Political and historical figures. Animal Farm Political and historical figures. Ms Wilkin

Karl Marx Born 1818 – Died 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. Marx's work in economics laid the basis for the current understanding of labour and its relation to capital, and has influenced much of subsequent economic thought. He published numerous books during his lifetime, the most notable being The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867–1894). Born into a wealthy middle-class family in Trier in the Prussian Rhineland. In 1849 he was exiled and moved to London together with his wife and children where he continued writing and formulating his theories about social and economic activity. He also campaigned for socialism and became a significant figure in the International Workingmen's Association. Marx's theories about society, economics and politics – Marxism – hold that human societies progress through class struggle: a conflict between an ownership class that controls production and a dispossessed labouring class that provides the labour for production. He called capitalism the "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie," believing it to be run by the wealthy classes for their own benefit; and he predicted that, like previous socioeconomic systems, capitalism produced internal tensions which would lead to its self-destruction and replacement by a new system: socialism. He argued that class antagonisms under capitalism between the rich and poor would eventuate in the working class' conquest of political power in the form of a dictatorship of the proletariat and eventually establish a classless society, socialism or communism, a society governed by a free association of producers. Along with believing in the inevitability of socialism and communism, Marx actively fought for their implementation, arguing that social theorists and underprivileged people alike should carry out organised revolutionary action to topple capitalism and bring about socio-economic change We are not here to study society, the point is to change it.

Vladamir Lenin Vladimir Lenin 1870- 1924) was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He served as the leader of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917, and then concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922, until his death 1924. Under his administration, the Russian Empire was dissolved and replaced by the Soviet Union, a one-party socialist state; industry and businesses were nationalized, and one party took control of all organizations in all areas of society. The Red Army under his ally Trotsky took control of some areas, such as Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan that had set up independent states. Politically a Marxist, his theoretical contributions to Marxist thought are known as Leninism, which coupled with Marxian economic theory have collectively come to be known as Marxism–Leninism. In college- Briefly returning to Russia during the Revolution of 1905, he encouraged violent insurrection and later campaigned for the First World War to be transformed into a Europe-wide proletariat revolution. After the 1917 February Revolution ousted the Tsar he returned to Russia.

Leon Trotsky Born 26 October] 1879 – 21 August 1940) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army. Trotsky supported the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He joined the Bolsheviks immediately prior to the 1917 October Revolution, and eventually became a leader within the Party. During the early days of the Soviet Union, he served first as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. He was a major figure in the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War (1918–23). He was also among the first members of the Politburo. After leading a failed struggle of the Left Opposition against the policies and rise of Joseph Stalin in the 1920s Trotsky was successively removed from power in 1927. As the head of the Fourth International, Trotsky continued in exile in Mexico to oppose the Stalinist bureaucracy. An early advocate of Red Army intervention against European fascism,[1] in the late 1930s, Trotsky opposed Stalin's non-aggression pact with Adolf Hitler. He was assassinated on Stalin's orders in Mexico.

Joseph Stalin Joseph Stalin 1878 - 1953 leader of Soviet Union from 1920s until he died Among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917, Stalin was appointed general secretary of the party's Central Committee in 1922. after the 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin he gained power. Under Stalin's rule, the concept of "socialism in one country" became a central tenet of Soviet society. rapid transformation of the USSR from an agrarian society into an industrial power. Later, in a period that lasted from 1936 to 1939, Stalin instituted the Great Purge, in which hundreds of thousands were executed. Major figures in the Communist Party, , Leon Trotsky, and several Red Army leaders, were killed In August 1939, Stalin entered into a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, resulting in their invasion of Poland in September of that year, but Germany later violated the agreement and launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Despite heavy human and territorial losses, Soviet forces managed to halt the Nazi incursion after the decisive Battles of Moscow and Stalingrad. After defeating the Axis powers on the Eastern Front, the Red Army captured Berlin in May 1945, effectively ending the war in Europe for the Allies

Tsar Nicolas Nicholas II abdicated following the February Revolution of 1917 during which he and his family were imprisoned first in the Alexander Palace.