Russia entered the 20th century as an oppressed tsarist state and the last of the medieval European strongholds. The people were poor, hungry and desperate and, unlike the rest of Europe, had not experienced a revolution. But eventually, a small group of revolutionaries emerged and overthrew the Tsarist regime. Russia quickly descended into anarchy and the resulting unrest saw the rise of the Bolshevik Party and Vladimir Lenin. This was the beginning of the Russian Revolution, a prolonged event that had a profound impact on Russia and all of Europe and whose effects continue to be felt today. With the fall of the Tsarist regime, Lenin and the Bolshevik Party entered Russia. They operated on a Marxist platform and moved quickly to "develop Russia in such a way as to spread social revolution throughout Europe and eventually the world." Although their opponents were also Marxists, the Bolsheviks were the most militant, the least tolerant and the most revolutionary. After overthrowing the remaining dictatorial powers in the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks created several soviets and divulged all the secrets of the tsars, including treaties with other countries. All this was done with the aim of denouncing the corruption of capitalist countries and the old regime. What the party did not count on, however, was the impact of its actions on the rest of Europe and the reaction of other nations. After the Bolsheviks exposed the corruption of Old Russia, international opposition to the party increased. By the end of World War I, more than twenty countries supported a Russian counterrevolution designed to stop the Bolsheviks. Yet internal opposition was more furious and soon a civil war broke out between the middle of paper, necessary to put communism on the political map of the world. Governments in Europe and Latin America imitated Stalin and instituted their own brand of communism in their respective countries. Yet what was supposed to be the permanent revolution infected and affected the world for almost an entire century. Every year since 1917, people have revolted. Economics, austerity and political corruption have been common causes of popular uprisings across the world, and whether the revolutions have been peaceful or violent, the result has almost always been a change in the political structure and a redrawing of the borders. The continued presence of Russian-backed revolutions, combined with the cries of the European people for independence and security, reflects the continuing influence of the Russian Revolution on the whole of Europe and, perhaps, on the world..