After Death


This picture shows The Lenin Mausoleum at Red Square, Moscow. Lenin’s preserved body is on permanent display at the Lenin Mausoleum.

Lenin’s health had already been severely damaged by the strains of revolution and war. The assassination attempt earlier in his life also added to his health problems. The bullet remained lodged in his neck until 24 April 1922, when a German doctor surgically removed it.In May 1922, Lenin had his first stroke. He was left partially paralyzed on his right side, and his role in government declined. After the second stroke in December of the same year, he resigned from active politics. In March 1923, he suffered his third stroke and was left bedridden for the remainder of his life, no longer able to speak. After his first stroke, Lenin dictated to his wife several papers regarding the government. Most famous of these is Lenin's Testament, which was partially inspired by the 1922 Georgian Affair and among other things criticized top-ranking communists, including Joseph Stalin, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Nikolai Bukharin and Leon Trotsky.

Lenin died at 18:50 Moscow time on 21 January 1924, aged 53, at his estate in Gorki Leninskiye. Over 900,000 people passed through the Hall of Columns during the four days and nights that Lenin lay in state. Large sections of the population in other countries expressed their grief at the death of Lenin. Speaking at a memorial meeting, Chinese premier Sun Yat-sen. said:
Through the ages of world history thousands of leaders and scholars appeared who spoke eloquent words, but these remained words. You, Lenin, were an exception. You not only spoke and taught us, but translated your words into deeds. You created a new country. You showed us the road of joint struggle... You, great man that you are, will live on in the memories of the oppressed people through the centuries.
Winston Churchill, who had supported the British interventionist forces which, in league with the Whites, had tried to suppress the Bolsheviks, later commented that:
He alone could have found the way back to the causeway...The Russian people were left floundering in the bog. Their worst misfortune was his birth...their next worst his death.
The city of Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in his honor three days after Lenin’s death. This remained the name of the city until the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, when it reverted to its original name, St. Petersburg, even though its administrative area kept the name (Leningrad Oblast). Lenin’s writings were carefully censored under the Soviet state after his death.



After reading this article, I can tell that Lenin played a really important part in Russia especially in transforming Russia into a better country. As seen in the article, Sun Yat-Sen said " You not only spoke and taught us, but translated your words into deeds. You created a new country. " It was a great blow to many Russians as their country had been transformed by him. He played a very important part especially, in the October Revolution and though he has passed on, he is still deeply remember by many people and they would never forget him nor what he has done to help Russia. After hearing this tragic news by many people, they were indeed devastated and sad. Lenin was a great and dependable person and leader that everyone looked up to and respected. Nobody expected him to be gone just like that, and I could tell that people felt a sudden lost of hope for the country. I must admit, that he did cause many people to lose their lives but people remembered him for the good that he brought to the country.
To conclude, Lenin was a very important man in Russia's history. Everyone felt sorry when he died and he was remembered for his bravery and courage to have hope in Russia and to make it a great country. Yes, indeed everyone was sad, but he did a brilliant job that gave Russia a sense of belonging and responsibility in their country. He, was the one, who was part and parcel of making Russia into what it is today.

by, Samantha

1 comments

1 Comments:

 Anonymous said...

Hey i also got the same picture!!! - in the website i linked it to, i think we went to the same website!!! Lakshmi

March 5, 2009 at 6:49 AM  

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