In connection with the newly raised discussion in society on a number of key historical moments related to the events associated with the 1st World War, the two revolutions of 1917 and subsequent events, to refresh historical memory, Ilya Belous wrote a useful and informative text. In a fact-only compilation format. Well, or this work can be called - try to refute it. For which, many thanks to him. I quote it unchanged:

Who needed the execution of the tsar's family, who overthrew the tsar, who destroyed the Russian army? The modern generation, which grew up on the textbooks of George Soros and Igor Chubais, has already forgotten the truth about these upheavals.

I will try to present it very briefly, succinctly and point by point.

1. Interest Russian Empire participation in the First World War was in solving the Eastern question - control over the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, a long-standing geopolitical need of our country.

2. Solve this issue for opening Eastern Front(against Germany and Austria-Hungary) England and France promised the Russian Empire.

3. Russia fulfilled its allied role, and England realized that the promise would have to be kept, and Russia no longer needed "services".

4. England decided to withdraw Russia from the war, artificially provoking chaos in Petrograd, as a result of which the autocracy fell like a house of cards within a week.

5. The fifth column in the State Duma, consisting of oligarchs and intellectuals, entered into an alliance with England, and carried out the bourgeois February coup, forcing Nicholas to sign the abdication.

The bourgeois February Revolution can be compared to the Euromaidan. Guchkov is a bourgeois, like the oligarch Poroshenko, Shulgin is a lawyer, the founder of whites, he agreed with modern terminology - a representative of the creative class. The most important victory of the CIA in the information war is that millions of people now do not separate the February bourgeois revolution and the October people's revolution. They think that Lenin arrested king, personally. Can they show us Lenin in this picture? No, because the Bolsheviks will return to Russia only in 2 months.

7. The Menshevik Petrograd Soviet, under pressure from the Provisional Government, signed Decree N1, which introduced the democratic election of officers, and the subordination of soldiers to soldiers' committees. So the fifth column destroyed the Russian army.

8. After the Great October Socialist Revolution, Lenin was forced to urgently conclude peace, since there was nobody and nothing to fight with. He insisted on the withdrawal of all sides from the war without annexations of indemnities.

German caricature of 1917 about the collapse of the Russian army.

9. It was unprofitable for the victorious Entente. I had to negotiate separately (separately) with Germany. This is how the Brest Peace appeared.

10. The Entente interfered with the establishment of peace. On July 6, 1918, Socialist-Revolutionary Blumkin killed the German ambassador Mirbach.

11. Alexandra Feodorovna and her daughters were German princesses, and their murder was also primarily beneficial to England for aggravating relations between Russia and Germany.

12. According to the testimony of three telegraph operators from the Yekaterinburg post office, Lenin, in a conversation with Berzin over a direct wire, ordered "to take under his protection the entire royal family and not to allow any violence against it, responding in this case with his own life."

13. The possibility of extraditing one or several members of the royal family to Germany in order to soften the severity of the conflict that arose as a result of the assassination of Ambassador Mirbach was not excluded.

14.From May 1918, the entire country from the Urals to Vladivostok was no longer controlled by the Bolshevik leadership in Moscow. This was the case until 1922. Separatist-anarchist sentiments prevailed here. Neither a tsar nor Lenin was wanted here.

15. The leaders of the Urals had their own position regarding the royal family. The Presidium of the Ural Regional Council was ready to destroy the Romanovs back in April 1918 during their transfer from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg.

16. The decision to shoot the Romanovs was taken by the executive committee of the Uraloblsovet, while the central Soviet leadership was notified after what had happened.

17. Neither Lenin nor Sverdlov had anything to do with the execution of the tsar.

October Revolution, unlike the February one, was carefully prepared by the Bolsheviks, whom Lenin, overcoming strong resistance, was able to win over to his side. On October 24-25 (November 6-7), several thousand Red Guards, sailors and soldiers who followed the Bolsheviks, seize strategically important points of the capital: train stations, arsenals, warehouses, telephone exchange, the State Bank. October 25 (November 7) headquarters of the uprising - The Military Revolutionary Committee announces the overthrow of the Provisional Government. At the end of the night on October 26 (November 8), after a warning salvo from the cruiser Aurora, the rebels took the Winter Palace with the ministers who were there, easily crushing the resistance of the cadets and the women's battalion, which constituted the only defense of the impotent government. At the same time, the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, at which the influence of the Bolsheviks prevailed, being presented with a fact, asserts the victory of the uprising. Then, at the second meeting, he adopts a decree on the formation of the Council of People's Commissars, as well as decrees on peace and on land. Thus, over the course of several days of the almost bloodless “Great October Revolution”, there is a complete break with the country's historical past. However, it will take many years of bitter struggle before the Bolsheviks can finally establish their undivided domination.

Political and state life

29 Sep (12 Oct.). Lenin's article "The crisis is ripe" appears in the Bolshevik newspaper Rabochy Put. Its call for an immediate armed uprising meets the opposition of a significant portion of the Bolsheviks.

Lenin secretly returns to Petrograd.

10 (23) Oct. In an atmosphere of secrecy, a meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party is taking place. V. Lenin is seeking the adoption of the resolution on the uprising with 10 votes in favor and 2 against (L. Kamenev and G. Zinoviev) thanks to the report of J. Sverdlov about the impending military conspiracy in Minsk. The Political Bureau was created, which includes V. Lenin, G. Zinoviev, L. Kamenev, L. Trotsky, G. Sokolnikov and A. Bubnov.

12 (25) Oct. The Petrograd Soviet creates a Military Revolutionary Committee to organize the defense of the city from the Germans. The Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Trotsky, transform it into a headquarters for the preparation of an armed uprising. The Council appeals to the soldiers of the capital's garrison, to the Red Guards and the Kronstadt sailors, with an appeal to join it.

16 (29) Oct. At an enlarged meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, the resolution passed by Lenin on the uprising was approved, the technical preparation of which was entrusted to the Military Revolutionary Center, acting on behalf of the party jointly with the All-Russian Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet.

18 (31) Oct. The newspaper M. Gorky "New Life" published an article by L. Kamenev, where he sharply objects to the impending uprising, which he considers untimely.

22 oct. (Nov 4). The Verkhovna Rada of the Petrograd Soviet announces that only the orders approved by it are recognized as valid.

24 oct. (Nov 6). An open break between the Soviet and the Provisional Government, which orders the printing of Bolshevik newspapers to be sealed and calls for military reinforcements to Petrograd. The Bolsheviks break the seals and during the day do not allow the troops loyal to the government to open bridges. The beginning of the uprising, the leadership of which is carried out from the building of the Smolny Institute. On the night of 24 to 25 October. (6-7 Nov.) Red Guards, sailors and soldiers who sided with the Bolsheviks easily occupy the most important points of the city. Lenin arrives at Smolny, where the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies is to begin, ministers gather in the Winter Palace, Kerensky flees the capital for reinforcements.

25 oct. (Nov. 7) The rebels seize almost the entire capital, except for the Winter Palace. The Military Revolutionary Committee announces the overthrow of the Provisional Government and in the name of the Soviet takes power into its own hands.

The storming of the Winter Palace (with the support of the cruiser "Aurora"), At 2:30 am the palace is occupied by the rebels.

The II All-Russian Congress of Soviets opens in Smolny (out of 650 delegates, 390 Bolsheviks and 150 Left Social Revolutionaries). A new composition of the presidium was elected, in which the Bolsheviks predominate; the Mensheviks and Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, who opposed the coup, leave the congress; the appeal "To workers, soldiers and peasants!" - thereby the congress confirms the victory of the uprising.

26 oct. (Nov 8). The beginning of the Bolshevik uprising in Moscow, which after fierce fighting ends with the capture of the Kremlin.

3 (16) nov. The Petrograd City Duma is creating a "Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution", which includes the Mensheviks and Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, who do not accept the actions of the Bolsheviks.

Night from 26 to 27 October. (Nov 8-9). The final meeting of the II Congress of Soviets: a resolution was approved on the formation of a new government - the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), which included exclusively the Bolsheviks: Lenin (chairman), Trotsky (People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs), Stalin (People's Commissar for Nationalities), Rykov (People's Commissar for Internal affairs), Lunacharsky (People's Commissar of Education). The All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) was re-elected, which is also dominated by the Bolsheviks and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries. The decrees on peace and on land, written by Lenin, were adopted.

27 oct. (Nov 9). The offensive of General Krasnov's troops on Petrograd organized by A. Kerensky (stopped at Pulkovo on October 30 / November 12).

29 oct. (Nov 11). An attempted revolt of the cadets was suppressed in Petrograd. Ultimatum of the Executive Committee of the Railway Workers' Trade Union (Vikzhel) demanding the formation of a coalition socialist government.

1 (14) nov. The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party adopts a resolution signifying the breakdown of negotiations that were conducted with representatives of other socialist parties on the formation of a coalition government. Representatives of the Bolsheviks sent to Gatchina manage to win over the troops gathered by Kerensky and Krasnov to the side of the revolution. Kerensky flees, Krasnov is arrested (he will soon be released and will join the counter-revolutionary forces on the Don). The Tashkent Council takes power into its own hands. In general, at that time, Soviet power was established in Yaroslavl, Tver, Smolensk, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, Saratov, Rostov, Ufa.

2 (15) nov. The "Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia" proclaims the equality and sovereignty of the peoples of Russia and their right to free self-determination up to secession.

4 (17) nov. In protest against the refusal to form a coalition government, several Bolsheviks (including Kamenev, Zinoviev and Rykov) declare their withdrawal from the Central Committee or from the Council of People's Commissars, however, they soon return to their posts. The Third Universal of the Ukrainian Central Rada, proclaiming the creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic (without breaking with Russia, the Rada called on it to transform into a federation).

10-25 nov. (23 Nov-8 Dec). Extraordinary Congress of Peasants' Deputies in Petrograd, dominated by Socialist-Revolutionaries. The congress approves the decree on land and delegates 108 representatives as members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

12 (25) Nov The beginning of the elections to the Constituent Assembly, during which 58% of the votes will be cast for the Social Revolutionaries, 25% for the Bolsheviks (however, the majority vote for them in Petrograd, Moscow and in the military units of the Northern and Western Fronts), 13% - for the Cadets and others " bourgeois "parties.

15 (28) nov. The Transcaucasian Commissariat was formed in Tiflis, organizing resistance to the Bolsheviks in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

19-28 nov. (Dec 2-11). In Petrograd, the 1st Congress of the Left Social Revolutionaries is being held, which have organized themselves into an independent political party.

20 nov. (Dec 3). Lenin's and Stalin's call to all Muslims in Russia and the East to begin the struggle for liberation from all forms of oppression. The National Muslim Assembly is gathering in Ufa to prepare the national-cultural autonomy of the Muslims of Russia.

26 Nov - 10 Dec (Dec 9-23). I Congress of Soviets of Peasant Deputies in Petrograd. It is dominated by the Left Social Revolutionaries who support the policy of the Bolsheviks.

28 nov. (Dec 11). Decree on the arrest of the leadership of the Cadet party accused of training civil war.

Nov Organization of the first counter-revolutionary military formations: in Novocherkassk, generals Alekseev and Kornilov create the Volunteer Army, and in December they form a "triumvirate" with the Don chieftain A. Kaledin.

2 (15) Dec. The Cadets were expelled from the Constituent Assembly. Volunteer army enters Rostov.

4 (17) Dec. An ultimatum was presented to the Central Rada with a demand to recognize Soviet power in Ukraine.

7 (20) Dec. Creation of the Cheka (All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Sabotage and Counter-revolution) chaired by Dzerzhinsky.

9 (22) Dec. The Bolsheviks negotiate with the Left SRs about the latter's entry into the government (they were given the posts of People's Commissars of Agriculture, Justice, Posts and Telegraphs).

11 (24) Dec. The First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets (dominated by the Bolsheviks) opens in Kharkov. 12 (25) Dec. he proclaims Ukraine "the Republic of Soviets of Workers ', Soldiers' and Peasant's Deputies."

World War and foreign policy

26 oct. (Nov 8). Peace Decree: It contains a proposal to all belligerents to immediately begin negotiations for the signing of a just, democratic peace without annexations or indemnities.

1 (14) nov. After A. Kerensky fled, General N. Dukhonin became the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

8 (21) Nov Note by the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs L. Trotsky, in which all the belligerents are invited to begin peace negotiations.

9 (22) nov. General N. Dukhonin was removed from command (for refusing to start negotiations on an armistice with the Germans) and replaced by N. Krylenko. Upcoming publication announced secret treaties related to the war.

20 nov. (Dec 3). In Brest-Litovsk, negotiations on an armistice are opened between Russia and the Central European powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey). N. Krylenko takes possession of the Headquarters in Mogilev. N. Dukhonin was brutally killed by soldiers and sailors.

9 (22) Dec. Opening of the peace conference in Brest-Litovsk: Germany is represented by the Secretary of State (Foreign Minister) von Kühlmann and General Hoffmann, Austria - by Foreign Minister Chernin. The Soviet delegation, headed by A. Ioffe, demands the conclusion of a peace without annexations and reparations, respecting the right of peoples to decide their own destiny.

Dec 27. (Jan 9). After a ten-day break (arranged at the request of the Soviet side, which is trying - unsuccessfully - to involve the Entente countries in the negotiations), the peace conference in Brest-Litovsk is resumed. The Soviet delegation is now headed by L. Trotsky.

Economy, society and culture

16-19 oct. (Oct 29 - Nov 1). Meeting of proletarian organizations for cultural education in Petrograd (under the leadership of A. Lunacharsky); from November they will take the official name "Proletkult".

26 oct. (Nov 8). Land Decree; landlord ownership of land is abolished without any redemption, all land is transferred to the disposal of volost land committees and uyezd Soviets of peasant deputies. In many cases, the decree simply reinforces the actual situation. Each peasant family is provided with an additional tithe of land.

5 (18) nov. Metropolitan Tikhon was elected Patriarch of Moscow (the Patriarchate was recently restored by the Council of the Orthodox Church).

14 (27) nov. "Regulations on workers 'control" at enterprises where more than 5 hired workers are employed (at the enterprises factory committees are elected, the supreme body is the All-Russian Council of Workers' Control).

22 nov. (Dec 5). Reorganization of the judicial system (election of judges, creation of revolutionary tribunals).

2 (15) Dec. Creation of the Supreme Council of the National Economy (VSNKh) to regulate the entire economic life. Local councils of the national economy (economic councils) became the organs of the Supreme Council of the National Economy.

18 (31) Dec. Decrees "On civil marriage, on children and keeping books of acts of state" and "On divorce."

Curriculum Vitae

Lenin (Ulyanov) Vladimir Ilyich (1870-1924) was born in Simbirsk, in the family of an inspector of public schools. Having entered the law faculty of Kazan University, he soon finds himself expelled after student unrest. His older brother Alexander was executed in 1887 as a member of the People's Will conspiracy to attempt on life Alexander III... Young Vladimir brilliantly passes the exams at St. Petersburg University. Then he became a Marxist, met in Switzerland with Plekhanov, and on his return to the capital in 1895 founded the "Union for the Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class." He was immediately arrested and, after imprisonment, was exiled to Siberia for three years. There he wrote the work "The Development of Capitalism in Russia", published in 1895 and directed against populist theories. After leaving his exile, he left Russia in 1900 and founded the newspaper Iskra in exile, which is designed to serve the propaganda of Marxism; at the same time, the distribution of the newspaper makes it possible to create a fairly extensive network of underground organizations on the territory of the Russian Empire. At the same time, he adopted the pseudonym Lenin and published in 1902 the fundamental work What Is To Be Done ?, in which he outlined his concept of a party of professional revolutionaries - a small, strictly centralized, destined to become the vanguard of the working class in its struggle against the bourgeoisie. In 1903, at the 1st Congress of the RSDLP, a split occurred between the Bolsheviks (led by Lenin) and the Mensheviks, who did not agree with this concept of party organization. During the 1905 revolution, he returned to Russia, but with the beginning of the Stolypin reaction he was forced to emigrate again, where he continued an implacable struggle with everyone who did not accept his views on the revolutionary struggle, accusing even some Bolsheviks of idealism. In 1912 he decisively broke with the Mensheviks and began to manage the Pravda newspaper legally published in Russia from abroad. Since 1912 he has been living in Austria, and after the outbreak of the First World War he moved to Switzerland. At conferences in Zimmerwald (1915) and in Kintal (1916), he defends his thesis about the need to transform the imperialist war into a civil war and at the same time claims that the socialist revolution can win in Russia ("Imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism").

After the February Revolution of 1917, he was allowed to cross Germany by train, and immediately upon his arrival in Russia he took the Bolshevik Party into his own hands and raised the question of preparing a second revolution (April Theses). In October, not without some difficulties, he convinces his comrades in the struggle of the need for an armed uprising, after the success of which he passes decrees on peace and on land, and then leads the "construction of socialism", during which he has to overcome stubborn resistance more than once, as , for example, on the issue of the Brest-Litovsk Peace or on trade union and national problems. Possessing the ability to make concessions in certain situations, as happened with the adoption of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which was inevitable in the face of complete devastation in the country, Lenin showed exceptional intransigence in the fight against the opposition, stopping neither before the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in 1918, nor before the expulsion of the "counter-revolutionary" intelligentsia from the country in 1922. Already seriously ill, he nevertheless tried to participate in decision-making at the end of 1922 - early 1923 and expressed his concerns in notes later known as "Testament". For about a year he actually did not live, but survived, broken by paralysis and lost his speech, and died in January 1924.

By the beginning of the twentieth century. Russia was a tangle of unresolved problems and contradictions. These problems were very widespread. Unfortunately, it was impossible to solve these problems without changing the political regime.

The first and most important problem was the economy, which looked depressing. The Russian economy was not developing fast enough for such a large country. The modernization was superficial, or there was none at all. The country, despite attempts to develop industry, remained agrarian; Russia exported mainly agricultural products. Economically, Russia lagged far behind all the advanced countries of Europe. Naturally, society began to think about the causes of failures in the economy. It was logical to blame the current government for this.

At the same time, there were signs that Russia was trying to industrialize. From 1900 to 1914, the number of industries doubled. However, the entire industry was concentrated in several "centers": the center of the country, northwest, south, Ural. The high concentration of factories in some places led to the fact that where they were absent, there was stagnation. An abyss arose between the center and the outskirts.

In the Russian economy, the share of foreign capital invested in production was very high. Therefore it is enough most of Russian income went abroad, and this money could be used to accelerate the modernization and development of the country as a whole, which would lead to an improvement in living standards. All this was very convenient for socialist propaganda to use, accusing domestic entrepreneurs of inaction and of a disregard for the people.

Due to the high concentration of production and funds, many large monopolies appeared, uniting banks and factories. They belonged either to large industrialists, or (and this is more often) to the state. The so-called "state-owned factories" appeared, with which smaller private industries simply could not compete. This reduced competition in the market, and this, in turn, lowered the level of product quality and allowed the state to dictate its prices. Of course, the population did not like it very much.

Consider agriculture, a direction that has always been important for Russia because of its large area. The land was divided between landlords and peasants, and the peasants owned a smaller part, and they were also forced to cultivate the landlord's land. All this inflamed the age-old feud between landowners and peasants. The latter looked with envy at vast lands landowners and remembered their tiny allotments, which were not always enough just to feed the family. In addition, the community sowed enmity between the peasants themselves and prevented the emergence of wealthy peasants who would develop trade, bringing city and country closer together. P.A. tried to correct this situation. Stolypin, carrying out a series of reforms, but without much success. According to his idea, the peasants began to settle in free lands: Siberia, Kazakhstan, etc. Most of the settlers could not get used to the new conditions and returned, joining the ranks of the unemployed. As a result, social tension increased both in the countryside and in the city.

The second global problem of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. - its social composition.

The entire population of Russia can be divided into four large, very different social classes:

• 1. Higher ranks, large and medium-sized entrepreneurs, landowners, bishops of the Orthodox Church, academicians, professors, doctors, etc. - 3%
• 2. Small entrepreneurs, townspeople, artisans, teachers, officers, priests, minor officials, etc. - 8%
• 3. Peasantry - 69%

Including: well-to-do - 19%; average - 25%; poor - 25%.

4. The proletarian poor population, beggars, vagabonds - 20%

It can be seen that more than half of the society was made up of the poor (peasants and proletarians), who were dissatisfied with their position. Considering the socialist propaganda, which the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks did not skimp on, it becomes clear that these people were ready to revolt at any moment.

In addition to these problems, there was another circumstance that aggravated the situation: the First World War. It can be seen as a "mighty accelerator" of the revolution. Defeats in the war led to the fall of the authority of the tsarist regime. The war sucked out of Russia the last reserves of money and human resources; put the economy on a war footing, which led to a sharp deterioration in the living conditions of civilians.

Due to the war, the army increased, and the importance of its position increased. The Bolsheviks quickly managed to get most of the soldiers on their side, given the high mortality rate, disgusting conditions, and the lack of weapons and equipment in the Russian troops.

Social confrontation was growing. The number of lumpen has increased. The population became more and more easily influenced by rumors and cleverly spread propaganda. The authority of the government was finally undermined. The last barriers holding back the revolution have come down.

February to October.

In February 1917, the revolution finally took place. Despite the huge number of obvious prerequisites, it came as a surprise to the ruling elite. The result of the revolution was: the abdication of the tsar from the throne, the destruction of the monarchy, the transition to a republic, the formation of such bodies as the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet (or simply the Soviets). The presence of these two bodies subsequently led to a dual power.

The Provisional Government set a course for the continuation of the war, which caused discontent among the people. And although reforms were carried out that should have significantly improved life common people, the situation only worsened. Democracy was only an illusion; global problems were not solved. The February revolution deepened the contradictions and awakened destructive forces.

The state of the economy continued to deteriorate, prices rose, and crime increased. The population continued to live in poverty. Chaos and disorder intensified. The Provisional Government preferred to hide and wait for the revelry to calm down. Instability was in the air, society was inclined to continue the political struggle, in which the Bolsheviks, who supported the Soviets, were leading. The entire period from February to October, the Bolsheviks were engaged in active agitation, thanks to which their party became the largest and most influential in the country.

The reasons for the failure of the Provisional Government are very simple:

• 1) The course to continue the war, from which the country is tired;
• 2) Failures of the economy, which could only be corrected by cardinal reforms, which the VP was afraid to do;
• 3) Failure to cope with difficulties and making decisions that cause criticism from milestones in society. The consequences of this were the crises of the Provisional Government;
• 4) The growth of the influence of the Bolsheviks.
• April 3, 1917 V.I. Lenin arrived in Petrograd in a "sealed carriage". A whole crowd came to meet him. In their welcoming speech, the Soviets expressed their hope for the rallying of the revolution around Lenin. He answered directly to the people: "Long live the world socialist revolution!" The enthusiastic crowd lifted their idol to the armored car.

The next day, Lenin published his famous April Theses. With them, Vladimir Ilyich began the transition to a new, socialist tactics of the revolution, which consisted in relying on the workers and the poorest peasantry. Lenin proposed radical measures: the destruction of the VP, an immediate end to the war, the transfer of land to the peasants, and control of the factories to the workers, an equal division of property. Most of the Bolsheviks supported Lenin at the next party congress.

These new slogans were enthusiastically accepted by the people. The influence of the Bolsheviks grew every day. In June and July, the Bolsheviks held demonstrations and even armed uprisings against the Provisional Government with the involvement of the masses.

By the fall of 1917, the Provisional Government, weakened by constant crises and rebellions, surrendered under the pressure of the Bolsheviks and on September 1, 1917 proclaimed Russia a republic. On September 14, the Democratic Conference opened, an organ of state administration created by the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, which were to include all parties. Lenin, like almost all Bolsheviks, wanted to boycott the Democratic Conference and continue to engage in the Bolshevization of the Soviets, since it was obvious that this new body (the Democratic Conference) did not play a key role and would not make important decisions.

Meanwhile, the country was on the brink of disaster. During the war, lands rich in bread were lost. The factories were falling apart because of the striking workers. Peasant uprisings were raging in the villages. The number of unemployed has increased; prices rose sharply. All this clearly showed the inability of the Provisional Government to govern the state.

By October, the Bolsheviks, led by L.D. Trotsky firmly set a course for an armed uprising, the overthrow of the VP and the transfer of all power to the Soviets. They finally broke off relations with other parties, leaving the Democratic Conference on October 7, having previously read out their declaration. Meanwhile, Lenin returned illegally to Petrograd. At a meeting of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party on October 10, 1917, Lenin and Trotsky decided to directly prepare for the uprising.

2.3 October Revolution of 1917

At the end of October 1917, Lenin secretly returned to Petrograd, and on November 6 he began to lead an armed uprising, prepared by his comrade-in-arms Trotsky. Lenin proposes to act decisively and immediately arrest the members of the provisional government. The arrest took place on November 7, 1917. The arrest took place without serious resistance, despite the later advertised bloody battle between the Bolshevik soldiers and sailors and the cadets of the provisional government, which in fact did not exist. A manifesto was immediately issued on the overthrow of the provisional government, and all power passed to the Council of People's Commissars, headed by Lenin. What he had been preparing for for many years has come to pass, he received power. Now the most difficult thing remained - to keep it (6).

In January 1918, a constituent assembly was opened, the majority in which went to the party of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, representing the interests of the most numerous class of Russia at that time - the peasantry. This development of events jeopardized the Bolshevik monopoly on power and on the power of Lenin as well. The Constituent Assembly was dissolved.

In March 1918, the Bolshevik government headed by Lenin moved to Moscow, Petrograd, in fact, ceases to be the capital of the state (3).

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Vladimir Lenin is the great leader of the working people of the whole world, who is considered the most outstanding politician in world history, who created the first socialist state.

Embed from Getty Images Vladimir Lenin

The Russian communist theoretical philosopher, who continued the work and whose activities were widely deployed at the beginning of the 20th century, is still of interest to the public today, since his historical role is notable for its significant significance not only for Russia, but also for the whole world. Lenin's activities have both positive and negative assessments, which does not prevent the founder of the USSR from remaining the leading revolutionary in world history.

Childhood and youth

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov was born on April 22, 1870 in the Simbirsk province of the Russian Empire in the family of the school inspector Ilya Nikolaevich and the school teacher Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanov. He became the third child of parents who put their whole soul into their children - my mother completely gave up work and devoted herself to raising Alexander, Anna and Volodya, after which she gave birth to Maria and Dmitry.

Embed from Getty Images Vladimir Lenin as a child

As a child, Vladimir Ulyanov was a mischievous and very intelligent boy - at the age of 5 he had already learned to read and by the time he entered the Simbirsk gymnasium he became a “walking encyclopedia”. During his school years, he also showed himself to be a diligent, diligent, gifted and accurate student, for which he was repeatedly awarded meritorious certificates. Lenin's classmates said that the future world leader of the working people enjoyed great respect and authority in the classroom, since every student felt his mental superiority.

In 1887, Vladimir Ilyich graduated from high school with a gold medal and entered the law faculty of Kazan University. In the same year, a terrible tragedy happened in the Ulyanov family - Lenin's elder brother Alexander was executed for participating in organizing an assassination attempt on the Tsar.

This grief aroused in the future founder of the USSR a protest spirit against national oppression and the tsarist system, therefore, already in the first year of the university, he created a student revolutionary movement, for which he was expelled from the university and sent into exile in the small village of Kukushkino, located in the Kazan province.

Embed from Getty Images Vladimir Lenin family

From that moment on, the biography of Vladimir Lenin was continuously connected with the struggle against capitalism and autocracy, the main goal of which was the liberation of workers from exploitation and oppression. After exile, in 1888, Ulyanov returned to Kazan, where he immediately joined one of the Marxist circles.

In the same period, Lenin's mother acquired an almost 100-hectare estate in the Simbirsk province and convinced Vladimir Ilyich to manage it. This did not prevent him from continuing to maintain contacts with local "professional" revolutionaries who helped him find the People's Will and create an organized movement of Protestants of the imperial power.

Revolutionary activity

In 1891, Vladimir Lenin managed to pass exams at the Imperial St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of Law as an external student. After that, he worked as an assistant attorney at law from Samara, dealing with the "state defense" of criminals.

Embed from Getty Images Vladimir Lenin in his youth

In 1893, the revolutionary moved to St. Petersburg and, in addition to legal practice, began writing historical works on Marxist political economy, the creation of the Russian liberation movement, the capitalist evolution of post-reform villages and industry. Then he began to create the program of the Social Democratic Party.

In 1895, Lenin made his first trip abroad and made a so-called tour of Switzerland, Germany and France, where he met his idol Georgy Plekhanov, as well as Wilhelm Liebknecht and Paul Lafargue, who were leaders of the international labor movement.

Upon his return to St. Petersburg, Vladimir Ilyich managed to unite all the scattered Marxist circles into the "Union of the Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class", at the head of which he began to prepare a plan to overthrow the autocracy. For active propaganda of his idea, Lenin and his allies were imprisoned, and after a year in prison they sent him to the Shushenskoye village of the Elysee province.

Embed from Getty Images Vladimir Lenin in 1897 with members of the Bolshevik organization

During his exile, he established contact with the Social Democrats of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, and in 1900, after the end of his exile, he traveled to all Russian cities and personally established contact with numerous organizations. In 1900, the leader created the newspaper "Iskra", under the articles of which he first signed the pseudonym "Lenin".

In the same period, he became the initiator of the congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, in which after that there was a split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. The revolutionary headed the Bolshevik ideological and political party and launched an active struggle against Menshevism.

Embed from Getty Images Vladimir Lenin

In the period from 1905 to 1907, Lenin lived in exile in Switzerland, where he was preparing an armed uprising. There he was found by the First Russian Revolution, in whose victory he was interested, since it cut off the path to the socialist revolution.

Then Vladimir Ilyich illegally returned to St. Petersburg and began to act actively. He tried at all costs to attract the peasants to his side, forcing them into an armed uprising against the autocracy. The revolutionary called on people to arm themselves with everything at hand and to attack civil servants.

October Revolution

After the defeat in the First Russian Revolution, the unity of all the Bolshevik forces took place, and Lenin, after analyzing the mistakes, began to revive the revolutionary upsurge. Then he created his own legal Bolshevik party, which published the newspaper Pravda, of which he was the chief editor. At that time, Vladimir Ilyich lived in Austria-Hungary, where he was caught by the World War.

Embed from Getty Images Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin

Having ended up in prison on suspicion of spying for Russia, Lenin spent two years preparing his theses on the war, and after his release he went to Switzerland, where he came out with the slogan of turning the imperialist war into a civil war.

In 1917, Lenin and his associates were allowed to leave Switzerland through Germany to Russia, where a solemn meeting was organized for him. Vladimir Ilyich's first speech to the people began with a call for a "social revolution", which aroused discontent even among Bolshevik circles. At that moment, Lenin's theses were supported by Joseph Stalin, who also believed that the power in the country should belong to the Bolsheviks.

On October 20, 1917, Lenin arrived in Smolny and began to lead the uprising, which was organized by the head of the Petrograd Soviet. Vladimir Ilyich proposed to act promptly, toughly and clearly - from October 25 to 26, the Provisional Government was arrested, and on November 7, at the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, Lenin's decrees on peace and land were adopted, and a Council of People's Commissars was organized, headed by Vladimir Ilyich.

Embed from Getty Images Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin

This was followed by the 124-day "Smolninsky period", during which Lenin worked actively in the Kremlin. He signed a decree on the creation of the Red Army, concluded the Brest Peace Treaty with Germany, and also began to develop a program for the formation of a socialist society. At that moment, the Russian capital was moved from Petrograd to Moscow, and the Congress of Soviets of Workers, Peasants and Soldiers became the supreme body of power in Russia.

After the main reforms, which consisted in the withdrawal from the World War and the transfer of the land of the landowners to the peasants, the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR) was formed on the territory of the former Russian Empire, ruled by the communists led by Vladimir Lenin.

Head of the RSFSR

With his coming to power, Lenin, according to many historians, ordered the execution of the former Russian emperor along with his entire family, and in July 1918 he approved the Constitution of the RSFSR. Two years later, Lenin liquidated the supreme ruler of Russia, the admiral, who was his strong opponent.

Embed from Getty Images Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Then the head of the RSFSR implemented the policy of "red terror", created to strengthen the new government in the context of a flourishing anti-Bolshevik activity. At the same time, the decree on the death penalty was restored, under which anyone who did not agree with Lenin's policy could fall.

After that, Vladimir Lenin set about destroying the Orthodox Church. Since that time, believers have become the main enemies of the Soviet regime. During that period, Christians were subjected to persecution and executions, trying to protect the holy relics. Also, special concentration camps were created for the "re-education" of the Russian people, where people were imputed in especially harsh ways that they were obliged to work for free in the name of communism. This led to a massive famine that killed millions of people and a terrible crisis.

Embed from Getty Images Vladimir Lenin and Kliment Voroshilov at the Congress The communist party

This result forced the leader to deviate from his planned plan and create a new economic policy, during which people, under the "supervision" of the commissars, restored industry, revived construction sites and industrialized the country. In 1921, Lenin abolished "war communism", replaced the food appropriation with a food tax, allowed private trade, which allowed the broad mass of the population to independently seek means of survival.

In 1922, on the recommendations of Lenin, the USSR was created, after which the revolutionary had to step down from power due to sharply deteriorating health. After a bitter political struggle in the country in pursuit of power as the sole leader Soviet Union became Joseph Stalin.

Personal life

The personal life of Vladimir Lenin, like that of most professional revolutionaries, was shrouded in secrecy for the purpose of conspiracy. He met his future wife in 1894 during the organization of the Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.

She blindly followed her lover and participated in all of Lenin's actions, which was the reason for their separate first exile. In order not to part, Lenin and Krupskaya got married in a church - they invited the Shushensky peasants as best men, and their ally made their wedding rings from copper dimes.

Embed from Getty Images Vladimir Lenin and Nadezhda Krupskaya

The sacrament of the wedding of Lenin and Krupskaya took place on July 22, 1898 in the village of Shushenskoye, after which Nadezhda became a faithful companion to the life of the great leader, before whom she adored, despite his harshness and humiliating appeal to herself. Having become a real communist, Krupskaya suppressed a sense of ownership and jealousy in herself, which allowed her to remain the only wife of Lenin, in whose life there were many women.

The question "did Lenin have children?" still arouses interest all over the world. There are several historical theories regarding the paternity of the communist leader - some claim that Lenin was sterile, while others call him the father of many illegitimate children. At the same time, many sources claim that Vladimir Ilyich had a son, Alexander Steffen, from his beloved, an affair with whom the revolutionary lasted for about 5 years.

Death

The death of Vladimir Lenin occurred on January 21, 1924 in the Gorki estate of the Moscow province. According to official data, the leader of the Bolsheviks died of atherosclerosis caused by severe overload at work. Two days after Lenin's death, Lenin's body was transported to Moscow and placed in the Column Hall of the House of Unions, where farewell to the founder of the USSR took place for 5 days.

Embed from Getty Images Funeral of Vladimir Lenin

On January 27, 1924, Lenin's body was embalmed and placed in a specially built Mausoleum located on the Red Square of the capital. The ideologist of the creation of Lenin's relics was his successor Joseph Stalin, who wanted to make Vladimir Ilyich a "god" in the eyes of the people.

After the collapse of the USSR, the question of Lenin's reburial was repeatedly raised in the State Duma. True, he remained at the stage of discussion back in 2000, when the one who came to power during his first presidential term put an end to this issue. He said that he does not see the desire of the overwhelming majority of the population to reburial the body of the world leader, and until it appears, this topic will no longer be discussed in modern Russia.