Lenin Rules Russia
Bolshevik leaders saw nationalism as a threat to unity and party loyalty. To keep
nationalism in check, Lenin organized Russia into several self-governing republics under the
central government. In 1922, the country was named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR), in honor of the councils that helped launch the revolution. The Bolsheviks renamed
their party the Communist Party. The name came from the writings of Karl Marx. In 1924, the
Communists created a constitution based on socialist and democratic principles. In reality, the
Communist Party held all the power. Lenin had established a dictatorship of the party, not "a
dictatorship of the proletariat," as Marx had promoted.

1. In the new Soviet Union, who held all power?
2. How did the government established by Lenin differ from the one Marx predicted?