People of Russia By: Michaela Ellis

Karl Marx He was a German thinker and revolutionary He was one of the most influential figures of all time. His theories on society and economics provided the framework for the Communist governments in the 1900s. They were also known as Marxism. He was born in a Jewish family in Tier, Germany on May 5, Hook, Sidney. "Marx, Karl." The New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online, Web. 28 Jan

Czar Nicolas II He was the last Russian emperor (he reigned from 1894 to 1917) He thought that he had to preserve the Monarchy. He turned his back on the reform tradition of earlier emperors and tried to govern in the rigid style of his great grandfather, Czar Nicholas the First. He dreamed of making Russia the dominant power of Asia by expanding the influences to China and Korea. Czap, Peter., Jr. "Nicholas." The New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online, Web. 28 Jan

Josef Stalin He held absolute power in the Soviet Union and in the world Communist movement. His original name was Losif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. He was born on December 21, 1879, in Gori, Georgia. His father was a poor shoemaker who barely made enough to feed his family. When he was nearly 15, Losif entered a seminary to study for the priesthood. In 1899 he was expelled for revolutionary activities. He was also a dictator. Wolfe, Bertram D. "Stalin, Joseph." The New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online, Web. 28 Jan

Vladimir Lenin On November 7, 1917, revolutionaries seized control of the Russian government because of the efforts of one man--Vladimir Ilich Lenin. He was born on April 22, 1870, one of six children of a middle-class family. In 1887, Vladimir's eldest brother was executed for taking part in a terrorist plot against the czar. Vladimir became interested in the theories of Karl Marx. In 1895, Vladimir was arrested for spreading Marx's ideas. He was exiled to Siberia. He wrote The Development of Capitalism in Russia (1899). Upon his release he left Russia and published a newspaper, Iskra (The Spark). It called for the overthrow of the czar. "Lenin, Vladimir Ilich." Reviewed by Bertram D. Wolfe. The New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online, Web. 28 Jan

Leon Trotsky He was born Lev Davidovich Bronstein in Yanovka, Ukraine. He was a leader of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and one of the founders of the Soviet Union. A revolutionary since the age of 18, Trotsky was twice exiled to Siberia by the Czarist government. He fled abroad in 1907 but returned in 1917, after Czar Nicholas II abdicated, and joined with V.I. Lenin's Bolsheviks to seize power in the October Revolution. He served as Communist Russia's commissar of foreign affairs and commissar of war. He organized the Red Army and led it to victory over the Whites in the civil war. After Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin, a bitter foe of Trotsky, took control of the Soviet Union and forced Trotsky into exile. In 1940, while living in Mexico, Trotsky was assassinated by a Stalinist agent.

Aleksandr Fyodorovich Kerensky He was born in Simbirsk, Russia, was premier of Russia's Provisional Government during the period between Czar Nicholas II's abdication and the Communist seizure of power. He was a leader of the revolutionary movement of the early 1900's. After World War I broke out (1914), he supported the government's war efforts but spoke out against the harsh czarist regime. On July 7, 1917, five months after the czar abdicated, Kerensky became premier. He continued to prosecute the war against Germany. On October 24, the Bolsheviks ousted Kerensky's government, and he fled to the west. "Profiles." The New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online, Web. 28 Jan

Gregory Zinoviev He was a revolutionary who worked closely with Lenin in the Bolshvik Party before the Russian Revolution of 1917 and became a central figure in the Communist Party leadership in the Soviet Unio in the 1920s. He later was a victim of Joseph Stalin's Great Purge. Zinovyev was born to lower middle-class Jewish parents and received no formal education, but during travels abroad in 1902–05 he attended lectures on law at Bern University. Zinovyev, Grigory Yevseyevich." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica, Web. 28 Jan

Lev Kaminev He was the Old Bolshevik and prominent member of the Communist Party and Soviet government during the decade after the October Revolution in Russia (1917). He became an opponent of Josef Stalin and was executed during the Great Purge. He was born to middle-class parents who themselves had been involved in the Russian revolutionary movement of the 1870s, Kamenev became a professional revolutionary, joining the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party (1901) and its Bolshevik faction (1903).Kamenev, Lev Borisovich." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica, Web. 28 Jan

The Proletariat The lowest or one of the lowest economic and social classes in a society. In ancient Rome, the proletariat consisted of the poor landless freemen. It included artisans and small tradesmen who had been gradually impoverished by the extension of slavery. The proletariat (literally meaning “producers of offspring”) was the lowest rank among Roman citizens. “Proletariat." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica, Web. 28 Jan

Pravda The former daily newspaper, published in Moscow and distributed nationwide, that was the official organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1918 to Founded in 1912 in St. Petersburg as a worker’s daily, Pravda became an important organ of the Bolshevik movement. "Pravda." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica, Web. 28 Jan

The KGB The KGB was created in 1954 to serve as the “sword and shield of the Communist Party.” The new security service, which played a major role in the purge of Beria's supporters, was designed to be carefully controlled by senior Communist Party officials. It was divided into approximately 20 directorates, the most important of which were those responsible for foreign intelligence, domestic counterintelligence, technical intelligence, protection of the political leadership, and the security of the country's frontiers. "KGB." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopedia Britannica, Web. 28 Jan