Vladimir Lenin was a world-class politician. He managed to create a completely new state. On the one hand, he was able to win a political and triumphant victory. On the other hand, historically Lenin found himself in the camp of the losers. After all, his work, based on the principles of violence, was initially doomed. Despite this, it was Vladimir Ulyanov who determined the vector of development of world history in the twentieth century.
The full biography of Lenin is contained not only in Soviet encyclopedias. Numerous books have been devoted to his life. There is a biography of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin in Wikipedia. It exists on various sites dedicated to the history and biography of famous people. We studied the biography and personal life of Lenin, briefly presenting the information in the article.
Roots
The biography of Vladimir Lenin began in the middle of spring 1870 in Simbirsk. His dad worked as an inspector of schools, he did a lot for public education. Ilya NikolaevichHe lost his father early and was raised by his elder brother. At that time he was the clerk of one of the city firms. Nevertheless, Lenin's father received a good education. He was a hardworking man - the leader of the proletariat inherited a colossal capacity for work precisely from his father. Thanks to the merits of Ilya Nikolaevich, the Ulyanovs were even given hereditary nobility.
On the mother's side, Lenin's grandfather Alexander Blank was a doctor and medical inspector at the arms factory hospitals in Zlatoust. At one time he married a German girl Anna Grosskopf. Later, grandfather retired and received a noble rank. He even became a landowner, having bought the Kokushkino estate.
Lenin's mother was a home teacher. She was considered an emancipated woman and tried to stick to the left. She was known not only as an excellent and hospitable hostess, but also as a caring, fair mother. She taught her children the basics of foreign languages and music.
About Lenin's nationality (the biography contains a lot of conflicting information) there are still disputes. Many are documented, but most are unsubstantiated. Lenin himself considered himself Russian.
Childhood
Lenin's life (the biography confirms this) at first did not differ in originality. He was a smart boy. When Volodya was five years old, he began to read. When Vladimir entered the Simbirsk gymnasium, he was considered a real "walking encyclopedia". The future leader of the state was not interested in the exact sciences. The young man loved history, philosophy,statistics, economic disciplines.
He was a diligent, careful and gifted student. Teachers repeatedly handed commendations to Ulyanov.
According to classmates, young Lenin had great authority and respect. In addition, the head of the gymnasium F. Kerensky, the father of the future head of the Provisional Government, at one time also gave a rather high assessment of Lenin's abilities.
Beginning of a revolutionary path
In 1887, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, whose biography we are considering, completed his gymnasium education, receiving a gold medal. At the same time, he learned that his older brother Alexander had been arrested. He was accused of attempting to assassinate the Russian autocrat. Prior to that, Sasha was a university student in the northern capital. He comprehended the basics of biology, was considered a talented young man and planned to become a scientist. He didn't have any radical ideas then. But be that as it may, at the beginning of May 1887 Alexander Ulyanov was executed.
Meanwhile, his younger brother Vladimir also became a student. He studied in Kazan and even in his first year began to participate in the student revolutionary movement. After some time, he was completely expelled from the university. Soon the young revolutionary was sent to the first exile in the same province.
A year later, Ulyanov was allowed to return to Kazan. A little later, he and his family moved to Samara. It was in this city that the young man began to get acquainted in detail with the postulates of Marxism. He also became a member of one of the Marxist circles.
After someUlyanov managed to pass the exams as an external student in the course of the law faculty at the University of St. Petersburg. The following year, the young lawyer became assistant barrister. However, he could not fully prove himself as a specialist and soon finally parted with jurisprudence. Vladimir moved to the northern capital and became a member of the Marxist student circle organized at the Technological Institute. In addition, he began to create a program for the Social Democratic Party.
According to the biography of Lenin (nationality - Russian), in 1895 he first went abroad. Vladimir visited countries such as Germany, Switzerland and France. It was there that he managed to get acquainted not only with the leaders of the international labor movement W. Liebknecht and P. Lafargue, but also with his political idol G. Plekhanov.
Emigration
When Vladimir Ulyanov returned to the capital, he attempted to unite all the disparate Marxist circles into one organization. We are talking about the "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class". Of course, the members of this organization have already tried to implement their plan to overthrow the Russian autocracy.
A brief biography of V. I. Lenin contains information that he actively promoted this idea. As a result, the revolutionary was arrested. For a long time he was in a prison cell. And after that, in the early spring of 1897, he was sent to Siberia, to the village of Shushenskoye. The term of reference was determined - three years. Here Ulyanov communicated with othersexiles, wrote articles, did translations.
According to a brief biography of Vladimir Lenin, in 1900 he decided to emigrate. He lived in Geneva, Munich, London.
It was during these years that Vladimir created the political publication Iskra. On these pages, for the first time, he signed his articles with the party pseudonym "Lenin".
After a while, he became one of the initiators of the convocation of the congress of the RSDLP. As a result, the organization was split into two camps. Ulyanov managed to lead the Bolshevik Party. He began to launch an active struggle against the Mensheviks.
In 1905, he continued to prepare an armed uprising in the Russian Empire. There, Vladimir learned that the First Russian Revolution had begun in the country.
First Blood
A short biography of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin suggests that he could not remain indifferent to the events in Russia. For a short time he arrived at home. A little later, Lenin ended up in Finland. During this time, Ulyanov tried in every possible way to attract people to his side. He urged them to arm themselves and attack officials.
In addition, he proposed to boycott the first State Duma. Let us note that later Lenin admitted his mistake. He also supported the bloody Moscow uprising and from abroad gave advice to the rebels.
Meanwhile, the revolution finally ended in failure. In 1907, at the fifth congress of the RSDLP, the Bolsheviks already opposed all parties. This factional struggle reached its climax at the party conference in 1912. This ishappened in Prague.
In addition, during the same period, Ulyanov managed to organize the publication of a legal newspaper of the Bolsheviks. Note that initially this edition, in fact, was created by L. Trotsky. It was a non-factional newspaper. In 1912, Lenin by and large became the main ideologist of the publication. And Iosif Dzhugashvili was chosen as the editor-in-chief.
War
After the defeat in the revolution, Ulyanov began to analyze the mistakes of the Bolsheviks. Over time, these failures turned into a victory. The Bolsheviks rallied like never before and a new wave of revolutionary movement began.
And in 1914 Lenin was in Austria-Hungary. It was here that he learned that the First World War had begun. The future head of the Soviet state was arrested. He was accused of spying for the Russian Empire. The consequences could be more than deplorable, but the Austrian and Polish Social Democrats stood up for their associate. As a result, Lenin was forced to move to neutral Switzerland. It was during this period that the revolutionary called for the overthrow of the Russian government and the transformation of the imperialist war into a civil one.
This position led him first to complete isolation, even in social democratic circles. In addition, when the war was going on, Ulyanov's ties with the Motherland almost completely broke off. And the Bolshevik Party itself inevitably broke up into several separate organizations.
February 1917
When the February Revolution began, Lenin and his comrades received permission to come to Germany and from there go toRussia. Once in the homeland, Lenin arranged a solemn meeting. He spoke to the people and called for a "social revolution". He believed that power should belong to members of the Bolshevik Party. Of course, many did not share this position at all.
Despite this, Lenin literally every day spoke at rallies and meetings. He tirelessly called to stand under the banner of the Soviets. By the way, at that time Stalin also supported the theses of the Bolshevik leader.
In early July, the Bolsheviks were once again accused of espionage and treason. Now - in favor of Germany. Lenin was forced to go into hiding. He, along with his associate Zinoviev, ended up in Razliv. After some time, Lenin secretly moved to Finland.
And at the very end of the summer of 1917, the Kornilov performance began. The Bolsheviks were against the rebels and thus they managed to rehabilitate themselves in the eyes of the socialist organizations.
Meanwhile, in the middle of autumn, Lenin illegally arrived in the revolutionary capital. At party meetings, he, together with Trotsky, managed to achieve the adoption of an official resolution related to the armed uprising.
October coup
Ulyanov acted tough and promptly. The biography of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ("Wikipedia" also contains this information) says that on October 20, 1917, he began to lead the direct uprising. On the night of October 25-26, the Bolsheviks arrested members of the Provisional Government. A little later, decrees on peace and land were adopted. In addition, there wasformed by the Council of People's Commissars headed by Ulyanov.
A truly new era has begun. Lenin had to deal with urgent issues. Thus, the head of state began to create the Red Army. He was also forced to conclude a peace treaty with Germany. In addition, the development of a program for the formation of a socialist society began. Thus, the Congress of Soviets of Workers, Peasants and Soldiers became an organ of power. And the capital of the proletarian state moved to Moscow.
However, several unpopular steps of the new government - such as the conclusion of the Brest Treaty and the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, led to a complete break with representatives of the Left SR movement. As a result, in July 1918, a rebellion began. This speech by the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries was brutally suppressed. As a result, the political system became one-party and acquired totalitarian features. Taken together, all this caused discontent. Events escalated into a fratricidal civil war.
Civil War
During the war, Ulyanov was forced to monitor the progress of urgent mobilization into the Red Army. He was closely involved in issues related to weapons. He managed to organize the work of the rear. Actually, these measures later influenced the outcome of the war.
In addition, Lenin was able to use the obvious contradictions in the white camp. He managed to create a 10-fold advantage of the proletarian army over the enemy. He also attracted tsarist military specialists to work.
Unfortunately, at the very end of the summer of 1918, an attempt was made on the life of the leader of the state. As a result, the "Red Terror" began in the country.
War Communism and New Politics
Recovering from his wounds, Ulyanov began economic reforms - the construction of the so-called war communism. He introduced it directively throughout the country. At that time, Lenin did not have a clear economic program, but nevertheless he introduced surplus appropriation, barter in kind and banned trade. A little later industry was nationalized. As a result, the production of goods almost ceased.
Ulyanov tried to save the day. That is why he decided to introduce compulsory labor service. For her evasion, she was supposed to be shot.
However, the situation in the economy continued to deteriorate. Then in 1921, Lenin announced in the country a course towards a "new economic policy." The war communism program was finally abolished. The government allowed private trade. As a result, a long process of economic recovery began. But Vladimir Ilyich was not destined to see the fruits of the new policy.
Recent years
Because of his failing he alth, Lenin was forced to step down from power. Iosif Dzhugashvili became the sole leader of the new state of the USSR.
Ulyanov with amazing courage and perseverance continued to fight the disease. For the treatment of the leader, the authorities decided to involve a number of domestic and Western doctors. He was diagnosed with cerebral vascular sclerosis. This disease was caused not only by huge overloads, but also by genetic causes.
Everything was in vain - in Gorki on January 21, 1924, Vladimir Lenin died. After some time, the body of the founder of the USSR was transported to the capital and placed in the Hall of Columns of the House of the Unions. For five days there was a farewell to the leader of the country.
On January 27, Ulyanov's body was embalmed and placed in the Mausoleum, which was specially built for this purpose.
Let's note right away that after the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991, the question of reburial of the head of the proletarian state was repeatedly raised. This topic is being discussed now.
The personal life of the leader
Ulyanov met his future wife Nadezhda Krupskaya back in 1894. Krupskaya's father was a tsarist officer. His daughter, Nadezhda, was a student of the famous Bestuzhev courses. At one time, she even corresponded with Leo Tolstoy himself.
When a woman began to live with Ulyanov together, she became not only the main assistant to her husband, but also a like-minded person. She always followed her husband and took part in all his actions. Also, the woman followed him when Lenin was in exile in Shushenskoye. It was here that the lovers got married in the church. Peasants from this village became best men. And an associate of Lenin and Krupskaya made wedding rings. They were made from copper nickels.
Lenin had no children. Although some historians believe that the leader had an only son. His name was Alexander Steffen. According to rumors, an associate of Inessa Armand gave him a child. The relationship is said to have lasted nearly five years.
Interesting facts
Briefly about the most important of Lenin's biographythe reader already knows. It remains only to highlight some interesting facts from the life of the leader of the proletariat:
- In the gymnasium, Ulyanov studied mostly only for five. In the certificate, he received the only four - in the discipline "logic". However, he graduated with a gold medal.
- In his youth, the future head of the Soviet state smoked. One day his mother said that tobacco is too expensive. And the Ulyanov family did not have much money. As a result, Ulyanov gave up the bad habit and never smoked again.
- Ulyanov had about 150 pseudonyms. The most common are Statist, Meyer, Ilyin, Tulin, Frey, Starik, Petrov. The origin of the famous pseudonym "Lenin" is still not exactly known.
- Ulyanov could be among the Nobel Prize winners. In 1918, his candidacy was considered and they wanted to award him the Peace Prize. But a fratricidal civil war began. As a result, it was these events that could deprive Lenin of the prestigious Nobel Prize.
- A number of new names were invented in honor of Lenin: Varlen, Arvil, Arlen, Vladlen, Vladilen, Vilen and others.
- Ulyanov was considered a great gourmet. However, his wife was not a lover of cooking. Therefore, the Ulyanovs specially hired a cook.
