One of the decrees was that on 18th January, the Assembly opened. This meant that free elections were allowed to the new Constituent Assembly. However, when elections were held in 1917, and the Bolsheviks did not gain a majority, Lenin sent the Red Guards to close down the Assembly. This democratic experiment had lasted less than 24 hours. Lenin simply believed that he was establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat, which in time would give way to true communism.
Lenin created a new constituent assembly in Russia, while Stalin only created a new constituent. But, as the social revolutionaries were gaining a majority vote and gained most seats in the new constituent assembly in Russia, Lenin created the Cheka - Lenin's secret police to deal with counter revolutionaries and spies. Lenin was now ruling over Russia's people with fear. The people were restricted to their freedom of speech. Any comments anti-Bolshevik or counter revolutionary could be dealt with death, similar to Hitler's in Nazi Germany. The introduction of conscription also changed peoples lives as every Russian citizen now had to do a period of compulsory service in the Army.
Lenin managed to win the Civil War against the Whites. This was done with a combination of using terror and the new Red Army organised by Trotsky. Also, this was when the Cheka came into effect and make sure that nobody in Bolshevik territories co-operated with the Whites.
In March 1918, after a long period of waiting for a Socialist Revolution in Germany, Lenin was forced to accept the term in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The Treaty was a severe blow to Russia as it lost so much:
- 34% of the population.
- 32% of its agricultural land.
- 54% of its industry.
- 89% of its coalmines.
Trotsky had been hoping for a permanent Revolution ever since the October Revolution but there never was one and Communist did not spread to Germany or Poland.
It was during this period of when the Bolshevik Decrees were published, that Lenin began to use his policy of Terror by launching the Cheka and then his policy of War Communism. He had used his policy of terror to win the Civil War and was prepared to use it again if necessary. This happened when during War Communism, 7 million died to the horrendous famine. During the famine, Lenin continued to export grain even though his people were dying showing his ruthlessness.
After Lenin's policy of War Communism, he launched the NEP. This was contradicting Marxism, which angered many Bolsheviks. He claimed that the country needed a "breathing space" but some did not see it in this light. Lenin was a true follower of Marxism, founded by Karl Marx. This meant that he wanted a Communist society and for the workers (the proletariat) to overthrow the middle classes. Everyone would be equal regardless of occupations. However, this went against everything the NEP involved, as this was about making profit and working more to gain more rather than having the same amount as others. This is why Lenin's Marxist adaptations were named 'Leninist-Marxist' as he used the theories of Marxism but applied it to the modern day world and what would suit Russia best and its special needs.
In 1923, he supervised the drawing up of a new constitution that turned the Russian Empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Finally, came the end of Lenin's reign when he died in 1924 having suffered several strokes that had left him paralysed. It was during this period that he promoted Stalin to Secretary General but this was one move that he regretted, which was shown through 'Lenin's Testament' in which he said "…I am not sure whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution."
Lenin, as the supreme leader of the USSR, was criticised for leaving his party in a bad condition at the time of his death. Although Trotsky was favourite for succeeding Lenin, he had been described as arrogant and Stalin as rude in his final testament. This was the reason why it was not published, as it also contained criticisms of other leading Communists, which could have been damaging. If it had of been published, it would certainly have damaged Stalin.
Now, I will be looking at Stalin's reign, the importance of his actions and the consequences of his policies or events. Firstly, as soon as he came into power, he was determined to modernise the USSR so that it could meet the challenges that were about to come. He took over a country in which almost all the industry was concentrated in just a few cities and whose workers were unskilled and poorly educated. Many regions of the USSR were in the same backward state as they had been a hundred years earlier. To do this, he launched the Five-Year Plans and Collectivisation. Lenin had in fact started Collectivisation but decided to retreat. During Collectivisation, he wanted to modernise agriculture, but instead 13 million people died. This was related to his use of terror, which had continued from Lenin's reign. Although, I think that Stalin took the use of terror further than Lenin would ever have been prepared to go. Many of the things Stalin did were modelled on Lenin as he tried to picture himself walking in his shoes. One of these things was terror. Lenin had started it by having his secret police, the Cheka, and through the small number of show-trials he had when he purged ⅓ of the Bolshevik Party.
One of the most renowned forms of terror Stalin was used was purging. The Purges which occurred between 1928-1937 involved the mass murder of 10 million. By 1934, when things began to improve after Collectivisation, a large group in the Communist Party thought that it was time to slow things down towards industrialisation and to improve relations with the peasants. Sergei Kirov, a leading Communist, put forward these views at the Seventeenth Party Congress. There was talk of removing Stalin as leader, and Kirov seemed to be emerging as a popular alternative. Shortly after Congress, Kirov was shot outside his office in Leningrad. Stalin claimed that there was a conspiracy to murder him and destroy the Party. Using the atmosphere of fear created by the murder, he ordered arrests. By 1936, he set about purging the Communist Party to get rid of all the people who might oppose hi, particularly Bolsheviks who had been important in the past. Along with those who were murdered were Zinoviev, Kamenev and Bukharin who were all put on trial to the full view of the world in the so-called 'show-trials'. Lenin had had 'show-trials' when he purged members of his Bolshevik Party but it was never on such a large scale as Stalin did. Another example of Stalin using terror is when he removed all kulaks from Russia during Collectivisation. He used them as slave labour during industrialisation.
Having looked at both Lenin's reign and Stalin's reign and seen the event and policies that took place, I have decided that Stalin was the more important figure in history. This is because although Lenin in most cases laid the foundation for Stalin to build on, Stalin still managed to turn the fate of the USSR around by saving it from invasion. His aim to industrialise Russia worked and he made huge contributions to the country. Through his collectivisation and Five-Year Plans, he managed to achieve a great deal. However, I do not in any way agree with the methods that Stalin used to achieve his aims. With the wiping out of the kulaks, the purging, the deaths during collectivisation - all of these people did not need to die for Russia to become a modern country. But the question states who was the more important figure so this would have to be Stalin.
Stalin had successfully built Russia into an industrialised country, to even compete with the likes of America and Germany. Lenin introduced the failed policy of War Communism. One of its aims was to keep the towns and the Red Army supplied with food and weapons. Peasants refused to co-operate by not producing food, and with the Red Army still taking it away, and with inclement weather during 1920-1, caused a terrible famine. Russia's people were now demoralised due to the fact that there a large number of deaths and starvation was rife. The number of deaths weakened Russia's economy and production slowed down as numbers of workers decreased. Stalin recruited more women in jobs, and provided them with crèches and day care centres to make their jobs easier, bringing hope to all other women and bankrupt families in Russia. Lenin did not try to employ any women and did not provide any facilities to make peoples' jobs easier. With the addition of women in work, unemployment was at a low. Stalin created thousands of new jobs at the Dnieprostroi Dam, the extension of railway tracks the Moscow underground in Russia, improving communication throughout the country. Stalin's project kept unemployment virtually zero. Stalin, in the process of industrialisation, also created five new industries, an iron, steel, chemicals, machinery and agricultural tools. This, again, meant that unemployment was at an all time low and helped Russia's economy increase. Lenin did not create such ambitious projects to improve communications and create new industries in Russia and decrease unemployment. Education in Russia also became free and compulsory and there was various work-based training, which meant that people were now skilled and efficient at their profession and improved the economy as faster and better working techniques were learnt. Stalin also improved living and working conditions in Russia, as there were more doctors per head, decreasing the chance of sickness, disease and improved sanitations among the Russian people. Lenin did not do anything such as free and compulsory schooling and work-based training to improve the economy. However, Stalin was very harsh on work, and there were downsides to the successes of Stalin. Lateness was usually punished by sacking, which usually meant losing one's home. Stalin also created a famine in the process of collectivisation as millions of people died by selling grain abroad while not having enough food to feed themselves. This was similar to Lenin's War Communism when the same thing occurred. Many starved while watching bitterly as groups working for Stalin collected food produced by the area. Stalin had achieved a lot by improving the economy of Russia greatly and improving the lives of many Russian people, using both good and bad ways to do this. Stalin was admired by the Russian people and he, his style and methods of government were popular.
To conclude, there were many differences and similarities between the two leaders. Mainly, Stalin used what Lenin had done as a foundation and built on it in both good and bad ways. He was able to use a large amount of terror simply because Lenin had but not on a large scale. Although Lenin achieved so much during his reign I simply think he was more important because if necessary then someone else would have kick-started the Revolution and taken his place in history. This is why I think that he is less important. Whereas, I do not think it would be possible for anyone to replace Stalin in history, as no one would be prepared to go the lengths he did for his country.
In conclusion, Stalin was the more important figure in history. He had the power to make certain things happen and he used it to the advantage of his country. It can be argued that the death of all the millions of people did not justify the result which was Russia being a modern, industrialised country and being able to resist Germany. However, it cannot be argued that Stalin did not have any positive effect on Russia because he did. In my opinion, he had the biggest impact on Russia. A bigger impact that Lenin could ever have dreamed for.
