of serfdom in Russia.

At the first opportunity, in early November 1905, Lenin arrived in St. Petersburg illegally, under a false name, and headed the work of the Central and St. Petersburg Bolshevik Committees elected by the congress; paid great attention to the management of the newspaper “New Life”. Under the leadership of Lenin, the party was preparing an armed uprising. At the same time, Lenin wrote the book “Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution,” in which he points out the need for the hegemony of the proletariat and an armed uprising. In the struggle to win over the peasantry (which was actively waged with the Socialist Revolutionaries), Lenin wrote the pamphlet “To the Village Poor.” In December 1905, the First Conference of the RSDLP was held in Tammerfors, where V.I. Lenin and V. I. met for the first time.

In the spring of 1906, Lenin moved to Finland. He lived with Krupskaya and her mother in Kuokkala (Repino (St. Petersburg)) at the Vaasa villa of Emil Edward Engeström, occasionally visiting Helsingfors. At the end of April 1906, before going to the party congress in Stockholm, he, under the name Weber, stayed in Helsingfors for two weeks in a rented apartment on the first floor of a house at Vuorimihenkatu 35. Two months later, he spent several weeks in Seyviasta (Ozerki village, west of Kuokkala) near the Knipovichs. In December (no later than 14 (27)) 1907, Lenin arrived in Stockholm by ship.

According to Lenin, despite the defeat of the December armed uprising, the Bolsheviks used all revolutionary opportunities, they were the first to take the path of uprising and the last to leave it when this path became impossible.

In early January 1908, Lenin returned to Geneva. The defeat of the revolution of 1905-1907 did not force him to fold his arms; he considered a repetition of the revolutionary upsurge inevitable. “Defeated armies learn well,” Lenin later wrote about this period.

At the end of 1908, Lenin and Krupskaya, together with Zinoviev and Kamenev, moved to Paris. Lenin lived here until June 1912. This is where his first meeting with Inessa Armand takes place.

In 1909 he published his main philosophical work, “Materialism and Empirio-criticism.” The work was written after Lenin realized how widely popular Machism and empirio-criticism had become among Social Democrats.

In 1912, he decisively broke with the Mensheviks, who insisted on the legalization of the RSDLP.

On May 5, 1912, the first issue of the legal Bolshevik newspaper Pravda was published in St. Petersburg. Extremely dissatisfied with the editing of the newspaper (Stalin was the editor-in-chief), Lenin sent L. B. Kamenev to St. Petersburg. He wrote articles to Pravda almost every day, sent letters in which he gave instructions, advice, and corrected the editors’ mistakes. Over the course of 2 years, Pravda published about 270 Leninist articles and notes. Also in exile, Lenin led the activities of the Bolsheviks in the IV State Duma, was a representative of the RSDLP in the Second International, wrote articles on party and national issues, and studied philosophy.

When World War I began, Lenin lived on the territory of Austria-Hungary in the Galician town of Poronin, where he arrived at the end of 1912. Due to suspicions of spying for the Russian government, Lenin was arrested by Austrian gendarmes. For his release, the help of socialist deputy of the Austrian parliament V. Adler was required. On August 6, 1914, Lenin was released from prison.

17 days later in Switzerland, Lenin took part in a meeting of a group of Bolshevik emigrants, where he announced his theses on the war. In his opinion, the war that began was imperialist, unfair on both sides, and alien to the interests of the working people. According to the memoirs of S. Yu. Bagotsky, after receiving information about the unanimous vote of German Social Democrats for the military budget of the German government, Lenin declared that he had ceased to be a Social Democrat and turned into a communist.

At international conferences in Zimmerwald (1915) and Kienthal (1916), Lenin, in accordance with the resolution of the Stuttgart Congress and the Basel Manifesto of the Second International, defended his thesis on the need to transform imperialist war during the civil war and spoke with the slogan of “revolutionary defeatism.” Military historian S.V. Volkov considered that Lenin’s position during the First World War in relation to his own country can most accurately be described as “high treason.”

In February 1916, Lenin moved from Bern to Zurich. Here he completed his work “Imperialism as the Highest Stage of Capitalism (Popular Essay)”, actively collaborated with the Swiss Social Democrats (among them the left radical Fritz Platten), and attended all their party meetings. Here he learned from newspapers about the February Revolution in Russia.

Lenin did not expect a revolution in 1917. Lenin’s public statement in January 1917 in Switzerland is known that he did not expect to live to see the coming revolution, but that young people would see it. Lenin, who knew the weakness of the underground revolutionary forces in the capital, regarded the revolution that soon took place as the result of a “conspiracy of Anglo-French imperialists.”

In April 1917, the German authorities, with the assistance of Fritz Platten, allowed Lenin, along with 35 party comrades, to travel by train from Switzerland through Germany. General E. Ludendorff argued that transporting Lenin to Russia was expedient from a military point of view. Among Lenin's companions were Krupskaya N.K., Zinoviev G.E., Lilina Z.I., Armand I.F., Sokolnikov G.Ya., Radek K.B. and others.

On April 3 (16), 1917, Lenin arrived in Russia. The Petrograd Soviet, the majority of which were Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, organized a ceremonial meeting for him. To meet Lenin and the procession that followed through the streets of Petrograd, according to the Bolsheviks, 7,000 soldiers were mobilized “alongside.”

Lenin was personally met by the chairman of the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet, Menshevik N. S. Chkheidze, who on behalf of the Soviet expressed hope for “unifying the ranks of all democracy.” However, Lenin’s first speech at the Finlyandsky Station immediately after his arrival ended with a call for a “social revolution” and caused confusion even among Lenin’s supporters. The sailors of the 2nd Baltic Crew, who performed honor guard duties at the Finlyandsky Station, the next day expressed their indignation and regret that they were not told in time about the route Lenin took to return to Russia, and claimed that they would have greeted Lenin with exclamations of “Down, back to the country through which you came to us.” The soldiers of the Volyn Regiment and sailors in Helsingfors raised the question of Lenin's arrest; the indignation of the sailors in this Finnish port of Russia was even expressed in the throwing of Bolshevik agitators into the sea. Based on the information received about Lenin’s path to Russia, the soldiers of the Moscow regiment decided to destroy the editorial office of the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda.

The next day, April 4, Lenin made a report to the Bolsheviks, the theses of which were published in Pravda only on April 7, when Lenin and Zinoviev joined the editorial board of Pravda, since, according to V. M. Molotov, the new The leader’s ideas seemed too radical even to his close associates. They were famous "April Theses". In this report, Lenin sharply opposed the sentiments that prevailed in Russia among Social Democrats in general and the Bolsheviks in particular, which boiled down to the idea of ​​​​expanding the bourgeois-democratic revolution, supporting the Provisional Government and defending the revolutionary fatherland in a war that changed its character with the fall of the autocracy. Lenin announced the slogans: “No support for the Provisional Government” and “all power to the Soviets”; he proclaimed a course for the development of the bourgeois revolution into a proletarian revolution, putting forward the goal of overthrowing the bourgeoisie and the transfer of power to the Soviets and the proletariat with the subsequent liquidation of the army, police and bureaucracy. Finally, he demanded widespread anti-war propaganda, since, according to his opinion, the war on the part of the Provisional Government continued to be imperialistic and “predatory” in nature.

On April 8, one of the leaders of German intelligence in Stockholm telegraphed the Foreign Ministry in Berlin: “Lenin’s arrival in Russia is successful. It works exactly the way we would like it to.”

In March 1917, until Lenin’s arrival from exile, moderate sentiments prevailed in the RSDLP(b). Stalin I.V. even stated in March that “unification [with the Mensheviks] is possible along the Zimmerwald-Kinthal line.” On April 6, the Central Committee passed a negative resolution on the Theses, and the editorial board of Pravda initially refused to print them, allegedly due to mechanical failure. On April 7, the “Theses” nevertheless appeared with a comment from L. B. Kamenev, who said that “Lenin’s scheme” was “unacceptable.”

Nevertheless, within literally three weeks, Lenin managed to get his party to accept the “Theses.” Stalin I.V. was one of the first to declare their support (April 11). According to the expression, “the party was taken by surprise by Lenin no less than by the February coup... there was no debate, everyone was stunned, no one wanted to expose themselves to the blows of this frantic leader.” The April party conference of 1917 (April 22-29) put an end to the Bolsheviks’ hesitations, which finally adopted the “Theses”. At this conference, Lenin also proposed for the first time that the party be renamed "communist", but this proposal was rejected.

From April to July 1917, Lenin wrote more than 170 articles, brochures, draft resolutions of Bolshevik conferences and the Party Central Committee, and appeals.

Despite the fact that the Menshevik newspaper Rabochaya Gazeta, when writing about the arrival of the Bolshevik leader in Russia, assessed this visit as the emergence of “danger from the left flank”, the newspaper Rech - the official publication of the Minister of Foreign Affairs P. N. Milyukov - according to historian of the Russian revolution S.P. Melgunov, spoke positively about the arrival of Lenin, and that now not only Plekhanov will fight for the ideas of socialist parties.

In Petrograd, from June 3 (16) to June 24 (July 7), 1917, the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies was held, at which Lenin spoke. In his speech on June 4 (17), he stated that at that moment, in his opinion, the Soviets could gain all power in the country peacefully and use it to solve the main issues of the revolution: give the working people peace, bread, land and overcome economic devastation. Lenin also argued that the Bolsheviks were ready to immediately take power in the country.

A month later, the Petrograd Bolsheviks found themselves involved in anti-government protests on July 3 (16) - 4 (17), 1917 under the slogans of transferring power to the Soviets and negotiations with Germany on peace. The armed demonstration led by the Bolsheviks escalated into skirmishes, including with troops loyal to the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks were accused of organizing an “armed uprising against state power” (subsequently the Bolshevik leadership denied its involvement in the preparation of these events). In addition, the case materials provided by counterintelligence about the connections of the Bolsheviks with Germany were made public (see Question about the financing of the Bolsheviks by Germany).

On July 20 (7), the Provisional Government ordered the arrest of Lenin and a number of prominent Bolsheviks on charges of treason and organizing an armed uprising. Lenin went underground again. In Petrograd, he had to change 17 safe houses, after which, until August 21 (8), 1917, he and Zinoviev hid not far from Petrograd - in a hut on Lake Razliv. In August, on the steam locomotive H2-293, he disappeared into the territory of the Grand Duchy of Finland, where he lived until the beginning of October in Yalkala, Helsingfors and Vyborg. Soon the investigation into Lenin's case was discontinued due to lack of evidence.

Lenin, who was in Finland, was unable to attend the VI Congress of the RSDLP(b), which was held semi-legally in August 1917 in Petrograd. The Congress approved the decision on Lenin's failure to appear in the court of the Provisional Government, and elected him in absentia as one of its honorary chairmen.

During this period, Lenin wrote one of his fundamental works - the book "State and Revolution".

On August 10, accompanied by the deputy of the Finnish Sejm K. Wikka, Lenin moved from Malm station to Helsingfors. Here he lives in the apartment of the Finnish social democrat Gustav Rovno (Hagnes Square, 1, apt. 22), and then in the apartment of the Finnish workers A. Usenius (Fradrikinkatu St., 64) and B. Vlumkvist (Telenkatu St., 46) . Communication goes through G. Rivne, railway. postman K. Akhmalu, driver of steam locomotive No. 293 G. Yalava, N.K. Krupskaya, M.I. Ulyanov, Shotman A.V. N.K. Krupskaya comes to Lenin twice with the ID of Sestroretsk worker Agafya Atamanova.

In the second half of September, Lenin moved to Vyborg (the apartment of the editor-in-chief of the Finnish workers' newspaper "Tue" (labor) Evert Huttunen (Vilkienkatu St. 17 - in the 2000s, Turgenev St., 8), then settled with Latukka near Vyborg Talikkala, alexanderinkatu (now the village of Lenina, Rubezhnaya St. 15.) On October 7, accompanied by Rakhya, Lenin left Vyborg to move to St. Petersburg. They traveled to Raivola on a commuter train, and then Lenin moved to the booth of steam locomotive No. 293 to driver Hugo Yalava. Udelnaya station on foot to Serdobolskaya 1/92 quarter 20 to M.V. Fofanova from where Lenin left for Smolny on the night of October 25.

On October 20, 1917, Lenin arrived illegally from Vyborg to Petrograd. On November 6, 1917 (24.10) after 6 pm Lenin left the safe house of Margarita Fofanova, at Serdobolskaya Street, building No. 1, apartment No. 41, leaving a note: “...I went to where you didn’t want me to go. Goodbye. Ilyich." For purposes of secrecy, Lenin changes appearance: puts on an old coat and cap, ties a scarf around his cheek. Lenin, accompanied by E. Rakhya, heads to Sampsonievsky Prospekt, takes a tram to Botkinskaya Street, crosses the Liteiny Bridge, turns onto Shpalernaya, is twice delayed by cadets along the way, and finally comes to Smolny (Leontyevskaya Street, 1).

Arriving in Smolny, he begins to lead the uprising, the direct organizer of which was the chairman of the Petrograd Soviet L. D. Trotsky. Lenin proposed to act tough, organized, and quickly. We can't wait any longer. It is necessary to arrest the government without leaving power in the hands of Kerensky until October 25, disarm the cadets, mobilize the districts and regiments, and send representatives from them to the Military Revolutionary Committee and the Bolshevik Central Committee. On the night of October 25-26, the Provisional Government was arrested.

It took 2 days to overthrow the government of A.F. Kerensky. On November 7 (October 25) Lenin wrote an appeal for the overthrow of the Provisional Government. On the same day, at the opening of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, Lenin's decrees on peace and land were adopted and a government was formed - the Council of People's Commissars, headed by Lenin. On January 5 (18), 1918, the Constituent Assembly opened, the majority of which was won by the Socialist Revolutionaries, representing the interests of the peasants, who at that time made up 80% of the country's population. Lenin, with the support of the Left Social Revolutionaries, presented the Constituent Assembly with a choice: ratify the power of the Soviets and the decrees of the Bolshevik government or disperse. The Constituent Assembly, which did not agree with this formulation of the issue, lost its quorum and was forcibly dissolved.

During the 124 days of the “Smolny period,” Lenin wrote over 110 articles, draft decrees and resolutions, delivered over 70 reports and speeches, wrote about 120 letters, telegrams and notes, and participated in the editing of more than 40 state and party documents. The working day of the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars lasted 15-18 hours. During this period, Lenin chaired 77 meetings of the Council of People's Commissars, led 26 meetings and meetings of the Central Committee, participated in 17 meetings of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and its Presidium, and in the preparation and conduct of 6 different All-Russian Congresses of Working People. After the Central Committee of the Party and the Soviet government moved from Petrograd to Moscow, from March 11, 1918, Lenin lived and worked in Moscow. Lenin's personal apartment and office were located in the Kremlin, on the third floor of the former Senate building.

On January 15 (28), 1918, Lenin signed the decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the creation of the Red Army. In accordance with the Peace Decree, it was necessary to withdraw from the world war. Despite the opposition of the left communists and L.D. Trotsky, Lenin achieved the conclusion of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with Germany. On March 3, 1918, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, in protest against the signing and ratification of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, withdrew from the Soviet government. On March 10-11, fearing the capture of Petrograd by German troops, at the suggestion of Lenin, the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the RCP (b) moved to Moscow, which became the new capital Soviet Russia.

On August 30, 1918, an attempt was made on Lenin, according to the official version, by a Socialist Revolutionary Party, which led to severe injury. After the assassination attempt, Lenin was successfully operated on by doctor Vladimir Mints.

The denunciation of the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee in November 1918 significantly strengthened Lenin’s authority in the party. Doctor of Philosophy in history, Harvard University professor Richard Pipes describes this situation as follows: “By shrewdly accepting a humiliating peace that gave him the necessary time and then collapsed under its own gravity, Lenin earned the widespread trust of the Bolsheviks. When they tore up the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on November 13, 1918, followed by Germany's capitulation to the Western Allies, Lenin's authority in the Bolshevik movement was elevated to unprecedented heights. Nothing better served his reputation as a man who made no political mistakes; never again did he have to threaten to resign to get his way.”

As Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, from November 1917 to December 1920, Lenin chaired 375 meetings of the Soviet government out of 406. From December 1918 to February 1920, out of 101 meetings of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense, only two he did not preside over. In 1919, V.I. Lenin led the work of 14 plenums of the Central Committee and 40 meetings of the Politburo, at which military issues were discussed. From November 1917 to November 1920, V.I. Lenin wrote over 600 letters and telegrams on various issues of defense of the Soviet state, and spoke at rallies over 200 times.

In March 1919, after the failure of the Entente countries’ initiative to end the Civil War in Russia, V. Bullitt, who secretly arrived in Moscow on behalf of US President William Wilson and British Prime Minister D. Lloyd George, proposed that Soviet Russia make peace with all other governments, formed on the territory of the former Russian Empire, while paying off its debts together with them. Lenin agreed to this proposal, motivating this decision as follows: “The price of the blood of our workers and soldiers is too dear to us; We, as merchants, will pay for peace at the price of a heavy tribute... just to save the lives of workers and peasants.” However, the initially successful offensive of A.V. Kolchak’s army on the Eastern Front against Soviet troops, which began in March 1919, instilling confidence in the Entente countries in the imminent fall of Soviet power, led to the fact that negotiations were not continued by the United States and Great Britain.

In 1919, on the initiative of Lenin, the Communist International was created.

On the night of July 16-17, 1918, the former Russian Emperor Nicholas II was shot along with his family and servants by order of the Ural Regional Council in Yekaterinburg, headed by the Bolsheviks.

In February 1920, the Irkutsk Bolshevik Military Revolutionary Committee secretly executed without trial Admiral A.V. Kolchak, who was under arrest in the Irkutsk prison after his allies had extradited him to the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik Political Center. According to a number of modern Russian historians, this was done in accordance with Lenin's order.

Illness and death of Vladimir Lenin

At the end of May 1922, due to cerebral vascular sclerosis, Lenin suffered his first serious attack of the disease - speech was lost, the movement of his right limbs was weakened, and there was almost complete memory loss - Lenin, for example, did not know how to use a toothbrush. Only on July 13, 1922, when Lenin’s condition improved, was he able to write his first note. From the end of July 1922, Lenin's condition deteriorated again. Improvement came only at the beginning of September 1922.

In 1923, shortly before his death, Lenin wrote his last works: “On cooperation”, “How can we reorganize the workers’ krin”, “Better less, but better”, in which he offers his vision of the economic policy of the Soviet state and measures to improve the work of the state apparatus and the party. On January 4, 1923, V.I. Lenin dictates the so-called “Addition to the letter of December 24, 1922,” in which, in particular, the characteristics of individual Bolsheviks claiming to be the leader of the party (Stalin, Trotsky, Bukharin, Pyatakov) were given. .

Presumably, Vladimir Ilyich’s illness was caused by severe overwork and the consequences of the assassination attempt on August 30, 1918. At least these reasons are referred to by the authoritative researcher of this issue, surgeon Yu. M. Lopukhin.

Leading German specialists in nervous diseases were called in for treatment. Lenin's chief physician from December 1922 until his death in 1924 was Otfried Förster. Lenin's last public speech took place on November 20, 1922 at the plenum of the Moscow Soviet. On December 16, 1922, his health condition again deteriorated sharply, and on May 15, 1923, due to illness, he moved to the Gorki estate near Moscow. Since March 12, 1923, daily bulletins on Lenin's health were published. The last time Lenin was in Moscow was on October 18-19, 1923. During this period, he, however, dictated several notes: “Letter to the Congress”, “On giving legislative functions to the State Planning Committee”, “On the issue of nationalities or “autonomization””, “Pages from the diary”, “On cooperation”, “About our revolution (regarding N. Sukhanov’s notes)”, “How can we reorganize the Rabkrin (Proposal to the XII Party Congress)”, “Less is better”.

Lenin's "Letter to the Congress" (1922) is often viewed as Lenin's testament.

In January 1924, Lenin's health suddenly deteriorated; On January 21, 1924 at 18:50 he died.

The official conclusion on the cause of death in the autopsy report read: “...The basis of the disease of the deceased is widespread atherosclerosis of blood vessels due to their premature wear (Abnutzungssclerose). Due to the narrowing of the lumen of the arteries of the brain and disruption of its nutrition from insufficient blood flow, focal softening of the brain tissue occurred, explaining all the previous symptoms of the disease (paralysis, speech disorders). The immediate cause of death was: 1) increased circulatory disorders in the brain; 2) hemorrhage into the pia mater in the quadrigeminal region.” In June 2004, an article was published in the European Journal of Neurology, the authors of which suggest that Lenin died of neurosyphilis. Lenin himself did not exclude the possibility of syphilis and therefore took salvarsan, and in 1923 he also tried to be treated with drugs based on mercury and bismuth; Max Nonne, a specialist in this field, was invited to see him. However, his guess was refuted by him. “There was absolutely nothing to indicate syphilis,” Nonna later wrote.

Vladimir Lenin's height: 164 centimeters.

Personal life of Vladimir Lenin:

Apollinaria Yakubova and her husband were close associates of Lenin and his wife Nadezhda Krupskaya, who lived in London periodically from 1902 to 1911, although Yakubova and Lenin were known to have had a tumultuous and tense relationship due to politics within the RSDLP.

Robert Henderson, specialist Russian history from the University of London, discovered a photograph of Yakubova in the bowels of the State Archive of Russian Federation in Moscow in April 2015.

Apollinaria Yakubova

Major works of Vladimir Lenin:

"On the Characteristics of Economic Romanticism", (1897)
What inheritance are we giving up? (1897);
Development of capitalism in Russia (1899);
What to do? (1902);
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (1904);
Party organization and party literature (1905);
Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution (1905);
Marxism and Revisionism (1908);
Materialism and Empirio-Criticism (1909);
Three Sources and Three Components of Marxism (1913);
On the Right of Nations to Self-Determination (1914);
On the breakdown of unity covered by cries for unity (1914);
Karl Marx (a short biographical sketch outlining Marxism) (1914);
Socialism and War (1915);
Imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism (popular essay) (1916);
State and Revolution (1917);
Tasks of the proletariat in our revolution (1917)
The Impending Catastrophe and How to Deal with It (1917)
On dual power (1917);
How to Organize a Competition (1918);
The Great Initiative (1919);
The childhood disease of “leftism” in communism (1920);
Tasks of youth unions (1920);
About the food tax (1921);
Pages from the diary, About cooperation (1923);
About the pogrom persecution of Jews (1924);
What is Soviet power? (1919, publ.: 1928);
On leftist childishness and petty-bourgeoisism (1918);
About our revolution (1923);
Letter to the Congress (1922, read out: 1924, published: 1956)