The Soviet Union became a great power after the Second World War. The Soviet economy was then more developed than the rest of the world except for the US. It had a complex communications network, vast energy resources including oil, iron, and steel, machinery production, and a transport sector that connected its remotest areas with efficiency. It had a domestic consumer industry that produced everything from pins to cars, though their quality did not match that of the Western capitalist countries. The Soviet state ensured a minimum standard of living for all citizens, and the government-subsidized basic necessities including health, education, childcare, and other welfare schemes. There was no unemployment. State ownership was the dominant form of ownership: land and productive assets were owned and controlled by the Soviet state.

Who was the leader of the Russian Revolution?

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin, born in 1870 and passing away in 1924, is celebrated as the founder of the Bolshevik Communist party and a pivotal figure in world history. He rose to prominence as the leader of the Russian Revolution of 1917, playing a critical role in the establishment of the USSR (Soviet Union) during the tumultuous period following the revolution,
which lasted from 1917 to 1924.