Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: The Man Who Created Cheka

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: The Man Who Created Cheka
22 April 2014

Lenin (22/04/1870 – 21/01/1924) is certainly one of the most famous personalities and the most important in the history of the twentieth century and the history of Russia. Revolutionary, political theorist and a man of Russian state, he is at the roof of the Soviet idea of class struggle and proletarian dictatorship.

In 1917, with his party,  the Bolsheviks, he seized power in Russia during the October Revolution. He gave birth to the first communist regime in history and thus the creation of Soviet Russia which lasted until 1991. It causes global split with socialism by creating as separate branch : the communist movement.

As a man of power, he’s used what is called the Terror: creation of the Cheka, a sort of political police in charge of tracking and eliminating all new enemies of the regime. He is also at the roof of the forced labor camps, which later become the Gulags. He removes all the other parties, so that Russia becomes a one-party dictatorship.

Great political theorist, he created an new school of thought : the Leninism, that subsequently became the Marxism-Leninism, the official ideology of the USSR.

Born in Simbirsk (the current Ulyanovsk), he comes from a family of eight children. Brilliant student, he attended a classical education: he studied French, German, Russian, Latin and ancient Greek. Subsequently he studied law at the University of St. Petersburg, where he was the top of the year.

In 1921, exhausted mentally and physically, his health began to deteriorate. He suffered from chronic migraines and insomnia. However he continued to rule the country. After his death, January 21, 1924, his body was embalmed and publicly exposed in a mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow. You can also visit and see his body!

He Became an icon of the Soviet regime, still remains a major figure in Russian and Soviet history but also world history.

This post was brought to you by Anne Sophie, currently studying Russian at Liden & Denz

Comments are closed.

Related posts
The Liden & Denz Language Centres are delighted to report that all students from Schengen states (including non-EU countries Norway and ...
Read more
St. Petersburg and northern Russia’s infamous White Nights season is drawing to a close, but the city’s inhabitants are still flocking to watch ...
Read more
  Dedicated to William Shakespeare's 450th birthday, the Avrora cinema has been playing video screenings of performances of staged plays. ...
Read more
This year Russia and The Netherlands celebrate 400 years of diplomatic ties. Many are the events held in both countries, including festivals and ...
Read more