Russia’s poor performance in World War I prompted riots and strikes; Tsar (Emperor) Nicholas II was forced to step down in February 1917. The provisional government that replaced him was overthrown in the October Revolution of 1917, when Vladimir Lenin came to power. The tsar and his family were imprisoned in a house far from the capital.
Lenin and his followers were called Bolsheviks. The Bolshevik Party believed in the ideas of Karl Marx, a German political thinker who said that the working classes should stage revolutions to end private ownership and distribute wealth, making society ‘classless’. This was communism: a system of government where the state controls all aspects of the economy (property, business and jobs) and of society, with limited rights for individuals. In addition, religion was discouraged and Church property was seized.
‘Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains’
– Karl Marx
Russia became the world’s fi rst communist state. All political parties other than the Bolshevik Party were banned. The government took control of the banks and factories. Lenin negotiated a peace treaty with Germany that ended Russia’s involvement in World War I.
