Who do you think was the most important figure in Russian history - Lenin or Stalin? Explain your answer.
Both leaders play important roles in the Russian history. Lenin gave birth to Communism in Russia and helped it survive during its first critical years. He set up a one-party rule, his style of leadership was borrowed with only slight alterations by six consecutive leaders and command economy with Communism lasted till 1991. Stalin continued along Lenin’s way, but took Russia more into ‘extremes‘. Out of the backward Russia he created an influential and industrialised totalitarian state feared by the West. He expanded the Soviet Unions’ borders up to Eastern Europe and helped in the spread of Communism right 100 km from the most dominant capitalist state, the USA. He introduced Collectivisation, helped Russia win the 2nd World War, but at the same time killed millions of people, most of them during the Purges. But could all this have happened without Lenin?
It is possible that without Lenin Communism would have never emerged in Russia. If he wouldn’t have returned from Finland twice, first to raise the Bolshevik’s popularity - from a barely known Party to the third most influential one - and the second time to persuade other fellow party members to seize power, then the Bolsheviks might have never won enough support or might have failed to seize the right moment for the overthrow of the Provisional Government. Considering that Communism lasted for more than 70 year in Russia, his importance in the Russian history seems to be enormous. Furthermore, Lenin helped Communism to survive in perhaps the most critical times of a new regime: right after it has been set up. He closed down the Constituent Assembly and made peace with Germany so he can concentrate on Russia’s internal affairs. During the Civil War in 1918 he made some very tactful decisions, like letting Trotsky to lead the Red Army and introducing War Communism to supply the soldiers. From all these, we can easily see that Lenin’s role in the set up of Communism is absolutely crucial, making him a very important figure in the Russian history.
