Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin    (Revolutionary, Politician, Lawyer)
Born	Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov 1870-04-22 Simbirsk, Russian Empire
Died	1924-01-21 (Age 53) Gorki, Leninsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Russian
Alma mater	Leningrad State University
Parents	• Ilya Ulyanov • Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova
Spouse	Nadezhda Krupskaya
Interest of	Frederick John Partington Veale
Party	League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class, Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, Bolsheviks, Russian Communist Party
Relatives	• Aleksandr Ulyanov • Anna Ulyanova • Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov • Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova • three other siblings
Russian communist revolutionary, a big contributor to later communist ideologies, founded the Soviet Union. Started the "red terror" - a mass campaign of political repression and executing 100.000 to 200.000 political dissidents in 1918.  Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union In office 30 December 1922 - 21 January 1924  Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR In office 8 November 1917 - 21 January 1924  Full member of the Politburo In office 10 October 1917 - 21 January 1924  Full member of the Central Committee In office 3 August 1917 - 21 January 1924  Full member of the Central Committee In office 27 April 1905 - 19 May 1907

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known as Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the leader of the Russian SFSR from 1917 after which he started a massive campaign of executions of the political and non-political opposition resulting in 100.000 to 200.000 deaths, solidifying his power as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922, until his death.

“We would be deceiving both ourselves and the people if we concealed from the masses the necessity of a desperate, bloody war of extermination, as the immediate task of the coming revolutionary action.”
Vladimir Lenin (1906) 

Official narrative

Like most non-elected heads of state of the 1900s, Lenin remains a controversial figure, mostly outside Russia, for his dozens of alleged humans rights abuses. Lenin died in 1924 and also because of the later work of his successor - Joseph Stalin - Lenin escapes modern scrutiny.

Policies

Labor Camps

Vladimir Lenin brought back forced labor of political prisoners in labor camps from 1918, the "Main Directorate of Camps" internationally now known as GULAG became a system extensively utilized by the Soviet Union.

Red Terror

The Red Terror in Soviet Russia was justified in Soviet historiography - and by virtually all allies of Lenin such as Leon Trotsky as a wartime campaign against counter-revolutionaries during the Russian Civil War of 1918–1921, targeting those who sided with the Whites (White Army). Bolsheviks referred to any anti-Bolshevik factions as Whites, regardless of whether those factions actually supported the White movement cause.

The Red Terror campaign is considered to have officially begun between 17–30 August 1918 as retribution for two assassination attempts (one of which was successful).

Among the victims of the Red Terror were tsarists, liberals, non-Bolshevik socialists, members of the clergy, kulaks ('affluent' peasants), Mensheviks, foreigners, suspected counter-revolutionaries, and other political dissidents. Later, industrial workers who failed to meet production quotas were also targeted.

Estimates for the total number of victims of Bolshevik repression, however, vary widely. One source asserts that the total number of victims of repression and pacification campaigns could be 1.3 million, while others go as low as 20000.

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