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 in Europe
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Joseph Stalin
1878–1953
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
1868–1918
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
1894–1971
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
1870–1924
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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