The Russian Revolution of 1917 should never have happened.

The reason it did was because one man and one man alone insisted that it must.

That man was Vladimir Lenin.

All the death, misery, and incomprehensible suffering that resulted from the creation of the first totalitarian state in human history would not have been possible without him.

Attempts to disassociate Lenin from the horrors of Soviet communism are disingenuous.

First, and contrary to his apologists, there were no good intentions behind Lenin's insatiable

quest for power. Second, since those intentions never existed, it was impossible for Lenin's

successor, Joseph Stalin, to distort them.

Stalin merely completed what Lenin started. Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich-Ullanov on April 22nd,

1870 in a small town on the banks of the Volga River. By his own account, he had a happy childhood.

A brilliant student, young Vladimir won almost every

academic contest he entered. He seemed to be fated for a successful career in the law.

His future took a sudden and fateful turn when his older brother, Alexander, got caught up in

the anti-Zaris fervor sweeping Russia in the late 19th century. For his part in an audacious plot to assassinate

the Tsar, Alexander was executed in 1887. Many have speculated that his execution radicalized

young Vladimir. Following in his brother's footsteps, he soon became a full-time revolutionary.

For the next three decades, he honed his craft,

writing pamphlets, gathering supporters, and agitating for a Marxist revolution. Evading the Tsar's

secret police, the Akrona, was a full-time job. And in this, Lenin was only partly successful.

In 1897, he was exiled to Siberia for three years.

Fortunately for him, security was so lax a mistake Lenin would learn from, he was able to run his communist clique remotely.

In 1900, he self-exiled to Europe, where he continued to organize and agitate.

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