Lenin’s Return. Vladimir Lenin returns to Russia to lead the Russian Revolution. Although exiled in Siberia and Europe for his revolutionary activities, Lenin had managed to grow the Bolshevik Party thanks to his skills as an orator and writer. When Russia fell into chaos following World War I and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, Lenin left Switzerland and crossed enemy German lines; on April 16, 1917, he reached Petrograd. Seven months later, under his leadership, the Bolsheviks seized power. Lenin presided over the founding of the USSR and led the first communist state in history until his death in 1924.
