ABSTRACT
With fanatical devotion and indefatigable energy, Vladimir Ilich Lenin created the Russian Communist Party and brought it to power during the revolution of 1917. Lenin directed the formation of the Soviet Union under a dictatorship of the Bolshevik Party, which now adopted the name Communist. Because Lenin insisted that his party rule alone, non-communist forces called “Whites” arose to fight what became the deadliest civil war in European history. In the years after 1917, the Communist Party brought innumerable improvements to Russia. Dedicated to improving the standard of living for the common people, the communists initiated a series of reforms after 1917 that yielded impressive results. Lenin's fanatical application of Marxist doctrines to Russia also established a destructive ideological tradition. Citing the writings of Lenin himself, Soviet leaders sought to direct, often by violent means, the transformation of Russia into a “modern” society based upon an industrial economy and secular values.
