The 1917 Russian Revolution changed the course of the 20th century. At its head stood Vladimir Lenin, a man who used terror and mass murder to realize his Marxist vision of a utopian society. How did he and a small band of communists overthrow an empire and create the first totalitarian state? Paul Kengor explains.

This video was made possible through a generous donation from the Robert W. Plaster Foundation, part of the Robert W. Plaster Foundation Playlist: Free Enterprise Will Set You Free, which educates Americans on the virtues of our nation's founding principles and the consequences of straying from them.