Vladimir Lenin: The Russian Revolutionary Who Helped Found the Soviet Union

Lenin’s path to power was shaped by both personal tragedy and intellectual transformation. The execution of his older brother, Alexander, in 1887 for attempting to assassinate Tsar Alexander III profoundly impacted Lenin, pushing him toward revolutionary socialist ideas. In his youth, Lenin showed promise as a student but was expelled from Kazan Imperial University for his involvement in anti-Tsarist protests. He subsequently pursued a legal degree, which laid the groundwork for his later work as a political theorist. By 1893, he had moved to Saint Petersburg, where he became deeply involved in Marxist activism, organizing workers and intellectuals against the oppressive Tsarist regime.