Lenin- Russia

In 1891. He moved to St Petersburg and became a professional revolutionary. Like many of his colleagues, he was arrested and exiled to Siberia, where he married Nadezhda Krupskaya. After his Siberian exile, Lenin (the nickname he adopted in 1901) spent most of the decade and a half in Western Europe, where he emerged as a main figure in the international revolutionary movement and became the leader of the 'Bolshevik' faction of the Russian Social Democratic Worker's Party.

In 1917, Russia was ripe for change. Assisted by the Germans, who hoped that he would cause chaos in the Russia, Lenin returned home and started working against the provisional government which had overthrown the tsarist regime. He introduced his “April Theses” to the people to gain their trust. He eventually led what was soon to be known as the October Revolution, Unfortunately this lead to civil war between the Red Army and the ‘Whites’.  Almost three years of civil war followed. The Bolsheviks were victorious and had total control of the country. During this period of revolution, war and famine, Lenin demonstrated a disregard for the sufferings of his fellow countrymen and mercilessly crushed any opposition.

When his efforts to transform the Russian economy to a socialist model stalled, he introduced the New Economic Policy that continued for several years after his death. In 1918 Lenin survived an assassination attempt. His long term health was affected, and in 1922 he suffered a stroke from which he never really recovered. Lenin died on 24 January 1924. His corpse was stuffed and placed in a mausoleum on Moscow's Red Square.