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The first leader of the Soviet Union was Vladimir Lenin, who led the Communists (then called Bolsheviks) to power in the Russian Revolution of 1917. After Lenin died in 1924, power gradually consolidated in the hands of Joseph Stalin, who led the Soviet Union until his death in 1953. Later Soviet leaders such as [Nikita Khrushchev]? and [Leonid Brezhnev]? were unable to consolidate power as Stalin had done, and served more as functionaries of the state rather than as dictators. [Mikhail Gorbachev]? became head of the Soviet Union in 1985 and attempted to preserve the collapsing Communist regime by reducing tensions with the United States and lessening the extent of political persecution, but without abandoning the core Communist tenet of centralized bureaucratic control of the economy. These attempts failed, and the [collapse of the Soviet Union]? occurred in 1991. |
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The first leader of the Soviet Union was Vladimir Lenin, who led the Communists (then called Bolsheviks) to power in the Russian Revolution of 1917. After Lenin died in 1924, power gradually consolidated in the hands of Joseph Stalin, who led the Soviet Union until his death in 1953. Stalin was the leader from 1929 until 1953. From 1921 until 1954 3.7 mill. people were sentenced for counter-revolutional crimes. Including 0.6 mil - to death, 2.4 mill. - to prison and labor camps, 0.8 mill. - to expatriation. See Gulag. |
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Stalin was the leader from 1929 until 1953. From 1921 until 1954 3.7 mill. people were sentenced for counter-revolutional crimes. Including 0.6 mil - to death, 2.4 mill. - to prison and labor camps, 0.8 mill. - to expatriation. |
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Later Soviet leaders such as [Nikita Khrushchev]? and [Leonid Brezhnev]? were unable to consolidate power as Stalin had done, and served more as functionaries of the state rather than as dictators. [Mikhail Gorbachev]? became head of the Soviet Union in 1985 and attempted to preserve the collapsing Communist regime by reducing tensions with the United States and lessening the extent of political persecution, but without abandoning the core Communist tenet of centralized bureaucratic control of the economy. These attempts failed, and the [collapse of the Soviet Union]? occurred in 1991. |
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