A direct comparison of the role of central power and control during the late Tsarist and early Soviet period of Russia History

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Richard Skelton – 1185

‘Tsarist Rule in the years 1856-1917 and Communist rule from the death of Lenin to the fall of Khrushchev both depended on high degrees of central power and control by the state. The similarities between the two forms of government were therefore much greater than the differences.’ How far do you agree?

        On a superficial level, it appears that the autocratic governments of late-Tsarist Russia and the Communist dictatorships of Stalin and Khrushchev depended upon high levels of central power and control, both having many similar features. The Communist party was a strongly centralised body, relying on propaganda, fear, repression and personality cults as methods of control. These features can also be seen in the Tsarist era; however were not as heavily implemented due to the Tsars absolute power and the ‘little father,’ image. Central power and control was a major influence in industry and the economy, as well as agriculture across both periods, however when looking at the methods of control across the period in question not only do similarities arise, but also key differences.

 

        Central power and control in the Tsarist and communist era’s relied heavily upon an ideological framework of power that was significantly different. In Tsarist times this was the autocratic pyramid, rigid in structure with power and influence dictated by how far up the pyramid you were. At the bottom lay the peasantry, who were also by far the most controlled, and at the top of the pyramid was the Tsar, the person whom ‘all policy and decision making lay in the hands of.’In Communist Russia the power structure of a Marxist/Leninist system was adapted to suit personal dictatorships. Stalin in particular used his position to put the majority of power and control in his hands. The ideology of the Tsarist era was ‘based on three principles of orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality,’ the Communist model was once of ‘democratic centralism,’ where the power of the party was the key rather than the social structure or class. Both the Tsarist and the Soviet eras saw a large degree of centralised power, however the ideological basis of this power as a method of control is hardly comparable. After all it was the very nature of the autocratic system, as a personal dictatorship that made it undisputedly an era of central power, where  the Communist era saw much more delegation which proved positive in that the ruling of the country was influenced by the needs of the people, however with suggestions that ‘local party bodies protected their own areas of power and did not always feedback accurate information to the centre,’ by delegating power from the centre, control of the Russian people was undermined and such this suggests that control under the Autocratic system was stronger than that under the Communists.

        It is true to say that ‘the pulse of terror was a feature of both Tsarist and Soviet Russia. If any method of central power and control could be used to show the similarities between the Tsarist and Soviet eras, fear and repression would be that method as the Soviet era of repression was just a continuation of foundations laid down by the Tsars. ‘The Tsarist regime was based on absolutism, which allowed for repression as a series of corrective and regulatory measures – as a necessary evil to prevent a greater evil.’ When this is compared the Soviet leaders, particularly Stalin, the Tsarist system is an obvious influence on the Soviet system. The NKVD ‘answered directly to Stalin himself,’ which gave Stalin a level of personal power directly comparable to the Tsars, the fact that Stalin purged the NKVD just showed how much they were a puppet organisation and were as much influenced by central power and control as they enforced it . Russia was controlled by ‘a regime of unheard of terror achieved through an extraordinary centralised and ramified apparatus,’  in that the main method of providing this terror was so large and dominant that it was considered a ‘state within a state’. ‘Repression is generally seen as more effective in the Soviet union than in Tsarist Russia because of the modern technology, organisational structures and communications, all things that were made possible as a continuation of frameworks established by the Tsarist rulers. Frameworks such as the secret police and harsh punishments, dictated by dominant rulers, are clear indications of dependence on central power and control, and no other area is as clearly similar between the two eras.

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        Industrial and economic policy in the Tsarist and Soviet eras saw a large measure of influence from the individual leaders, be it autocrat or dictator. However the approaches to these policies were quite different, mirroring Russia’s relative economic position and contemporary priorities. Whilst under the Tsars, Russia had seen a slow but gradual economic development, by the time leaders such as Stalin and Khrushchev came to power Russia was considerably economically lagging behind and such these leaders took personal decisive action. Under the Tsars much of the economic policy came under the instruction of Sergi Witte a man close ...

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