Vladimir Illic Lenin

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich (April 22, 1870 - January 21, 1924). Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, who became known as Lenin, joined the revolutionary movements in Russia during his law studies. After a brief stay in Switzerland, he was arrested in Russia in 1895 for political propaganda against the regime and was exiled to Siberia from 1897 to 1900. From 1900, with a two-year interruption, he was abroad, where he founded and developed a party of cadres intended to lead the proletariat in the struggle for socialism. These actions led to a split in the Russian Social Democratic Party in 1903. In 1917, Lenin returned to Russia with official support from the German state while World War I was still ongoing. After the "October Revolution," Lenin took power as the leader of the Bolsheviks and attempted to implement a Marxist model of governance through extensive transformation of the economy and society of the newly declared Soviet Union. He became the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. He signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Germans. He overcame the internal counter-revolution (White Russians) and, to address economic difficulties, implemented the NEP (New Economic Policy). In May 1922, he became paralyzed from a stroke, yet continued to govern the state until his death on June 21, 1924. His legacy remained as Leninism.