Karl Marx is known as the founder of communism.

Karl Marx

He laid out the foundations of communism and how it should be run, as well as the theory that capitalism would ultimatly destory itself.

Just look at that beard!

This is Vladimir Lenin. He lead a revolution in Russia against Czar Nicholas (the king of Russia) to get out of WWI. He used a New Economic Policy that redistributed money to citizens.

Vladimir Lenin

Peasants and working citizens disliked the czar's government. As a result, Lenin lead another revolution - the Bolshevik Revolution. This helped Lenin overthrow the government and create the country of the Soviet Union.

He was well liked!

Mao Zedong was the leader of the communist party in China. He wanted to have a pesant revolution. The communist and nationalist parties worked together until nationalists started becoming communists.

Mao Zedong

Mao and his people had to flee China to avoid being killed by Chiang Kai Shek and his nationalist army. This resulted in a very long march, that lasted for about a year. Then, Japan attacked China, causing a civil war. The communists and nationalists decided to work together to defeat Japan.

The long march

Joseph Stalin took over communism after Lenin's death. He killed many that he didn't trust, or that he thought were against him, even friends. This was called the Great Purge. He also had a plan for industrialization in Russia - a process called the Five Year Plan.

Joseph Stalin

This plan included goals/quotas for factories that made steel, electricity, coal, and oil. He was so focused on these things that he neglected the making of clothing, food, technology, and even houses. To satisfy his people's needs (bust mostly his own money-related needs), he made government controlled farms called Collective Farms, that forced pesants to work.

Workers on a Collective Farm