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Communist Leaders of the 20th Century

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Leadership & Management, MBA 710

November 17, 2009

Communist Leaders of the 20th Century

Vladimir Lenin, Ho Chi Minh and Moa Zedong were all leaders who were visionaries and revolutionaries who changed the world. They used communist ideals and propaganda to engage peasants and the working class to fight for freedom and to preserve their cultural values. Each leader and his followers successfully changed the economic and political structure of their countries as well as influencing the rest of the world for decades to come.

Vladimir Lenin – Russian Revolutionary

Prologue

Vladimir Lenin was a Bolshevik Leader for the 1917 October Revolution, and the first Head of State for the Soviet Union. His contribution to …show more content…

Driven by oppression and exploitation of the working classes, he was totally dedicated to the cause, even ending friendships that obstructed the movement’s progress. He masterminded the Bolshevik takeover of power in Russia in 1917, known as the October Revolution.

Situational Events

During the First World War, Russia was suffering and in chaos and Lenin took his chance to overthrow the provisional government and founded the first Socialist state in the world. In power the Bolshevik Party became known as the Communist Party and the realities of governing such a huge and diverse country, brought to its knees by war, famine and disease, quickly displaced the aspirations and optimism of the people’s revolution. Certainly, Lenin was intelligent, enthusiastic, and a strong willed person. However, possession of the all those traits does not necessarily explain the phenomena of being an effective leader. At the same time, the situational factors are very important considerations that influence success or failure. Situational influences play crucial role in leadership success. There were many critical situational factors that had an effect on the revolutionary process in October 1917.

• The country was exhausted by war with Germany (the I World War 1914-1917).

• The Government did not have enough money to continue the war. With poor equipment, a lack of food and medicine, and epidemics

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