a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army. He was initially a supporter of the Menshevik Internationalists faction of 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 and later as the founder and commander of the Red Army as People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs. He was a major figure in the Bolshevik victory in
the Russian Civil War (1918-20). He was also among the first members of the Politburo
Vladimir Lenin
Nicolas II
Leon Trotsky
Vladimir Putin