Compare the characters and beliefs of Lenin and Stalin.
Compare the characters and beliefs of Lenin and Stalin. In terms of character, both Stalin and Lenin were politically skilled leaders. It was largely due to Lenin that the Bolsheviks were able to stay in power after 1917. He had good political judgement and was able to adapt to changing circumstances. During the Civil War in 1918, he introduced the War Communism policy, which kept the Red Army supplied with food and armament and he allowed Trotsky to rule the army as he wished. Without these changes the Communists perhaps would have lost the war. Stalin as well proved to be politically skilled, as he anticipated World War 2, and by introducing the 5 Year Plans, he managed to arm Russia well enough to defeat the Germans and to emerge as one of the winners of World War 2. He also managed to won the power struggle between him and Trotsky due to his manipulation of opponents. A more negative aspect of their character, was that both of them proved to be quite ruthless. Lenin used ruthless methods and terror to stay in power. He had as the secret police the Cheka, which carried out tortures and executions, arresting people that were considered to be dangerous. Stalin continued along the same way, he just merely altering the name- in 1922 the Cheka became the OGPU and in 1933 it was called the NKVD. He also introduced labour camps and during the 1930s the 'Show Trials' caused many
How stable was Russia in 1914
How stable was Russia in 1914 In 1914 Russia was seen to be both stable and unstable. In fact it could be said that there was no stability in parts of Russia, like the cities due to many key problems with the government, the economy and the society. Due to reasons like the economy, political situations and discontented people in society, Russia was unstable. Russians were slowly uprising against the Tsar and his council, and this was a major issue. However Russia was also seen to be quite stable in her rural areas, this was partially because peasants were happy about crop rotations and good harvest. The Tsar saw that many Russians were discontent and in fear of a revolution, he tried to improve situations. The Tsar responded to this situation by appointing member of his government who he thought could vastly improve circumstances in Russia. The Tsar appointed Piotr Stolypin to improve conditions in Russia. Stolypin immediately began his reign to introduce his ideas like social modernization, industrialization, agriculture reforms, education reforms, land reforms and many more. Examples of how significant these changes were can be seen when agricultural reforms helped to produce much more food and tackled with food problems, this give to some extent what people wanted. Another example was in the education reform, he tried to reduce the number of illiterates in Russia by
How did the tsar survive the 1905 revolution?
How did the tsar survive the 1905 revolution? How did the Tsar overcome the opposition they faced in the 1905 revolution? Many things where going against the Tsar at that time but was the main factor? It is thought to be one of three, the failing of the opposition, and the use of force and the makings of concessions. I will investigate these factors then come to conclusion on which factor was actually most influential. The reason this revolution came about was because in the lead up to the actual opposition to the government there was increasing social unrest caused by rapid industrialisation: There was no way of the lower classes expressing their political views, there was no parliament for them, there was a discontented and oppressed working class, and a desperate and poverty stricken peasantry. The middle classes were unhappy because of the absence of being able to have a say in what was happening in their country, this was a problem for the vast population. The peasants were poor because they owned no land for themselves and of poor harvests and heavy taxing by the Tsar to pay for industrialisation. The working classes had to cope with very poor working conditions, for very long hours and for very little pay. This meant many of the classes where wanting the Tsars regime to come to an end. Only the gentry, the people who supported industrialisation and the army supported
Did the benefits of Stalin's economic policies justify their implementation?
Did the benefits of Stalin's economic policies justify their implementation? In 1928, Russia was poor and her industry was smaller than many countries. Stalin aimed to transform this and turn Russia into a powerful and strong nation. He wanted to create a modern industry so Russia was less dependent on the western world and could catch up with America. He also wanted to protect Russia so the were military strong in case of war and they had a strong industry capable of producing good armaments so they had defence in case of attack. Stalin aimed to re-organise agriculture to produce food so Russia could trade with Europe and America so they could get money to buy raw materials and machinery. He wanted to feed Russia's population. Stalin also aimed for Russia to become self-sufficient. In order to develop Russia's industry rapidly, Stalin organised this planning with the 'Five-Year Plans'. There were three plans which determined how and when things were produced and how prices and wages were determined. The benefits of these plans were that the production of coal and iron increased quickly. Huge new industrial complexes were built like the Magnitogorsk, the Belomor Canal, railways and motorways. These all were showpieces of Soviet achievement. They had great facilities and steel and iron production was increasing. Defence and armaments grew rapidly also. Transport and
Explain why Stalin, and not Trotsky, emerged as Lenins successor.
Explain why Stalin, and not Trotsky, emerged as Lenin's successor. The leadership struggle was far from decided when Lenin died- Lenin himself had not really offered guidance on who should succeed him. Lenin became very ill towards the end of 1923. After his first stroke in May 1922, he became uneasy about Stalin. Lenin did not believe that Stalin would use his power responsibly and he questioned his actions and the rudeness of Stalin to his wife. Lenin even tried to get rid of Stalin and make Trotsky Chairman of the council of people's commissars. After Lenin's third stroke in 1923, Stalin aligned himself for tactical reasons with Zinoviev and Kamenev against Trotsky. Zinoviev and Kamenev did this because it made them feel unimportant and by this it showed them in a bad light. This helped Stalin because now nobody would ever know that Lenin had picked out Trotsky to be the next leader over Stalin, and because it was in Lenin's will, everybody would want Trotsky in control and not Stalin. By this time Lenin was deprived from the power of speech and was powerless to influence anything much, especially since Stalin was in control of his medical care. In Lenin's will he was clearly in favour of Trotsky becoming the next Bolshevik leader, however, he did not state who he wanted as he referred to Trotsky having 'excessive self-confidence'. Another of Trotsky's errors was that he
What methods did Stalin use to control the Soviet Union?
What methods did Stalin use to control the Soviet Union? There are several methods Stalin had introduced to obtain control over the Soviet Union by directing individual policies and techniques into a particular group. Early on the time Stalin had seized power over Russia, he had immediately brought out his version of the cult of personality. It was also referred as the 'cult of Stalin'. As a technique it was brought out to push the glorification of Stalin into every corner of the work place, street and home with posters and leaflets parading on Stalin's success and undeniable leadership. This idea of propaganda had helped manipulate fellow Russians to believe that Stalin was somehow god-like due to his superior rank. Education and censorship were strictly controlled and played an important role in part of Stalin's key features of control. Books were rewritten, censored and introduced to teach everyone the ideas of Stalin in schools. Stalin had also had all the history of the old communists erased from education books and reprinted to modified version that gave him more of an elevated role in the textbooks. Political youth groups were also introduced to train children in socialism along with various activities such as sports and camps. This ultimately gave Stalin control over the young generation of the Soviet Union, as they were lead to believe in what was taught to
How significant a figure in the revolution of 1917 Russia was Lenin?
Ellis Keddie History Coursework How significant a figure in the revolution of 1917 Russia was Lenin? In the space of one year Russia received two revolutions; the overthrow of the tsar and his regime in February of 1917 and then the Bolshevik revolution in October of the same year. Vladimir Lenin, a man born into a respectable Russian family with several skills, very much influenced the Bolshevik revolution and debatably had an effect on the March uprising of the peasants and working class. In the first revolution of 1917 tsar Nicholas II was thrown from power and The Provisional Government took its place. This was caused by several different factors which all culminated together to form this result. Arguably one of the main factors which caused the tsar to fall from power and fuelled the revolution was the failures in the war. The army fought bravely in the First World War but stood no chance against the Germans as they had little supplies, were badly led and treated appallingly by their aristocrat officers; this caused many to turn against the tsar and his views and go forward in mutiny and protest against him. The strikes and food shortages also led to many of the working class turning against the regime and joining the people against him. Lenin seemed to have no direct impact on the war efforts or the strikes and food shortages
Stalin's Russia
Garima Dalal Year 13 Stalin’s Russia Stalin means “Man of Steel” in Russian. Joseph Stalin was an enthusiastic defender of Lenin; he led many Marxist movements in Georgia and joined the Bolsheviks. His two main aims were: a command economy and a totalitarian system of government. Two of Stalin’s aims were to modernize Russia so that it could make up the 50 year gap in 10 years and to change the majority of the primary sector to secondary, make up the country’s industry. Stalin was afraid that the surrounding capitalist governments like the ones of Finland, Poland and Romania might attack Russia and that Russia might have nothing to defend itself with. That’s why he felt that there was an urgent need to build up the country’s supplies. According to Stalin, there had to be more workers working in the factories than in the farms so industrialization can take place quicker, however he also realized that there had to be plenty of food production to feed the workforce. Under Stalin’s rule, Russia’s economy was totally transformed. The central government made decisions and set targets for all the businesses but the goal was to exceed the targets rather than meeting them. The wages were paid in food rations so people knew they had to work to be able to eat. Some people were even killed by other workers who were jealous of the hard-working people. Only
The Outcome of the power struggle owes more to the weakness of Trotsky than the skill of Stalin. How far do you agree?
Sunday 25th November 2012 “The Outcome of the power struggle owes more to the weakness of Trotsky than the skill of Stalin.” How far do you agree? I do not agree with this statement as Stalin’s sheer skill and manipulation meant he essentially managed to wipe out the opposition, in particular Trotsky, which inevitably led to his success. Although it can be seen that Trotsky’s numerous errors and fixed reputation for being lazy and arrogant led to the outcome of the power struggle, his results could have not possibly justified the success over the other candidates. Therefore, the weaknesses of Trotsky alone would not have been enough and the outcome of the power struggle owed more to the skill of Stalin. Although Trotsky’s errors and negative reputation aided Stalin to succeed, without Stalin’s manipulation and his ability to make the best of them, Trotsky’s faults would not alone have guaranteed him success. It was Stalin’s manipulation skills and ability to make the best of Trotsky’s mistakes that catapulted him into power. Trotsky had a firm reputation for being lazy, arrogant and ignorant; a perception later confirmed when he failed to turn up to Lenin’s funeral. Although many argue that Trotsky was in the Crimea during the funeral and return in time, his absence, whatever the cause had severely negative impacts on his name. However, it was
Causes of the 1905 Russian revolution
What were the causes of the 1905 Russian revolution. Jenny Hughes Before the 1905 revolution Russia was a very unstable country. 80% of the population who happened to be the peasants were struck with famine and they wanted to own their land and not have to pay redemption payments. The Liberals wanted to have a constitutional government so that the Tsar wouldn’t have all the power. The working class wanted to have better working conditions and wanted to reduce the amount of time they spent at work. All these groups wanted change in Russia, something had to be done. One of the main causes of the revolution was the Russo-Japanese war. This war completely humiliated the Tsar because he thought that he could start a war with a weak nation, Japan and by winning, he could distract the people of Russia from the problems at home. Not only did it humiliate the Tsar it also caused shortage of resources in Russia. Unfortunately the Russian navy was absolutely crushed by the Japanese in multiple of quick battles. This sparked outrage all over Russia that such a weak nation, an Asian nation could beat them. Because of this the army started to depart and mutiny starting with the Potemkin because of the Tsar’s bad decisions. 200,000 protesters, who were industrial workers, led by Father Gapon, marched unarmed and sang patriotic
