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Tsar Nicholas the Second ruled all of Russia

He ruled the nobles, who were rich.

He ruled the peasants, who were not.

He ruled the military, which was away fighting World War I against the Germans and the Austrians.

Vladimir Lenin didn’t rule much of anything at all.

He led the Bolsheviks, the Communist “Majority Party.”

They weren’t much of a majority. In fact, the Mensheviks, the Communist “Minority Party”, outnumbered them.

Lenin wanted Russia to have Communism, the system of sharing money, and businesses equally.

Lenin wanted to start a revolution.

“You can’t do that”, said Leon Trotsky, a prominent Menshevik. The Mensheviks didn’t think Russia needed a revolution.

“You can’t do that”, said the Tsar, and banished Lenin from Russia.

“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can lead this revolution”, thought Lenin, as the train carried him West.

Meanwhile in Russia, life was bad. The monk Rasputin was controlling the royal family while Tsar Nicholas was away.

Being a peasant got harder and harder. Some peasants decided to march to the Tsar’s Winter Palace, so they could voice their complaints.

The army opened fire upon the peasants, killing many, in a massacre known as Bloody Sunday.

This pushed the tension to the breaking point.

In the March Revolution, the people of Russia threw of their chains, and revolted against the unjust Tsar. All the power now lay in the hands of the provisional government.

Lenin heard about this, far away in exile.

“They can do it” he thought. “The proletariat, the people, they can lead a revolution! The time for Communism is now!”

“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can overthrow the weak government”, thought Lenin, all the way through Germany.

The plan went flawlessly. This was the November Revolution, wherein Russia became the CCCP.

Even Trotsky agreed to support Lenin, and became head of the Red Army.

Unfortunately, there were still some people still loyal to the Tsar. These were the White Guards, and they fought the Communist Red Guards.

To make matters worse, the peasants were still poor, even though Lenin redistributed farm lands.

To make things better, Lenin instituted the NEP, the New Economic Plan. It was a bit like capitalism, which made Lenin sad.

After Lenin died, Joseph Stalin came to power.

Stalin’s rule was different from lenin. He instituted purges, where his enemies were rounded up and killed in Gulags, or prison camps.

His economic plan was different, too. He had Five-Year Plans, which dealt with economic problems in little chunks, five years at a time.

Eventually, Stalin died as well.

Many different Soviet Premiers took power, and the CCCP survived for many long years, even spreading Communism to some small neighboring countries.