People
Historical Figures and Influential People in History
Explore rulers, generals, thinkers, scientists and reformers who shaped world history. Search for a specific person, or browse by era, region, country and A–Z.
Industrial Age Figures from Russia
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4 results
Joseph Stalin
1878–1953Europe
He transformed the Soviet Union through forced industrialisation and systematic terror, killed millions in the process, and died in his bed with people too afraid to call a doctor.
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Nicholas II
1868–1918Europe
He inherited the largest country on earth, believed in autocracy deeply and sincerely, and watched it all collapse because he couldn't imagine any other way to rule.
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Nikita Khrushchev
1894–1971Europe
He denounced Stalin, launched Sputnik, and brought the world to the edge of nuclear war over Cuba — then was removed from power while on holiday by colleagues who'd had enough.
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Vladimir Lenin
1870–1924Europe
He spent years writing in exile about a revolution that never seemed to come — and when it finally arrived in 1917, he seized it so completely that his version became the only one that survived.
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