These consist of firstly, his encouragement of the revolution in 1917 through his confidence in his theory and timing. He then, in January of 1918 supported Trotsky opposed to Lenin in the conscription of the Red Army rather than depending on volunteers and also dissolved his promised Constituent Assembly in his refusal to share power- crucial to succeed in their aim of dictatorship. In March of that year he, much to the rest of the country’s distaste due to the severe demands, insisted on the signing of the Treaty of Brest Litovsk on the back of their withdrawal from WW! ; knowing that peace was essential for their survival. Lenin then ensured their victory in the Civil War with his establishment of War Communism and the use of terror.
The key defendants that were removed were Trotsky, Kamenev, Buhkarin, Yagoda and Zinoviev. This was significant in allowing Stalin to establish his personal dictatorship as they removed all of Stalin’s rivals from the 1920’s thus creating fear among the USSR showing that if you did anything that Stalin disliked, your life would be in danger, particularly because these people had been in positions of power therefore people obeyed all of Stalin’s orders. This lead to the wider terror among ordinary people. They were denounces, arrested and sent to Gulags by the NKVD. It is estimated that between 1934-8, 20 million Russians were sent to these gulags.
Lenin was exiled by Tsar Nicholas as an extremist and only made his way back to liberate Russia due to the First World War, in which he managed to sneak through the German frontline to help lead the Bolshevik uprising. At this moment in time the Provisional Government had already taken control after the popular revolution that had led to Tsar Nicholas’ abdication from the throne and eventual murder. However upon his return the role of liberator was immediately taken up with his April Theses aimed to gain support of the populace and put more sway behind the Bolshevik party, timely named “Peace, Bread Land.” In which he addressed the major issues of the population and the Proletariat whom he which knew would be the ones to help reach the end of capitalism due to the Marxist guidelines to the life line of capitalist society. This stance on policies also managed to place partisanship into Russia through opposing the Provisional Government on anything that was said. As Maxim Gorky said then “Lenin is a gifted man who has all the qualities of a leader”.
By comparing the key events in terms of opposition like the Assassination of Alexander II in 1881, Blood Sunday and the October manifesto in 1905, the February and October revolution in 1917, and how effectively they were dealt with, then we can come to a judgment on the argument. Stalin’s most intense opposition came at the beginning of his quest to becoming ruler to Russia from 1924 to 1929. Before Lenin passed away from his stroke he had left a testament stating that Stalin was dangerous and should be dismissed also he had chosen Trotsky the leader of Red army as his successor. Stalin was given the position of General sectary of the communist party in 1922 which everyone associated as a dull and unimportant Job. However he managed to manipulate the leftists Zinoviev and Kamenev in the politburo into covering up Lenin’s
This event led to labor unrest, peasant insurrections, student demonstrations, as well as army and navy mutinies. Although the shooting was not Nicholas II’s fault, he was given the nickname, “ The Bloody Murderer” and stated that he was not going to make any changes for the people. This was the last major event before the Revolution of 1905 officially broke out. New councils created by urban workers in order to better organize strikes were created called Soviets. During this time, Russian cities were dying because all the workers and peasants were focused on rebelling against the government and seizing the land of their landlords, instead of working in the factories and living the life of a peasant or urban worker.
Upon becoming more popular and gaining more of the people’s support, both parties eliminated opposing political parties in some manner. Both banned opposing parties, but Hitler got Nazis into the legislative party, then took control, while Stalin exiled then killed Trotsky, whom he had a power struggle with. Stalin then used terror to keep power and eliminate opposing parties. Both leaders led political parties to support and power, but used different methods of gaining that power. Another similarity between Hitler’s and Stalin’s struggles to power is their method of gaining the people’s support.
The Germans, who continued making territorial gains (marked 2), eventually began aiding the pro-Tsarist White Russian forces, attempting to stem the very revolt they had helped to foster. However the damage to the Russian infrastructure was too great, and the "White" Russians were eventually forced from power by the "Red" Communists. The treaty of Brest-Litovsk was finally concluded with the new Bolshevik government on March 3, 1918, stripping their country of all provinces west of the Ukraine. That treaty was annulled by the Armistice of November 11, and the new government in Moscow eventually re-established its presence in all of the previously held lands. Ironically, one of the lasting actions by the Bolsheviks was the attempted indoctrination of German prisoners-of-war.
Another ideological method that was central to his success of emerging as the leader of the Soviet Union by 1929 was accusations of Trotskyism . This was due to Stalin defending himself by accusing Bukharin of Trotskyism because Trotsky had been the first to make the claim about bureaucracy . This can be viewed as a weakness of Trotsky because this accusation of Trotskyism attempts to show that Trotsky’s ideology was far from Leninist . This greatly caused decline in Trotsky’s support because many wanted a leader who was close to Lenin and followed Lenin . Therefore , this is one of Stalin’s strengths because he was
During this revolution, Lenin didn’t play any important role, however, just as well as the 1905 Revolution, he was using this experiences to make something more carefully planned. In the October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin wrote and announced what is known as the April Thesis, in which he attacked Bolsheviks for supporting the Provisional Government. Lenin accused those Bolsheviks who were still supporting the Provisional Government of betraying socialism and suggested that they should leave the party. Some people took Lenin`s advice, arguing that any attempt at revolution was certainly going to fail and would lead to another repressive, authoritarian Russian government. Because of his April Theses, the October Revolution and the July Days would have never sparked up.
The Czar was not present, so the neutralist protestants were shot down by the panicking soldiers. It was enough to evoke a wave of strikes, social dissatisfaction and political rearrangement. In any other epoch, they would have been frightened, and just relinquish it; however, they already had ideals in their minds, enough to commence the Russian Revolution. The October Manifesto was a document published by Czar Nicholas II, that was a precursor to the Fundamental Laws of 1906. Imperiled by the protests and violent marches, he announced that civil independence would be acknowledged to population and the creation of the Duma Parliament.