peers and is depicted as being driven purely by ideology rather than any idealism. The play cuts ahead to 1917, when Russia's struggles in World War I lead to the collapse of the Czar's government. The Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky wants to continue the war, but the radical Bolsheviks urge an end to the war at all costs while others in the Party – including Stalin – urge continuation of the fighting on the grounds that Russia's defeat will lead to the re-establishment of the Czar. When Lenin arrives in Finland Station, he is initially greeted warmly – until he calls for the establishment of a socialist regime and an end to the war – even if it means a German victory. Later on, the situation comes to a head as the Russian army finally collapses, and Lenin recruits Zhelnik – commander of the Kronstadt Sailors' Soviet – in his plan to capture Petrograd for the Bolsheviks. Lenin instantly sets about organising his government, placing Trotsky, Stalin, Kollontai, and Lunacharsky in high-ranking positions. The government leaders proclaim a new system of freedoms and reforms, much to the delight of the Russian people. Trotsky is, however, forced to negotiate a peace treaty with the Germans and is unable to bargain on his own terms – apparently under the delusion that the German soldiers will desert and join the Revolution. The first signs of tension appear when Stalin refers to Trotsky – who volunteers to organise the Red Army – as "our Bonaparte", greatly insulting Trotsky for this suggestion of counter-revolutionary disloyalty. At this time, Dzerzhinsky is appointed head of the Cheka, the Soviet secret police. At the end of the act, in a private conversation, Lenin tells Stalin that he is "the most useful Comrade on the whole Committee." Act II Act II begins as Zhelnik angrily meets with Lenin, his wife Nadezhda Krupskaya, and Kollontai, reporting an incident where he and his men were ordered to massacre a group of peasants who would not turn over their stores of grain. Lenin argues the measure was justified because peasants are likely to be counter-revolutionaries, and Zhelnik's protests – "We're all – peasants!" – fall on deaf ears. Shortly thereafter, Lenin meets with Fanya Kaplan, a member of the Peasant Revolutionary Party, who protests the exclusion of all non-Bolshevik parties from the Soviets. At the end of the conversation, Kaplan produces