Joseph Stalin brought a shrewd and practical intelligence to political organization. He chose the Bolsheviks when the Social Democrats divided and was loyal to their leader, Lenin. In 1912 he was rewarded with the Bolshevik Central Committee which allowed him to quickly gain Bolshevik influence. He was exiled to Siberia from 1913-1917 by the government, but he returned after the monarchy had been overthrown in the March Revolution.
He was gradually given many appointed many positions including commissar of nationalities and general secretary of the Central Committee of the party. This made him in control of many things including appointments. After the death of Lenin in 1924, Stalin used his power to crush his opponents in order to be the Soviet leader until his death.
Stalin’s rule was marked with brutality and terror. The secret police attacked people in all branches of society. There were concentration camps and the deaths are estimated in millions. The reign of terror died down in 1938 and his dictatorship was completely in his control.
Stalin was at the peak of his power in 1945 but it declined until his death because of repression. On March 5, 1953, Stalin had an unexpected death.
Vladimir Ilich Lenin: (1870-1924) Vladimir Ilich Lenin was on of the greatest revolutionists ever. He is one of the most revered people in the history of communism. Lenin was the founder of the Russian Communist party, the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and the first head of state of the USSR. He was a great political thinker that was deeply influenced by Karl Marx, which led to his theories becoming a big part of Communist thought.
In 1895 Lenin was arrested and exiled to Siberia because his devotion of Marxist study led to his agitation among workers. In his pamphlet What is to be done? (1902), he expressed his belief that social democracy was the basis for individual freedom, other than political democracy. He also insisted that only professional revolutionists could bring socialism to Russia. This ultimately led to the Social Democratic Workers’ party, in 1903, splitting into the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin. He viewed World War I as an opportunity for a worldwide socialist revolution.
During this time period, Lenin was known for his dedication to revolution. He was merciless when it came to political issues and he ruthlessly attacked opponents. When the Russian Revolution broke out in March, 1917, he returned to the Petrograd and brought the Bolsheviks into power through “Military Revolutionary Committees”. During the first week in November he helped the Bolsheviks overthrow Kerensky’s provincial government. By November 7, the first Bolshevik government was formed, with Lenin as the chairman, which allowed him to become dictator.
As head of the government, Lenin consolidated Bolshevik power, reorganized various parties into the Russian Communist party, established a secret police and reformed the government with Marxist principals. In 1918 civil war broke out and Lenin had to put a Red Army against the Whites. The economy was in ruins and there was discontent among the people, and because of this he launched the New Economic Policy. In 1919, he established the Comintern to make sure the Russian Communist party would stay in control of the Marxist movement.
On May 25, 1922, Lenin suffered a stroke that was followed by a series of strokes, inevitably leading to his death on January 21.
Nicholas II was born May 18, 1868. He ended up being the last emperor of Russia. He succeeded his father with the intent of continuing his rule but he didn’t have the same ability. One of his main weaknesses was allowing his wife Alexandra and her sinister advisor Rasputin have a great influence over government policy. Nicholas II reduced Duma’s power to an advisory body. In 1915, he took command of the army, which gave his wife and her advisor influence at the court. Riots exploded in the capital and on March 2, 1917, the Duma demanded the abdication of Nicholas. He was exiled to Siberia and on July 16-17, 1918 the Bolsheviks executed him, along with his family, on July 16-17, 1918.
Leon Trotsky was born November 7, 1879. He was a brilliant orator, tactician and theorist. His skills enabled him to plan the Petrograd uprising in November 1917, but his independence and aloofness kept him from getting party support in a struggle for power against Stalin.
In 1898 he was arrested and exiled to Siberia, which is where he joined the Social Democratic Party. After that split, he joined the Mensheviks in fear that Lenin’s methods would lead to a dictatorship. In August of 1917,after the revolution in March, he joined the Bolsheviks. Later, in September, he was elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, and that is where he organized Bolshevik forces to defeat Kerensky. He was appointed the commissar of foreign affairs and later became commissar of war until 1925. He managed to organize the Red Army but his impatience and more kept him from winning friends in the party.
Stalin and Trotsky were rivals and after Lenin’s death in 1924, Trotsky proved he was unable to work successfully at practical politics. This led him to be censured on the grounds of factionalism within three weeks. After three years, he was turned away from all of his posts and kicked out of the party. In 1929 he was banished from the USSR. He lived in various locations including Turkey, France, Norway and Mexico. A Stalinist agent finally killed him on August 21, 1940.
Aleksandr Kerensky was born April 22, 1881, and he died June 11, 1970. He was the head of the Russian Provisional government from July to October, 1917. That was the time between the overthrow of the tsar and the Bolshevik Revolution. Kerensky was a lawyer and a democratic moderate that joined the Socialist Revolutionary party in 1905. In 1912 he was elected to the fourth Duma.
As the premier Kerensky he was identified with his offense against Germans that failed both militarily and politically. This weakened his already unstable government. In a futile effort to stay in control, Kerensky arrested Lenin and a right-wing general, Lvar Kornilov. In October, he fled Russia because of radicals and reactionaries. He lived in Paris until 1940 and then spent the rest of his life in New York City.
Prince Georgi Lvov: On March 15, 1917, a Duma committee established a provincial government, headed by Lvov, a liberal. On that same day, the emperor was abdicated.
Grigory Rasputin: He was a favorite of Empress Alexandra which led to his increasing sinister influence. From 1916-1917 there was discontentment in all parts of society.
Pyotr Stolypin: Under him, Nicholas II began an agrarian reform program to promote the growth of a rural middle class.
General Lavr Kornilov: In early September (1917?), he was put at a disadvantage in an effort to establish a right wing military dictatorship. The effort was backed up by Cadets ( middle class liberals, Constitutional Democratic Party). After his attempt Bolshevik popularity soared.
Mikhail Rodzianko: He was the president of Duma. In March 12, 1917, parties in the Duma formed an unofficial committee that was headed by Rodzianko. He tried keeping order by heroic speech making in front of large crowds.
Nikolai Chkerdze: He was the head of the Petrograd Soviet and the leader of the Social Democrats in the Duma.
Pavel Milyukov: He was the foreign minister. The Soviet was willing to help with war effort for “democratic peace”. He referred to Allies that Russia wanted peace on the basis of a secret treaty of 1915. The Provisional Government yielded to the Soviet and he resigned.