The Russian Revolution was a massive failure because of Stalin's purge that killed millions of people, similar to what Hitler did in the Holocaust, as well as the new economic principal of Communism that emerged, practically destroying the economies of much of Eastern Europe and causing many conflicts, some of which are still unresolved to this day. In the eyes of Vladimir Lenin, the revolution was a great success because his party, the Bolsheviks, won. The Marxist ideas of Communism looked good on paper but were not applied well in actuality. Though Lenin had some positive impact, such as dramatically improving the literacy rate, his institution of the Cheka began the Red Terror that eventually led the country to a civil war that killed many people as well as nearly destroying the economy. Famine was widespread due to the policy of food requisition initiated by Lenin and working conditions were deplorable. During this period of history, Lenin became a totalitarian leader restricting the people in everything from religion to work hours. After Lenin died, the resultant struggle for power between his three major leaders turned the course of history. Joseph Stalin, Gregory Zinoviev, and Lev Kamenev remained, but Stalin had no intention of sharing the power with his comrades. Instead, he was able to get them kicked them out of office and eventually had them executed. Stalin, following in Lenin’s footsteps, then began to purge Russia of all his political enemies by using the GPU, the Russian Secret Police, to round them up and dispose of them in Concentration Camps. This purge was extended to include “specialists,” entrepreneurs, religious leaders, kulaks, and basically anyone who Stalin perceived to be able to threaten his regime, included large numbers of peasants who revolved due to his policy of mass collectivization. When his purge was done, millions of people were dead just because of their political views or lifestyles. This event is similar to Hitler's Holocaust which has led some people to call Stalin the Russian Hitler. After Stalin's purge, the Soviet Union went through a period of growth up to the Second World War, but faced considerable hardship during the war years.
After the war, Russia