ABSTRACT
One cannot begin to understand the tragic and complex history of the Soviet people without knowledge of Communism. And that in turn is impossible without studying in depth the life of the man who virtually single-handedly fathered Bolshevism, the original name of modern Communism. There are still people in what used to be the USSR who worship Vladimir Lenin's memory. Lenin insisted that the Civil War could not be won by the Bolsheviks without enlisting former Tsarist officers, and that the economy could not be rebuilt without employing the former bourgeois industrialists and managers. Even when he was formally adhering to the Social Democratic dogma, Lenin's fury was often aroused by any concept or postulate that could reflect the mentality of the intelligentsia: liberalism, independence of the judiciary, or parliamentarianism. Even when seeking a political alliance between the liberals and his own faction, Lenin would burst out into intemperate abuse of those he sought as temporary allies.
