A temporary government tried to run the country. However, the middle-class people who ran it did not make enough changes to satisfy the workers and peasants. The temporary government didn't even end the war with Germany. The countries not so well off workers formed soviets (small councils) to talk about political and economic problems. Some soviets wanted to change Russia according to Marx's view of communism. They wanted to give workers the power and even out the wealth. These extremist soviets were led by the Bolsheviks. Less extremist soviets were run by socialists called Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks gained power under the leadership of Vladimir Illich Ulyanov, known as Lenin.

Since his teenage years, Lenin had been against the

In 1922, Lenin was incapacitated by a stroke, and his likely successor was thought to be Leon Trotsky, the leader second to Lenin and the leader of the Red Army. Among the Bolsheviks another rumor was being circulated, one that compared Trotsky to the French general, Napoleon Bonaparte, who had ended the French Revolution. Trotsky was seen as a military man; a military man had ended the French Revolution; therefore Trotsky was a danger to the Russian Revolution.

Russia was exhausted by war and torn by disagreement. Groups such as landowners and industrialists were against Lenin's policies, which took away their power and put them on the same level as everyone else. Also, many czarist army officers wanted to bring back the old order. The anti-Bolshevik forces were known as the "Whites." The communists were known as "Reds". The Allies were angry that Lenin had taken Russia out of the war. They saw soviet communism as a threat. Allied troops landed in Russia by 1919 to support the Whites. With Allied support, the Whites began a civil war that lasted three years. Soldiers from both sides destroyed villages and crops. Thousands of people were killed and injured. Nicholas II and his family were executed by Red forces. Lenin began a policy called war communism, in which the government took over all factories and outlawed strikes. The government also took over all farm land and outlawed most private ownership. Factories and farms were run by people who reported to the Communist party. In this way the Communist government controlled everything.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Soviet Union, Nicholas II, Revolution Lenin, Russian Marxism, Nadezhda Alliluyeva, Zinoviev Kamenev, Union People, BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION, Communist Soviet, Party Stalin, soviet union, communist party, central committee, trotsky supporters, joseph stalin, french revolution trotsky, lenin's position, soviet citizens, mikhail gorbachev, kamenev zinoviev, red army,
Approximate Word count = 2267
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)