And the The Welcome to Russian History Retold, episode 178.

Lenin, could you stay a little longer? Last time, we covered a group of men who helped Joseph Stalin rule the Soviet Union,

as well as having their arms elbow deep in the murder of millions of people.

Today I'm going to do something I've never done in this podcast and that is answering the question what if?

The question is what if Lenin lived longer? Maybe 10 years, maybe even 20. It's a

question that has been debated for a long time and one that I'll try to answer as best as I can.

Towards the end of the podcast I'm going to throw in a curveball to totally change the game.

I hope you enjoy this.

Vladimir Ilielich Uyianov, better known to the world as Lenin, was born in April of

1870. When the October Revolution took place in 1917, he was 47 years of age. His health has been an issue for

quite some time as we know of his diagnosis of a disease sometimes known as

as Holy Fire or St Anthony's Fire,

which is a severe contagious infection of the skin and tissue.

That and Lenin suffered from migraines, ulcers, insomnia, and many other ailments as a young man.

More importantly, though, is that his father Ilia Ulyanov died of a stroke in January of 1886 when Lenin was only 16. As you can see, the chances

of him living to a ripe old age was not very good. One other theory of why he was so will was a

rumor that he was suffering from syphilis.

According to a team of neuroscientists in a report published in 2004,

his symptoms were consistent with a disease which would have caused

deteriorating mental capacity as he aged.

Of course, we're talking in hypothetical terms, so we have to set aside some of his infirmaries

although not entirely. There are a few scenarios that we can play with. He died in

...