LENIN AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION


A Bolshevik Poster


VLADIMIR ILYICH LENIN (1870-1924) Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, who later took on the alias of “Lenin,” was born in Simbirsk, Russia, which has since been renamed Ulyanovsk in his honor. His brother, Aleksandr, was executed in 1887 at age 21 for an attempted assassination of the Russian Emperor. It was this incident that also turned Lenin towards socialist politics, fighting for the empowerment of the working class.


Lenin moved to St. Petersburg in 1893, where he began a relationship with his eventual wife, Nadezhda “Nadya” Krupskaya, a teacher with similar political views, who also appears as a character in Travesties.


THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION OF 1917 After centuries of rule by monarchs with absolute power, Russian politics were upended in 1917. With the economy devastated by the First World War, members of the working class went on strike in February and took to the streets to demand bread. Persisting even after army troops opened fire on them, the protests led to the creation of a provisional government in March of that year, made up of upper-class citizens. This government ruled in conjunction with Tsar Nicholas II at first, enforcing rights such as freedom of speech, equality before the law, and the rights of unions, but opposing violent revolution.


Tsar Nicholas II


Eventually, the Tsar stepped down, leaving just the provisional government in power. Its leader, Alexander Kerensky, continued to support Russia’s efforts in the war, which only worsened food shortages and caused more civil unrest. In October of 1917, Lenin led the uprising that overthrew the provisional government and put him and his party, the Bolsheviks, in power.


The Bolshevik mantra was “peace, land, bread,” and they were considered a socialist party, meaning that they stood for the rights of the working class and advocated for democracy. Under Lenin’s leadership, their government redistributed land to peasants, allowed for states that became Finland and Lithuania to declare their independence from Russia, and overhauled the military to enforce democratic procedures within it as well. While the party eventually moved away from socialism and became more extremist, it initially provided relief to workers at the end of a long, difficult war.


12 ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY


In 1896, Lenin was arrested for inciting others to rebel against the Russian government and charged with three years’ exile to Siberia. Soon after, Nadya was also arrested, but she claimed to be engaged to Lenin so that she would also be sent to Siberia. The pair wed and eventually returned to St. Petersburg in 1905 after unrest prompted Tsar Nicholas II to sign a manifesto giving more power to elected officials along with the monarchy.


Lenin held fast to his beliefs that the Russian working class could overthrow the monarchy, which culminated in the February and October Revolutions of 1917, putting him in control of the Russian government. Lenin remained in power until a series of strokes, caused by an assassination attempt, took away his ability to speak, and eventually led to his death in 1924.•


Workers Strike in St. Petersburg Russia, 1917


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