In Russia, efforts to build communism began after Tsar Nicholas II lost his power during the February Revolution, which started in 1917, and ended with the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. The Provisional Government was established under the liberal and social-democratic government; however, the Bolsheviks refused to accept the government and revolted in October 1917, taking control of Russia. Vladimir Lenin, their leader, rose to power and governed between 1917 and 1924. The Bolsheviks formed the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, marking the beginning of the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the Communist Reds were victorious and formed the Soviet Union, making Russia communist. Lenin died in 1924, starting a power struggle which ended with Joseph Stalin seizing power. He was the leader of the Communist Party until 1953. He conducted the Great Purge to remove opponents of his dominance.