Joseph Stalin’s killing spree started in the 1930’s with a Great Purge of the communist party. Those targeted were deported, executed or sent to the Gulag Labour Camps. By 1937 all the original members of Lenin’s cabinet who had not died of natural causes before the purge, were executed. At least 1 million people were killed for political offences. Mass operations of the NKVD (The secret police) targeted foreign ethnicities such as Poles, Germans and Koreans.
In the early 1930’s Stalin felt threatened by his growing opposition and was determined to bring the party under his total control. At the 17th Party Congress in 1934, Sergei Kirov received the vast majority of votes which led to his assassination due to the threat that he posed to Stalin’s leadership. Many argued that this was a turning point in Russian history. It unleased a terror that killed millions in the next four years. Stalin was able to eliminate all effective opposition through a series of purges.
In February 1917 the Tsar had been forced to give up his throne. Explain why this first revolution occurred. Revolution occurred because of the impact World War One had on the defeat of the Russian military; food shortages and transport dislocation in Russia. There was a shortage of weapons and soldiers were forced to fight without weapons as weapons and ammunition had become rationed. The military leadership was terrible and the Tsar took it upon himself to have the role of personal command in 1915 (as told to him by Rasputin).
One of the most difficult problems was choosing a new emperor. Eventually, the throne went to the highest bidder. With the corruption within the empire, it would only grow weaker every day.”[1] The disapproval in government by the people of Rome brought on civil war. After the assassination of emperor Severus Alexander, a 50-year civil war would erupt and bring confusion to the empire. “In what sometimes has been called the ‘military anarchy’, the fifty years following the murder of emperor Alexander Severus in AD 235 saw reins of Roman power pass through the hands of no fewer than twenty legitimate emperors and a host of usurpers, between them each
Assess the causes for the creation of the duma in 1905 During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the nation of Russia was undergoing a period of turmoil, change, poverty and revolt. The current Tsar, Nicholas II, was a leader put in charge at the wrong time, and coupled with a few bad choices, was falling out of favour with his people. He was losing his grip on the Russian leadership and drastic change was needed to make the people happy, thus the Duma was created. The Duma was an elected parliament for Russia, with the power to make laws, and due to this Nicholas II could no longer be called an autocrat. This allowed freedom of speech in Russia, letting all males in Russia the right to vote.
This therefore caused the Russo-Japanese War to be partly responsible for the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution. Huge military defeats were caused by the Russo-Japanese War, which highlighted the weakness of the military and caused national humiliation, which contributed to the 1905 Revolution. The Russian Baltic fleet consisting of the 35 warships had sailed from northern Europe to the Far East, only to lose 25 warships in a defeat by the Japanese navy. The crushing of Russian’s military added impetus to the 1905 Revolution, as it made the people of Russia aware of the weakness of their military and ashamed to be Russian. They were losing to a nation very few had heard of and it was humiliating.
This highlighted the weakness of the military and caused national humiliation, thus contributing to the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution. Another example of a great failure of the military was at the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905. The Russian Baltic fleet consisting of the 35 warships had sailed from northern Europe to the Far East, only to lose 25 warships in a defeat by the Japanese navy. This as it made the people of Russia aware of the weakness of their military and ashamed to be Russian. Moreover, the military was very ill-equipped for the war.
I had jobs that I didn’t like and therefore no incentive to put forth my best effort. Nothing ever worked out the way I wanted and I always felt that it was because of something or someone preventing me from succeeding. There was a sense of hopelessness and a general thought of “Why should I work so hard and miss out on having fun and doing what I want if I’m not going to get anywhere?” Well one thing I did know for sure was that I loved my country and what it stood for. I was raised with the understanding that those who put their lives on the line defending America deserved great respect. So, at age 19, I made the choice to join the military and try my hand at being a hero.
My initial feeling when I found out was shock and then guilt. I felt as though I could have saved my aunt from the pain of his death if I had stuck to the original plan. I wished I could have at least saved her the pain of being the one to find him. It’s been a long road of healing for her and she’ll never completely heal. My cousin didn’t show the typical signs of suicidal tendency, nor did he leave a note.
This family law was very hard to obey and a trail of tears followed gravity toward the tip of my feet. I could not disregard this law because everything that I have done for my family, school, and community would have been abandoned. Yet, I longed to change this fact, and remove it from my obligation. One of the most important factors that brought me to this decision was losing my best friend; we will not be able to see each other again often. Because of this, a question developed in my mind: Is the core value of a culture more important than personal value?