Vladimir Lenin

Lenin came to power following the fall of the Provisional government that was established falling the fall of the Romanovs in late 1917. Inspired by the writing of Karl Marx's communism, Lenin believed that Russia could be reformed if a small body of socialists (in his case the Bolsheviks) would start a revolution that would see the establishment of a classless society. These ideas were controversial and he fled twice but stayed within Russia after grabbing power. After grabbing power, Lenin set up the Politburo which was recognised by the Congress of Soviets as the first communist state in the world. He would later sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which saw Russia leave World War 1 conflict, survive but never fully recover from an assassination attempt during the civil war which saw Red Army victory and would implement a document called the new Economic Policy which saw the birth of the Soviet Union not as a fully communist state but a communist state that allowed small businesses and factories to open and peasants being allowed to give 10% of their crops to the state as tax. After a series of strokes, Lenin died at 6:50PM on 21 January 1924. His body was embalmed and can be seen on display in his mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow.