"Situation serious. Anarchy in the capital. Government paralyzed." This telegram to Russian Czar Nicholas II in 1917 came too late for Nicholas to prevent the massive revolution that overthrew his dynasty and established the rule of the Communist Soviets in Russia.Under its leaders, Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin, the Communist government of Russia was repressive and violent. The government forced people out of their homes, created famines when it confiscated crops to pay for industrialization, and controlled all aspects of Russian life. Millions were executed or sent to work and die in forced labor camps. The Soviet Union supported the rise of Communism in Eastern Europe and elsewhere, engaged in a Cold War (1945-1999) against the United States and Western Europe, and changed world politics forever.
