Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Biography

• Born 10 April 1870, died 21 January 1924
• His real name was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, but he changed it to Lenin as a revolutionary pseudonym.
• Son of a rare middle class Russian family under the Tsar—well-educated and received law degree.

  Lenin Propaganda Poster

• In 1887, his brother was hanged after an attempted assassination of Tsar Alexander III. This act radicalized Lenin.
• Arrested in 1895 and sent to Siberia for radical propaganda against the Russian state.
• 1900-1917 Lenin is in and out of Russia; periodically exiled and allowed to return. This is his most productive philosophical period, before the Revolution and Russian Civil War.
• Led Russia in the Revolution of 1917 and through the Russian Civil War. Diminished impact on Russian governance after 1921, when he suffered the first of 4 strokes.
• Warned colleagues about the danger posed by Stalin in his last papers.

Lenin's Most Important Works

• The Development of Capitalism in Russia (1900)
• What is to be Done? (1906)
• The State and Revolution (1917)
• Left-Wing Communism: An Infantile Disorder (1920)

Lenin's Re-imagination of Marxist Theory

• Vanguard Party- Necessary class consciousness could only be developed thought the efforts of a leading party, a vanguard, who would inculcate the values of communism and lead the revolution.
• Democratic Centralism- As Lenin described it, democratic centralism consisted of "freedom of discussion and criticism, unity of action". In effect, the party should freely debate issues before making decisions, but once a decision was made, the party should act in a unified means.
• Imperialism-Lenin believed that imperialism was the highest form of capitalism. Lenin believed that the advanced industrialized nations were avoiding revolution by forcing their excess production to colonies and exploiting the resources of those nations. Essentially, Lenin believed that Marx failed to anticipate the impact of imperialism and added this to his theory.
• War Communism-Forced war effort to develop communism and win the war in Russia—harsh measures combined with education/indoctrination.

Additional Resources

• Lenin Biography