About Vladimir Lenin: “His figure will stand for centuries”

An outstanding statesman, founder of the Soviet socialist state, one of the leaders of the world communist movement and revolutionary Vladimir Lenin was born on April 22, 1870. The Presidential Library’s digital collections contain many rare materials that allow to fully appreciate the scale of this historical figure.

The future fighter for justice was born in the family of Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov, a Russian teacher and educator, who for his many merits was granted a noble title, and Maria Alexandrovna Blank, a home teacher. The Presidential Library’s portal provides a copy of the rare 1926 edition of Lenin's works. The pages reflect how the leader of the world proletariat describes the atmosphere that reigns in a father’s house: “The family had cultural spirit that was formed under the clear influence of the ideas of the Sixties. The political restraint of the older generation was combined with energetic and disinterested work to educate the people, which left a significant mark on both the peasantry of the Simbirsk province and the younger generation of teachers”.

The elder brother Alexander, one of the founders and leaders of “Narodnaya Volya” organization, was the main person for young Volodya Ulyanov. It was he who became a kind of conductor of ideas, a “guiding star”, despite the fact that his activity, according to all human and moral laws, can hardly be considered bright and inspiring.

Evaluating the words and deeds of Lenin, many historians agree that in many ways they were dictated by a terrible loss in the family: perhaps, without the execution of Alexander for the attempted assassination of Emperor Alexander III, there would not have been Vladimir, there would have been no revolution...

Vladimir Lenin has always been treated differently: he was praised and hated. But everyone unanimously recognized: he was a man of a lively, delicate mind, endowed with unique leadership qualities, a brilliant speaker. The first volume of the collected works of Lenin contains the memoirs of a prominent Russian journalist Vasily Vodovozov. He shares his impressions of meeting with the young, 20-year-old Vladimir Ilyich: “In matters of political economy and his history (Lenin), knowledge amazed with solidity and versatility, especially for a man of his age. He read German, French and English fluently, even then he knew “Das Kapital” and extensive Marxist literature (German) well and gave the impression of a person who was politically quite complete and established. He declared himself a convinced Marxist... Of course, I did not foresee the role he was destined to play, but even then I was convinced and openly said that the role of Ulyanov would be large”.   

Speaking about the unique impact of Lenin on the minds of people, it is curious to trace some of the techniques that he used in his speeches and publications. This is clearly covered in the work “Toward the Village Poor” (1903), which Vladimir Ilyich wrote and printed in Geneva. Its electronic copy is available on the portal of the Presidential Library. In particular, to attract the masses to the ranks of his supporters, Lenin resorted to opposition.

Here is another example. Here the revolutionary appeals to the workers and sets them as an example of colleagues from other cities, provokes the threat of persecution from the authorities, speaks about the absence of an alternative to a tough struggle: secret alliances. And the workers not only gather in secret meetings, but also go out in crowds, unfold banners with the inscription: “Long live the 8-hour working day, long live freedom, long live socialism!” The government persecutes the workers for this with fury. It even sends an army to shoot workers in Yaroslavl and Petersburg, in Riga, in Rostov-on-Don, in Zlatoust. But the workers do not give up. They continue to fight. They say: no persecution, no prison, no exile, no hard labor, no death will frighten us. Our cause is right. We are fighting for the freedom and happiness of all who work”.

The result of such works was truly colossal: a skillful game in simple words, understandable to everyone, multiplied by the author’s internal and external charisma, could not but bear fruit. The death of Lenin in 1924 was a real shock for the country and its citizens. In a speech delivered at a meeting of the II Congress of Soviets of the USSR, Kamenev speaks about the works of the leader and their incredible significance for the history of mankind: “The life and work of Vladimir Ilyich will be studied for decades and centuries. Not only we, his comrades-in-arms, his students, the army of which he was leader, but also our enemies recognized that the figure of Vladimir Ilyich will stand for centuries, that his work, his thoughts, his will will leave their mark on human life for centuries. Now we can’t even approximately take a look at all the grandeur and all the greatness of the work done by him .. We will have to study for years using the example of Ilyich. When solving any issue, we will need to ensure that our mistakes are minimal, look back and check ourselves with the teachings and affairs of Vladimir Ilyich”.

Another associate of Lenin, Grigory Zinoviev, read the grief-filled letters of the workers: “Our dear father! You left your children forever, but your voice, your words will never die in our proletarian hearts... We, reading the newspapers, thought that he would soon return to us, and we waited for him every minute, but the evil disease took away from us unforgettable father - the father of the whole world".

In addition to copies of rare text publications, the Presidential Library’s collections contain unique newsreel shots of those times. They are available on the institution’s portal. This, for example, the speech of Vladimir Lenin, dedicated to the goals of the revolution, and his funeral. The special collection “The Constitution is the Basic Law”, which is presented on the Presidential Library’s portal, contains a digital version of the main document of the RSFSR of 1918. Lenin himself helped develop.