http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders During the 20th century, the worldwide spread of communism took many different forms under the direction of each country's leadership. en Copyright 2013, History.com Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:00:00 GMT History.com 2013-06-19T04:00:00Z en Copyright 2013, History.com http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo1 Vladimir Lenin led the Russian Revolution and founded the Soviet state. Following his death in 1923, he was succeeded by Joseph Stalin, who adopted more dictatorial methods of governing than Lenin. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo1 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo2 Stalin oversaw the post-war spread of communism throughout Eastern Europe, often violently enforcing Soviet policies. The Eastern bloc would repeatedly come into conflict with the West throughout the Cold War. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo2 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo3 Mao Zedong was a theorist, soldier and statesman who led the communist People's Republic of China from 1949 until his death in 1976. He transformed his nation, but his often deadly programs, including the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, remain highly controversial. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo3 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo4 Zhou Enlai was a leading communist figure in the Chinese Revolution, and premier of the People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1976, He was instrumental in opening up relations between the United States and China, resulting in President Nixon's visit in 1972. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo4 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo5 Kim Il-Sung ruled communist North Korea from 1948 until his death in 1994, leading his nation through the Korean War. His son, Kim Jong-Il, is the country's current leader, and has often clashed with the West over his nuclear ambitions. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo5 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo6 As the leader of the Vietnamese nationalist movement for nearly three decades, Ho Chi Minh was one of the most influential communist leaders of the 20th century. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo6 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo7 Khrushchev sparred with the United States over the Berlin Wall and Cuban Missile Crisis, but attempted some degree of "thaw" in domestic policies in the Soviet Union, easing travel restrictions and freeing thousands of Stalin's political prisoners. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo7 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo8 Castro gained power in Cuba in 1959 and transformed his country into the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. He clashed with the United States during the Cold War over the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Castro formally relinquished the presidency in February 2008. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo8 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo9 Che Guevara was a prominent communist figure in the Cuban Revolution, and later a guerrilla leader in South America. After his execution by the Bolivian army in 1967, he was regarded as a martyred hero, and his image became an icon of leftist radicalism. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo9 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo10 Josip Broz Tito was a revolutionary and chief architect of the "second Yugoslavia," a socialist federation that lasted from World War II until 1991. He was the first communist leader in power to defy Soviet control and promoted a policy of nonalignment between the two hostile blocs in the Cold War. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo10 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo11 After the fall of the Berlin Wall, communist governments collapsed across Eastern Europe. While most of these "revolutions" were peaceful, some were not. Accused of mass murder, corruption and other crimes, Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown, and he and his wife were executed in 1989. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo11 http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo12 Gorbachev was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until his resignation in December 1991. His programs of "perestroika" ("restructuring") and "glasnost" ("openness") introduced profound changes in economics, internal affairs and international relations. http://www.history.com/photos/cold-war-communist-leaders/photo12