Finally, the SA’s activity is also to put fear on the street to get votes for the next elections. Hitler attempted the Munich Putsch because he thought it would benefit them. Firstly, Hitler was very confident about his huge SA army and thought he was powerful. Not only that, but he thought that the army would join him because of the influence of Ludendorff and the SA which are technically ex-Freikoprs. Hitler also thought that since the government was just developing it would have been a good time to seize power and take over the government.
How accurate is it to say that Lenin’s leadership was the most important reason for the Bolsheviks’ success in the revolution of October 1917? The Bolshevik party on 25th October 1917 seized control of Russia with Lenin viewed to many as the icon of the revolution since his policies were quickly widespread amongst the people of Petrograd and his impressive leadership skills mobilized his ideas and the Bolshevik planned events to gain power. However, many would disagree, arguing that Lenin is not as significant because other leading Bolsheviks, such as Trotsky, were far more effective than Lenin in carrying out the revolution. Secondly, the weaknesses and underlying issues of the Provisional Government proved that they were destined to fail regardless of their attempts to keep power through repression, already placing the Bolsheviks in a good position for taking control. Finally the failures of the Provisional Government made them vulnerable which coincidentally worked to advantage the Bolsheviks.
On the other hand, it can be argued that Trotsky’s leadership of the Red Army during the Civil War was just as, or even more important in the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power, as was the image of the Bolsheviks as being patriotic heroes fighting against Tsarist leaders and foreign invaders. Obviously, it was the October Revolution which brought the Bolshevik Party into power, giving them control of Russia. It can therefore be said that, had this not occurred, then it is incredibly unlikely that the Bolsheviks would ever have come into power. The Revolution was, of course, Lenin’s major goal (though in the end it was organised by Trotsky) for his party, and it was through his leadership and staunch dedication to the fall of the Provisional Government that the Bolsheviks eventually seized power in October 1917. Had it not been for Lenin, the Bolsheviks would never have taken power in the first place, as free elections were to be held in November 1917, with the Social Revolutionaries (SRs) being the most popular at the time.
This is because through the key events, his devious and scheming personality shone through, eventually gaining him the top position of authority. This is shown as soon as Lenin dies as it is said Stalin tells Trotsky the wrong date of Lenin’s funeral (his greatest opposition at the time.) Trotsky doesn’t show up, leaving Stalin to step up and show his loyalty whilst at the same time showing the people of Russia that he is a strong, caring contender, able to take Lenin’s position of leader of Russia. Moreover, Stalin’s position of a moderate ‘peace maker’ as the left side of the party tore themselves apart showed a personality of calm moderation which appealed to others within the party as the fight for leadership became bitter and often ruthless. This made Stalin’s personality shine through amongst the bitter personalities of others such as Trotsky, Zinoviev and
How important was Stalin’s use of the Lenin legacy in gaining power? Stalin’s use of the Lenin Legacy helped him gain support during the years 1924-1929, eventually resulting in him winning the power struggle and gaining power in Russia. Even though in Lenin’s final testament he made it clear that Stalin was trouble and he should be got rid of, Stalin’s political cunning and his use of the Lenin legacy meant that he was able to gain people’s support and become leader of the Communist party. One of the most noticeable was at Lenin’s funeral. Firstly, Stalin had told Trotsky (who was a major rival to Stalin at this time) the wrong date for Lenin’s funeral.
However, Nicholas II had no choice to create the Duma because of the 1905 revolution; so he reluctantly did so he did not completely lose his position. The Communists were a lot more willing to reform politically. Krushchev, similar to Lenin, was keen to reform politically for example decentralisation; he transferred economic planning to more local
There are many cases in which the Tsar’s position and the government’s position are genuinely threatened such as the mass demonstrations leading to many strikes which had the potential of economic failure. On the other hand there are also cases where they are not seriously threatened the mutinies of the armed services for example did not carry on after the war. The revolutionary’s aims had no intentions to threaten the position of the Tsar or his government however some people could argue that it did because of the misinterpretations of their demands. The Tsar and his government faced three main opponents the industrial workers, peasants and the reformist middle class. The fact that peasantry took part in the 1905 revolution (also known as Bloody Sunday)shows that the suspicions of the peasants changing were true and to the Tsar and his government this could have appeared to be a threat because they always feared peasantry development, the Tsar and the Empress especially.
How far do you agree that Lenin's leadership was the main reason why the Bolsheviks were able to seize power in October 1917? Lenin’s leadership was the main reason why the Bolsheviks were able to seize power in October 1917. Despite other contextual factors like the war and land contributing to the weakness of the Provisional Government, Lenin was still the main reason they were able to seize power, because without Lenin the Bolshevik party didn’t have any armed revolution on their agenda, they had even considered joining the Provisional Government like the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionists. Lenin was an extremely important individual in the seizure of the October Revolution. The leadership of the Bolshevik party, after Lenin had been forced into exile in Switzerland, didn’t press for an armed uprising.
However, the Russo Japanese was not the only factor leading to Bloody Sunday, the start of the Revolution, other factors such as the Great Spurt and Alexander III’s manifesto – ‘the reaction’ also led to the start of the revolution. Short term causes of the war are that people wanted change. There was a growing population in Russia, but conditions were only getting worse. The proletariats (urban workers) had to endure harsh working conditions as well as appalling hygiene standards. Another cause of the war was that Russia wanted to continue its expansion into the Far East and obtain a free port.
Furthermore, the circumstances allowed the Bolshevik actions to be successful, as well as, undermine any attempts of the provisional government to hold on to the little power they had. Timing was key for the Bolsheviks as if they acted too quickly they could have faced having to share power with the rest of the soviet, they didn’t have the majority in the Petrograd or Moscow soviet until August 1917, meaning that they didn’t have enough control and would have had to work with the other parties such as the Mensheviks to gain power, which some Bolsheviks wanted, however, Lenin urged to wait. However, too late and there could have been stronger groups that they could have contended with, on the 9th of august the provisional government announced a date for the elections to the constituent assembly fir November meaning that the Bolsheviks needed to gain as much power and support in order to allow the first free election to show that the Bolsheviks truly had power. Another threat that stood in the way of the Bolsheviks was the all Russian congress of soviets was due to meet in October meaning that the Bolsheviks were ruining out of time if they wanted to claim authority of Russia pushing for the October revolution. Another circumstance was the war, many soldiers