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Few people had as much impact on the course of the 20th century as Vladimir Lenin, from his years as an emigre

across the capitals of Western Europe to his role in the October Revolution of 1917 and

the inception of the world's first self-described socialist states. In this episode of the History

Extra podcast, historian Lara Dowd speaks to Danny Bird about the

revolutionary leader, from his radical theories and his elevation into a saint-like figure in

some quarters, to his contested legacy in Putin's Russia and around the world.

Lara, let's start right at the beginning.

Who was Lenin?

What kind of world was he born into?

And what were some of the major events from his childhood?

So the boy who would become Lenin was born Vladimir Illich-Ullianov in provincial town

in the Russian Empire, about 400 miles east of Moscow. It's on the Volga River.

He's born in April 1870. The context is one of a Russian empire, which is characterized by

autocracy. This is a czarist regime, which is absolutist, it is repressive. It had only nine years previously

...