VLADIMIR LENIN

Russian Communist President

LENIN
■ Vladimir Lenin was born April
22, 1870
■ Birthplace: Simbirsk, Russia
■ One of six children
Poppa
■ Vladimir’s father
■ Russian nobleman
■ Son of a serf who rose to power
as inspector of schools
■ Highly educated
■ Believed that there should be
free public education
Momma

■ Vladimir’s mother
■ Daughter of land
owning physician
■ Believed in education
and how it can improve
your life
■ Supported sons and
their revolutionary
ideas
Big Bro
■ Lenin’s older brother,
Alexander
■ He influenced a lot of
Vladimir’s beliefs
■ He was involved in
trying to kill the Czar in
1887 (Alexander III)
■ Was hanged for the
plot and this affected
Vladimir greatly…he
wanted to avenge his
brother’s death
LENIN’S BELIEFS

■ Renounced religion and the political system his family lived

under
■ Followed in the revolutionary ideas of his older brother and
wanted a better Russia…one without a royal family
 EDUCATION
■ Was very bright in school, but was alienated by his
peers because of his intelligence
■ Lenin went to law school at Kazan University
■ He was expelled due to attending a peaceful
protest
■ He studied on his own and passed law exam in
1891
■ He used his education and powers of public
speaking to recruit others to the cause
MARRIAGE

■ Married in 1898
■ Nadezhda Krupskaya
■ She was well educated
■ Believed in Lenin’s
ideas and wanted a
change in the
government too
■ Joined his Bolsheviks
Road to Revolution
■ 1893 as a lawyer,
Lenin created
underground
movement with 6
groups that
researched life in
Russia for people and
wrote pamphlets
■ Created Bolshevik
group that wanted a
revolution (sudden
change) and to get rid
of the czar/monarchy
Brrrrr…It’s Cold in Here!!
■ Lenin wanted to start a
paper about the
revolution, but was
arrested
■ He spent 15 months in
prison in Siberia
■ When he was released
he went to
Switzerland, wrote a
paper and rose to
power for the Social
Democratic Party
Rise to Power
■ 1917 = Steelworkers
strike and Romanovs
killed so government
officials lead country
■ With Germany’s help,
Lenin came back to
Russia preaching “Bread
Not War”
■ At age 47, Lenin became
president of Society of
People’s Commissars or
the Communist Party
■ Vladimir Lenin - The Communist
Party - Vladimir Lenin Videos -
Biography.com (3:27)
His Russian Policies
■ Defeated Germany in WWI
with the allies and took
back land
■ Redistributed land and
made some collective
farms (food for everyone)
■ Created factories, mines,
banks, and utilities for all
■ Shutdown the Russian
Orthodox Church because
the GOVERNMENT = God
His Death

■ May 1922 Lenin

suffered strokes
■ He tried to remain in
power and pick his
successor…didn’t
happen
■ January 21, 1924 Lenin
died of a massive stroke
■ Fight over who comes
into power next:Josef
Vladimir Lenin - Death - Stalin or Leon Trotsky
Vladimir Lenin Videos -
Biography.com (3:59)
The Truth about Lenin

■ The Truth about Lenin and the 1917 Russian Revolution –

YouTube (10:56)