Describe and analyse why, how and to what degree of success were Lenin and Stalin able to gain control and influence over Russia.

Lenin and Stalin are two Bolshevik leaders who left there mark on Russian history. Lenin was the leader of Russia for seven years from 1917 to 1924 and then for the next 17years Stalin led Russia in one of the most brutal dictatorships ever known to man. Lenin was one of the key figures in establishing the Bolsheviks party in 8th November 1917. Lenin was the chairman of the council of commissioners and Stalin the Commissar for nationalities. To take control over Russia Lenin had to overthrow the Tsar Nicholas II whose family had been ruling Russia for many centuries prior to 1917. For Lenin to initially take control over Russia he needed the support of the average Russian peasant which was not difficult due to the fact that Russia had been in a chaotic state for many years prior to 1917. The day to day life for the average peasant was a struggle for survival as many were dying in alarming rates form starvation to malnutrition and as the peasants did not even have any basic education and were extremely simple minded, so gathering there support by offering them basic essentials to help them have better life’s was not to difficult as the slogan that the Bolshevik party used to entice the peasants was ‘bread, peace and land’. The fact that Russia trailed behind the rest of mainland Europe by centuries both economically and socially helped put into context just how Russia was doing.

By 1917 Russia had been involved in World War 1 for 3 years with its casualties constantly mounting. By this time the Tsar Nicholas II had left his mainland duties under the technical control of his wife Tsarina who was heavily influenced by Rasputin was also known as the Mad Monk, although he was not actually a monk or religious pilgrim. He was believed to have been a faith healer. Rasputin is viewed by most historians today as a scapegoat. He played a small but extremely pivotal role in the downfall of the Romanov dynasty that finally led to Bolshevik victory. Rasputin was a evil and corrupt man who had many innocent executed. Much hatred grew towards Rasputin who was eventually assassinated in 1916 by a group of nobles. His removal from the head of Russian politics was too little to late to save the Ramonov dynasty as Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in March 1917. As Lenin took control of Russia on November 8th 1917 he instantly made what is arguably motivated to please and gain support the Russian people rather than what is for the real good of Russia because Lenin knew before he could make any tough decisions that would upset large number of the Russian population he would have the support of the Russian people in the post Ramonov dynasty. Firstly Lenin and the Bolsheviks immediately ended Russia’s involvement in World War 1 and started peace talks with Germany in Germany. A land decree was then issued were all the land that was previously owned by the Tsar, church and rich landlords. This land was given to the peasants and committees formed in local areas to divide land up among the peasants. This in particular turned out to be a very popular decision amongst the peasants as they finally had land of there own, something they wanted for centuries. Lenin then allowed a constitutional assembly to be started. This was also a very popular move between Russian populations because they could decide who was in government. Lenin wanted to broaden the popularity of the Bolsheviks party and renamed it the Communist party. However, many peasants were Social Revolutionary supporters and they won 300 of the possible 700 seats available as the Communist Party won only 175 seats. As Lenin was not in total control he decided to cancel the assembly and only after one day of business something which proved to be very unpopular. Lenin was not prepared to share his power and was now taking his first steps in establishing a dictatorship. For Lenin to truly have total influence and control over Russia something that he always intended or wanted to do he had to have the general public in constant fear of execution or beatings if they spoke ill of Lenin. He did so by starting up the secret police (The Cheka) who mingled in with the general public and spied on them. Anyone whom was suspected of being anti-communist was arrested, shot or even tortured without even standing trial. There were attempts to assassinate Lenin. These however, failed and a Red Terror campaign was started in the summer of 1918 were a reported 50,000 opponents were arrested and executed. One of the main reasons Lenin had been able to take control of Russia and spread his influence successfully was largely because his opponents were weak and poorly organized. However in 1918 Lenin’s opponents joined together to form ‘the whites’ who were a group of landowners, religious groups and Tsar Supporters who wanted the Tsar reinstated. The whites were also assisted by USA, Britain, Japan and France who were not happy with the emergence of communism and feared it would lead to a world revolution. Now it would be seen how successful Lenin’s control and influence over Russia was as civil war broke out in 1918. Despite the whites advances into central Russia the white’s forces were defeated in March 1920. The civil war showed the strength of the Bolsheviks as there army was well trained, well equipped and well lead. The Bolsheviks had control of important industrial centers and believed they were fighting for a cause, to free Russia from foreigners. Most of the Russian population supported the Bolsheviks because they believed it as for the good of the country and it was safer for them to support them as well. The civil war however was disastrous for the population as many were killed and lost there land. 21million people died between 1914 and 1921. Only 50% of Russia’s farming land was cultivated. Poor sanitation led to widespread disease. There major shortages in doctors and hospitals. In 1921 5 million people died of famine. To help Russia’s economy Lenin started up the NEP (New Economic Policy). The NEP restored some private ownership to small parts of the economy, especially farming. It replaced the policy of "War Communism", which had been used during the Russian civil war and which was deemed unsustainable in an underdeveloped country like Russia, with a kind of "Market Socialism", whereby nationalized (government owned) industries were allowed to operate autonomously, while a market system was introduced in agriculture. To explain the NEP, Lenin had said "We are not civilized enough for socialism", referring to the fact that Russia was still a primarily agrarian nation, with a very small urban population and a weak industrial base, and thus it did not meet the economic criteria necessary for full socialism.

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NEP succeeded in creating an economic recovery after the devastating effects of the World War 1, the Russian Revolution and the Russian civil war. Most notably, it increased agricultural production enormously and ended the ongoing famine. It was abandoned a few years after Lenin's death in 1924, since it was deemed that the original objectives of the NEP had been achieved and it was time to move on. The NEP was generally believed to be intended as an interim measure, and proved highly unpopular with the strong Marxist in the Bolshevik party because of its compromise with some capitalistic elements. They saw the NEP as a betrayal of communist principles, and they believed it would have a negative long-term economic effect, so they wanted a fully planned economy instead. Lenin then set up the USSR. This is as all the area that was captured by the end of the civil war and turned into socialist republics. This was Lenin’s last major move as he died in 1924. Overall it could be said that Lenin was very successful in gaining control and influence over Russia as he overcame a revolution and severe economic and social problems and even an attempted assassination to create his dream of a strong communist state.

Following Lenin’s death Joseph Stalin despite tough opposition from Leon Trotsky took control of the, then USSR in what only can be described as one of the most evil dictatorships known to man. Stalin however did not appear at first to be the natural successor to Lenin as Trotsky was even advised by Lenin to take control as he believed that Stalin would abuse his power. Stalin’s fundamental beliefs were firstly, communism should survive in Russia by itself a view that changed in the later years of his dictatorship. Secondly he believed that Russian people need to be guided and supported by a communist government that should develop Russia into a powerful and modern state. He labeled his ideologies as ‘socialism in one country’. Stalin’s view was extremely popular with the Russian people because it allowed their involvement in the development of their country. With his influence growing and already being in a powerful position as the General Secretary of the Communist party Stalin not surprisingly appointed his supporters and removed his enemies and was eventually elected as leader of Russia in 1924. In fear of opposition from Trotsky Stalin expelled Trotsky from the party in 1927 and then in 1929 Trotsky was exiled were he eventually ended up in Mexico were he was eventually assassinated by members of Stalin’s secret police. Stalin was in constant fear of any political threat so he not only removed his oppositions he exiled them to Siberia if they were lucky because the standard procedure tended to be execution. So as a result of this Stalin was able to lead the USSR unchallenged. Russia was now a totalitarian state in which the Communist party had total control of the whole country and the lives of the people. Stalin used propaganda to glorify himself and brainwash the Russian people. Stalin was looking after the people at work, at home and in their leisure time. Posters, paintings. Statutes etc were all displayed to honor Stalin. To place total control over the Russian people and put them in fear if they considered rebellion was to put in place the purges were communists and non-communists were either executed or exiled. Economially however Russia did improve greatly under Stalin as he introduced collectivisation and a 5 year industry plan. Collectivization meant drastic social changes, on a scale not seen since the abolition of serfdom in 1861, and alienation from control of the land and its produce. Collectivization also meant a drastic drop in living standards for many peasants (but not all; the poorest peasants actually saw their living standards increase), and it faced widespread and often violent resistance among the peasantry.

In the first years of collectivization, agricultural production actually dropped. Stalin blamed this unexpected drop on kulaks (rich peasants), who resisted collectivization. Therefore those defined as "kulaks", "kulak helpers" and later "ex-kulaks" were to be shot, placed into Gulag labor camps or deported to remote areas of the country, depending on the charge.

The two-stage progress of the collectivization, interrupted for a year by Stalin's famous editorial "Dizzy with success" (Pravda, March 30, 1930), is a prime example of his ability for tactical retreats.

Secondly the 5 year industry plan were World War 1 and the Russian civil war had a devastating effect on the country's economy; industrial output in 1922 was 13% of that in 1914. Under Stalin's direction, the New Economic Policy, which allowed a degree of market flexibility within the context of socialism, was replaced by a system of centrally-ordained Five-Year Plans in the late 1920s. These called for a highly ambitious program of state-guided crash industrialization and the collectivization of agriculture. In spite of early breakdowns and failures, the first two Five-Year Plans achieved rapid industrialization from a very low economic base. The Soviet Union, generally ranked as the poorest nation in Europe in 1922, now industrialized at a phenomenal rate, far surpassing Germany's pace of industrialization in the 19th century and Japan's earlier in the 20th.

With no seed capital, little foreign trade, and barely any modern industry to start with, Stalin's government financed industrialization by both restraining consumption on the part of ordinary Soviet citizens, to ensure capital went for re-investment into industry, and by ruthless extraction of wealth from the peasantry. In specific but common cases, the industrial labor was knowingly underpaid. First, there was the usage of the almost free labor of prisoners in forced labor camps. Second, there was frequent "mobilization" of communists and Komsomol members for various construction projects. In conclusion Stalin’s rise to power was greatly successful economically and even for Stalin in personal terms as he got what he wanted a Russian state that he totally controlled with no objections however it is difficult to justify any success especially Stalin’s when so many were killed under his orders and the majority were if not all were unnecessary.

Describe and analyse why, how and to what degree of success were Lenin and Stalin able to gain control and influence over Russia.

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