Stalin

The March revolution of 1917 took Lenin (Vladimir Ilych’s pen name) by surprise however this did not stop him from getting a safe and secure passage to Russia with the help of the German government in a sealed train. Lenin took up the Bolshevik movement and the banner ‘peace, bread and land’. Though neither Lenin nor his policies were widely supported this was essentially the start of Lenin’s political power and influence within Russia.

There are two main policies that are associated with Lenin’s rule of Russia. The first was the policy of ‘War Communism’ (which took place from 1917-1921) the other was the N.E.P or ‘New Economic Policy’. How did war communism come to being in Russia? The impact of World War One and the Civil War had severe consequences on the Russian economy. In order to deal with the devastating effects the post war era, the Bolsheviks decided th...