How far does Alexander II deserve the Title “Tsar Liberator”? Prior to the reign of Alexander II, his father, Nicholas I ruled Russia under repressive and old fashioned policies. Alexander felt there was a lot of change needed to help boost the Russian economy. Russia’s economy was largely based around agriculture which was seen as backward for the time. One of Alexander’s reforms was to boom industries to start competing with the west who had more developed technology and whose economies were much more stable.
The fact that Collectivisation wasn't leagues better than the NEP in terms of productivity could be excused by its socialist nature. Marx, Lenin and Stalin were all in agreement that for true Communism to be achieved, Socialism must come first. And collective farms were a step in the right direction. The introduction of mechanised equipment such as tractors
Trotsky wanted to help communists in other countries to the revolution and push forward the revolution in the USSR. He wanted to end the NEP and introduce more socialist ways of running the economy; Stalin however believed they could build a fully economic state by helping the people within the USSR and not from outsiders. Members of the communist party like the policies of Stalin better than those of Trotsky’s, because they didn’t trust Trotsky to lead them into a better USSR. What Stalin meant by ‘socialism in one country’ was that the nations first was to consolidate Lenin’s revolution and the rule of the CPSU by turning the USSR into a modern state capable of defending itself against enemies, a majority of Russia’s population agreed with this. Although Zinoviev and Kamenev attacked Stalin calling a vote of no confidence in him, the ending of the NEP and a
Without communist allies Russia needed necessities for modern warfare. This is when Stalin’s elite obsession for iron, steel and oil began. Which is ironic, as Stalin’s name in Russian is the equivalent to ‘Man of Steel.’ In his mind, without these raw materials, war would become a certain loss if it was to break out. Stalin described these materials as ‘Decisive branches of industry’ and in order for Russia to advance and industrialise these would be needed of vast quantities. He then intended for a mass increase in resource production to take place, which in fact did occur over the coming plans.
The collectivisation of agriculture provided Stalin with the idea that further industrial growth was necessary in order to fuel the country’s economy and diminish the burden of Russia’s backwards nature. He wanted Russia to become self-sufficient and not have to rely on the West for anything so the first 5 year plan was established in the hope that changes could be made. It can be perceived that the first plan did not achieve a great deal but
On the other hand, these two supreme leaders had ideological differences, which were used during the time, when they were in power. We can say that Lenin was more a political theorist and ideologue, and believed in socialism as the only way to save the working class from bourgeoisie usage, they wanted that there be only one equal class. However, Stalin presented his socialism not only as being pure as Lenin, but as also the only acceptable variant of socialism. His ideology served an ulterior purpose of reinforcing his legitimacy and authority . Furthermore, “A Short Course” (book written by Stalin) was not just purely ideological work but a political justification as its last chapter dealt with the liquidation of his opponents.
How far did the priorities of the three Five-Year Plans change in the year 1929-41? By Seb Monson The Industrialisation of Soviet Russia took form in the way of 3 Five Year Plans (FYP) which aimed for heavy industry throughout Russia to help aid the country in catching up with the ‘advanced countries’ and preparing Russia for war otherwise they would ‘perish’ as said by Lenin on the eve of the October revolution. Great Britian was in fact influential on Stalin as it was seen as a powerful Capitalist state after its Industrial Revolution a century earlier. This helped Stalin gauge what needed to occur, to enable Russia and its Socialist state to become a superpower. Stalin recognised that the industrial revolutions which, had made Western Europe and Northern America so strong, had been based on iron and steel production.
Past paper questions- Russia in Revolution 1881-1924 From Autocracy to Dictatorship and Stalin’s Russia 1924-53 January 2009 How far were divisions among its opponents responsible for the survival of the Tsarist rule in the years 1881-1905? (30 marks) OR How far was the Provisional Government responsible for its own downfall? (30 marks) How far were economic problems responsible for Stalin’s decision to replace the New Economic Policy in 1928 with the first Five-Year Plan? (30 marks) OR How far was the dramatic development of a war economy responsible for the USSR’s victory in the Second World War? (30 marks) June 2009 How far do you agree that the economy of Tsarist Russia was transformed in the years to 1914?
Either we do this or they crush us.’’ Stalin wanted the USSR to modernise at such a fast rate that it would make up the 50-year gap in 10 years. The industry had to be developed to such an extent that the country, which had all along depended mostly on agriculture or farming, had to depend on industry more. Although Russia was recovering from war, its production from heavy industries was still low compared to other countries. Stalin felt that this needed to be improved if they were to survive any possible attack that might come from the capitalist West attempting to destroy Communist Russia. The USSR needed to invest in materials like coal, iron, steel and power to defend itself properly.
However, due to the Industrial Revolution, America began to stray from the vision the founding fathers had for the nation in the late 1700’s and 1800’s. Though social mobility was promised to immigrants and common Americans, these same people were often exploited and left in poverty. Founding fathers, such as Thomas Jefferson, valued farming above all else, but as industrialism took hold of America, farming became much necessary, and farmers more scarce. Finally, though America’s politicians promised to hear what the common people had to say, during and after the Industrial Revolution it seemed that only the very wealthy could make any sort of impact, and there was nothing to stop them from crushing the working class underfoot. The United States of America was built on the ideal that every man should be able to make his way in the world regardless of his family or class.