The Russian Civil War began in the wake of the collapse of the provisional government. The Russian Civil War (1917–23) was just beginning in 1918. Lenin and the Bolsheviks were seen to have taken control of Russia, and Lenin pulled Russia out of the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed in March 1918. This was a cruel treaty which the Russians had to sign. Trotsky was given the task of negotiating with the Germans.
“To what extent did Stalin and/or Lenin transform the USSR, economically & socially, between 1917 & 1939?” Introduction: Between 1917 and 1939 Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, better known as Stalin or Man of Steel, and Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov, Lenin, transformed the USSR from a backward agricultural state into a modern industrial power. Following the October Revolution of 1917 and Russia’s exit from the First World War through the Treaty of Breast-Litovsk, the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and Red Army commander Leon Trotsky, were fighting the ‘White’ forces in the Russian Civil War. During this time, Lenin introduced ‘War Communism’ in 1918 and the ‘New Economic Policy’ in 1921, which had an economic effect on Russia, known as the USSR from January 1 1924, as the former caused hyperinflation, while the latter stabilised the economy. Following Fanya Kaplan’s failed attempt to murder Lenin, he unleashed the ‘Red Terror’, where the Cheka secret police, led by Felix Dzerzhinsky, having replaced the Tsarist Okhrana police, set about eliminating ‘threats’ to Lenin, essentially the liberal, free-thinking castes of society, such as noblemen and priests. Socially, this removed the intelligentsia from opposing Lenin.Following Lenin’s death in January 1924, Stalin assumed leadership over the Communist Party, the Bolsheviks.
A change in society occurred in June of 1918 with the introduction of War Communism. War Communism meant that all industry was nationalised, private sales were forbidden as personal profits became illegal, strict working rules were put in place, and a class based rationing system was introduced. War Communism brought about major changes to Russian society but in order to assess how successful it was in its changes, each aspect of its original goals must be looked at. As described by David Christian, one of the two pressures that lead to War communism was ‘the need to fight the civil war’. In this aspect the changes brought about by this policy were successful as it resulted in a Bolshevik victory in the war as it ‘...did the job of supplying towns and armies with just enough food and supplies to keep providing war material and to keep fighting.
How far was political change the most the most significant development in Russia in the period 1880-1989? During the period 1880-1989, right from Alexander III’s reign to the collapse of the Soviet Union under Gorbachev political change was very significant in Russia. However despite the importance of the political change that occurred during the period, more significant develops occurred elsewhere which overshadowed this. The importance of political change was significant right throughout the period with the counter reforms of Tsar Alexander III and Tsar Nicholas II fuelling the social unrest in the late 19th and early 20th Century which eventually led to the 1917 Revolution in February and October. The political purges of the Stalinist period eventually led to the attempted raising of living standards and the move away from state terror during de-Stalinisation under Khrushchev.
The Russian Revolution 1917 To what extent was Nicholas II responsible for the collapse of the tsarist system? In November 1917 (October O.S. ), during the final phase of World War I the Russian October Revolution took place which led to the removal of Russia from the war and brought the transformation of the Russian Empire to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Russia’s traditional monarchy was replaced with the world’s first Communist state. The term Russian Revolution includes not only one event or even process but a sequence of disruptive and strongly violent happenings which occurred more or less at the same time.
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?
This proved to be a vital factor in the ending of the Cold War however it is by no means the only one; indeed a variety of different factors ultimately caused the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and thus the end of the Cold War. The economic decline of the Soviet Union over the 1980s was an essential reason for the end of the Cold War. Various factors explain the Soviet Union’s economic crisis which led to its collapse. The Soviet soft power (that is to say its political, social and culture influence) was undercut by the exposure of Stalin's crimes in 1956 and by the repression in Hungary in 1956. Communist ideology aimed to establish justice for all, however, the lethal purges and gulags of the Stalinist era led to a general loss of confidence in the system and thus a low level of motivation in the work force.
How far was the Provisional Government responsible for its own downfall? The Provisional Government was put in power as a temporary measure after the February Revolution of 1917, in which the Tsar abdicated his throne on behalf of himself and his son. However, the Government only lasted until October of the same year, where the Bolsheviks overthrew them. Their downfall was due to several factors, some of which the Provisional Government themselves were principally responsible for. Firstly, the most pivotal factor that led to the Provisional Government being ousted from power was the fact that, against the masses wishes, they did not withdraw from World War I.
To what extent was Trotsky the single most important factor in the success of the Red’s during the Russian Civil War? After the Bolshevik takeover in 1917, Lenin had moved to uphold the idea of a ‘people’s revolution’, something shown most evidently through the creation of workers committees within the factories and also the soldiers committees within the armed forces. These soldier committees would elect their own officers and govern their own regiments. Along with this, traditional elements of the forces had been pushed aside: discipline was non-existent, graded titles had disappeared and saluting was removed as an exercise. In 1918, this was all to change, with Leon Trotsky placed as the commissar for war.
Was it inevitable that Russia would face a Revolution in 1917? Inevitable means that it is certain to happen or unavoidable, this can be questioned on the revolution Russia faced in 1917 due to different factors which could be interpreted as either unavoidable or preventable such as the Cossacks abandoning the Tsar; this could have been prevented if he had handled different situations differently. Revolution means a forcible overthrow of a government or social order for a new system which is what happened to the Tsarism regime in Russia. The Tsar was forced to abdicate and he did so on the 2nd March 1917. There were two views on the Tsarism regime, the Liberal theory where they believed things were getting better and the regime could have survived and the Marxist theory where they believed the Tsarist regime was outdated and could no longer work and the masses would rise up.