The 19 year old Ekaterina Schmidt, and her 17 year old sister Elizaveta had just inherited a small fortune. Vladimir Lenin saw an opportunity and came up with a plan. Waging a revolution required vast amounts of money and Lenin would use any means necessary to acquire wealth, including bank robbery, in furtherance of his pursuit for power.
His plan, in this instance, was simple, he would use two party operatives to seduce and marry the girls and then have them donate all of the money to the party. He selected Nikolai Andrikanas and Victor Taratuta to run the scheme. Both successfully married their target. Ekaterina and Nikolai donated a small amount of money to the party before moving to France and keeping the vast majority of the inheritance.
Victor however successfully convinced Elizaveta to give a substantial amount of money to Lenin. Speaking of Taratuta Lenin remarked “There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel.” Lenin knew what he needed in pursuit of power and he was willing to use whatever means necessary to get it.
Thomas Aquinas is credited as one of the greatest proponents of natural law. During his time in Cologne he was taught by Albertus Magnus. Magnus used the teachings of Aristotle in his mentorship of Thomas Aquinas.
Samuel Adams believed in American Independence from Great Britain. He is one of the most well know Son's of Liberty. On August 1, 1776 he gave a speech to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
The Mount of Forty Springs, Zagros Mountains, Iran Saturday 11:30 PM
By the dim light of torches seven hooded figures made their ascent up the nearly invisible path. Thirty minutes had passed since they began hiking off the established trail. A person who had never traveled this path would not have been able to find it.
These men were not making their first journey. Each had traveled this path as part of a group and individually. Even without the torches each man would find the destination without difficulty. Some things could never be forgotten.
In silence they made their final steps. Amidst the juniper and oak trees stood a single cedar tree. They had arrived at their destination. Concealed amidst the undergrowth was a small cave. Sliding a large bolder away from the back of the cave revealed a secret stairwell.
The men could not be completely at ease yet, but the most physically demanding portion of their journey was over. From this point things would be more psychologically challenging and each man would handle those struggles...
