Compare the characters and beliefs of Lenin and Stalin.

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Compare the characters and beliefs of Lenin and Stalin.

Although it appears that Lenin and Stalin are similar in their characters and b

eliefs, they are actually quite different. The characters of these two men are

similar in some ways but different in others. One of these similarities is that

they were both ruthless with opposition. They used similar methods of dealing

with people who opposed them, Lenin's Red Terror and Stalin's secret police, pu

rges and camps. However the motives for dealing with the opposition were quite

different. Lenin killed political enemies in an attempt to keep communism alive

. He only killed people who were a threat to Communism and tried to help Russia

and its economy. Stalin however, seemed to be quite paranoid, and as well as k

illing any opposition of Communism, he also killed anyone who he thought was a

threat to himself. This included loyal Communist friends, who had helped him to

gain power after Lenin's death.

This is most probably due to their rather different childhoods. Lenin was broug

ht up in a middle class home. He received a good educated and had a very suppor

tive family. Stalin on the other hand had a terrible upbringing. He came from a

very poor family. He was frequently hit by his father, and also bullied at sch

ool. All this contributed to becoming very wary of other people and he lost all

trust in them. This made him think everyone was involved in a conspiracy again
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st him, and caused him to sentence millions of people to death

There were quite a few similarities between Lenin and Stalin. They were both ve

ry ambitious, with ideas of Communism bringing great things to Russia. They wer

e also very focused on their ambitions, and went to extremes to see that they w

ere accomplished.

There were many differences in their beliefs as well. The popular assumption is

that Lenin and Stalin were both Communist so all of their beliefs were the sam

e, but there are more differences ...

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