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FUN FACT: "One of those who cooked for Rasputin during the Great War was a chef at Petrograd's luxurious Astoria Hotel who went on, after the Revolution, to cook for Lenin and Stalin. He was Spiridon Putin, grandfather of President Vladimir Putin." Simon Montefiore, "The Romanovs", Vintage Books, 2016, footnote, page 600.

"Достучаться до справедливости в ворота дворцов можно только прикладами винтовок" В.И Ленин

Hugely impressed by this clear, concise and well balanced program. Congratulations.

I read the history of Russia since I can remember- this video filled many gaps. Thanking you for a very informative and brilliantly compiled part of history!

Marx described how a proletarian state would arise, not what it would look like. Lenin didn't abandon Marxism, but he was forced to "wing it" as the Soviet State was breaking new ground by simply existing

This was an excellent documentary; step by step historical insight in to Lenin and what led to communism. Thank you!!👍👍

A great narration, unadulterated history, no political bias, only facts.

I learned about Lenin in high school as my country was then ruled by a socialist and learning the Marxist-Leninist political theory in school was a requirement. I was always fascinated by his ideology. However, I didn’t know about his childhood and overall upbringing until today. This is a well organized & informative documentary! Thank you.

Extraordinary presentation. Many decades ago I pursued a graduate degree in Russian and Soviet history so I know a little something about Lenin. But your bio here expanded my knowledge. I would only add that there's a school of thought that Krupskaya had a significant hand in Lenin's final testament and I expected something on that issue. But overall I am deeply impressed with this superb presentation.

This is a truly excellent program.Well organised and unbiased.

This is a Very helpful summary of Ulanov's development in the sociopolitical context of his times--and, very well presented. Thanks

"History will not forgive us if we do not act now," Chilling quote.

Really insightful. Thank you for the history lesson. This is a truly excellent program.Well organised and unbiased..

These documentary presentations are indispensable. Thank you so much.

Great documentary. It’s impressive Russia didn’t completely lose its sovereignty after what it went though in 1917 and 1918.

This documentary is a proof of the balanced standpoint of the creators. I congratulate them.

Fab doc. One issue: Bulgakov is mentioned early on but he did not start publishing until after WWI with his debut novel “The White Guard”

This has to be one of the best and most importantly comprehensive documentations I have seen in quite awhile. Thank You.

Wonderful video!!!! 👍👍👍👍 I didn't know that Russia have royalty until I was in the fifth grade. They didn't teach much about the Russian Revolution either! I read the book, Nicolas and Alexandra and saw the movie version from that book when I was nine. Keep up the great work!❤️ Bravo!👏👏👏👏

Love these profiles! The narrator is superb and the content is very interesting! Cheers!

It's important to know what happened in history, thank you very much for presenting!

Thanks so much for this wonderful and exceptionally well done documentary on Lenin.

the first Soviet Constitution of 1918 was adopted; instead of a unitary state, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) appeared; the capital was moved from Petrograd to Moscow; the abolition of estates, the Soviet man became a citizen of the republic; introduction of the Western European calendar (Gregorian); established 8-hour working day; a regulation on the social security of the elderly and disabled was adopted; laws have been passed to protect women's and child labor; free education and free medicine were proclaimed; the church is separated from the state and the school; nationalization of banks, industry, railway transport, sea and river ports; land socialization.

I love your biography videos. Especially on the throughness of representing the people and the history explained. I wish you could make a video on Che Guvera.

Really insightful. Thank you for the history lesson

This video was excellent...especially in his and Russian relationship to Germany in the early years. The one thing it did not go into enough i feel was to mention the role of Germany facilitating his return to Russia and rise to power during the war

"[As Tsar Alexander] approached, the police arrested three young People's Will terrorists carrying bombs to perpetrate a second 1 March outrage. Five terrorists were hanged, including their bomb-maker, Alexander Ulyanov, aged nineteen, whose execution had a decisive influence on his younger brother, Vladimir, the future Lenin." Simon Montefiore, "The Romanovs", Vintage Books, 2016, footnote, page 470.

Thank you for sharing and posting this informative video that explains clearly a complicated subject.

It seems that Lenin was less rabidly idealistic and more pragmatic in his latter years, especially compared to Stalin; a bit less power hungry as well. I imagine if Lenin had lived to rule for another 10-20 years, the Soviet Union may have developed quite a bit differently and history could look quite different.

Yay!!! Russian history starting! Always been fascinated with soviet Russia

I want to thank you for this very informative, balanced and insightful, documentary. I feel that absolutely, everyone utterly, ignorant of what true and proper Communism is all about, should, really, watch this and learn something for a change. Again; Thank You. 🙂🖐🏼

Excellent documentary - I learned so much. Thank you.

It was impressive and unbiased and full of knowledge documentary …. The narrator himself has a balanced personality really impressive step by step provision of knowledge and events…. Thumbs up for the great job.

Thank you for producing a historically objective documentary. I’m so exhausted going through other channels with their blatant revisionism and neoliberal/fascist propaganda.

Best book on this period is "Red Victory " by W Bruce Lincoln , about the civil war of 1918 - 21 , my favourite book of modern history along with Shirers "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich , Lincolns book is best for its character descriptions eg] Zinoviev and kamenev as "political Siamese twins" , the description of Dzerzhinsky is brilliant , the anecdote of the Llubyanka food enough to give one nightmares , " horse hair and hide with sticky floating globules all culminating in a foul evil smelling liquid " is what I can remember from reading it way back in 92 , also the discriptions of some of the horrible cossack attamans like Kalmykov and Ungern Sternburg not to mention the anarchist leader Makhno ,if anyone likes modern history books you will love this !

This was a very interesting documentary. I knew nothing about Lenin. Thank you for posting.

Brilliant: clear, focused, and deep at the same time. Thank you!

Excellent exposition and narration. Thank you for such an interesting and balanced presentation of an intricate historical period and subject. We can never know how the USSR might have evolved had Lenin lived beyond 1924 but even if he had, Stalin would have been there, waiting, and all the time engaged in building up his power base. As ruthless as Lenin was, it is arguable that Stalin was more so, and would have, come what may, emerged victorious in any subsequent power struggle.

Lenin was an interesting figure, at first I only knew him as the founder of communist movement and the reason for the downfall of the Romanov though several problems in the country contributed to the downfall of the family. Lenin led an interesting early life he was highly educated and intelligent and had great visions for Russia such as the workers'Rights. But his later life is not the case it sums up turmoil, chaos and instability.

Russian history is very engrossing. Thank you for this narration.

The tsar was a very naive and clueless man. I believe that it is he himself that is responsible for what happened to his family

Thank you very much for such well put together documentary

I think one should also mention those three assassination attempts on Lenin in connection with his change of mind in regards to constituent assembly and hardening of his overall position early in 1918. Counter-revolution emerged immediately after 1917 and Lenin felt that communists had to harden their approach so that they were able to deal with it better and save revolutionary gains for Russian society. You have to tie assassination attempts to Lennin's change of position in regards to the form of governing. Of course, forming of Cheka was a mistake as this monster was impossible to delete after the end of civil war. But one cannot judge Lenin here too much as conditions in which he and communists found themselves after 1917 were extreme and clear and 100% right solution was impossible to see. Situation must resolve quickly during volatile post-revolution year if one wants to have success. Add to this lack of resources for new commmunist government in terms of dealing with emergence of counter-revolution reaction. I also think that well-functioning bourgeois capitalist democracy wasnt possible in Russia at that time. It would've meant opening yourself to developed western capitalism that would have turned Russia into appendage, another "Africa", source for the rich European capitalism. Nobody would've let Russia to develop calmly into developed industrial capitalism. Russia would've gotten into same situation it got in 1990s. But way worse. So Lenin's idea was correct and only way at that point. To develop Russia into industrial country via centralized state governing. Russia would've never developed so quickly into industrial nation via capitalist profit-making logic. And people shouldnt forget the hostility of all European and Western nations towards Russia in 1920s and 1930s. Capitalists didnt want to have socialist state so close to their borders. And in 1930s Stalin really thought that England would invade Soviet Union any minute hence his paranoia.

@5:20 the video mentions the writer Mikhail Bulgokov (sic) ... the reference likely is to the revolutionary anarchist Mikhail Bakunin (1814-76), rather than to Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940), who was obviously not a contemporary of Dostoyevsky or Kropotkin.

I don’t think this is as objective and unbiased as many have suggested in the comments, but it’s still useful/informative. Thank you.

Finally!!!! I was waiting for you guys to release a video on Lenin. Thank you so much!

Let me say only one thing here. The video says that it was likely that Lenin did not know of his mother's Jewish heritage. But in a recent Dutch podcast I heard a professor of history say that Lenin was proud of his part-Jewish heritage, because he admired some intellectual Jews and had a high esteem of them. So my point is: so many things are said on the internet without any reliable source and many of those 'facts' or strong assumptions are not true at all.

Superb documentary, very informative!

excellent and very informative documentary. thanks for your effort..!

Answer elicited by narrator at end ( “ If Lenin had lived longer might a more benign Soviet regime have emerged?” : depends upon what the imperialists did , and most likely the latter would have combinedly resolved to overthrow the regime, and would have more likely succeeded in doing so to a less dictatorial one. Moreover, history since has told us how avaricious many influential foreign eyes have been upon Russia, right up to the present historical moment as I write of January 2023.

Excellent. It has given me both an intellectual and biographical ground of Lenin. Thanks.

Most informative & highly qualified, introducing the creation of communist states in Russia 🇷🇺 at 1917-1918.. & leading effectiveness existences of ( Linine) for that state settlement in Moscow until ... a great introduced by ( the People Profile )channel a lot thanks

First and foremost i must mention what a great documemtary this was! Thank you! Considering the question weather or not Lenin would have become as brutal and ruthless as Stalin. I honestly don’t think he would. Few leaders have with their own handwriting send as many people to death as Stalin did. Whilst Lenin genuinely cared for the cause before anything else. Unfortunately though, it is in the nature of Communism or by any totalitarian regime to always end up in bloodshed. Right from the start in 1917 they encountered the fact that people are democratic by heart and won’t succumb to anything else or that one fixed opinion should apply to all. Someone will always be thrown under the bus so the only way to maintain a totalitarian state is through tyranny or by executing it’s opponents. Just as it so happend in any totalitarian regime or Dictatorship throughout history and up to this day.

WHAT AN HISTORICAL HEROIC, ICONIC MAN!!!! A LEGEND!!!

I only knew Vladimir Lenins full name thanks to the Big Lebowski. The movie buff in me is proud, the historian in me is ashamed.

Can someone please make a timeline for this documentary, it is such a pain to scroll back and forth every time when I am trying to find something.🙏🙏🙏

Can you do one about Trotsky? He was quite interesting.

Sooo much to learn from all this, thank you

Lenin and Stalin both did a lot of necessary change but they also contributed to a top heavy system that was not very accountable to itself and was unable to remain as adaptive and beneficial as it had started out.

Can’t believe it’s on been 10 years since this man ruled

As im not Russian I dont know what others think but my greatest liking of russia is the Great classical music from the Great classical composer's of Russia and the novalist as i admire all classical music be it Russian or any other country

Amazing doc , i loved it thank you so much for sharing

Can you do a biography on Nicholas the second the last Czar?

Yea, this was really informative and unbiased. Hats off.

I'd love to see a video on Viriato or Henry the Navigator. Def have a few Portuguese individuals that would be great to watch!

A well designed documentary about Lenin which leaves viewer's to decide whether he can create a totalitarian or a flexible communist country. In conclusion as I have understand from Lenin collected works Volume 1 ,2 ,3 if lenin had lived longer communism will never be collapsed I believe he can make a capitalist idea in a communist form

This is as productive as it can get. Thanks a lot!

Very educational and informative

These films are excellent: fact-filled, well-narrated and well-illustrated but the scripted English isn't great. In many places the words are ordered incorrectly, which could cause confusion. For example, at 11:35 the narrator says: '...as he began working on a book titled 'The Development of Capitalism in Russia While in Gaol',...". Obviously, the book didn't have this title. What was meant was that while in gaol, Lenin began working on a book titled 'The Development of Capitalism in Russia'. Pedantic, I know but when you spot it, it is annoying and sometimes confusing.

Best book on this period is "Red Victory " by W Bruce Lincoln , about the civil war of 1918 - 21. Thanks for your efforts to portray this important political figure who definitely impacted history. On the question of whether he would have become as brutal of a dictator as Stalin became, nobody really knows the answer but I think he would have gone in that direction. He was a " True Believer" and as such had a Totalitarian mindset which couldn't allow dissent. moreover, it will help us understand viladimir putin mindset and ukrain war. my favourite book of modern history along with Shirers "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich , Lincolns book is best for its character descriptions eg] Zinoviev and kamenev as "political Siamese twins" , the description of Dzerzhinsky is brilliant , the anecdote of the Llubyanka food enough to give one nightmares , " horse hair and hide with sticky floating globules all culminating in a foul evil smelling liquid " is what I can remember from reading it way back in 92 , also the discriptions of some of the horrible cossack attamans like Kalmykov and Ungern Sternburg not to mention the anarchist leader Makhno ,if anyone likes modern history books you will love this ! best wishes aijaz from pakistan

Lenin a Great revolutionary who changed the course of the Colonialist World . His work and ideals will be pushed ahead for a long span of time in the human history.

I think Lenon dying so early was an absolute disaster. But also, had he lived longer without health problems, Stalin may have just had him killed at some point as he most assuredly would try and take power somewhere down the line.

Excelent video. It congregated many of my known facts about Lenin and added more on top to build a continuous image of him. By the way, what is the outro melody?

Some mistake in video - 5:24 Mikhail Bulgakov was born in 1891, 10 years after death of Dostoevsky.

I was hoping for a more in depth look at Lenin's personal/professional life rather than an overview of the Russian Revolution but it was very interesting nonetheless. Thanks!!

“Freedom in capitalist society always remain the same as it was in Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners” Vladimir Lenin

00:04 Vladimir Lenin's early life and family background 01:25 Vladimir's childhood and early education 02:14 The impact of his father's death and his brother's involvement in a conspiracy 03:56 The political landscape of Russia in the 19th century 06:27 Vladimir's radicalization and involvement in protests 09:28 Vladimir's move to Saint Petersburg and involvement in revolutionary groups 10:12 His arrest and imprisonment 11:52 Exile to Siberia and marriage to Nadya 12:57 Continued activism and relocation to Switzerland and Germany 14:47 Lenin's involvement in the early history of the Russian communist movement 15:08 Split between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks at RSDLP's 2nd Party Congress 16:31 Bolsheviks acquire control over the central committee of the RSDLP 17:39 Revolution of 1905 and Lenin's return to Russia 18:53 October Manifesto and the end of the Revolution of 1905 20:07 Lenin and the Bolsheviks consider their options during the political crackdown 21:31 Lenin's return to London and resuming control over the RSDLP 23:19 Formalization of split between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks into separate political parties 23:45 Opportunity for Lenin to re-establish himself during the outbreak of the European war 24:49 Lenin's time in Switzerland and the publication of Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism 26:34 Lenin's theory of transitioning straight from autocracy to socialist revolution 27:30 Disaffection, food shortages, and social unrest in Russia during the war 29:38 Bolstering the Bolshevik cause and the 'April Theses' 30:36 Tensions and violent demonstrations during the July Days 31:04 Suppression of the Bolsheviks and Lenin's plotting in Finland 31:40 Tense political situation and Kornilov's military takeover attempt 32:03 Lenin's return to Petrograd and the rise of the Bolsheviks 32:50 The October Revolution and the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks 33:39 Establishment of a new socialist government and the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia 34:38 Introduction of economic reforms and major legislative changes 39:00 Formation of a one-party state and consolidation of power by the Communist Party 39:19 Assassination attempts on Lenin and his declining health 41:05 Transformation of the social and legal landscape of Russia 44:25 Lenin's government seeks peace with Germany 45:38 The rise of the White Army 47:16 State terror and the Cheka 49:04 The use of blocking units 50:28 The Red Army goes on the offensive 51:19 The end of the Russian Civil War 52:36 The establishment of the Comintern 53:23 The New Economic Policy 54:51 Lenin's political thought and legacy 59:28 In March 1923 Lenin suffered another stroke, as a result of which he lost the ability to speak.

Fantastic documentary 👏

Very detaily explained. A great video. Thank you very much. Lenin's work were disastrously continued by Stalin.

I wish they would also discuss finances. How were all these people able to survive, move, travel, pay rent, eat, etc??

Very well done!

I saw him in 2006. He is an remarkably good shape and when they pickled him they put him in a pinstripe suit and they shave his head he was in much better shape than chairman mao of china who i saw before i went to moscow

In a conversation with Steinberg (a left-social revolutionary), Lenin presented his views at length. Seeing that his advice did not touch Lenin in the least, a desperate Steinberg shouted."so why are we struggling with the Commissariat of Justice, let's call it short and clear: "Commissariat for Social Extermination" and that's the end of the story. Lenin's face lit up at those words. "Well formulate, that's exactly what he should be. To bad that we can't say that publicly"

I'm addicted to Soviet docs❤❤❤

One of the most comprehensive overviews of the 19-20 centuries of the Russian history. Some sources suggest that even though less obvious, Lenin was just as a cruel dictator as Stalin was. Summary executions and the de facto abolishment of the justice system serve as a good argument to this end.

The people who did this documentary should teach how to do them to Deutsche Welle and BBC. This was an unbiased documentary.

Usually when there is a documentary about Lenin it fails to be objective and it is strongly biased against Lenin. This doc is an exception. It does present a balanced and accurate veiw.

Mikhail Bulgakov wasn't even born until 1891. he wasn't discussing anything with anyone in the 1870s, 80s, or 90s. On the other hand, Mikhail Bakunin was relevant at that time as the father of anarchism makes more sense in the context you were refering to.

This video should indicate that a great deal of the footage of Lenin doesn’t actually depict Lenin, but instead actors portraying him.

Well presented doc.

Very well presented

In the viewing of this channel and it's expertly crafted content, we are experiencing a revolution as well. A revolution of high quality content, that surpasses most of what has been seen on TRshow, in the past. Long live the Revolution!

Well done. Thank you.

Narrator's with a British accent always sound better I don't know why but they do

Its interesting to know that some of Lenin's last words was Don't let Stalin take over.. That says something there

I don’t think Lenin would have taken the Soviet Union in the direction Stalin did.Hewas too intellectually advanced and far too confident of his power to have to Stalin’s repressive methods.He even offered investment opportunities to western countries who declined under pressure from the Anglo-Americans.Lenin despite his ideological orientation was above all a pragmatist.Pity his last will condemning Stalin, his intellectual inferiority and citing his lack of judiciousness in the exercise of the enormous powers the General Secretary of the Party enjoyed,could not stop Stalin’s rise,for which the senior leaders at that time, Zinoviev and Kamenev(due to their differences with Trotsky)were basically responsible.And grieviously did they and the Soviet people pay for it!In my view Lenin combined the capability of both a Mao Zedong and Deng Xian’s Ping.

Great editing and narration

43:54 "a new Ukrainian state" requires the extreme clarification that it was only the Lwow/Gallicia/Volynhia region that was ruled by the self declared state in Lwow. When Germany collapsed it became a very venal anti-Jewish anti-Russian proto Nazi state that had only 13% or so literacy. There were competing and even more vicious racist bandit states in Kiev (Petlura) and Zaporozyhe (the so called anarchists who were basically rapists and marauders), plus Tsarists still in Rostov whose first move was to attack northwest to reconnect with Europe. The Lwow proto-Nazis were defeated by Poland. The others by the Tsarists. Then the Red Ukraine forces from Kharkov and the side-switching bandits - as at that time "Ukraine" did not include any Black Sea coast -took over from Tsarists whose last gasp was attacking Petrograd from Estonia in 1922.

Ali Shariati had the progression something along the lines of primitive - feudal - dynastic - capitalist - communist. He had it that after this progression you then get into the metaphysical, but not religion for the sake of religion, not religion as the opiate for the masses, but a form of spiritualism which transcends the materialism of communism and capitalism. Shariati had Iran skipping the capitalist and communist stages and thus leaving feudal / dynastic for the metaphysical. Hitler, on the other hand, would have it that you transcend the feudal, the dynastic, capitalism, and communism for Nationalism.